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*Disclaimer: Please don’t post this chapter in novelupdates since I don’t want to mislead other translators.

Chapter 3

—–

I am Touri Noel, a medic private. 

It has been a week since I have been assigned to the Western Front. 

I have fortunately lived till today. 

I am having a rough time with an unreliable coworker and a violent superior, but I am thinking of doing my best today as well for the sake of my home that’s the orphanage.

 

And so, I would like to give a simple explanation of the current state of things.

The western front I was sent to is the very frontline of the war called the East and West War that has continued for 10 years between our country, Austin, and the enemy country, the Sabat Federation. 

The war has been on a stalemate for several years now, and a repeat of attack and defense has unfolded on the original national border that was the Tal River. 

But it seems like we have been pushed back a bit recently, and the Tal River has fallen completely into the hands of the enemy as of present. 

That’s natural. 

The difference in forces presently is: 100,000 from our army against the assumed 180,000 from the enemy army. Of course we wouldn’t be able to win. 

That’s the state of things, so recovering the Tal River is the current objective of our army. 

The raiding tactic 3 days ago with the assistance of the sorcery division also had the objective of recovering the Tal River. 

But that plan might have been leaked to the enemy or read, the bombarded enemy camp was completely empty, and ended with the full power bombardment of our sorcery unit missing. 

And then, the foot-soldier units including the Gaback Platoon that charged forward were hit with a surprise attack and hit back painfully. 

The result was that the camp that we abandoned was taken away by the enemy along with the supplies in them. We also ended up having to retreat for more than 100 meters.

The Tal River is getting even further away from grasp. 

And the present is that we are currently creating a new trench post-haste at the line we retreated to. 

The trench is important. 

The foot-soldiers apparently have to dig holes with shovels in hand for the whole day. 

10% is battles with our lives on the line, and 90% is manual labor with our lives on the line. 

That’s the daily life of a soldier. 

 

“Time to wake up. Please prepare at once.” (Touri)

“Uuh… Touri, huh. Good morning.” 

The mornings of underling soldiers are early. 

We also have a regular briefing with the platoon at 5 a.m. And so, we have to wake up before then, inspect the gear, and be ready to sortie at any moment. 

There’s nothing convenient like alarms, so the coworker has to wake up the heavy sleeper. 

My sleep is shallow most likely because of the stress. I end up waking up the moment the surroundings get noisy, so I don’t have a hard time waking up. 

“I have already finished preparing. I will end up getting hit with joint responsibility if you were to be late, Sarsa, so please prepare swiftly.” (Touri)

“G-Got it.” (Sarsa)

We are told about sorties and stuff of the day in that briefing. 

It is possible that you have to immediately sortie the moment you show up in the briefing, so we can’t be late. 

The orientation of the Health Division Chief, Gale, ended, and I have become an official medic from the Gaback Platoon, so I am now sleeping in a trench close to the captain’s tent.

Gaback has been provided with a tent for personal use, but there’s no such thing for low rank soldiers.

The men and women are huddled together in the hole that they dug for a long time. 

There’s apparently times when the female soldiers have their bodies fondled or are assaulted.

But such actions are of course against military regulations, and they are punished accordingly if you report them to your superior. 

If it ends up in sexual intercourse, the female soldiers would end up pregnant and would have to leave the frontlines, so that would be a heavy crime. 

“Medic private, Touri, has finished preparations.” (Touri)

“Private, Sarsa, has finished preparations.” (Sarsa)

“Alright, we will begin the briefing.” (Gaback)

Sergeant Gaback is arrogant and violent, but he is extremely strict when it comes to military discipline. 

So if I were to suffer such a thing, he would definitely provide the appropriate punishment -is what Chief Gale told me. 

Sergeant Gaback is someone who would be fine with killing people if it conforms with military discipline. 

The members of the Gaback Platoon have not suffered from sexual harassment of any sort most likely thanks to that. 

“Order for the medic private Touri: follow the orders of Chief Gale today.” (Gaback)

“Understood. I shall act upon that order. I will be working under the command of the Health Department Chief Gale from this moment onwards until 5 in the morning of the next day.” 

“Good.” (Gaback)

My job of the day was to help out Chief Gale. 

Chief Gale is normally at the last line of the frontlines…the 5th defense line. There’s a simple field hospital at the end of that line where injured soldiers are treated. 

Most of the medics are working there. 

The medics assigned to a platoon like me are lent to help out at the field hospital on days where there’s no battle. 

This order will help out in the training of the medic; it is the last line, so it is safe; and the medics including Chief Gale are all kind, so it is the best. 

You could say not having to participate the whole time in the intense manual labor that is hole digging is a special privilege of medics. 

Sarsa-kun is stealthily muttering ‘Hole digging today as well, huh…’ by my side. 

Also, this is something I learned recently. 

Captain Gaback has been allowed to lodge at the safe 5th defense line, moreover, in a tent, but…that’s apparently natural since he is one of the ‘aces’ of the frontlines. 

That’s right. 

The Gaback Platoon may be a new one, but he can have medics added to his formation and have his own tent, which I thought was a weird preferential treatment. 

But it is all apparently the privilege of his achievements being recognized. 

“That’s why there’s no person who faults his tyrannical actions. Everyone falls silent just by being told ‘get more achievements than me if you have a problem’.” (Gale)

“I don’t know what to say to that. It brings strength of heart that the superior I am under is so outstanding.” (Touri)

“It is just that he is an idiot. He repeats charges that have no regard for his life or that of his comrades, and is luckily surviving.” (Gale)

‘By using his comrades as bait and letting them die, that is’ -is what Chief Gale said with a displeased face. 

“The achievements of the dead subordinates all go to Gaback, too. He repeats reckless charges, and increases his achievements by letting his own subordinates die when things get dicey… He might be outstanding as an assault soldier, but he is the worst as a commander.” (Gale)

“Uhm, Chief Gale, saying such statements too much is…” (Touri)

“Aah, that’s true. Sorry.” (Gale)

I feel like she would be speaking ill of Gaback the whole time if I just left it be, so I stop her softly. 

It is true that I don’t have that good of an impression of Gaback, but I don’t know about the chief of the medical department spreading such bad talk to one of his subordinates. 

“I end up getting emotional. He…got my little brother killed.” (Gale)

“…” 

“After I heard about the death of my little brother, Gaback dared to say: ‘the life of your little brother has become 15 meters in our march forward, so please be happy’.” (Gale)

“That’s…” (Touri)

“According to what others have said, it was simply him trying to wipe off his own mistake. The Gaback Platoon was the only one that went too far ahead and ended up falling into a predicament. He apparently got back by using my little brother to get out of the danger.” (Gale)

Chief Gale was seething with anger as she said this. 

“The moment I got an application to send a medic to his platoon, I was completely against it, but…the higher ups that have acknowledged his achievements agreed to it. Sorry, I ended up letting you pull the losing ticket.” (Gale)

“No, obeying orders is what makes a soldier.” (Touri)

“Is that so. I will help out in whatever I can, so do your best.” (Gale)

I see. Chief Gale is so critical about Gaback because of such a background, huh. 

It is true that I wouldn’t want to die because of the captain trying to wipe off his mistake. 

But well, I feel like Private Sarsa will be the one prioritized the most as bait than me. I doubt he would readily use a rare healing magic user as bait.

And so, you could say I am safe as long as he is alive. 

Do your best, Sarsa-kun.

 

Treating and taking care of the injured is what’s being done at the field hospitals. 

That said, I can’t really be considered part of the working force here since I am a newbie. 

So I am currently helping out the senior medics while receiving their instructions together with fellow rookies. 

“Your mana utilization is too soft! You have to be more woosh and waaam!” 

“Senpai, I am sorry, but be more specific.” (Touri)

“As I said, make a more gutsy pose and…” 

I got the guidance of several seniors, and I am now aware that the lectures of Chief Gale were easy to understand. 

It is extremely hard to explain the trick, the theory, of healing magic. 

Most of the seniors only give pretty avantgarde advice. 

But what almost all seniors have in common is…

“You slowly understand healing magic better the more you use it.” (Touri)

That’s basically it. 

It seems like it is more about getting used to it rather than learning it. 

There’s no lack of demand for healing magic in a field hospital. 

I was sorted into relatively lightly injured soldiers, and used magic a number of times. 

I feel like the effectiveness of healing magic has increased a bit compared to the first time I used it. 

It seems like it is true that you get better at magic as you pile up the numbers. 

It is fun to feel the skill go up in real time. 

It would be nice if I could do this the whole time without doing stuff like strategizing for invasions. 

 

“We will recover the camp that was taken from us last time. Sortie out, Gaback Platoon.” (Gaback)

We were ordered to sortie again the next day. 

It seems like living in peace is really just a pipe dream when in the frontlines. 

“The enemy has most likely still not finished constructing their new camp. They are probably organizing their supplies and reinforcing the trenches as swiftly as possible. We will bombard that, charge at them, and capture it.” (Gaback)

“Understood.” 

The plan is the same as before: after the mages finish their bombardment, we will charge in, and capture the place. 

…Honestly speaking, the unease that this will fail like last time is hitting me. 

“Private Sarsa, Medic Private Touri; you two will be behind me this time around.” (Gaback)

“Yes, Captain.” 

“The next time you go against my orders, I will kill you on the spot. Face the mission with that resolve.” (Gaback)

“Understood.” 

The captain properly warned me as someone who messed up last time. 

Money won’t be going to the orphanage if I am executed under insubordination. 

…This is depressing, but let’s not go against dangerous orders and just obediently die. 

“Alright, let’s go. You maggots, I will show you the charge style of this Gaback!” (Gaback)

The captain had a big smile despite the fact that he was going to battle. It is an expression that says he is unbearably happy about being able to kill people. 

His happiness of killing enemies surpasses that of his fear of being killed, huh. 

“Turn the garbage foreigners into muddy minced meat.” (Gaback)

…Will humans turn out this way after being on the battlefield for a long time?

 

I can’t see the end of this war. 

Our country has been doing this territory battles for 10 years already. 

I heard about this from a senior medic: the area around the Tal River had a fresh prairie and soft light brown land spreading far and beyond. 

But this place is now mostly changed into black soil. 

The reason is simple. 

When the iron levels of the ground rise, the color turns black. 

It means that this land has had blood flow down to a degree where the color of the soil has changed. 

“CHAAAAARGEEEEE!!!!” 

Today as well, I will be running through the pitch black prairie where bullets fly about. 

What I am currently stepping on might have been a part of someone’s important family. 

The iron that has been gathered by our country will be spread out in this land again today. 

Being alive in this battlefield is already unbelievably fortunate. 

I don’t want to die. 

I don’t want to become mere iron that wets the soil of this gloomy place. 

I desperately chase after the back of my captain with that sole desire. 

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