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*Disclaimer: Please don’t post this chapter in novelupdates since I don’t want to mislead other translators.
Chapter 14
—–
I narrowly averted death thanks to the support of my coworker that gives off a slightly dangerous atmosphere, Rodley-kun.
The enemy soldier spurted out blood like a fountain with the attack of Rodley-kun, and stopped moving.
It was perfect timing, but if I could ask for something here, I would have liked it if he thought of a way to not splatter blood everywhere. Like maybe stabbing the side of their neck with a knife.
“Aaah! My arm…my arm!!”
“Corporal!”
After I took out a towel from my rucksack and wiped my face, I turned back to Corporal Verdy who had his arm sliced off just now.
From what I can see, he was only cut above the elbow.
It is a pretty clean cut, so I think it would stick together if treated quickly.
Let’s request for treatment when the captain returns.
“Corporal Verdy, please pick up the cut off arm and come to the walls of the trenches! I will stop the bleeding!” (Touri)
“U-Ugh! G-Got it…” (Verdy)
We perform medical treatment at the anterior wall of the trenches while crouching.
It is harder for us to get noticed in the case enemies charge in.
Well, I got the order to ‘not let Captain Gaback-dono out of your sight’, so I have to poke my head out of the trenches though.
“I-I have picked it up!” (Verdy)
“I will clean the wound. I don’t have the time to use painkillers, so please clench your teeth.” (Touri)
“O-Okay! Ku…gu…gagagaga…gaaaah!!” (Verdy)
I glanced intermittently at the battlefield while performing treatment on the corporal.
I opened the lid of the menstruation table salt water from inside my rucksack, washed the pertaining area to prevent infection, and applied pressure on it with a clean gauze.
I saw Captain Gaback-dono jump out from the left trenches from the corner of my eye at the same time as I was doing this.
I think he will be returning soon.
“Finished stopping the bleeding. You won’t be bleeding with this, so please stay put obediently. We will request for a more complete treatment when Captain-dono returns.” (Touri)
“Eh? Wa, you won’t be using healing magic right now?” (Verdy)
“Sorry, I can’t use healing magic on my prerogative. I need the permission of Captain-dono.” (Touri)
I said this, gave him the remaining menstruation salt water, and told him ‘please drink this’.
It is important to replenish your fluids after stopping the bleeding.
“Ah, I see. Then, 2nd class medic Touri, I order you to use healing magic on me.” (Verdy)
“Eh? Ah, uhm…” (Touri)
“I want to return to the frontlines quickly, so can you heal me?” (Verdy)
I panicked a bit after being told this by Verdy-san. Now that he mentions it, Corporal Verdy is a higher rank than me.
In that case, I can use healing magic on Corposal Verdy with his order…right?
“Quick. My arm won’t stick anymore at this rate!” (Verdy)
“…”
No, let’s calm down.
I don’t want to be disciplined by Captain Gaback by using healing magic without his permission.
Command rights… Yeah, this is an issue of the command rights.
This is an issue of whether Corporal Verdy has the right to command me.
Let’s calmly arrange the command line.
The captain of this platoon is Captain Gaback. He has the commanding rights of all his subordinates.
Then, in this platoon there’s 2 divisions: the scout squad of Allen, and the elite infantry squad of Verdy.
I -the medic- am added to these 2 divisions to make the Gaback Platoon.
The squad captains that are Allen-senpai and Corporal Verdy have command rights only on the members of their own division.
I am not infantry, so I am not affiliated with either division. I am directly under the command of Captain Gaback.
In other words…
“I am truly sorry, Corporal Verdy. You have no commanding rights over me.” (Touri)
“Eh?” (Verdy)
“Please don’t worry. It takes several hours before you won’t be able to treat your severed arm. You can still make it in time.” (Touri)
“Eh, no, wait a moment!” (Verdy)
That’s right, that’s right. It is not like anyone can order me just because they are above my rank.
If that was the case, then 1st rank infantry Gray-senpai would be able to order me as he wants.
But when Gray-senpai got injured before, he went through Maryu-san, who was his squad captain, to request for treatment from the captain.
In other words, if I were to treat Captain Verdy here on my own volition, I would be brutalized together with Corporal.
“I need to keep Sergeant Gaback in my sights, so I will be taking my leave now.” (Touri)
“Wait. My arm has been cut off, you know?! The permission to treat me would definitely be given even without having to confirm with Captain Gaback! Something as stupid as not having the command rights is—” (Verdy)
“It is not stupid. Orders are absolute.” (Touri)
Corporal Verdy shakes his own shoulders, flustered, but even if you tell me that, that’s just troubling.
I have already been disciplined strictly 2 times because I went against orders.
If I were to go against orders again…
“Orders are…absolute.” (Touri)
“…Eh? T-Touri-san?” (Verdy)
“I don’t want to be disciplined anymore. I am sorry, Corporal Verdy. Please wait for Captain-dono to come back.” (Touri)
There’s no doubt I will be scolded even more harshly than before if I were to mess up again.
My body can’t stop trembling from just imagining the angry face of Captain-dono.
I am trying to endure in the time I am being severely scolded so that I don’t anger him even a tiny bit more, but the iron fist of Captain-dono is deadly painful.
“Please…understand…” (Touri)
“…I am sorry. I lost myself there. It is just as you say, Touri-san: I don’t have commanding rights on you.” (Verdy)
“I am glad you understand, Corporal.” (Touri)
“Sorry. I had no intention of scaring you to that degree. I was being unreasonable.” (Verdy)
It seems like I was pretty pale there. I instead worried Corporal Verdy.
I noticed just now, but it seems like I have been traumatized pretty badly by Captain Gaback.
My body now follows the commands of Captain-dono no matter what.
This is most likely exactly what he wanted.
“Ah, please look. Captain-dono is heading this way.” (Touri)
“Looks like he has finished assisting that side.” (Verdy)
The aforementioned scary person returned while we were doing that.
Sergeant Gaback is rushing through the battlefield where projectiles are flying everywhere while slicing down enemy soldiers.
It is scarier than the time when I was attacked before -but that’s a secret.
“The offensive is over already, I guess. Alright, you can heal Verdy.”
“Thank you very much.”
It seems like my decision to not heal him was the correct one.
When Captain-dono returned and I asked to heal Corporal Verdy, he said ‘Wait until the battle is over’.
Looks like Captain Gaback has no intention of letting me use healing magic until he has secured his own safety.
If I had just gone and obeyed the order of Corporal Verdy, I might have been strangled to death.
“[Heal].” (Touri)
“O-Oooh?” (Verdy)
“Corporal, please don’t move. I will affix it with bandages.” (Touri)
I stitch the arm of Corporal Verdy with the mana I somehow managed to squeeze out.
…It seems like my mana wasn’t enough, I feel like the effects are weak.
“Captain-dono, what I did for Corporal Verdy was just emergency treatment. He will require treatment in the field hospital to recover completely.” (Touri)
“Figures. Fine, go and get treatment already.” (Gaback)
I wasn’t confident about the results of my treatment, so I had him head to a field hospital.
Will he be okay?
Will his wrist just plop down to the ground while he is walking?
Let’s tighten the bandages so that doesn’t happen.
“Aah, Captain-dono, should he do that before Verdy-san goes just in case?”
“…No, there’s no need to salute a corpse.” (Gaback)
Captain-dono glances at the corpse with a hole in their forehead and says this.
By that, does he mean…the salute for when there’s deaths?
“It is the end when you die. A new recruit getting desperate and falling is never of use.” (Gaback)
Captain Gaback-dono looked away from the corpse of Naridome.
“…Excuse me, Rodley-kun.”
“Hm?”
Rodley-kun is the one who is carrying the corpse of Naridome to the backlines.
Transporting the corpse of a comrade is the job of the newest recruit of the squad.
“Thank you very much for today.” (Touri)
“Eh, about what?” (Rodley)
My life was saved by this foul mouthed and new recruit, Rodley.
And so, I spoke to him to at least thank him, but…he responded with a dubious face.
“Uhm, you saved me when I was in trouble.” (Touri)
“Something like that happened?” (Rodley)
“At the time when an enemy swordsman jumped into the trenches.” (Touri)
“Aah… Speaking of which, you were on the verge of dying.” (Rodley)
Looks like he had no awareness at all that he saved me.
Rodley at that time…
“There was simply an enemy with their backs turned right in front of me, so I killed him.” (Rodley)
“…”
So it seems.
Looks like he didn’t worry at all about my safety.
“Or more like, why didn’t you fight back when there was an enemy right in front of your eyes? Do you even have fighting spirit?” (Rodley)
“I am a medic, so I don’t have any equipment for battle.” (Touri)
“What are those arms for? What are those teeth used for? You should normally be going for their jugular when there’s an enemy in front of you even without a weapon.” (Rodley)
Rodley-kun said this and pointed at me with a belittling face.
“You were the most useless one on the battlefield. There’s no one who would go out of their way to save you.” (Rodley)
“…”
“I killed the enemy because I could -that’s all. Don’t try to play friends with me. Disgusting. Want me to babysit you or something?” (Rodley)
He said this in displeasure and spits.
“The people I hate the most are the ones that are good at currying favor when they are weaklings. Just like you.” (Rodley)
“…I see.” (Touri)
“Don’t ever speak to me again. You stink.” (Rodley)
Rodley faced the other way and walked away…while dragging the corpse of 2nd class infantry Naridome.
At night, Captain-dono told me to rest, and I leaned my body on the gutter of the trenches and slept.
I closed my eyes under the night sky while being grateful for having survived.
By the way, Naridome is not here anymore, but I asked to sleep by the side of Gray-senpai just in case.
Gray-senpai seemed to be happy, but Rodley-kun looked at me as if he were looking at trash.
“Fuwa~ I want to kill more tomorrow.” (Rodley)
“…”
The mutter of Rodley echoed in the late night trenches.
It seems like he isn’t fighting against his will. He is here with clear fighting spirit.
I think that’s the correct mindset, but I felt like he directed contempt towards me who can only heal.
It is a bit uncomfortable.
“…”
Aah, it reminds me again that this is how it is.
I felt he was unreliable the first time I met him and treated him without care, thinking that he was careless and stupid.
— “1st class Sarusa will get naked and dance-ssu!”
— “Touri is still 15 years old-ssu yo. Let’s wait a bit more before talking about raunchy stuff, Senpai.”
— “I will recite the civil code! I will protect 2nd class medic Touri with my life-ssu.”
Sarusa-kun was the best colleague, huh.
He was easy to get along with, was a gentleman, and wasn’t foul mouthed.
How much of a saving it would have been if he had survived.
It is only after losing Sarusa-kun that I realized just how grateful I was of his existence.
