222 - A Certain Soldier’s Sigh (1)

“You’re joking, right?”

Seeing the mountain of documents piled up before me, I unintentionally asked the subordinate who had brought them.

“No. They were definitely sent to Major. The message said, ‘It is late, but these may be useful for countermeasures against the new species,’ so I believe they are urgent.”

I know, I said, cutting off the words that would have followed with my hand.

The appearance of a new species of monster… that in itself was rare, but not especially problematic.

Whether strong or weak, the Council-State had no option but to eliminate it, and a nation was something that possessed the power to do so.

However, the monster called “Argos” that had appeared this time was different.

It possessed intelligence capable of understanding human language.

No, that was merely how it had been categorized. In reality, it was a monster that understood the Furon Council-State’s language—or rather, the language of the Old Empire—and was capable of communicating through writing.

That had been the evaluation not long after Argos appeared before us, and from later information brought by northern intelligence agents, it was discovered that he was also fluent in the Republic’s language in addition to the Canaan Kingdom language.

As for how he had learned these languages, the only conclusion we could reach was “from Imperial relics.” When the report “the subject is believed to possess high intelligence and to be imitating human culture and customs” was given at the countermeasure meeting, someone even interpreted it as a joke and laughed aloud.

As for my own impression after actually meeting him, I did not observe any intelligence in that thing that surpassed humans.

Therefore, the conclusion I reached was, “Someone gave him knowledge before the stage where he came to be called Argos,” and I strongly pushed that possibility in parliament.

Not many agreed with this, but a certain level of understanding was obtained, and the matter ended there.

The fact that the result was not to eliminate the new species, but to move in the direction of incorporating it, could only be called unexpected.

I will never forget how I let out a deep sigh at the time, thinking that something troublesome might be happening somewhere I did not know about.

Around the time Argos’s activities in the northern part of the continent became more active, and the Council-State had reached a turning point on the southern front, momentum grew in parliament for a full-scale return to the former territories.

However, public opinion, still dragging along the Orc Hazard led by that special individual, did not accept this.

Time simply dragged on like that, and then they appeared.

The two women riding on that Argos were defectors from Seizeria.

And conveniently altered information spread throughout the Council-State in the blink of an eye.

Those women were monster exterminators called adventurers—and because they had crossed the Fullretos Great Forest, parliament succeeded in making the threat level appear low and decided to move the army.

The result was this mountain of documents.

Of course, that alone could not possibly amount to this quantity, and the real issue lay in the other matter.

“…The ‘Chimera Project’ and the ‘Genetically Enhanced Soldier Project,’ huh. What was the Empire thinking when it created things like this?”

I held my head over the higher-ups who had hidden information that seemed so important, and I even felt anger toward those who were now trying to dump it on me because Argos had appeared again.

Did they still resent that I was promoted because of the Orc Hazard incident?

Or were they wary of me because I had climbed to a field officer rank at this young age? I did not know, but these kinds of pushy assignments that bordered on harassment were common.

“Perhaps Argos was an experimental soldier of the Empire. In other words, he was originally human. In that case, he might be soft on a beauty like you.”

I could vividly imagine the culprit behind this harassment, who spoke only from possibility, saying those words.

And at the same time this mountain of documents was created, Argos was sighted again in the east, making the matter even more unmanageable.

Leaving aside whether this was “because Argos appeared” or merely a coincidence, there was no doubt that the thing before me was something I had to read through urgently.

And in this quantity, no less.

No matter how I thought about it, staying up all night was certain.

I did not know what they had wanted to hide, but I could only hope that no fakes were mixed into the selected information.

As I silently continued reading, someone knocked on the door.

It was an unscheduled visitor, and precisely because of that, I sighed, wondering whether some unforeseen situation had occurred again.

“Enter.”

“Excuse me,” said the small woman who came in, someone it would not be inappropriate to call a girl.

“I am Second Lieutenant Ernestia Hawkwood. I have been assigned here as of today.”

Her arrival was earlier than scheduled, but I nodded to her as she saluted.

“I am Rachel Aunes, the one in charge here.”

I stood and shook hands with Ernestia between the valleys of documents.

If I recalled correctly, she was someone who had come into contact with Argos in the east.

The fact that they had sent her over meant the higher-ups likely believed he would appear in the west again.

While one part of me wanted to spit, “So trouble is someone else’s job no matter where it goes,” I turned a smile toward her in order to make effective use of the manpower that had conveniently appeared.

“I understand you have been assigned here for anti-Argos measures. Let’s get to work at once, shall we?”

When I lightly tapped the mountain of documents towering on the desk, Ernestia’s expression froze as she understood everything.

With the two of us working together, we should not have to stay up all night.

There were also reports that she had contacted Argos, so either way, I had to hear her account.

These materials had been pushed onto me on the grounds that I had “actually spoken with him.”

In that case, no matter how many secrets were contained in them, there would be no problem in dragging her into this.

Now then, once you understand, start reading from that side.

Ah, put your luggage somewhere around there for the moment.

Let us cooperate to secure each other’s sleeping time.

The fact that Argos appeared the very next day was simply bad timing.

It was fortunate that Lieutenant Colonel Kavasa and his subordinates, who had moved here as escorts, made it in time, but I did feel somewhat guilty about making them accompany us without rest.

We pulled out the tools and map the Second Lieutenant had brought, though we did not know whether they would be useful, took our guns and swords, and hurriedly left the command room.

I did not want the base we had gone to the trouble of setting up to be destroyed, so we decided to go out ourselves… but he really had become capable of speaking.

I had heard about it, but what had happened for him to become like that?

Or should I instead view it as “he had been hiding the fact that he could speak”?

At any rate, I had intended to begin by asking what he wanted… but the Lieutenant Colonel began probing him.

Apparently, Argos possessed a holy sword.

If it was a holy sword matter, then it was true that it should take priority.

I decided to remain silent and watch the Lieutenant Colonel, but somehow the conversation drifted away.

Asking for it to be returned was not bad, and that much was fine, but why did the conversation turn to manga here?

“A reprint edition came out because it’s a popular work. It isn’t confirmed information yet, but there are rumors that Part Three might begin.”

“Tell me about Part Two in detail.”

I accidentally voiced the question, “Why has this guy read it?” but with this, the possibility that Argos was an Imperial rose.

It looked as if he was just chatting casually, but someone at the rank of Lieutenant Colonel must have been thinking properly and drawing out information through his words.

Thinking that he had finally grown a little, I slightly reconsidered my opinion of the superior who kept pushing troublesome matters onto me.

“Well, I understand it wasn’t knowledge someone fed him. Also, after the author became part of the Council-State, he wrote about ten more chapters of Part One and completed it. The person writing Part Two is someone else, but it became popular, and I’m fine with it too.”

I take that back. This guy just wanted to talk after all.

Perhaps sensing the temperature of my gaze dropping, the Lieutenant Colonel obeyed when I tried to return the conversation to the main topic, despite complaining like a child. I left him be.

I let out one sigh and faced Argos.

“The fact that you are here means you had business with me, correct?”

It helped that he understood quickly.

As expected of someone with a high possibility of being an Imperial soldier, his ability to infer seemed the same as a human’s.

In that case, I immediately spread out the map and showed it to Argos.

As expected, or perhaps I should say unsurprisingly, Argos seemed to make a difficult face.

That said, his expression did not actually change; I only heard something like a small groan.

“…I thought I told you to stop at the grain-producing region?”

“Yes, certainly, up to the grain-producing region of the former Imperial territory.”

I did not say aloud that it included the eastern part of the Old Imperial territory.

I had considered including the north as well, but as expected, I restrained myself.

Above all, building a supply line to advance that far north would take time.

Naturally, it would also require supplies and personnel, so to be honest, what I presented this time was the limit of what the Council-State could currently carve out.

I did not know whether Argos sensed our intent, but he tilted his head and fell into thought.

We had not yet obtained definite proof that Argos was an Imperial.

The materials were unclear despite their sheer volume, and with information that had clearly been intentionally removed scattered throughout, reaching the truth was fundamentally impossible.

So I bluffed.

“The banner the Council-State raises is the restoration of former territories. You should have no reason to refuse that, should you?”

I did not know whether that one sentence was the trigger.

Suddenly, Argos stopped moving while standing upright.

When I asked the completely motionless Argos, “What’s wrong?” his body color began turning black.

His hand stretched out.

A sword swung upward as if cutting in from the side and knocked Argos’s arm away.

From Argos’s mouth, which had turned completely black, came something like a groan rather than a voice.

It was clearly an abnormal state at a glance, but since I had read through the documents once, I had some idea what it was.

This was probably it.

“…Runaway state confirmed! Begin combat!”

At my command, the soldiers waiting behind us all raised their guns at once, and at the same time, Argos let out a roar.

I stepped back, and the Lieutenant Colonel stepped forward.

I knew well the ability of the man who called himself the strongest human.

If it was him—there was undeniably a part of me that thought so optimistically.

But who could have predicted that the Lieutenant Colonel would lose the first exchange?

The fist swung carelessly blew the Lieutenant Colonel away together with the holy sword he had struck with.

I could not hide my shock that even that Lieutenant Colonel had lost in strength, but a volley was fired through the opening.

Even against the Lieutenant Colonel’s unit, equipped with the latest gear, Argos showed no sign of concern. However, there was one shot to which he reacted.

“Protect the Second Lieutenant!”

As I shouted that, I took out the item delivered by the Second Lieutenant from the higher-ups.

An old relic… It was apparently one of the suppression weapons made two hundred years ago for use against genetically enhanced soldiers, but what effect would it actually produce?

I pressed the button at the bottom of the cylinder and threw it at Argos.

Immediately afterward, a high-pitched ringing echoed in my ears.

While everyone present instinctively moved to cover their ears, the action Argos took was to freeze.

Seeing him standing there blankly with his mouth open as an opportunity, the Lieutenant Colonel raised his holy sword.

But Argos reacted.

He turned toward the Lieutenant Colonel as if to meet him, but suddenly dropped to one knee, his posture collapsed backward as if he were going to fall over.

His gaze shifted away, his arms moved as if struggling to regain balance, and the little finger of his defenseless hand was torn off.

If the Lieutenant Colonel had managed to step in one more pace, he could probably have taken one of his arms.

However, he could not step in due to the unexpected movement.

That much was clear from the Lieutenant Colonel’s expression, which plainly showed him clicking his tongue at his own mistake.

Another volley was fired at Argos as he slowly tried to regain his posture, but unfortunately, that seemed to have no effect.

Argos avoided the Lieutenant Colonel’s follow-up strike, but it caught on the shoulder strap of his backpack, causing his belongings to spill out.

Because that got in the way, the Lieutenant Colonel could not land an additional blow on Argos as he turned his back and fled, so it could only be called bad luck.

Although Argos was staggering and not running straight, he withdrew at tremendous speed, so we gave up pursuit. In the end, once we found that several of the Lieutenant Colonel’s fingers were broken, we understood that pursuit would have been impossible either way.

As it happened, there was something that looked like a potion among Argos’s belongings, so I recommended it to the Lieutenant Colonel.

He gave me an extremely displeased look, but since we did not know when the next time would come, if he could be healed, healing him here was best.

If he was going to call himself my future husband, this much was… Ah, I am glad I did not need to say that to the end.

Now then, recover Argos’s belongings and withdraw.