WeTried Translations

Translator: Coughing Baby

Editor: Coughing Baby

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 355: A Splendid Invitation (7)

──────

Gyeoul was not the only war hero staying at the hotel. Las Vegas was the first gathering point for the fifty-five people slated to receive the Medal of Honor. Since Gyeoul had arrived first, the crowd gathered along the entrance showed no sign of dispersing for some time.

The Las Vegas city authorities, probably at the request of the public affairs office, had set up speakers outside and introduced each hero’s achievements one by one as they arrived. It was practically a parade. The tour of the so-called Company of Heroes was a way to soothe local public sentiment.

“People will remember this as a more splendid event than any show this city can boast.”

Anne said this from behind Gyeoul as he stood by the window.

“Apparently, they had a hard time deciding the order. They couldn’t make those people look like your supporting cast. So they told the citizens your arrival time was an hour earlier than it really was, to give themselves time to ask for cooperation... Looking at it now, I’d say it worked out.”

Even that embarrassing airship welcoming Gyeoul had been moved aside for the moment.

“This was a good thing for you too, Gyeoul.”

“You’re right. I almost earned resentment without even knowing it.”

“There will be many events you attend together from now on, so you should build friendships whenever you have the chance. Since they are people who received the Medal of Honor while still alive, knowing them will definitely help you someday.”

That applied to enlisted soldiers too, but officers especially had a high chance of rising into the heart of the military someday. There was no commendation higher than the Medal of Honor. If one evaluation category was always full marks, it was actually hard not to get promoted. In truth, it applied to Gyeoul, a refugee-born soldier, to some degree as well.

‘I used to think Captain would be the ceiling for my promotions.’

That had been the conclusion he reached after brooding over the ends he had seen in the past.

But the America of now was different from any America he had experienced before. There were some dark and unstable elements, but realistically speaking, it had the best conditions one could hope for. In a sense, Gyeoul had been trapped inside his own experience.

Thinking back on it, symbolic appointments had existed plenty of times. The first Black general officer, the first female general officer, the first general officer from a minority religion, and so on.

When that hopeful outlook became reality, whether he ended up as nothing more than a symbol or wielded real influence would depend on what Gyeoul did.

Managing connections was one part of that.

Still.

“Is there anyone I should be careful of?”

For Gyeoul, who had plenty to watch out for, it was an obvious question. Anne looked as if the timing was uncanny.

“I was just about to mention that...”

She immediately gave one person’s name.

“Sergeant First Class Raul F. Ellsworth. A member of 「Iron」 Company, 3rd Battalion, 2nd Cavalry Regiment, Ellsworth participated in Operation Uphold Hope, conducted in the European theater during the early Morgellons crisis to delay the spread of infection. During the evacuation from Amsterdam, Ellsworth rescued isolated friendly troops through dedicated action and received the Distinguished Service Cross.”

Judging by the way she specifically mentioned the unit name, it seemed to be a fairly well-known unit among the public. Then again, a unit that had fought hard enough to produce a Medal of Honor recipient would naturally be famous.

Since its letter was I, for Iron, it was probably the ninth company in the whole regiment.

Anne explained.

“After the 2nd Cavalry Regiment was reorganized on the mainland, it was committed to Operation Manifest Liberation... and when the supply system was paralyzed by that nuclear attack, Ellsworth abandoned armored vehicles that had run out of fuel and withdrew 117 kilometers on foot to a safe zone. Ellsworth gathered up about a platoon’s worth of troops along the way. That confirmed the Medal of Honor award. To be precise, Ellsworth first received the Cross, then the decision was made later to upgrade it.”

“Just hearing the story, he sounds like a fine soldier with nothing to criticize. What’s the problem?”

“His religious beliefs.”

“...”

“He believes in a fundamentalist branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, LDS... in other words, Mormonism. The mainstream LDS church has long treated them as heretics. Our Bureau has also been keeping a close eye on that group. They were rather... aggressive, and shared antisocial tendencies.”

“By aggressive, do you mean they were a terrorist organization?”

“It would be more accurate to say there was concern they might become one. It isn’t strange for religious groups to prepare for disasters mentioned in the Bible, but these people even built fortified bases and private armed groups. Internally, talk about taking Utah back from the federal government circulated often enough.”

“...Troublesome people.”

Their logic was not entirely baseless. Utah had originally been land pioneered by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and after even fighting a war against the federal government, they had been absorbed into the United States through negotiations.

But their legitimacy ended right there.

‘A single heretical branch has no right to represent the whole Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.’

From Gyeoul’s point of view, they were just another group of fanatics.

Anne agreed with the word troublesome.

“These days, they’re gathering believers and supporters by claiming polygamy should be legalized according to doctrine... But the real problem lies elsewhere. Some kind of connection seems to have formed between them, the AOC, and the CPC.”

“AOC? CPC?”

“Ah. You wouldn’t know the troublemakers in the South very well, Gyeoul. AOC means the American Templars, and CPC means the Militia of Christ.”

“Ah... I remember hearing about them.”

They were the groups mentioned in his conversation with the Catholic military chaplain who had suggested baptism to him. They were hotbeds of all kinds of hate crimes, and the Vatican was having difficulty responding to them.

People who committed grave wrongs naturally developed warped faith the more they sought God. They pushed their own guilt onto God. Here, faith had to be seen as a tool for justifying hatred. It was far from true religion.

Though perhaps loving even people like these was what made God almighty.

When the sound of the stone rolling in his chest grew too loud, even Gyeoul sometimes had moments when he wanted to believe in a divine being.

Anne sighed.

“We call their cooperative relationship the Blasphemous League.”

The Blasphemous League. Gyeoul inwardly tilted his head.

“I guess they have points in common, even across different denominations?”

“Hatred toward Chinese people exists everywhere.”

“...”

Anne muttered about how much chaos erupted whenever a video of General Yang was found.

“Ellsworth is not a racist, and doesn’t have extremist tendencies. But Ellsworth is very devout in that faith. Ellsworth says that kind of life-disregarding courage came from that faith in the first place. That is why Ellsworth is a major surveillance target. You need to be careful too, Gyeoul. If Ellsworth approaches you, there may be some unpleasant outside purpose behind it.”

“So in short, you’re telling me not to follow a strange uncle?”

Pfft. Anne laughed at Gyeoul’s joke. Right after, she deliberately put on a stern expression.

“I was being serious, and then you suddenly made a joke.”

“If the FBI is watching Ellsworth, it isn’t a serious concern. Unless I get fooled by Ellsworth and go somewhere dangerous on my own.”

“Still, be careful.”

“I understand. I’ll behave so you don’t have to worry. More importantly, are there any other points I should note?”

Anne thought for a moment, then shook her head.

“There’s nothing else. Not just anyone receives the Medal of Honor, and everyone is receiving basic monitoring and protection. It isn’t only the Bureau, either. Security for this event is being overseen by the Department of Homeland Security, with other agencies cooperating. We only have to watch for terrorism from the inside.”

Gyeoul stepped away from the window, sat on the sofa, and tapped the spot beside him.

“Then let’s leave this topic here. If I had to pick someone I should get especially close to, who would it be?”

“Let’s see. Since there’s no one you’d lose out by knowing anyway... why not start by getting closer to the people you already know? If you do that, your circle will naturally widen.”

“People I already know?”

As Gyeoul looked puzzled, Anne sat beside him and gave a small shrug with the shoulder nearest him.

“First, there’s Colonel Ray Emert of the 75th Regiment.”

“Ah, him...”

Colonel Emert was the Ranger company commander he had met in Santa Margarita.

‘He was a Captain back then.’

Gyeoul had heard he had risked danger and tracked a Humpback all the way near San Francisco, so it seemed his contributions had finally been recognized. If the Humpback’s abilities had been revealed as a result, that feat deserved the Medal of Honor and more. It must have had a major effect on strategic planning in the quarantine war.

To begin with, crossing hundreds of kilometers through a contaminated zone with only a company-sized force was already a superhuman feat.

When Gyeoul had last heard news of him, he had been a Lieutenant Colonel, and in the meantime he had been promoted again to Colonel. From Captain to Colonel in just one year. It was not as extreme as Gyeoul’s case, but it was still a frightening pace of promotion, and he had the ability and qualifications to deserve it. It would not be strange if he had a star next year.

People like stars shone brighter in dark times, as long as the darkness was not strong enough to swallow that starlight.

Anne continued.

“Besides him, I heard you know Captain George Palmer of the same regiment’s reconnaissance unit, and Major Tanner Long of Army Special Forces. If the records I saw were correct, you briefly joined up near a ranch around Windsor. Do you remember?”

“Of course. It hasn’t been that long.”

Anne looked at him strangely after hearing his answer.

“When I look at you, Gyeoul, I really do think your memory is excellent.”

“I usually don’t forget people.”

This was separate from the 「Memorization」 correction. If he had seen someone once, even if he sometimes forgot their name, he did not forget their impression. What conversation he had with that person, and what he had felt from them.

Captain Palmer had said his dream was to leave the military and run a ranch with his wife. Major Long had grumbled that his daughter did not see him as her father.

‘It’s strange to meet them again like this... No, maybe it’s natural, in a way.’

Gyeoul asked himself, then accepted his own answer.

Preventive Scalping had been that dangerous and that important an operation. It was a mission to save friendly troops at the risk of one’s life while destroying the enemy command system at the same time.

“That’s about it for now.”

Anne pushed up her sleeve and checked her watch.

“There are about thirty minutes left until the morning banquet. Is there anything you want to do?”

It was free time before the heroes who had just arrived prepared for their first event. Gyeoul shook his head.

“Not really... Even if I go out, I won’t be able to be with you like this.”

That was the same reason Anne had kept her distance when Gyeoul stood by the window. There was a chance that high-performance cameras might capture them. If the sight of them being close became a topic of discussion, it would cause noise starting with security issues.

Anne looked both happy and troubled.

“Thank you for saying that, but don’t stay shut in because of me. Ever since the war began, all you’ve done is go back and forth between refugee zones and battlefronts. And only the most dangerous places among them... Didn’t you want to experience the peaceful daily life of a safe zone? On this trip, I thought every spare minute and second would feel precious to you...”

“It’s okay. I like being like this more.”

“...”

Gyeoul held Anne’s hand after she went quiet, smiled whenever their eyes met, and spent the thirty minutes that way.

Footnotes:

Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried