Chapter 49
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Translator: Wjin
Chapter: 49
Chapter Title: Toward the Capital (3)
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“Uwaaah……!!”
Lumia kept exclaiming in wonder. I was just as surprised as she was. The assigned lodging was practically on the level of a five-star hotel's suite.
Actually, honestly, it was even better than a suite.
Just based on the feel, it was close to the rooms of kings and queens you'd only see in fantasy stories. The fact that there were also an incredible number of employees, like maids and butlers, said it all.
“This is a detached annex permitted only for distinguished guests granted a private audience with His Highness the Archduke. If you require anything, please call for us at any time.”
The elderly butler, whose hair was dyed a pure white, bowed respectfully. Judging by how other employees and maids were trailing behind him, he seemed to be in a position like head butler or supervisor.
“Then, please rest comfortably.”
After the supervisor bid farewell with a polite bow, the employees lined up neatly behind him all lowered their heads in perfect unison. Their demeanor was already impressively dignified, but watching them march out in perfect step like a parade was so absurd it made me want to laugh.
Crazy discipline.
Not even exaggerating, they seem to have stricter discipline than the 3rd Battalion.
‘So the capital really is different after all.’
It wasn't just the supervisors' attitude; the dazzling appearance of the lodging assigned to our 5th Platoon played a big part too.
Our battalion's main office building wasn't anything to scoff at, but it couldn't compare to the level of this annex, which was directly managed by the royal palace in the nation's capital.
The massive lounge was lined with furniture made of obviously expensive materials, and the wallpaper and furniture were unified in a black-and-white color scheme, creating a very clean atmosphere.
Mana stones, beautifully arranged on every wall, emitted a soft glow that illuminated the interior.
And if you went up the polished spiral staircase, you could access a terrace connected directly to the outside.
A terrace.
I imagined myself raising a wine glass against the backdrop of the Milky Way stretching across the night sky.
Romance. Approved.
“Platoon Leader!! This is insane!”
And the most ecstatic of the three of us was none other than Lumia. As if to prove she was an interior design fanatic, she had already lost all composure and was running wildly around the lodging.
“Huff……!! Is this the painting supposedly drawn by Nataland's legendary painter!? It, it's not a fake, is it?”
From the small shelves to the chandelier hanging from the ceiling, Lumia's eyes sparkled as she took in every detail of the lodging. I watched her hopping around like a rabbit, then turned to Bell, who was standing next to me with a complex expression on her face.
“By the way, Lieutenant Bell Mayer, you seem to have been here before?”
Ever since arriving in Kaev, she had been admiring the scenery with a gaze tinged with melancholy, and since entering this annex, she hadn't said a word.
Her gaze was like someone who had returned to a longed-for hometown.
I hit the nail right on the head, and Bell awkwardly scratched her cheek.
“Was it that obvious?”
“Your gaze was so wistful, it would be impossible not to notice.”
“I didn't live here, but I came here often. I lived nearby.”
Bell Mayer said as she looked out the large window at the view of Kaev.
“If you lived nearby... Lieutenant Bell, were you perhaps the child of some noble family?”
“Yes, didn't you know?”
“???”
What is she talking about all of a sudden?
As I grew flustered, Bell Mayer also looked flustered.
“I thought you naturally knew...?”
“I didn't.”
“Wasn't it written in my personnel file?”
“...Uh.”
Originally, I only glanced at the resume on the first day and never looked at it again. Back then, I just checked the special notes and moved on.
I could check with my status window without having to find the document, so there was no need to read the paper.
“So you didn't read it properly?”
“Th-that's because I'm not the type to be very interested in people's backgrounds or social status.”
“Ahah... So that's why. I thought your attitude was indifferent from the start, and now I know why. The mystery is finally solved.”
“What was different about other platoon leaders?”
When I asked, Bell Mayer shrugged as if it were nothing.
“Surprisingly, they were from prestigious families. The Mayer family. Because of that, they were officers who were demoted for all sorts of reasons, and I was the only straw they could clutch at.”
Ah.
I could roughly understand the feeling. They must have desperately tried to use Bell's status as a stepping stone to climb back up.
“At first, they'd do anything for me, and they'd be especially nice to me, even though they were cold to the other squad members. But the moment they found out I wasn't particularly ambitious and that my family didn't have much influence, they treated me even worse.”
“You must have had a hard time.”
But why was the child of such a prestigious family buried in a backwater magic battalion like this?
‘Thinking about it again, there was no 'Noble' trait in the status window.’
I'm the one who checked the 'Platoon Management Status Window' diligently, even if I didn't know the personnel details.
A month has passed since then, and there haven't been any cases of stats increasing or new traits appearing, so I haven't checked it recently.
‘But a 'Noble' trait wouldn't just suddenly appear, would it?’
As I was struggling to understand the situation even with my veteran knowledge, Bell waved her hand and laughed.
“Ah, it's fine! It's a good day, so let's only talk about good things. You said so yesterday, Platoon Leader?”
“Pardon?”
“That I don't need to be so troubled. It's not like I was abandoned by my family. I was actually thinking of meeting them this time.”
“Ah...”
It seemed she had misunderstood, thinking I was being cautious about her family affairs.
Fact is, I was just thinking about the game system...
Well, at this point, after being possessed, what does that silly system matter. Since it's a strategy simulation game, such detailed stories weren't even included in the first place.
“If Lieutenant Bell is okay with it, you have a day of free time. It wouldn't be a bad idea to visit your main house.”
“Right?”
I answered vaguely.
Of course, since it was a family matter, it was something I should approach cautiously, but in truth, I wasn't very interested.
Even if Bell was from a prestigious noble family, it's not like I'd get any crumbs from it.
If there were any to be had, they would have fallen long ago. To the previous platoon leaders, not me.
“Well then, let's start unpacking. We have to go to the uniform shop today to receive the formal uniforms the Battalion Commander prepared for us.”
“Ah……!! Great!!”
Lumia, who had been flitting about, quickly grabbed her luggage and entered one of the rooms at the mention of formal uniforms. It seemed she liked that one. Watching her, Bell let out a hearty laugh and also chose a different room.
After Bell and Lumia had changed into civilian clothes, we left the annex and entered the city.
“Wow.”
“So this is... the capital, Kaev...”
Lumia and I were completely overwhelmed.
An incredible crowd and tall, beautiful buildings. The clatter of carriage wheels and the voices of people filled the air.
The fragrant smells wafting from the restaurants lining the grand avenue assaulted my sense of smell.
The atmosphere of the 'downtown' area that I couldn't fully feel while in the carriage. Now, I truly felt like I had arrived in the capital of the Ukran Duchy.
The shock was similar to when I first arrived in Seoul for my military academy entrance exam.
Moreover, since the first city I visited was the backwater Cherno City, the feeling was doubled.
I thought that city was lively and had a lot of people...
The capital, Kaev, was so huge, bustling, and complex that a single block could rival the entire Cherno City.
No wonder First Sergeant Claude Rain hated this place.
“Um, Lieutenant Bell? We were told to go to this clothing store, but do you know the way around here?”
As I asked, slightly confused, Bell Mayer checked a small map she had received, then skillfully set off to find the clothing store's location. Even though the streets were complex with connected alleys, Bell advanced without hesitation.
‘I heard she hadn't been here for a long time, but if she can find her way this well, she must have lived here for a really long time.’
Since this is a street right in front of the royal palace or the annex, it would be impossible unless she was from a noble family to have walked around here so often.
‘...Then why is she stuck as a magic non-commissioned officer? In the Haoje, non-commissioned officers are just as expendable as privates, unless it's a special case.’
Her family wouldn't have been unaware of this. 'Non-commissioned officer' is just a name; in reality, they're treated no different from soldiers who can handle mana.
Just look at First Sergeant Claude's case? He enlisted as a regular soldier and later opened his mana, becoming a magic non-commissioned officer. His rank definitely went up, but even with the title of war hero, he was only promoted to Sergeant Major.
If they had to send him to the army, the normal thing would be to send him as an officer to save face for the family, wouldn't it?
Soon, various scenarios began to surface in my mind.
Was she forced to enlist as disciplinary action for opposing a political marriage? Or was she such a wicked woman that she couldn't be rehabilitated unless she was thrown into the army...
All sorts of useless imaginations unfolded, but I shook my head and quickly scattered them.
‘That can't be the case.’
Neither of those stories really suits Bell Mayer. It's highly likely that the reason she suffered from depression was related to her enlistment.
As I was lost in these thoughts, following Lumia and Bell...
“...? What is it?”
The two people in front were blocked by a massive crowd. Dozens of people were lined up in the street, as if watching something. They were all a group of people hurling vicious curses or throwing stones.
“Is something going on?”
At my question in the unpleasant atmosphere, Lumia brought her face close to my ear and whispered.
“It looks like they're transporting a criminal.”
I looked up and saw a military police transport carriage passing by at that moment. Inside the makeshift wooden prison, a man was sitting with his hands and feet bound in iron chains.
[I am a heretic, a murderer, a mass murderer.]
The words written on the sign hanging around his neck, and the skull tattoo drawn along his arm—I immediately recognized the identity of the criminal being dragged away.
Strigoi.
Even in the game, they were a cult and anti-government group that appeared as random encounters, and they were the damn bastards that clung to the nation's security all the way to the latter parts of the game.
Since their basic concept was a group of fallen black mages, they had considerable combat strength of their own, and even compared to other insurgent forces like bandits or guerrillas, they were a pain in the ass to subjugate.
‘Those bastards deserve a public execution.’
I felt a moment of pity, but once I was sure of their identity, they didn't seem so pathetic anymore.
With the country in the midst of a war and in a state of external chaos, if they suddenly caused a riot in the capital or a special economic zone, it would be a real disaster. If the subjugation failed, there was a high chance the country would fall into a civil war.
Recalling the memories of being defeated in the game after being hit from behind several times, I just felt furious.
‘In a country like Ukran, they need to manage them more strictly. If those bastards team up with them and cause trouble, the country will be turned upside down in an instant.’
There was nothing more to see, so I was about to tell them to hurry into the clothing store.
“Ugh, urp—!”
“Lieutenant Bell?”
“Ugh... Ugh.”
Bell Mayer's face suddenly turned deathly pale, and she started dry heaving.