NOVPUB"Hrk...."
Thempanymmander’s body slowlyllapsed.
I waited a moment until hempletely lostnsciousness, then, once his breathing had settled into a peaceful rhythm, I smiled and plucked the tranquilizer dart from the back of his neck.
"Perfect."
I had even mastered Taro’s dart-shooting technique by now.
After all, any officer worth their salt had to pick up all sorts of miscellaneous skills.
Since this was the Snowy Mountain Battalion—the absolute frontlines—the weapons supplied here were significantly more potent than those at the Cledore Mountain Battalion. Back there, a dartuld only paralyze someone like Winter, but the ones here? Theyuld knock a man outld.
With this, the legend I had told thempanymmander had now been perfectly realized.
There was a ghost that hopped through the halls with its arms stretched forward.
And every time that ghost sucked a person’s soul, that person would briefly faint.
When thempanymmander woke up from this unscious state, he would be absolutelynvinced that he had bme the ghost’s target.
Which meant it was only a matter of time before he ran away from this unit.
“Hehehe...”
For the sake of my discharge, I would stop at nothing.
That’s what being a soldier meant!
If they told us the only way to get discharged was to cut off the head of a neighboringuntry’s emperor, we would prepare our knives without hesitation!
"I'll have you fleeing this unit within a month..."
If he found out the truth, I’d be erased without a trace.
But I had no way of escaping this unit.
So the only logicalnclusion was to make him flee instead.
Simple. Clean. Effective.
***
One Week Later
After that, Red and Intinued our little performance at regular intervals.
Twice a week, like clockwork, we staged ghost appearances... and knocked out thempanymmander.
"Hup-! Hup-!"
I never slacked off in my tranquilizer dart training either.
Thanks to thempanymmander, my precision was improving daily—so in a way, I was grateful to him.
"Salvia, ma’am!"
"What now?"
I turned around with an irritated expression at the sound of a recruit calling for me.
The recruit flinched at my glare but still managed to explain in a careful tone.
"The battalionmmander has summoned you."
"The battalionmmander?"
I had only met the battalionmmander once—when he handed me Karon’s father’s keepsake.
I knew he was someone with a lot of first-hand experience in front-linembat, and that his ideology was... a little bit red, to put it mildly.
But mynnection with him ended there.
After all, he hadn’t introduced me to any revolutionary groups within the Snowy Mountain Battalion.
"Why is he calling for me?"
Was it related to my uming discharge?
Tilting my head innfusion, I made my way to the battalionmmander’s office.
"Salvia, I've heard you've been messing with thempanymmander lately."
"......."
The moment he spoke, Iuld do nothing but lower my head.
...What the hell? How did he find out?
I had made sure to strictly warn both the recruits and Red to keep their mouths shut.
As my mind raced, the battalionmmanderntinued in his usual calm voice.
"Salvia. Do you know what was written in the observation report when you were transferred to this unit?"
"...Excuse me?"
The observation report?
That was a document where the platoon leader ormpanymmander wrote amprehensive evaluation of a soldier after observing them for a certain period.
"Oddly enough, your reportntains notes written by the battalionmmander of the Cledore Mountain Battalion."
"...I must have misheard you?"
A battalionmmander personally rrding observations on a mere soldier?
Was that even possible?
I recalled the battalionmmander of my previous unit—the one who had transferred in while I was there.
He had been a remarkably kind, soldier-friendly leader, and most importantly, he had shared the same anti-establishment views as I did.
So I didn’t think he would cause any problems.
But still... what the hell was this about?
As my eyes darted in thought, the battalionmmander smirked and began reading aloud.
"Sharp observational skills and quick-witted. Intelligent. Not afraid to speak bluntly to officers."
Hmm. That did sound like someone who would mess with ampanymmander.
"Possesses ideological beliefs that align with her hairlor."
...What?
Wait.
...Wasn’t that just a roundabout way of saying I had revolutionary tendencies?
Was he even allowed to write something like that in an official document?
As I sat there, flustered, the battalionmmander studied me with a strangely amused expression.
Then, as if nothing had happened, he smoothly steered thenversation back to the main topic.
"Thempanymmander keepsming to me with questions about this so-called ‘legend of the Snowy Mountain Battalion.’"
...Shit.
"He says some red-haired soldier told him all about it. But this is the first I’ve ever heard of such a thing. A ghost with a frozen body that hops around? That sucks the souls out of people? Not ringing any bells."
That damnmpanymmander—so he did have a big mouth!
Fuck.
Was this the end of my haunted battalion project?
Was I about to be executed for my crimes against the Snowy Mountain Battalion?
"So, no matter how I look at it, the onlynclusion is that you made up this nonsense. Now tell me—why the hell are you messing with thempanymmander?"
I opened my mouth butuldn’t bring myself to speak.
There was no way Iuld tell the battalionmmander the real reason.
No way Iuld say, "I overheard classified information, and now I need to force thempanymmander to run away before he figures it out."
How the hell was I supposed to explain my motives in a way that made sense?
Silence stretched between us.
Then, just barely audible, the battalionmmander muttered under his breath.
"Well... I suppose you and I are polar opposites, but still..."
"...Sorry? I didn’t catch that?"
The moment our eyes met, I felt it.
A subtle signal.
A faint flicker of amusement in his expression.
This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.
He didn’t see this as a serious matter.
He thought it was funny.
And then, with a casual shrug, he added—
"I don’t get along with thempanymmander either, so... whatever." n𝚘vp𝚞𝚋.com
"...Ah."
Thempanymmander was an Imperial citizen from the Royal Guard, whereas the battalionmmander was an Arkon who had spent his life defending the frontlines of the Border Defense Army.
They were bound to holdmpletely opposing views on this empire.
And then, there was the rrd left by the battalionmmander of my previous unit.
That must have helped.
After all, the man sitting in front of me would have realized that I was closer to his side in all of this.
“So? Are you planning to tell me why you’re messing with thempanymmander so much?”
His voice carried a probing tone.
He didn’t sound like he was reprimanding me—he was just curious.
I hesitated for a moment before cautiously opening my mouth.
“...I am trying to make thempanymmander leave this unit.”
“...What?”
The battalionmmander’s expression turnedld.
No matter how much he might dislike thempanymmander, for a mere soldier to deliberately attempt to oust an officer was beyond outrageous.
Heuld send me straight to military prison for this.
But I decided to trust him, just this once.
“I’veme to know a secret about thempanymmander that I never should have learned.”
“...A secret?”
“He’s trying to find out who overheard him. And if I’m caught, I might be eliminated.”
“...Ah.”
The battalionmmander’s eyes narrowed, as if recalling something.
“Lately, thempanymmander has been searching for someone within the unit. That was you, then...”
“Yes, sir.”
“...But would he really go so far as to ‘eliminate’ you? If necessary, I can ensure your safety.”
I fell silent, lost in thought.
Iuldn’t leave everything in the battalionmmander’s hands.
After all, thempanymmander had used his Royal Guardnnections to build his own faction even within this battalion.
There would be aspects that the battalionmmanderuldn’tntrol.
And besides...
Officers should never be trusted.
That was myre belief.
Sure, I had temporarily decided to rely on the battalionmmander in this moment, but I would never trust himmpletely.
Which meant my besturse of action was to stick to my original plan and drive out thempanymmander on my own.
“No, sir. This is a serious enough matter that I don’t believe he’ll let me be.”
“Even so... I can’t simply sit back and watch you attempt to expel ampanymmander. Do you realize how absurd that sounds? If anyone heard this, they’d laugh you out of the room. Do you actually think I’ll go along with this?”
“Yes, sir. I do.”
“...On what grounds?”
“...Because having a newmpanymmander would benefit you as well, sir.”
The moment the words left my mouth, a heavy, oppressive atmosphere filled the room.
“That’s... quite a bold statement.”
For a snd, the sheer weight of his presence pressed down on me.
I immediately shut my mouth.
In this place, knowing when to speak and when to shut up was a matter of survival.
Seeing my silence, he spoke again, this time more casually.
“So? What exactly is this ‘secret’ you claim to have learned?”
Ah. So this is what he really wanted to know.
It made sense.
A secret so dangerous that thempanymmander was willing to eliminate someone over it?
Ofurse, the battalionmmander would be curious.
I debated whether or not I should tell him.
But once again, the answer was no.
There was a possibility that, as an officer, the battalionmmander already knew the truth and had chosen to ignore it.
Or worse—heuld side with thempanymmander.
Either way, handing over such valuable information so easily was out of the question.
Still, if I wanted to gain hisoperation, I needed to offer him something.
But what?
As I racked my brain, a memory surfaced—
The letter Karon had sent me.
‘He said he suspects his father was murdered.’
From what I had observed, the officers in this battalion weren’t aware of that fact.
That meant there were two possibilities.
One—they truly didn’t know.
Two—they did know but chose not to tell me.
If it was the snd case, it was likely because they didn’t trust me yet—after all, I was a relatively new officer from another unit.
This is a gamble.
First, I would assume they didn’t know and tell him.
If his reaction seemed off, I would switch tactics and push him to trust me.
I took a deep breath and spoke.
“Sir, I can’t tell you that secret.”
“...Oh?”
“But I can tell you something else. Something I’m sure you’d want to know.”
“And what might that be?”
“Kaisen was murdered.”
At # Nоvеlight # that moment, the temperature in the room dropped.
The battalionmmander’s gaze turned sold ituld have frozen a man solid.
“Do you understand the weight of what you’re saying?”
“Yes, sir.”
“This mountain is one of the most treacherous terrains in existence. No outsiders can reach it. The only people here are those within the Snowy Mountain Battalion.”
His voice was low, measured.
“Are you telling me that means... we have a traitor in our midst?”
Judging from his reaction, it seemed he truly hadn’t known.
So, it wasn’t that they had hidden the truth from me—
They simply didn’t believe Kaisen had been murdered in the first place.
Which meant...
Now, I needed tonvince him.
Ofurse, that wouldn’t be easy.
I was just a rookie officer who hadn’t even spent two full years in this battalion—
And I was standing in front of a battle-hardened veteran, telling him that his own men might have harbored a traitor.
This wasn’t something to take lightly.
There was a real chance heuld turn on me in fury.
But I had alreadymmitted.
There was no turning back now.
“Ituld have been one of the nonmmissioned officers on duty at the time.”
I met his gaze firmly.
“I don’t know who it was. But what I do know... is that Kaisen was murdered.”
“That’s impossible.”
His denial was instant.
“Where did you get this information? When we found Kaisen and Laila, their bodies had been torn apart by monsters.”
Laila.
That was Karon’s mother’s name.
A grotesque image flashed in my mind.
I clenched my eyes shut.
