I Became an Officer in Another World in Just 5 Minutes - Chapter 97

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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 97

“Go on. I’m tired to death.”

“I’ll see you again. Good work.”

Since all the business was finished anyway, I pressed the end button 2 minutes early.

[Remaining time of 2 minutes 11 seconds will be lost.]

[Face-to-face lecture has ended.]

Along with the System Message, my vision flickered and slowly brightened as the wooden ceiling of the quarters came into view.

“Ugh, it wasn’t even real but it still stings.”

My skin didn’t physically hurt, but my nerves definitely remembered the pain.

‘I’m paying for lessons, so why do I have to get hit?’

Something was seriously wrong here.

And what was even more wrong was outside the window.

Whiiiiiiiiing!

“Huh…?”

At the eerie sound like a strong wind blowing, the moment I opened the curtains, I saw it.

White trash falling from the sky.

“Shit.”

Snow.

Snow in English.

Civilians really love snow.

It lets them enjoy the sport called skiing, and it’s the material for snowmen and a representative symbol of winter.

But that’s all because apartment janitors and civil servants clear the snow for them.

In reality, snow is trash.

Even more disgusting trash than food waste.

“What time is it now.”

I quickly found a clock and checked – the current time was 9:36 PM.

Clearing snow while it’s still falling heavily like this is obviously a stupid thing to do.

“For now… let’s just sleep.”

Since I could clearly see the hellish future awaiting me tomorrow, I threw myself onto the bed despite having just woken up.

*    *    *

“1st Squad will clear the company area, and 2nd and 3rd Squads will clear the roads to each sector.”

As soon as I arrived at work, I called the Squad Leaders and divided up the snow removal areas.

“Looking at the weather, it seems like it’ll snow again tomorrow. What a situation. Tomorrow’s New Year’s Day, but the sky is so indifferent.”

Sergeant Major Edric rubbed his face with an already tired expression.

‘It does seem like it’ll snow again tomorrow.’

There’s no weather forecast here, but you can get a feeling just by looking at the sky, right?

“Still, we have to clear it. What else can we do? If we leave the roads like this, carriages won’t be able to pass through at all.”

This is really damn annoying.

‘We work hard to clear it, but tomorrow it’ll pile up again – it’s just an endless cycle.’

I really just want to gather up all the snow and block the sky with it.

“We have no choice but to work hard today too.”

“That’s right. Come on, let’s get up and head out.”

Since the snow removal operation plan was all set, everyone quickly moved to their respective positions.

“I wonder if we can finish by morning.”

Crunch crunch.

I walked through the snow toward the warehouse where the snow pushers and shovels were stored.

“Attention! Company Commander, are you doing snow removal with us today too?”

A soldier who was distributing supplies in the warehouse saw me and asked.

“Of course. If some do it and some don’t, when will we ever finish clearing all this?”

Once one person starts skipping, the ‘me too?’ psychology kicks in and eventually only the subordinates end up working.

‘Then in the end, only the junior officers and soldiers get worked to death.’

It’s an all too common and barbaric scene in the military that I’ve seen far too often.

And I witnessed this kind of behavior disappear exactly once during my military service.

‘That was during snow removal.’

At the time, the first snow fell at the battalion, and while it wasn’t a blizzard, it had piled up quite a bit.

Naturally, I thought the soldiers would suffer alone, but surprisingly, the Battalion Commander himself came out with a snow shovel to clear snow.

‘Word of that spread throughout the entire office, and all the lazy officers came running out.’

Thanks to that, the snow removal was finished by morning, and I realized something then.

To fix what’s wrong, the higher-ups need to step up.

“Thank you for helping us!”

“Snow removal is everyone’s job, so there’s no helping or not helping about it. Give me a snow pusher. Let’s finish quickly and rest.”

“Yes!!”

The soldier handed me a snow pusher with a truly grateful expression.

‘Hmm, I’ve been feeling this since last time, but this is a bit disappointing.’

This is the fourth time doing snow removal, and every time the snow pusher bothers me.

‘The width is shorter compared to what we used in South Korea, and it’s heavier too.’

It’s probably the difference between having plastic or not, but I know there are quite a few materials with similar properties here too.

‘With research, we could definitely make them. I should mention it sometime later.’

Since snow removal tools have permanent demand, I think they have sufficient investment value.

“That aside, let’s… clear this first.”

Thunk!

My assigned area was to clear the roads together with 2nd and 3rd Squads, so I first planted the snow pusher at the starting point.

“Phew.”

The key to snow removal is never stopping.

‘The moment you stop while pushing, it’s over.’

There’s probably some scientific principle behind it, but anyway, you need to keep the momentum going.

“Let’s go.”

I gripped the snow pusher with both hands and pushed with all my body’s strength.

Scraaaape!

The snow pusher charging across the 3-meter wide road.

With each step I took, the weight of snow the pusher handled increased, and by the end, enough had gathered to make a small snowman.

“At least it’s not frozen or anything.”

If you could call it good news, that would be it.

And the bad news is… I have to do this about a hundred more times.

“This is really screwed.”

However, since it was an unavoidable reality, I moved one step to the side and repeated planting the pusher and advancing.

*    *    *

“Good work.”

Lieutenant Aisa greeted me as I returned after finishing the long snow removal.

“Good work? You did it too.”

Lieutenant Aisa had cleared the company area and nearby assigned sectors together with 1st Squad.

“Both of us worked hard, didn’t we.”

“Well, that’s true. Ah, I want to go home.”

But unfortunately, even after working like this, with work piling up, going home became even more distant.

“Still, tomorrow is New Year’s Day. Cheer up.”

“Has time already passed that much?”

I didn’t expect to spend another New Year in the military – how unfortunate.

“It seems like you felt the year went by very quickly.”

“That’s right. Don’t you feel the same, Lieutenant?”

“Me too, well… since leaving the family, time has flowed much faster.”

“That’s a relief. Anyway, is there any kind of event or ceremony for New Year’s tomorrow?”

I know that the Raikhan Empire takes New Year’s quite seriously.

‘If I remember correctly, the Imperial Court holds a grand banquet, right? And they open the warehouses for the people to eat their fill.’

It’s almost the only Imperial banquet that even the third son of a family could attend, so it stuck in my memory.

“It is New Year’s, but since it’s the height of monster activity season, the 7th Division traditionally just eats special meals and moves on.”

“Right, that makes sense.”

No matter how important New Year’s is, it can’t take priority over duty.

“We eat duck on New Year’s, right?”

“Yes, of course.”

Lieutenant Aisa answered in a tone that suggested why I would even ask such an obvious question, like asking about rice cake soup on New Year’s.

“I should send a letter telling them to bring plenty, even if it means taking a loss.”

I need to feed everyone well.

Why? Because tomorrow, more snow clearing will be waiting.

“I always notice this, but you really think a lot about your subordinates.”

“Me? Am I like that?”

“Very much so. Among all the people I’ve seen, I’ve never met anyone who steps up and takes care of others like you do, Company Commander.”

At Lieutenant Aisa’s words, I briefly reflected on the path I’d walked.

‘Well, I guess I have been somewhat considerate.’

The reason is naturally because I’m from the enlisted ranks.

‘When I clearly know what hardships and discomforts they’re experiencing, how could I turn a blind eye?’

Unless I’m as morally bankrupt as my two older brothers living in luxury at the family estate, that would be impossible.

“It’s just, it’s good to treat people well. I don’t really like being cursed at.”

I wonder if there’s anyone who likes being cursed at, but surprisingly, there are some in the military.

Officers who fall into the delusion of accepting curses directed at them as if they’re leading soldiers down the right path.

Surprisingly, some of them are even soldiers themselves.

‘Ah, suddenly thinking of that bastard makes me angry.’

He could be late to roll call, but his juniors absolutely couldn’t be late.

He could make mistakes, but he was stricter than anyone about others’ mistakes.

And then he’d spout nonsense about being indispensable to the battalion and that being cursed at was unavoidable.

He eventually got kicked out midway, so I don’t really know how he was discharged.

‘I remember he went to a pretty good university too, but really, character and brains are completely unrelated.’

Honestly, before going to the military, I thought that being good at studying meant your character had at least some basic foundation.

But they’re really separate issues.

“You’re very modest. I’m learning from watching you.”

“From me? Well, thanks.”

I wonder if there’s anything to learn from watching me, but good things are good things, right?

And the next day.

Two unexpected gifts came my way.

“Oh my! Young Master! Happy New Year!”

January 1st.

From the morning of this day with such clean, round numbers, Branch Chief Pennel came to the camp pulling a carriage.

“Happy New Year to you too, Branch Chief. I hope you achieve everything you want to accomplish.”

“What I want to accomplish is only the prosperity of the Oclo Trading Guild! I will advance with bone-cutting effort.”

‘This guy, if he’d been a soldier, he would’ve made at least general.’

A merchant really isn’t a merchant for nothing.

“Still, set some personal goals too.”

“Haha! Of course! I hope you achieve everything you want to accomplish as well, Young Master.”

“Thanks.”

Naturally, my goal for this year is, without question, a safe discharge.

‘To do that, I need to end the war quickly first, but sigh.’

Far from calming down, with the Emperor directly declaring that one of the two sides must die, the atmosphere of war has currently reached its peak.

‘When winter ends, either we’ll attack Belzium Castle or the enemy will attack Rimiru Castle.’

We’ll probably attack with high probability.

The enemy’s wounds from defeat are too deep to attack Rimiru Castle again.

“So did you come all this way just to give New Year’s greetings?”

“Of course I didn’t come just to give greetings! Didn’t you send a letter yesterday telling us to bring plenty of ingredients, Young Master?”

“I did.”

“Even before your letter, the Guild Master gave orders to fill your unit with New Year’s food.”

“Really? I didn’t know. Father was looking out for me.”

Isn’t this exactly like when the class president’s mom buys hamburgers for everyone?

“Isn’t it the Guild Master’s warm heart thinking of you, Young Master? Since the quantity is large, I personally brought it myself.”

“That must have been a lot of work.”

“I personally selected and inspected each item so you could experience various foods, so I hope you have a wonderful time.”

This is truly a touching story that’s hard to listen to without a handkerchief.

‘He’s really good at taking credit. I should learn something like this too.’

The thickness of the iron plate on his face must be at least a span thick.

“I’ll remember that.”

“Haha! That’s not what I meant by saying that. Anyway, have a happy New Year!”

“Right. And be careful on your way back. We cleared the snow, but it’ll still be slippery.”

“Yes! I’ll see you again!”

While seeing Pennel off, I naturally went toward the Supply Company to check out the ingredients that came today.

“Move the meat first!”

“At this rate, isn’t it one duck per person? Plus there’s pork too…”

The Supply Company soldiers were flustered by the enormous quantity.

In a way, since I was the culprit, I quietly escaped.

‘Sorry. And I love you.’

Even with a brief moment of silence, surely they’ll understand my feelings.

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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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