Do Your Own Revolution

#066

“Do-Doctor, please be gentle… Aack?!”

“Next person, sit down.”

At the Imperial Army’s military camp, in the Special Magical Power Unit’s exclusive station.

After implanting a magic imprint on a soldier’s clean arm, Rennie looked at the crystal fragments organized in one corner of the treatment room.

Magic imprints that had completely shattered, unable to withstand the magical power load of magic bullets.

Those would be sent to the processing facility in the imperial capital to be recycled into magic imprints for new members who would be replenished.

‘Even though they’ve found our weakness, to reveal such internal information to a prisoner…’

She had felt it before. Isn’t this treating me halfway like their own person?

Come to think of it, even these members receiving implants from her were the same.

They must all know that she was a war prisoner from the Revolutionary Army, yet hardly any of them showed hostility or wariness towards her.

“What? You’re not uncomfortable getting an implant from a Revolutionary Army prisoner?”

“Y-Yes…”

Eventually, one day she couldn’t contain her curiosity and asked.

“Scary? What’s scary! If you’re going to put it that way, I shot and killed my superior, aren’t you scared of me, miss?”

“Wh-What?”

“Revolutionary Army, you say? Well, at least you were trying to do something good! I was just a thief scraping by in the contaminated zones!”

“I was a gangster who dealt with those thieves! Until I had an affair with the boss’s lover, that is! Kuhahaha!”

“That bastard, I was wondering why his hair was blonde!”

“He’s an adulterer! String him up on a post!”

“Woaaah—!”

Far from being wary of her, the soldiers just turned the ward into chaos while listing off their own colorful past experiences.

What on earth were these idiots.

Meanwhile, a muscular soldier opened his mouth while looking at Rennie.

“Miss, were you thinking of stabbing us in the back? Or did you put something strange in the imprints?”

“N-No! Absolutely not…!”

Rennie immediately waved both hands.

It was impossible.

She didn’t know the structure of these imprints, and the soldiers’ magic imprints were being checked by Eugene and his executive officers.

Besides, if she ever did such a thing, her mother working at the Branvilde mansion would…!

“Then, miss. Do you contact those rebel guys?”

“N-No! Th-That’s not… either…”

“Well then… We have no reason to be wary of you, do we? Right?”

“Ugh…”

The more she answered their questions, the more depressed she felt.

Several months had passed since her capture, but she hadn’t seen any of her Revolutionary Army comrades.

‘No, maybe this is for the best…’

After finishing all her assigned work.

Sitting alone on a ward chair, Rennie recalled the current situation of the Revolutionary Army.

After Maximilien’s death, the Revolutionary Army had begun cooperating more closely with the Westraine Republic.

Mages from the Republic and members sympathetic to Westraine were coming in one after another, while original members like her were gradually losing their places.

Come to think of it, it was the same when they attacked Baron Zicklinte.

For her, an imprint specialist, to go out into the field directly.

They said it was due to lack of manpower, but thinking about it now…

‘Today’s Revolutionary Army is not the Revolutionary Army of the past.’

Just as she was scratching her messy hair with that gloomy feeling.

“Huh?”

Through the gap in the tent’s entrance, a well-folded piece of paper fell.

“This is…”

Rennie slowly walked to the entrance and unfolded the paper, then was startled.

What was inscribed on the paper was a simple map showing the surrounding terrain.

It was a Revolutionary Army cipher text with escape routes and contact points marked.

Rennie immediately lifted the tent flap and looked around.

The chaotic headquarters mixed with newly arrived military supplies and recruits.

No matter how much she looked, she couldn’t figure out who had passed the note.

***

“Ah, good morning, battalion officers.”

“Battalion Commander, you’ve arrived…”

“Good morning! Major Eugene Lorentz!”

As soon as I entered the conference room, Ortega’s loud greeting welcomed me.

“Stop it, you bastard. I may be a major in name, but I get the same salary as you guys.”

“I apologize, Major!”

“I swear I’ll stop talking.”

Since Company Commander Beckier appointed me as the temporary battalion commander of the 7th Battalion, these guys had been causing this ruckus for a month.

They’re this crazy even after getting promoted to lieutenant, what would they have done if they hadn’t been promoted?

Shaking my head side to side, I sat down in the middle of the operations room, and the subordinate officers who had been waiting for me began their reports one by one.

“The battalion’s personnel replenishment and supply operations are reaching their final stages. Although I’m hesitant to send them into battle since they’re mostly new recruits… at least we won’t be short-handed anymore.”

Erich, who spoke first, sighed while passing over supply plan and deployment proposal documents.

Gone was the bright-eyed look from when we first met, replaced by dark circles that reached down to his cheeks.

It was natural for someone to end up like that when all the battalion’s administrative work – logistics, transport, personnel, weapons, and everything else – was pushed onto one person.

Come to think of it, Erich wasn’t in his right mind either for doing all of that just because he was told to.

Man, that’s intense.

You still won’t desert even with this?

“The Lieutenant General said he’d send new members, how’s that situation?”

It was Guille who spoke up in response.

“The members’ conditions are good. Magic imprint replacements are complete, and all the new soldiers to replace our losses have arrived.”

“How’s their training?”

“We don’t even need to step in. They’re better than the officer academy instructors.”

After the first real battle with the Republican forces, there had been a promotion party in the Special Magical Power Unit.

‘Killed 20 Republican soldiers? You’re a sergeant from today.’

‘Fought together beside them? Then you’re all corporals. We’ll raise your pay too.’

‘Protected our position and neutralized enemy Armored Infantry? Alone?’

‘Looking forward to working with you, Staff Sergeant.’

For nearly a week, I became Jesus, showering awards, rank insignias, and alcohol from a basket as Lieutenant General Keiren, the highest commander of the Special Magic Unit, and Major General Beckier, the division commander.

And as a result…

‘When Battalion Commander Eugene descended upon the company and showered gold coins, alcohol, and meat, the entire company ate their fill and 172 bottles remained-‘

‘Eu-men.’

‘It’s the Battalion Commander! The Battalion Commander is passing by!’

‘Oh, the Battalion Commander looked at me! He’ll make me a sergeant!’

The first generation members of the Special Magical Power Unit started seeing me not as their superior but as some cult leader.

Well done, you crazy fanatics.

Go ahead and crush those Republican heads.

“Thanks to that, the soldiers’ morale is at its peak. Their fighting spirit couldn’t be better. However…”

“The problem is that our enemy has grown even stronger.”

It was Matt, who commanded the battalion’s reconnaissance team, who said this.

With a serious expression, he held out several photos taken by reconnaissance airships.

“This is the Imperial Army prisoner camp set up at their station. As you can see…”

The black and white photos were blurred here and there, perhaps from wind movement.

However, the atrocities recorded in the photos were too stark to be hidden by such minor noise.

“They killed them all? All several thousand prisoners in the detention camp?”

“They say an Armored Infantry battalion did it on their own initiative. They did it right in front of our reconnaissance team, as if showing off.”

“Pft. What do you mean their own initiative? If they let such madness slide, aren’t the others just the same?”

“Prisoner massacre… This is a violation of the agreement!”

Different reactions came from the officers gathered in the operations room.

Mangled corpses, and Armored Infantry rampaging among them.

And even a woman with a chilling expression glaring at the camera, covered in blood.

What they wanted to say was simple.

“They want revenge, it seems.”

The death of Colonel Klaus, one of the Republic’s heroes.

This event must have been a huge shock to the Armored Infantry, and the Republican forces would want to make up for it somehow.

“What about enemy movements?”

“They finished resupplying ages ago. To be honest, it wouldn’t be strange if they pushed in right now.”

“Hmm…”

Hearing those words, I spoke to the four people.

“To move the plan to the next phase, we need an even bigger achievement than hunting bears.”

The enemy still had numerous soldiers and 100 Armored Infantry remaining.

From the Republic’s perspective, that’s quite a force, so we need to crush them this time.

That way the Special Magic Unit’s achievements will increase, and we can recruit second-generation members.

“But to risk the 7th Battalion just for achievements? Against those revenge-crazed baby bears?”

“We could probably catch them… but no matter how I think about it, the troop losses would be too high. Seems like the cons outweigh the pros.”

It was as Ortega and Matt said.

The biggest reason the Special Magical Power Unit could win in the last battle was numerical superiority.

But the number of enemies coming in the next offensive is three times that of the last battle.

If we meet them head-on, the Special Magical Power Unit would suffer near-annihilation losses.

To consume all the soldiers we’ve carefully trained through real combat experience in a single battle.

If that happens, this unit would… have no choice but to return to square one.

‘We need to fight and build achievements for the unit to grow stronger, but the more we fight, the weaker the unit becomes.’

I wracked my brains for days trying to overcome this dilemma, but the conclusion was always the same.

‘We have a chance of victory. However, the Special Magical Power Unit will suffer over 30% casualties.’

“And 30% casualties by Imperial Army standards means…”

“Total annihilation judgment.”

“This is driving me crazy, seriously.”

The three of us simultaneously clutched our heads.

Even while we were like this, the enemy was approaching moment by moment, and we didn’t know when their offensive would begin.

Should we retreat?

Should we move the front line while preserving our forces and wait for the next opportunity?

While I was thinking that.

“Hey.”

Looking at the sky visible through the tent gap, Erich spoke up.

“But those Armored Infantry. You said they’re non-magic users except for the deceased Colonel Klaus, right?”

“That’s right.”

“From the start, the Republican army mages are monopolized by the central party structure. That person was just an anomaly.”

“Hmm…”

Hearing those words, Erich stroked his chin.

His gaze fell on the sky, clouded over.

After staring at it for a while, Erich turned to us four and opened his mouth.

“Then. We don’t necessarily have to be the ones to catch them, right?”

After starting with those words, Erich immediately spread out the tactical map and began explaining his thoughts.

After several tens of minutes had passed like that.

Looking at the military symbols and blueprints densely filled in, Erich asked me.

“What do you think, Eugene? This operation… isn’t it possible?”

“…Heh.”

Seeing the operation plan Erich had conceived.

I let out a laugh of disbelief.

“I’ll have to propose this to Division Commander Beckier.”

This might actually…

Be quite doable?

***

“Miss Rennie. What do you mean you can’t return?”

At the contact point written in the note.

Rennie, who had arrived there with haggard steps, said to the Revolutionary Army member who approached her.

“The Imperial Army knows about my mother’s existence. They know that my mother is at the Branvilde house! If I escape… my mother would…”

“…”

Hearing those words, the members lowered their heads with complicated expressions.

But that was only for a moment.

One masked man spoke to Rennie in a calm tone.

“Then, Miss Rennie. Have you passed any information about our Revolutionary Army to the Imperial Army?”

“N-No! Absolutely not!”

“I see.”

The man nodded as if relieved after observing Rennie’s reaction.

As expected from a member who had been active since Maximilien’s time.

If so, things would be much easier.

“Understood. Then, first we’ll look into your mother’s situation at the Branvilde house.”

“R-Really?”

“Of course. We’ll request it from Sir Randall, so word should come quickly. Until then…”

Using her mother as a weakness to catch her attention.

While distracting her this way, the man sent a glance to his companion waiting on the opposite side.

‘Deal with her.’

The companion nodding in the darkness aimed a crossbow at Rennie’s neck and…

The next moment, something emerging from the shadows pierced through his stomach.

“Kuh, kuhuh…?”

“Wh-What! An ambush?!”

“Were we followed by Imperial forces?!”

When the member aiming the crossbow from the opposite side perished, the man immediately changed his expression and pulled out a dagger from his breast.

He had planned to lead her to a less populated area, but it couldn’t be helped.

While Rennie still hadn’t grasped the situation, the man’s blade rushed toward her neck.

As ordered, the target must be surely…!

“No.”

The dagger heading for Rennie’s neck was blocked midway.

What blocked the man’s hand was a shadow sprouting eyes and teeth.

“Ah, aah…”

Rennie, who belatedly noticed the dagger approaching her neck, collapsed on the spot as her legs gave out.

‘Instead of protecting me, they were trying to kill me. Then these people, from the start…!’

Rescue wasn’t their goal.

Their real purpose was to eliminate her before she could leak Revolutionary Army information…!

Just as Rennie’s face turned pale upon realizing this fact.

“Are you okay?”

Along with a clear voice, a girl’s hand wrapped around Rennie’s shoulder.

Startled by that alien sensation, Rennie slowly turned around.

Irene, dressed in casual outing clothes, was smiling brightly at her.