A War Hero With No Regrets

46 – What is important (3)

Werner Grime got on the helicopter without hesitation.

The sun has already set for a long time, and the cold winter wind is so fierce that it even freezes my breath.

But that was no problem.

Thump, thud, thud.

Keee!

The electronic instrument panel lights up, and the helicopter’s rotor begins to spin.

He immediately grabbed the control stick of the helicopter.

It was already equipped with unmanned technology, so there was no need to sit in the cockpit, but it was for faster movement.

At one time, he was an elite pilot who personally flew a helicopter and rained missiles directly on the Titan army.

The feeling of his fingertips has not yet faded.

The helicopter piloted by Werner soon began to fly above Forbidden Lake Fortress.

It was about a three-hour helicopter ride from here to the Eastern Military District where Leah was living.

However, if you push yourself a little, you can shorten the time by up to 2 hours.

Assuming the timing is right, we will be able to arrive at the Eastern Branch of the Security Strategy Bureau before midnight.

Of course, the faces of the mechanics were clearly in tears over the damaged state of the helicopter, but now was not the time to discuss such matters.

Too doo doo doo doo!

A black helicopter cutting through the air at maximum speed.

A chaotically mixed airflow.

The coldness of winter.

There was no stopping Werner Grime.

However, what was waiting for him when he arrived in Branberg after flying frantically was the news of none other than Leah Gilead’s discharge.

“Overall… I did… ?”

“Yes, we just heard about it yesterday. “Her superior, Colonel Julia Anke, was late in completing the discharge repairs.”

The eastern liaison officer of the Security Bureau, who unexpectedly met his immediate superior in the middle of the night, spoke in a clear voice.

“Why?”

It was a question that came out instinctively.

Leah Gilead completes the campaign?

Didn’t she say just a few days ago that she was holding a reunion in the capital, Hohenvaren?

Even though he didn’t say anything, Werner was keeping an eye on their overall lives.

Of course, I knew that there was an old Graveyard Comrades Association event led by Argen, Charlotte, and Drake.

This was something he had hinted at on the plane returning from the Republic of Bostania to the Empire.

I’m sure you had a great time with old comrades you haven’t seen in a long time.

Suddenly being discharged?

As Werner widens his eyes, the liaison officer’s face turns pale.

“I’m sorry, Director!! I will correct it! “We will head straight to the 32nd Regiment to find out the truth about the incident!!”

“Ah… no. There’s no need to do that. I didn’t say that to you….”

Faced with the unbelievable facts, Werner Grime could only utter gibberish.

“I have to go myself…” . “Please prepare the address and vehicle.”

This whole situation just gave me a bad feeling.

“Right now.”

***

It has already been a week since Leah Gilead suddenly disappeared, leaving behind only a discharge application form.

Where on earth did it go wrong?

Looking back on her memories, it was from when she finally received that letter.

A strange document delivered in such a way that the handwriting could not be identified by cutting and pasting newspaper articles telling people not to send letters.

After that, Leah began to noticeably deteriorate.

Then we had to track down the person who sent the letter, but the problem was that we couldn’t track that person.

There was definitely a knock on the door.

Julia clearly remembered the situation at the time.

If I had received it in the mailbox, I wouldn’t have known it, so I knocked on the door and made it come out.

Belatedly, I went to check the CCTV, but it was in vain.

Just in case, I handed over the relevant information to the police and requested an investigation, but even there they were unable to identify the culprit.

-I checked all CCTV near the accommodation. Even screens taken from different angles are all messed up.

It’s like a ghost crying.

So does that mean the criminal intentionally hacked the closed circuit at once?

It was ridiculous.

Because the culprit was not identified, the investigation did not proceed. Even this was possible because she was a colonel with a lot of experience in the area.

If it had been anyone else, the investigation would have probably been rejected without even starting.

-Sorry, Colonel. It would be better to request it from the Branberg Police Department’s Cyber Crime Investigation Department….

In the end, all her efforts were in vain.

She did not accept her resignation letter until the end, and now she has reached a point where she can no longer do whatever she wants.

Since she had already used up her annual leave and her sick leave, if she did not return, she would become an ‘officer who deserted without permission.’

Lea’s discharge application form, which was handed over yesterday, was just about to be applied to the personnel information system.

“You…” ?”

“This is Werner Greim, Director of the Security Strategy Department. “We need your cooperation.”

Julia Anke looked at the man in black clothing standing right in front of the door.

And behind him, a management soldier with a truly aggrieved expression was waving his hands.

“Woah, regimental commander… I’m really sorry. “Even though I said absolutely no way, this person insisted!”

It was 1 am.

This is absolutely not the right time to have guests.

Furthermore, the rank of the man in front of you is lieutenant colonel.

He was lower than himself.

If it had been normal, they could have made all kinds of noise and made military life a mess.

However, the Security Bureau was the organization that early suppressed a series of terrorist attacks that occurred at the Eastern Military Headquarters.

As someone whose life had been saved by them, it felt uncomfortable to deal with them.

Furthermore, it is under the direct control of the President.

As an extension of that, there are even rumors going around that he was directly involved in the downfall of former Eastern Army Commander Heinrich Randall, who was almost kicked out from the military.

No matter how much he is a colonel, he cannot be judged based on his rank.

Of course.

They were all just excuses.

Putting everything aside, there was only one reason why Julia Anke could not throw the man away.

Leah Gilead’s discharge approval letter held in his hand.

Yulia Anke was the reason she couldn’t even sleep properly for the past few days.

“… Enough with her fuss. Director Werner? “Please come inside.”

The moment she saw that, Julia had no choice but to let Werner into her room.

“No matter how urgent the business was, this was too much. “You know very well that it’s rude.”

“Yes, that’s right. However, didn’t the regimental commander also have doubts about this situation?”

Werner Grime.

The transparent blue eyes flashed.

He was a lieutenant colonel, but at the same time, his spirit was not like that of a lieutenant colonel. Yulia swallowed dry saliva without realizing it.

“Lieutenant Leia Gilead, what happened?”

But I couldn’t just dry it on my face.

The rank of colonel is not something to be wasted.

Because it was the honor of Julia Anke achieved in a muddy battlefield.

“Please answer this question first. “Why do you keep looking for Leah?”

Werner Grime answered that question right away.

“Because I was Leia Gilead’s fiancé.”

***

It was my first time hearing this story.

But as soon as she heard that his hometown was originally the Grave Yard, Julia could see why the man in front of her was reacting so strongly.

“Then…” “No way, it’s a man named Captain John Hobbs.”

“Yes, it was me.”

“… Under. “Now I understand.”

As if Yulia was dumbfounded, she let out a hollow sneer.

The reason why Leah persevered in sending letters even though she was rejected several times.

At some point, Leah realized something.

He realized that the man he had thrown his life to protect was none other than his fiancé who had abandoned him.

Thinking like that, Julia couldn’t forgive the man named Werner.

“What were you thinking?”

That was when she tried to push him away with her sharp voice.

Wooow~.

The cell phone started vibrating in the man’s arms.

Phone from early in the morning?

When Yulia frowned at the interruption of the conversation, he calmly turned off the phone.

“It’s no big deal. “Keep talking.”

“Ha, what more can I say? This is absurd. What on earth did the person you call your fiancé do to show up now? “At the same time, we exchange letters roughly, so what are we going to do?”

Werner Grime felt suffocated.

“Leah had a hard time. You know what? If he’s going to disappear, just disappear at all. “What was she thinking, using an assumed name to hang around Leah?!”

Every word Yulia says becomes like a dagger and pierces her heart.

That was correct.

She said that she would forget her, that she would leave, that her presence would only be a distraction to them.

Why did you keep circling around them?

You want to protect it?

Even that may have been her own self-righteousness and arrogance.

This is the fatal mistake that was made in this episode as well, which caused all of this.

It was like that for Leah right now.

If only she hadn’t stormed into the Branberg banquet hall.

As soon as it was confirmed that Leah Gilliard was in attendance, what if John Hobbs or anyone else had been appointed as a pinch hitter?

She may not have been hurt.

“….”

I had to admit it.

Even though she couldn’t face her, she wanted to face her from a step away.

The fact that she once again did something she couldn’t do due to her contradictory greed.

Just when Werner Grime was about to say something in a trembling voice to the person in front of her, Julia Anke cut him off.

“Graveyard.”

“… !!”

Werner lifted his head at the words that instantly brought him to his senses.

“Leah didn’t reveal it, but she went to the Grave Yard where the child was with you. Obviously, her condition has worsened since then….”

This was a fact discovered after Leah Gilead’s unilateral discharge notification.

“Rather, I would like to ask first. Colonel, don’t you know anything? He is a comrade I served with. “What on earth happened in that closed fortress?”

But Werner could not answer.

A story that was not revealed to anyone in this episode.

“I can’t tell you that…” .”

Wooow!!

The phone vibrates loudly again.

“Oh, really. If you came to ask me something at this late hour, please handle the phone call properly… !!”

But this time it wasn’t Werner’s.

Julia Anke took out her cell phone.

[Division Commander]

“Huh?”

Werner and Julia’s eyes met almost at the same time.

Yulia hastily picks up her cell phone and answers the call.

“Chu, loyalty, this is Julia Anke, commander of the 32nd Regiment. I received a call from the division commander. Yes… Yeah… Yes, it is. Yes… ?”

Julia Anke’s expression gradually became one of astonishment.

Werner Grime, who was watching the scene, also took out his cell phone, which he had turned off.

It’s strange.

I felt something strange.

[11 Missed calls]

[16 Received text messages]

uuung!!!!

As soon as you turn on your cell phone, a crazy vibration sound rings out.

Missed calls did not come only from members of the Security Bureau.

Because there was also the Supreme Commander, Arthur Phileas.

Werner immediately reads the text message and receives news as shocking as Leah Gilead’s discharge.

Wooooo!!!

[Supreme Command Emergency Order No. 33]

[Issuance of level 1 combat readiness for all troops]

[A huge explosion presumed to be a nuclear explosion was observed in the Republic of Bostania. Personnel who receive the text must return to their unit immediately upon receipt.]