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[Translator - Tangrine ]
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Chapter 17 - Transfer Orders (2)
"I don’t give a damn about diplomacy. That’s for the smart high-ranking folks to figure out.”
“All I see are a bunch of attempted murderers who tried to kill a little girl. Fight like real men.
That way, I can kill every last one of you in self-defense."
"You! Do you think you’ll get away with this? Where is Lord Eres?!"
Clyden smirked and turned to Eres.
"Hey, they’re looking for you."
"I don’t know those bastards."
Clyden shrugged.
"Ridiculous! That man can’t be Lord Eres! Bring the real Eres here at once!"
Eres clenched his teeth, glaring at the prince and his knights.
"Tsk, tsk. The Imperial Army follows the law. We give three warnings. This is your last one.
Drop your swords. You don’t want to? Kill them."
The knights who had been hesitating finally realized that the soldiers were about to strike.
They hurriedly threw down their swords.
"W-Wait! We surrender! We've dropped our weapons!"
Clyden watched as his platoon tied up the prince and his knights with rope.
The knights complied without resistance, but the prince struggled violently.
"How dare you lowly scum lay hands on me?! You’ll all pay for this!"
Clyden approached the thrashing prince with a grin and turned to Hunty, who was standing nearby.
"Hey, give me a dagger."
"W-What are you doing?!"
As soon as Hunty handed him the blade, the prince’s face drained of color.
He stared at the weapon in terror.
Clyden gripped the dagger in his left hand and without hesitation slashed his right forearm.
A sharp, sickening sound echoed as blood oozed from the wound.
Everyone stared in shock.
Clyden casually pressed the blood-stained dagger into the prince's hand.
"Huh?"
The prince looked down at the blade in his grip, his mind unable to process what was happening.
Clyden suddenly roared loud enough for everyone to hear—right before kicking the prince square in the chest.
"AAGH! How dare you attack an Imperial soldier?!"
"W-What?! That’s not—!"
"Hah. Self-defense it is."
Clyden began his merciless beating.
The sound of fists landing echoed through the air.
The prince tumbled to the ground, unable to react.
Before he could even understand what was happening, he was already unconscious, lying limp in a mixture of dust and blood.
The platoon members snapping out of their daze, rushed in to pull Clyden away.
Only then did the beating stop.
Watching Clyden go as far as injuring himself just to justify beating someone left them all pale with horror.
"Tch. Laying hands on a girl’s face… I should’ve turned him into a eunuch."
Clyden clicked his tongue.
"Take him away!"
A few platoon members dragged away the unconscious prince and his knights.
Clyden watched them go, clicking his tongue in disappointment.
“I should’ve snapped that bastard’s neck, but since he’s from another country, I’ll let it slide.”
News of Clyden mercilessly beating a foreign prince spread like wildfire throughout the capital.
High-ranking imperial nobles who had intended to visit Eres quickly reconsidered.
There was no point in provoking a mad dog.
The legend of Clyden the Untouchable only grew stronger.
The empire’s upper echelons were in chaos over the fact that he had assaulted and detained a prince from an allied kingdom.
But the imperial citizens? They cheered.
To them, Clyden was a hero—someone who had dished out justice to a noble brat who had tried to cut down a child.
Clyden’s popularity soared among the common folk.
But the man himself wasn’t feeling particularly triumphant.
He had been summoned to the company sergeant major’s office.
“Sergeant Clyden, reporting.”
The moment he knocked and cautiously stepped inside, a sharp voice rang out.
“Get down, you little shit!”
“Yes, sir!”
Clyden dropped to the floor and assumed a push-up position, arms extended.
“Why the hell are you always causing trouble, huh?”
“Well, sir, that bastard started—”
“Shut the hell up! You think you’re so damn special?”
“Yes, sir!”
“You’ve been sticking your neck out way too much lately. You should know better than anyone that standing out in this army never ends well.”
“I’ll be more careful, sir.”
While Payren, the 9th Company’s administrator, was busy chewing Clyden out, the company sergeant major and a few other administrators walked in.
“Huh? What’s this punk doing on the floor?”
“Oh, just making a show of disciplining him to keep people from talking.”
“Fair enough… Alright, that’s enough. Get up.”
“Yes, sir!”
Clyden immediately sprang to his feet.
The administrators and the company sergeant major sat down on the sofa, their expressions turning serious.
“Listen up, kid. This might be getting a little out of hand.”
“Tch… How bad is it?”
“The embassy found out we locked up their little prince, and now they’ve swarmed the battalion commander’s office to protest.”
“…And what did the battalion commander say?”
“You know how it is. The officers assigned to the garrison force are usually the ones at the end of their careers. Turns out, our battalion commander already secured himself a cushy post in the Rostin Kingdom.”
“Damn… So did he let them go?”
“Nope. When they shouted and threatened to take his position, he just laughed and told us to throw them all in the stockade.”
“Hah! Even a washed-up officer is still a soldier at heart, huh?”
“That’s where things got messy. We just got back from tossing those bastards but they resisted. Some of our guys got injured, and tensions are high.”
“The ambassador himself got locked up too. Somehow word got out. The press, citizen groups, and even higher-ups from the main command are swarming the base. The battalion commander is up to his neck in this mess.”
The administrator leaned in and warned.
“If you know what’s good for you, stay the hell away from the battalion commander. If he sees you, you’re dead.”
“Ugh… Got it.”
“By the way, how hard did you hit that prince? He’s still out cold?”
“Well, the bastard outright tried to kill someone. What else was I supposed to do?”
“Could you stop causing trouble for once? You’re giving me a damn headache.”
“Heh, I’ll be more careful.”
“Officially, there’s no way you’re dodging a disciplinary action. Beating the crap out of a foreign prince, no matter what he did, it is a big deal.”
“If I was afraid of punishment, I wouldn’t have done it in the first place.”
Payren immediately smacked him upside the head.
“Wipe that grin off your face, dumbass.”
Clyden groaned while clutching the back of his head.
Payren smirked.
“Officially, you’ll get reprimanded. But off the record? Good job.”
“Hehe.”
“Still, appearances matter, so you need to do some ‘repentance’ training.”
“Excuse me?”
“If we let a guy who just beat a foreign prince walk away scot-free, people will make a fuss. So, you’re getting a nice workout. Payren, take care of it.”
“Leave it to me.”
“Please, have some mercy.”
Clyden looked at Sergeant Major with pleading eyes, but he and the other administrators had already erased his existence from their minds.
Payren grabbed Clyden by the collar and started dragging him toward the training grounds.
“Uh… Can we do this somewhere less public? This is kind of embarrassing.”
“Quit whining. It has to be out in the open for maximum effect. And you know I hate slackers.”
What followed was pure hell.
Clyden was run through every brutal drill imaginable—rolling, crawling, push-ups, and whatever else Payren could think of.
Soldiers and officers gathered to watch the spectacle.
Clyden cursed whoever had invented military PT and the sadistic bastard who had decided PRI drills should exist.
After three straight hours of non-stop training, Payren finally nodded in satisfaction.
“Hm. That should do. You’re dismissed. Oh, walk back to your squad looking exactly like that.”
“…Th-Thank you, Sir.”
With his entire body aching down to the bone, Clyden stumbled back toward his squad.
“Damn, sir! What happened to you?!”
The platoon had already heard the news and was waiting outside for him.
“Ah—hey! Don’t touch me! Just… let me walk…”
Carefully, the platoon members helped him inside their post.
Standing there with a smug grin was Lydis, clearly enjoying the sight.
“Well, what an unfortunate situation.”
“Haha, I heard punishments make your whole body ache. Is that true?”
“Oh, if you’re curious, I can arrange a personal demonstration. Hey, watch it—gently, gently!”
Clyden carefully sat down on his bunk.
Lydis still hovered around him, that infuriatingly smug expression never leaving her face.
Annoyed, Clyden shot her a glare.
“Could you stop smirking?”
At Clyden’s remark, Lydis momentarily scowled but her smile quickly returned.
She casually swung her foot, landing a well-placed kick on Clyden’s leg.
“Guhk!”
The pain was so excruciating that Clyden couldn’t even scream.
His whole body trembled and he was unable to move.
Meanwhile, Lydis wearing an utterly pleased expression, spoke in a sweet voice.
“Oh dear, Sergeant. You’re in the way. You should be more careful.”
“Y-You little—!”
Clyden couldn’t bring himself to curse outright, so he just glared daggers at her.
Smirking, Lydis kicked his leg again.
“Ghahh!”
“Geez, I told you—you’re in the way. Can’t you be a little more considerate?”
Lydis had been holding back a lot.
Now, she was making up for lost time, teasing him as she lightly nudged his legs again and again.
Her expression made it obvious—she was enjoying his suffering far too much.
Watching their leader revel in Clyden’s misery, the other soldiers shivered.
Meanwhile, the Empire’s Foreign Ministry used the whole attempted murder incident as political leverage, securing significant diplomatic concessions from the Kingdom of Rostin.
As for Clyden’s battalion, they were finally forced to release the detained ambassador, prince, and knights—though only after receiving an official order.
With Azelus’s direct intervention, the Imperial Army’s higher-ups decided to back off from pursuing either Eres or Lydis.
They were merely keeping an eye on things.
With the situation settled, Clyden was able to return to his peaceful military life.
There was one big change.
Clyden had been free to slack off as he pleased, but now… he had an opponent.
Lydis had taken to tailing him wherever he went, nitpicking at every little thing.
Her nagging was a force to be reckoned with—easily on par with Clyden’s infamous badgering of others.
As a result, Clyden adapted.
He refined his skills in evading her watchful gaze and sneaking off to roam in secret.
Today was no different.
Successfully evading Lydis’s scrutiny, Clyden found a quiet place to practice archery in peace.
Suddenly, his bowstring snapped.
“Huh? What the hell? Hey, go get Hunty!”
At Clyden’s call, Hunty came.
Clyden held up his crossbow with a grumble.
“What is up with this thing? How many times has this happened now?”
“Well, it’s a cheap bowstring, so what do you expect?”
“Ugh… I hate spending money, but there’s gotta be a better way…”
Clyden suddenly noticed Lydis walking by, her soft silver hair fluttering in the breeze.
“She looks so prim and proper, but that damn temper of hers…”
As he muttered his complaints, an old setting from a fantasy novel he once read popped into his mind.
His eyes gleamed.
Clyden grinned slyly and approached Lydis.
“Hehe… Lieutenant.”
“W-What is it, Sergeant?”
Seeing Clyden’s mischievous grin, Lydis instinctively took a step back.
“What’s up with your hair?”
“…Huh? What about it?”
Lydis ran a hand through her hair, her expression turning uneasy.
Clyden launched into an impassioned speech.
“Ah, Lieutenant, you probably don’t know this since you didn’t go through the standard military training, but soldiers aren’t supposed to have long hair!”
“W-Why not?”
"Of course, it's obvious! Just imagine—you're in the middle of a battle, and someone yanks your hair from behind. Instant death!"
“That… makes sense.”
“Exactly! There’s a reason why soldiers keep their hair short! Every rule in the military exists for a purpose! Probably…”
Clyden mumbled that last part under his breath, too quietly for Lydis—who was now gripping her hair in deep contemplation.
After a long moment of hesitation, she finally spoke.
“But… I’ve been growing it for over five years…”
“Tsk, tsk! You can’t afford to be sentimental! You’re a lieutenant! A proud officer of the Imperial Army! You must set an example!”
“I-Is that so?”
Lydis wavered but after a few seconds, she firmed her resolve.
“Alright. I’ll cut it after work today!”
Clyden quickly shook his head, clicking his tongue in disapproval.
“Tsk, tsk. That won’t do. You need to cut it right now.”
“R-Right now? But I can’t call my hairdresser at the moment…”
“Hairdresser? No, you need to do it yourself!”
“Why on earth would I do that?”
“This is the perfect chance for you to earn the soldiers’ respect! If you show them your decisiveness, they’ll pledge their loyalty to you without hesitation!”
“Y-You think so?”
“Absolutely! I understand how precious a woman’s hair is. But if you demonstrate the resolve to cut something so important, the soldiers will be truly moved!”
Lydis hesitated, deep in thought.
She finally nodded.
Clyden immediately gathered all the squad members.
The soldiers assembled in confusion.
Clyden looked over them and shouted.
“Today, our lieutenant has made a great decision—to become a true soldier of the Empire! You all must show your utmost loyalty so that her resolve is not in vain!”
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[Translator - Tangrine ]
[Proofreader - Seeker ]
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