Ch.215Episode 11 – All Quiet on the Northern Front

Coming outside, I found the situation had already turned into a complete mess.

“Attack! We’re under attack! Monsters are coming!”

“Distribute ammunition and get to your positions!”

The all-too-familiar Imperial soldiers were running back and forth.

Officers shouted commands, weapons and equipment clinked and rattled against each other, and the sound of military boots pounding the ground came from all directions.

From the Imperial language being spoken everywhere, it seemed that monsters were the ones attacking the Rift.

“……”

Research on monsters has a history as deep as that of humanity itself.

In a world where magic, divinity, and mysteries exist alongside the ordinary and the bizarre, what’s so special about monsters?

Whether they harm humans or not, humans are a species that shares the same earth with various races, and thus the study of different species and monsters has continued to develop and advance.

Among scholars who study monsters, there is one maxim that circulates like a prayer:

Monsters never attack humans first without reason.

That’s not wrong.

Even predators like tigers and lions don’t automatically attack their keepers or owners who feed them.

Even foxes, notorious for being finicky, become just ordinary animals in the hands of experts.

The same goes for monsters.

If monsters truly were creatures that craved human blood and flesh, then scholars who frequent uninhabited areas to study monster ecology, or those who tame monsters while evading government regulations, should have all been killed off long ago.

Setting aside ecosystem destruction due to reckless development or instinctual territorial defense, monsters don’t attack humans first without special reason.

So monsters won’t go out of their way to kill humans unless there’s a specific reason.

That is, if you don’t provoke them first, like the nations of the Moritani continent.

Which means…

“We need to leave here immediately.”

There are no monsters in this world that would attack so aggressively without provocation.

Episode 11 – All Quiet on the Northern Front

While we were stranded due to the fog surrounding the mountains, the Rift came under attack. Monsters were coming.

It was clearly an unusual situation, and given the circumstances, communication became extremely rapid.

Superior Lyudmila began explaining, unable to hide her bewilderment.

“…It seems the Rift is under attack. Monsters appear to be raiding us.”

“I see.”

Something ominous was happening.

This is what we call being backed into a corner.

When carefully laid plans go awry, when a trusted informant defects, when your cover is blown and pursuers are on your tail, and so on.

There are countless ways to end up cornered. Like when you’re meeting with an informant who reported acquiring the requested information, and suddenly armed investigators raid your safe house.

Usually, when pushed to extremes, a person’s abilities drop significantly compared to normal.

And in such moments, those who can calmly work through problems are first-rate, and the abilities displayed in such situations are one’s true abilities.

*

“…Of all times, on a day thick with fog, monsters suddenly attack the Rift, and we happen to be stranded here.”

“……”

“The timing is quite artistic.”

I walked slowly out of the barracks, assessing the situation around me.

The troops defending the Rift were rushing to the defensive line. A soldier who had hurried to the trench set down the ammunition boxes he was carrying in both hands, and another soldier already at the position took out ammunition to load the machine gun.

Soldiers who had retrieved rifles from the armory were positioned throughout the defensive line, and heavy equipment with waterproof covers removed advanced toward the positions with thunderous engine sounds. All forces and equipment were moving in perfect coordination under command.

They were clearly well-trained troops. Considering their excellent armament and training, they must also be well-disciplined.

In other words, the unit defending this place was elite among elites. That was an undeniable fact.

After assessing the situation, I immediately turned toward Camilla and Francesca.

“As you can see, troops are being deployed to the defensive line. It seems the unit wasn’t attacked directly, but rather the forward outpost encountered monsters.”

A forward outpost refers to units that detect enemy attacks in advance and protect friendly forces.

This includes security positions formed in front of the main line of resistance, reconnaissance teams that patrol demilitarized zones, and sentries guarding fences at the GOP. In fact, GOP translates to General Outpost in Korean.

In other words, the monsters hadn’t attacked the main force but had encountered a reconnaissance team somewhere in the distant forest. At least, that’s what I gathered from the conversations of soldiers around us.

Any military person would understand the battle situation just from hearing this much.

The problem was…

“What’s a forward outpost?”

“What’s that? Are you some kind of military otaku?”

“……”

Camilla and Francesca just stared at me blankly with confused expressions. Unfortunately, both were civilians with no military experience, so they didn’t understand my explanation despite my efforts.

“J-just think of it as the monster bastards meeting a reconnaissance team.”

“You should have said that in the first place, Military Attaché.”

At least Camilla and Francesca now understood the current situation. I decided to move on since it was already a blessing that they weren’t panicking.

That wasn’t the urgent matter right now anyway.

“If the reconnaissance team detected them, that means the monsters haven’t reached here yet, right?”

I nodded in response to Camilla’s question.

Her flame-like red hair fluttered in the breeze as she nodded and spoke.

“So what should we do now?”

“We need to get to a safe place first.”

The assessment was already complete, so the decision was easy.

“Superior Lyudmila.”

“Yes!”

I called for Superior Lyudmila. She had been questioning a passing officer about the situation but quickly ran over to us.

“Please escort these two to a safe location.”

“What about the vehicle you came in…?”

“Let’s abandon it. Writing up a report for losing one car is better than dying.”

Since the unit defending the Rift was elite, they wouldn’t easily fall to mere monsters. We could wait in a safe place until the situation was resolved, then move at our leisure without any problems.

Of course, the opposite was also true.

If, just if, the defensive line were to be pushed back and monsters reached the Rift, we would need to escape down the mountain by any means necessary. And preparing an escape route would require time.

Whatever the outcome, my judgment was that we needed to formulate a plan while the defensive line held. Any commander with a brain wouldn’t let Camilla and Francesca die here.

But what I hadn’t anticipated was…

“…I have a different opinion.”

That there was an incredible hardhead right beside me.

*

“Why do we have to run away?”

“What are you saying, Camilla?”

“No!”

Camilla suddenly shouted.

With a face that seemed both frustrated and angry, she raised her voice and pointed toward the defensive line.

“The line hasn’t been breached, and the monsters haven’t even reached here yet. How does it make sense to withdraw?”

“What, are you planning to fight? You’re not even a soldier.”

“Even so, running away isn’t right! When crisis strikes, we should help, not flee. That’s not what decent people do.”

“Camilla.”

“And most importantly.”

Her finger moved again, pointing to a building—the barracks we had just left.

“There are children in there.”

“……”

“I don’t know who those children are. I don’t know their names or faces. Of course I don’t, I just met them today. But they’re children. When they need protection, how can we just go to safety and leave them behind? Who will protect them?”

Before answering, I stepped closer to Camilla. I might have appeared somewhat threatening, and my position with my back to the barracks might have seemed like I was turning away from reality, but I didn’t pay much attention to that.

Those weren’t the important things right now.

“The soldiers will handle it. The Imperial army will protect them safely.”

“And what about us?”

“……”

“Isn’t protecting people what soldiers do?”

Honestly, I had a lot I wanted to say.

My participation in combat on Imperial territory as a military attaché could create political and diplomatic controversies.

Depending on interpretation, it could be seen as a signal that the Abas military was actively intervening in the conflict between the Kiyen Empire and the Demon Realm.

So I couldn’t fight here. I shouldn’t fight.

Did she not understand why the Imperial military had stationed me at a rear headquarters rather than the front line?

I am an Abas soldier, not a Kiyen soldier.

Those I’m obligated to protect are Abas citizens as defined by the Abas constitution, not citizens of the Kiyen Empire.

What if she or Francesca died while I was fighting here?

I had much to say, but none of it came out. Camilla spoke faster than I could open my mouth.

She spoke to me in a distinctly passionate voice, filled with emotion.

“Foreign nationals might not be your responsibility to protect. Soldiers have their own countries. But even if people have nationalities, life knows no borders.”

“……”

I remained silent.

I couldn’t dismiss it as the naive thinking of a college student who wanted to be James Bond, because Camilla was someone who had lived by her words more than anyone.

She had left her wealthy and comfortable home to travel through Africa and the Middle East, possessing both the ability and courage to care for people.

And from my perspective, having observed people like Camilla across various continents, that was not something an ordinary person would dare to do.

Camilla declared:

“I’m staying here, if only for those children.”

“……”

Her tone was truly resolute.

The alarms and sirens warning of enemy attack.

Shouts and orders.

Camilla’s words reached my ears clearly, cutting through the noise that filled the space. For that moment, I had the illusion that only she and I were standing there.

What broke me from this illusion was neither Camilla, who had been speaking with such determination, nor Superior Lyudmila, who had been urgently reporting the situation.

“…Well, it seems we have a conflict of opinions here.”

Francesca, speaking in a gentle tone, stepped between Camilla and me.

Looking at me with an enigmatic smile, she asked:

“What are you going to do?”

“I don’t particularly care either way… I’m a magician from the Magic Tower and a citizen of Fatalia, and while I should help guard the Rift, I have no obligation to shed blood fighting on Imperial land…”

“……”

“However…”

Her violet eyes moved. Her gaze shifted behind me.

Toward the barracks.

“The children there are magicians, and as a fellow magician, I cannot leave them unprotected.”

“Why is that?”

“Well…”

Francesca let her words trail off.

There was a moment of silence.

Finally, after what felt like a long tunnel of silence, Francesca spoke again.

“Because I am a magician.”

“……”

“Inheriting from previous generations and protecting the next—that is a magician’s duty, Military Attaché.”