Surviving on the Northern Front with Gukbap

Chapter 95 : Calm Before the Storm (6)

Calm Before the Storm (6)

*

The thought, 'I've won,' lasted only a split second.

'Le...gion?'

A petite figure with red twin-tails.

The face of an adorable girl appeared.

― You have a fine fellow there. Would you not like to spar with me?

That was Legion, whose appearance utterly contradicted her rough Northern way of speaking.

― May Aureon's gaze fall upon you, Ian.

And yet, that same face now appeared in someone I'd never have imagined.

'Why does the helmet woman's face look exactly like Legion's?'

Cute, compact features and even the red hair. Except for the short haircut, it was Legion's likeness to a tee.

For a moment, I thought they might be twins,

but Zaiya was about my height—not something one would expect for twins.

Legion wasn't even 160cm tall,

making nearly a 20cm difference with Zaiya.

'So, sisters then?'

That seemed much more likely.

There are plenty of cases where siblings, not twins, look almost identical.

As I let my deduction run, someone slid in with a chaak and instantly re-helmeted Zaiya.

"......"

It was Ricky.

He stood low between the unconscious Zaiya and me, glowering at me.

A vivid bloodstain marked his left forearm.

Drip, drip. Blood fell drop by drop.

'So he didn't completely dodge it.'

It had been a long time since I'd used Hunting Time with a kitchen knife, so I'd messed up my strength control.

'Now he'll be even more annoyed with me.'

That foul-mouthed guy would be coming to the cooking platoon soon.

I could already visualize the rough and tumble future with him, making me uneasy.

But what's done is done. No point dissecting causes.

Time to do damage control.

"Glad it's nothing too serious."

It was meant as a kind of comfort, but Ricky just ground his teeth harder,

and whether he liked it or not, I decided to cut to the core.

"Can you explain Zaiya to me?"

The reply, though, didn't come from Ricky.

"...... Did you see?"

The helmet woman shook her head and straightened up as she spoke.

I couldn't tell if Zaiya was just that tough, or if my fists were just that weak.

'Come to think of it, Evan, too, woke up quickly after I knocked him out.'

... Maybe I should start using kicks instead of punches from now on. As I considered this, Ricky finally spoke.

"That bastard looked like he recognized your face."

"... Is that so."

Chills ran down my spine at those words.

Officially, Legion and I were complete strangers.

'But then, I reacted after seeing Zaiya's face.'

One could say it was my mistake, but I honestly felt wronged.

I'd been fighting special ops to find Legion,

and if one of them turned out to look just like Legion, wouldn't anyone be surprised?

'Frankly, I'm amazed I didn't scream out loud.'

Lost in these tangled thoughts,

Zaiya propped up with her spear to stand.

She still seemed dazed and wobbled slightly,

but the glint in her gaze, visible through her helmet, was sharp.

"You. How do you know the captain's face when you've always been in Granfen?"

I worked my brain at full speed, careful not to let it show at this pointed question.

'How I answer here matters. A wrong move and there's no turning back.'

It was said Legion had been murdered.

In this situation, me knowing what she looks like would only invite misunderstanding.

'In the extreme, I could be accused of conspiring in Legion's assassination.'

I involuntarily swallowed dryly when—

"Corporal Ricky! Corporal Zaiya!"

A new voice made me turn my head.

A special ops soldier came running up.

"There's a call for you from the battalion commander... Huh?! Are you hurt?!"

After surveying the situation, the special ops soldier seemed to conclude I was at fault, and took on a wary stance.

I'm getting tangled up before my stint as acting Special Investigator has even begun, damn it.

"What's he calling us for?"

Ricky asked.

"He didn't say, but he told me to fetch you two immediately."

Though the special ops soldier's voice was still urgent,

it seemed Ricky and Zaiya were reluctant to leave me here.

'They probably don't want to leave me alone now.'

So I made the modern man's proposal.

"Tonight, when the moon is high, please come to my shop."

Operation 'Set Up a Second Meeting.'

If things don't resolve, the right way is to set a new deadline and reconvene.

"How about we talk again then?"

When I pressed, Ricky and the helmet woman exchanged meaningful looks.

Both were 3rd-rank; Brain Voice wouldn't work for them,

so maybe they understood each other by gaze alone.

"Alright. But only if you keep everything that happened here a secret."

Now, by linking Zaiya's offer with Ricky's hasty re-helmeting her, I gleaned new information.

'Zaiya's face must be confidential.'

Frankly, I was glad for a confidentiality agreement.

It meant news that I knew Legion's face wouldn't spread.

"Agreed."

I vowed to come up with a scenario to wring all necessary information out of those two by tonight, and stepped aside.

Soon after, zaiya left the training ground hobbling, supported by Ricky...

'What's with those guys.'

The other officers in the training ground were all staring at me like I was a zoo monkey.

Especially Pab—his expression was the funniest. As soon as the special ops soldiers left, he ran toward me.

"Ian, platoon leadeer!!"

"Yes?"

He tried opening and closing his mouth, then, as if resolute, nodded and shouted.

"I'd like to learn from you. Please teach me!"

That was the cue for distant platoon leaders, who'd been watching from afar, to shout and approach.

"Me too!"

"I was here first! I asked first!"

"Please teach me swordsmanship, Ian!"

All at once, I was encircled by platoon leaders and found myself in an awkward spot,

but I didn't feel bad about it at all.

'Guess I shocked them by beating those special ops corporals.'

But honestly, my own knowledge is pretty limited.

"I must apologize, platoon leaders. I only know how to swing a kitchen knife—I cannot teach swordsmanship. Please learn from your company commanders."

It was my best attempt at a polite refusal,

but they only became more desperate, shouting even more.

"Please, Ian! Don't be the only strong one!!"

"The company commanders are on a whole other level—we can't learn from them! But you're strong and still a 3rd-rank like us!"

"Teach us your training secrets!"

Honestly, I just get more meal buffs than you guys.

There's no secret training method or anything.

'I can't just offer a shortcut class like Jeros, or spar one by one, either.'

As I was about to refuse again, one platoon leader's shout stabbed straight into my ear.

"Are you maybe secretly doing a training method that only exists in your world, Ian?"

Pab scolded him, "Hey! You still think Ian's an outsider?" but my thoughts naturally drifted in that direction.

'A training method from my world?'

Truth is, I had been doing exactly that.

Strength training exercises I'd learned as a soldier.

Scientifically proven workout methods.

'Oh? Ohh? If it's just the exercises I learned as a soldier?!'

Before I realized, I found myself smiling.

The thought of teaching "this" to these medieval soldiers cracked me up.

Ahem. I cleared my throat and began.

"Platoon leaders. My training method is extremely harsh—are you sure you're up for it?"

Hardly had I finished before the platoon leaders shouted in unison.

"Of course!"

"Are you kidding me?"

"I'll do anything to get stronger!"

As expected—officers of the North, obsessed with strength.

Satisfied with their resolve, I sought one last confirmation.

"I mean, are you truly prepared to endure any hardship or pain?"

My voice deepened slightly, and for a second the platoon leaders hesitated,

but soon nodded, agreeing to everything orally.

"Good. Very good."

Well, things had progressed this far—there was no backing out.

Time to show them the flavor of the modern world.

"From now on, do not make eye contact with this instructor."

Starting with Ranger PT Number 8 seemed like a good idea.

*

I discreetly asked around during PT,

and thank goodness, it seemed no one had seen Zaiya's face properly.

'Well, they'd only been watching from afar, and Ricky covered her instantly.'

So, after ordering them to do Ranger PTs 1 through 8 without mana, I returned to the shop.

"You took your time, boss?"

Of course, Plerine's pointed jab was my welcome.

Well, I couldn't argue even if I had ten mouths.

'I really was a bit late.'

I'd gotten carried away running and enjoying PT with the platoon leaders who used to hate me.

But such occasions call for a shameless boss.

"They can all manage fine even without me now."

I entered the kitchen without waiting for Plerine's reply.

"Oh! Boss, you're back?"

Dunbell, sweating over a pot, greeted me.

It had been a week since I taught Dunbell Korean food.

He'd gotten quite used to Korean cooking by now.

"Hurry up and give this a taste. Is this how it's supposed to be?"

I gave a brief answer, slipped into my apron, and approached.

Bone hangover soup with orange-tinted broth.

Slurp. I tasted it.

'It's good.'

Truly, he was my star pupil.

If we could even give buffs to customers with food this tasty, that would be perfect automatic farming.

'Hmm. Is that too greedy?'

After giving Dunbell a flaming (but complimentary) feedback, I rinsed some rice.

'Even if I can't do all food buffs, the strength buff from rice is core.'

When lunch rush began, I kept an eye on the battalion commander,

wondering if Ricky and Zaiya had reported me,

but thankfully, nothing seemed amiss.

Once the lunch rush and cleanup were done,

I sent all the employees on break and called Plerine aside, heading to the brewery where the makgeolli was fermenting nicely.

"Whew. Smells killer."

Even at my joking tone, Plerine just crossed her long arms in silence.

I guess the things I'd kept secret—what happened with the adventurers last night,

and this morning—had been bothering her.

"I called you over to tell you, you know?"

"I know."

"Then what's wrong?"

"What do you mean?"

I almost replied sharply without thinking,

but reminded myself this wasn't the time for idle chat, and calmed my emotions.

"I'm not sure where to start, hmm."

Thinking back, I hadn't told Plerine much since Clara arrived.

In the end, I decided to start with the most important point.

"Is there anyone eavesdropping nearby? Or anyone suspicious?"

At my question, with Schutmann in mind, Plerine uncrossed her long arms and shouted loudly:

"Hey, all of you! The boss wants us actually working!"

Bang, thud thud thud.

"Now, there's no one."

Haaa, these people. When I'm not around, it always ends up like this.

I'd ask later who'd been eavesdropping,

and then in a low voice, I spoke.

"The most important thing: Legion's alive."

Bzzt.

A spark shot from the bridge of Plerine's nose.

She seemed fairly shocked, but she still wasn't done.

"To survive this war, I need to find Legion, but there's a special ops corporal who looks exactly like her. That person and the foul-mouthed corporal I mentioned before are coming to the shop tonight."

Plerine snapped her fingers with a crisp snap!

It startled me, but thankfully no blue flames exploded.

Why is she so scary? Haha.

Snap!

"......"

"Boss. Sorry, but."

Her voice was so gentle it made cold sweat run down my back.

"Y-yeah?"

"Can you tell me everything in chronological order? Every single detail. Don't skip anything I don't know."

I could almost see Plerine's murderous smile beneath her blindfold.

Save me, Plere-mon.

Plerine gathered everything she knew that I didn't and everything I knew that she didn't, pooling all our knowledge together.

It felt like I'd been talking for quite a long time, but Plerine didn't interrupt even once.

"... That's all,"

I said as I finished the story, peeking at Plerine's reaction. She murmured in a chant-like voice.

"I see. So the squinty-eyed money grubber is an apprentice knight of White Fang. That unpleasant guy was a squire. No wonder."

She seemed displeased that I hadn't told her everything earlier.

Fzzzt.

Sparks more intense than usual flickered in the air.

I waited for Plerine's response, who seemed lost deep in thought.

"The bottom line is this, right? We need to relay information to the battalion commander without the squire finding out. To do that, we have to find Legion so we can use a safe code. And the special ops corporal who looks just like Legion is coming tonight."

"That's correct."

"Why are you talking like that?"

"Oh, right."

I cleared my throat lightly and continued.

"So, I'd like you to help me find Legion for a while."

"How?"

"First, we'll get information from the special ops guys tonight, and then we'll use that information to try to track down Legion."

It was easier said than done; there were quite a few obstacles.

Sure enough, Plerine raised a valid point.

"What if the special ops corporals don't keep their promise?"

"No matter what, they'll want to meet me. They've got things they want to know about me, too."

These were the guys who hadn't left right away even when summoned by the battalion commander.

Since I'd used that to get them to the negotiating table, I was sure they'd come.

"But whether only two of them will really come, or whether they'll resolve things with fists instead of words, I can't tell."

I couldn't rule out the possibility of betrayal. From what I knew, medieval types weren't all that rational.

There was a chance they might change their minds and come to attack me.

Still, I wasn't particularly nervous.

From the start, I was stronger than most special ops soldiers.

'Especially now, since I have Plerine, who knows the full story, with me.'

There was no way we'd be overpowered by force.

"Let's say, for argument's sake, boss, you got information about Legion just as you planned. Then what?"

Gck. That was a piercing question.

I was struck again by how quickly a high-circle mage's mind worked, and opened my mouth to answer.

"You're saying we're short on time?"

Plerine nodded.

As she pointed out, there were only five days left before Granfen and I had to leave for the frontline.

Meanwhile, the enemy base most likely harboring Legion—the Nest of the Red Rooster—was a three-day one-way trip from here. In other words—

'It would take at least a week just to go there, find Legion, and return.'

We were already pressed for time. But—

"That doesn't mean we should just sit around doing nothing."

"... That's true, I suppose. Hm."

Plerine scratched her chin in thought, then spoke.

"So what do you want to do, boss? Don't tell me you want me to take out Schutmann for you."

I shook my head firmly.

If a high-circle mage and a 5th-tier squire fought, Plerine would have the higher chance of winning, but—

'I can see it. Both Granfen and my shop going up in flames!'

I couldn't handle the aftermath, let alone the process.

If killing a single squire led to a knight showing up, we'd be doomed.

I shook my head, clearing that image, and spoke.

"For now, let's meet with the special ops guys tonight and see what they have to say before setting a concrete plan."

Even to me, it sounded like a plan with an uncertain future, but Plerine just smiled ruefully.

"Haaa. In the end, that's all we can do, huh?"

"You never know what comes later, but you have to do everything you can for now, right?"

Plerine let out a small laugh at my words.