I Was Sent to an All-Female Frontline Unit to Get Rid of Some of the Trouble, but the Most Beautiful Girls Who Are Rumored to Hate Men Love Me So Much That I Have a Hard Time at Night - Chapter 49: A Big Blow to the Upper Ranks (1)

Chapter 49: A Big Blow to the Upper Ranks (1)

I don’t know why everyone is so eager to do stretching with me.

With the kind of energy that could be mistaken for morale, everyone voiced their desire. In response, Sephia spoke up.

“That’s a bit of a problem. Stretching is most effective when done in pairs, so if this many people want to stretch with Finn, then…”

It’s true that stretching is usually done alone or with one other person.

Doing it with around fifty people is almost unthinkable.

Sephia paused and seemed to be at a loss. Then Elena opened her mouth and said,

“Sephia-chan, I have a suggestion. Is that okay?”

“Yes. What is it?”

“Everyone wants to stretch with Finn-kun, right? But if one person is enough to be Finn-kun’s partner, then how about this: as part of interpersonal combat training, they fight for the right to pair up with him?”

Eh……!?

“I see… So, in a mock battle, the person who wins gets to be Finn’s stretching partner, right?”

Elena nodded as if to confirm that idea.

Then Sephia turned to everyone and said,

“I think Elena’s suggestion sounds good. What about the rest of you?”

“I agree!”

“I’m in as well!”

“A fight for a pair with Teraward-kun…!”

“I’m not gonna lose.”

“I’ll go all out…”

Everyone reacted like they would in an actual battle.

Or rather, they even seemed more fired up than during real combat… but—

“W-Wait a minute!”

“Teraward-kun? What’s wrong?”

There had been one question on my mind this whole time.

So I voiced it.

“Um… do you really need to go that far just to do stretching with me?”

I’m not saying stretching isn’t important.

If you want to properly assess my ability as a soldier, then stretching might actually be useful.

But even so, doing interpersonal combat just for that feels a bit…

“Of course we do!”

“Eh!?”

“Of course!”

“Definitely.”

“Absolutely!”

“We do!”

“R-Really…?”

“Yes!”

“Totally!!”

I didn’t understand why, but clearly, to everyone, this was important.

As I came to accept that, Sephia opened her mouth and said,

“Fufu, it seems everyone’s more motivated than during usual training. In that case, I think I’ll join this battle as well.”

“Eh!? Y-You’re joining too, Sephia-senpai!?”

“Yes. It’s a great opportunity to fight everyone when they’re this motivated. And more than anything… I want to stretch with Finn too.”

After saying that, Sephia turned toward me and gave a gentle smile.

She had always been kind since we first met, but after we took a bath together, it felt like she had become even warmer somehow.

As I looked at her expression and felt my heart warm up, Elena opened her mouth and spoke next.

“Of course, I’m joining too! I absolutely want to stretch with Finn-kun!”

“Even you, Elena-senpai…!”

“So, until there’s only one person left, we’re free to form strategies and alliances, right?”

“It’s a mock battle format, so yes, that part is up to you.”

“Yup yup, so until you take down me and Sephia-chan, everyone can cooperate if they want! If you’re all my opponents, there’s no way I’d go easy on you. And with stretching with Finn-kun on the line, I’m going full power!”

“…Until we take down Elena-senpai and Sephia-senpai, let’s all work together. After that, it’s every woman for herself—no hard feelings, no matter who wins or loses.”

“Agreed.”

“That’s the only way.”

“Stretching with Tera-kun…!”

“I’m definitely winning…!”

Then, Norn-san and I, who weren’t participating in the fight, moved to a spot a little ways away.

“Well then—shall we begin?”

With Sephia’s signal, the battle began.

I still didn’t really understand why that reason was about stretching with me.

But since I thought there was a lot to learn from everyone’s fight, I decided to carefully learn from that part.

◆◇◆

The main base of the Luvankrum Empire’s military.

In the meeting room, four members of the upper ranks were seated.

“It’s about time the dispatched unit sent to the frontline base should be returning.”

When Deandre said that, a heavyset man nodded in agreement.

“If we pay that much money, no matter how much those women hate men, they should have immediately killed Finn Teraward, who is both a man and a commoner, exactly as we ordered.”

“Hmph. A fake conscience can be stripped away with money.”

“That’s the wisdom of those in charge.”

“Indeed.”

Feeling praised, Deandre’s mood lifted a bit, and he nodded proudly.

“With Finn Teraward dead, our Luvankrum Empire’s military—and the nobles’ status—are now secure.”

“There have been many meetings lately, but finally, a break is coming.”

“Good grief, I never thought I’d be made to work so much by commoners. It’s really unpleasant.”

“Ha ha ha, don’t worry. That will end soon. We just have to wait quietly for the words from the dispatched unit that will arrive shortly to confirm that.”

After that, Deandre and the others kept waiting.

The scheduled return time passed, but since the unit was on the frontline, it wouldn’t be strange if there was some delay.

They told themselves this, waiting patiently for the dispatched unit to come back—but—

One hour past the scheduled return time,

Deandre, losing patience, shouted angrily,

“Why… why haven’t they returned yet?!”

An hour was too long for just a minor delay.

Something definitely happened.

“C-Could it be that the frontline unit was even angrier than the last time they were turned away, and something happened to the dispatched unit members?”

“No. Those men-hating women have only said things with their mouths until now. They have never physically harmed our allied forces. It’s hard to believe they acted this time, especially since we told them to talk about money first to prevent that. So that is unlikely.”

“Y-You’re right…”

It was unlikely the dispatched unit was harmed by the frontline unit.

But something was definitely going on.

As Deandre and the others thought hard about what it could be, a purple-haired woman spoke up after a long silence.

“This is closely related to the dispatched unit, but I think we should also consider the huge sum of money they had.”

“What are you saying? I just said the frontline unit took the money and killed Finn Teraward as we ordered.”

“Of course, I also think they had no reason to refuse, so that is possible. But then, why hasn’t the dispatched unit returned? As you said, they would not attack allied forces.”

“That is… true.”

The heavyset man nodded, seeming convinced, and Deandre spoke.

“From your tone, do you have an idea why the dispatched unit hasn’t returned?”

“Yes. I have a prediction, and a plan to deal with it.”

“Oh…! Please tell us.”

The purple-haired woman was so talented that she was part of the upper military ranks at a young age.

No wonder they wanted to hear her opinion.

She calmly said,

“Most likely—the dispatched unit is trying to steal that huge sum of money and is now desperately fleeing as far as possible from the military base.”

“Wha…!?”

“S-Stealing…!?”

“Fleeing…”

Her idea was completely unexpected.

The surprised men of the upper ranks showed no calmness compared to her.

They had paid enough money to run a small country for a month, as long as Finn Teraward was definitely killed.

But if they lost that money for nothing, it would be a serious blow to the upper ranks.

Unable to hide their shock, the purple-haired woman continued,

“That is why I propose we immediately send troops out from the military base to find the dispatched unit—no, the rebels.”