Bell put his pipe in his mouth and sat down at the small desk in the barracks. There was a huge amount of paperwork on his desk, and Bell continued to wrestle with them for a while.
I carefully unpacked my things so as not to disturb Bell’s work. All I had brought into the barracks was a small notebook, a slightly thicker book, and a few pieces of chocolate, but when I put them down on the small shelf next to the bed, I felt like this bed was all mine.
“... ... I haven’t received the report of the casualties and deaths from yesterday yet.”
As I lay in bed, staring blankly at the barracks, I heard Bell’s voice. Naturally, it wasn’t addressed to .
“What? The captain didn’t send his report? There were six dead and eighty-one injured. Two are missing.”
Grisha, who was lying in bed with his eyes closed, answered in a dry voice.
“What was the cause of death?”
“One was bleeding profusely. Two were wounded. The other two died instantly from a torso explosion... ... One was probably a suicide.”
They talked about the deaths without changing their expressions. Grisha closed his eyes again after finishing his story, and Bell chewed his pipe and resud his paperwork.
“... ... .”
The two exchanged grim stories, but the atmosphere in the barracks did not change.
That fact made feel even more uncomfortable.
It seed that the two had lost their sense of emotion over the long war.
“Bin, I clearly told you that I didn’t expect much from you. Then you asked why I didn’t send you back to the capital like the others.”
About 30 minutes had passed in this uncomfortable yet peaceful atmosphere, and Bell suddenly spoke to while organizing the stack of papers he was holding.
“Right?”
“You have sothing that the others don’t.”
“... ... What is that?”
“Value.”
Yes?
Value?
... ... What value?
“Your fa is known all over the continent. You’re the genius who will save the world, the second swordsman, and all that.”
“Well... ... yes.”
“And that fa isn’t just for the people of the continent. The damned overlords over there must be classifying you as a top threat.”
“... ... .”
I was silent for a mont and swallowed dryly. I could guess what he was going to say next.
“How much would your life be worth? Wouldn’t it be enough for four overlords to show up on the battlefield, even if they had to take a chance?”
This conversation is getting weirder and weirder.
“When I first heard that you would be deployed to this battlefield, I honestly felt lost. It was too much of a battlefield for a young, immature young man to be active in. So I thought I should send a letter to His Majesty asking him to reconsider. Then, a good idea ca to .”
Bell got up from his desk and lifted the chair he was sitting on. He carried the chair and ca to my bedside.
“Do you know what the current situation is in Valorand?”
A strange pressure began to squeeze my chest and neck. His eyes, visible through his jet-black hair, were filled with deep anger and clear desperation that no ordinary person could understand.
“The enemy forces are advancing three steps a day on the front line. They are slowly eliminating all variables, eating away at our supplies and spirit. If this continues, we will have to completely take back Valorand’s front line within a month.”
Those eyes were those of a human being driven to the edge of a cliff.
“Our enemies don’t have ntal illness, and they don’t need food. Our troops are swollen with each death.”
Bell grabbed the pipe he had in his mouth. A slightly creepy smile faintly lingered around his lips.
“Strictly speaking, this isn’t a battlefield. It’s a slaughterhouse. We’re just waiting to die like stupid pigs.”
‘It’s so bloody, it’s not like we’re interrogating criminals.’
I stuck out my tongue, thinking that leisurely in the back of my head.
The performance of [Calmness] was so outstanding that even a wizard as great as Bell would be able to set the mood, he never got overwheld.
There wouldn’t be many people as strong as Bell in the entire world.
Seeing Bell’s mind working so well against him, it must an that he never gets scared and freezes when he ets soone.
... ... Well, I didn’t know that I would test the limits of [calmness] like this again.
“Well, this place being treated as a slaughterhouse ended yesterday.”
He continued his story, lightly poking my chest with the end of his pipe.
“Bin, what do you think is needed to kill the Demon King and the Devil?”
“I don’t know.”
“An overwhelming genius, or a monster beyond that.”
Bell spoke with the end of his pipe still pressed against my chest.
“In the end, the war will end only when the Demon King and the Devil are killed. No matter how many tis you kill the Overlord or the High Lord, the Demon King and the Devil will just recreate them. Do you agree with that?”
“That’s right.”
“The Demon King and the Devil. One is a Transcendent, and the other is a slaughter monster that the Transcendent worked hard to create. Both of these are monsters that are beyond the standard. In order to kill these two, we need monsters that match their level.”
He continued calmly.
“He has the Sword, but no matter how great he is, he can’t fight both the Demon King and the Devil at the sa ti. So, if we want to win this war, we need another monster of similar level.”
Smack!
A faint spark burst from the head of the pipe Bell was holding. Bell took a deep breath, holding the pipe that was already nothing but ashes in his mouth.
“But where did this vagrant brat suddenly appear, fights the Great Monarch, survives, catches a young dragon, and rips off the High Monarch? Even according to rumors, he’s a bundle of pure talent who’s never learned magic.”
Smoke that was the color of dirt, or maybe you could call it pitch black, flowed out of Bell’s mouth.
“The appearance of an unexpected variable. A variable that we desperately needed, and that our enemies cannot tolerate.”
If you are reading this translation anywhere other than Novelight or SilkRoadTL, it has been stolen.
Bell slowly raised his head and looked up at the ceiling of the barracks. There were black soot marks and faint mold stains everywhere.
“You are bait.”
Bell introduced to my identity, which I didn’t know about.
I barely managed to hold back the quivering of my lips as I wanted to say, ‘I thought my na was Bin, but my last na is Gyeong.’
... ... [Calm], this guy is so good that it’s useless.
“If you start showing up on the battlefield, the overlords will show up accordingly. It’s more important for them to kill you than to gain the land called Valorand.”
Even to my non-expert eyes, the situation in Valorand didn’t look so good.
The overlord hid sowhere deep, and only the common and high-ranking demons under his command slowly tightened their hold on the front line.
Every day, thousands of mutants fall into hell by the blades of soldiers, but the number of mutants that invade the battlefield exceeds tens of thousands.
The front line was slowly being pushed back one to two ters each day.
There was absolutely no fatal damage. General Grisha and Bell were alive and well, and the supply lines were operating normally.
But that was all, this battlefield was definitely falling into the hands of the demons.
“We will use you as bait to lure the overlords into our formation, and then catch them nicely.”
“Even if we draw out the overlords, is there a way to kill them?”
Surprisingly, my next line was not, ‘You’re using as bait? You’re talking nonsense.’
... ... [Calmness] is a god, and I, who is protected by that god, am invincible.
“You’re pretty calm. You expected that, right?”
No way to expect that. In fact, it’s just because my constitution is such that I can’t be scared or panicked.
“... ... Of course.”
Well, isn’t good being good?
“You’re smart. Anyway, you asked about a way to kill the Overlord?”
“There is, right?”
The Overlords aren’t just demons with commanding abilities. They are commanders and the best fighters among the Demons.
Although there are differences between individuals, the power of the Overlords is on average considered to be at the level of ‘generals’ like Bell and Grisha before my eyes.
So even if they were lured, I wondered if the current regular army had the ability to catch them for sure.
“I can’t answer that yet. It’s a security issue.”
In this situation, most people who heard that answer would imdiately leave with a dumbfounded expression.
You’re going to use my life as bait, but you can’t even share the details of the operation. Who would entrust their life to such an unruly and arbitrary commander without being crazy?
“It’s a bit strange to say this on the day we t, but believe . I’m a fool who risks my life in a losing battle... ... .”
“Yes, that’s right.”
Nevertheless, I gave a cool-headed nod.
“... ... Are you serious?”
“Of course.”
There’s no particular reason.
It’s just that I know what kind of person Belle Artois is.
Belle is clearly a cold-blooded and rciless person, but all of her actions are for the greater good of ‘victory in war.’
Belle, who said that I was a necessary variable to win the war.
It didn’t matter whether I was a true genius or not. What really mattered was that Belle thought of that way.
As long as this misunderstanding isn’t resolved, Belle won’t let die no matter what.
... ... Even if the situation worsens, Belle will probably trade the lives of all the soldiers to protect .
Because he was the one who valued ‘victory in war’ above all else.
Whether he liked it or not, Belle Artois was that kind of person.
“I can’t say it, but there must be a way, right? Since you said ‘yet’... ... I’ll tell you soday.
It’s just a thought. Let’s just believe it once, okay?”
Bell should be grateful that I’ve played this ga for thousands of hours.
Otherwise, «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» how could I simply believe the person in front of , who is a ‘well-organized and excellent soldier’?
“... ... Surprisingly, you believe so easily. Since it’s a matter of life and death, you should think about it more carefully.”
“No need. I’ve made up my mind.”
If I think about it calmly, I have no other choice but to believe Bell.
I don’t have a way to change the flow of the battlefield, and I don’t have the ability to escape this battlefield and survive right now.
As I said before, isn’t it much more rational to play Russian roulette with a revolver with one empty chamber than to play Russian roulette with an automatic pistol?
I just chose the revolver with one empty chamber.
“I’ll trust you unconditionally. Instead, if I ask you to trust later, General, just trust once. Without any conditions.”
Furthermore, if you readily say that you will trust under such ridiculous conditions, you can create a debt.
It may seem aningless to so people. We didn’t sign a contract, and we didn’t formally call a witness.
Nevertheless, this debt can be used in the future.
It will be an opportunity for the real power in the military I am serving to have a positive impression of .
It doesn’t matter if the abstract promise of ‘trusting unconditionally when I need you’ is not actually fulfilled.
There are countless benefits to just having this human being have a positive impression of .
“... ... Yes. When you need my help soday, I will trust you unconditionally. I promise.”
Belle paused for a mont and then answered.
The desperation that had been in his jet-black eyes had disappeared without a trace.
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