I Became an Officer in Another World in Just 5 Minutes - Chapter 198
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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 198
“Today we conquered Belzium Castle and dealt an unforgettable blow to the enemy.”
The Crown Prince stood on the platform, looking out at tens of thousands of soldiers as he spoke.
“However, we too have bid farewell to ten thousand precious comrades who will never return.”
The atmosphere was heavier and more solemn than ever before.
Rather than the joy of victory, the emotion of sorrow was taking the lead.
“Due to my shortcomings, we had to pay a great sacrifice. Therefore, I will never forget this day until the moment I die.”
Rarely had the Crown Prince officially blamed himself as he continued his memorial address.
“Though their bodies have left our side, their spirit and will are carved into the name of the Lycans and will remain with us forever. May they close their eyes in peace and rest well.”
“Everyone, a moment of silence.”
After the memorial address ended, I bowed my head following the moderator’s words.
“Sob sob…!”
“Damn it, why do they have to leave so soon.”
Sounds of crying could be heard from here and there.
Memorial services are truly both cruel and noble ceremonies.
‘This isn’t my first time, but I can’t get used to this at all.’
I thought I had become indifferent to farewells.
But it seems eternal partings are still emotionally difficult.
“Rest in peace.”
I don’t know if an afterlife exists.
But if it does, I can only hope those who departed today are staying somewhere nice like a hotel.
“Phew.”
After participating in the rest of the memorial ceremony until the end, I quietly left the venue.
‘What happens now?’
The Western Expedition Army.
Obviously, this army didn’t gather just to take Belzium Castle.
‘The question is whether we’ll attack Salt Castle beyond here or not.’
Honestly, setting aside fear and hardship, I just wish we wouldn’t do it.
‘What good is having a large army when the leadership is stupid?’
This time I miraculously found a gap and managed to handle things.
If not for that, it would have been total annihilation, and there’s no guarantee this crisis won’t happen again at Salt Castle.
And most importantly.
“Sigh, I’m tired now.”
This isn’t whining – I really can’t handle much more.
“Hey, kid.”
As I was pondering when was the last time I slept more than 10 hours, I heard a familiar voice from behind.
“Lady Agnes…?”
The Imperial Knight I had met during the poison herb incident last time.
She approached with a pleased expression and…
“This bastard’s gotten pretty good, huh? Huh?”
“Aack!”
She wrapped her arm around my neck in a headlock, and I couldn’t breathe.
‘What kind of strength is this?’
I tried to break free but couldn’t budge at all, though fortunately her arm loosened just before I suffocated.
“You came up with the strategy and even killed the commander yourself – just how many achievements are you going to rack up?”
“Ha…haha, I was lucky. It came to me.”
“That was real luck indeed, but it’s also strange how weak someone who became a major general was. Getting beaten by a kid like this.”
“Well… he had a wound under his right armpit.”
“That’s hardly even an injury.”
‘No, it is an injury.’
The armpit hurts every time you move, so how is that not an injury?
Her way of thinking was seriously flawed.
“Ha…haha, but it was quite severe.”
“Really? Well, anyway, good work. That bastard Eden didn’t come?”
“No, I don’t know where, but I believe he’s gone somewhere else.”
“He’s probably working hard somewhere again.”
He’s probably making someone else work hard rather than working himself, but there’s no need to argue.
“But shouldn’t you be by His Highness the Crown Prince’s side? Is it okay for you to be here like this?”
“Me? I’m off duty right now. I should be sleeping, but I came to see you, kid.”
Squeeze.
She suddenly grabbed my cheek and stretched it.
“Soft and squishy – being young is definitely nice.”
“Ugh, it hurts.”
Once again, her strength control was off.
‘This woman really sees me as some neighborhood kindergartener.’
I have no idea how this image got established.
“Battalion Commander… sir?”
As I was wondering how to escape this situation.
I noticed Captain Aisa looking shocked, his voice trembling.
“Huh…? Hey, what’s wrong.”
I answered without much thought, but the reaction was strange.
“Who is that person… surely… surely…”
“What, kid. Do you have a girlfriend?”
Squeeze
She pinched my cheek while looking back and forth between Aisa and me.
‘Please let go of my face before asking such questions.’
My head is just buzzing.
“She’s not my girlfriend. Captain Aisa, let me introduce you. This person is… uh…”
How should I introduce her?
This is quite awkward.
‘Being an Imperial Knight might be classified information.’
Of course, it might not be, but when in doubt, it’s better to keep quiet.
“An acquaintance of an acquaintance?”
“Not a lover?”
“Huh…?”
What kind of crazy talk is this now?
‘A lover, seriously.’
If I dated this woman, I’d have to desperately run to dodge arrows every time we had a couple’s fight.
“Kekeke! Interesting. Our little kid.”
Agnes was laughing so hard she was holding her stomach, finding something hilarious.
Hmm, as expected, this woman is also not quite right in the head, befitting Eden’s acquaintance.
“I’m Agnes from the Imperial Knights. Military uniform definitely suits you better than a dress.”
“Ah… so you’re from the Imperial Knights. That’s how you know the Battalion Commander.”
“I’m not really interested in kids like this, so don’t worry.”
Agnes even waved her hand as if she meant it.
But this really hurt my pride.
‘What’s wrong with me?’
I hate to say this, but wouldn’t I be top husband material?
For reference, this is based on objective evaluation criteria, so I won’t accept rebuttals.
“Right?”
For some reason, Aisa seemed relieved as if she was glad about something.
Watching her, Agnes raised the corners of her mouth.
“But even if not me, our little one is going to become more popular. You’ll have some trouble ahead.”
“Me…? Why all of a sudden.”
I’m already unnecessarily popular, so what else is going to increase?
A slight headache began to come on at Agnes’s words.
“Just a feeling. Now that I’ve seen your face, I’ll be going. Little one, see you again next time.”
“Yes, please go in.”
“Oh, and His Highness the Crown Prince called for you to come to dinner tonight. I almost forgot to mention it because I was happy to see you.”
“Dinner… I understand.”
As expected, she didn’t just come to see my face.
‘Asking to eat dinner together? Really annoying.’
I wonder if they can’t just leave a person alone.
“Good work.”
Agnes, having finished all her business, left, and I turned my head toward Aisa.
“More importantly, what did you need?”
“Huh…? I was going to ask if you wanted to have dinner together, but never mind. Don’t worry about it.”
“The timing didn’t work out. Let’s eat together next time.”
Eating with Aisa would be about 10,000 times more delicious.
But refusing a meal invitation from royalty is impossible.
“But when you return, you’ll be flooded with marriage proposals, right? Since you’ve achieved merit again.”
“Huh? Marriage proposals? Well, now that I think about it, I suppose so.”
I unintentionally achieved merit.
‘I don’t know exactly how the market evaluation will turn out, but it should go up anyway.’
I can already imagine Father smiling with raised corners of his mouth.
“But I don’t really have any thoughts of marriage right now, so I’ll probably turn them all down.”
“What…? You have no thoughts of marriage?”
Was this something she never expected to hear?
Aisa showed a flustered expression.
“I might die tomorrow, so what marriage? I can’t make a wife into a widow.”
This was a thought I had clearly when magic shells were pouring down overhead.
I really don’t know when I might die.
‘It’s right not to create something like a family in an uncertain future.’
“Ah, for that reason. Then you won’t marry until the war ends.”
“Well, that’s right. Unless I fall ridiculously hard for someone.”
“Mm, that’s fine. That won’t happen anyway.”
What’s with that confident reaction?
‘It feels like swimming on waves or something.’
It was difficult to understand the true meaning behind her words.
“Uh… well, if Captain Aisa thinks so, then I guess that’s how it is.”
“Yes, that’s right. Let’s go. Everyone’s looking for the Battalion Commander.”
“Let’s do that.”
Since there was still some time left until dinner, I followed Aisa.
* * *
“Although we won, the problems that occurred in this battle must definitely be addressed.”
The Emperor’s voice didn’t sound very pleased.
Since sparks might fly, everyone held their breath and just listened.
“As written in the report, if Lieutenant Paran hadn’t directly proposed the operation to the Crown Prince, we would have suffered unbearable damage. Am I wrong, Supreme Commander?”
“No. As Your Majesty says, it was almost a disaster.”
If we hadn’t captured Belzium Castle, the atmosphere of the war would have shifted irreversibly.
“I’ll have to discuss more when the Crown Prince arrives, but in my view, the generals’ authority seems excessive compared to their abilities. What do you think?”
“That is…”
Since Bast was also one of the generals, he couldn’t easily open his mouth.
“They came up with a ridiculous operation and executed it. Of course, the Crown Prince made the final decision, but isn’t the fact that such an opinion came up in the first place a problem?”
“Yes…”
“If heads are lacking, we can fill them with smart people. I’ll employ scholars on a large scale.”
As soon as the Emperor finished speaking, the commanders’ expressions hardened.
“Do you have any complaints?”
“Your Majesty, scholars have excellent minds but are people focused on theory rather than practice. The gap with reality is large.”
“Then are you realistic people without gaps who charged thoughtlessly toward Belzium Castle?”
“That is…”
“The enemy employed a scholar-born talent named Seto Count and achieved structural improvement. I’m not saying I’ll replace everyone from the Supreme Commander down, so I don’t understand why the reaction is like this.”
The Emperor shook his head as if he couldn’t understand and tapped the desk with his finger.
“You must know how to acknowledge lacking parts to succeed. Minister Rosen knows the scholar side well, so prepare a framework.”
“Yes, I understand.”
In a way, this was content Rosen had wanted for a long time, so even though he was busy, he nodded happily.
“Next is merit evaluation, and I only see one person to put as the first-class contributor.”
You can tell just by looking at the report.
Who shone most brilliantly in this battle.
“Still, just one person… isn’t that too few?”
“Since when was being a contributor a position to fill numbers? And in my eyes, there seem to be more people who should be punished rather than rewarded. Do you think differently?”
“No. I’ll write it that way.”
Bast carefully offered his opinion, but couldn’t even break even and bowed his head.
“Lieutenant Paran will first be promoted one rank to Lieutenant Colonel, and the rest of the rewards… let’s think about it.”
Merit of a scale that couldn’t be passed over without rewards.
But since this kept happening, the Emperor’s head also ached pleasantly.
“The next topic is…”
Since capturing Belzium Castle wasn’t the end, the meeting continued long.
The Emperor, having finished dinner as well, entered his office again instead of his bedroom.
“You’ve worked hard.”
“You’ve worked harder. I even assigned you the scholar work.”
“Not at all. I’m satisfied that I can do it. It’s work I’ve been saying was necessary for a long time.”
Separation of military duties.
Rosen had been advocating this for quite a long time, but it couldn’t be achieved due to the military’s strong opposition each time.
“I’m grateful you think that way. I’ll ask this of you.”
“Yes, but if you end the first-class contributors with just Lieutenant Paran alone, what are you thinking for the rewards?”
Being the sole first-class contributor in a battle of Belzium Castle’s massive scale.
An ordinary reward would invite talk that would be worse than giving nothing.
“That’s what I’m worried about too. If it were up to me, I’d want to combine all the merit he’s accumulated so far and give him a marquis title, but that wouldn’t work, would it.”
“Yes, a marquis title for the Oclo Family won’t do.”
Rosen nodded as if agreeing.
On this point, their opinions didn’t differ at all.
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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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Why chapter 197 can’t open while the 198 can? Please fix this