Chapter 69
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Translator: Wjin
Chapter: 69
Chapter Title: Train Like You're in Combat, Fight Like You're in Training (1)
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Even after witnessing it with my own eyes, I couldn't help but wonder if what I was seeing was real. I briefly considered whether I was dreaming and even pinched the back of my hand, but nothing changed.
"I was startled too. Thinking about something like that flying through the sky makes me feel both admiration and fear."
Debra Bennett turned her head, a look of deep emotion on her face.
"Why is that thing here? Is it some new weapon of the Ukran Duchy?"
"It was an extremely secret project, known to very few people in the military. The Weapon Research Department was the only division in the Central Education and Technology Research Institute that wasn't replaced. And as it turns out, they were creating something this incredible."
This was a story I had never heard before.
The first nation to develop an airship was not the Ukran Duchy, but the Reinhardt Empire. Their airships, which covered the continent's skies the moment the war began, became a symbol of an overwhelmingly superior technological empire.
So why was an airship, something that hadn't even been properly developed in the Reinhardt Empire yet, here of all places?
"Oh, 1st Company Commander! You're here!"
While my attention was captivated by the floating airship, Soni Chepelin came running over from the front in light steps.
"What do you think?"
"Forget 'what do I think'... Where on earth did you get that thing?"
"Ahaha, that's the first thing you ask? As expected, a lieutenant's way of thinking is completely different from everyone else's! First, come on inside. Everyone's going to love this."
The colonel clapped her hands as if it were nothing and ushered the soldiers inside. I was led along in a daze and arrived at the special barracks.
It didn't take long for the soldiers' cheers to erupt in front of it. Under the airship, all sorts of delicious-looking food was laid out on outdoor tables.
"Great work on the training, everyone! Unpack your gear on one side and enjoy yourselves to the fullest!!"
The soldiers, who had been subsisting on rabbit meat and kudzu for days, went crazy the moment they saw the steaming meat.
"...As the battalion commander said, please eat comfortably."
"Thank you! Company Commander! Battalion Commander!!"
In the blink of an eye, the company members had unslung their gear and started devouring the food.
"Take it slow, eat slowly! Make sure to look at the airship floating up there once in a while, too. After all, I'm paying for all the food!"
Of course, this meal wasn't just for our company. The personnel from the 2nd and 3rd Companies, who arrived later, were also gaping in astonishment.
It was an instant before the hundred hungry soldiers began to sweep through the food. In the meantime, the officers, myself included, could do nothing but watch.
"Lumia, your stomach is unusually quiet today."
"Ugh...! Company Commander, you're awful! Stop teasing me!"
"Lumia, you're in trouble. Looks like the lieutenant is really into you."
"M-Major Bell, you too, please stop!"
As we were lightly joking around, Platoon Leader Erwin Rus, who was watching the wild party unfold, smacked his lips.
"Th-that, Company Commander? Are we not allowed to eat...?"
"Would I ever do that? Just wait a moment."
I answered the agonized Erwin and looked at the colonel, who was confirming the last of the battalion headquarters personnel to arrive.
Just as she said, after confirming the number of soldiers and officers, she pointed to a large tent set up to one side.
"Let the soldiers eat. Officers, how about we gather inside that tent for a moment?"
Once we entered the tent, a meal just as luxurious as the outdoor tables was prepared.
"Now, now, everyone sit so you can see each other!"
The center of the 'ㄷ'-shaped table was for the chief of staff and Soni Chepelin. One seat was empty, but it was unclear who it was for.
Once all the non-commissioned officers and officers were seated:
"Now, everyone, raise the glasses in front of you!"
Soni Chepelin raised a glass filled with clattering wine and shouted.
"To the successful completion of the 8th Magic Assault Battalion's first training! Cheers!!"
"Cheers!!!"
Just a few hours ago, the exhausted faces of the people brightened up, and the sound of glasses clinking could be heard from all over.
I also lightly clinked glasses with Claude and Lumia, who were sitting on either side of me, and downed the wine.
Definitely, after a drink, a heat spread through my body, which had been completely limp.
After that, a party began that was no less wild than the soldiers'.
Erwin Rus, as if he had been waiting for this moment, was dismantling a large chicken leg. Hilton Calia, the platoon leader who had been in a low mood all the way down the mountain, was also turning his head this way and that, moving food onto his plate.
Even Roxana, who was said to be a light eater, was tearing into meat she wouldn't even touch normally.
I realized anew just how grueling the mountain training must have been. Though for me, who had already experienced the mountain hell once, it wasn't that difficult.
'It's a good thing I exercised with the sergeant ahead of time. If I hadn't, I would have collapsed long ago.'
It could be seen as the fruit of my painstaking efforts for half a year. I had at least built some dry muscle on my once scrawny, sardine-like body.
"Company Commander, aren't you going to eat?"
"I will. You can eat first, Lumia."
Right, they say even a view of Mount Kumgang is better after a meal.
I had a mountain of questions for Soni Chepelin, and Debra Bennett's random appearance was also baffling.
But for now, filling my stomach first wouldn't be a bad idea either.
"Ah, that was good."
"Right. I ate without even realizing it..."
"Sergeant, did you eat well?"
"Hmm, not bad."
I looked at my slightly bulging stomach. Once I started eating, the food just kept coming without a break.
"Now, it looks like everyone's about finished. Shall we start the discussion?"
"I'll start with the casualty report."
The moment Soni Chepelin drew everyone's attention, Major Yosef pulled an evaluation sheet from his pocket. His manner of concisely reporting the evaluation details recorded over the 72 hours was that of a chief of staff.
"1st Company, no casualties. Evaluation score: 10 points. 1st place. 2nd Company, 3 light injuries, 2 evacuations. Evaluation score: 7 points. 2nd place. 3rd Company, 5 light injuries. Evaluation score: 6 points. 3rd place."
"Cough, hck, heuk! Cough!"
At the mercilessly revealed results, 2nd Company Commander Lieutenant Nikolai Hilbert let out a rough cough. It seemed he had a choking fit.
The adjutant sitting next to him urgently patted his back, and Soni Chepelin added with a smile.
"1st Company was overwhelmingly good, but the other two companies aren't bad either. You know that, right?"
"Yes, I know."
3rd Company Commander Lieutenant Luna Aire seemed to agree, but her expression of frustration was no different.
'She has a competitive spirit, different from her looks.'
Actually, I had met and talked with the other company commanders a few times before the training.
Lieutenant Nikolai and Lieutenant Luna.
Both of their personalities weren't bad, so I got along with them without any major issues, and their abilities as officers were also clearly not bad.
Feeling that sense of frustration was actually a positive reaction.
"Therefore, for the remaining training schedule, the company assignments will remain unchanged from the 1st to the 3rd Company."
"Anyway, let's find meaning in the fact that no serious injuries occurred despite this being the first training!"
"Yes!!"
As the colonel said, for dropping soldiers with no prior connection into the mountains, the results were quite remarkable.
If I hadn't had training experience in the mountains, or if the platoon leaders under my command hadn't been properly trained, a light injury or two might have occurred.
"By 'remaining training schedule,' do you mean that the training in the mountains isn't everything?"
At Soni Chepelin's words, one of the 2nd Company's platoon leaders raised his hand and asked. The colonel, as if she had been waiting for that question, grinned.
"Correct. Before we get to the main point, here's a question. Does anyone know what the object outside is?"
The inside of the barracks went quiet. I considered raising my hand but decided to wait and see her reaction first.
The airship was set to be officially unveiled to the public in at least two years. If I said I knew about it now, there was a high risk of drawing unnecessary attention.
However, Soni Chepelin's gaze inevitably turned to me.
"1st Company Commander."
"Lieutenant, Enok Levandel!"
"You don't know either?"
She asked back with a tone that implied I should obviously know.
Well, what kind of reaction was she expecting here?
I agonized for a moment before having no choice but to continue speaking with difficulty.
"I don't know the details either. But judging by its shape, I deduce it's a vehicle that is filled with air inside and uses the force of that air to fly into the air."
"Ooh, that's a very close answer."
Just then, a middle-aged man entered the inside of the barracks and spoke.
He was dressed in a suit, not a military uniform. His neatly combed-back, faded gray hair gave off a strong business-like vibe.
That's why I could easily recognize his face.
The precursor to the Reinhardt Empire's Air Force and one of the most powerful heroes available in the early stages of the Great War.
Count Ferdinand Ludwig.
Later, in recognition of his achievements, he would become a figure with the rank of 'Lieutenant General' instead of a count.
"That's right. That is a new concept of vehicle I developed, called an 'Airship'. The officer here has correctly deduced its principle."
Count Ferdinand said this and respectfully took off his hat to greet me. I responded by lightly bowing my head, and he continued his explanation.
"Using steel as a base, it fills a place called a gas bag with air..."
In any case, I knew all about the principles of airships. I had lived in an era that sent rockets to Mars, not airships.
But that's precisely why I couldn't understand it even more.
Why on earth was Count Ferdinand of the Reinhardt Empire here?
He wasn't a soldier of the Reinhardt Empire yet, but he would soon become the empire's first air force commander, centered on the new weapon, the airship.
And the Reinhardt Empire's army was an 'enemy nation' that would invade the Ukran Duchy almost simultaneously with the outbreak of the war.
No matter how much time was left until the war, five years, I couldn't grasp why Count Ferdinand was here in the Ukran Duchy.
"Then are you saying the weapon outside was developed by the Count himself?"
And that question was naturally resolved by 2nd Company Commander Lieutenant Nikolai Hilbert's question.
"Yes, I handled the principle and design myself... but the ideas for its application were taken up by the gentleman here, Colonel Soni Chepelin."
"Application, you mean...?"
Count Ferdinand nodded and turned towards Soni Chepelin.
He pulled a small crystal orb from his pocket and held it up.
"I mean the plan to weaponize the airship by applying a special magic to it."
Ah, I see.
So this Soni Chepelin person... was involved in the weaponization of the airship as well?
I looked at her, who was proudly puffing out her chest, and thought.
'Where exactly was this crazy archmage NOT involved...?'