Chapter 67
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Translator: Wjin
Chapter: 67
Chapter Title: Hell Week (3)
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"Did you get some rest?"
"Definitely better to sleep under a roof. I'm feeling much better."
The 3rd Platoon leader, who had just finished resting inside the cave and woken up, replied with a broad grin.
Over the past two weeks, 3rd Platoon Leader Erwin Ruth had used his naturally easygoing personality to build a certain level of rapport with Lumia Blue and Roxana Elim.
They had become close enough to exchange lighthearted jokes with one another.
"Where did Company Leader Enok go?"
"He said he was going to inspect the platoons. The 4th Platoon has to relieve the 3rd soon."
"He's really working hard. It's a complete 180 from our old company leader who only ate, slept, and fought."
Erwin said, his eyes sparkling.
At their first meeting, he had been disappointed by the company leader's bookish appearance, but after learning that the man before him was the legendary magic officer who had earned a promotion in just one month, his feelings had shifted from simple respect to outright reverence.
And besides, there was Sergeant Claude Raine. The war hero Claude, the Butcher of Thunder!
If even Sergeant Claude Raine acknowledged the company leader, who was Erwin to object? Erwin was prepared to humbly follow any order Enok Levandel gave.
As long as it was an order based purely on 'rules' and sound judgment.
"Haha... The company leader is indeed an amazing person."
As Lumia answered with a faint smile, a sudden gunshot rang out.
Taang—!!
The three of them whipped their heads around in the direction of the sound. The west. It was the area of the 4th Platoon, led by Sergeant Hilton Kalia.
The gunshot wasn't a single shot.
Tang! Tang!!
As two more shots followed in quick succession, it became clear this was no mere accident.
"Platoon Leader Erwin! Assemble your platoon members immediately!"
The first to move was Lumia. With Enok absent, she had to make a quick decision as the company's deputy officer.
The next to move was Roxana. She detected a clear flow of mana following the gunshots.
"Deputy Officer! It might be too late if we move the troops now! They've even used magic. The battalion leader's artillery strike is definitely coming!"
"...!!!"
Lumia was caught in a moment of hesitation.
Soni Chepelin's artillery strikes were truly merciless. Even Lumia, who had been in the military for nearly two years, had never witnessed one before.
They had only been able to minimize the damage because the magic troops, including Enok, had deployed defensive spells and moved quickly.
But when they were engaged in combat with 'something' to the point of using attack magic, they were highly likely to be helplessly wiped out by the artillery. There might already be wounded.
"Platoon Leader Erwin, head west as soon as your platoon is assembled! We're moving first!"
She wasn't sure if this was the right call. However, it was certainly better than letting the company leader or the 4th Platoon be wiped out and eliminated.
Do your absolute best.
That was the mindset of a deputy officer that Lieutenant Enok Levandel had so heavily emphasized.
In Lumia's opinion, this was the best she could do.
"Understood!!"
Erwin Ruth immediately dashed into the cave after receiving the order and shouted in a thunderous voice.
"Listen up, everyone!! Move faster!! Our allies are on the verge of being exposed to enemy artillery!! You have to finish your prep with grit!! I'm giving you exactly 5 seconds!!"
Gathering the troops in just five seconds seemed utterly impossible, but Erwin Ruth and his 3rd Platoon actually pulled it off.
The members of the 3rd Platoon appeared from the cave, fully equipped with all their gear.
"Quick march, forward!!"
"Forward!!"
It took them less than a few minutes to catch up to Lumia and Roxana, who had gone on ahead.
"Hoh."
Yozef, observing the battle, let out a genuine gasp of admiration.
It was, of course, less than a tenth of the power Soni Chepelin could wield, but as a purely firepower-based attack, it was not to be underestimated.
A hastily deployed 2nd-grade magic barrier wouldn't be able to properly block the damage.
If they couldn't even deploy a barrier, it wouldn't be difficult to instantly incapacitate an entire infantry platoon with no magic resistance.
Grand magicians were originally such beings. That's why they were called 'one-man armies' in the world.
However, the skill shown by the 1st Platoon, the target of the artillery, exceeded Yozef's imagination.
Below the 2nd-grade defensive barrier deployed by the company leader, they were even deploying a colorless attack magic to weaken Soni Chepelin's attack.
No matter how much power was held back, intercepting a grand magician's attack was by no means an easy task.
'Roxana Elim, was it? I heard the patient with Mana Rampage was a magician who wouldn't envy a grand magician, and it seems that's true.'
Next was the reaction of the 3rd Platoon, which had been waiting halfway down the slope. They were swift. It was so fast you'd never think they were a unit that had been resting until just now.
It seemed that the deputy officer, Lumia, had made an appropriate judgment, but moving troops to match that judgment was never an easy task.
A distinct smile formed on Major Yozef Levandofski's lips.
'It's only been two weeks, but their coordination is excellent.'
He had been a little worried when they appointed a new officer who hadn't even graduated from the military academy a year ago as the 1st Platoon leader.
But that was a needless concern.
He wasn't the only one who felt that way. After all, the one actually carrying out the attack was Soni Chepelin. Watching the 1st Platoon's response in real-time, she was so thrilled she was jumping up and down on the spot.
"Are they crazy!!! How did they do that? Intercepting my magic with Magic Missiles?"
It wasn't that they had a 100% hit rate. If she fired ten shots, they failed to intercept even half of them properly.
But the fact that they intercepted half at all was surprising.
And it was also surprising that even the attacks they failed to intercept were all blocked by the magic barrier deployed by Enok Levandel and Lumia Blue.
"Where did they come up with that idea? Enok?"
"I don't know. But I can't deny that it's... fantastic."
"I told you! They weren't the kind of platoon you could just hide away!"
At first, she had planned to use them as bait to persuade Enok Levandel. She thought that after placing them there, she could just shove them into some dead-end position.
The most extreme method was to select a company to force a demotion and push them into it.
In the end, Soni Chepelin was the one who had formed the battalion. She was also the commander of the 8th Assault Magic Infantry Battalion's top unit—the Special Response Brigade.
Who would dare object?
But the more she read the files of the platoon members, the more Soni Chepelin was seized by a strange feeling.
These guys aren't the kind of trash you can just leave alone.
So she boldly assigned them to the 1st Platoon. She also wanted to see with her own two eyes why Lieutenant Enok Levandel cherished this platoon so much.
The result...
Exceeded Soni Chepelin's expectations.
Thinking she had tested them sufficiently, Soni Chepelin released the magic circle that had been spewing magic without pause.
"Chief of Staff."
"Yes, Battalion Leader."
"Let's leave them alone now. I've seen enough."
"I agree. The only problem is their survival for the remaining 36 hours."
"They'll manage. Surely they won't get eliminated over something like that?"
"Then shall we probe the 2nd Platoon next? They should be eating right now."
They say you shouldn't disturb a dog while it's eating, but... that's just a saying for dogs. This was a training exercise disguised as a real battle, so there was no reason to care about meal times.
"Sounds good. Getting shelled while eating is pretty realistic, too."
"Understood."
Soni Chepelin turned around and moved toward the position where the 2nd Platoon was deployed.
It didn't take long for a merciless artillery barrage to start pounding that location as well.
"Phew."
I could finally let out a sigh of relief. It was a stroke of good fortune that I had set up a reserve position for a situation like this.
It wasn't as cozy as a proper cave, but with the cliff right behind us, at least we wouldn't be hit by cold winds from all sides.
"I-I'm so sorry..."
Of course, the 4th Platoon leader, the mastermind behind this entire situation, looked completely mortified.
"It's all my fault."
"No, Sergeant Hilton, you did your best...
Just as I was about to offer a word of comfort to the platoon leader, whose self-esteem seemed to be shattering past her conscience, Erwin's stern voice rang out.
"Enough!! What is that supposed to mean, 4th Platoon Leader!! Why are you blaming yourself!? The one in the wrong is that yeti bastard who was lurking around without any situational awareness!"
"Huh?"
"Monsters are hostile to humans by nature. If we had left it alone, it might have eaten a passerby, even if we were fine!"
Erwin placed a hand on Hilton's shoulder and added.
"You did well."
"...Uh, that's right. As 3rd Platoon Leader said, you did a good job, Sergeant Hilton. You also controlled your troops well."
"Really...?"
"Yes, but if you discover monsters like that again, report it to the company leader right away. That way, the whole company can respond appropriately to the situation."
"Understood."
Sergeant Hilton had a very passive personality, which was quite different from her striking first impression.
Of course, I had already checked her traits in the unit management window, and based on the personnel files and disciplinary reports from her previous unit, she seemed to have a slightly dual-personality aspect to her.
A little earlier, the moment the word 'real combat' came up during the fight with the yeti, didn't her eyes just spin around?
'A crazy war maniac on top of being a berserker. How interesting.'
Truthfully, it wasn't interesting at all... but what could I do? Now that she was assigned to my company, I had to take her all the way. Just like when she was first assigned to the failure platoon, I had somehow managed to bring her this far. Who knows how Sergeant Hilton might grow, just as Sergeant Claude said.
Gurgle~
"Ah."
In the midst of it all, a loud gurgle came from Lumia's stomach.
"S-sorry! I suddenly got really hungry as my tension dropped."
"Your stomach growling is making me hungry too."
"Ugh..."
I burst out laughing seeing Lumia's face turn bright red. Bell, who had been teaching Roxana how to make an igloo nearby, and the gathered soldiers all started laughing heartily as well.
"Well, we still have to survive for over thirty more hours here. Let's go hunt some wild animals."
Since we had the cliff at our backs, there shouldn't be any major problems even if we made a fire.
"I saw some arrowroot roots earlier. If you shake the dirt off and eat them, they're quite edible even without cooking."
Claude, who was leaning against a large tree, said. So that's what the 1st Platoon members were chewing on earlier.
"Good. Then let's all split up and regroup here in exactly 30 minutes."
"Yes!"
"Lumia, you're hungry, but can you move?"
"C-Company Leader-nim—!!"
When I threw a light joke, Lumia shrieked in shock, and the expressions of the soldiers, who had been completely exhausted, brightened up a bit more.
Right, finishing the training safely is the top priority for now.
Thinking that, I stood up from my spot.