novelraw Chapter 12 : Chapter 12
Chapter 12 : Chapter 12
༺ 𓆩 Chapter 12 𓆪 ༻
「Translator — Creator」
᠃ ⚘᠂ ⚘ ˚ ⚘ ᠂ ⚘ ᠃
Lieutenant Colonel Kotzel Dorman.
Major Arditi Günther.
Lieutenant Colonel Ain Krieg.
The three of them had little in common.
If one insisted on finding a link, it was simply that they had once been classmates at the Military State’s Specialist Officers’ Academy.
‘Of course, they had never actually crossed paths in any meaningful way.’
Even among Knight officers, this was not the sort of place where everyone became friendly simply for wearing the same uniform. The Military State was a society where one’s worth as a soldier stood above all else. Even the imperial family, born with the proverbial diamond spoon in their mouths, could see their rights of succession thrown into jeopardy if they lacked military talent.
‘As for the nobility, it went without saying.’
There had even been rare cases where an incompetent, militarily untalented heir had lost his title to an illegitimate sibling whose martial ability was overwhelming.
It was, in every sense, a country ruled by soldiers.
For nobles desperate to preserve their titles, or commoners dreaming of overturning their lot in life, the academy was a brutal world of survival of the fittest.
“In a place like that, who’d like Krieg? A ruined ducal house. Even taking him in as a son-in-law would mean stepping on the Sentinel family’s toes.”
Cold as it sounded, that was how Ain Krieg, and indeed, every Krieg before him, had been regarded at the academy.
Once, there had been powerful families naïve enough to be lured by the hollow prestige of the ducal title, attempting to use it as a stepping stone, by marriage, perhaps, hoping to climb the ranks through a union with the ducal line.
It had never taken long for them to learn the truth i.e., the Sentinel family did not permit such attempts.
‘Anyone who had tried to use House Krieg for their own gain had been erased, one way or another, by the Sentinels.
Was it three Count families that had collapsed in the process? He couldn’t quite remember. In any case, the man before him, Kotzel Dorman, wasn’t exactly ordinary either.
“The Günther family’s been a vassal to House Krieg for generations. Well, thanks to that, they managed to go down together.”
Even so, the Günthers had fared a little better than the Kriegs. Compared to their prime, they had fallen far, but at least they still had the tattered shell of something that could be called a noble house.
And the Kriegs?
There was nothing left to say.
No house. No wealth. No rank as a marshal. All that remained was the empty title of Duke, worth nothing, and the obligation to serve at the Vanargand Ironblood Fortress.
Feeling, for whatever reason, a wash of sadness, Ain Krieg bit down on another mana cigarette to shake it off and continued.
“Still, I’ll give you credit for courage. Chasing after a young lady of the Günther family, a Krieg branch family, when you’re a child of the Sentinel faction.”
"......That's ancient history. It was already more than seven years ago."
“And does that make it as if it never happened?”
Whether one liked it or not, a man’s worth, and how he was perceived, was often decided by the judgments of those who remembered him.
“Maybe that’s why Sentinel sent you to a dead-end post like this. The eldest son of the Dorman family, one of the top five vassal houses, no less.”
"That's...... Hah. Forget it. Let's just get to the point, Ain Krieg."
Kotzel Dorman shook his head, as if to say he would no longer be drawn into Ain Krieg’s words.
There was a certain pleasure in needling him, and Ain would have liked to drag it out a little longer. But as Dorman had said, time was precious for them both, so Ain moved on to the point the man wanted to hear.
“Restore all the supply shortages up to now, and send me some new recruits.”
“…Goddamn it. You think that’s even possible?”
The first demand, Dorman had already anticipated. The second, however, was little more than a death sentence.
"The former is obviously your job to do, and strictly speaking, the latter isn't impossible either, is it?"
Ain’s black eyes, carrying that familiar foreboding glint, blinked lazily, as if he were simply here to collect something that was already his.
And damn it all, when it came to supplies, he wasn’t wrong.
So Dorman could only scowl, mute as a man with a mouth full of honey, and listen to whatever else Ain decided to throw at him.
“I heard there was a mass desertion in one of the engineering battalions under the 10th Corps. I heard it was about fifty men."
A large-scale desertion rarely seen in the Military State's history.
The reason was simple.
Some noble who'd risen to platoon leader by bribing the Sentinel family had apparently made their lives utterly miserable.
“And the commander of the 10th Corps happens to be the head of House Dorman. That must be giving your side some headaches.”
For once, Kotzel Dorman’s expression turned serious. He bit down on his cigar and sank into thought.
…As much as it irritated him, the bastard was right.
He'd heard there was much deliberation about how to handle the detained platoon from the recent mass desertion.
'But if we send those men to the Cerberus Brigade, would the Sentinel family tolerate it?'
He didn't know. It was only fifty men, after all.
There was a high possibility the Sentinel family would think it not worth their attention, but what if they did care?
In the end, he had no choice but to give the best answer he could for now.
“It’s not something I can decide on my own. Give me a few days.”
“Fine.”
Ain grinned as though he had expected that answer all along, and the sight of it made Dorman’s gut twist. He exhaled a sigh laced with smoke.
"The overdue supplies. I have to give them. But I can't issue everything that's been delayed all at once. Let's do it in the form of additional provisions over six months."
“That won’t do.”
“Ain Krieg!”
Wasn't this going too far, even for him?
He ground his teeth at the thought.
However, Ain Krieg responded to his call with an utterly cold smile.
“What is it, Lieutenant Colonel Dorman?”
With the glowing tip of his third mana cigarette already burning, he fixed a quiet gaze on Kotzel Dorman, who had just risen abruptly from his seat.
Then, with a sly, unreadable smile, he murmured,
“You neglect the duties that are yours to perform, and yet you show me this kind of discourtesy?”
A cold, faintly strange air drifted between them.
At last, reality seemed to sink in for Kotzel Dorman. He let out a long sigh, sank back into his chair, and muttered,
"......You know. That I'm not the one who touched the supplies. I'm just in a position where I have to do what I'm told."
“I know that perfectly well.”
“Then cut me some slack! No matter if you’re a brigade commander now, if I send that much in one shipment, I’m finished! Goddamn it!”
A thin connection from their academy days, coupled with the pressing weight of reality, had him begging for mercy.
Ain Krieg gave a quiet, derisive laugh.
To some, his reaction might have seemed strange. From a certain perspective, the one holding the power here was Kotzel Dorman. After all, why would the eldest son of House Dorman, wagging his tail for the Sentinel family, be cornered by a man from House Krieg?
The answer was simple.
'The Intelligence Bureau was the right choice.'
The side benefits of risking his life to choose the Intelligence Bureau as his commission post had been quite worthwhile.
Ain Krieg steadily gazed at Kotzel Dorman, who was looking at him with desperate eyes, then buried himself in the sofa and spoke playfully as if whispering.
“By the way, how’s Freya these days?”
“............”
Kotzel Dorman’s face flushed scarlet.
Anger. Embarrassment. Shame.
If there were a single expression that could contain all of those emotions at once, it would have looked exactly like that.
But Ain was in no hurry to let the pressure drop. Instead of stopping, he pressed on, slowly, deliberately.
“You let yourself be taken in by a Pontus Archipelago spy and spilled Sentinel secrets without a fight. Kotzel, I’d say you ought to be more careful around women.”
Strictly speaking, that had been the first real point of contact between them. At the academy, they had done little more than pass each other in the halls once or twice.
“I should have known back when you confessed to Major Günther at the academy.”
“…Stop.”
“Oh no, that’s not the answer I’m looking for.”
“Damn it. Fine, take it. Take it all!”
In the end, Kotzel Dorman had no choice but to raise the white flag.
It was inevitable.
The matter with Arditi Günter or pushing through the supplies could be passed off as just a tiny incident.
But matters related to Freya?
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say his life was at stake.
'The Sentinel family doesn't tolerate mistakes.'
It was one of the reasons they were called the Ironblood House.
And Kotzel Dorman, who had grown up in frequent contact with them, knew this better than anyone….
….that if this ever came to light, it would mean a one-way trip to the Srenlople National Military Prison, at best.
In the end, he had no choice but to take the path with at least some hope of survival.
“A wise decision, Lieutenant Colonel Dorman. How wonderful it would be if everyone in the world was as reasonable as you?"
Well, wasn't it more that he liked weaknesses that made threats effective rather than being reasonable?
That thought flashed through his mind, but Kotzel Dorman swallowed it down with effort.
"Here. These are the documents I've organized regarding the overdue supplies, so refer to them and send everything without discrepancies. Ah, when can you send those troops?"
"It'll take at least a week. I need to persuade my father first, after all."
"Well, I'll show some consideration for that too."
"......I'm moved to tears by your kindness."
He always thought this, but behind that sly and languid face, there was surely a rotten, festering snake.
As if proving it, the snake tattoo biting its own tail that appeared slightly whenever he held the cigarette with his right hand was particularly irritating.
As the conversation between the two reached its conclusion, Ain Krieg tapped his cigarette into the ashtray and rose from his seat.
“Then I’ll trust you to it. This was pleasant, Lieutenant Colonel.”
“................”
Dorman didn’t bother to answer this time. They were of equal rank, and refusing a reply was hardly a grave breach of etiquette, and this much resentment was his right.
Ain seemed to know it, too.
He only gave a slight shrug and started for the door.
“Oh, I almost forgot.”
However, just as he grasped the door handle.
"I'm telling you this in case it might help persuade your father or the Sentinels."
Ain spoke the next words as if they were nothing of consequence.
“Around the Vanargand Ironblood Fortress, Dual Number. Number 98. Reaper of Ash, was spotted. Just so you know.”
Then he opened the door, even giving a little wave as he stepped out into the hall.
But inside, Kotzel Dorman, who had been trying to soothe a pounding headache with cigar smoke, let the cigar slip from his fingers, his face gone slack.
“…What… what did you say was spotted?”
His already overworked mind tangled on itself, though only for a moment; then the meaning behind Ain’s words struck him, and he blurted out, no, screamed—
“A-Adjutant! Adjutant, get in here!”
Clatter—!!!
His adjutant rushed in, startled, only to be cut off as Dorman barked orders.
“Get that report sent up immediately. No, forget it, I’ll send it myself. You check the spare supply stores. And also—”
“Sir? What… what is going on?”
Meanwhile, at that same moment—
“..............?”
Waiting further down the corridor for Ain to emerge, Arditi Günther heard the sudden commotion from inside the office and glanced at Ain as he stepped out.
“…What exactly did you just tell him?”
Her half-lidded eyes studied him, but Ain only gave a single shrug in reply.
“Who knows? I simply fought fair, and with facts.”
After all, he hadn’t lied.
END σϝ CHAPTER