Do Your Own Revolution

#068

“Major Eugene Lorentz. I’m coming in.”

“Welcome!”

“Hero of the Western Front!”

A week later, at the Operations Command.

As I entered the tent that had been the Republican Army’s position until last week, I was greeted by thunderous applause.

An overwhelming victory seized by the Imperial Army alone.

By burning even the reserve forces that remained at the garrison to the last man, the Imperial Army was able to break through the Republican Army’s defensive line without losing a single soldier.

A large salient created in the middle of the Western Front, which had been maintaining relative stability.

Based on this, the Imperial Army could either push the front line or attempt an encirclement by bypassing with a mobile division.

The initiative on the front had passed to the Imperial Army.

“If by any chance they pull troops from other units to stop us…”

“The 11th and 3rd Divisions facing those guys won’t sit still. It could lead to a catastrophe where those fronts get breached too.”

That’s why instead of dispatching additional troops to catch us, the Republican Army maintained a stalemate by retreating part of their front line to preserve their forces.

This victory on this small front had forced the entire Republican Army to fall back.

The frontline units and command were in a festive mood over the unprecedented achievement that they couldn’t even dream of normally.

“They burned every last ant without leaving a single one. Truly amazing.”

“I’m not sure how the Republican side will react. There could definitely be issues since we burned even the Republican soldiers who surrendered, but…”

“Haha, you don’t need to worry about that.”

Though I was concerned that burning everyone might have been a bit excessive even if it was for the unit’s reputation,

Major General Beckier waved his hand saying there was no need for concern.

“No one will take issue with what you did this time. Neither the Imperial Army, nor the Republican Army.”

“…?”

While it made sense for the Imperial Army since it was like pulling an aching tooth, even the Republic would stay quiet?

Noticing my confusion, a staff officer next to Major General Beckier tipped me off.

“The Empire has footage of the Armored Infantry Battalion massacring Imperial prisoners, and we have witness testimonies. Meanwhile, the Republic has no evidence that the Special Forces carried out any massacres.”

“Ah…”

Evidence? Testimony? There couldn’t be any.

All that remained at the Republican position were ashes and the charred corpses of soldiers.

Even if they tried to condemn the Imperial Army for war crimes, they had no way of winning against the counter-evidence collected by the Imperial side.

“And above all… it seems the Republic has decided to use these soldiers in a different direction.”

“A different direction?”

When I asked, Major General Beckier handed me the newspaper he was holding.

[Heroes who fought to the death maintaining the Republic’s will despite overwhelming odds!]

[The Republic remembers you!]

[Rise up and fight! For the Revolution! For the Republic!]

“Wow.”

I pay infinite respect to the creativity of the Republican propaganda officers.

Taking ‘soldiers who were massacred despite surrendering’ and packaging them as ‘heroes who fought to the death without surrendering’ for propaganda use.

I don’t think there are many humans who could come up with such an a-mazing idea.

Besides, when you think about it, this makes for quite a narrative, right?

‘Heroes who met a tragic death falling for the dirty Imperial Army’s schemes! And the brave Republican Armored Infantry Battalion that fought to the end for revenge, along with the many Revolutionary Army warriors who fought alongside them!’

Wow, the nationalist pride is surging. Suddenly I feel revolutionary spirit bubbling up from my chest and loyalty to the Republic gushing forth!

‘But this is actually quite fortunate for our side.’

The higher the honor of the enemy we defeated, the higher the value of our Special Magical Power Unit.

Thanks to the Republic’s propaganda, the Special Forces went from being a unit that massacred non-resistant troops to becoming the Empire’s terrifying human weapon that even Revolutionary warriors who fought to the death couldn’t defeat.

“Gentlemen. We cannot remain intoxicated by victory forever.”

In the midst of those thoughts, Major General Beckier who had been seated rose to his feet.

“The Special Forces did great work for us, so it’s our Imperial Army’s duty to support them. Isn’t that right?”

“Yes, Division Commander.”

“We’ll reconstruct the supply lines and rotate the soldiers.”

“The fortifications need to be rebuilt from scratch. The trenches are usable, but most were burned…”

When Major General Beckier moved, the other commanders under him started smoothly finding their tasks.

After watching them for a moment, the Major General came up to me, patted my shoulder, and said:

“You worked hard, Major.”

“The unit members worked harder than me, sir. Please be generous with their rewards.”

Dedication must be compensated.

Since this was a unit created with that as bait in the first place, I had to be sensitive about this point.

“Haha, don’t worry about that. And…”

After readily accepting my request, Major General Beckier took out a letter from inside his uniform and handed it to me.

“Major General. This is…?”

“Orders that came down from the Imperial Palace.”

The Emperor’s orders?

After getting Major General Beckier’s permission, I slowly opened the letter.

A document stamped with the Emperor’s seal.

After reading its contents, I muttered with a satisfied expression:

“A victory parade in the Imperial Capital.”

It seems the Emperor was quite pleased with this victory.

***

“Cheers~!”

“Hey, drink! Drink-!”

At the Special Magical Power Unit’s garrison which had now become the rear.

As alcohol, meat, and spoils poured down from above, a wild drinking party continued inside the barracks.

“Hey! Lieutenant Ortega is trying to escape! Catch him!”

“No! I, I just need to go to the bathroom…”

“Catch him!”

“Catch him and shove a bottle in!”

“This is insubordination, you crazy bastards–!”

You can imagine how wild it must be if even Ortega, who never turns down alcohol, was trying to escape in terror.

However, instead of joining that wild party, Eugene entered his room with a light greeting.

“Oh, Eugene’s here?”

“…!”

Waiting for him in the room were Irene and Rennie.

Especially Rennie, who was sitting on the edge of the bed, turned pale when she saw Eugene’s face.

“The prisoner?”

“Temporary jail. I’m watching them.”

“I see. Then that’s reassuring.”

Eugene conversed with Irene while keeping his gaze fixed on Rennie.

After finishing speaking, Eugene approached Rennie while rummaging through his clothes, and Rennie tightly shut her eyes in place.

‘I’m going to die here.’

‘I’m sorry mom. But, I…’

Just as an expression of resignation crossed Rennie’s face…

“…What are you doing?”

“Uh, um…?”

At Eugene’s question, Rennie slowly opened her tightly shut eyes.

What was in front of her eyes was a sandwich packed with vegetables and meat.

Looking again, it was what Eugene had handed to her.

“I roughly made it with stuff piled up in the banquet hall. You probably couldn’t even taste proper food while you were locked up, right?”

“Ah, th-that…”

“If you’re not going to eat it, forget it. I’ll give it to Irene as a snack…”

“No, no! I’ll, I’ll eat it!”

Irene’s face, which had been full of anticipation, turned gloomy.

Rennie awkwardly accepted the sandwich.

After confirming this, Eugene started writing reports as if he had finished his task, with his portion of sandwich in his mouth.

Supply plan approval, unit combat power analysis, strategy research, etc.

It was an amount of work that couldn’t possibly be finished on time unless he allocated even his meal time.

A cold silence hung over the office.

The sound of Eugene’s pen moving, the laughter of soldiers from outside, and the sound of Irene munching on cookies.

After that awkward silence continued for a while…

“Um, excuse me!”

Finally unable to bear it anymore, Rennie opened her mouth toward Eugene.

“Are you… are you not going to kill me…?”

“Kill you? Me? Why?”

“Th-that’s…!”

Without even looking at Rennie, Eugene said:

“Because you tried to escape? Because you tried to return to the Revolutionary Army despite receiving treatment too good for a prisoner?”

At Eugene’s words that hit the mark, Rennie closed her mouth.

“I’m sorry, but that’s not enough reason for me to kill you.”

“Th-there’s no way…!”

“If you can’t believe it, think about it again.”

Ah, there’s a typo in this document.

I’m going to send it to Keiren, should I leave it as is?

While thinking that, Eugene continued what he was saying.

“How could Revolutionary Army spies approach you? In a normal unit, they wouldn’t let an unknown soldier into the unit without identity verification.”

“Uh, huh?”

“Among those places, you worked in the medical ward. An important area in charge of the Special Magical Power Unit’s magic imprints and treating soldiers. Does it make sense to let spies infiltrate such a place?”

Receiving that question, Rennie recalled the subsequent events one after another.

Spies who infiltrated too successfully.

And then Irene appearing at just the right moment when they tried to eliminate her.

For coincidences… weren’t things fitting together too well?

“…!”

When her thoughts reached that point, Rennie trembled and said:

“You deliberately let the spies infiltrate? To use me to catch them…?”

“Correct.”

Eugene stopped writing his report and said:

“Thanks to you, we were able to catch one of the Revolutionary Army’s informants. And a high-ranking one trusted enough to handle internal assassinations at that.”

“…!”

“The bait played its role wonderfully, and thanks to that we caught a big and meaty one. So what reason would I have to kill you? Right?”

Rennie felt the blood in her entire body rapidly cooling.

Her escape had meant nothing to him.

From beginning to end.

It meant she had been played in that man’s palm.

“So. What do you plan to do now?”

After watching her for a moment, Eugene rose from his seat and asked.

“What do you mean…?”

“The Revolutionary Army is after your life. At this rate, you’ll really die, you know?”

“…!”

Hearing those words, Rennie stared at Eugene with wide eyes.

“No! That’s…”

“There’s no use trying to deny it now. You should know best, right?”

After saying that, Eugene spoke to Rennie with an indecipherable expression:

“The Revolutionary Army abandoned you.”

Rennie’s face twisted at Eugene’s words.

Loss. Emptiness. Anger. Sadness. Resignation.

The expression Eugene had worn in the original work appeared on her face.

“I, I…”

“And I have a proposal to make to someone like you.”

Proposal?

Feeling Rennie’s gaze as she stared with round eyes, Eugene slowly spoke to her:

“While the Revolutionary Army tried to kill you, I need you.”

Your information, insight into Revolutionary Army internal affairs, and skills in handling imprints too.

Rennie’s face twisted at those words.

Since the Revolutionary Army abandoned her, cooperate with the Imperial Army for revenge?

“You’re telling me to wear an Imperial Army uniform even though I have to work as a prisoner?! Don’t make me laugh! I, I’m Revolutionary Army’s…!”

“I’ll get your mother out.”

At Eugene’s single sentence, Rennie’s voice that had been denouncing him stopped instantly.

“I’m a member of House Buckenheim, and the adopted son of Keiren Buckenheim who is one of the successors to the duchy. If I use my connections and status, ‘scouting’ one servant from House Branvilde would be nothing.”

After opening his mouth like that, Eugene made eye contact with Rennie and slowly explained the detailed plan:

“Then I can choose a suitable suburban garden and arrange for her to work there. She could earn money working steadily without particular hardship among generous country folk in a peaceful place.”

“…”

“How about it. Isn’t that what you wanted so badly?”

The more Eugene’s voice reached her, the more Rennie’s heart wavered.

Her wish that she wanted to fulfill even if it meant overthrowing the entire Empire.

Living somewhere where no one knew her birth, reading books she liked with her mother.

Eugene knew her wish.

Because he knew her story that appeared in the original work, and its tragic ending.

“If you cooperate with me, I can guarantee that future.”

“Create imprints that will kill Revolutionary Army soldiers for me and my army.”

Eugene approached Rennie and slowly extended his hand.

A devil’s hand.

Looking at the hand covered in imprints, that’s what Rennie thought.

“Actually at this point, there’s not much reason for you to feel guilty about joining our side, right?”

“…”

“The Revolutionary Army tried to kill you after using you. Shouldn’t you make them pay for that?”

Rennie’s expression became complicated at those words.

Hope that she could save her mother.

And revenge against the Revolutionary Army that abandoned her was slowly rising up.

Revenge, and happiness.

Refusing this offer and remaining with the Revolutionary Army?

Someone who could do that… would probably only be an iron-willed person like Maximilien.

But she wasn’t such a person.

Her goal was happiness for her mother and herself.

The ideal of revolution was merely a means to achieve that.

“If, if.”

After a long while, having finished thinking, Rennie opened her mouth toward Eugene.

“If I refuse, then what happens…?”

She wasn’t asking out of curiosity.

That was a question asked while expecting something from him.

Eyes hoping he would give the answer she wanted, hoping to ease her guilt.

Then I should meet those expectations.

Thinking that, Eugene put on a cold expression and opened his mouth:

“You’ll be executed as a rebel prisoner. Your identity and name will be announced throughout the Empire.”

“…!”

“What happens to your mother in House Branvilde after that… well, that’s not really my concern, is it?”

“Ha, haha…~!”

At those words, Rennie opened her mouth while shedding tears:

“This really… leaves me no choice, does it?”

Rennie’s expression as she said that was smiling.

Eyes lacking the courage to betray her comrades.

Therefore hoping that a villain like Eugene would eliminate her choices.

And Eugene gladly played the villain.

Rennie no longer had reason to hesitate.

“You really are like a devil.”

“I think so too.”

Rennie’s slowly extended hand grasped Eugene’s hand.

“Revolutionary Army imprint specialist, Rennie Schreier.”

Grasping that hand, Eugene smiled with satisfaction.

“Welcome to the Special Magical Power Unit.”