Chapter 6
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Translator: Wjin
Chapter: 6
Chapter Title: The hopeless squad, Assemble (3)
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Lumia Blue exited the main headquarters building, her arms full of books.
They were books she had checked out from the only library in the unit. Most of them were basic magic texts like Introduction to Magic Studies and Elemental Theory.
‘He’s been reading nothing but this type of book for days now.’
It was a request from the squad leader, Enok Levandel. He had asked her to bring him the basic magic books from the library.
‘Why, though?’
She couldn't help but be purely curious. She was a magic soldier herself. While she wasn't an officer who had graduated from a military academy like Enok, she was still someone with a certain level of skill in magic.
She had graduated from basic magic studies ages ago.
‘So, is that rumor actually true...?’
It had already been a week since Lieutenant Enok Levandel was officially appointed as squad leader, and the person being talked about the most was, without a doubt, Enok.
His looks, his personality, his manner of speech, his records from the military academy.
Everyone, whether they were a soldier, a non-commissioned officer, or a fellow officer, was focused on Enok Levandel's every move.
He was the center of controversy for the 3rd Battalion.
It was only natural, as he was a newly assigned officer who just so happened to be assigned to her squad, which was commonly known as the "Squad of Failures."
But more than anything, it was because he completely secluded himself during all off-duty hours.
Enok Levandel didn't have any private dealings with anyone other than his company commander, Captain Arendt Schultz, and the members of his own squad.
Suspicion, if left alone, naturally grows like a snowball.
As a result, by now, all sorts of wild rumors were spreading like wildfire.
- I heard he's a general's nepotism hire. They say he has no talent for magic and just came here to stack up his service record.
- So that's why he got assigned to the Squad of Failures? Because he's not going to do anything anyway?
- That's BS, you idiot. You believe that? And I heard he's not a general's nepotism hire, but an inspector from the corps.
- What? No way, seriously?
- I overheard the 1st Squad Leader talking about it vaguely. I think there's a rumor that inspectors from higher up sometimes come down disguised as new lieutenants.
It wasn't just doubts about Enok Levandel's identity. There were all sorts of bizarre rumors, like the one about him being a woman in disguise.
They even added a plausible theory that the reason he was given quarters in a separate building from the main HQ was to prevent his true gender from being discovered.
Of course, in Lumia's opinion, Enok Levandel was definitely not a woman in disguise.
Even a great archmage wouldn't be able to pull off a gender transformation so flawlessly.
And besides, why would anyone change a perfectly fine gender?
Lumia didn't pay any mind to those useless rumors. What was important to her was, ultimately, Enok Levandel's 'background.'
‘A real inspector? Or a nepotism hire?’
And for that matter, was he even a proper magic officer?
He was diligent enough with administrative tasks, like writing squad activity logs and processing paperwork that had piled up in the squad leader's absence, but...
He had yet to show a single glimpse of his capabilities as a 'Magic Squad Leader.'
She had never seen him use mana, not even the slightest activation of a mana core.
The reason magic officers have so much free time is because they are, after all, 'magic officers.'
For example, when processing a single document.
A magic officer can grasp the entire content of a document in an instant just by using 'Devouring Magic,' without having to read through it one by one.
Magic is that unreasonable of a talent.
That's why the Ukran Duchy holds on to many 'underperforming personnel,' including Lumia herself.
In the end, the conclusion Lumia came to was that Enok Levandel was refraining from using magic for some reason.
‘Perhaps... he's actually someone dispatched from Colonel Soni Chepelin's special forces.’
The Grand Archmage of the Sky, Soni Chepelin.
The most powerful magic officer in the Ukran Duchy's military, and one of the 12 officially recognized 'Grand Archmages' in the international community.
The rumor that she was actively recruiting talented eccentrics within the military was common knowledge.
Since Soni Chepelin herself had visited the battalion last time, perhaps Enok Levandel was an officer dispatched to the 3rd Battalion to recruit such talent.
It was a reasonable suspicion.
His appearance was incredibly cold, and the way he looked at not just her but also his fellow squad members with a strange glint in his eyes had a certain air of leisure, like a superior watching over the entire situation from the top.
Even for her, being alone with Enok Levandel was slightly uncomfortable. It wasn't that it felt bad, but... it was like being overwhelmed.
‘If he's an inspector, that would make sense.’
As she was having these stray thoughts on her way to Enok's quarters, someone blocked her path.
"Sergeant Major Lumia, isn't that heavy? Let me carry it for you."
"..."
An irritating voice. She didn't even need to turn her head. There was only one soldier who would approach her so brazenly.
The stench of a half-smoked cigarette wafted over.
Corporal Rex.
"Get out of the way."
Lumia Blue clicked her tongue and pushed past Rex, who was blocking her way. He was a man not worth getting entangled with.
"Aww, you're being so cold again."
Rex's arm grabbed Lumia's shoulder.
Even though Lumia was a female soldier, she was, by rank, a superior. For a mere corporal to lay hands on a non-commissioned officer was a clear overstep of boundaries.
"Let go."
The little bit of politeness she had been showing disappeared.
Her voice turned icy cold, but Rex just shrugged his shoulders with a sleazy grin, as if it were nothing.
"And what did I do wrong? Can't even offer to help a subordinate?"
"Do you think your behavior is appropriate right now?"
"My, my, Sergeant Major Lumia, you're so ungrateful~. What gives you the right to act so high and mighty?"
Rex's eyes narrowed. It was a gaze that couldn't even be called a look towards a superior, not even out of false politeness.
"The new squad leader? From what I saw, he looks like he's about to leave the squad any minute now."
"Corporal... keep this up and..."
"Or what, are you going to run to the Sergeant Major again? He's not interested either, you know. In your pathetic Squad of Failures."
"I'll handle my own business. There's no need for the two of them to get involved with scum like you..."
"Cough, ptui."
Rex spat phlegm onto the ground, cutting Lumia off.
"Go ahead and try it. Huh? Sergeant Major, I bet the Company Commander will do something for you again, right?"
Even as Rex was not only being brazen but also threatening her, Lumia couldn't bring herself to speak.
Truthfully, this wasn't the first or second time he had acted so brutishly.
Each time, she had gone to the company commander and the personnel officer to file a complaint, but all she got back was a light disciplinary action at best.
There was no helping it. Corporal Rex was one of the most senior corporals serving in the 3rd Battalion.
That meant he was in charge of a large portion of the unit's duties.
In a magic battalion, magic officers don't have much to do, to begin with.
They have zero knowledge of administrative and support tasks like personnel, logistics, or supplies.
Since the unit's security is handled by separate enlisted personnel, unless you're a commander or staff member directly managing the unit, a regular magic soldier like Lumia was on standby with nothing to do when there was no schedule.
In other words, in terms of peacetime importance, Corporal Rex's role was higher than that of Sergeant Major Lumia, unless it was a combat situation.
To make matters worse, Lumia had already been marked by the battalion commander due to a series of 'incidents,' and because of that fallout, she had been completely branded as a failure. There was no one left to take her side.
Corporal Rex knew this fact all too well, which was why he always looked down on Lumia as being beneath him.
Or rather, to be more precise, he was constantly waiting for an opportunity.
That disgusting gaze that shamefully scanned her body, the way he would lick his lips. Unable to bear it any longer, Lumia threw the books she was holding onto the ground.
Just as her enraged hand was about to slap the corporal's cheek.
KWAAAAANG!!
Along with a tremendous shockwave, the outer wall of the building in front of them crumbled.
***
The first thing that came to mind was that I had to come up with a plausible excuse. A valid reason for why I had to blow up the wall of a perfectly good building.
Should I say there was a giant spider?
‘The battalion commander would never believe that, you idiot.’
Then would it be better to tell the truth and say I failed to control my mana?
Now that I think about it, that wasn't a good option either.
I had been making a good impression on the company commander and other officers by frequently running into them during work hours lately, and I couldn't let the tower I'd worked so hard to build collapse by my own hand.
But I really had no excuse.
My mind went completely blank.
Wait, more importantly, was Fire Ball always this powerful? From what I remember, Fire Ball is a low-power attack skill that can't even break through an infantry phalanx, isn't it?
I looked at the collapsed wall with a complicated heart. And in the middle of it all, the furniture is intact? Seriously? I didn't destroy anything more or less, just the wall.
At that moment.
"Squad Leader, are you alright!?"
A familiar voice came from the wide-open outside. The one who revealed herself was Sergeant Major Lumia Blue.
It seemed she was on her way to deliver the books I had asked for from the library when she witnessed the incident.
"Ah, Sergeant Major! I'm fine. But about this wall, we need to do something about..."
The hope that we might be able to restore it if we were lucky was short-lived.
Personnel in work uniforms swarmed out of the main headquarters like ants. It was only natural. The wall of the building had collapsed in the middle of the day, there was no way it wouldn't attract attention.
‘Man, this is a public execution, no doubt about it.’
As I stood there, dumbfounded and dazed, Lumia's wide eyes flickered back and forth between me and the collapsed wall.
"Squad Leader, what on earth happened?"
"Well, um... I was demonstrating a spell and I got carried away..."
In this situation, I had no choice but to choose the method that made me look the least stupid.
Right. This must have been my destiny all along. The Squad Leader of the Squad of Failures.
My glorious debut in the 3rd Battalion was out the window, so I'd just have to keep my head down and do my time for the minimum one-year service period.
I'd have to prepare for the real war after transferring to the next unit.
RE: This is the start of my new life in the military, from zero, god damn it.
The first button was already misbuttoned from the start, so what do they expect me to do? I did my best.
I processed the paperwork meticulously, I attended all the meetings, and I even cleaned the barracks without being asked.
Doesn't that count as being faithful to my duties?
If there's any consolation, it's that even if I waste a year, I still have four years left.
With that much time, I can still barely manage to prepare.
"My God..."
Lumia stared at the debris of the building and whispered in disbelief.
"Enok Squad Leader, are you in your right mind?!"
"Sergeant Major Lumia, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to, but suddenly the Fire B..."
"Who uses a high-level spell indoors?!"
"Excuse me?"
When I couldn't understand her at once, Lumia raised her voice again.
"It wasn't even a Fire Ball, but you used 'Flame Buster,' a high-level spell. Seriously, what were you thinking..."
Huh.
It seems there's been a bit of a misunderstanding?