Second Life as a Soldier

“Are you sure about this?” Captain Roscoe asked after reading the complaint I had filed against House Petrae.

My heartbeat had already been racing when I submitted it, but at the Captain’s question, it skyrocketed.

When I first decided to file the complaint, I had been angry and full of adrenaline. However, as I wrote down the details of the incident and turned them into a formal report, that adrenaline slowly faded.

Only then did I fully realize what I was doing.

I was filing a complaint against a house whose head was a Tier-6 and one of the most powerful fighters in the kingdom. He was someone who could probably make this report disappear with ease, and perhaps make me disappear along with it.

Even so, I had gone through with it.

One of my main reasons for joining the Royal Army was the belief that it would provide me with a place where I could not be openly disrespected without consequences. If I allowed something like this to pass without taking action, my trust in the Royal Army would take a severe hit.

That was why Captain Roscoe’s question worried me so much.

If even an officer known for strictly following the rules had a problem with my decision, then I might not receive support from anyone other than Lieutenant Cicero.

“Sir, do you disagree with my decision?” I asked.

“No. Young soldiers rarely file formal complaints, so I was surprised,” he replied.

He placed the document inside one of his desk drawers.

“I will send copies to Fort Darrow, Stonegate, and the Royal Army headquarters in the capital.”

I was surprised to hear that the complaint would be sent all the way to the capital.

Captain Roscoe nodded, dismissing me, but I still had one question before I left.

“Sir, do I need to worry about repercussions?”

Instead of answering immediately, he frowned and considered the question for a few moments.

“When nobles are involved, it is difficult to say anything with certainty, especially when your backing is flimsy at best,” he began slowly, carefully choosing his words. “If this had happened fifty years ago—when I was young—a soldier could have filed a complaint against a duke, and no one would have even considered harming him.”

He paused before continuing.

“If I were in your position, I would file the complaint. I continue to believe in the Royal Army and the Council of Generals, so I do not think you need to worry. In fact, your complaint might be the wake-up call the higher-ranking officers of the Royal Army need.”

“As for House Petrae, they would be foolish to act against you after you filed a formal complaint. According to military law, if anything happens to you in a non-combat zone before the complaint has been fully investigated, Julius Petrae will immediately become the primary suspect.”

“Moreover, I know Tellus. Nothing matters more to him than the reputation of his house. As long as he remains here, he will make certain that nothing happens to you.”

After hearing the Captain’s words, I let out a sigh of relief.

I nodded. Not wanting to waste any more of his time, I simply thanked him and made my way back toward my quarters.

As I approached the building, I spotted another familiar figure heading toward it.

Leif.

This time, he was alone, and nervous energy seemed to radiate from him.

Honestly, though, his posture was not what affected me most. Seeing him dressed in House Petrae’s uniform stung more than I cared to admit.

“Brother, you shouldn’t be here,” I said, concerned.

He looked at me in confusion.

“I just filed a formal complaint against Julius and House Petrae. You might get into trouble if someone sees you with me.”

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“Yeah, like I give a fuck about that. The bastard is already on his way to Stonegate. Otherwise, I would have liked to punch him a few times.”

I smiled at Leif’s anger.

This was the Leif I knew, the one who jumped into things headfirst without thinking about the consequences.

“Then what is with that look?” I asked, examining him from head to toe.

Leif sighed.

“I’m sorry, Edward. I should have been there. I knew what kind of person Julius was. If I had been there, I could have stopped him, or at least warned you.”

I shook my head, wrapped an arm around Leif’s neck, and gave him a light shove as we started walking toward my quarters.

“It wasn’t your fault. It’s not like you knew when I would arrive. Some of the blame lies with me for getting carried away, but the ones truly at fault are those pricks from House Petrae.”

I hesitated before adding, “Sometimes, I wonder if Captain Tellus and Julius arranged the whole thing to test me.”

I did not think Captain Tellus had wanted me dead. However, it was possible that the duel itself had been part of some plan, and Julius had simply turned it into something far more dangerous than the Captain intended.

“I think you’re wrong about that,” Leif said. “I usually avoid being assigned to Julius’s guard detail, so I spend most of my time serving under my reporting officer, one of Captain Tellus’s lieutenants.”

“I was standing guard outside the room while my lieutenant and Captain Tellus were having a meeting. All the lieutenants looked worried when they left, and less than twenty minutes later, I saw the Captain rush out in a rage. I later learned it was because of what had happened to you.” Leif shook his head. “I had never seen him that angry before. He nearly destroyed the mansion’s eastern wing.”

He paused before continuing.

“That’s why he sent Julius back to Stonegate yesterday. You might not realize it, but this will seriously damage Julius’s standing at the school and within noble society. Captain Tellus even told us what had happened instead of trying to hide it, and he assured us that Julius would be punished properly.”

I nodded.

That explanation made far more sense.

I also realized that, since yesterday, I had been thinking of myself as the center of the world. I had become so suspicious that I was starting to believe even a Tier-4 captain would waste his time scheming against me instead of managing his battalion and preparing for a possible invasion.

“You said Julius has left town. Will that affect your assignment, or are you leaving as well?”

“No. None of us are leaving town. Our guard assignments were only temporary, and we have all been given different duties now,” Leif replied.

“Where will you be this evening? I’m supposed to meet Captain Tellus today.”

“I know. I was asked to attend the meeting,” Leif said with a nod. “Once I told them that you and I were friends, the Captain said you might feel more comfortable if there was a familiar face in the room.”

He hesitated before continuing.

“That’s also why I came to meet you as soon as I could. I don’t understand politics as well as you do, and while I think the Captain is a good man, I didn’t want you walking into any surprises.”

“If you don’t want me there, I can ask to be assigned somewhere else. The Captain didn’t order me to attend. He only suggested it to my lieutenant.”

I shook my head. “I don’t think it will be a problem. It’s not as though we’re entering some life-or-death negotiation where I would need to worry about your safety.”

“There is one more thing you should know,” Leif said. “The Captain might be interested in your knowledge of runes and your research. He has asked Lady Flavia and one of his lieutenants to attend the meeting. Both of them are experts in runes.”

By then, we had reached my quarters.

“Come in. We can continue talking inside,” I said as I entered.

I offered Leif the chair while I sat on the edge of the bed.

“Yeah, I expected Captain Tellus to be interested in my research. When we met earlier, I didn’t mention any of this because Lela was with you, but recently, I’ve found myself in a complicated situation.”

I spread my mana through the surrounding area to make sure no one was nearby. Then, lowering my voice, I continued.

“I was conducting research into non-elemental core formation. Lieutenant Cicero, my former superior, comes from a house with a complicated history involving that kind of research. He was afraid I might do something dangerous while investigating it, so he informed the higher-ups about what I was doing.”

Anger immediately appeared on Leif’s face, but before he could say anything, I raised a hand to stop him.

“Lieutenant Cicero has his own complicated history with the subject. However, he also wanted to give me some protection, so he took me as his disciple. Apparently, that makes me something close to a minor noble,” I said with a smile.

“Really?”

Leif shot to his feet, grinning from ear to ear, and pulled me into a bear hug.

“It’s nothing special. As far as I understand, I receive a title for being his disciple, and I might get dragged into meetings like this more often in the future,” I said.

To me, the status felt completely useless, no matter how many times Peter tried to convince me otherwise.

Our conversation continued for some time as we shared our half-baked understanding of noble society.

Eventually, I gave Leif a knowing smile.

“So...” I said, changing the subject to something he would enjoy discussing. “Who would win in a fight between you and Julius?”

Leif raised an eyebrow.

“Honestly, I would lose. Julius might not know much about anything else, but he is a good fighter. I think he ranks among the top ten students at the academy when it comes to combat. From what I’ve heard, he can even take down a Tier-3 beast by himself.”

“Then who do you think would win between the two of us?” I asked.

“Don’t get cocky. I’m still better than you, though I did hear from some of the people who watched your spar with Julius that you put up a good fight,” Leif said.

“I think you’re the one getting cocky. I could defeat you with one hand tied behind my back,” I replied.

From there, we continued exaggerating our combat abilities, each of us making increasingly ridiculous claims.

Leif became so excited that he wanted to spar immediately, but my wound was still healing, and I was in no condition to fight.

After some time, he left, but not before making me agree to a date for our spar.

That evening, I gathered my squad once again, and we made our way toward the mayor’s mansion.