Ch.204Chapter 21. The Art of Deceiving Each Other (16)

Not only Virginia, but all the other soldiers were captured as well. It was fortunate we caught them before they could send a distress signal, and the fanatics from the National Military Police proved unexpectedly helpful.

Rewards for meritorious service… might be a bit grandiose, but I promised that once everything was wrapped up, we’d all receive a “baptism” at the “bathhouse” together. Basically, we’d all get infected in the water I contaminated. I’m not sure if we need the fancy term “water baptism,” but I’ve already given up on trying to reason with the fanatics, so I’ll let it slide.

Now there are two remaining problems.

First, now that we have Virginia in our hands, the entire National Military Police has become our enemy. Second, how do we deal with this woman who’s more aggressive than a zombie elephant?

“Force won’t work. She’s like a spring—push her down and she’ll just bounce back harder.”

“I predict Cassandra won’t be able to persuade her either.”

“Why don’t we just send her to Römer?”

Everyone looked at Camilla after her suggestion. She seemed rather taken aback by the attention.

“Or send her to Minsk.”

“There’s no benefit in that. Virginia may be rough around the edges, but we have to acknowledge her leadership skills that command the entire National Military Police. If she disappears, they’ll collapse like a house of straw.”

Leticia shook her head. I agree with her opinion. After talking to the soldiers captured with Virginia, her position within the military seemed closer to that of a theocratic politician.

“It’s kind of funny, but Elza soldiers don’t expect anything from officers of Elza origin. Even they think their own are corrupt. There are honest administrators, but there are too many who aren’t. So they’d rather trust a ‘real noble soldier’ from Römer. If there’s a long power vacuum, it could really turn into all-out war.”

“So we’re just going in circles.”

Camilla let out a long, tired yawn. If we can’t get rid of Virginia completely, but can’t keep her with us either, what’s the answer?

Suddenly, a thought crossed my mind.

“What if we try this?”

* * * * *

Even elite soldiers need to eat to survive. Humans who’ve lived in protected zones for a long time and then enter unprotected areas are more sensitive to hunger.

Whether someone has been in an unprotected zone for a long time or just arrived, they all feel hungry the same way. But how they resist that hunger is vastly different.

Those who’ve been there a long time already know that “hunger” will never be fully satisfied. So they learn to regulate it, like being on a diet. They pray, do mental exercises like yoga, or play games. Games were especially effective—focusing on something else helped them forget their hunger.

But newcomers act like they’ll starve to death tomorrow if they don’t eat today. Of course, since their bodies have never experienced that level of hunger before, it feels like a much greater stress than it actually is. Until they adapt to the fact that “you won’t die even if you don’t eat for this long,” they feel the terror of starvation.

“Here, eat this too.”

“Th-thank you!”

People in that state will gladly accept even these compressed grain blocks as if they were delicious food. This emergency ration for special forces has the perfect trifecta of chalk-like texture, bland powdered milk flavor, and the aroma of crushed red beans. That’s because it’s literally just dehydrated grains compressed without any moisture.

Of course, it’s common sense that emergency rations are deliberately made to taste bad so people won’t snack on them, but there’s a clear difference between “tastes bad” and “edible for humans.” So this poor sergeant who’s eating it like it’s a delicacy has clearly lost his mind to hunger.

“Don’t they feed you in the capital?”

“They do, but only one meal a day, and the rest is at our own expense. Only those on deployment get three meals. That’s why some people go on two missions a day.”

“Really? Why?”

“Well, they don’t give us food directly, but meal vouchers instead. So people give the vouchers to their families and share meals with other soldiers. Many do that.”

“Isn’t Virginia being too stingy?”

“Not at all! Things have improved since she arrived. The previous commander told us to bring food from home!”

I’m not sure how incompetent her predecessors must have been for Virginia to seem reasonable. Anyway, I think I understand what she means to these people. She might have been the first commander they met who was reasonable and had a functioning mind.

In this situation, leaving things be until a successor is appointed doesn’t seem like a good idea. The chances of getting someone worse than Virginia are higher. Soldiers with fond memories of Virginia’s era would search everywhere for her rather than serve a new leader.

“Um, brother.”

The guy who finished the block is now eyeing the compressed pound cake in my right hand, drooling. I’m a bit worried about his kidneys, considering how many calories he’s already consumed.

“Here. You answered well, so have this too.”

But it’s not my kidneys, so I guess it doesn’t matter.

“Thank you. But what about the others…?”

“Oh, want to see?”

I showed him a photo on my phone. The sergeant’s face immediately contorted.

“What the hell, they’re living better than me! One woman, two, three… what is this?”

In the photo, a guy wearing only thin clothes was laughing and having fun with women also dressed in thin clothes. I deliberately didn’t explain that this guy in the photo only eats once a day in exchange for spending time with women.

That’s how people are, right? They assume others have exactly what they have, while desperately seeking what others have but they don’t.

“Ah, this friend shared a bit more information than you did.”

“What do you want to know? Just ask!”

The sergeant’s eyes sparkled.

* * * * *

With her entire body restrained, Virginia shook her head.

“Kuh… Kill me.”

“Don’t be like that.”

I sincerely tried to comfort her. But I kept my distance, afraid she might bite off my finger if I got too close.

“I know you’re an officer, raised as a soldier, and the acting president of Elza. But that doesn’t mean you should disregard life. You need to ignite your will to live first.”

“I’ll hang you on the gallows and burn you first!”

“I like that fighting spirit. Did I succeed?”

The inhuman sounds she made sent chills down my spine, but I think this is going well enough.

“Cassandra?”

“Yes.”

Cassandra entered, looking somewhat excited. Her eyes sparkled like stars, she wore new latex gloves, and carried several thick syringes that made me gasp.

“Aren’t those needles a bit thick?”

“It’s fine. It’s just saline.”

Cassandra filled the syringe with saline and approached Virginia. Despite Virginia struggling against her chains, Cassandra simply squirted the contents into her mouth.

“There, drink your water. Good. Good. You’re being so obedient. I was wondering if we’d need to use a watering can.”

“Ublub, mmmmph!”

This was our desperate measure since she kept trying to bite our limbs like a zombie despite being restrained. Everyone seems satisfied, except for the fact that Cassandra is as excited as when she was rescued.

“Uuuu… bruuu…”

Though she spilled some saline from her mouth, Virginia still glared at us like an enraged beast. So today, I prepared a special video for her.

“Must be boring in solitary confinement, right? So I prepared a video.”

“What is this…?”

“It shows how your subordinates are doing.”

“Ha.”

Virginia twisted one side of her mouth.

“So this is where your base nature and poor imagination come out. Did you think I would submit to you just because my subordinates are dying?”

For a moment I wondered what she was thinking, but it seems she’s seriously misunderstood something.

“No, no, Virginia. ‘If you don’t listen to me, I’ll execute your subordinates one by one.’ I’m not that kind of person. Just watch.”

The TV turned on. The large screen was split into four sections, showing Virginia’s subordinates in rotation. In one room, food and drinks were piled like mountains; in another, they were engrossed in games. In one room, they were studying “doctrine” with the fanatics, and in another, they were reading books and listening to music.

“Fattening pigs before slaughter? How amusing.”

“You’re too negative, Virginia.”

Then I appeared on screen. I showed each group what the others had that they didn’t.

– What? I want that too!

Though their words varied, they all converged on the same point. I put my arms around their shoulders, linked arms with them, and shook their hands.

“What meaningless thing are you…?”

Virginia glared at me, but I just pointed at the screen with my chin.

Soon, about half of them came over to my side. But the rest were hesitating. So I brought in some special personnel.

The soldiers who had already joined me, along with fanatics who were former National Military Police. Some had been in the information warfare division. With the persuasion of these eloquent individuals and their former comrades, even the stubborn ones started coming over.

– Brother Johan, we will follow your cause too!

“……”

Virginia closed her eyes tightly. She probably already knew about her soldiers’ poor discipline. But seeing even her specially selected elite troops switch sides so easily seemed to have hit her hard.

“All these friends have sworn loyalty to me now. They’ve all left their rooms. By now, they’re probably receiving their ‘baptism’ and attending the ‘party.'”

“…What does that have to do with me?”

“They say three people can create a tiger out of nothing, right? I’m going to send these friends back to the capital by helicopter. They’ll say I’m keeping Virginia safe, that they’ll communicate through me instead. If necessary, I can even edit your voice with computer programs to play for them. Technology these days is amazing. And I’ll just leave you here in this hotel. I don’t care if you become a zombie or not.”

“How amusing.”

Though Virginia said that, it was obvious she was very troubled.

I decided to back off at this point. She’s not the type to break down all at once. Slowly, like widening gaps and letting water flow to erode…

“So think carefully about what choice is best for you.”