How Much? What Did You Just Say?!

How Much? What Did You Just Say?! "Ugh, Captain, I'm really going to throw up. Really, can you let me out of the car? I'm begging you!"

In the back seat of the jeep, Wendy, who had "voluntarily" ridden with John, had been forcibly subjected to half an hour of hellish bouncing.

Her face immediately turned pale, her pupils trembling as she pleaded with John beside her.

She was so stupid. Truly.

Knowing full well that Warrant Officer John was a petty miser who couldn't take a joke, she had still been unable to resist teasing him.

Now that she had truly experienced this hellish ordeal, she had deeply grasped one truth.

Sometimes, people really had to restrain their urge to ask for trouble.

Otherwise, the one who ended up unlucky would definitely be themselves.

By then, the original force had already split up. John was leading a hundred men, including the 14th Squad, toward the nearest village marked on the map, a place called Stone Village.

Logically speaking, a settlement like this should at least have had a relatively level dirt road. It should not have been this bumpy.

But as luck would have it, the recent stretch of rainy weather had turned the unmaintained dirt road into a field of potholes.

On top of that, damn Stone Village was surrounded by mountains, with stones scattered everywhere across the ground.

Combined with the jeep's complete lack of any shock absorption system, the force of its impacts and vibrations while driving went without saying.

Even a professional driver, if made to sit in this hell wagon for an hour, would probably have his brains shaken into an even slurry!

No, when they got back, he absolutely had to talk to the Empire's research department. He had to make those pigs install shock absorbers on every jeep.

Otherwise, before he even retired, he would probably die from an infection after his hemorrhoids burst!

That was a rather humiliating way to die. It had to be avoided!

John swore repeatedly in his heart.

Then he looked at Wendy beside him, whose eyes were beginning to roll back while her throat kept convulsing. Realizing that this pig seemed close to reaching her limit—

He understood that if he kept forcing it, Wendy, that idiot, would probably vomit all over him.

Thus, having completed his revenge, Warrant Officer John knew when to stop while he was ahead. He immediately ordered the soldier driving the jeep to pull over, then fled the hell wagon as though escaping for his life.

"Saved!"

After stepping out of the vehicle, Wendy and John exclaimed almost simultaneously.

But seeing Wendy's expression of having escaped alive, as though she might cry with joy the next second, John suddenly felt an inexplicable fire rise in his chest.

This pig had only experienced it for half an hour, while he himself had ridden in that damned hell wagon for a full two hours.

Two hours! Did she know how he had survived those two hours?!

Sure enough, this punishment was far too light for that idiot. He had to increase the intensity. Absolutely!

With that thought, the look in John's eyes as he watched Wendy immediately began to flicker.

"Ahem, Captain, I remember there seemed to be traces of remnant troops operating near Stone Village on the map. Two scouts alone might not be enough to investigate, so as deputy captain, I must go help."

Almost at the same moment, Wendy noticed John's cold gaze. Realizing that her petty captain seemed to want to torment her some more—

Alarm bells instantly rang in Wendy's mind, and she casually came up with an excuse.

Then, without waiting for John to agree, she decisively slung her magic pack onto her back. Magic power burst forth from her body, and she shot into the sky, fleeing upward as though for her life.

It was as if a demon were watching her from behind; if she delayed by even one second, it would drag her down into hell.

Thus, in the blink of an eye, Wendy vanished completely from John's sight.

You ran fast. I'll spare your life this time.

Seeing Wendy surrender, John lost the desire to continue punishing her.

Then, using the excuse that he wanted to stretch his legs, he stiffly declined the driver's invitation to get back in. Under the man's regretful gaze, John blended into the army unit and continued toward Stone Village on foot with the troops.

Just as John was considering how, once he led his men to that godforsaken little village, he could carry out his fabricated "buy-off" plan in a way that would convince the Empire's inspection troops—

After an unknown amount of time, accompanied by the sound of magic power erupting, Wendy appeared before him.

Why was this idiot back again? Wait, this scene seemed strangely familiar.

Could it be that this pig had really found the Allied Forces?

Sure enough, Wendy, you idiot, were a calamity goddess sent specifically to ruin me!

Watching Wendy's delighted expression, John faintly sensed that this pig's villain-attracting constitution had activated again, and all he felt was despair.

Just as he was about to maintain his expression and endure the blow of the impending "good news"—

Wendy's excited voice suddenly rang in his ears the next second:

"Captain, I just intercepted a merchant caravan. They were acting suspiciously and traveling along side roads the whole way."

"I suspect they're spies the Allied Forces planted in Walden Territory. After discovering their defeat, they wanted to flee with funds, so I had them detained."

"Captain, would you like to interrogate them personally?"

Huh? So it was just an ordinary merchant caravan. False alarm, false alarm!

I knew it. There was no way I could be this damn unlucky, that even a random excuse I made up would come true.

Hearing that Wendy had not found any trace of the Allied Forces, but only an ordinary merchant caravan, John immediately let out a sigh of relief and put his suspended heart back where it belonged.

He then shot a resentful glare at this idiot who had thrown his nerves into disarray and snapped irritably:

"Isn't it just a merchant caravan? What's there to make such a fuss over? Just question them a little and let them go. Wendy, did you forget that we're carrying out an important mission this time? It concerns the safety of all Walden Territory. Where do we have time to waste on some merchant caravan?"

"But Captain, I think these people are really suspicious. Not only did they bring many guards, they also carried a lot of valuable goods."

Wendy said with a wronged expression.

Wasn't it perfectly normal for merchants to hire guards? Besides, it was only a small caravan. How much money could it possibly have?

This warrant officer earned 500 D a month. Did a bunch of poor merchant scum really deserve this warrant officer's personal interrogation? Was this idiot not taking this warrant officer seriously enough?

Besides, if word got out that they had seized a Kingdom merchant caravan, then if the Kingdom defeated the Empire in the future and the matter came to light, wouldn't he be convicted of robbery?

Going to prison over goods worth a few hundred D was something only an idiot would agree to!

Thinking this, John curled his lip disdainfully, then waved Wendy off impatiently before lecturing her earnestly:

"It's only a small merchant caravan. How much money could it have? Hurry up, have someone give them a cursory inspection and let them go. Have you forgotten what Maslow Quotations says? We are the upright and honorable Imperial Army, an existence that absolutely does not oppress the common people."

"Sergeant Wendy, it seems your cultivation still needs improvement. Remember to read Maslow Quotations more. Copy it out from memory ten times and hand it to me later, understand?"

"Oh, I understand."

Hearing that, Wendy immediately looked ashamed. She also felt that Warrant Officer John was right. Her cultivation truly needed improvement. How could she let goods worth a mere five hundred thousand D shake her convictions?

Sure enough, compared to Warrant Officer John, she was still far behind.

With that thought, Wendy immediately addressed John respectfully:

"Understood, Captain. I have grasped your teaching. I'll have the soldiers release this merchant caravan right away, and I'll also reprimand the other soldiers in the unit so they won't do anything that damages the Empire's image in the future!"

"Very good. Correcting your mistakes once you recognize them is a good thing. In terms of recognizing your errors, Sergeant Wendy, you are now a qualified Imperial soldier. I am very proud of you."

Seeing that Wendy was no longer causing trouble, John nodded in satisfaction and gave her the usual dose of chicken soup.

However, thinking that the inspection troops might ask about the details afterward, he decided to put on a show and casually asked Wendy:

"By the way, did you check what goods those people were carrying?"

"I did. It was all common gold and luxury goods. There was quite a lot of it, worth around five hundred thousand D, I think? But after hearing your teaching, Captain, I have deeply realized my mistake. How can we great Imperial soldiers abandon our faith for mere money?"

"Oh, only five hundred thousand D. That's not much. It's only a few months of my sal—"

John sneered dismissively, but then, as though he had finally realized something, his words abruptly stopped.

His pupils began to contract wildly as he stared in disbelief at Wendy, who was grinning foolishly because she had been praised, like a naive simpleton.

Overwhelmed by emotion, the voice of upright Warrant Officer John, who never took ill-gotten wealth, could not help but tremble at that moment:

"How much? What the fuck did you just say?!"

(End of Chapter)