Chapter 11 : Why did you meet me, why do you only hurt me (1)

Even though her grand plan to retire through this hearing was shattered, apart from that, she wasn’t foolish enough to mix business with personal matters.

Now, the positions of Wolfgang and the nobles were completely reversed.

The biggest reason for this was that the hearing, which they forced open by nitpicking, ended in vain.

After running all the way here from the eastern front, facing the kingdom and the border, to attend the hearing, they asked only two questions and ended the hearing?

It’s like a dog training exercise.

“I went through all this trouble to attend the hearing, and what is this? Are they joking?”

“You’re not wrong. It might not be a replacement, but if there’s something you want, I’ll grant it as much as possible.”

“I don’t need anything else, just provide more support to the Eastern Defense Forces.”

Wolfgang openly protested to the Emperor, and the Emperor, as if he had no other choice, agreed to her terms.

It was nothing short of a well-orchestrated play, or a rigged game.

Had it been the usual situation, the nobles would have foamed at the mouth in opposition.

They might have thought, “What’s wrong with supporting the hero who saved the Empire?”

But in fact, it was an obvious matter.

The Iron-Blooded Emperor, who purged the former Emperor and the imperial family, disbanded all the organizations that uselessly wasted taxes.

Of course, some organizations survived.

However, even they couldn’t avoid having their budgets severely cut.

Some places even had their budgets cut by more than half.

Yet, despite being known for not showing mercy, even the Iron-Blooded Emperor didn’t cut the budget for the Vendetta Legion led by Wolfgang Leonhardt or the Eastern Defense Forces.

On the contrary, even after the war ended, they continued to receive generous support.

Well, fine.

Let’s say, for argument’s sake, that I can understand that.

After all, she is the hero who saved the Empire.

Without her, the Empire’s revival would never have come.

But providing even more support from here on?

That meant less money in their own pockets, and of course, no noble would welcome that.

However, this time, no noble could dare oppose the Emperor’s decision.

This was because the nobles had been utterly defeated by her at the hearing held a few days earlier.

[Rumors, in the end, were just rumors.]

[Sir Leonhardt, the hero who saved the Empire, fought head-on against the wicked schemes of the cunning nobles.]

[Even the venomous tongues filled with envy and jealousy couldn’t diminish the truth!!]

The news that Wolfgang Leonhardt crushed the nobles at the hearing spread unusually fast, turning into an exaggerated epic sung by bards across the Empire.

However, leaving public sentiment aside, anyone could predict that Wolfgang Leonhardt would be furious after the hearing.

Opposing her in that state?

Even the head of the noble faction, Duke Ifrit, couldn’t handle the aftermath.

Knowing this, Wolfgang didn’t miss the opportunity and made full use of it.

‘Anyway, an increase in military funding is a good thing.’

The military is like a money-eating beast.

Just maintaining it requires astronomical costs.

The military consumes all available resources.

It’s like a bottomless pit, always short of money no matter how much is poured in.

Of course, the Vendetta Legion, which she led, had only seven members.

But to support Vendetta and protect the border, the Eastern Defense Forces, centered around the Vendetta Legion, boasted an enormous scale of over 150,000 troops.

Considering the entire Imperial Army had 400,000 soldiers, you could see the importance and status of the Eastern Defense Forces within the Imperial Army.

But there was another reason.

Leaving aside her bad mood, if she let this incident slide, who’s to say they wouldn’t do it again in the future?

So this time, she had to ensure there was a price to pay.

Political battles were certainly annoying.

But she had to get what was owed.

Otherwise, she’d be taken for a fool.

And if the commander of the military becomes a fool, it’s the people under her who suffer.

Her belief was to never burden her comrades for her own goals.

Since the nobles had committed the mistake, they could only stay silent.

Thus, the Emperor gave even more power to the already strong Vendetta Legion.

‘The captain planned this from the start!’

Gallina couldn’t help but admire the smooth process.

It wasn’t that she didn’t trust the captain, but she had questioned why the captain insisted on attending the hearing.

But now, everything became clear.

The captain had boldly chosen to break through head-on.

She crushed the clueless nobles at the center with her strength, and went on to openly extract money from the Emperor.

It was nothing short of a perfect victory.

Gallina’s admiration, respect, and obsession, which had already bordered on fanaticism, grew even stronger.

If she followed the captain…

How much blood and victory could she taste?

Just imagining it made Gallina tremble with excitement.

‘Ah, I want to retire. Damn it.’

But in Wolfgang’s head, she was just a commander nearing retirement.

With Wolfgang’s success at the hearing, the Eastern Defense Forces went into a massive overhaul.

The walls were repaired, and old, broken equipment was replaced all at once.

In reality, it’s harder to find a place without corruption, especially in a closed system like the military.

However, the Eastern Defense Forces were free of corruption.

Not that there was very little corruption, but literally, there was none to be found.

How was this possible?

The answer lay with Wolfgang Leonhardt.

She was a war hero respected by the people of the Empire.

The soldiers of the Empire who enlisted were no different.

[Sir Leonhardt is watching!]

[Mistakes will not be tolerated!]

[For our Sir Leonhardt!!!]

Though this wasn’t much different elsewhere, in the Eastern Defense Forces, where Wolfgang Leonhardt was stationed, it was extreme.

It was beyond fanaticism, close to religious zeal.

This made the impossible possible.

Especially now, after she crushed the arrogant nobles and expanded the military budget, the faith of the Eastern Defense Forces grew even stronger.

Yet, despite the increased support of the Eastern Defense Forces, Wolfgang was crestfallen.

This meant her retirement was farther away.

“Why the long face? Didn’t you secure a great victory against the nobles at the hearing?”

“Shut up.”

Already in a bad mood due to the increase in work, seeing Laifen leisurely sipping tea in front of her was like pouring oil on a fire.

“You’re the Emperor. Is it okay for you to be here?”

“You haven’t forgotten my specialty magic, have you?”

“Even if it’s spatial magic, isn’t it a bit much for the Emperor to be wandering around like this?”

“I didn’t come here without a reason. There’s something I need to discuss with you.”

Judging that it would be dangerous to tease any further, Laifen immediately pulled a letter from his pocket. It was sealed with the lion emblem, a symbol of the Kingdom of Minesse.

“A letter from the Kingdom of Minesse?”

“Yes.”

“But why are you telling me this?”

“I heard you drank a lot after the hearing.”

Laifen, who always maintained a confident and calm demeanor, now showed a rare hesitation in his voice. The name Lana Frost came up during the hearing.

That very evening, she drank a huge amount of alcohol. Was it really just a coincidence? What if it was a past she wanted to forget that resurfaced? What if she drank to forget that past?

That was why, despite having plenty of time, he hadn’t told her about the letter. Initially, he had tried to handle it himself, but he couldn’t.

‘My consideration could be poison to her. I don’t care about others, but I really don’t want her to resent me.’

“I drank just because I wanted to.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

There wasn’t a single trace of hesitation in Wolfgang’s eyes as she answered. So, it was just needless worry. Well, after all, she’s now Wolfgang Leonhardt, not Lana Frost.

‘I suppose it makes sense since it’s the Eastern Defense Forces who guard the border with the Kingdom of Minesse, and I’m the commander of the Eastern Defense Forces. If that’s why they contacted me, it’s understandable.’

Despite Laifen’s concern, Wolfgang had already come to a rational conclusion in her head. And at the same time, she quickly deduced that her workload had just increased.

‘Damn it.’

‘You don’t seem happy. Well, I suppose… the past isn’t something you can easily forget just because you want to.’

Their misunderstandings piled up as they continued along their separate lines of thought, much like two people in a parallel dream. But without hesitation, Laifen used a letter opener to break the seal.

“I’ll read it first.”

“…? Since it could be an important letter between nations, shouldn’t you, as the Emperor, read it?”

“It’s fine. As Emperor, I permit you by royal decree.”

‘If it were any other matter, it would be different, but this concerns the kingdom. It’s only right to leave it to her.’

He entrusted everything related to the kingdom to her. If she wanted revenge, he wouldn’t stop her. In fact, he’d fully support her. Because it was the right thing to do.

She had always chosen the right path without hesitation. The same was true during the Winter War, and when she rejected the proposal to annihilate the kingdom.

If she were to choose war against the kingdom?

‘I will unconditionally support you because I believe you’re right.’

There was always a shortage of food, and to survive, they had to sacrifice the bodies of their dead family and friends. In the deep abyss of despair where hope did not exist, you appeared as the sun.

If you were to gather your forces and rebel, I would gladly meet your sword with a smile. Because if you ever rebel, it would mean I had become a tyrant.

With a belief as straight and unwavering as bamboo, she—

‘Is this guy trying to dump work on me because he doesn’t want to do it?’

—dismissed it as mere laziness on his part.

But what could she do?

In the end, a soldier has no choice but to follow orders.

With a sigh, Wolfgang picked up the letter from the kingdom.