WeTried Translations
Translator: Coughing Baby
Editor: Coughing Baby
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 466: Final Chapter - Childhood's Beginning (4)
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In a world where the apocalypse had been postponed, winter barely avoided arriving late.
The work Gyeoul had been given lately as a soldier, commanding one part of the newly launched emergency response system against Morgellons, was not especially difficult compared to its importance. The biggest challenge had simply been getting through the clumsiness of the system's early days. Now, several days after it had gone into operation, organic cooperation had become possible among the military, police, local government offices, medical institutions, fire authorities, resident organizations, and more.
Local time, 11:23 a.m. Gyeoul, watching the screen at the front of the situation room, picked up the microphone.
"As of now, we will end the training scenario issued for the international airport. Good work, everyone. Response time was even shorter than yesterday. Keep it up like this."
Sighs of relief passed through the shared San Diego regional channel.
「Sir. Could you reduce the simulated drills a little now?」
It was a fire chief. Gyeoul answered lightly.
"I feel the same way, but should I report that opinion up the chain?"
「Uh, no. What a terrifying thing to say. I'll pass.」
Gyeoul offered a word of comfort to the man playing along.
"At least you aren't being dispatched for real. Please be satisfied with that for now. In two or three weeks, D.C.'s interest should cool down too. After that, there should be fewer scenario alerts than there are now."
「The question will be how much fewer. I'll be looking forward to it, so please go easy on us.」
"Request confirmed. Ending communication."
Gyeoul turned off the microphone and looked behind him.
"How about it? Is everyone getting used to it now?"
The Independent Battalion staff officers, the company commander-level officers, and the Marine Corps officers who shared the garrison and had observed the drill all answered yes, though with some reservations. They seemed to understand the method, but could not be certain until they had controlled it directly themselves.
Given the nature of the emergency response system, there naturally had to be a duty commander at night as well. This was separate from the Independent Battalion's own duty commander, so it was difficult to cover with only the Independent Battalion's officer personnel. Staying up all night once every three or four days would drain them fast. That was why the Marine Corps officers had also observed the training process.
One Marine Corps Major evaluated the completed drill.
"Readiness is important, but I think the actual dispatch process also needs repeated practice."
Gyeoul shrugged.
"You're not wrong, but if a real accident happens while the police and firefighters are pulled away, we will have a problem. We can't forget that our main jurisdiction is a coastal city. The same goes for the military."
San Diego, still in the middle of reconstruction, had plenty of places where accidents could happen. Construction sites, port quarantine facilities, temporary housing zones, and the like.
"Besides."
Gyeoul added another joke.
"It would be a bit much to make a field of latrines near a residential area, wouldn't it? The complaints would come pouring in. But only choosing places like the airport for training, like we did today, is unrealistic too. There is no guarantee infection will only break out around airports or ports."
A few bitter smiles passed among the officers. In a drill premised on real deployment, toilets were obviously not provided. They had no choice but to dig holes wherever they were, do their business, and cover it properly with dirt. Yet for some people, even that was not enough. The complaints Gyeoul mentioned were something higher-ranking officers had to get used to. It was one of the hardships of higher-ranking officers that ordinary soldiers knew little about.
"The frontline personnel are probably already tired from being put on readiness almost every day. The police and fire authorities' readiness isn't the same as ours, but I think this is enough. We also have to watch how quickly the working-level personnel are being worn down."
At Gyeoul's concluding words, the Marine Corps Major accepted it with a sour expression. Apparently, to the Marine Corps spirit that emphasized grit and toughness, it still felt lacking.
"All right, then. Shall we meet in the conference room at 1400? Dismissed for now."
It was an appointment for the routine after-action review. As commander, Gyeoul had to report the training results.
While his work as a soldier was easy enough, none of the unofficial matters that came in after hours were things he could handle comfortably.
"Goodness, Colonel. Thank you for giving us so much of your precious time."
The Korean residents who had invited Gyeoul after his workday ended were officers of a self-proclaimed group called the Winter Heights Merchants Association.
"Even when we saw you from afar, we could feel that you had an energy truly different from ordinary people. But seeing you this close, it's almost as if we can see a dazzling aura around you. People like us hardly dare look at you directly. Hahaha."
"..."
Gyeoul was a little dumbfounded by the blatant flattery, but since they did not seem willing to sit before he did, he offered them seats first.
"Please sit. You all look uncomfortable."
"Ah, yes. Thank you. Then we won't refuse."
Once they sat down, Gyeoul asked why they had come.
"I heard you wanted to meet me about an important matter related to the Alliance. What is it?"
The association officers exchanged glances, then began speaking.
"Recently, because of the irresponsible selfishness of some Independent Battalion soldiers, it has become increasingly difficult for us to operate our businesses. We were hoping the Colonel might somehow resolve this matter..."
"Your businesses have become difficult to operate? Because of the soldiers?"
What connection could there possibly be between those two? At Gyeoul's confused reaction, one officer nodded hard.
"That's right. These days, the soldiers have been using our businesses far less often... We and the ordinary people who relied on the soldiers' purchasing power are all suffering."
"Are you saying the officers and soldiers deliberately colluded?"
At Gyeoul's interrogating tone, the officer put on an apologetic expression.
"No, that's not it. It's just that our prices are slightly, very slightly higher than other places, so it seems the soldiers are going out of their way to save that money. It wasn't like this before..."
"Isn't it natural to look for cheaper places?"
"No. Not in difficult times like these."
"..."
"Even if everyone has gained hope thanks to the Colonel's dedication, not everyone in the Alliance has firmly settled down, have they? If people relax just because things have improved a little, they can fall straight down in an instant."
The other officers eagerly joined in.
"That's right. Think of Korea's financial crisis. You must have learned about it, but wasn't the crisis caused because, when the economy was supposedly booming, everyone and their dog started indulging in luxuries and overseas travel, throwing money around? This is exactly that sort of time."
"At times like this, we need to come together even more tightly, strengthen our solidarity, and become one another's support. Money earned from outside is important, but what matters even more is making the money already earned circulate only within the Alliance."
Gyeoul narrowed his eyes.
"So what do you want me to do?"
"...Well."
One officer watched his expression, then spoke with a careful smile.
"I don't know if you're aware, but Korea once had a very good system called a military pass area. It was a system that restricted the range of soldiers' outings and overnight leaves in preparation for emergencies. You likely don't know how greatly that system contributed to revitalizing local economies and promoting balanced national development."
Military pass area. It was not a familiar concept to the U.S. military, but that did not mean there was no similar concept at all. Its range was simply incomparable to Korea's military pass areas. From the perspective of ordinary soldiers, it might as well not exist.
Gyeoul raised that point.
"The military pass area for our unit, if we had to define one, could be considered the entire Midwestern United States. Even if we are preparing for dispatch, it is enough as long as they don't leave this city."
"Even so, you can give an order, can't you? Not that they must never go far, but that when they buy things or need other services, they should use the Alliance shopping district."
"That is the soldiers' basic right. I have no authority to violate it."
"You truly are as humble as we heard. Haha."
The officer laughed as if he understood everything.
"Authority or no authority, if our Colonel Han Gyeoul says something, who could possibly refuse to follow? If you just say a word in passing, surely your subordinates will understand your intent and carry it out on their own, won't they? So please set aside unnecessary worries and make a decision for the common folk. A decision."
"..."
Gyeoul tapped the table with one finger, then sighed. Min Wan-ki had said the people of the Alliance were internalizing the virtue called Han Gyeoul, but believing oneself to be kind and objectively being kind were two different things.
The people before him were examples. Their faces showed no doubt that they were common folk who deserved protection and were genuinely contributing to the community. 「Insight」 and 「Perception」, strengthened beyond the realm of superhumans, confirmed their sincerity.
"I heard Baek San-ho also has a foot in the Merchants Association. What did he say?"
"Ahh."
The officers sighed.
"He is, after all, different from weak people like us... Our opinions did not align on this matter. So we left President Baek out and invited the Colonel by ourselves."
Baek San-ho had once walked a dangerously thin line, but that too was only possible because he had a sense of reality. People whose very way of thinking was different from normal could not even see such a line.
Gyeoul sent Anne a mental knock, then tried sending her the situation along with the impressions he was feeling now. What returned was Anne's mental image, mixed with a bitter smile.
「You already knew, didn't you? People like that wouldn't disappear all at once just because spring had come. March's cold doesn't vanish in an instant either... From now on, late cold snaps will come often enough. That's the kind of spring Gyeoul chose.」
Then she sent over the current state of the work she was handling.
The task force she personally led had produced absurd results over the past few days. Not only had they uncovered the mastermind behind the terror attack in D.C., they were also solving cases that had remained unresolved at tremendous speed while stopping new security threats in the planning stage.
All of this was possible simply by analyzing already collected information in new ways. Her expanded consciousness and newly acquired abilities were being put to full use.
「Let's just hold out until the end of the year. According to our child, by early next year, all branches will converge into a stable range.」
Then there was a faint sensation on his lips, very warm and soft. It was a kiss from Anne in the physical world, given to Gyeoul as he slept.
Gyeoul smiled and said to the officers of the Merchants Association,
"No."
The officers, who had been reassured by his gentle smile, could not react right away and only blinked.
"To me, it looks like the bigger problem is that you are the ones colluding."
"Colluding! That's absurd. We are only doing this for coexistence and the development of the community-"
The officers waved their hands, but Gyeoul firmly cut them off.
"Let's stop that topic here. There is another reason I accepted your invitation."
"Yes...?"
"All of you have hired quite a few Chinese residents at each of your businesses. Up to that point, it was something I encouraged... but that did not mean you could abuse them and work them like slaves."
The Chinese citizens and refugees hired by Korean-owned businesses could remain relatively free from the de facto expulsion caused by the New Frontier policy. It had been one of the few hopes Gyeoul could offer the Chinese citizens who had come to him asking for help with no plan at all.
Yet the officers here were practically working Chinese citizens and refugees like slaves on their farms, ranches, fishing boats, and the like. They had exploited the circumstances of people who found it difficult to appeal to the law.
"This is a serious misunderstanding. Those friends are naturally lazy, so in the process of guiding them, because of cultural differences-"
As one officer began explaining with sweat forming on his face, Gyeoul shook his head firmly.
"I won't listen to excuses. Director Jang Yeon-cheol has collected a great many statements and pieces of evidence. The reason I am delaying charges and giving a warning first is because if all of you are imprisoned at once, the Chinese residents employed by you will be put in a difficult position. The same goes for the Alliance, which mediated the employment. I didn't expect this to happen already, when only a few days have passed since the arrangements were made."
They could receive compensation, but what they needed was not money. It was the jobs themselves. Jobs as a safeguard to have their stay on the mainland recognized.
"Of course, you will also need to compensate them for the wrongs you have already committed. Financially, or through some other method."
"No, what in the world... This is too sudden..."
"You said it yourselves earlier, didn't you? Who could refuse to follow something I said?"
Gyeoul drove the point home to the confused officers.
"I will give you time to think. But the faster you answer, the better."
"..."
"Personally, I will be hoping you refuse."
You are not completely without replacements. At Gyeoul's chilling threat, the officers shut their mouths.
Gyeoul's unofficial schedule did not end there. There were always many people requesting meetings with him, claiming they had important business. At least regarding the treatment of Chinese residents, he had set a basic policy and delegated it to the two representatives of the Alliance, so Gyeoul's burden had lessened somewhat. Jang Yeon-cheol, who was deeply sympathetic, often showed great enthusiasm for matters like this.
The person who wanted Gyeoul's time this time was An Je-jung.
"You want to step down as vigilante leader? Why?"
Je-jung had been satisfied with a position that had little real power, low risk, and enough honor. On top of that, the vigilantes here functioned as the lowest tier of the emergency response system. When a man whose standing had improved from before suddenly announced his intention to resign, Gyeoul could only find it strange. Why was someone who still went around telling people about the first three suddenly acting like this?
'It's rare enough to find someone who is satisfied with something small and doesn't abuse their authority.'
Gyeoul agreed with Min Wan-ki's assessment of the man. He might bluff, but he was not fundamentally rotten.
The one who answered the question was Lee Yura, who had been called in with him.
"Apparently he has an amazing business item. I still don't know what it is."
Besides her, Jin-seok and the other members from the combat group days were there too.
Je-jung spoke with a broad smile.
"They say middle age is the second starting point of life. I thought seriously about my life from now on, and I realized I could do something bigger than what I'm doing now."
"And that is business?"
"Yes!"
Je-jung answered confidently.
"Thanks to you, Colonel, interest in Korean culture has risen all across America, hasn't it? If I present an item that properly blends the cultures of both sides at a time like this! It will surely become an enormous business success. My instincts from working in sales for many years tell me so."
"So what is this item?"
"Please wait just a moment. I will make it and bring it out soon. Heh. I really wanted to hear the opinions of Jin-seok, Captain Lee Yura, and you, Colonel. Well, the answer is basically already decided, though."
Then he added that they must not tell anyone.
'He said it was important business...'
With a faint sense of emptiness, Gyeoul waited for the business item that was supposed to come out soon. Since Je-jung said he would make it and bring it out, there was a high chance it was food.
A moment later, boiling coffee was placed in front of each of the waiting people.
"...What is this?"
When Gyeoul asked, Je-jung answered with a proud expression.
"The harmony of East and West, Americano ttukbaegi."
"..."
"Now, now, don't just stare at it in a daze. Scoop up a spoonful and enjoy it refreshingly. The clean taste of the white kimchi I served separately will erase the heaviness of the strong coffee. Plus, the coffee doesn't cool easily, so you can enjoy it more leisurely than ordinary coffee."
This did not seem right. Gyeoul did not trust his own sense of taste very much, but he still believed he had a common-sense palate. The coffee bubbling in an earthenware pot literally lacked common sense. Seeing Gyeoul ponder while toying with the spoon, Je-jung asked in confusion,
"Is there something you don't like?"
Jin-seok cut in with a hard frown.
"Who would pay money to eat this?"
"Eh?"
"Even if I bend over backward and say someone might try it once out of curiosity, any sane person would never touch it again after that."
"...Eh?"
Yura, who had been covering her mouth at Je-jung's blank expression, finally burst into laughter.
"Uhee... What even is this...? You said it was a jackpot item..."
Je-jung grew even more dazed as he watched her laugh so hard her stomach hurt.
In the middle of that, Gyeoul tasted a spoonful of coffee and a piece of white kimchi in order, then put down his spoon with a helpless laugh.
"In a way, thank you."
Je-jung asked with a sliver of hope.
"Thank you? Is there some part of it that seems all right to you, Colonel?"
Gyeoul shook his head.
"Sorry, but no... I was feeling troubled because I have to meet someone difficult to face soon, but thanks to you, I feel a little lighter."
The person difficult to face meant the tyrant in the physical world.
Je-jung, dejected, spoke in a voice that nearly disappeared.
"...I'll just continue as vigilante leader."
At those words, Yura's laughter exploded once again.
Footnotes:
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