I Won’t Let the Execution Battalion Die, ~Even If the Empire Falls, We Want to Survive~ - Chapter 46: Bonds of Comradeship ⑤

Second Lieutenant Crimine looked very displeased, but after hearing my explanation, she seemed somewhat convinced.

“Doesn’t that mean anti-imperial factions are moving around freely?”

“That’s right. Don’t be so angry.”

“That’s not what I’m angry about.”

Then what was it?

Second Lieutenant Crimine wandered around me while sniffing my scent. It was unsettling, like being followed by a police dog or bear.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m sniffing to see if that woman’s scent is on you.”

I backed away with an annoyed expression.

“There’s no way it would be. You were the one who said I don’t smell. If any new scent got on me, you’d notice immediately.”

I shut out odor sources through washing and cleansing, and I didn’t wear cologne. So I was a rather rare scentless person in this world.

Other people usually had their own distinctive smells. Body odor, or tobacco and gunpowder scents.

Second Lieutenant Crimine smelled of cosmetics or perfume.

“Come to think of it, you have a sweet fragrance.”

Then her expression suddenly relaxed.

“It’s peach perfume. Doesn’t it smell delicious?”

“Ah, yeah.”

“Would you like to taste it?”

“Taste what?”

Since I’d succeeded in changing the subject, I quickly returned to work talk.

“I want to pursue Yuo.”

“Not her full name but ‘Yuo’…?”

A sticky gaze clung to me. This girl was quite troublesome.

“Since she didn’t give her real name, Yuo is fine now. Anyway, she’s a powerful figure among the anti-imperial factions. She’d slipped through our investigative net and appeared inside the fortress, and she was wearing a Ceremonial Battalion uniform. That’s not something an individual could do.”

When I said this, Second Lieutenant Crimine returned to her work face.

“That’s true. It seems more profitable to interrogate her for information than arrest and execute her.”

“Right? That’s why I want to value the connection with her. It’s a thin thread, but one that leads to the depths of conspiracy. It would be a shame to let it break.”

Of course, she probably understood she had value to us too. So she might be moving as bait to manipulate us.

Being too obsessed might be dangerous.

But since I felt the Empire wouldn’t last much longer, I wanted to understand anti-imperial faction movements. When would revolution occur, and how would it happen?

If I could pick up even slight information, I might understand what type of revolution from my previous life it resembled. It would become material for deciding how to conduct myself.

“Since there’s an arrest warrant for her, pursuing her itself aligns with orders from above. However, I want to extract information before handing her over.”

“You’re doing unauthorized things again!”

She seemed somehow happy.

“I’m just faithfully executing the battalion commander’s orders.”

Our boss was the battalion commander, and the battalion commander’s intentions differed considerably from the Imperial Household’s intentions. Since soldiers follow direct superiors, I didn’t care about the Imperial Household’s intentions.

Second Lieutenant Crimine nodded with a straight face.

“I’ll also marry you as the battalion commander ordered.”

“No such order was given.”

“It was given.”

Don’t joke during serious conversations. …It was a joke, right?

I smiled at my partner while handing her a blanket.

“If you want to marry me that badly, do as you like.”

“Really!?”

“So go to sleep early today, and starting tomorrow we’ll conduct search activities outside the fortress.”

If we arrested her outside the fortress, it wouldn’t develop into complicated trouble. We could interrogate her before transferring custody.

Since executing her would only create the next ‘Yuo Nevilnel’ anyway, depending on circumstances, we could let her escape in exchange for information. The battalion commander probably wouldn’t say anything about that level of action.

“Now let’s sleep.”

“Yes, Lieutenant.”

“That’s my bed.”

“So it is?”

“So it is” isn’t an answer. Go over there.

I pushed the dissatisfied-looking Second Lieutenant Crimine into the adjacent bed and slipped into my own bed.

“But why did she show herself to me…?”

“That’s obvious.”

Second Lieutenant Crimine, pouting with just her face peeking out from the blanket, said irritably:

“Soldiers like you are rare, Lieutenant, so she became curious.”

“No way.”

“Don’t you realize it?”

Hmm, Meinen had treated me as eccentric, but since he was more of a weirdo, I’d never minded. The battalion commander and company commander were strange people too.

“In any case, I’m grateful to have caught her interest. Let’s continue this way.”

“I’m worried…”

Feeling Second Lieutenant Crimine’s voice pleasantly, I fell peacefully asleep. Having a trustworthy partner was reassuring.

That night I had quite strange dreams, but I’ll keep the content secret for the honor of both Second Lieutenant Crimine and Yuo. Maybe I had various things pent up.

*****

And the next morning, a bit late:

“Sergeant Decoct, ordered to escort Lieutenant along with two privates.”

Sergeant Decoct from the Third Company, whose back looked just like mine, arrived at the fortress. Two line infantry from our company were with him.

Though only three men, having male soldiers from the same company was reassuring. I couldn’t make Second Lieutenant Crimine do reckless things.

Sergeant Decoct was the NCO who had served as my body double when I was being followed before. He was around my age with good build, serious and calm, so he was reliable.

“Good work, Sergeant. I’m glad you came.”

“I’ll do my best with what little I can offer. However, the Company Commander was lamenting.”

“As expected.”

I’d started doing unauthorized things during leave.

“I’ll apologize to the Company Commander later. Right now, searching for ‘Yuo Nevilnel’ takes priority. I don’t want other departments to take custody of her.”

When I explained this, Sergeant Decoct nodded lightly.

“Another troublesome case?”

“That’s right.”

Because I liked to stick my nose into unnecessary things, only strange missions came my way. I was famous for it even in the Third Company.

It was completely self-inflicted, so I couldn’t say anything.

“We’ll leave the fortress now and track Yuo’s movements. I have reliable information, but she’s probably nearby.”

After all, I’d met her last night. It was certain she hadn’t gone far.

Sergeant Decoct saluted.

“Yes sir! Then I’ll accompany your search mission, Lieutenant!”

“Sorry about this.”

I felt bad making him, whose specialty was desk work, do escort duty, but since we were short on both officers and NCOs, he’d have to put up with it.

However, dragging military doctors to checkpoints and ordering NCOs whose main job was document forgery to do escort missions—something seemed strange about our battalion’s situation.

Perhaps personnel were being allocated elsewhere.

“Sergeant, have you heard anything from the Company Commander?”

“No, I’m just a sergeant. However…”

Sergeant Decoct answered somewhat hesitantly:

“She said to please don’t let Lieutenant die since he’ll probably start doing reckless things again.”

“Sorry about that. Though I’ve never done anything reckless.”

“Um… no, never mind.”

The sergeant had started to say something but gave up with a resigned look.

Alright, as a start, let’s infiltrate somewhere in the Yuo Nevilnel search teams to gather information while exploring enemy and ally movements. Using the battalion commander’s name should allow some recklessness.

Plus with Sergeant Decoct here, we could forge or alter command documents, and I felt we could manage quite a lot of recklessness. As long as we didn’t leave evidence, anything would work.

While formulating plans in my head, the sergeant looked worried.

“Lieutenant, please really don’t do anything reckless.”

“Leave it to me.”

Now, how should I go about this…?