I Won’t Let the Execution Battalion Die, ~Even If the Empire Falls, We Want to Survive~ - Chapter 35: A Man Who Cannot Escape ③

“That was quite an adventure.”

At Imperial Ceremonial Battalion headquarters, the beautiful blonde battalion commander was giving a wry smile.

“Not only did you succeed in eliminating Admiral Telzen, but you even discovered a Navy secret base. Magnificent. Since the Army has safely taken possession of it, His Imperial Majesty will be pleased too. If this weren’t a secret mission, you’d be awarded a medal or two.”

The battalion commander’s eyes, as she said this, were strangely quite cold.

“It seems the Imperial Household will use this as an opportunity to completely overhaul the Navy’s upper leadership. The admirals can’t complain either. What Admiral Telzen was doing was a massive overreach of authority, and it’s become clear that the Imperial Household has the capability to eliminate him.”

I drove home a point, just in case:

“I couldn’t do the same thing again even if ordered to.”

“That’s right. But you’ve demonstrated that the Emperor has both the capability and will to eliminate rebellious commanders. The admirals will tremble with fear and pledge loyalty on the surface, whatever they may think inside. With this, the Emperor’s reign will continue for a while longer.”

I could only sigh.

“It’s a stop-gap life extension measure. It’s not a fundamental solution.”

“Well, that’s fine. Fundamental solutions are impossible for us. If you wanted that…”

The battalion commander’s eyes narrowed sharply behind her lenses.

“There’s someone who’d have to be executed first.”

The Emperor? That was too heavy for a joke.

Come to think of it, the battalion commander’s daughter had an assassin sent after her when she was a baby. That was our company commander though.

There seemed to be some secret.

“By the way, I heard about Captain Yugi’s background from her personally. Is that true?”

“Ah, about the Shao Great Dynasty—”

“Yes.”

“That she’s a descendant of a secret group from a nearby island.”

“I didn’t hear that part.”

That was different from what I’d heard.

The battalion commander chuckled.

“Minaka being a descendant of eastern refugees is probably correct, but she doesn’t understand the details herself. Multiple refugee groups probably merged and became a complex organization.”

Quite a greedy group. Kung fu ninjas might appear. Oh wait, that’s our company commander.

Either way, there definitely seems to be an Eastern region in this world. I’m curious—do they eat rice there, I wonder?

Oops, I was getting sidetracked.

“Who sent the assassin?”

“What, did she tell you that much too? She’s surprisingly talkative.”

The battalion commander made a slightly sour face but answered:

“That child’s father.”

“Someone important?”

“He was important. After all, he was the previous Emperor.”

…Wait a minute.

“So your daughter is the current Emperor’s half-sister?”

“That would be it. That lecherous old fool forced me to bear his child, then tried to kill his illegitimate daughter.”

The previous Emperor had supposedly retired quite a while ago but died suddenly about ten years ago.

“I wouldn’t think this, but…”

“Hey now, the ‘Laundry Man’ shouldn’t go digging up old dirt. His Imperial Majesty probably doesn’t even know about this.”

Grinning wickedly, the battalion commander sat on her desk.

“The stains were washed clean. Pure white. Isn’t that fine?”

“Well, yes.”

She probably had Captain Yugi strike back. The employer never would have thought the assassin would return to kill him.

The Ceremonial Battalion becoming secret police was bad enough, but I’d learned an even more dangerous secret.

“I shouldn’t have asked.”

“Minaka probably revealed the secret to drag you in. You’ve really caught her eye.”

“That’s not pleasant.”

I sighed, then saluted.

“Then I’ll take my leave.”

“Ah. You did great work this time. Take about five days’ leave.”

“No, I can finish laundry in one day.”

Quite a bit of laundry had accumulated, so today I planned to return to quarters and wash everything. The weather was good too.

Then the battalion commander gave a wry smile.

“You apparently owe Riesha something?”

“Ah, come to think of it, that’s right.”

During Admiral Telzen’s assassination, I’d asked Second Lieutenant Crimine to moan for camouflage purposes… I really needed to make it up to her somehow, or it would be quite bad. I’d promised too.

I gave a wry smile.

“But that can wait until after I hang out the laundry. Half a day should be sufficient.”

“Assuming she thinks so too.”

That was true too…

“Then I’ll apply for five days’ leave.”

“Yeah, I’ll process it here so you can go ahead and leave.”

“Thank you.”

I saluted and stepped into the corridor.

As if she’d been watching, Second Lieutenant Crimine appeared quickly.

“I hear you’ve taken leave, Lieutenant Fonkt.”

“Eavesdropping isn’t nice, Second Lieutenant Crimine.”

I gave a wry smile while running my hand through my hair.

“So, what would you like for compensation?”

“I want to go eat somewhere again. Do you have any recommendations?”

“If you like cheese, how about visiting the ranch that runs that restaurant from before? They apparently have fresh cheese that’s eaten without aging. It spoils easily, so they don’t even wholesale it to their direct store in the capital.”

So-called fresh cheese. Mozzarella and cottage cheese would fall into this category, but I didn’t know what they called it here.

Since there were no refrigerators in this era, it was mostly consumed near production areas and wasn’t commonly available in the capital.

As expected, Second Lieutenant Crimine’s eyes lit up.

“Is it quite far by any chance?”

“Well, we’d need to stay overnight on the way…”

We’d probably want to stay overnight at the destination too to eat more, making it a three-night, four-day trip. This was getting troublesome.

“Then let’s go right away. Let’s go now.”

“Wait, wait, I need to check the stagecoach schedule first. I can’t borrow horses from the Ceremonial Battalion.”

“Ah, if that’s the case, I’ll call my family’s carriage, so it’s fine. We have a mansion in the capital too.”

Come to think of it, this girl was a wealthy young lady.

Second Lieutenant Crimine took my hand happily.

“Please fill my stomach.”

When this girl said it, something felt off… Was I overthinking it?

This trip would become another source of trouble, but at that time I still knew nothing.

If I’d known, I definitely wouldn’t have gone.