WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: HidingTurtle
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ How the Child of Prophecy Survives ◈
Chapter 8: True Warrior
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“I didn’t think it would get this big.”
Robert muttered under his breath and clenched his trembling hands into fists. The tension was driving him insane. When he met Brigadier General Kramer Schäfer’s fierce gaze, he had nearly wet himself for real.
“Damn it. I never should’ve come to the Imperial Military Academy in the first place. A mere merchant like me, dreaming of becoming a noble, an officer...?”
Robert rambled as he paced in circles. He wanted to scream and run wildly, but he was locked in a cramped solitary cell.
Right after his arrest, Robert had been separated from Ernst and locked in solitary confinement. Ernst was probably in a cell too. Or perhaps he was being questioned before Robert.
“Yeah, I was crazy. It’s all my fault.”
Robert knew perfectly well that he, and no one else, had heard Ernst’s plan and agreed to it. He could not blame anyone else.
Clank!
“Eek!”
Robert jumped at the sudden sound of metal. The lock on the door had opened.
“Robert Zimmermann. Come out.”
“Y-Yes!”
Though shaking badly, Robert answered loudly, opened the door himself, and stepped out. Then he flinched in surprise. The person who had come for him was not an upperclassman or disciplinary officer from the Imperial Military Academy’s Cadet Corps, but an instructor from the Academic Department.
Normally, problems within the academy were handled by the Cadet Corps. If a matter exceeded its authority, the military police would have been dispatched.
‘Damn it!’
Following the faculty instructor, Robert clenched his fists.
‘Ernst! I trusted you!’
Rather than despairing and cursing Ernst inwardly, however, he realized that everything was proceeding exactly as Ernst had planned and cheered with all his might.
Only inwardly, of course.
If a disciplinary officer had come for Robert, it would have meant the Cadet Corps would handle the entire matter. In that case, there was no way the Cadet Corps would leave Ernst and Robert alone after the trouble they had caused.
If the military police had been deployed, it would mean they intended to take the matter beyond the academy and into a formal trial. Ernst might be all right as a hereditary noble, but Robert, a nonhereditary noble, would be in a very unfavorable position.
But the arrival of a faculty instructor meant that the incident at the Imperial Military Academy was being treated as extremely serious, yet they had decided to resolve it within the academy.
The Academic Department was handling the Cadet Corps’ business. This was not something Cadet Corps Commander Brigadier General Gauss Schultz and Head of the Academic Department Brigadier General Kramer Schäfer could have agreed upon themselves.
Major General Armin Mannheim, principal of the Imperial Military Academy, had become directly involved. He had acted to keep the Cadet Corps from interfering with Ernst and Robert!
‘That crazy bastard! He really did it! He’s a genius! A genius!’
Everything had gone exactly as Ernst planned. Robert had no doubt that his terribly scatterbrained and frightening friend was actually an incredible genius. Truly, he had never once doubted Ernst.
Robert was so excited that even his memories of the moments when he had doubted Ernst were becoming distorted.
Robert followed the faculty instructor into a small room and sat across from the instructor.
“Zimmermann, you would do well to abandon any thought of lying.”
The instructor did not raise their voice or glare threateningly. They simply gave a calm warning. Hearing it, Robert could not help tensing up as he realized the matter was not over yet.
“From beginning to end, tell me what happened, what you did, and what you thought. Do not leave out a single detail.”
Robert swallowed hard and licked his dry lips.
Ernst had already warned him not to dare deceive an instructor.
And Robert had no need to lie. He only had to tell the truth about what had happened.
Ernst would fill in any gaps himself. Ernst had even firmly stated that he would not lie either. He would merely conceal a small truth.
From beginning to end, Robert began recounting everything connected to this incident that had happened since he enrolled at the Imperial Military Academy.
* * *
“Ernst Krieger, come out.”
“Yes, Instructor.”
Ernst answered calmly as he stepped out of his solitary cell. As Robert had expected, Ernst had been questioned first. He had then returned to his cell to wait. Since they had called for him again, Robert must have been questioned as well, and they seemed to have reached a rough conclusion.
“...”
The instructor glanced back at Ernst walking behind them. Distrust filled their eyes.
‘This scatterbrained brat, really?’
The disciplinary officers and faculty instructors alike knew very well that Ernst was remarkably scatterbrained. He had been that way since the entrance ceremony, after all.
That made it even more suspicious. Had this boy really planned and carried out the whole thing? Was it not simply a coincidence that everything had fallen into place?
The doubtful instructor only looked away after Ernst raised his bright black eyes and met their gaze.
Knock, knock, knock.
“I have brought Krieger.”
The instructor left Ernst standing behind them, knocked on the door, and spoke carefully.
“Send him in.”
“Yes.”
At the permission in that kindly voice, the instructor turned to Ernst and warned him with their eyes. But there was no need to warn Ernst. He already knew where he was and whom he had come to meet.
The instructor opened the door, and Ernst entered while forcing down his tension and pretending to be at ease.
Snap!
The instant Ernst entered the room, he saluted the person seated at the head of the long table, deepest inside the room.
“Mm. At ease.”
“At ease.”
Major General Armin Mannheim, principal of the Imperial Military Academy, accepted the salute with a light raise of his right hand and an unreadable smile. Ernst assumed parade rest with a crisp movement and waited without moving.
Terrifyingly, Major General Armin was not alone in the conference room. Head of the Academic Department Brigadier General Kramer and Cadet Corps Commander Brigadier General Gauss were there as well. Both sat stiffly upright and tense at Armin’s sides.
Completely at odds with that rigid atmosphere, Armin stroked his thick white beard and spoke warmly with a very kindly smile.
“Krieger, I have already received a report about what you did.”
Although Ernst tried not to show it, he was quite tense. The moment Armin spoke his name, he nearly answered loudly without thinking. Armin let out a quiet laugh at that before continuing.
“Still, I would like to hear the details from the person involved. Speak.”
“Yes, Principal.”
Ernst answered as calmly as he could. Yet he could not fully conceal his tension and had to take a deep breath.
Then Ernst began describing everything that had happened without the slightest distortion. One major general and two brigadier generals silently listened to the words of a mere fourteen-year-old cadet.
“An enemy attack, you say.”
The moment those words left Ernst’s mouth, Armin’s black eyes narrowed as though he had heard something quite interesting, and he whispered. Ernst stopped speaking, then resumed after a moment.
“Yes, sir. I judged it to be an enemy attack against the Imperial Military Academy, which trains officers to lead the Imperial Army.”
“Hahahaha...”
Armin burst into delighted laughter at Ernst’s bold statement. Yet Ernst’s forehead was soaked with cold sweat as he listened. Cadet Corps Commander Brigadier General Gauss’s completely shaven head was also drenched, sweat running past their brows and into their eyes. Even so, Gauss did not blink once.
“Head of the Academic Department.”
“Yes, Principal.”
When Armin called with amusement in his voice, Kramer answered with only a movement of their lips.
“What do you think?”
“It is a severe leap in logic. If it truly were an enemy attack, they would have committed acts of terror against key personnel and strategic locations rather than the private lives of individual cadets.”
“Indeed. There would be no reason to risk being discovered while committing petty acts of terror against freshmen. If possible, would it not be best to attempt to assassinate me, the principal?”
“Yes, sir.”
The air grew heavy as Armin chuckled and discussed his own assassination. Even so, Kramer calmly agreed.
“Cadet Corps Commander.”
“Yes, Principal.”
This time Armin called on Gauss. Though already drenched in sweat, Gauss answered in an unwavering voice.
“What do you think of Cadet Krieger’s judgment and actions?”
“...”
Gauss tried to answer immediately. But while facing Armin’s kind eyes, Gauss’s lips only trembled. No sound emerged.
“...It was not something an individual cadet should have judged and carried out. However.”
After a brief silence, Gauss immediately continued without allowing room for interruption.
“Because the disciplinary officer, Cadet Krieger’s superior, ordered the cadet to make an independent judgment and act, if anyone is to be held accountable for this matter, it should be the disciplinary officer. And because this occurred due to my failure to properly manage my subordinates, I will take responsibility.”
“Hohoho, no, no. I know the Cadet Corps Commander always does their best. I cannot hold the Cadet Corps Commander responsible.”
“Thank you. But...”
“I.”
As Armin spoke kindly, Gauss tried to say something more urgently. But Armin cut Gauss off in the same gentle voice.
“I do not believe that every subordinate’s mistake is the superior’s responsibility. I have led countless subordinates on the battlefield and fought in person. I have seen it countless times: perfect operations devised by dozens of capable officers, whom I would not trade for a thousand soldiers, frustrated by the mistake of one unskilled soldier.”
Armin spoke gently, yet with such weight that none of them dared even breathe.
“I know the Cadet Corps Commander is doing their best.”
Armin repeated what he had said moments before. But its weight was incomparably greater than before. Gauss’s Adam’s apple bobbed, and their trembling lips moved.
“...Yes, Principal.”
When Gauss answered, Armin’s black eyes moved once more toward Ernst.
“So?”
At Armin’s question, Ernst finally realized that he had made a huge mistake.
His plan was quite good for one made by a fourteen-year-old cadet. Above all, its justification was especially solid.
But since Ernst’s treatment depended on Major General Armin’s decision, his plan was nothing more than a house of cards. The moment he handed all decision-making authority to someone other than himself, it became a flawed plan.
Extremely tense, Ernst swallowed once and spoke as calmly as possible, though he could not hide all the trembling in his voice.
“Because the enemy had repeatedly intruded into the same location to carry out their scheme, I set a trap to capture them.”
“Capture them... Cadet Corps Commander, what did you say that cadet’s condition was?”
“The left ankle caught in the snare was slightly injured. The right wrist used to brace the fall was broken, and the head struck the floor and split open, causing bleeding.”
“Hm...”
At Gauss’s answer, Armin looked at Ernst again.
“Krieger. I do not know much about traps. Explain how you made yours.”
“Yes, Principal.”
This time, Ernst answered in a truly calm voice. Armin’s black eyes curved slightly.
“Since I could not identify the enemy, I needed enough force to decisively subdue and capture them. Also, I judged that taking the enemy alive would yield meaningful information, so I prepared a trap with low lethality.”
Ernst had roamed mountains and forests with his father and made countless traps. It was far more efficient for young Ernst to set a trap than to kill prey with a bow or gun.
Ernst could make capture traps, deadly traps that killed prey with a single blow before it could even scream, and cruel traps that caused enemies to die slowly and painfully.
“Therefore, I made a snare trap using the weight of two beds.”
Though Ernst had made a snare trap to capture his “prey,” and could even have used it to break an enemy’s neck or hang and strangle them, he had instead made it catch an ankle and knock the target down because he truly had no intention of killing the enemy.
Ernst explained in detail how he had made the trap. He explained with so much detail that Head of the Academic Department Kramer glared at him and gave him warning looks three times.
To make a trap using two beds, Ernst had first used a desk. When the prey touched the snare and triggered the trap, the branch supporting a desk leg would fall, lowering the desk. At the same time, a chair supporting a bed would fall in the same manner, lowering the bed, and the weight of two beds would instantly catch and lift the snare.
It looked simple, but it was a fairly complicated structure. In particular, making the force of both beds bear on the snare at once was extremely difficult. It was difficult enough that even a well-trained hunter would need considerable trial and error to make it work, let alone for a mere fourteen-year-old boy to build it perfectly and succeed in lifting a person into the air and crippling them.
Ernst had managed to make such a trap in a single morning because he did not rely on uncertain instinct. He built it according to thoroughly calculated formulas.
As a result, the upperclassman who stepped into the trap had both beds’ weight bear down on the snare at once, leaving their foot hanging in the air. The hand they used to brace themselves broke at the wrist, and their head split open when it struck the wall. Their scream had been so loud that it could be heard even outside the dormitory.
But that was all. The upperclassman’s life was in no danger, and anyone could clearly see that the trap had not been intended to kill.
In other words, after hearing Ernst’s explanation, anyone would have to think so. They would immediately understand that he was capable of making a deadly trap that could kill someone in a single blow.
“Mm, it truly is a capture trap. Is it not?”
“Yes, it is.”
When Armin asked Gauss, Gauss answered at once.
“And he did not use any prohibited items to make the trap.”
The tools Ernst had used to make it were branches and vines. He had picked up the branches beneath a tree near the dormitory, while he had cut the vines growing along the dormitory wall with a small knife no bigger than a finger, used for trimming nails.
He had not used a knife or gun meant to kill people. If they confiscated even nail knives, who would trim the cadets’ nails?
Put another way, it meant that this young cadet could make any number of people-killing traps with only one such small knife.
Armin leaned back in his chair, staring at Ernst as he stroked his beard. Only then did Ernst notice that Armin’s large hands were rough and covered in scars.
They were not the hands of someone who sat comfortably in safety and discussed war with words alone. They were the hands of a true warrior, hands that could only belong to someone who had wielded spear and sword, fired guns, climbed ladders, and seized blades flying toward him to kill him.
“It seems the Head of the Academic Department’s judgment was correct.”
Distracted by Armin’s hands, Ernst snapped back to attention at those amused words and instinctively turned toward Head of the Academic Department Brigadier General Kramer Schäfer. Without giving Ernst a glance, Kramer lightly bowed their head to Armin.
“Krieger.”
“Yes, Principal.”
Cursing his dreadful concentration for letting his thoughts wander even in this situation, Ernst answered Armin’s call loudly.
Armin smiled very gently, so gently that the very softness felt frighteningly sharp.
“Excellent judgment, a flawless plan, and perfect execution.”
“Thank you...”
“However, it would be best for you to act more cautiously from now on. What do you think?”
“...Yes. I will act more cautiously from now on.”
After answering Armin, Ernst realized something was strange.
First, let us set aside the fact that Kramer had defended Ernst.
But rather than saying, “Do not do this again,” or, “Report properly before acting next time,” Armin had said, “Act more cautiously next time.” Was that not clearly cause for concern?
“Good. Return to your classroom, Krieger.”
“Yes, Principal.”
“Mm.”
With that unreadable smile, Armin accepted Ernst’s salute. Ernst took two crisp steps backward, opened the door, and walked out.
“The discipline of the Cadet Corps has greatly...”
Ignoring Armin’s voice from within and Cadet Corps Commander Gauss Schultz’s pale face, Ernst swiftly shut the door.
“Haah! Hoo...!”
The moment the door closed, Ernst breathed heavily and wiped his sweat-soaked face. Only after he had stepped outside did his heart begin pounding like mad and a stabbing headache strike his head.
“Hoo...”
The instructor who had waited silently outside let out a long sigh as well. Though not as tense as Ernst, they had clearly been wound tight.
“Krieger, go back immediately. Without wasting a single moment.”
They hurried Ernst away as he crouched as though about to die, trembling all over. It was not that the instructor disliked Ernst.
There was nothing good in having Ernst remain there for anyone. Above all, the instructor wanted to escape this hell as quickly as possible.
“Yes, Instructor.”
Despite his pounding heart, throbbing head, and shaking legs, Ernst answered loudly, then walked away so quickly he was almost running.
Morning training had already ended, and lunchtime was close. Ernst returned to the dormitory, where he was reunited with Robert, who had been pacing around the room.
“How did it go?”
“It worked out.”
“Aah! You’re a genius, Ernst!”
At Ernst’s good news, Robert jumped up and down in joy. Ernst finally smiled as he watched him.
That joy lasted until they heard that all the unfair demerit points the upperclassmen had given Ernst and Robert would be removed.
But when the following news swept through the entire academy, even Ernst could not possibly smile.
Because of this incident, one lieutenant and one captain among the disciplinary officers, two people in total, were relieved of their posts. Three third-years and one fourth-year were expelled.
In addition, at Cadet Corps Commander Gauss Schultz’s thunderous shout, everyone in the Cadet Corps, soldiers and cadets alike, ran around the training grounds from morning until night in full kit, vomiting and wetting themselves for the entire academy to see.
Only after witnessing that sight did Ernst finally understand why Gauss Schultz had tried to take all responsibility.
Two freshmen had forced one lieutenant and one captain into disgraceful retirement, expelled four upperclassmen from the Imperial Military Academy, and completely destroyed the Cadet Corps, one of the two institutions that divided the academy between them.
Brigadier General Gauss had likely wanted the matter to end with them, even if it meant running in full kit until they wet themselves. Then, at least, this disgraceful incident would not be recorded in their career or in the history of the Imperial Military Academy.
But the damage had already been done. It could not be undone.
“Krieger and Zimmermann committed no wrongdoing in this matter. In their own way, they made the best judgment and took the best action, and thanks to them, we were able to root out a disgusting malpractice entrenched at the Imperial Military Academy.”
Even when the disciplinary officer, half-dead with exhaustion, said this and awarded Ernst and Robert three merit points each, and even when everyone awkwardly applauded in that murderous atmosphere to praise their glorious achievement, Ernst and Robert naturally could not be happy.
“...This was all part of your plan too, right?”
“...At least we’ll be able to offset three demerit points from now on, so I think it won’t be bad... probably.”
“Ernst, I take back what I said before. You’re not a genius. What do you think? Do you think I’m right?”
“Regrettably, I agree with your opinion completely.”
There was now not a single person in the Imperial Military Academy who did not know Ernst Krieger and Robert Zimmermann.
In particular, everyone had learned very well what kind of person Ernst, who had surely planned all of this, was.
He had crippled an upperclassman over a messy room, destroyed the Cadet Corps, and received a reward rather than punishment. He was truly a terrifying person.
“I don’t know whether I should call that bold or something else...”
As the eldest grandson of Brigadier General Heinz Hartmann, Ferdinand Hartmann knew very well how frightening it was for an officer to be relieved of their post. He murmured the words in a sigh, yet dutifully applauded Ernst and Robert as they stepped down from the platform, as ordered.
“...Are they insane...?”
Wilfried, the Duke of Rabid’s fourth son, had never imagined he would utter such a vulgar phrase. For a moment, he could not even recognize that the words had come from his own mouth.
Fortunately, everyone was thinking the same thing and awkwardly applauding Ernst and Robert as they descended from the platform. The only person startled by Wilfried’s mutter was Wilfried himself.
It had taken Ernst only one week to cause an incident that would remain forever in the history of the Imperial Military Academy.
It was, quite literally, a historic moment.
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