My Platoon is F**king Hopeless

“AAAAHHHH!!!!”

When I pressed a cigarette into his forehead, the guy let out a painful scream and fell back.

You idiot.

The sight of him rolling around on the ground was pathetic.

I picked up the cigarette pack and lighter he’d dropped, then took another cigarette and lit it.

As the acrid smoke went down my throat, the boiling emotions inside me began to settle somewhat.

“Shit-!! You son of a bitch!!”

Rex swore as he got up from his seat. Just as he was about to throw a punch, I flicked my finger at him.

Mana that had flowed out of my body turned green and formed an opaque ring that bound Rex’s ankle.

The basic wind attribute magic, ‘Air Bind’.

It’s a spell that condenses air to restrict the opponent’s movement.

Together with Wind Cutter, it’s one of the fundamental wind magics described in the Elementary Magic Theory.

True to the wind attribute’s relatively simple magical structure compared to other attributes, there was no need for any special incantation.

With his ankle restrained by the Air Bind, Rex stumbled again and screamed in pain.

“HUUUAAAH!! Aaaah! My, my ankle!!”

“Kid, stop whining. It’s just a suppression spell.”

I looked down at Rex writhing on the ground while smoking.

“You bastard- Do you really think you’ll get away with this?! How dare you use magic on an ally soldier?!”

“Huh, still not grasping the situation? You need to snap out of it.”

After pressing down hard on his neck and stamping another cigarette onto the same spot…

“GRRRR… UUUUUURGH!!!!”

The guy trembled instead of thrashing around. Fear now clouded his previously venomous eyes.

“Just like what you did to Lumina, try the same with me.”

“You… I’ll tell the personnel officer everything so you’ll definitely be punished-.”

“Punishment is for sergeants, right? Your attitude towards me right now deserves summary execution.”

“I’m Sergeant Rex! You’re just a grunt! If you ever set foot in the city, I’ll half kill you!”

Even after all this, he’s still putting on a tough act. He must mean the leader of the gang we saw in the city.

I also heard from Bella Meyer. There are delinquents who control the back alleys of Chernov City.

Even as a sergeant, Rex is probably able to swagger around like this because he’s in cahoots with those thugs.

This kind of thing happens in real life too.

Guys who are close to local notables or former gangsters who join the army and disregard rank completely.

Even in the military, self-sufficiency isn’t always possible.

Often, help from locals or powers-that-be is essential for maintaining the unit or even promotions.

However, that’s not important.

What’s important is that this guy has crossed the line way too far.

So far, people have been letting him run wild because they wanted to keep things peaceful.

But I can’t stand seeing some grunt talk back to a superior officer no matter what.

“What do you plan to do to me?”

“Ughh… Put you in the brig for assaulting a soldier, and if you ever set foot in Chernov, I’ll beat you senseless!!!”

Your threats while almost crying aren’t scary at all.

“Oh really? So if you just shut up, those guys won’t know I did this, right?”

I casually summoned mana. Fierce flames greedily consumed the air.

“If I burn your mouth shut, you won’t be able to talk, will you?”

“W-W-Wait a minute!!”

I slowly brought the flame closer to Rex’s face. This isn’t any magic or anything. I just manifested red mana.

But it’s more than enough to scorch the roof of a normal person’s mouth.

One fireball in the mouth and it’s all over.

“You really think you’ll get away with such a thing!?”

“I’ve already been branded as expendable. Things can’t get much worse here. Besides, it’s just one soldier. In my experience, things like this usually get swept under the rug, don’t they?”

“…”

Rex finally shut up, deciding to resist until the end. This kid has always exploited the closed system of the military perfectly.

“Same as what you’ve been doing to Lumina.”

He immediately realized that the same rules could apply to him.

“S-Sorry… Sorry!! I-I was… I was too cocky!! Please forgive me!!”

“Right.”

I smirked, extinguished the flames, and punched him straight in the eye.

SMACK!!

“Cough… Ahh, Ow!! My eye!!”

In my current state, I couldn’t deliver an effective blow like yesterday in the city. So I just had to target the weakest pressure points.

I was going to stomp his groin because of his vulgar mouth…

But honestly, that would be a bit too cruel. We should maintain minimal decency.

“From now on, if you say a single word beyond answering my questions, I’ll really shoot a fireball into your mouth.”

“Yes sir…!!”

“What were you planning to do to Lumina?”

“That…”

WHACK!!

Since Rex’s eyes were darting around, I gave him another hit.

“Choke… Why are you hitting me!”

“Don’t play dumb and answer properly.”

“I-I was going to threaten her once…”

“Whose idea was it?”

“M-Mine! I only planned to do it once! After that, I really intended to do nothing!!”

“I didn’t ask about after.”

“Gulp…”

The cigarette in my mouth burned down to the end. I spat out the almost extinguished butt and continued interrogating Rex.

“It’s obvious what you planned to do, so don’t bother with excuses. Who else is involved? Are there any from our unit?”

The thoroughly frightened kid’s eyes locked with mine, then Rex spilled everything.

There’s nobody from the unit. The First Platoon doesn’t like getting entangled with such things.

But it’s different outside the unit. Apparently, there’s a pretty corporal hanging around the base, and they told me to charm her and bring her over.

At this point, there was nothing else to question.

“Violation of military conduct, insubordination, disrespect to superiors, attempted assault on an officer. Just the military laws you’ve broken are serious enough for summary execution.”

“Sorry!! Lieutenant! Please spare my life!!”

“Do you want to live?”

“Y-Yes!! I want to live!!”

People only come to their senses when beaten.

That cocky attitude from just minutes ago is gone, replaced now only by the disgraceful sight of begging for his life.

Being subdued by a spell that does nothing but restrict movement, and complaining about his ankle…

It’s all bravado and not knowing one’s place.

“Go apologize properly to Lumina. Show proper respect. And never look at or loiter around her again.”

“Understood! I’ll do that!”

“From now on, address me properly with my rank and name. Answer.”

“S-Sergeant Rex!!”

“Now get out of here.”

Lumina hasn’t returned yet. Even if she did, she wouldn’t show up after I’ve done all this.

Snap!

I flicked my finger again, releasing the Air Bind that had been gripping Rex’s ankle.

However, Rex continued to groan and tremble, unable to get up.

“What are you doing, not leaving?”

“Grghh… Sir, I think my ankle is really dislocated…”

The guy tried moving his leg, but his ankle kept buckling. It was clearly unstable.

Is it really broken?

Is this guy weaker than me?

Seeing his genuinely pained expression and struggling leg, it didn’t seem like an act.

I clicked my tongue.

“Hey, whoever’s there, come out and help him up.”

I called out toward where I’d sensed someone lurking. A figure timidly emerged from behind a tree.

“S-Sergeant Eric!”

“Eric, right? Take Sergeant Rex to the infirmary.”

Apparently, he’d witnessed everything that had happened. Eric answered loudly with perfect military posture.

Soon, he helped Rex up and disappeared toward the infirmary. I sighed watching them go.

“Phew, what am I supposed to do after coming out to find Lumina?”

Instead of medicine, I’ve ended up smoking a lot of cigarettes.

I was tense earlier, and now that the situation is resolved, my strength is draining and my body is getting cold.

The dizziness is getting worse – is this going to end with me fainting again?

Just then,

“Lieutenant! Are you alright!?”

Lumina came running from afar. She was carrying a bag full of medicine from the infirmary.

“Rex Sergeant…”

“It’s all taken care of. Could you help me back to the quarters? My head hurts.”

Without waiting for me to finish asking, she put my arm around her shoulder.

Whoosh, as we got closer, the refreshing scent from her silver hair tickled my nose.

“Lieutenant…”

“Let’s talk later. Let’s head back to the quarters now.”

And thus, after giving a thorough lesson, I returned to the quarters supported by Lumina.

For now, it’s resolved.

Of course, I don’t think someone like Rex will just roll over after this.

Sure enough.

When I woke up after taking a nap in the quarters, there was a visitor waiting in the room.

“Enoch Lieutenant, can we talk?”

Major Michel Lobron, the battalion personnel officer.

---