I’m Just an Ordinary Academy Student

6 – That’s my story, right?

Selena continued the story of her brother from her lips.

The Lusens War. A fierce battle between the Empire and radical elf factions.

Sacrifices were always made by the youth in the greed of the elderly.

The result was the Empire’s victory, but the process was filled with blood and wounds.

Her brother was one of those who shed blood and bore scars.

He almost didn’t make it back. A warrior’s notice could have been the only thing flying back.

His family could have cried in front of his lifeless body or perhaps not even that.

They were fortunate. The heavens were merciful. A savior was sent by the gods.

Enemies were astonished by the brave figure, and they dispersed on their own.

The savior took on the appearance of an ordinary soldier and rescued the comrades.

“…That’s how my brother could escape from there,” Selena said, her fingers playing with the coffee cup in front of her.

“I’m truly grateful. If it weren’t for that person, not only my brother but hundreds of Imperial soldiers could have lost their lives. Just as my brother said, the savior sent by the gods was undoubtedly correct.”

“Uh, yeah… that could be true.”

With a slightly awkward tone, Cal asks, “Selena, that soldier. Your brother didn’t get a proper look at who he was, did he?”

“Huh? Yeah. At that time, everyone suffered so much that we couldn’t even wash ourselves. Thanks to that, everyone was covered in mud, and it was hard to tell who was who. That soldier was the same; my brother doesn’t know exactly who he was.”

“I see. I see.”

A gulp with a lingering sense of unease as Cal takes a sip of the coffee in front of him.

Even afterward, he seemed to be subtly emitting an uncomfortable vibe.

Selena sitting across from him couldn’t help but notice.

He who had been listening attentively to her story until now was reacting strangely this time.

‘It’s possible he’s feeling uneasy?’

Oh, right. That could be it. Come to think of it, Cal was also an ordinary Imperial soldier like that soldier.

It would be uncomfortable to have a soldier identical to himself highlighted in front of him.

Even if he hadn’t done anything wrong, he might feel embarrassed that someone in his position did.

As Selena’s thoughts reached that point, she felt sorry once again for her mistake.

Although he didn’t achieve the same feats as that soldier, Cal had also been on the same battlefield.

Carrying such fear, he summoned courage and fought just like that.

Although a different person from that soldier, he is undoubtedly a hero of the same empire.

“It’s okay, Karl.”

“Huh?”

“You fought just as hard as that person. For the empire.”

“Oh, uh… did I?”

“So you’re as amazing as that soldier who saved your brother.”

With a cheering smile, Selena even added a cheer, “Go for it!”

Thanks to Selena’s encouragement, Karl’s somewhat troubled expression improved slightly.

‘Even if she says it’s not because of me… I must have contributed to some extent. So, doing this is only natural.’

How difficult must it have been for a noble’s son to enlist as a soldier? He even experienced a war.

So, she’s only expressing remorse because of herself. There are no other emotions.

Thinking this, Selena comforted Karl again, a gesture of encouragement.

“….”

Meanwhile.

Gulp—

Having gulped down the remaining coffee, Karl thought, ‘No matter how I look at it… this is my story, right?’

Yes. It seems right. No matter how I think about it, it seems like that.

The soldier who saved Selena’s brother. The crazy guy who rescued hundreds of comrades.

‘That’s me, isn’t it?!’

During the Ruzence War, there was a time when I blabbered about rescuing my missing comrades.

Because despite the shitty military life and the midst of the war, we had become quite close.

I wanted to swear at those bastards who were alive instead of seeing their corpses.

Naturally, other comrades and superiors thought I was out of my mind and tried to stop me.

Did I go crazy because I wanted to die? It had been a long time since I was trapped in the encirclement of those pointy-eared bastards.

It’s regrettable, but they died. They’re not human in this world. So give up!

But back then, I didn’t even bother to listen to their words.

And then, with my body dragging along, I entered a place filled with formidable pointy-eared bastards.

Wow, damn. When I think about it now, there wasn’t a crazier bastard even among the lunatics, right?

Even though those pointy-eared guys showed weakness in a head-on battle, they were ghosts incarnate in encirclement and annihilation.

Especially in small-scale unit fights where they didn’t deploy heavy forces, those guys were always in the superior position.

Once you got trapped in their encirclement, it was considered a given that you’d never come back alive.

But somehow, for some godforsaken reason, luck was ridiculously on our side.

I never came face to face with those pointy-eared guys; instead, I encountered my squad members.

And I still remember the damn conversation we had with those bastards for the first time.

“Hey, you crazy bastard! Do you even know where this is?!”

“These damn bastards?! We came all this way to save you, and this is how you react?!”

“You crawled in like a bunch of maggots! Are you out of your mind because you wanted to die?!”

They were all insane, for sure. What if the pointy-eared guys heard them? Maybe they would have been caught and suffered the gruesome fate of having their scalps peeled off?

But Lady Luck favored me once again this time.

Even though the forest was roaring as it retreated, we didn’t engage in combat with a single elf.

Thanks to that, my comrades and I supported each other to get out of the forest.

“…And then, just like my squad members isolated like that.”

At first, I thought there were only a few of them. But damn, I was wrong.

From a few, it became dozens. Dozens turned into hundreds. They were more than a platoon.

They, like my comrades, were isolated in the enemy territory, having missed the retreat window.

Unable to fight, unable to escape, surrender was even more out of the question for them.

To those isolated soldiers, I had to do something crazy once again.

“Let’s go together! We can retreat to the main camp right now!”

“The enemies were nowhere to be seen until I met my comrades here!”

“Whether we die here or die on the way, it’s the same, isn’t it? If we’re going to die, isn’t it better to get a little closer to our homeland before we do?!”

A crazy bastard, really. A truly crazy bastard. What if the enemies actually ambushed us?

At least the defenses were somewhat established, and we could have withstood one or two surprise attacks.

If allies sent reinforcements, the chances of surviving and being rescued would have been higher.

But at that moment, whether it was due to excessive adrenaline or not being in my right mind, I wasn’t thinking straight.

And the soldiers there, even the officers, were in a similar situation to me.

That intense desire to escape from this hell. It’s the instinct for survival.

“I was lucky.”

Yeah. Lucky, unbelievably so, almost like a scam.

Not once did the enemy advance while hundreds of us faced them with determination.

Without a single person falling behind, we supported each other and marched on.

That’s how we successfully joined forces with our allied main unit.

Since it was so chaotic at the time, I returned to our unit only with my squad members.

“That crazy bastard! Orders. Orders! Why did you join the army if you’re not going to follow orders!”

“Kyaah! Squad leader! Bones, bones!”

“Bones? You bastard?! If you were caught by those ear freaks, your scalp would have been peeled off!”

And I got scolded by the squad leader right away. Why didn’t I follow orders and pulled that stunt.

Of course, right after that, I came back alive. I brought my squad members and thanked them.

Anyway, that’s how it happened. This is the rough story of what occurred that day.

With the merit of a few squad members, I, who was a private first class at the time, was promoted to corporal.

That also became one of the reasons I received a promotion to sergeant before discharge.

“Knife? Knife!”

“Uh, uh?”

“Are you listening to my story?”

“Uh, uh. Of course. I’m listening. Thanks. For saying it like that.”

For a moment, I considered telling Selena. That soldier seems to be my brother.

The one I saved, that’s what it seemed like. Ironically, it turned out that way.

…No. Forget it. Let’s not say it. What’s the point of saying it? It wasn’t exactly a joyful moment.

Movies, games, dramas. Things I saw in memories of a past life.

There was a moment when I watched war heroes from there and thought, “I wish I could be like that!”

Receiving praise from others, walking around with shrugged shoulders, I thought it would be nice.

But experiencing it firsthand, it was a time I’d rather not remember.

Not proudly, but it was a bitter memory I just wanted to forget.

That place was hell. A damn hell where someone had to die for sure.

Imperial War Fortress, Minister’s office interior.

“Is this certain?”

“Yes, Your Highness. I have gathered the testimonies of those present at that time as much as possible. Considering the accounts of each division commander and officers, the probability is estimated to be well over 97 percent.”

“It could still be the remaining 3 percent, and that’s a significant probability.”

Muttering so, the Minister of War rifled through the documents once again.

“…Alright. Submit it to the royal court, and wait for the Emperor’s decision.”

– Imperial Order of Merit Recipient –

– Karl Adelheid –