For My Children

In the future, it becomes an educational course that mage officers undergo as soon as they enter the military academy, and further, a special education conducted to test the mental state of ordinary soldiers.

The ‘Secret House’ training we’re about to undergo now had such modifiers.

‘It’s been a while.’

I think I did this training exactly here when I trained too… I didn’t know this was a class invented by Gartel.

With a feeling of familiarity, I looked around the abandoned building behind the instructor, revealing concrete reinforcing bars as if an artillery shell had been embedded in it.

It was such a familiar sight.

I couldn’t not know it.

Although it wasn’t this early, I had experienced it many times in the game in the past, and even after becoming a mage officer later, I taught many juniors training modeled after this, so how could I be ignorant?

Those memories were still vivid.

That’s why, even when coming to this forest full of stuffy moisture and without a single proper light, I didn’t get scared in advance but rather brightened my eyes in anticipation of what’s to come.

Because it wouldn’t be much different from what I had experienced in the past.

Regardless of the first impression of the forest, it was already a familiar space to me, and even that sturdy building was a place I had used countless times in the past.

‘I feel nostalgia if anything…’

How could I be afraid of such a crude and cliché training ground? Although I don’t know about cadets like Erika and Rina who are encountering this place for the first time.

“It, it feels like real combat training…”

“Does it?”

“Yeah, even the atmosphere of the building is gloomy.”

My prediction was accurate.

Right next to me, Erika expressed a more intense and emotional reaction compared to me.

She looked around here and there with shrunk shoulders and sunken eyes, like a squirrel that had lost its acorn.

Other children were the same.

-I wonder if the place for individual duels tomorrow will be like this too?

-Then it’s a bit scary.

-How did the instructor come up with something like this…

Most of the cadets, overwhelmed by the atmosphere of this area, showed behaviors no different from Erika’s, either opening their mouths and rolling their eyes or silently staring at Gartel.

‘Are Rina and Wolf the same?’

Being children of high noble families or famous as a former imperial princess was no exception.

“Rina.”

“Ye-Yes?”

“Are you nervous?”

“…It would be a lie to say I’m not.”

Anxiety was evident on their faces too.

As you can see from the former princess hesitating to answer when I asked like this, although she looked better than other cadets, she was still anxious about the pressure and intimidation the space gave off.

Well, I understood sufficiently.

This was training that diverged from the ordinariness of survival training they had experienced the day before. Look at what Gartel is holding in his hand now, wouldn’t anyone be on edge?

“Everyone pay attention!”

In Gartel’s hand, who shouted so loudly, was a heavy rifle.

“Ye-Yes!”

If it was just the surrounding environment that was scary and chaotic, the cadets wouldn’t have been this flustered, but they couldn’t help but swallow dry saliva at the gun with ‘live ammunition’ loaded in Gartel’s hand.

That gesture…

It meant that we would be conducting training using live ammunition during this time.

Since Gartel doesn’t make unnecessary actions without reason, the fact that he brought out that gun meant he had a special purpose for it.

It was understandable that the cadets were fidgeting, inferring about the purpose of that weapon.

Swish─

I watched various scenes, shifting my gaze here and there like a movie audience, at the class that had become noisy at Gartel who had appeared with a rifle at some point.

‘…I didn’t know they would guess right.’

Especially regarding the cadets’ judgment that firearms would be used in this training, I felt more fun than anything else.

Because their claims were not false at all.

It was true that live ammunition would be used, and proportionally, the characteristic of it being a high-intensity and difficult training was also correct.

Everything was just as the cadets thought.

Rather, I could confidently say it would be a difficult process beyond their expectations; at least that’s how it was in my experience.

Ruins reminiscent of buildings in urban warfare.

Various traps prepared by the instructor inside.

Target boards hidden in every corner.

The ‘Secret House’ training was a test to verify reflexes, using all of these to see how quickly one can adapt to new geographical situations and with what level of accuracy they can embed bullets into targets.

From the very meaning of the words, isn’t it so?

Just from the word ‘secret’ referring to traps and targets hidden everywhere, one could roughly guess what abilities this class demanded.

“Then from now on, I will have you enter the building you see there in the order I call out! The rest of the cadets should wait here and await my call!”

“Yes, understood!”

“I’ll leave one radio here, so there won’t be any problem if you just cooperate with the broadcast. Then, I wish you good luck.”

Finally, Gartel took a step.

Thud─! Thud─!

With that brief announcement, he took one cadet from the front of the line and disappeared into the gloomy building in front.

-I-I’m excited…

-Did you hear what the instructor said?

-We’re really going to shoot guns.

Soon after, the blocked chatter burst out.

“Yena!”

“Yes?”

“You must be confident about this training, right? You must have learned a lot from your father who’s a mage officer! But I don’t know…”

Erika also ran to me as soon as the instructor’s back disappeared and chatted in a babbling voice.

“You can do well too.”

“Umm…”

“We’ve practiced a lot together, haven’t we? You’ve shown good abilities in this joint training too, right? Erika can achieve excellent grades too.”

“Th-Thank you for saying so much, hehe…”

And I patted her shoulder and encouraged her, seeing her quite shrunk expression.

‘Actually, I don’t know either.’

In my heart, I expressed an opinion completely opposite to what I said out loud.

How could I forget Erika’s dull attitude shown at the beginning of admission? No matter how much I’ve helped her grow, those aspects from back then haven’t faded from my mind.

Just hoping she’s grown a lot.

That she’s matured mentally now.

With these wishes, boosting Erika’s will was the best choice, so I just gave words of praise.

“Yena praised me…”

Seeing her mumble like that, it seems it wasn’t a bad decision? Doesn’t her hardened face look relaxed? Whatever the case, it seems her tension has eased.

It’s the law that one can’t demonstrate their skills when excited, so at least I’ve relieved one worry now that she seems to have calmed her mind and body.

─Next, Erika von Rosehilt, come in. Oh, and note that cadets who have finished training will be guided to another location to prevent information leakage.

Finally, Gartel’s voice was transmitted from the radio-like transceiver with a crackling sound.

“Then I’ll go!”

“Do your best.”

“Yeah!”

I saw off Erika, who was clenching both fists and shaking them in the air to strengthen her resolve, with her eyes wide open, as soon as I heard that radio transmission.

“Yena, do well too!”

“Alright.”

And the moment she left,

“Phew…”

I moved with slow, heavy steps, then relaxed my whole body and leaned my back against a nearby tree trunk.

Bang, bang─!

Then I closed my eyes with the backdrop of intensely bursting gunshots.

In this time when there’s nothing particular to do,

To take a brief rest.

---

The training was progressing smoothly.

The cadets were safely guided without any gun accidents.

Of course, not by me but by several safety personnel stationed inside the building.

Gartel also wanted to see the cadets’ skills with his own eyes, but he couldn’t due to an unexpected situation.

“Hmm, is this really true.”

“Yes, it is.”

What could be more important than the few small documents brought by the secretary than anything in my life career? I have to check even if I have to delegate the class to the agents.

“Haha, interesting.”

In the alley behind the building where gunshots were occasionally heard, Gartel squinted one eye while stroking his rough mustache.

[Document on Diving Equipment Malfunction]

The subtitle at the top of the paper that the secretary had rushed to hand over really irritated him.

“It’s so interesting, I’m about to curse…”

And each character densely written inside stimulated him to scratch his nerves, provoke anger, and sometimes form ill feelings akin to killing intent, so he couldn’t calm down.

At this point, someone might ask like this.

What’s different from the data revealed through the previous investigation? We already knew that Yena’s equipment malfunction was intentional, so what are you doing?

But this document contained content of a different dimension from the previous one.

That’s why he was expressing overwhelming anger.

[Manfred von Eckart]

A name with nothing special about it.

[Our administrative special investigation team concludes that the cause of this incident, according to the client, was an accident due to an external factor, namely the maintenance officer Manfred von Eckart]

Due to the additional story unfolded next to it.

‘This guy.’

I know he was disciplined by the principal before for illegal gambling on campus… Could it be that that damn bastard was involved in this incident? To threaten Yena?

“Ha, haha.”

Gartel let out a laugh mixed with a sigh.

Thud─

Soon after, he staggered and leaned against a nearby tree, while holding his throbbing forehead with the opposite hand.

He didn’t forcibly extort anyone’s money, and since it was gambling enjoyed for entertainment purposes with other officers, the incident was concluded with a light disciplinary action.

Did he end up causing such an accident, revealing how rotten he is? And by breaking the equipment of none other than the cadet I cherish, Yena Freud?

Consecutive questions.

Concerns that made his chest tight.

“Haah…”

“Administrator, are you alright?”

“First, I’d appreciate it if you could wait a moment.”

Gartel raised his palm to the secretary who suddenly approached, biting his lips tightly and furrowing his brows.

‘He absolutely doesn’t have the capacity to do such a thing alone.’

It’s too unconvincing to say he did this out of ill feelings towards the military academy. There must clearly be additional background through requests or orders, someone still hidden.

That means we can’t put a perfect end to this incident just by catching this damn bastard here.

“Should we arrest him right away?”

“No.”

“Then how…”

“First, specify that we haven’t received consent for the incident investigation from the principal. Officially, we don’t have the authority to arrest. Didn’t I entrust this entire investigation to my direct department?”

Gartel shook his head at the secretary’s words.

“Then are you saying we should just pass on this information?”

“No, we can’t do that.”

Soon he opened his mouth.

“First, call all maintenance officers for reference investigation regarding the simple equipment malfunction. Summon that bastard Manfred von Eckart separately for detention investigation and start interrogation.”

“Then when…”

“Shouldn’t the military academy training schedule be completed normally? It seems he’s in charge of tomorrow’s individual duels too, so we should be able to do it after that schedule is finished.”

Above all, with sharp and fierce eyes.

‘We need to catch the tail.’

For that, we need to end it quickly by presenting all the evidence at once. We must blackmail him with numerous pieces of evidence so that he can’t even think of using tricks.

We must also raid the maintenance shop where he works.

Since he manages and supervises all protective gear and equipment, we don’t know who else might be involved.

Of course, all those actions had to be carried out using my forces without any assistance from the military academy.

The risks were that high.

If Manfred didn’t have any charges, I would just be an evil administrator who tried to crush an innocent officer using a superior’s power.

“How many mage unit members can you command?”

“Are, are you really thinking of calling them?”

“Don’t talk back.”

“…If we scrape together the maximum, it would be about twenty.”

But we can’t just stand by and watch, can we?

“I trust you. And I trust the agency that investigates when you request information. It doesn’t make sense to distrust the connections I’ve built up over decades, haha!”

“……”

“I think this incident is also naturally the result of your collective efforts. How could I not be certain of that? If by any chance you, secretary, conveyed false words to trap me in a conspiracy,”

Gartel faced the secretary while tightly gripping the bundle of documents in his hand.

“I’d just have to accept my fate, I guess. Haha! I’ve spent decades as an officer, wouldn’t it mean I haven’t gained proper trust all this time?”

“That will absolutely never happen!”

“Then have confidence and will. An Imperial officer exists to not tolerate injustice, protect precious ones, and defend the nation!”

With clear eyes showing a will of determination,

“The field investigation team is pointing to him as the culprit, and my departmental investigation team is also saying he’s the culprit. Everyone worked hard listening to just my one order.”

With eyes filled with trust in believing in his colleagues.

“They also had to risk punishment due to an investigation without the principal’s consent. But they helped me, even while taking risks that could harm their own safety.”

With a gentle smile carrying a pledge to protect my children.

“An officer’s virtue and reason for existence is to fight on the frontlines more than anyone, encourage soldiers, and help the nation achieve proactive victories! But a cadet who could be called my soldier had his life threatened…”

“Ad-Administrator.”

“At least I think it’s the proper duty of an administrator to step up and help more than anyone else. So could you exert yourself a little?”

He expounded his firm values while patting the shoulder of the secretary who had his head bowed and lips tightly closed.

“…I will follow your orders.”

“Thank you.”

Then he turned around as soon as the secretary finished speaking.

“The verification for E-Erika von Rosehilt is complete. Final grade is 3rd class, here’s the next cadet list.”

Because an agent came at just the right time.

“Then let’s call.”

He immediately took the paper handed by the agent and read out the paragraph.

“Ah, next is Yena Freud. The called cadet should wait on the first floor of the building.”

A familiar name.

With a vow to definitely protect this child.