IV
Colonel Otto’s Work Room at Galia Fortress
“Ah, the referral from Colonel Neinhardt. You must be...”
“Yes, ser! Warrant Officer Claudia Jung, reporting for duty to the Seventh Legion!”
“Very good. At ease, soldier. Take a seat.” Otto gestured at the sofa.
“Yes, ser!” said Claudia, and sat down. Otto took a teacup down from the shelf on the wall, then reached for the white porcelain teapot.
“Please, ser, allow me!” said Claudia. She tried to stand up, but Otto held up a hand to stop her.
“But ser—!”
“It’s no trouble,” Otto cut her off, pouring a cup of tea with practiced hands.
He doesn’t have a servant to do that? thought Claudia, bemused. He put the teacup down on the table, and its refreshing aroma wafted up to her.
“I’m afraid due to supply shortages I can’t offer you sugar. I hope you don’t mind going without.”
“Don’t even think of it, ser. Thank you very much.” She obliged him by taking a sip of the tea, then returned the cup to the table without a sound. She made an effort to sit up straight, and found herself looking right into Otto’s eyes.
“Colonel Otto, I... I apologize if I speak out of turn, but might I trouble you to tell me the reason for my emergency transfer from the First Legion to the Seventh Legion?”
“What’s that? Didn’t Colonel Neinhardt explain?”
“No, ser, I wasn’t told anything. The colonel said that he was extremely busy, and I had best pose any questions to you directly.” Otto looked both amused and annoyed by this. There was clearly some joke here she didn’t understand. If he hadn’t known her to be Neinhardt’s cousin, he certainly wouldn’t have smiled like that.
“Well, I’ll get straight to the point. Warrant Officer Claudia Jung, you have been assigned as aide to Warrant Officer—well, now she’s Second Lieutenant—Olivia,” said Otto. He held out a sheet of paper to Claudia.
“Aide... Thank you, ser,” she said, taking the document and reading through it. It listed Olivia’s numerous achievements, starting from her defeat of the Raging Bull Samuel and continuing with the capture and elimination of the two spies infiltrating Galia Fortress. It wrapped up with her practically single-handed recapture of Fort Lamburke.
It looked like she was already a bit of a hero—and she had done all of that at barely fifteen years old.
“Ser... Is all of this really true? I don’t mean to... It’s just...”
“It’s not surprising you think that, but everything written there is fact. The thing is...” Otto trailed off, letting out a deep sigh.
“Is there some kind of problem?”
“...Well, about that. As I’m sure you’ve gathered, there are no issues with her prowess in battle.”
“Yes, ser. You mean to say then that the problem is in another area?” Claudia asked. Otto nodded, looking satisfied.
“Correct. Lieutenant Olivia is lacking when it comes to manners and common sense. Honestly, I’m at my wits’ end with her.”
“Manners... And common sense, ser?” echoed Claudia, unsure how to reply. It was too vague a statement to make sense of.
“And his lordship just coos over... Well, that’s not important. Forget I said that.”
“Yes, ser.”
“Anyway. Lieutenant Olivia is at the center of this upcoming operation. That’s why we need a truly exceptional aide at her side.”
“...Ser, I apologize if this comes across as rude, but couldn’t someone else do this?” asked Claudia, thinking that there had to be plenty of other talented soldiers in the Seventh Legion. Otto shook his head shortly.
“None with a chance at reining in the lieutenant. She looks the part, but inside she’s totally wild. We thought that another woman might have more luck. I know it’s asking a lot, but we’re counting on you.”
“Yes, ser. As Lieutenant Olivia’s aide, I will guide her to the best of my abilities!” said Claudia. Otto looked ever so slightly relieved.
“Good. I’ve told her you’ll call on her. I imagine she’s in her quarters, so go pay her a visit when we’re done here.”
“I will go to her immediately, ser.”
“In that case, we’re done here. You are dismissed.”
“Thank you, ser!” said Claudia. Once she was out of the room, she heaved a deep sigh. Going off of Otto’s behavior, the duty she’d been saddled with would be anything but fun.
Pushing all this through without so much as asking me... she thought resentfully at Neinhardt, who’d recommended her for this. She headed for Olivia’s quarters.
When she arrived, Claudia checked her uniform was all in order, confirmed there were no problems, then knocked on the door.
“Claudia?” came a voice, clear as a bell. Claudia was taken aback to be so suddenly addressed by name, but called back,
“Yes, ser! My name is Warrant Officer Claudia Jung. I’ll be your aide starting today, ser, so I came to introduce myself.”
“Yeah, Colonel Otto told me about you. Come in!”
“Excuse me, ser,” Claudia said, and opened the door. The sight that met her eyes made her gasp involuntarily. A girl with a doll-like face lounged on the bed, reading a book. She was so beautiful that Claudia was spellbound for a moment, before their eyes met. Taking care not to tread on any of the books that littered the floor, Claudia made a hasty salute.
Olivia got up from the bed.
“I’m Olivia. Nice to meet you,” she said, grinning and saluting back. Then she sat back down, and started reading her book again.
Claudia was stumped. Th-That’s it...?! She thought, wondering for a moment if she was being tested. But the other girl really did just seem to be immersed in her book. Everything that Otto had said to her came back to her. It looked like if she was to fulfill her duty as aide, first she’d have to get to know Olivia. She decided to start with small talk.
“Er... Lieutenant Olivia? You... You have a lot of books, don’t you?”
“Huh?” She paused. “...Oh, Ashton told me about all sorts of cool-sounding things, so I had them delivered from the capital. That ate up all the reward money I got from General Paul. Books are pretty expensive,” answered Olivia, without looking up from her book. Claudia didn’t know what to make of any of this, but pressed on undeterred.
“You must be very fond of reading, then,” she said. “May I ask, ser, who Ashton might be?”
“...Colonel Otto said the same thing. Ashton is Ashton. He’s a human.” Olivia looked up from her book for the first time to frown at Claudia. Her eyes were deep ebony, and Claudia saw no hint of a joke in them.
Right... I’m starting to see what Otto was talking about. Neinhardt, you bastard. You owe me for this, big time, Claudia cursed her cousin internally. She kept her expression passive.
“Of course, ser. Please forgive me for asking such an obvious question,” Claudia said with a deep bow. Olivia shook her head and said,
“Oh, it’s fine. I just don’t get why people ask things they already know... Do the words I say just not make sense or something?”
“Oh no, ser. I promise you it’s not that.”
“Hm... Well, that’s a relief, at least. You’re done introducing yourself now, right? You can go now,” she said, and once again returned to her book. Claudia didn’t feel like she was going to get any further today. She saluted Olivia, the other girl still lying on the bed, and said,
“Thank you, ser. If there is anything you require, I am at your beck and call.”
“Mmkay, thanks!”
Once outside the room, Claudia slumped against the wall and let out her second deep sigh of the day. Then, she set off for Neinhardt’s quarters.
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