Frog in the Well: All Clear
Three years or so since I, Yura Konstantia, enlisted. If I'd enlisted due to illness, I'd be nearing discharge by now. So yeah, I could confidently say I'd gained some experience and gotten used to military life. My official rank had advanced even if my acting rank was still lieutenant, and... most importantly, I'd gotten a junior. I gazed at the woman before me. A lieutenant with mint-green bobbed hair and a face still full of youthful innocence. Every time she stared right through me, just like I'd done to my seniors, it really drove home that I finally had a junior of my own.
Of course, what crossed my mind even more was how disappointing it was that the imperial army officer uniform was so thick. If it were just a bit thinner, I could've savored the thrill of whether she'd notice I was going braless or not.
"Lieutenant Duimorie."
"Yes, ma'am!"
...Yeah. I know. That's pretty damn crazy. But there's a reason I can't help thinking such twisted thoughts.
"The seniors haven't been hazing you too harshly lately, have they?"
"No, ma'am! They're all treating me great!"
"...How the hell did that happen?"
No, seriously—where did my Eden go, leaving only this wholesome advanced barracks behind? A genuine sigh slipped through my lips before I could stop it. You guys weren't like this. You were the devil seniors who spanked with drumsticks and made us strip and dance!
Of course, I couldn't be the baby forever. So I'd prepared various schemes for when a junior arrived... But who would've thought they'd arbitrarily decide I was one of them before she even showed up and stop the harsh treatment on their own?
"It's all thanks to you, Lieutenant Konstantia!"
"...What do you mean, thanks to me?"
"No need to be modest. I still vividly remember you stepping up to take my punishments for me!"
Exactly. That was my strategy for when the junior arrived. So I prayed for someone good-hearted but hopelessly sloppy at her duties. Well, that was to prepare for when they'd shift their hazing to the new baby instead of me—but I hadn't exactly planned for her arriving after they'd already backed off me...
Still, to score some "rewards," I had to squirm like this, right? In fact, early on when this Lieutenant Duimorie was still struggling to adjust, it actually bore some fruit. And naturally... the seniors reflected like, "Did she hate the hazing that much?" while the junior woke up like, "I can't just stand by after she did that much for me." That development wasn't in my plans at all.
No, really—at this point, doesn't the world have it out for me? How do people change like this?
"Ugh, anything but this... I never thought Lieutenant Shtain would change too..."
Letizia Shtain, you... Yeah, you above all shouldn't do this to me! You were the trash senior who took out your frustrations on juniors because your own skills weren't improving! Sure, you'd promoted from second lieutenant to captain in both acting and official ranks... but losing your edge like this and turning over a new leaf? What the hell?
"Um... Lieutenant Konstantia?"
"Yes. Speak."
"Well, uh... Lieutenant Shtain never did anything to me from the start."
Oh, right. I nodded.
"So when I said 'changed,' I meant before you arrived, Lieutenant Amy Duimorie. Her attitude toward juniors flipped overnight at some point."
"...Can I ask one more question?"
"Go ahead."
I nodded, and Lieutenant Duimorie hesitated before continuing cautiously.
"I heard you took a sword strike for Lieutenant Shtain before I got here!"
"...Well, first off, it wasn't a sword."
"Ah, sorry! But still... isn't it normal not to badmouth someone who went that far for you...?"
Damn. Hurling facts at me like a coward, despite being the junior. If you're gonna come at me, bring slander, incitement, and fabrications loaded with abuse.
But... you can't make reality go away by averting your eyes. And even if I went back in time, I wouldn't choose differently. If that hit had landed squarely on Shtain's head as intended, she'd be dead. It was better for someone sturdier like me—who could also dodge vitals—to step in.
"...What? You two gossiping behind my back now?"
"...! N-No, ma'am!"
Speak of the devil. The proverb exists everywhere, even in this world's empire—though the wording gets translated into my ears, so I have no idea the original phrasing...
Anyway, that devil appeared with her usual scowl.
"Long live His Imperial Majesty."
"Hey, I told you no salutes in the barracks."
"Earlier, you ordered salutes to superiors every time. So I figured that was just personal preference and stuck to imperial army protocol as much as possible."
I calmly placed my hand over my heart. She furrowed her brow even more at my attitude and sighed.
"You stubborn ass."
"I'll correct it."
"Bullshit. I've never seen you correct it."
Then, as if giving up, Shtain returned the salute. I keep stacking up the unlikeability in hopes she'll eventually lash out someday.
"Here."
"Uh... thanks. What's this?"
"Snacks I bought on dispatch. Take some, baby."
"Thank you!"
...It could happen, right? Even if she's doing stuff she never would've dreamed of before, like buying treats for juniors on outings... I trust in our fellow senior's rotten personality.
"Oh, right. Yura, drop that and head to the commander's office."
"Commander Eski Jeongnyeong is calling?"
"Yeah. No idea what for, but she said bring you quick."
"Understood. Long live His Imperial Majesty."
"Yeah, long live."
I saluted Shtain and left promptly. No clue what it was about, but probably not a big deal. With recent disputes wrapping up, the 2nd Combat Military Band had some breathing room. Even Shtain had gone on dispatch for something minor like consulting on new instruments.
When I first joined, we were on constant standby with tight outing restrictions... So yeah, nothing serious. If it were urgent, Shtain would've looked panicked dragging me there.
So I figured it was just some errand and...
"Lieutenant Konstantia, you're going on long-term dispatch to the academy."
"Pardon?"
Yura Konstantia, lieutenant. Three years in isekai life and military service. Sudden party exile crisis.
×
The Imperial Academy. When people just say "the academy," they usually mean that one. Like how in English you'd capitalize it or slap a "the" in front—it's the archetype, the original.
The academy trains personnel equivalent to imperial army knights. It translates as "knight" in my ears, but... they don't ride horses. So it's distinct from cavalry. Probably just a name for "troops with overwhelming combat power beyond regular infantry."
Yeah. Overwhelming combat power. This is a world with aura and magic. Individuals can reach absurd peaks of personal strength. A single soldier gripping a sword could perform like a tank—or tactical/strategic weapon. Naturally, maximizing and exploiting such asymmetric power is every nation's priority. Raising the baseline is good, but boosting the ceiling is essential for military growth.
The academy was a quasi-military facility founded for that purpose.
"But why me...?"
"You think I should go instead at my rank?"
"N-No, that's not what I meant..."
"Just kidding." Eski Jeongnyeong muttered and trudged off. Sunlight filtering through the window cast shadows across the room. The dark elf's pointed ears made her silhouette look like she was wearing a brimmed hat.
She gazed out the window with hands behind her back, then glanced back at me.
"They need a military bandsman to assist with magic lecture practicals. Faculty... or whatever you call them. Anyway, it's the academy—everyone from TAs to staff has to be top elite."
"Even so, don't we have... Wait, one question?"
"Shoot."
"Isn't Colonel Bultgen already on staff there as a military bandsman?"
I recalled one face. Perfect credentials and flawless skills. She'd bragged last time I bumped into her about teaching a crucial first-year mandatory course. So why ignore such a star and look outside? Especially since she was an excellent bandsman, mage, and educator.
"The union kingdom's third princess is enrolling as a friendly gesture."
"Ah, then no choice."
But that realization faded quick. I nodded reflexively at the explanation.
"Man... she's great otherwise, but that East Continent hatred..."
As Eski said, she was near-perfect... except for being a fucking racist, her one fatal flaw. She'd badmouth average East Continent students behind their backs, but one discriminatory word to a friendship-enrollment princess? Instant political disaster. And I knew the colonel wouldn't hesitate to swing at a foreign princess.
Couldn't leave her be. At least for the three years until the union princess graduates, better swap her out.
"Still, does it have to be pulling from our unit?"
There were other skilled bandsmen elsewhere. Just syncing student beats—did they need to yank from the imperial special forces?
"You didn't know that far?"
"Know what?"
"Colonel Bultgen also assisted graduating class magic combat lectures."
"Graduating class...? ...Oh."
Graduating class meant third-year lectures. My mouth slowly dropped as I processed.
"Second Princess is surely..."
"Turning third-year this year. Need at least an imperial direct unit dispatch to match minimum rank. And..."
And? Something else? I waited curiously.
"Plus, Groomha County's heir is enrolling too."
"Wha... did I mishear?"
"You heard right. I doubted my ears at first too."
Self-styled Groomha Empire, but... our empire doesn't recognize their title, rank, or independence—calls 'em Groomha County.
"Heir-age for academy means the eldest daughter, but why send the successor here... Putting that aside, high command approved?"
"Yeah. They argued if you treat them as imperial county nobility, they qualify as such. No counter."
"Uh-huh..."
Logically sound. Politically, great for the empire. The pains-in-the-ass who couldn't settle a country name were kneeling first.
But neither I nor Eski relaying it could wipe the unease from our faces.
"...Do those barbarians even have that level of judgment?"
"...Imperial family's confused too."
If you're treating us as vassals, we'll take vassal rights. Not complex politics. But from foes whose diplomacy was "You piss me off—smash!" till recently? Different story.
Cool "Empire" pretenders who flexed brute force. Battlefolk so damn strong they'd survived without "physical etiquette lessons." As someone from a past life scarred by colonial history, calling other cultures "barbaric" grated... but Groomha County really fit no other word.
"Means at least one in county leadership with political savvy now."
"Big problem?"
"Why wouldn't it be? Monsters without brains, now rolling heads too."
Upper brass probably half-panicking. Eski chuckled like a joke.
"So monitoring that county miss is your role too."
"...Dispatching to our 2nd Combat Military Band specifically means I can take that as 'that kind' of order?"
"Pretty much. If she acts subversive post-enrollment, ignore politics—suppress her. His Majesty directly ordered no restraint if justified."
"Understood."
I nodded silently. Soldier's gotta soldier. Especially with this careful "not just anyone" explanation.
...But meant no seniors for a while. The thought depressed me a bit.
Not discharge, but maybe a group commemorative spanking at the end?
...Pipe dream, of course. I boarded the academy train with not a single handprint on me.
The harshness of modern society, forgetting to give neighbors grace. A day I felt that chill to my bones.