At those words, the air in the infirmary suddenly grew heavy.
It was the sort of question anyone investigating this incident might ask, but from past experience, Gale knew that when Deren Armezia asked an obvious question, there was another intent hidden within it.
Should I lie?
In that brief instant, Gale weighed countless possibilities in his head and said in a calm voice, “I acquired it from a Yamaguchi gang member, one of the three major factions surrounding Yoshiura.”
“Was it Ron’s order?”
So that is the angle he is taking.
When Gale’s eyes turned wary, Deren said, “Do not glare at me like that. I am not asking in order to punish you.”
He said he had visited Ron’s hospital room yesterday and heard the detailed circumstances of the incident.
The claim that a field-grade officer had not only associated with criminal organizations within his jurisdiction but even distributed illegal drugs was likely not something the Imperial Army wanted to believe.
However, Ron had submitted as evidence his diary, in which he had written down everything that had happened, and it had been accepted as evidence, so the investigation was proceeding smoothly.
“The diary said that you obtained the plan, but it did not say anything about the process.”
Deren grinned broadly as he continued.
“So I thought. Perhaps you obtained that plan in order to make Ron Howard, who had been a bystander, take action.”
The reason Deren had come here was to confirm that his thought was correct.
Gale trusted Deren, but the moment he affirmed his words, it would amount to admitting that he had used Ron to strike Miguel, so he was not particularly inclined to do so.
But even if he denied it now, it did not seem as though it would mean much to Deren, whose eyes were almost certain.
After letting out a sigh, Gale said, “Obtaining the plan... was my independent decision.”
“Haha. I knew it!”
Like a child who had answered a quiz correctly, Deren burst into hearty laughter.
“I thought you must have been moving shrewdly from the start.”
“Shrewdly....”
“You saw a villain with your own eyes the moment you went out for your practicum, so I suppose you could not sit still.”
He crossed his arms and nodded as he continued.
“Well, even so, reporting to me before storming Moon Shadow Pavilion was the right thing to do.”
Before raiding Moon Shadow Pavilion, Gale had asked Anesia to find Deren and request his help.
Deren explained that it would be judged as having followed the reporting procedure before actually entering the scene, and that it would be a great help later as a mitigating circumstance.
“On top of that, the case itself is taking the form of an internal investigation and is being handled confidentially, so there will be no danger of you being branded with an insubordination label.”
Gale nodded.
Insubordination was one thing, but at this point, when he did not know how deeply Miguel was connected to the Golden Dawn Society, having his name mentioned in connection with a case tied to them was never a good thing. Because of that, Deren’s words that it was being handled confidentially made him feel somewhat reassured.
After finishing his words, Deren rose from his seat.
“My curiosity is satisfied, so I will be going now.”
“Is that all?”
“Did I not tell you from the start? I did not come here to investigate you. Or do you have anything else to say?”
“That is not the case.”
“Do not worry too much about punishment. Ron will not be able to avoid punishment, but in your case, it would be more accurate to say you deserve a reward.”
“A reward, sir?”
Deren grinned.
***
While the investigation into the incident continued, the training camp had already entered its fourth week.
The fourth week was a period for evaluating everything they had learned so far. Beginning with the founding history that everyone in the Imperial Army had to know, they had to take so many exams that merely listing them was exhausting: imperial law, personnel subdual techniques, tactical command studies, military science, and more.
After the imperial law exam, which was said to be the most difficult of the evaluations, ended, Joseph beside him began grumbling.
“Haa... Gale, save me.”
“Prepare for the next subject instead of whining. What are you going to do if you get assigned to the 3rd Guard Unit again?”
At that, Joseph recoiled in horror and said, “Don’t say something so awful. You said you’ve gotten perfect scores on everything so far?”
“Except one. There was an error in the military science exam.”
“Wow, how do you study and get perfect scores even while you’re that busy?”
Gale was still being repeatedly questioned by the Military Police over the Yoshiura incident.
Studying for exams while being called all over the place was no easy task, but Gale knew that, aside from his talent for magic, he was below average in many areas. Because of that, he knew all too well that he had no choice but to put in twice or three times as much effort as others.
‘In my previous life, my grades were second from the bottom.’
To avoid repeating the same history as back then, Gale even cut back on sleep and devoted himself to studying.
Thanks to that, the time he spent operating mana had decreased, but with troublesome matters piling up around him, there was no way he could take care of everything.
And so time passed, and the fourth week’s exams were already nearing their end.
That day as well, after finishing an exam and returning to the barracks, he was about to rest for a bit when he heard a knock.
Knock, knock-
When he opened the door, the navy-blue woman, Barania, was standing there.
“Gale... can you spare me a little time?”
She looked utterly exhausted and smiled with difficulty.
It was something he had learned while constantly seeing her over the past few days for the investigation, but her workload, handling Military Police duties as well as serving as Deren’s adjutant, was beyond imagination.
Not only the investigation to resolve the case she was in charge of, but also the 3rd Guard Unit’s duties that had been transferred to the Military Police, and even Deren’s petty errands.
When Gale had asked whether she did not have to do Deren’s errands, at least.
-Why wouldn’t I? It’s the only chance I get to stick my finger in his tea.
She had answered.
Of course, it was probably a joke, but as Gale learned various things about her, she had begun to feel a little more familiar to him.
The two went outside and sat on a bench in front of the barracks.
“So what brings you here today?”
“Good news.”
She said that the investigation into the tragedy that occurred at Moon Shadow Pavilion had finally been wrapped up.
“Really?”
“Yeah. The biggest issue was the insubordination part, but once Miguel Wiseburn’s crimes were confirmed, that charge disappeared.”
According to her, most of the executives of the three major factions who had been at the scene were also felons.
On top of that, because most of them had been deeply involved in the distribution of illegal drugs, the higher-ups judged their crimes grave, and Ron’s offense for slaughtering them at Moon Shadow Pavilion was classified as excessive force. His punishment was set as a six-month suspension and a pay cut.
“What happened to me?”
“No charges.”
At her simple and clear answer, Gale let out a deep sigh.
What had been making Gale uneasy all this time was not Moon Shadow Pavilion or Miguel, but Yamaguchi’s phantom grass farm.
In the case of the farm, he had had no choice but to handle the matter in haste without any particular plan or preparation in order to fulfill Nike’s request.
Since Gale was well aware of the danger of acting on impulse, he had burned the entire building down so that no evidence or survivors would remain at the farm.
Of course, that had been the best choice at the time, but since he had testified during the subsequent investigation that he had obtained the River Lethe plan from a Yamaguchi gang member,
there was no guarantee that no clue would emerge from that place to trip him up, so a part of him had been worried.
“That truly is a relief.”
“It is. I’m glad it ended well. Though things over there are still a mess.”
“By over there... do you mean Yoshiura?”
Barania nodded.
She told him about what had happened in Yoshiura while Gale had been focused on his exams.
With Miguel gone, Yoshiura was no different from a battlefield.
They had expected Yoshiura to calm down after most of the executives of the three major factions died, but instead, it was stained by a bloody struggle among criminals trying to fill the void.
Yoshiura, the city of criminals.
As if proving the saying that the place had its own rules, a war to seize supremacy over Yoshiura had begun, and even more organizations than before had emerged and were fighting for power.
“Then, in the end... hasn’t it gotten worse?”
“Still, well, it’s not like it only changed for the worse.”
Her explanation was that perhaps the emerging factions believed Miguel and the three major factions had disappeared because of illegal drugs, because they were now making moves to strip the label of illegal drugs from their organizations.
“Thanks to that, the smell of phantom grass that used to rise from the central district is gradually disappearing. As for the rest of the problems, well, they’ll be resolved with time.”
“That is a relief.”
Gale sincerely thought so.
He had worked for change even while overcoming the danger of death, so if nothing had changed at all, that truly would have been a hopeless situation.
As the atmosphere grew heavy, Barania changed the subject.
“By the way, you’re in the fourth week of training camp now, right? Did the exams go well?”
“Tomorrow is the last exam, but I do not know the results yet.”
As he took exams in a daze, time seemed to have flowed much faster than usual.
The fact that he had been mentally drained from being questioned in between must have played a part as well.
As they continued exchanging idle conversation, Barania said, “Oh, right. There was something I wanted to show you.”
She took a golden ring out of her bag.
“It’s a ring I found while investigating Miguel Wiseburn’s office. Have you seen it anywhere?”
“A ring....”
A blue cross engraved within a golden border.
The moment Gale realized that the ring was the Golden Dawn Society’s ring, it felt as though a powerful electric current shot through his mind.
Gale, who had been watching them since his previous life, knew.
The reason he, having returned to the past, had been able to maintain this peaceful life until now was because he had remained wary of them and kept his distance.
But when an actual fragment of them was placed before his eyes, Gale’s five senses sharpened as though he were facing them directly, and his thoughts accelerated.
My reaction the moment I first see this ring matters.
At the end of that line of thought, he reached one conclusion: the moment he acted as though he knew this ring, a threat might come for him.
Gale maintained an expressionless face and said, “This is my first time seeing it. Is it an important item?”
“Well, I don’t think it’s anything that important, but he had it kept like it was something pretty precious.”
Barania grumbled as she examined the ring from all angles.
Gale studied her reaction closely.
Whether the demeanor she was showing now was an act or not, there was nothing to gain from letting on that he knew about the ring right now, so Gale decided not to reveal anything until he completely trusted them.
“What does Second Lieutenant Ron say?”
“He says he doesn’t know. Maybe I should investigate a little more... Ah! I’ve taken up too much of your time. You said your exam is tomorrow, right?”
Gale nodded.
“That is correct. Still, thanks to you, Lieutenant, I feel at ease.”
“I won’t bother you anymore, so do well on your exam. You know you have a meeting with the Lieutenant Colonel soon, right?”
“A meeting...?”
“Huh? Didn’t the Lieutenant Colonel mention the reward?”
“He did, but....”
Wasn’t it just a passing remark?
When Gale made a gesture showing that he did not know, she smiled and said, “Hehe. You can look forward to it. Then I’ll get going.”
She immediately turned and headed toward headquarters.
Gale, left behind, watched her leave.
A reward?