WeTried Translations

Translator: Coughing Baby

Editor: Coughing Baby

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ The Little Prince in the Ossuary

Chapter 104

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Influence (3)

On the dim morning of February 3, a training order came down from the regimental combat team operations section. It called for five days of Close Combat training for refugee volunteer soldiers. Candidates would be selected from the refugee volunteer pool by merit, and both combat groups of the Gyeoul Alliance were called in.

To deliver the news and lead the personnel, Gyeoul went to the alliance’s first barracks early that morning. After breakfast, the combat team members assembled quickly.

“Huh? Are we going to school?”

It was Jang Han-byul, the designated marksman in Yura’s squad. She had misunderstood because of the training name, Combative school. Gyeoul gave a small smile and cleared it up.

“It is just a name. There is no separate school. We will train here at Fort Roberts for five days. It is different at higher levels, though. Advanced courses and instructor certification happen at separate training sites, not with your unit.”

“Where is that?”

“Fort Benning. They say it is in Georgia.”

The reaction was immediate.

“Georgia?! Then that is east of the blockade line! Man, I really want to go!”

The combat team stirred. Gyeoul understood that longing. He remembered the conversation at Black Mountain. Jin-seok had confessed a deep fear. Every night, he dreamed mutants chased and bit him. The intensity might differ, but Jin-seok could not be the only one with vicious dreams.

“Captain, when do we get that advanced training?”

Han-byul asked again. Gyeoul corrected her new misunderstanding too.

“Not everyone gets it. You need a recommendation from your unit commander.”

“Seriously? Ah, what a letdown...”

Han-byul muttered with a sigh. Still, she had a real chance of being picked for sniper training. She was unpolished in many areas, but her shooting alone was impressive. Miss Triggerhappy, or Trigger Witch. That was what the U.S. instructors called her.

Even so, Gyeoul did not tell her any of that. There was no reason to raise expectations over something uncertain. From the U.S. military’s perspective, sending refugee-born personnel beyond the blockade line could be a burden.

‘Even the White House worried I might desert.’

It came from a journal entry around the time of his Medal of Honor award. If it had been possible to walk through snowy Washington, D.C., Gyeoul might have reconsidered continuing that journal.

“Let us move. It does not look good to arrive exactly on the hour.”

Jin-seok and Yura lined up their squads. But once they stepped out of the barracks, the neat lines quickly broke. The cold, violent wind and rain did that. Even in rain gear, the weather was rough.

Hurricane Carissa had moved away, but Damaris, the year’s fourth typhoon, was still lingering over California.

The indoor Gymnasium where training would be held sat on the western edge of the base. In the same block stood the base’s only restaurant, 『Watchdogs of California』, but it had been closed for a long time.

“So this is where you usually stay, Captain?”

Yura asked on the way, pointing toward the officer housing area. Relative to the Gymnasium, it was diagonally northwest. Past the Camp Roberts History Museum and several houses, it was about four hundred meters on foot. Right now, rain mist made it hard to see.

“Yes, that is right.”

“Hmm, I want to visit sometime. I am curious how you usually live.”

After a brief silence, after thinking it over, Gyeoul nodded.

“You can come. Today is hard, but after duty tomorrow, come take a look.”

“Huh? ...No, no, it is okay. I said that for no reason. Hahaha.”

Yura hid her awkwardness behind a laugh. Was she worried people might misunderstand? Gyeoul did not press the point.

Even though they arrived with time to spare, the Gymnasium was already packed with refugee volunteers from other nationalities. The mood was bad. Every split-off group carried hostility. The Southeast Asian volunteers looked as if pressure from Chinese and Japanese refugees had pushed them into a single cluster.

Even though they likely did not get along with each other either.

They welcomed Gyeoul’s arrival enthusiastically. One man hurried over and gave a sharp salute. Gyeoul returned it, and the man then brought both arms together and bowed his head.

“Lieutenant, thank you in advance for today.”

Gyeoul had seen him once or twice in passing while distributing construction materials. Vietnamese, maybe? Not close enough for this kind of greeting. He understood why and answered casually.

“I am not in charge of this training. Have you been doing well?”

“Of course! Thanks to you, Lieutenant Han. After you brought in U.S. police and swept everything clean, those tàu khựa, no, those Chinks, stopped bullying us.”

His English was fairly natural. Even so, his first word for Chinese people was a slur in his native language. Then, when he corrected himself in English, it was another slur. That habit ran deep.

He probably thought Gyeoul would not understand and corrected himself for that reason, but Gyeoul knew that expression even without any 「Vietnamese」 correction.

‘In this worldview, the first thing you learn from another language is insults and slurs.’

With so many nationalities mixed together, maybe the old world would not have been much different.

“By the way, your name is... Mr. Tuan, right?”

Gyeoul read the name tag, and the man introduced himself again.

“Yes, correct. Nguyen Van Tuan.”

“Hmm. How many came with you today?”

“Ah, if you mean Vietnamese people, I am the only one.”

Tuan’s smile flickered for a moment. Maybe he heard it as, who are you to ask. Maybe it was an old sense of grievance. Gyeoul acted as though he had not noticed and asked again.

“Among your people, is there anyone else who can use English?”

“Huh? ...Not as well as me, but around fifteen people. They can all understand spoken English, and they are studying writing and speaking hard. But why are you asking...”

“Because I need to know. If I need to find you in the Vietnamese sector, how should I do it?”

“It is a small sector anyway. People from the same country all know each other’s names and faces. If you come and say my name, everyone will understand.”

“I see. Thank you for answering. I will come by soon. Or I will send someone.”

Tuan still looked puzzled, but Gyeoul did not explain the recommendation letter. It was not something to talk about carelessly. The small misunderstandings created by timing were useful too. In any case, it looked like he could balance national representation well enough.

Gyeoul looked over the gathered crowd again. As expected, the Chinese were the largest group. The Triad group and Li Ailing were there too. She noticed him and turned away as if she did not know him.

‘Good. I do not need to go find her separately.’

Gyeoul had planned to visit Li Qinzhen after duty today, so this worked out well.

Among the Japanese, he spotted Tadaatsu Ryohei, the yakuza boss who insisted on being called a nationalist. Ryohei had been watching him even before their eyes met. Gyeoul bowed first. Ryohei answered with a small flick of one raised hand.

The Japanese men under Ryohei were all muscular to a strange degree. Bodies like that were impossible without serious nutrition.

As the hour approached, instructors moved around and seated the soldiers. One instructor spoke to Gyeoul.

“I knew Lieutenant Han was leading the Korean group, but are you observing the training too?”

“I figured watching would not hurt. More than that, I probably need this kind of training too, right? Even if my rank is lieutenant, you know I have never had normal training. Even officer training was accelerated.”

He said it lightly. The sergeant serving as the one-day instructor chuckled.

“You joke well. You handled five Ghouls in Close Combat, and now you want basic Close Combat training? Watching that footage nearly blew my mind.”

The sergeant was referring to the battle at Santa Maria. That combat record kept getting rerun on TV like a hit drama.

“Still. There are qualifications, right?”

“Qualifications? You do not need to worry about that. The entire curriculum was rebuilt. What use are old combat methods? One bite and it is over. We only got the new manual a week ago. Even if someone had Level IV certification before, it does not mean much now. And things will probably keep changing for a while.”

“True, that makes sense.”

“Anyway, watch as much as you want, rest as much as you want. If you need anything, call me.”

The sergeant smiled like someone sharing a secret. He seemed to think the boy officer wanted to stay and slack off. Gyeoul did not bother denying it.

“Thanks. Good work, Carver.”

The sergeant turned back to deal with the noisy soldiers.

There were seven instructors total in the Gymnasium. The Close Combat program was set so one instructor handled twenty people or fewer. Efficiency mattered, but accident prevention mattered more. With seven, they were only barely meeting the rule.

Still, Gyeoul felt command had not thought this through.

They needed more.

If you gathered volunteer soldiers from multiple nationalities and made them run fighting drills, this was not enough. Each platoon should have had at least one instructor for basic-level control. They could have assigned more at any time. He would probably need to submit that recommendation himself.

‘At least today, nothing should happen.’

Gyeoul’s judgment carried the weight of bullets. Unlike most people, he was almost always armed.

Also, anyone causing a riot here had too much to lose. The odds of training sparring turning into real fighting were low. The real issue was whether they had the ability to control things if something ugly happened. Armies existed to prepare for worst-case scenarios in the first place.

“Silence! Training starts now!”

The largest instructor shouted with force. He was also the highest rank among them.

The opening section was procedural. Projector on, then a broad history of hand-to-hand combat. Standard sequence. But the Chinese group’s attitude was especially bad. Some openly looked away, some even covered their ears. Even the people assigned to interpret for those with weak comprehension acted like they were not paying attention.

Ailing sat straight, but her expression was not good either.

The Japanese side was the opposite, nodding along and letting out little sounds of admiration loud enough for others to hear.

That was because the instructor’s history lecture focused heavily on Japanese martial arts. So the instructors did not call out the Chinese volunteers and pushed through the lecture.

“...Attempts to introduce Japanese martial arts into training date back to the interwar period. At the time, Captain Allen Smith, an instructor at the infantry school, learned judo at Japan’s Kodokan and brought it back. President Roosevelt also studied judo himself. He even set up a practice room in the White House.”

The point, in short, was that the U.S. military’s Close Combat doctrine had been heavily influenced by judo.

The presentation was supposed to run thirty minutes, but the instructor wrapped it up in ten and moved straight to the next section.

‘He must have decided this was going nowhere.’

From the senior-most instructor at Corporal rank, Gyeoul sensed a sigh that never left his lips.

“Whether your opponent is human or half-dead trash, the most important rule in Close Combat does not change. What is that rule?”

The instructor swept his gaze over the room, then answered his own question.

“Simple. The best option is always to use a gun, any way you can.”

The response was weak. The instructor kept going steadily.

“I am not joking. If firearm use is possible, you do not need to consider other Close Combat methods, and you should not consider them. It is pointless bravado. Forget all that martial arts and judo talk from earlier. No matter how good those skills are, your best outcome is never having to use them for real. Especially against infected mutants.”

Because it was realistic, the response improved. For the Gyeoul Alliance combat team members, it would land even harder thanks to their field drill at San Miguel County.

“From now on, you will learn firearm use in Close Combat. Remember this. The simplest method is the most effective.”

Then the instructor clapped his hands.

“Everyone, on your feet! Form pairs, two per team. If anyone is left over, report to the nearest instructor. Leftover personnel will be paired together or assigned to assist with demonstrations. Move!”

The Gymnasium grew noisy again, just like at the start.

============================ Author's Afterword ============================

#Q&A

Q. PumpkinPumpkin: @As expected, you still have that old childlike innocence, so you do not understand love.

A. No way I do not understand love. They sell it at convenience stores, 4 cans for 10,000 won. Paulaner, Krombacher, Tsingtao, Pilsner Urquell, Guinness, and so on... there is so much love in this world.

Q. NameThief: @I have a few things I am curious about, so I am leaving a comment. First, I want to know Gyeoul’s approximate age. Also, from your point of view as the author, where in the work do we see Gyeoul’s personality flaws? Finally, even though Gyeoul went through a miserable family environment and trauma, the way he presents himself feels unrealistically mature. So I am wondering if there is any special reason he acts this way.

A. He was 17 when he was placed in Afterlife Insurance. But his character age in the 27th-cycle worldview is also 17. This age setting was meant as a device to show that after losing his body, the time of his heart did not move forward.

Gyeoul does not clearly know what he wants, and he does have contradictions inside him, but I would not call that a personality defect. Also, does he have to have a defect? Since he was a character paying homage to The Little Prince, I did not consider personality defects from the start.

Pain matures people. Do you know "I Want to Know That, Shin-ae Episode"? It influenced me a lot when I planned this work. I also had some personal experiences, of course.

It was about a 9-year-old girl who got sick, but her parents refused surgery for religious reasons. What that child said was so logical and mature for her age that it stayed with me.

"I am old enough to go to school too. This is the age I should be in school, studying, and running around. I should be happy in this world, what is the point of being happy in heaven."

So there is no other reason. The life Gyeoul lived is itself the reason.

Q. haegol: @How many volumes do you expect for the whole series? I was saving it to read in one go, and now I finished it and already feel empty.

A. Hard to say. I am not talented at predicting length. It will definitely pass 200 chapters, probably pass 300 too, and I am not sure about 400 yet.

Q. SmilePlay: @I have probably read dozens of times more books than average in my life, mostly novels, and this is the first one that made me this excited, this nervous, and feel Empathy. I binge-read in about a day and a few hours, and now my eyes are totally tired lol. I still want to read more though.

A. Thank you. If this novel makes your heart race, then SmilePlay-nim is also a childlike-innocence life-form. Earth really is a beautiful planet.

Q. Jangbaekgeosa: @Cthulu is learning childlike innocence... how close are you to the Blind Father?!

A. He is sleeping foolishly right next to me.

Q. thecrazy: @Are there no refugees from countries other than China and Japan? There are so many people from those sides, so it feels like other countries are not appearing.

A. At least in Fort Roberts, refugees of other nationalities are a very small share besides Korean, Chinese, and Japanese refugees. Other camps have Russian refugees too. Western European refugees come in through the Atlantic side.

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