Chapter 7
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Translator: Wjin
Chapter: 7
Chapter Title: The hopeless squad, Assemble (4)
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Flame Buster.
I knew about that magic. It wasn't just something I'd read about in a book; it was a spell that had consistently appeared in the main game as well.
As its name, 'Buster,' suggested, it was an attack magic with outstanding penetration, often used to pierce through enemy mage unit defenses.
But why on earth was it being brought up now?
I had only used Fire Ball.
As I looked at Lumia, who was staring at me as if I should understand, she pointed at the neatly separated debris of the wall.
"If there hadn't been a magical barrier, the building would have collapsed just like that!"
A magical barrier?
Hearing that, I could confirm the patterns left on the debris. They were traces of 'Defense Magic' that I had seen in magic books.
In fact, I could clearly feel the mana from them.
So, that means I shattered the magical barrier protecting this building with a single Fire Ball.
I had roughly grasped the situation, except for one question that suddenly came to mind.
'Is it possible to break through defense magic with a Fire Ball?'
I'm a so-called 10,000-hour player of Hearts of General. Infantry, artillery, cavalry, and even mage troops.
Having almost conquered every military branch, I knew just how powerful building protection magic was.
It wasn't something that could be neutralized by a mere stray Fire Ball. Even the most basic defense magic could easily block a Fire Ball.
"What in the world is going on!!"
Just then, Lieutenant Colonel Rockheart Cromwell burst in, his face pale as a sheet.
Now that the battalion commander had witnessed everything himself, the only thing left to do was to bow my head and apologize without question...
"Enok Levandel, Squad Leader!"
"I am sorry, Battalion Commander."
I bowed my head almost to the ground and apologized sincerely. I had no excuse, even if I had ten mouths to speak with.
"How did this happen?"
"I was trying to demonstrate a personal magic spell, but I failed to control it. I am truly sorry."
"A magic demonstration?! Why would you do that in a perfectly fine barracks...!!"
Lieutenant Colonel Rockheart bit his lip hard. His face was visibly flushed with anger at a single glance.
"Get to the battalion commander's office right now!"
He turned around sharply and left the scene. Watching his retreating figure, I was completely resigned to my fate.
Haha, I'm screwed.
"Damn it."
Facilities Management Officer Debra Bennett frowned.
She had been about to enjoy a nice afternoon nap after finishing her morning work, but she was forcibly dragged out upon hearing that the building's exterior wall had collapsed.
At first, she thought the external supply warehouse they had roughly patched up last week had collapsed, but... the building that had fallen was the old officers' quarters next to the main building.
"How did this collapse? The building was old, but it passed the facility safety inspection just last month, didn't it?"
"Ah, about that. It's not a problem with the building; it was because of magic."
Debra Bennett propped her forehead with her hand. There was only one person in the entire battalion capable of collapsing a perfectly fine building's exterior wall with magic.
"Is it Bell again?"
Bell Mayer of the 5th Platoon. Coincidentally, Debra and she were from the same city when they were young.
They used to be close, but they naturally drifted apart when they both moved to different places at the age of 15.
The two, who thought they would never see each other again, ended up reuniting after enlisting in the army. One as an elite mage officer and the other as a troublesome mage non-commissioned officer.
"Did she break through the double-layered defense magic this time? What on earth is she thinking of doing?"
Still, out of friendship, Debra had put a magical barrier over the entire battalion building.
A double-layered protective magic.
She was confident that even if Bell Mayer went on a rampage, the building would remain safe amidst the bombardment of countless spells...
Was it still not enough?
However, the words that came from a soldier in the same facilities management section were unexpected.
"It wasn't Sergeant Bell. It was that squad leader."
"What?"
"The new squad leader of the 5th Platoon, ma'am."
Debra quickly traced her memories.
The officer with blonde hair she had been seeing often around the battalion lately. So that was the 5th Platoon Leader?
As if she had finally remembered, Debra clapped her hands, and immediately a word from her subordinate flew at her.
"Ma'am, you really seem like you're from another unit. He's the hottest topic in our battalion right now."
"You know better than anyone how busy I am."
Due to the nature of her facilities management job, Debra Bennett had to move around outside more than staying in her department office.
So, she hadn't had a chance to hear the latest gossip from within the battalion.
"Well, but I guess he is hot. He even caused a Mana Rampage. If I remember correctly, his face was quite handsome."
"Ooh~ What's that? I've got a good feeling abou... Cough!?"
Debra brought her fist down like a hammer on the head of the soldier who was getting overexcited. The soldier, who had been hit out of nowhere, collapsed on the spot.
"Aaargh!! Ma'am! You just gave me a lump on my head!!"
"You deserved it, you punk. What do you mean you have a 'good feeling'? Don't you feel it too? He's handsome, sure, but... he feels a little off."
"Oh! I know what you mean. He feels a bit alien, doesn't he? So it wasn't just me?"
Cold and rigid.
Just a brief encounter was enough to know he wasn't the type you'd want to get close to.
How should I put it. He seems like he'd be a reliable subordinate, but as a superior or a colleague, he just feels incredibly uncomfortable.
"Well, since he caused such a big accident, he's probably getting an earful from the battalion commander right now."
"Just as expected, he was dragged away immediately."
"Hehehe, I knew it."
Debra shrugged and swept her hand over the collapsed rubble. At that moment, she sensed something was wrong.
"Wait a minute."
"Did you say something?"
"Did you happen to hear what kind of magic that squad leader used?"
"I couldn't hear properly. According to Sergeant Lumia, it was Flame Buster..."
"What?! That's impossible! What Flame Buster!"
Even though she held the title of Facilities Management Officer, Debra was still a proper mage. She was on the verge of being promoted to Captain.
That was why she knew just how powerful Flame Buster was.
If it had been a real Flame Buster, it wouldn't have just neutralized the double-layered protective magic she had set up; it would have brought the building down right then and there.
"This isn't Flame Buster."
"Then what is it?"
Debra meticulously examined the collapsed debris. She was a mage specialized in the 'Red' attribute, particularly in the color red, among the five elements.
In other words, if it was a fire-related spell, there was no way she wouldn't know it.
The flow of mana, the color of the remaining mana, the way the explosion was delivered, and the shape of the debris that flew out from the impact.
Putting everything together, the magic the problematic squad leader had used was indeed fire-elemental.
"But this mana pattern is..."
After checking several times, the answer was the same. The pattern was incredibly similar to Flame Buster, but its power and the difficulty of its manifestation were unparalleled.
Fire Ball.
The lowest-grade basic magic among the red spells.
No wonder Sergeant Lumia Blue mistook it for Flame Buster.
But here was the problem.
'He broke through my double-layered protective wall with that? With just a Fire Ball?'
It was impossible. But if it wasn't that, there was no other explanation.
If he really did break through the double-layered protective magic with a Fire Ball... that meant he was at least a 1st-class Red mage.
A 1st-class Red mage.
The bare minimum benchmark for a regular mage to even compete with an Archmage.
'A Second Lieutenant who just graduated from the military academy?'
Debra shot up from her seat and quickly headed for the main building. The soldier who was gathering the debris called out to her urgently.
"Ma'am?!"
"You can keep cleaning up by yourself. I'll be right back."
"Where are you going?!"
Debra's eyes sparkled.
"The battalion commander's office."
"Don't you have anything to say in your defense?"
"I'm sorry. I don't even intend to make an excuse. This is entirely my responsibility."
"Hah...! The 2nd Company Commander gave you a good evaluation, and you seemed so motivated, so I trusted you!!"
Lieutenant Colonel Rockheart shouted, tapping his desk with his finger. It was the moment the tower he had painstakingly built for a week was destroyed by a single Fire Ball.
It didn't matter anymore whether there had been a defense magic spell on the wall. The fact that he couldn't control his magic was true, and the fact that he had collapsed the barracks wall was also true.
"This is destruction of government property! Do you have any idea how serious this offense is?!"
"I'm sorry."
Wasn't the battalion commander someone who cherished the battalion's landscaping to a fault? Of all things, he had to hit the sensitive spot of a building collapse.
"I will be reporting this case straight to the disciplinary committee, so you better know that!"
"Yes, I understand."
"Damn it! I knew this would happen. The training officer's evaluation wasn't wrong after all."
My heart was pounding. Is it arrhythmia? No, I'm just stressed right now.
Thinking about it, isn't this a bit much? No one got hurt, the building didn't collapse, and that building was completely abandoned in the first place, wasn't it?
This is starting to piss me off.
Just being dragged into the game itself was absurd enough, and the squad they assigned me to was completely trash.
During the week I've been here, the battalion hasn't done a single thing to make it easier for me. I had to handle all the paperwork myself.
And on top of that, it wasn't even supposed to be my job in the first place. Why should I have to clean up the mess left by the previous squad leader who ran away without handling things properly?
"Hey, you, Kim Jin-hyuk, you retard. Do it properly, I said. You should be doing it even if I don't tell you to."
An irritating voice echoes in my head.
The battalion commander started pointing his finger at me. A sudden tinnitus flared up, and I couldn't make out what he was saying.
Ah, I'm craving nicotine.
I want to smoke.
I fidgeted with my hands and brought them to my pocket.
At that moment, my head spun. My vision suddenly went white, and the strength left my legs.
"Cough...!"
I couldn't breathe. My consciousness started to fade. I tried to cough, but my mouth wouldn't open.
"Wha, wha-what's wrong all of a sudden?"
"Glory to the Fatherland! Battalion Commander, it's the Facilities Management Officer!"
Thud.
From my fading vision, a voice that wasn't the battalion commander's could be heard.
"Huh?"
"5th Platoon Leader? 5th Platoon Leader!!"
The last thing I saw was the face of the battalion commander rushing towards me in a panic, and then the world turned upside down.