Debuff Master

Chapter 96

Recently, the commander of the 3rd Corps, Lieutenant General Overlock de Gunzack, could feel something out of the ordinary.

“This 8th Division 2nd Infantry Battalion…”

Lieutenant General Overlock was currently focused on the 2nd Infantry Battalion.

“Hey, adjutant,” he called out.

“Yes, Corps Commander-nim,” Lieutenant Colonel Guinness, who was the direct aide of Overlock, responded.

“Take a look at this report.”

“Pardon?”

“It’s a report detailing Fallschirm’s recent achievements.”

“Ah, yes.”

Lieutenant Colonel Guinness read the report Overlock had handed over to him.

“Seventeen C Rank Cryptid colonies destroyed… Seventeen Needletid-infested areas cleared… Thirty-one tunnels demolished… Two B Rank Cryptid colonies… This is…!” Guinness couldn’t hold back exclaiming in surprise.

Then, he looked at Overlock and said, “Corps Commander-nim! I think this is more than enough justification to bestow a medal upon the battalion commander! This isn’t an achievement that a battalion commander can achieve on his own!”

“I think so, too,” Overlock replied with a nod.

Guinness was right. The contents of the report were extremely flabbergasting. Fallschirm had reported a list of achievements that was impossible for a battalion to achieve in such a short period of time.

“It is indeed surprising that a single battalion would rack up this many achievements.”

“I think you will have to reward the entire battalion and award Fallschirm with a commendation on top of a medal of honor from the Department of Defense…” Guinness muttered.

However, Overlock seemed skeptical as he muttered, “Hmm… who knows…”

“Hey, Guinness.”

“Yes, Corps Commander-nim.”

“Do you know anything about Fallschirm?”

“That’s… it is only natural that I do not know anything about him, right? I’m three years more senior than him so…”

“Right? You don’t know him, right?”

“Yes…”

“But I know him.”

“Oh…”

“As you are aware, I make an effort to know at least a little bit about my subordinates.”

“Haha…”

“Remember this. A good commander should know his subordinates. Why, you ask? That’s because a good commander had to be better at managing people than fighting on the battlefield.”

This was Overlock’s secret and the reason he became a corps commander despite his poor social and academic background. He didn’t graduate from the Royal Knight Academy. He was a common foot soldier who climbed the ranks to become a three-star general.

“You should make it a habit to know more about your subordinates from now on if you really want to become a good commander.”

“I am ashamed of myself…”

“You don’t have to be ashamed about it; we all learn things along the way. Anyway, the Fallschirm I know isn’t a commander capable of achieving all of these. Hmm… If I were to describe him, he’s someone without the capabilities but very greedy. That is the kind of person the Fallschirm I am familiar with, but the battalion under his command is suddenly giving stellar result after result.”

“Do you think so, sir? That guy was pretty capable back then…”

“No, Fallschirm isn’t as capable as you think he is. Here, take a look at this,” Overlock said as he passed another document over to Guinness, and then he added, “I have been recently looking into him, but do you know what’s surprising?”

“What is it?” Guinness asked.

“The mortality rate of his battalion.”

“Mortality rate…?”

“I took a look at the statistics and found that his battalion has a fatality rate of 84.5%. That figure is excluding the adventurers, so you can say that 8.5 soldiers drafted end up dead in less than a year in that battalion.”

“Oh… Oh my god!” Guinness exclaimed in surprise. A mortality rate of 84.5% was too high even at the Arachnid Temporary Outpost.

“What you mean is…” Guinness muttered.

“Yes, Fallschirm isn’t a good commander. I suspect that all of these achievements were earned from the lives of our soldiers. In short, this is an achievement built on the blood, sweat, and bones of our soldiers.”

“You need to punish him, sir! These figures are simply too much! I am certain that the troops have already reached the limits of their patience!”

“I’m afraid that’s the case. How is it possible that we just recently saw these unreasonable figures? It seems that I have been quite lazy with my work… Hoho… How can I face the late soldiers?” Overlock grumbled and recused himself.

“Not at all! How could you check every single detail about the battalions? It’s already amazing that you managed to catch this now than later!” Guinness retorted.

Guinness was correct. It was impossible for a corps commander to know every single tiny detail about the three battalions under his command.

“You aren’t wrong, but… I can’t help but think that I had been slacking off as the highest-ranking commander. After all, I didn’t even realize until now that something like this was going on in my own corps…”

“Corps Commander-nim…” Guinness muttered while looking at Overlock with respect-filled eyes.

“Anyway, we will have to right this wrong now that this has come to our attention.”

“Yes, sir. You will have to harshly punish Fallschirm for this.”

“Of course, I have to do that. I don’t need such a scoundrel of a commander under my command. And I plan to punish the platoon commanders and squad leaders of that battalion as well.”

“Should I relay your commands right now, sir?”

“No, there’s something we have to investigate further.”

“Pardon?”

“The mortality rate dropped quite a bit if you look at the recent reports. What do you think this means? Do you think Fallschirm changed his style or something?”

“I’m not sure…”

“These achievements aren’t because of Fallschirm. I’m certain that an Adventurer with outstanding skills has joined the 2nd Infantry Battalion. Aside from that, there is no other explanation that can justify these sudden changes.”

“Aha!”

“We will have to investigate what is happening at the 2nd Infantry Battalion.”

“I shall inform the defense security forces at once to investigate—”

“No, I will personally look into it,” Overlook shook his head.

“You will personally investigate?” Guinness asked, seemingly taken aback.

“I was planning to conduct an inspection anyway, and coincidentally, a good motive appeared just in time. Hoho,” Overlook replied with a smile.

***

Fallschirm was troubled.

“The Alligator Squad has returned, Battalion Commander-nim.”

“The result?”

“An overwhelming victory.”

“I see…”

Fallschirm wasn’t happy despite Sorscimus’ good news.

Grit!

He gnashed his teeth and cursed inwardly, ‘Damn it… They’re getting too big now. I’ll be in danger sooner or later if this keeps up.’

The reason Fallschirm felt threatened was that the Alligator Squad had grown large enough to endanger his position as the battalion commander. The Alligator Squad was reborn as a powerful squad composed of one hundred squad members; thirty were soldiers, while the remaining seventy were Adventurers.

In fact, the Alligator Squad’s reserve forces—which were the replacement forces on standby in case one of the squad members were to leave or die—had an astounding one hundred thirty members. The Adventurers wanting to join the Alligator Squad and hunt with them had devised a queuing system among themselves where one would have to get a number and wait for an opening.

As a result, Fallschirm felt threatened…

‘Damn it… I was having so much fun controlling them that I didn’t realize that I was tightening a noose around my neck as well… If the higher-ups found out about how I abused the Alligator Squad and stole their achievements, then…’

It would be his end.

The greed which pushed him to take full advantage of Siegfried was flying toward him like a boomerang and was about to hit him.

“Battalion Commander-nim! Private Sieg requests an audience with you,” announced the sentry guarding Fallschirm’s tent.

“Private Sieg? Ehem! Let him in.”

“Yes, sir!”

The tent opened, and Siegfried waltzed in with a huge grin.

“Sa~ lute~” he coyly said.

“…Salute,” Fallschirm responded to Siegfried’s salute before asking, “So, why have you come today, Private Sieg?”

“Yes, Battalion Commander-nim. I was wondering if… you could mobilize us somewhere?” Siegfried asked with a smirk.

“What?!”

“The Adventurers in our squadron are stirring up trouble because they want to mobilize as soon as possible, you see, sir?”

“…”

“Why don’t you just give us the command to mobilize, sir?”

At that, Fallschirm’s relaxed expression almost crumpled, and he almost inadvertently revealed his true feelings.

‘This damned bastard!’

Siegfried was teasing and taunting him. Siegfried was basically asking him to try and use him again if he dared. Siegfried seemed like he was saying, ‘why don’t you try to satisfy that greed of yours again?’ or ‘nothing will happen even if you try and take full advantage of me’.

No, those were exactly what Siegfried was trying to say right now.

“C’mon, Battalion Commander-nim, you have to get your promotion, right? I have a feeling you can become a colonel with all of the achievements you have recently garnered, am I right, sir?”

“…”

“I will work my ass off to help Battalion Commander-nim get promoted; you got that, sir?”

Siegfried was now taunting Fallschirm to continue hoarding all of the achievements as much as he could and try to cover the sun with his finger.

Could someone cover the sun with their finger? Nope. It was impossible to cover the sun with a finger.

A battlefield was a place filled with eyes and ears, and rumors were bound to circulate. Especially when Fallschirm had always been abusing the Alligator Squad as well as hoarding their achievements.

“Enough… you may leave now,” Fallschirm grumbled and tried to chase Siegfried out.

“Huh~? But, Battalion Commander-nim…”

“GET OUT!” Fallschirm shouted before continuing, “How dare a private request to meet the battalion commander like this?! Am I your friend? Ha?!”

“Ah… why are you getting mad and all?” Siegfried asked with a sleazy smile. Then, he retreated a few steps back before saying, “Then, I shall be on my way. Enjoy your meal, sir. Sa~ lute~”

Siegfried gave a sleazy salute before leaving Fallschirm’s tent.

Tremble…! Tremble…!?

Fallschirm’s body trembled from rage.

“How… dare… How dare he…!” he muttered under his breath in fury.

Unfortunately, that was the only thing he could do since he couldn’t really go and relieve his anger by killing Siegfried or anything…

***

At an empty lot near the Alligator Squad’s tent…

“You improved quite a lot,” Siegfried praised Carell.

“T-Thank you very much!” Carell replied.

The young knight was a mess right now. His uniform was tattered, he was bleeding all over, his body was covered in bruises, and his entire body was drenched in sweat and blood.

However, the young knight was smiling.

It was the bliss brought by achieving something.

‘I have gotten stronger!’?Carell exclaimed inwardly.

The pain he felt was nothing compared to the bliss he felt whenever he saw himself growing stronger and stronger after every sparring with Siegfried.

Honestly, Carell had grown quite a lot recently.

[Carell de Biermann]

[Type: NPC]

[Level: 87]

[Class: Knight]

[Tier: Low-Ranked Sword Expert]

He was only Level 71 when he first met Siegfried, but he was now Level 87. He gained a whopping 16 levels and his tier upgraded from a Lowest-Ranked Sword Expert to a Low-Ranked Sword Expert.

This was considered to be an explosive growth when taking into account that only two weeks had passed since they started training.

“You’re doing great, and you look good these days,” Siegfried praised the young knight before saying, “Honestly, you look like a completely different person now. When I first met you, did you know that I was asking myself when you will become a decent person?”

“Come on, I wasn’t that bad, Your Majesty.”

“Oh? I’m pretty sure you looked like you were about to cry at any moment back then.”

“Me? Why would I? I have no idea what you’re talking about, Your Majesty,” Carell lightly retorted with a shrug before asking, “Ah, what did the battalion commander say?”

“The battalion commander?” Siegfried smirked before replying, “He seemed on edge.”

“Really?”

“What? Do you really think I would lie? Keke! I’m sure he was initially having a lot of fun. We fought pretty well, so he probably enjoyed our achievements. What about now, though? The results our squad has been recently delivering are on par with what a regiment brings whenever they mobilize. Those results aren’t something a battalion can do, so what do you think is going to happen next?”

“Well… the higher-ups will become interested?”

“Exactly…” Siegfried nodded before saying, “There’s this proverb that says, ‘like an awl in a pocket.’ You see, an awl in a pocket will stick out no matter how well you try to hide it.”

“I see…”

“Fallschirm is definitely scared that his falsified reports will get exposed the more great achievements we bring back.”

“Oh! Then that means…”

“Correct. Well, the higher-ups have their own faces to save, so someone like Fallschirm is a threat to them in the long run since the officers will start complaining. In addition, the officers’ loyalty will drop the longer he’s around. In the end, Fallschirm will end up choking on his own greed. Everything he had done will ricochet back to him.”

“Was Your Majesty aware that things would eventually turn out this way?”

“Yes...”

“How?”

“Word travels fast on the battlefield. Wouldn’t it be stranger if no rumors are spreading, even though there are so many people on the battlefield? Our achievements are bound to surface no matter how hard Fallschirm tries to hide them from the higher-ups.”

“Wow! Your Majesty is omnipotent!”

“I just have experience.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“I have been through a few things. Fallschirm was stationed here for six months, right? Well, I have been here longer than him…”

“Huh? Your Majesty has only been here recently if my memory serves me right…” Carell muttered while tilting his head in confusion.

Siegfried was a newbie among newbies to him based on what he remembered.

“Well, it’s something like that,” Siegfried said with a smile.

“…?”

Carell was left confused by Siegfried’s words, and he wouldn’t understand what Siegfried meant any time soon.

***

The next evening, inside Fallschirm’s tent…

“S-Saluuuuute!” Fallschirm saluted while screaming at the top of his lungs.

Why?

It was all because he was extremely familiar with the old soldier before him.

“Lieutenant Colonel Fallschirm greets Corps Commander-nim!”

The old soldier was none other than Corps Commander Overlock.

“At rest, Lieutenant Colonel Fallschirm.”

“Yes, sir!”

“I heard that your battalion has been achieving great feats lately?” Overlock asked.

“N-Not at all, sir!”

“What do you mean by not at all? From what I saw, those achievements aren’t achievable by a lone battalion.”

“It’s all thanks to the Adventurers and our soldiers fighting hand in hand—” Fallschirm started.

However, Overlock cut him off and said, “That’s right, it’s all thanks to the Adventurers and our soldiers.”

“Pardon? O-Of course, you are correct, sir…” Fallschirm said, seemingly taken aback.

“Of course, it is their achievement. After all, what did you even do?” Overlock coldly stared at Fallschirm before saying, “The only thing you did was shove all sorts of unreasonable and impossible missions to a mere squad, right?”

“C-Corps Commander-nim!”

“Since when did the merits of a squad become the merits of the battalion commander?”

“Corps Commander-nim, that’s… there has been a misunderstanding. A squad is a part of the battalion, so—”

“Shut that mouth of yours.”

“…!”

“You treated the soldiers under you like insects, and you even dared to make falsified reports on top of that? Hoho! You’re quite the brave one, aren’t you?”

It was at this moment that Fallschirm realized…

‘I’m fucked!’