Chapter 7 : Imperial Hearing (1)

A hearing, what is it?

To answer that question, it’s a place where people in trouble are summoned by the high-ranking officials to be ripped apart in front of everyone.

And there’s no exaggeration in that statement.

It was certain that not only the emperor and the nobles who followed her, but also the core nobles of the aristocratic faction would attend the hearing.

Nevertheless, her expression wasn’t all that bad.

No, rather—

It was an expression as if she could fly to the sky at any moment.

And it was only natural.

Because it was her only chance to retire legally.

In truth, there are surprisingly many ways to retire.

If you go out and burn down a village right now, you’d be retired on the spot.

The problem is, you wouldn’t be a reservist, but a criminal.

Regardless of its nature, unlike a hearing, which is mainly a series of inquiries and reprimands, you’d be referred to a military court and punished.

She didn’t want that.

“I want to retire, not become a criminal.”

What she desired was a peaceful and prosperous life, not a life as a worm-infested garbage locked in prison, eating dusty beans with criminals.

In fact, she had tried every legal means she could to retire.

It’s just that they all failed, which is why she’s still here.

Therefore, for Wolfgang, this hearing could be said to be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

But Galina, who didn’t know Wolfgang’s true feelings, was still furious.

“To be honest, I don’t like it. Holding a hearing over a mere rumor.”

“That’s how nobles are. They never let even the slightest speck go unnoticed.”

“Exactly! The captain is a hero who saved the empire, and yet, how dare they…!!”

“Calm down, Galina, your fangs are showing.”

Beastmen instinctively display more beast-like traits when their anger reaches its peak.

In Galina’s case, her human-like teeth would turn into those of a beast, like now.

“What a disgrace… I’m sorry, Captain.”

“There’s no need to apologize. I understand your anger.”

Pat, pat.

“Captain・・・!!”

Wolfgang, knowing how troublesome it gets when Galina, known as the Mad Dog, gets angry, quickly patted her head to calm her down.

‘Ah, how can he be so kind? My captain・・・ My dear captain・・・!!’

Something much more dangerous than anger was about to emerge.

Before Galina, with heart-filled eyes, could make a mistake, members of Vendetta, who had arrived upon command, stood before Wolfgang.

And she knew how to distinguish between work and personal matters.

“Loyalty!”

“Loyalty.”

“Personnel report! Total number: six. Two are absent. One is on duty, and one is dispatched. Preparations complete.”

“Good, well done.”

It seemed she wasn’t given the title of lieutenant for nothing.

From the salute to the personnel report, there wasn’t a single flaw.

Wolfgang smiled in satisfaction.

“The reason I called you all here is simple. I’ve been summoned to a hearing.”

“Captain.”

“What is it?”

His sea-blue eyes met Wolfgang’s sole goldeneye.

The young man, with black hair and a tall frame, was truly like the embodiment of beauty itself.

Like a statue carved over a lifetime by an artist who had dedicated their soul to art, brought to life.

A youth who seemed like he couldn’t even kill an insect spoke lightly.

“Should I use my breath and sweep away the capital?”

“No.”

His suggestion of burning all the people in the capital to ashes was made so casually that even Wolfgang didn’t notice the strangeness of it for a moment.

This clear-eyed madman.

That guy had always done outrageous things without a second thought.

For instance, collapsing mountains.

Dropping meteors from the sky to alter the terrain.

It would be nice if he acted half as good as his looks.

As Wolfgang fought the exhaustion that was rapidly overcoming him, the girl next to him responded.

“You can’t solve everything with brute force, Black.”

“Natascha.”

Her long hair reached her waist, dyed gray, and beneath her similarly gray eyes were heavy dark circles.

Wolfgang nodded at Natascha’s words.

“Right, this isn’t wartime. Sweeping away the capital…”

“You have to kill them all completely so I can resurrect them as corpses. I could use them all as undead! It’d even be great to make you the emperor, sister!”

“No.”

As if over one mountain and into another hell.

At this point, simply sweeping everything away with a breath sounded like a cleaner solution.

Wolfgang let out a sigh.

“I’ve told you repeatedly, haven’t I? A soldier must remain neutral. Don’t let your personal feelings harm innocent people.”

“I’m sorry, Captain.”

“Ugh, honestly, it’d be better if all humans except for my sister just died.”

“Hey.”

“S-Sorry! Sister!”

Did I really save the empire with these people?

None of them had discipline, nor loyalty to the empire.

All of them seemed far from being soldiers, no, they were entirely unsuitable.

And yet, the reason she chose them—

Because they’re strong.

Each one of them is more than a match for an army.

They can each fight entire nations on their own.

Truly, an army of one.

Which means, excluding Wolfgang, there were still six of these monster-level soldiers left in the Winter War, and yet it still took ten whole years to end the war.

“Anyway, for that reason. I had to leave for a while. And no matter what decision is made at the hearing, I’m ready to comply without a word of complaint.”

Currently, the Vendetta Corps is stationed at the border facing the kingdom.

Normally, the military wouldn’t be deployed openly at the border unless it was wartime, but the kingdom was an exception.

However, this was just a pretext.

The real reason was to lay the groundwork.

No matter what decision was made at the hearing, there was absolutely no way they would comply.

Yeah.

Though it’s unlikely to happen.

If the order for ‘discharge’ is given.

At that point, even I wouldn’t be able to do anything about it.

…

Indeed, this level of groundwork-laying was quite masterful.

It hadn’t even been confirmed that she could be discharged, yet her mind was already spinning with happy fantasies of discharge.

Because of that, she was slow to react.

“Vendetta Rule No. 1. In any situation, nothing is more valuable than the commander’s life.”

“The capital is quite far, so at least two people will need to escort you.”

“Perfect. Then my ‘brother’ and I can take on the role of your escorts.”

Huh?

In that brief moment when she was lost in her happy daydreams, they had already started getting heated amongst themselves.

She belatedly realized what was happening and tried to defuse the situation.

“Let’s keep it simple but clear.”

“Right, excluding the three who are out of the question right now.”

“The stronger ones will be the ones to escort you, right?”

“…Of course.”

It was already too late.

The Vendetta Corps.

A unit handpicked by Wolfgang to win in war.

A group of highly skilled individuals who, despite being only seven, could uphold the name of the corps.

They were, in every sense of the word, a collection of monsters.

They couldn’t even be called human.

They were castaways from the world.

Monsters who hated humanity more than anyone else.

In fact, without Wolfgang’s presence, they were such a disorganized group that they couldn’t even be called an army.

That’s because they didn’t get along with humans or even with each other.

It’s no joke.

If it weren’t for Wolfgang.

They probably would’ve spent their lives killing each other.

Yet, surprisingly, they played their role as a military force protecting humans quite well.

The reason for that was none other than Wolfgang himself, who controlled them.

Yeah.

They were just wearing masks.

It’s only because their commander, Wolfgang, wanted it that way.

He controls them thoroughly.

Forcing them to wear clothes and masks that don’t fit.

But surprisingly, there wasn’t any discontent.

They were fanatics who even loved being under her control.

The Vendetta Corps made their own rules.

To become what their commander desired.

But there was one irreplaceable rule: Rule No. 1.

That was the life of Wolfgang.

Of course, the Vendetta Corps acknowledged that Wolfgang was the strongest.

But no one knew what could happen in this world.

As long as there was even a 0.1% chance.

The Vendetta Corps eliminated even that tiny possibility.

Because to them, Wolfgang was their home, their family, something more than just a commander.

“In the end, Black and I will be the escorts, huh.”

“Well, that was an obvious result.”

“Unfair!! If I could’ve used necromancy, I definitely wouldn’t have lost!!”

“…Commander told you not to use it, on humans, or corpses.”

“I know! Brother!! But I’m so frustrated!! I wanted to play with her too!!!”

While they could’ve stopped it by force, doing so would have turned the whole training field into even more chaos.

Even for her, suppressing all of them would’ve required using quite a bit of power.

In the end, it was like picking between fifty steps or a hundred.

No, it was like the belly button being bigger than the belly.

So, she had no choice but to allow it.

But not without a warning to control themselves.

As she watched the training field, which had become a complete mess from them fighting amongst themselves, Wolfgang couldn’t help but laugh.

Though, it was more of a bitter laugh of disbelief.

“Ah, I just wish.”

They’d all disappear.