Political Work with an Otherworldly Twist

Listening to the intermittent shouts from both sides of the standoff, Morin had already pieced together most of what had happened.

The Saxon soldiers causing trouble belonged to the 33rd Regiment, just as he did, but they were from the 2nd Battalion.

Like the 1st Battalion, the 2nd Battalion had suffered heavy casualties in the earlier assault, enduring both saturation fire from Magic Crystal Cannons and attacks by numerically superior enemy forces.

Their battalion commander, two company commanders, and numerous other officers had been killed on the battlefield. Now, the highest-ranking officer left in the entire battalion was a captain commanding a company.

Without enough officers to keep them in line, and fresh from a bloody battle, these soldiers were wound tight, just as Morin had analyzed earlier...

On top of that, the 2nd Battalion's three field kitchens had still not served any food, ultimately driving these starving soldiers to rob a civilian home.

The National Army and International Brigades soldiers had clearly been summoned by civilians who had escaped.

When they arrived, they caught the Saxon soldiers red-handed, helping themselves without paying.

The rank-and-file soldiers on either side did not fully understand each other's language. With tempers still running hot from the battlefield, emotions flared, and rifles were raised.

Now, the crowd of onlookers kept growing, and quite a few Saxon soldiers had gathered after hearing the commotion.

But faced with this situation, none of them knew what to do.

As the tension between the two sides intensified and fingers crept toward triggers, Morin knew he could not wait any longer.

The battle for Seville was not over yet. If their own side started fighting here, there would be no point in continuing the battle...

No one wanted their side to lose, and besides, he was now an officer of the Saxon Empire. Keeping soldiers in line was part of his duty.

With the other officers still nowhere in sight, he had to find a way to defuse the situation, and he had to handle it in a way no one could fault.

He could neither let the conflict escalate nor leave the local civilians without an answer.

Shoot these Saxon soldiers on the spot?

That crude, heavy-handed solution might be the quickest way to end the incident.

But in the long run, it would only deepen the conflict, leaving the Saxon soldiers feeling bullied by their allies and damaging morale.

I need to approach this from another angle.

With that thought, Morin stopped hesitating. He pushed through the crowd and strode straight between the dark muzzles on either side.

When the 2nd Battalion soldiers saw a Saxon officer approaching, their faces initially brightened. They thought their savior had arrived.

But to everyone's surprise, Morin said nothing. He simply pushed aside the lead soldier's rifle, his gaze so fierce it looked as though he might devour the man.

"What the hell are you doing?!"

As he spoke, Morin kicked the soldier behind the knee from the side, making him stumble helplessly. His earlier readiness to start a firefight vanished in an instant.

The National Army soldiers froze. The International Brigades soldiers froze. The Saxon soldiers watching nearby froze as well.

Even Major Thomas and Lieutenant Colonel Ludwig, who had heard the commotion and hurried over with their men, arrived just in time to witness the scene and froze too.

The soldier who had been kicked straightened up, his face full of disbelief. He had not expected Morin to be anything other than someone coming to protect his own.

"What are you staring at?!"

Morin glared at the others, then delivered several quick kicks behind their knees, making them buckle at once.

"And the rest of you! Put your rifles down!"

Those kicks left the troublemakers utterly stunned. Not one resisted, and the ugly anger inside them was snuffed out.

They instinctively lowered their rifles. Seeing this, the National Army and International Brigades soldiers lowered their weapons as well.

Only then did Morin breathe a little easier. At least the worst would not happen for now.

He recalled some of the "political work techniques" he had learned from his seniors before crossing into this world. His mind raced as he adapted them into rhetoric suited to this otherworldly Saxon Empire...

Maintaining a stern expression, Morin stood before the soldiers and spoke.

"Tell me... why did you travel all those miles from the Empire to fight in the Kingdom of Aragon?"

The soldiers hung their heads, not daring to speak.

"Was it to steal a few pieces of cheese? A few strips of salted meat? Was it to point your rifles at civilians who see us as liberators, or at allies who were shedding blood alongside us just moments ago?"

Morin's voice suddenly rose. He pointed at the food hanging from their bodies, then at the National Army and International Brigades soldiers opposite them, whose expressions were conflicted.

"When your parents, wives, and children saw you off at the train, weren't they hoping you would become heroes and win glory for the Empire? Weren't they hoping you would come home safely, wearing medals?!"

"But what are you doing now?! You're disgracing your uniforms! You're disgracing the Empire's Black Eagle Banner! Can you face your families back home after betraying their hopes like this? Can you face your comrades who died on the battlefield?!"

Every word struck where it hurt.

Morin had not invoked any lofty principles. Nor were his words meant only for the soldiers who had done wrong. They were meant for every Saxon soldier around them.

He knew perfectly well that these were not the only Saxon soldiers harboring resentment. They had merely been the first to erupt, making this a good opportunity to rein in everyone else as well.

The troublemakers had acted on impulse in the first place, driven by fear and hunger.

Now, under Morin's rebuke, their emotional defenses collapsed completely.

The youngest Saxon soldier's eyes reddened, and he burst into tears with a loud sob.

"Sir... we were wrong... we were just so hungry..."

"We won't do it again..."

They fumbled to untie the cheese and salted meat strung around their bodies, placed everything neatly at the doorway of the house, then hung their heads like children who had misbehaved.

Seeing this, much of Morin's anger faded.

He turned toward the International Brigades and National Army soldiers and gave them a solemn military salute.

"To our allies, I apologize to you and to the affected residents of Seville for these young soldiers' behavior."

He spoke fluent Aragonese, so everyone nearby could understand him.

"The Saxon military will deal with them strictly under the relevant disciplinary regulations. Please also believe that this was an isolated incident... I promise that we will keep our troops under control from now on and never allow anything like this to happen again."

"I believe these soldiers did not deliberately set out to do this. Just moments ago, these lads were charging enemy positions with bayonets leveled. Their unit suffered terrible losses, and nearly all their officers were killed. That was also what led them to act so rashly after the battle..."

"Once again, I assure you all that we will keep our troops under control from now on..."

The anger on the faces of the surrounding National Army and International Brigades soldiers gradually faded.

They were straightforward people. Seeing that Morin, a Saxon officer, had not shielded these soldiers but instead acted with such sincerity, and knowing that the Saxon troops had indeed suffered heavy losses, they had already lost their anger.

At that moment, Major Thomas and Lieutenant Colonel Ludwig stepped forward with impeccable timing.

Major Thomas nodded to Morin, then announced loudly to everyone:

"As Second Lieutenant Morin said, these soldiers will all be dealt with under military regulations! But I also hope you will give them a chance to redeem themselves through service!"

"And, as Second Lieutenant Morin just emphasized, any conduct that violates Saxon Army discipline or undermines our relations with our allies will receive the harshest punishment!"

Morin promptly translated his words into Aragonese and repeated them.

Immediately afterward, Ludwig added in fluent Aragonese:

"The Saxon Empire, the Aragonese National Army, and the International Brigades are steadfast allies. Our common enemies are the Royal Army and their Britannian masters... anyone who tries to undermine this friendship is our enemy."

The statements from the two senior officers brought the incident to a definitive close.

Men from the 2nd Battalion soon arrived and took the dejected soldiers away. They would not be shot, but punishment was inevitable.

The owner of the house was also invited outside and, after accepting some Saxon pfennigs in compensation, expressed forgiveness.

With just a few words, Morin had defused a crisis that might have sparked infighting.

Once the crowd dispersed, Major Thomas patted Morin on the shoulder, his eyes full of approval.

Ludwig, meanwhile, looked at Morin with an even more complicated expression, as though seeing him anew.

Besides scrutiny and curiosity, there seemed to be a trace of genuine recognition in his eyes.

Even the officers of the International Brigades and the National Army now looked at Morin differently.

They all understood that quickly identifying the crux of such a chaotic situation and resolving it in the most effective way was not something an ordinary young officer could do.

But before everyone had fully recovered from the incident, a mounted messenger came charging over. He swung down from his horse and briskly ran up to Thomas and Ludwig.

"Urgent military dispatch! Orders from Brigadier General Paul! All officers of battalion rank and above are to report immediately to Command Headquarters in the city for a meeting! Lieutenant Colonel Ludwig, you are also required to attend."