Chapter 219 – 14.26 Arashi-Knives Conference 2
“Not with Arnold.”
My words to push Arnold over and over again were denied by inspiration.
I could feel the deep wrinkles around my eyes getting thicker.
“Do you think we can put him next to Muramasa and Inazuma?”
“… Yeah…”
Muramasa, Inazuma, and Arnold.
Putting it that way, the weight of the name Arnold falls pitifully.
“No, but that’s the same no matter who goes in there, right? What difference does it make if I go in instead? Rather lighter?”
No matter how stupid I am, I know that much. How ridiculous it is to put my name next to the names of the three generals: Arashi, Muramasa, and Inazuma.
When I thought about it, I didn’t want to do it even more. This isn’t a numbers game.
“Arnold has no charisma.”
“Haha. Do I have it?”
It was a story that made me laugh even after I told it.
Did I have any charisma? At the academy, I was always pointed at as a bully.
But Arashi didn’t seem to find it funny, he said while indifferently blowing smoke.
“KW. What do you think charisma is?”
“Well, isn’t that what makes people obey?”
When I hear the word charisma, the first people that come to mind are Inazuma and Muramasa.
An overwhelming power that makes the impossible possible. If you look at it from the side, it makes you feel awe.
Rune holders, especially soldiers, are instinctively fascinated by its power.
Will Chairman Mizuki be next?
People naturally gather around the venue without doing anything special. A person who was born to be respected and loved by everyone. I can understand that because I am also a person who has been influenced by the president. The president’s quiet charisma.
“The military is a special organization. The position of Jangseong is even more so. I can’t do it without charisma.”
I guess so. Charisma is definitely a necessary stat when it comes to leading an energetic organization called the military.
And the current Samjangseong is definitely overflowing with charisma. No one can dispute that they are generals.
“No, if you put it like that, I don’t fit in even more?”
Age, experience, appearance, nothing suits me. Being young might be a strength, but being in a position to lead subordinates would be a negative factor.
“Something that Muramasa and Inazuma have and Arnold does not. And what you have.”
The inspiration looks at me with eyes that seem to ask me to tell you what it is.
I thoughtfully shook my head.
“You mean that charisma? Or what, body defects? Because all three generals have disabilities. If it wasn’t for the military, there would have been a disability pension. Haha.”
It was said as a joke, but no one laughed. Was it a cruel joke?
However, an unexpected answer came back from the old man.
“Okay. That’s it.”
“Uh? Is that it?”
Muramasa’s left arm was cut off. Now, for some reason, he has reappeared, but the Muramasa I remember was a one-armed swordsman.
Inazuma lost his right eye. Even now, that eye is still covered with a flimsy eye patch.
Arashi’s right leg was crushed and became lame. Even though it has recovered on the surface, it has long since lost its function as a leg.
Unlike Muramasa, who can wield a sword even without one arm, and Inazuma, who can spray lightning despite missing one eye, Arashi, who specialized in hand-to-hand combat, lost most of his fighting abilities due to a leg injury.
It’s not strange that such an Arashi old man is actually already retired. However, since there was no one else who could control the other two crazy generals, this old man was still active as an active general.
“What? So are you treating me as a disabled person now? I’m still a normal person who doesn’t buy anything?”
It’s disappointing to put me in that category. Because I am absolutely normal.
“You’ve had a hole in your chest before.”
“That…”
After listening to the inspiration, I was able to understand the reason.
“… Could it be that Arnold was because of that incident in the past?”
A story I didn’t really want to think about.
The old man nodded his head with a bitter face.
Now, when we talk about a great disaster, it is treated as an old documentary, but the war situation at the time of the great disaster was truly disastrous.
Commanders who could be relied on died one after another every day. Even the Samjangseong, the core force of the military that must never be lost, had to cross the line of fire every day. Because if you didn’t do that, the wires wouldn’t be maintained.
And in the process, Samjangseong lost each body part side by side. Muramasa for his arms, Inazuma for his eyes, and Arashi for his legs.
Also, the rise of the Three Great Walls had a special commonality.
It is said that it is the injury of glory received while practicing ‘Leave this to me and run away!’ In reality.
“A commander must never run before his men.”
It’s okay to lose a battle. However, the commander must stay until the end to buy his men time to withdraw.
My superior, Inazuma, said that it was the old military field manual.
And on the day he heard that story, Inazuma lost one eye.
“Useless. It’s inefficient.”
I asserted
A super first-class talent like Inazuma is worth a hundred or a thousand ordinary soldiers. Being bound by such useless rules and losing them is an absurd loss of fighting power. If Inazuma had really died there, thousands more common soldiers would have died.
“Okay. A young man like you might say so.”
Old man Arashi also nodded. Of course, that didn’t mean he agreed with me.
“But young man. We, the Japanese Army, have been maintained thanks to that useless tradition.”
“It started again. An old man’s boring story.”
The old man ignored my grumbling and continued the story.
“A commander who does not risk his own life will not entrust his subordinates. That’s not the only thing that can be done with a command. Because it is a matter of instinct, not reason.”
The old man pokes his thumb near his heart and says.
I can’t help but admit that too. There will be no soldier who will risk his life to fight for a commander who abandons his men and flees first. I did too.
“Me, Muramasa, and Inazuma abided by that rule. Because that’s what we saw and learned from the older generations. So we fought to the death, and our men were able to fight to the death as well.”
Even in situations where they could never win, they held their ground.
I can still remember it as if it were yesterday. The back of Inazuma standing in front of the monster army.
“You did too. I came back with a hole in my chest carrying Inazuma, who was dying.”
“… Inazuma’s life is expensive.”
I don’t really want to remember the old days. Because there is nothing good to think about.
Arashi old man shook her head in pity and continued.
“But Arnold couldn’t.”
“Inspiration. Arnold was only sixteen at the time. He was a child soldier brought in by force.”
I defended Arnold again. It was too cruel to still be criticized for what happened 10 years ago.
Was Arnold sixteen at the time, or was he seventeen? Arnold, though outnumbered by me, was also a child soldier. He only took on a responsible position because of his large size that was not suitable for his age and the name ‘Son of Arashi’.
He has a height of over 190cm, cartoon-like muscles, and the title of ‘son with the same runes as General Arashi’, so whether he likes it or not, he can’t help but be expected. Arnold became a company commander who led a company of child soldiers in the 16-year-old line regardless of his will.
However, he did not have a heart as strong as that strong body.
Inside, he was just an ordinary 16-year-old boy who hated fighting and was very timid.
So Arnold survived.
Enemy runaway.
While his own company was destroyed, Arnold escaped alone and survived.
“Isn’t it wrong to assign heavy responsibility to untrained child soldiers, and then hold them accountable for their failures?”
“So, at that time, things were out of the question. But promotion to general is a different story.”
Profit. Inspiration rubs off a cigar.
The shadow on his face grew thicker.
“Just because you don’t ask for responsibility doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. The label of a commander who abandoned his subordinates and ran away will inevitably follow him for the rest of his life. Under such a commander, subordinates do not risk their lives. Not with Arnold.”
Not with Arnold.
The inspiration repeated the words again.
I am also a person who served in the military for a while. He couldn’t have known the weight of those words.
“KW. It is thanks to that old-fashioned tradition that our military was able to overcome the great disaster even in hopeless circumstances. A commander risks his life to protect his men. His subordinates also risk their lives to follow the commander. From generals to trainees, if everyone does not risk their lives, we will not be able to overcome the catastrophe.”
“… You speak as if another catastrophe is about to happen.”
He felt his hands sweaty.
“The next 10 years. You see it that way from above.”
Will that happen again?
10 years from now.
