I Became an Officer in Another World in Just 5 Minutes - Chapter 168
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 168
“It seems like nothing special, yet it’s frightening. They create so many bizarre and outrageous things.”
“Yes, that’s why we need to be vigilant. And it might be a smokescreen, but they say the box containing the magical devices was quite large.”
“I understand for now. As you know from past experience, magical devices are major variables, so Major General Gadus should be careful.”
【I will maintain strict vigilance and conduct multi-angle inspections to block any variables!】
Although they had won, it remained as an unpleasant memory.
Major General Gadus’s voice was filled with tension.
Thus, additional troops were dispatched to Rimircastle while reinforced security guidelines were issued to Adman Castle.
* * *
“Ugh.”
“Director! Are you alright?!”
Captain Dennis rushed over urgently after seeing me collapse on my desk.
“Captain…”
“Yes, Director.”
“Why is there so much work?”
“Oh, I thought you were going to say something else.”
“This is really a serious problem. Why do I have to do the Supply Division Director’s work too!”
It’s probably been about a month now.
Since Colonel Cotton disappeared without a trace along with the inspection investigation, and I started serving concurrently as Supply Division Director.
“Well, that’s because you, Director…”
It’s written all over his face that I’m the one who sent them all away.
Is this my fault?
It’s the fault of those who embezzled.
“I feel wronged. It’s not like I’m some cancer cell, so why is everything connected to me?”
And whether the higher-ups in the Inspection Bureau cracked down hard, too many field-grade officers disappeared during the thorough investigation.
‘Of course, the bastards who embezzled money are the problem, but at this rate, there won’t be any field-grade officers left.’
The work is insanely difficult.
But surprisingly, the officers in the Planning Division, except for me, had better morale than ever.
“Director, fighting!”
Captain Bern, who clearly worked overtime yesterday and came to work after just sleeping, yet looks full of energy.
I wonder if he’s lost his mind from being too tired, but there’s a reason for his behavior.
‘Look at him, he’s thrilled to death thinking he might get promoted.’
When field-grade officers are removed, their positions don’t disappear.
They get added to the next promotion quota, so the current supply captains are in festival mode.
“You’re saying ‘fighting’ and all. Just do your work. If you want to get promoted.”
“Haha! Of course! I’ll work my bones to the marrow!”
A high-pitched voice contrasting with his dark circles.
It’s somewhat frightening.
‘Does he want promotion that badly?’
Well, if you think of being a soldier as your career, it would be desperate.
Only by becoming a Lieutenant can your retirement age extend significantly and you can live without worrying about food.
“Anyway, the Supply Division Director needs to come quickly. Really, I’m going to die at this rate. Die.”
Colonel Cotton had a nasty personality and embezzled money, but his workload was considerable.
‘It’s not that he worked hard out of patriotism, but the Supply Division Director position is an intensive job, so he had to.’
Supplies.
Just the word alone is hopeless, and right now it’s chaotic with various items going out to Rimircastle and some Adman Castle.
‘A Lieutenant handling two Colonel positions concurrently. Even novels would fail if written like this.’
I once thought it couldn’t be helped when Siel was busy serving concurrently as Control Room Director and Acting Battalion Commander.
But now that I’m experiencing it myself, this is something that shouldn’t happen.
“Director, Rimircastle urgently requested combat equipment for 5,000 soldiers. How should we handle this?”
Captain Joseph, the Supply Operations Officer who ran over from the Supply Division, asked for my opinion.
‘Wouldn’t you know better than me?’
I wish this guy would just be the director instead of me, but captains aren’t allowed, so it was passed to me.
For reference, there was one Lieutenant in the Supply Division, but he disappeared to the Inspection Bureau along with Colonel Cotton.
‘Shit, I should have just endured it.’
I can’t hate myself more for going all the way to the Intelligence Agency to investigate just to punch Colonel Gavel once.
“How did you usually handle it?”
“Requests from Rimircastle were always processed with top priority.”
“Then we should do the same this time.”
It’s not easy for me to make judgments when I’m working concurrent positions and not skilled in the work.
“But… this came in requesting immediate processing, and the Warehouse Sergeant Major says it’s impossible.”
“The Warehouse Sergeant Major? Hmm.”
For reference, the Support Unit warehouse sergeant major is Warrant Officer Tebett, who has more seniority than even Sergeant Major Kairon.
“Is he that busy?”
“Well… he is busy, but it seems like he’s also quite angry.”
“Angry…? Don’t tell me at me?”
“Of course not.”
“Right?”
I even paid out of my own pocket to provide drinks for their physical labor, so if he hated me for that, it would be a disaster.
“Of course, it’s not completely unrelated… Haven’t there been a lot of urgent requests recently?”
“There have been quite a few.”
“That’s what made him angry. No matter how much it’s orders from above, they could organize things properly and do it right. He was saying something like ‘What do they think we are, slaves who just hand over items the moment they ask?'”
“Ah…”
I roughly understood why he was angry.
‘That is pretty annoying.’
For us, we just need to click through documents, but the people working in the warehouse have to physically retrieve those items.
And the recent increase in urgent requests.
Of course, it’s unavoidable due to enemy movements, but I also felt it was a bit excessive.
“Especially when they took out items with an urgent request yesterday that they had already received four days ago, he exploded. Why can’t they do it properly all at once?”
“So… he’s saying he can’t do it anymore?”
“Yes, it seems he declared that he can’t do normal work under these conditions.”
“That… sigh.”
I acknowledge it’s difficult.
And I acknowledge that Rimircastle has been working selfishly, only thinking about their own circumstances.
But that doesn’t mean the warehouse can be paralyzed.
‘What do I do about this?’
I can’t just go to the sergeant major and say ‘You can’t do this. Get back to work.’
‘I can tell he wants me to bring him a solution.’
Really, this damn Supply Division is supposed to be a side job, so why do these headache-inducing problems keep popping up?
Military life is definitely cursed.
“What did you usually do when things like this happened?”
“Uh… this is the first time something like this has happened. It seems like he endured and endured until he finally exploded.”
‘Damn it, if he was going to endure it, he should have endured a little longer. Or he should have exploded much earlier.’
The timing couldn’t be more shitty.
“What time did they say they’d come from Rimircastle to pick up the items?”
“In two hours.”
“Is the person in charge coming too?”
“A staff sergeant level person is coming to receive the items.”
“Tsk, there’s no point talking to someone like that. Alright, I got it. I’ll go meet with the sergeant major.”
“This is really an important matter, so please, I’m begging you.”
Captain Joseph spoke with a desperate expression and returned to the Supply Division office.
“Captain Dennis.”
“Yes, Section Chief.”
“Can’t you be the Supply Division chief instead?”
“I don’t think now is the right time.”
He flatly refused, and there’s no way he could be this heartless.
“Sigh.”
“The warehouse sergeant major is still a really good person, isn’t he? If you have a good conversation with him, won’t it work out?”
“That’s exactly why it’s more of a problem. If such a good person is acting like this, imagine how firmly he’s made up his mind.”
Unless I present a proper solution, even if it’s not a strike, he absolutely won’t do any overtime work.
And without overtime work, work paralysis is inevitable.
“Fighting!”
“Ugh, I have so much work to do. I’ll be back. I don’t think I’ll be back by lunch, so go eat when you have time.”
With heavy steps, I left the main building of the Support Unit and headed to the warehouse.
‘Looking at it again, the location here is really sweet.’
The Warehouse Management Office on the second floor of the warehouse.
It’s unfortunate that the work is hard, but just looking at the location, being separated from the main building is incredible.
‘This reminds me of when I was the Mess Hall Captain.’
The Mess Hall Captain’s office that was in the dining hall back then was also good enough to be considered the best cushy job of my life.
“After scoring points by buying snacks for the soldiers, I could even take naps with confidence. Those were really good times.”
I can’t help but miss those days.
“Phew.”
Knock! Knock!
After taking a deep breath, I knocked on the Warehouse Management Office door and opened it.
“Loyalty!”
“Loyalty!”
As soon as I entered, the soldiers sitting here and there, including on the sofa, saluted me.
“Please, make yourself comfortable. But Sergeant Major…”
“The Sergeant Major went to the restroom… ah, you’re here.”
“Loyalty.”
When I turned my head at the soldier’s response, I saw Warrant Officer Tebett, built with combat-hardened muscle.
“I heard you’ve been having a lot of trouble.”
“So it’s about that matter after all. I’m sorry, but in the current situation, we can’t pull out any more emergency supplies. The soldiers are at their limit.”
A voice filled with unbreakable determination.
I knew his resolve would be firm, but the degree was slightly higher than I expected.
“I understand. I should have paid more attention beforehand, but I was too busy and neglectful.”
First, to soften this heated atmosphere, I steered the conversation toward my own fault.
“Not at all. It’s those bastards at Rimircastle who are the problem, not your fault, Chief.”
As they say, kind words usually beget kind words in return.
The atmosphere softened slightly as I intended.
“I’ll try talking with them first. But to do that, I need to understand the situation. Could you explain it to me?”
“Of course. This isn’t just a one or two-time thing, so there’s no end to what I could say. Please, have a seat.”
“Uh… yes.”
I thought he’d say he needed time to organize his thoughts, but Warrant Officer Tebett immediately gestured toward the sofa.
Feeling a sense of foreboding, I sat down.
And at the same time, stories began pouring out like a waterfall.
“These guys treat us like they’re shopping at a mart whenever they need something. They took forty pairs of combat boots two days ago as an emergency request, and today they suddenly need three hundred pairs.”
“Also as an emergency?”
“Yes, what’s the point of having emergency requests? It’s a system made for when supplies are truly urgently needed. But they think it’s some kind of privilege and abuse it.”
Listening to him, I could roughly picture what was happening.
‘They’re doing a sloppy job of assessing requirements.’
For example, let’s say combat boots are needed.
Then common sense would be to survey the requirements for all of Rimircastle and make the request.
But right now, if the Infantry Battalion says they need thirty pairs, they make a request.
Then the next day, if the Support Battalion says they need sixty pairs, they make another request.
‘Of course they’d be angry when work that could be handled once is being split into multiple times.’
Even I probably wouldn’t have been able to stand this and would have lost my temper.
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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