I Became an Officer in Another World in Just 5 Minutes - Chapter 74

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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 74

 

“Which direction will you cut?”

 

“Do whatever. It’s all the same anyway.”

 

Words spoken as if he already knew the result.

 

To shatter that assumption, I chose the diagonal cut I was most confident in.

 

‘When it comes to fundamentals, it’s about the power to control the sword.’

 

Since he said to become one with the body, I gripped the sword tightly in my hand.

 

“Tsk tsk.”

 

Hamus clicked his tongue at that sight.

 

It was quite bothersome, but I tried not to be conscious of it as I raised my sword.

 

“Whoo.”

 

I steadied my breathing with a deep breath, and when I was ready…

 

Swoosh!

 

I cut the scarecrow following the exact path I had practiced hundreds, no thousands of times.

 

Thud.

 

Half of the scarecrow fell to the ground.

 

Even though I did it myself, it was one of my cleanest cuts.

 

‘How’s that? What do you think?’

 

Since his opinion might have changed, I focused my gaze on Hamus’s mouth.

 

“Tsk tsk, you’ve regressed instead of improving. If you’re going to use that much force, why not just fight with your fists instead of wielding a sword.”

 

Hamus clicked his tongue and raised his right hand to stroke the cross-section of the cut scarecrow.

 

“Come here and touch this.”

 

Hamus pointed to the cut surface of the scarecrow.

 

To figure out what was so wrong, I approached and stroked the cross-section with my hand.

 

“Remember that texture right now.”

 

After saying that, Hamus picked up one of the wooden swords scattered on the ground.

 

A blunt practice wooden sword with no edge.

 

As if planning to use that, he brought the wooden sword to the scarecrow.

 

‘Even his stance shows no sincerity.’

 

Standing at an angle like that, how could he possibly cut the scarecrow with a wooden sword…

 

Swoosh.

 

“Huh…?”

 

Half of the scarecrow suddenly fell to the ground.

 

‘What… what was that.’

 

It really happened in the blink of an eye.

 

Even though I was definitely concentrating, I couldn’t properly see him swing the sword.

 

“Come touch this. See what’s different.”

 

He pointed to the cross-section of the scarecrow he had cut.

 

“Y-yes, sir.”

 

Feeling stunned, I stepped forward and touched the cross-section.

 

“What is this…”

 

It was smooth.

 

Even though it was clearly made by bundling straw, the height matched perfectly as if it had been one piece from the beginning.

 

When I stroked it with my hand, there were no rough parts at all.

 

“Do you feel the difference?”

 

“Yes.”

 

If someone couldn’t tell the difference between these two, they should question their intelligence.

 

“You definitely drew the same picture in your head as me when you swung. But because your fundamentals are lacking and you can’t control the sword, you end up with that mess. Do you understand what I mean?”

 

“Y-yes, I understand.”

 

Since he demonstrated it directly, I couldn’t help but feel the inadequacy of my current fundamentals to the bone.

 

“This is your first assignment. Make it exactly like what I did. Then I’ll start teaching you swordsmanship.”

 

“Like this…?”

 

The first assignment was almost like being told to write a dissertation.

 

“Well, it’s not that difficult. Is there a problem?”

 

“It’s not that there’s a problem, but if you could tell me the method…”

 

“Huh?”

 

Hamus looked down at me with an expression of disbelief.

 

“What method is there for fundamentals? You just do it until you get it right. How much do you expect to be spoon-fed?”

 

Since it wasn’t wrong to call it fundamentals, I couldn’t really say anything more.

 

“I’m really going to sleep now, so use the remaining time to practice on your own and then leave.”

 

“What…? This is the end?”

 

41 minutes remaining.

 

So he was planning to end the lesson after teaching me for just 9 minutes.

 

“Then what more should I teach you? Someone who doesn’t even have the fundamentals.”

 

An unyielding attitude.

 

Hamus went to his spot and lay down, and this time it seemed like there was really no turning back.

 

‘Tsk, well it’s better than learning nothing at all. I should be satisfied since I learned a little.’

 

I even got a promise that he’d teach me next time, so it wasn’t a bad result.

 

“Sigh, this is difficult.”

 

I touched the cross-section of the scarecrow that Hamus had cut once more.

 

To do this, I really couldn’t shake even 0.1 centimeters, and I wondered if it was humanly possible.

 

And at the same time, one doubt arose.

 

‘No matter how I look at it, this doesn’t seem like fundamentals.’

 

It seemed like there was quite a difference between the era he lived in and now.

 

Or maybe his standards were just far removed from common sense.

 

‘Well, either way, it’s good to know how to do it.’

 

A person who had reached the highest level of swordsmanship.

 

I had just glimpsed his skill, so doubting it would be something only a fool would do.

 

“Let’s try it. Whoo!”

 

I steadied my breathing and raised my sword.

 

“Whooo.”

 

To reduce the margin of error, the most important thing to control was breathing.

 

After several attempts at steadying myself, when I felt I had stabilized…

 

Swoosh.

 

Without hesitation, I swung my sword and cut the scarecrow.

 

“Hmm.”

 

I touched the cross-section of the cut scarecrow, and while it looked somewhat better than before, it was still far from flat.

 

“You need to practice a lot more. Cut back on your sleep.”

 

Hamus was watching me again despite saying he was going to sleep.

 

Unfortunately, his words contained no helpful content.

 

‘That kind of person is a master…?’

 

*    *    *

 

“Attention! Company Commander, 1st Platoon has just returned after completing goblin horde subjugation. There were no special incidents except for one minor casualty.”

 

Sergeant Jeren, who had returned from subjugation, gave his report.

 

“Good work. You went out at dawn and must be tired, so go in and get some good rest.”

 

“Thank you. But Company Commander, you look like you need some rest first.”

 

Sergeant Jeren said this while looking at me, exhausted from fatigue.

 

Even I could see that I needed some rest.

 

“I’d like to, but there’s just so much work. Things to do.”

 

“Is it because of winter preparations?”

 

“That’s also quite a significant share.”

 

The strange phenomenon aside, fundamentally, winter—the season when monsters originally come down—had arrived.

 

‘Timing-wise, it’ll start soon.’

 

Probably by now, monsters would be fiercely fighting each other over the expanded habitats within the mountain range.

 

“And I heard that you even do personal training every day during all this. That’s truly amazing.”

 

“I’m just trying to survive. Plus, I’ve developed some stubbornness.”

 

“Stubbornness?”

 

“Just… I want to become stronger.”

 

I couldn’t bring myself to say I’d become obsessed with the cross-section of the training dummy.

 

“By the way, may I ask what happened to the mana stone that ogre left behind?”

 

Sergeant Jeren brought up the mana stone we had moved together last time.

 

‘What should I answer?’

 

Since I couldn’t reveal the truth, I had to get by with a lie.

 

“It seemed too big for me to handle, so I passed it up the chain. I don’t really know what happened after that.”

 

“I see.”

 

Sergeant Jeren showed a slightly disappointed expression.

 

‘It must be tempting. Just selling it would bring in tremendous money.’

 

It wasn’t the right mindset for a soldier, but it wasn’t incomprehensible.

 

“There’ll probably be a reward coming in, so don’t feel too disappointed.”

 

“Huh? Oh, it’s fine. I ran away scared in the first place, so what could I expect?”

 

“I appreciate you thinking that way.”

 

Really, I’ve felt this since before, but he’s such a good person.

 

“When you have time later, please come out and spar with the soldiers once. Everyone’s been properly motivated since the ogre incident.”

 

The ogre that all the platoon members witnessed.

 

Since that day, everyone has been so focused on training that the training ground hasn’t been empty during daylight hours.

 

“I’ll schedule something.”

 

“I’ll be looking forward to it. Then I’ll see you later. Loyalty.”

 

Sergeant Jeren saluted and left the company commander’s office.

 

“Another task has come up.”

 

Still, it’s fortunate that it doesn’t require much thinking.

 

“Today marks two months since I came here.”

 

Looking at my military life so far, it’s about time to transfer, but not this time.

 

‘The problem hasn’t been resolved, and since it’s winter, they’ll probably keep me here until spring.’

 

Personally, even though the work is somewhat difficult, I’m satisfied because it’s a good environment for training.

 

Knock knock.

 

“Lieutenant Aisa here.”

 

While I was buried in paperwork, Lieutenant Aisa’s voice came from outside the door.

 

“Come in.”

 

As soon as the brief permission was given, Aisa opened the door and entered.

 

In her hands was a pile of new documents.

 

“What’s that?”

 

“It’s the settlement details for the profits from monster subjugation over the past month. I’ve checked it once, but please review it and sign.”

 

“Oh, has it already been a month?”

 

Monster corpses have much higher value than regular livestock.

 

Therefore, after conducting a subjugation, quite a bit of profit comes out, and the platoon members receive 50% of it as incentives.

 

‘It’s the 7th Division’s greatest merit.’

 

With so many monsters coming down lately, if I remember correctly, the lowest-ranking private in the company received 30 gold last month.

 

For reference, my first salary as a lieutenant was 19 gold.

 

“I’ll review it and sign it by the end of today.”

 

“Please do.”

 

Lieutenant Aisa placed the thick bundle of documents on one side of the desk.

 

‘Since Aisa already checked it, I’ll just sign it later.’

 

This kind of thing is just about trust.

 

“And.”

 

Lieutenant Aisa paused and looked around.

 

“There’s no one here, so just speak.”

 

That was a kind of habit and precaution she had before talking about Intelligence Agency matters.

 

“Lieutenant Orpia said to come to the base by 2 PM tomorrow.”

 

“She set a specific time?”

 

“Yes, that’s right.”

 

“Hmm.”

 

Usually it’s either “come when you have time” or “get over here right now,” so this was quite unexpected.

 

‘Usually the end of such variables is always a bad ending.’

 

It’s a sad fact that can’t be helped.

 

“Are you coming with me, Lieutenant?”

 

“No. She specifically designated only the company commander. Since I’m not official, I suppose.”

 

“Right. That’s how it was.”

 

She works so hard that I often forget she’s a trainee.

 

‘Even with good evaluations, unless you achieve great merit, it takes at least 2 years to become official, right?’

 

My case is just absurd.

 

“Someday I’ll officially set foot in the Intelligence Agency too.”

 

“I don’t know why you’d want to make such a poor choice, but I’ll support you.”

 

I’d like to just give her my position, but unfortunately, it’s not something that can be transferred.

 

“But how did you accumulate merit in such a short time, Company Commander?”

 

“Merit?”

 

“Yes, you’re doing monthly what others find hard to do even once a year.”

 

A completely serious expression.

 

She seemed genuinely curious.

 

‘Merit, huh.’

 

I have accumulated quite a bit of merit.

 

‘How did I end up accumulating it?’

 

Since it was something I’d never thought about, I leaned back in my chair for a moment and looked back at the past.

 

‘Getting dragged around, being forced to take on tasks, being dragged around again for being competent.’

 

Unfortunately, there were hardly any good memories.

 

“Just… perform circus acts on the boundary between death and life.”

 

“Excuse me…?”

 

“It’s a kind of high-risk, high-return situation. Have you had any life-threatening crises since joining the Intelligence Agency?”

 

“Um, not yet.”

 

“That’s why you have no merit. How can you gain merit while staying safe here? That’s just greed.”

 

“Ah…”

 

Honestly, it seemed like sophistry, but Aisa had an expression as if she’d realized something.

 

‘Is this right? Well, it’s not wrong.’

 

Looking at the merit I’ve accumulated, except for the french fries, everything was obtained from life-threatening crises.

 

‘Come to think of it, the french fries were also a life-threatening crisis. The angry soldier brothers were holding knives to my throat.’

 

“I’ll work even harder from now on, so please watch over me!”

 

An expression as if she’d made some kind of resolution.

 

That look made me quite anxious.

 

‘She’s not going to cause trouble, is she?’

 

Still, since she said she’d work hard, it’s my duty as her mentor to support her.

 

“Uh… yeah, fighting?”

 

“Yes! I’ll see you at lunch later.”

 

Unlike when Aisa had entered, she left the Company Commander’s Office with energetic steps.

—————
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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