WeTried Translations

Translator: Coughing Baby

Editor: Coughing Baby

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 301: Greek Islands (1)

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When the old boy of the outside world pleaded for a scent not of this world, the world where the apocalypse had been postponed was entering a true interglacial period.

Fighting was still underway in downtown Sacramento, but Gyeoul’s task force had finished its job. They had been ordered to rotate out and stand by. Along with them, most of the units that had fought since the early days of the quarantine war, and most of the units formed at FOB Olema, were giving way to the later arrivals deployed around Operation Manifest Liberation. It was a measure that took combat fatigue into account. With the recovery of the mainland nearly complete, command seemed to have decided the issue could no longer be ignored.

Major General Rogers delivered the news to the officers gathered at the regional command inside the international airport.

“Our joint task force will be disbanded as of this moment.”

A murmur spread. Except for a few, no one had expected it.

But the time had simply come. The core of the force, the 240th Division, had been created by selecting from defeated remnants to begin with. They had chosen soldiers who were relatively intact, but only from among people who had been badly broken. Gyeoul still had the silver cross. A gift from the soldier who had talked to himself.

Someone asked a question.

“Then what happens to us?”

“There is a high chance you will be redeployed to the rear. Some will rest, and some will carry out low-intensity duties such as security or transport while undergoing a substantial period of rebuilding. Until policy is finalized, remain where you are. Orders will come directly from blockade line command. The same goes for supply and administrative support. Commanders at every echelon will focus on managing their personnel.”

They had to sort out soldiers who could no longer be counted on as combat power and prepare lists of candidates for commendation review. It was obvious work, but if anything had been pushed aside under the weight of missions, this was the time to handle it. That way no one would feel neglected, cheated, or wronged. If commanders did not look after the soldiers, no one would.

There was another question.

“Was this decision influenced by civilian casualties?”

The officer’s expression showed resentment from being hounded by the press. The question meant: had the order to ignore civilian casualties caused a political backlash?

“I don’t know.”

The general answered mechanically.

“But even if it did, I doubt the influence was significant. Neither I nor the dispatched Judge Advocate is being demoted.”

“Where are you going now, sir?”

“To a headquarters staff post.”

That answer finally softened the mood. At the least, it was not a demotion.

“Everyone, I have been indebted to you.”

It was a courtesy no one had expected from the dry general.

“You fought well under difficult conditions. America today exists thanks to the soldiers who overcame hardship, and thanks to your soldierly spirit. I offer my respect.”

He saluted. For a moment, the room filled with the sound of chairs scraping and collars rustling. After receiving the return salute from the officers, including Gyeoul, the general lowered his hand and swept his gaze over their faces.

“I’ll see you again later.”

With that one line, the general turned away. His departing stride was no different from usual.

Captain Singh, who had attended with him, stayed quiet for a long while after leaving the briefing room. Then he said,

“Our unit is benefiting from you, Company Commander.”

“From me?”

The captain nodded at Gyeoul’s question.

“The independent company itself is not due to be pulled back yet.”

“We could be an exception.”

“Surely not.”

Captain Singh’s beard moved. Beyond it was probably a faint smile.

Gyeoul drew many eyes as he walked through the terminal. Soldiers who had been sitting on the floor in roughly aligned rows even stood up all at once. Judging by their bearing, a high proportion of them were fresh recruits straight out of training camp. It was also noticeable that the proportion of female combat soldiers had increased compared to before. Even so, most were still male soldiers.

Captain Singh suggested, “Why don’t we wait for Lieutenant Lee and leave together?”

Today was Yura’s return day. The transport plane that had taken off from Carl Vinson was scheduled to arrive soon.

“Mm, true. I didn’t think this would end so quickly.”

Since they had been told to assemble in the briefing room, Gyeoul had expected a new operation to be announced. Whatever became of the advance into Panama that intelligence officer Lieutenant Murray had worried about, the battle to retake this city was still ongoing.

“Contact the company. Tell them we’ll bring her ourselves.”

At Gyeoul’s approval, Captain Singh used his smartphone. Tap, tap, tap. Since he was pressing the keys with one thumb, the message formed slowly. It looked slow enough that calling would have been faster.

A loud crash drew the attention of everyone nearby. A soldier distracted by looking at Gyeoul had spilled the cargo being carried. From the fallen cart, hundreds of rectangular shields slid out in a fan shape all the way to their feet. Gyeoul asked the soldier, who was clutching one hand and grimacing.

“Are you hurt anywhere, Private?”

“I’m fine, sir!”

The soldier snapped to attention and erased any sign of pain in an instant. Even when Gyeoul looked closely, there was no bleeding or swelling. Only skin flushed red. It looked as if the hand had been pinched between the cart handle and the pile of shields.

“I’ll help.”

“No, sir! I can do it alone!”

When Gyeoul knelt to gather the shields, the soldier nearly panicked. The Private almost grabbed him and pulled him up on reflex. But the soldier could not actually put a hand on him. After floundering in panic for a moment, the soldier resigned themself and began gathering the shields too.

The cargo was from New York. NYPD was stamped on the reinforced plastic surface. Captain Singh, who helped, gave a small laugh.

“How very quick of them to send these.”

Gyeoul replied calmly.

“Sometimes things happen like this.”

In a massive organization like the current U.S. military, this level of administrative inefficiency was believable enough. If anything, it was more surprising that such things had been rare until now. Should he call them competent, or desperate?

A little over two minutes was enough to gather the shields and tie the stack back onto the cart.

“Th-thank you for helping me.”

After saluting, the soldier put their weight into the cart and moved away. Their build was on the small side. Since Gyeoul was used to seeing people with thick muscles, it felt slightly strange.

‘Come to think of it, the recruits I saw earlier...’

There seemed to have been quite a few wearing glasses. Seeing Gyeoul look back, Captain Singh asked, “Is something wrong?”

“I got the feeling the quality of available manpower has dropped a little.”

After hearing that, the captain thought for a moment, then acknowledged the possibility.

“That may be true. We have lost so many personnel.”

“How many have we lost so far?”

“Mm, the biggest loss was of course the recent failure of Operation Manifest Liberation, but apart from that, I hear at least half of the overseas station forces were lost in the early Morgellons outbreak... And the losses during the spread of infection on the West Coast were not small either...”

Surprisingly, no accurate cumulative figure was known. The shock of the nuclear attacks had been too great.

If the number was roughly two million, that meant ten percent of the youth population at appropriate conscription age had disappeared. It was an estimate, but it came from Gyeoul, who had experienced America’s total war several times, so the margin of error would not be large. If the damage in densely populated California was also considered, the percentage could rise even further.

‘One or two out of ten sounds small, but the best personnel are the first ones consumed.’

The army had surpassed ten million before Manifest Liberation. One out of every two young people in their twenties was already in the military. If they drafted more recruits to make up losses on top of that, of course the quality would drop.

Worse, this was America. Even if obesity rates were rapidly falling, the proportion of people unfit for military service was not low. In the first place, American obesity was a social disease, so there were limits to overcoming it through individual effort. If the only food available was hamburgers, fries, and fried chicken, and the only thing to drink was cola, losing weight would be hard without exceptional effort.

Corporal Wolf, whom he had met on the Pequod in San Francisco, had said he only saw an actual apple for the first time after enlisting. It was a dark facet of the reconstructed past.

He had heard that obese patients were socially treated like freeloaders.

Depending on one’s point of view, this situation could also be called the dignity of the world’s largest agricultural nation, which still had no issue with food supply even under these conditions and could afford foreign aid on top of that.

When Gyeoul stepped outside, he felt the sunlit wind. Warmth and coolness crossed like waves. Across the sky and ground beyond the runway, the season that shared his older sister’s name was spread out. The weather was still hot, but compared to the murderous summer, it had to be called mild.

Even while they called a Humvee and had it stand by, the runway shoulder was busy with new supplies and troops. Countless boots sounded from every direction, and vehicles kept passing at low speed. By impression alone, it felt like the middle of a crowded city.

“There it comes.”

Captain Singh drew his attention toward the sky. A transport plane was lowering its altitude as it approached the runway. Right on schedule. It was easy to recognize because it was smaller than the transport planes usually taking off and landing. Aircraft carriers did not operate large transport planes.

The landed aircraft’s boarding door opened. People came out in sparse intervals. There were not many people to send from an aircraft carrier to an operations base on land. Because of that, transport flights were not arranged often, and Yura’s return had been delayed even more.

“Lieutenant! Over here!”

Yura, who had been looking around, reacted with an “Ah!” at Gyeoul’s voice. She came over struggling under her baggage and saluted with a truly bright expression.

“Lieutenant Lee Yura! I have returned!”

“Welcome back. It’s been a while. Your treatment is definitely finished, right?”

“Yes! You don’t need to worry!”

She looked healthier than before as she answered.

“But why do you have so much luggage? I’m sure you were traveling light when you left.”

When Gyeoul asked, Yura looked slightly flustered. The duffel bag on her back had been stuffed and tied until the opening looked ready to burst. What had made it so packed?

“Ah, this? Ahaha... I received a lot of gifts. Should I throw them away?”

“Why throw them away? Unless we’re in the middle of an operation and transport of personal items gets restricted. Take them with you and just get them inspected according to regulation. If it really comes to that, ask to have them sent to the rear.”

“Yes, understood!”

Yura smiled brightly again. She was famous enough to appear in comics, and she was the type to sincerely laugh even at Je-jung’s jokes, so Gyeoul had thought she must have been popular with the U.S. troops. Judging by the gifts, that seemed to have been true.

“Get in for now.”

Gyeoul pointed at the Humvee. After loading her luggage, Yura sat in the rear seat.

The ride was not long. David Task Force’s current station was close to the airport. Yura, who had been turning on the phone she had switched off inside the plane, looked at the scenery outside the window and voiced a question.

“We’re not going into the city? The kids told me you were staying at the Capitol.”

From the front passenger seat, Gyeoul glanced back.

“That’s over.”

“Uh... what?”

“Another unit took over there. The joint task force under Major General Rogers was disbanded today too. The 240th Division will probably be disbanded or reorganized as well.”

“Then what do we do now?”

“We don’t know yet.”

Yura groaned softly for a moment.

“Somehow it feels like I came back too late. I’m sorry...”

“What do you have to be sorry about? You fought harder than anyone, got hurt, received treatment, and came back.”

“Even so...”

A slightly gloomy Yura fiddled with the decoration pinned to her chest, the Purple Heart. She seemed to be debating whether to take it off, so Gyeoul beat her to it.

“That looks cool, Lieutenant. It suits you.”

“Urk. I think I shouldn’t have worn it.”

“I’m not teasing you.”

“Mm... Little Captain, you received one too, right?”

“Not yet.”

Yura’s eyes widened, as if Gyeoul’s words were unexpected.

“Huh? Why?”

“There were things backed up, and I heard something about a re-evaluation too, so maybe they’re going to handle my commendations all at once later. I’ll probably receive them in Washington.”

“I see... Oh, right! How’s your hand? Were you hurt badly? Did it leave a scar?”

“There is a scar, but it isn’t big.”

“Really? Show me. Back when the shovel blade hit the back of your hand, you said it was nothing too.”

For the doubtful Yura, Gyeoul took off one glove and held his hand above the seat. Yura caught his hand, narrowed her eyes, and examined it closely with an “Mmm.” Then she made a pained expression herself.

“It’s better than I expected... I was so shocked when I saw your hand catch fire on the news. Captain shouldn’t get hurt.”

Gyeoul took his hand back and smiled.

“Is it okay if someone else gets hurt?”

“That’s not what I mean, but Captain is Captain.”

Captain Singh had only been watching quietly for a while now. If it had been his usual self, strict in front of subordinates, he would have cleared his throat by now, but since Yura had been away so long, it felt like he was letting it slide a little.

========== Author’s Note ==========

#CSAT_Cheering

After praying that the readers would do well on the CSAT, I realized something strange.

Readers who are exam takers would be minors unless they are retaking the exam...

How are you reading an R-19 Noblesse?!

So that’s why I got body aches... The curse of Podori...

#Q&A

Q. UnlimitedOne: @Of course, how could that sly Chairman miss the contents of the meeting... / I wonder if Gaeul, who sees Gyeoul’s surface, will break the chairman’s expectations and find an answer of their own.

A. That is a question I cannot answer. In any case, please believe that this novel will end with a happy ending.

Q. Ryujianne: @The answer is “Han Gyeoul.” They will not be able to find an answer other than Han Gyeoul. Except for sex. (dejected)

A. If I had gone with the original half bad, half happy ending, I would have punched holes in your stomachs with a bed scene, but now we are on the happy ending route. :)

Q. Bug: @XCOM’s MECs are scary... Cutting away a perfectly fine body and leaving only the torso... But to do it even in Plasticity... / Long live Gaeul! Long, long live!!! Are Gaeul and the chairman getting married?

A. Long live Gaeul! Long live questions I can neither confirm nor deny!

Q. IJustWantToSleep: @The closer we get, the more curious I am about the ending. I hope you keep running all the way.

A. We are in the latter half now. I hope to finish within 400 chapters, but I do not know how it will actually turn out.

Q. LewdDemonF: @In the end, they called it a closed-door meeting, but weren’t they all desperate because they couldn’t sell each other out first? Hahahaha.

A. Not exactly, but there was someone blinded by greater profit.

Q. jin-matient: @Congratulations on chapter 300, haha. / Today? Yesterday? I heard an Italian surgeon succeeded in transplanting the head of a Russian person with muscle contracture onto a brain-dead body... They seem to be watching the progress now. Were your tentacles perhaps involved in this, Author? Haha.

A. I heard that surgery was canceled due to lack of sponsorship funds... I guess they ended up doing it after all. That is surprising. / But then again, I also saw an article about a person who had been ruled brain-dead for over 20 years but was actually conscious... So I have a feeling...

Q. Third_Wing: @Congratulations on chapter 300. This is a rumor going around the underwater city, but is it true that the happy ending is Chairman Go Geon-cheol, full of jealousy, watching Gyeoul’s stream and raging, then Gyeoul regains his body with Star Child’s support (copying electrical signals and overwriting them), and with Gaeul’s help becomes ruler of New Hell Joseon? I heard Gyeoul’s final line is “Get 1 billion won vs. become a eunuch. I attack Japan!”...

A. Once again, that is a question I cannot answer. / You remembered that I once said the end of this novel had been decided as one line of dialogue from Gyeoul. The hint for that line has already appeared. It will appear one more time later too. Of course, readers will not notice. Hahaha.

Q. qgegegqe: @You’re making me wonder how many megatons it can withstand. / And that administrator authority is still alive too... The foreshadowing is too obvious!

A. It was originally stated that there was time left until administrator authority was suspended. In #I Like Chicken, it said it would be suspended within one year.

Q. Nyar: @Jeon Min-hee came up in this Q&A... Personally, I really like her as an author, but... she also writes very sporadically, and it is always such a shame. In that sense, Tunguska, you should not do that, right? How about a continuous writing contract for 400 million ten-thousand years? It is only 400 million ten-thousand years, haha.

A. 400 million ten-thousand years is not an accurate expression, so it is invalid. (stern and serious)

Q. ArrowrootJuiceYumYum: @Author, I loved your writing so much, but the print version only went up to volume 2... I shed tears of blood and bought Noble on Joara... But your writing skill is truly art. Reading up to chapter 300, nothing ever got in the way... I think it is the best of all the novels I have read so far...

A. I finished checking the PDF file for volume 3 publication sent by the editorial department today. Please wait just a little longer. :)

Q. Hyunhyangju: @Great Old One, congratulations on chapter 300. And thanks to the Old One, Barbyeol... I could read it for tens of thousands of years and it still would not end...

A. You are reading The Wind and Star Cluster. You will be blessed.

Q. Guaaaaak: @Congratulations on chapter 300!! Is there nothing worth commemorating? Consecutive releases are... probably impossible, I think, but maybe a side story?

A. How about a commemorative break for chapter 300? I did not even rest during Chuseok... :(

Footnotes:

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