The Great Ocean [Part 1 Conclusion]

The author’s note includes an afterword for the conclusion of Part 1.

There’s no way to save Yena.

As a mere instructor, he doesn’t have the authority to overturn the military academy’s decision.

“Damn it.”

Gartel sat at his office desk, resting his chin on his hand and puffing heavily on his tobacco.

“Yena Freud, remember this one last thing. No matter what choice you make from now on, I will express unconditional support. So don’t be discouraged, and please… please stay strong.”

Unlike his confident declaration at the awards ceremony, he was just lamenting his position where he couldn’t actually do anything.

It was all my fault for underestimating Rustet’s loyalty to the military.

He was a man with deeper resentment towards the Workers’ Party than I thought.

‘Who would think someone would wield such immense power just to catch one cadet?’

Isn’t it like burning down a thatched house to catch a single fly?

I had roughly guessed that he would eventually check Yena since he cherishes the military academy’s discipline so much, but I never dreamed he would go so far as to form a first-year military advisory group to isolate her.

‘Even if I had noticed earlier, nothing would have changed.’

Crack!

Gartel forcibly lifted the corners of his mouth and broke the cigar held between his fingers in two.

At least in Astrakhan, there was no one who could stop Rustet’s actions.

A superior’s order is absolute for a soldier. Moreover, Rustet is an officer who has achieved outstanding merits, praised as a ‘hero of the Great War’. Who would dare oppose his opinion?

Even I, who held the second-highest authority after the principal, couldn’t openly oppose and could only curse inwardly, and the other instructors were no different.

“…To think they would demote a promising talent to protect an outdated system.”

Though he prided himself on knowing Rustet quite well due to their usual close relationship, this time he couldn’t understand his intentions at all.

Yet he had to helplessly comply with the principal’s decision.

“Tsk.”

As Gartel was blaming himself for being dragged along as a mere administrative officer,

Ring ring!

The sudden sound of the telephone refreshed the atmosphere in the office.

“Yes, this is Gartel.”

“Hoho. Instructor Gartel, it’s been a while.”

An unfamiliar man’s voice flowed from the receiver.

“Who is…”

It’s a voice I’ve never heard before.

It certainly wasn’t someone working at the military academy.

Then who could it be?

Curiosity turned into doubt, which soon transformed into wariness. Gartel responded to the conversation with the mindset of hanging up if necessary.

“Ah, it’s me. Ernst.”

However, he soon had to straighten his back at the familiar name that struck his ear.

“Minister?”

Ernst von Stresemann.

The current minister of Bern and Wolf’s father.

“What brings you to call like this…”

A figure who could be called the core of Bern’s power structure had personally requested a call. His shoulders tensed involuntarily.

“Your precious disciple.”

“Pardon?”

“What would you do if there was a way to save Yena Freud?”

It was a bombshell declaration.

“You tried your best to oppose Yena Freud’s Eastern dispatch but eventually succumbed to the ‘Order of Affiliation Disposition’ through the instructor meeting, and even after running around everywhere, you were ultimately blocked by the principal… is that right?”

“……”

“Huh, seems I hit the nail on the head. As expected, Bern’s intelligence agency is the best in the world, hoho! You wouldn’t believe how much effort I put into confirming your actions.”

Gartel stiffened at Ernst’s proposal and couldn’t respond. Despite Ernst using quite an impolite tone, he kept his lips tightly closed and just listened silently.

“…So, what is this method?”

After a moment’s hesitation, Gartel gripped the receiver and opened fire.

“If Principal Rustet did this because he cherishes the military academy’s rules so much, shouldn’t we pay him back in the same way, Gartel?”

Ernst’s main point was simple.

Let’s use the military academy’s administrative rule that allows convening an 《Emergency Meeting》 if a certain number of instructors agree, to save Yena.

To put it simply, it meant to push through with numbers against the principal’s authority.

However, this had one inherent flaw.

“But haven’t most of the instructors already sided with the principal? How do you propose to persuade them and re-discuss the agenda?”

Namely, that it inevitably required someone’s help.

As Rustet had already firmly expressed his will and pressured the instructors, there was no one who would dare to raise a flag of opposition.

“Hoho, I think you’re greatly mistaken.”

But Ernst’s thinking seemed different.

“Do you think you’re the only man I’ve called?”

He slowly continued after a hearty laugh that filled the office.

“Everyone knows, Gartel. The military is declining, and the Workers’ Party is filling that vacancy. Even if officers used to follow the principal before, most of them would change their stance if given proper compensation.”

There was strong confidence in Ernst’s tone.

“That so-called soldier’s pride can be more than bought with wealth and power. Commander Rustet, that man is the unusual one.”

Gartel wanted to refute Ernst, who kept making statements that scratched at his pride as a soldier, but on the other hand, he knew the inner workings of the military better than anyone, so he couldn’t even open his mouth.

“So what’s your point?”

With the mindset that he could endure anything if it could help Yena, he tried to shake off his thoughts and get to the main point of the conversation.

“I’ve prepared the personnel needed to convene the emergency meeting. Just one thing, we need a vanguard who will bear Rustet’s anger on behalf of them.”

Finally, Ernst’s purpose for calling was revealed.

“You take on this burden, Gartel.”

They were both silent for a while.

Gartel is also someone who has eaten from the same pot in the military for over a decade.

He knew better than anyone how heavy the ‘burden’ the minister mentioned would be.

It probably meant becoming the instigator of forming a full-fledged conflict between the military and the Workers’ Party.

He could be branded as a political agent who abandoned his soldier’s pride. It would surely be a label that wouldn’t disappear until he died.

“So that’s why you asked me, the administrative officer, Minister.”

Someone who cherishes Yena more than anyone and is willing to sacrifice himself, and who has the capacity to maintain his status even while taking on such an unprecedented burden.

Wilhelm Gartel.

If it wasn’t him, it would have been a proposal not even worth considering from the start.

“Well, the choice is in your hands.”

“Can it really nullify the ‘Eastern dispatch’?”

“No, that’s impossible. It’s already been approved by the Bern Command. The first-year military advisory group will be formed anyway.”

“Then…!”

“But there’s room to modify the ‘list’. For example, arranging for children to be sent together so Yena can stay comfortably in the East.”

Now Yena’s fate has left Ernst’s side.

Depending on what decision Gartel makes, Yena Freud’s life, and further, the political situation of the military academy would change.

“Haah…”

He pondered for an eternity.

It was a long time, with the minute hand jumping over three numbers.

“Tsk.”

But the answer was already set.

“That kid really needs to know she has a good instructor.”

Gartel ended the conversation with a sentence that Ernst could sufficiently understand the intention of.

---

The ever-green ocean

And the blue waves filling the distant horizon.

“Ye-Yena! Seagulls!”

Erika jumped around on the deck, pointing at the clear sky without a single cloud.

“Indeed, they are seagulls.”

While responding to her words, I appreciated the magnificent view spread out below the ship.

It’s a real sea.

The sea.

It was the first environment I encountered after being possessed by the body of Yena Freud.

Of course, strictly speaking, the diving training in Sevirpol was also at sea.

But there was no romance there, was it?

Not a narrow strait, but a feast of salty streams spreading endlessly in all directions! The ocean encountered on the ship heading to the East was truly a scenery that could be called seeing the sea without a single bit of shame.

Thud!

I soon let go of the iron railing guarding the edge of the ship and looked around.

“How about you, Lina? Have you seen the sea before?”

“No, until I came to school, I was a confined existence unable to leave the imperial family. When I became an adult… well, the war broke out.”

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked.”

“No, it’s fine. Well! I’m happy to see it even now, aren’t I?”

Lina was smiling brightly, holding onto her coat fluttering in the strong wind.

“Come here and eat this, kids!”

“Squawk, squawk!”

Not far from there, Erika was throwing bread crumbs and attracting seagulls.

The other children were the same.

The students selected for the first-year military advisory group each enjoyed the current situation in their own way, with broad smiles on their faces.

None of the original students Rustet had selected were there.

They were all cadets selected based on academic performance.

It could be said that the principal’s scheme had essentially failed.

Gartel and Ernst had helped.

Ernst had bribed a few instructors who had originally agreed to the ‘Eastern dispatch’, and then also drew in several officers who had maintained a neutral stance, to convene an 《Emergency Meeting》.

He even said that Gartel had served as their representative and led the discussion.

“Is it true?”

“Yes, we concluded that you can form the list with the cadets you want. We tried our best to make it so you wouldn’t have to go to the East at all, but…”

“That would have been impossible, right? But it’s fine! Just being able to select the members myself is a great achievement. I’m truly grateful.”

This was all the information Ernst had tipped off over the phone.

I didn’t delve too deeply into the details of who cast votes for or against in the meeting, how the principal reacted, and so on.

There’s no need to go to the trouble when a satisfactory result has been achieved, right?

“Yena, try giving them bread too! They eat so well!”

“Should I?”

It’s already overwhelming to check what needs to be done in the East.

Rustet’s attempt to disgrace me, I just need to remember that one fact, if only to realize proper revenge someday.

“Here, eat.”

“Squawk, squawk!”

I strengthened my resolve while watching the birds eagerly pecking at the bread crumbs with their beaks.

Six months.

Depending on how I spend half a year in the East, the use of these members who left Astrakhan together will be completely different.

I’ve selected some of the few capable individuals from the military academy.

If I succeed in persuading them to my side, they will become reliable allies.

They could be of great help in carrying out the Great War as well.

“H-Hey, are you Yena?”

“Yes.”

“I-I’m Kurt Carius! Nice to meet you again!”

“Ah, could it be from the awards ceremony…”

“That’s right! Hahaha!”

Right from the start, there are guys like this among the members who show their reliability.

He was a man with a build similar to Berto’s. If students like this can fully play the role of protecting me, there couldn’t be a better force.

“The East, huh.”

Is this the first battlefield?

I wonder what kind of spectacle will unfold this time to please me.

Whoosh!

I smiled, combing my hair that cut through the air following the direction of the wind.