“A weapon should go to the person who can use it well.”
“…”
“I think you, who have been tracking him for a long time, will use it more effectively than I would.”
Iberis smiled gently as he handed the USB to Winfried. Until this morning, he had been contemplating whether or not to give it to him. Lucas following and trusting Winfried like a parent was a completely different matter from Iberis trusting him. To be honest, he didn’t readily trust him.
However, after talking with him, Iberis made up his mind. He had seen with his own eyes that Winfried poured infinite affection on Lucas. Although they weren’t related by blood, the two were truly family.
“…Thank you, really thank you.”
Winfried, holding the USB preciously in his hand, expressed his gratitude with a moved expression. It’s extremely difficult to regain lost trust. He could well imagine how much Iberis must have worried and hesitated before handing this over to him. That’s why he felt grateful and sorry to Iberis for making such a difficult decision.
“However, I’d like to give you a copy, not the original. So you’ll need to transfer it separately… I ask for your understanding on this point.”
“Of course. I’ll have someone copy all the contents immediately and then return it to you. And I’ll have my agents analyze every bit of it.”
Winfried spoke in an excited voice. By combining the materials he had gathered so far with the information received from Iberis, he would surely be able to achieve notable results. With a flushed face, he promised:
“Just trust me. I’ll definitely bring you results that you’ll be satisfied with.”
“I’m counting on you.”
Iberis sent an expectant gaze towards the boasting Winfried. His clear and transparent eyes sparkled, reflecting the anticipation for the coming time of revenge. It was now time for counterattack.
Chapter 10. 99%
“Welcome back, Major!”
Brenda greeted Iberis warmly as he returned to the unit after several weeks. Since becoming his aide, this was the first time they had been apart for so long, and it made her heart swell with emotion.
“Did you do well?”
Iberis, who had just gotten out of the car, gave a warm smile to his aide who had come to greet him.
“I did well! How about you, Major?”
Brenda asked, her eyes shining. She had minimized contact to avoid disturbing Iberis’s rest during his first long vacation since enlisting.
Although she had to call a few times due to various happenings that stirred up the unit, such as the European branch riot incident, the visit to Blake Pharmaceuticals, and the romance rumors with Lucas, she hadn’t contacted him otherwise. So she didn’t know exactly what Iberis had done or how he had spent his time. As a result, she had a mountain of questions to ask.
“Did you eat a lot of delicious food? How about shopping? What did you buy at the department store? Did you go on museum tours…?”
“Wait, ask one at a time. It’s confusing. By the way, you look extremely tired… You look just like a panda right now.”
Iberis worriedly examined Brenda’s face, which had dark circles under her eyes.
“Ah, this… It’s fine. I’ve been sleep-deprived for the past few days.”
“Why?”
“I was so excited about your return that I couldn’t sleep.”
“What?”
“Haha, just kidding. I went to N-9 unit for five days on civilian support duties at their request, so I guess I’m a bit tired.”
“Civilian support? What kind?”
Iberis frowned at the news he was hearing for the first time.
“Well… Last week, there was a commotion when a fissure occurred near the urban area managed by N-9 unit, causing buildings to collapse and casualties. So I was mobilized for recovery work until yesterday.”
“A fissure appeared in the N-9 area?”
“Yes, it was C+ grade, so it was quickly conquered, and control measures were taken immediately upon its creation, so there wasn’t much damage. There were about five or six fatalities, but they were people who refused military control and didn’t evacuate.”
Brenda’s face darkened slightly as she recalled the events of a few days ago. Even though they lived in defense zones, most residents didn’t trust the military. This was especially true for refugees and illegal residents. As a result, they often suffered the most when incidents like this occurred.
“Most of the damage this time came from the slums. Excluding those with minor injuries like bruises, there are about thirty injured people currently being treated at the military hospital. Many buildings collapsed or tilted, resulting in a large number of displaced people. We’ve accommodated them all in shelters and provided relief tents.”
“If such an accident occurred, you should have told me. Why didn’t you contact me?”
“Well, it wasn’t a big deal?”
Brenda calmly questioned back despite Iberis’s rebuke. In her opinion, this level of incident was within the range they could handle on their own.
“Not a big deal…? The situation seems quite serious.”
“Ah, to be precise, I meant it was something you didn’t need to step in for personally, Major.”
Brenda added with a smiling face, correcting her statement.
“We can handle these things with just me and the other unit members. You were somewhere you couldn’t come right away even if we reported it, so we didn’t want to worry you unnecessarily.”
“Hm…?”
Iberis hesitated at Brenda’s attitude, which seemed to be subtly drawing a line.
“If we bothered you with something we could handle ourselves, wouldn’t the person behind you scold us? Anyway, the support work, including facility repairs, ended yesterday, so the busy work is over. You can check the details in the report.”
Brenda quickly explained the reason, as if to prevent any misunderstanding. Then she bowed her head towards the area behind Iberis.
“I’m sorry for the late greeting, Captain.”
“No need. The report to the Major comes first. And you did well. You’re handling things smoothly now.”
“It’s all thanks to your good teaching, Captain.”
Brenda smiled with a proud face. In the early days of his assignment, Lucas, having identified the problems of N-0 unit, embarked on a major overhaul. He decided to improve the physical and mental levels of the unit members to reduce the excessive workload on Iberis.
To achieve this, he planned various education and training sessions and drilled the unit members thoroughly every day. He also reorganized the dispatch teams to make them accustomed to going to the field without Iberis. At first, they experienced trial and error, with the number of injured increasing several times more than usual, but after half a year, the system gradually took shape. The results of that were now showing.
“Where are the others?”
“They’re in afternoon training. As you ordered before leaving, Lieutenant Sato and Second Lieutenant Denver have been conducting training every other day.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes!”
Brenda answered with a voice full of spirit. Her eyes, looking at Lucas, were filled with trust.
“…”
Is this what it feels like to see a grown-up child who has become independent? Iberis was filled with a strange feeling as he watched Brenda conversing with Lucas. In the past, she would always come to him unconditionally when something happened, but seeing her act on her own now made him feel both proud and a bit lonely.
“Ah, that’s right. There’s a unit commander meeting the day after tomorrow regarding this incident. Major Jonas called earlier to ask if you would attend.”
Brenda spoke up as if she had suddenly remembered something after finishing her conversation with Lucas.
“Major Jonas?”
“Yes, he said that since fissures keep occurring in residential areas, like during the last terrorist attack and this time as well, we should conduct a full investigation… He seems to have called after hearing that you were returning today.”
“Ah, tell him I’ll attend.”
“Understood. I’ll send a reply right away. Oh, and recently, some unit commanders have been getting friendly with the Mars Guild.”
“Hm?”
“From what I’ve found out, it seems they’ve been having a hard time since you greatly reduced the number of times you go out to support other units, Major. But now that the Mars Guild is helping…”
“I see, they’ve jumped at the chance.”
Iberis clicked his tongue as if it was obvious without even looking. The N-area unit commanders, who had long depended on him, found themselves in a difficult position when Lucas repeatedly blocked their support requests. The success rate of fissure conquests dropped sharply, and the number of injuries within the units increased significantly.
Given this situation, it was impossible for the units to function well. Of course, they couldn’t expect positive performance evaluations either. Facing a crisis where they might receive disciplinary action next year instead of promotion, the unit commanders were under extreme stress.
The Mars Guild that appeared at this time was like a welcome rain after a drought. To turn around the worsening public opinion, Livio actively responded to the units’ support requests whenever fissures occurred in the N-area. From his perspective, needing to maintain the position of a cooperative guild next year, the support of the N-area unit commanders was essential.
Fortunately, Livio’s strategy worked. Some unit commanders willingly took the hand he extended. Their interests aligned.
“The atmosphere among the unit commanders who have established cooperative relationships with the Mars Guild doesn’t seem good. Those who hold grudges against you and the Captain might try to pick a fight at the meeting, so it might be best to be careful.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
