My Platoon is F**king Hopeless

Lumina Blue, holding a book in one hand, left the main building of the battalion headquarters.

These were books borrowed from the battalion’s only library. Most of them were introductory texts on magic theory and elemental theory.

‘For days now, she’s been reading nothing but this kind.’

It was a request from First Platoon’s commander, Enok Revendale. He asked her to bring some basic magic books from the library.

‘Why?’

She couldn’t help but be curious. She was also a Mage Officer. While she hadn’t graduated from an officer school like Enok, she had some knowledge of magic.

Such basic magic books should have been more than enough for her long ago.

‘Might those rumors be true…?’

It had already been a week since Enok Revendale was officially appointed as the platoon leader, and he was currently the subject of much discussion.

His appearance, personality, way of speaking, and records from his time at the officer school.

Whether soldiers or non-commissioned officers, all were focusing on Enok Revendale’s actions.

He was truly the center of controversy in the Third Platoon.

Of course, it might be because he was a newly assigned officer and just happened to be given command of a “downgraded” platoon.

But above all, it was because he completely withdrew from any social interactions outside official working hours.

Enok Revendale did not privately interact with anyone except the battalion commander, Arrendt Schultz, and his subordinates.

Suspicion naturally grows when left unchecked, like a snowball rolling downhill.

Now, even slightly exaggerated rumors were spreading widely.

– “He’s actually a parachute drop. He came here just to accumulate military service, despite having no talent for magic.”

– “That’s why he was assigned to this downgraded platoon? Since he won’t do anything anyway?”

– “What nonsense. Do you believe that? And there are also rumors that he’s not a parachute drop, but an inspector sent from the Corps.”

– “What? Really?”

– “I heard the other day that sometimes they send inspectors disguised as junior officers from higher units.”

Not only suspicion about Enok Revendale’s identity, but also strange rumors such as him being a cross-dressing woman were widespread.

Even the reason for assigning him to a building separate from the main office was speculated to be to prevent exposure of his gender identity.

Of course, Lumina thought that Enok Revendale was certainly not a cross-dressing woman.

No matter how great a high mage was, it would be impossible to change genders so convincingly.

Why would someone want to change their perfectly fine gender in the first place?

Lumina didn’t pay attention to such baseless rumors. What mattered to her was Enok Revendale’s true identity.

‘Is he really an inspector? Or just a parachute drop?’

At the very least, could he even be a proper Mage Officer?

Although he diligently handled administrative tasks such as writing daily logs and processing overdue documents, he had never shown any signs of being a ‘Mage Officer’.

She hadn’t seen him use mana or even activate a magic core.

The reason ordinary Mage Officers have a lot of idle time is that they are strict ‘Mage Officers’.

For example, when approving a document:

A Mage Officer can understand the content of a document instantly by using the ‘Read Magic’ spell, without having to read it line by line.

Magic is that unreasonable.

That’s why the Okhraine Duchy holds onto many ‘underperforming’ individuals like Lumina.

In the end, Lumina concluded that Enok Revendale must be deliberately avoiding using magic for some reason.

‘Perhaps… he’s actually someone dispatched from Major Sony Chepelin’s special unit.’

Sony Chepelin, the Sky High Mage.

She is not only the most powerful Mage in the Okhraine Duchy but also one of the twelve recognized ‘High Mages’ internationally.

It was well-known that she was actively recruiting capable oddballs within the army.

Sony Chepelin herself visited the battalion recently, so perhaps Enok Revendale was sent to the Third Platoon to recruit such talent.

It was a reasonable suspicion.

From his cold demeanor to the peculiar gaze he casts at her and his subordinates, there was a sense of superiority, as if he were observing everything from above.

Even Lumina felt slightly uncomfortable when alone with Enok Revendale. It wasn’t that she felt bad, but rather a sense of being overwhelmed.

‘That’s how an inspector would act.’

As Lumina was heading toward Enok’s quarters, someone blocked her path.

“Lieutenant Lumina Blue, aren’t you tired? Let me carry that for you.”

“…”

An irritating voice. There was no need to turn her head. She knew who this soldier was, the only one who approached her so brazenly.

The smell of tobacco lingered from the cigarette between his lips.

Rex, the corporal.

“Move aside.”

Lumina Blue clicked her tongue and walked past Rex, who was blocking her path. He was nothing but trouble.

“Oh, you’re making me feel sad again.”

Rex grabbed Lumina’s shoulder with his arm.

Despite her rank as a female officer, he was still her superior. It was clearly inappropriate for a corporal to touch a non-commissioned officer.

“Let go.”

Her usual formal address had vanished.

Her voice was cold, yet Rex chuckled as if nothing was wrong and shrugged his shoulders.

“Am I doing something wrong? Can’t I help my subordinate?”

“Do you think what you’re doing is right?”

“Really, Lieutenant Lumina Blue, you’re hurting my feelings. On what grounds are you so confident?”

Rex narrowed his eyes. His gaze was not one of a subordinate looking at their superior.

“Newly appointed platoon leader? From what I see, he looks like he’ll leave the platoon at any moment.”

“Corporal… keep this up.”

“Or are you planning to rely on the sergeant again? That person isn’t interested in your downgraded platoon either.”

“I can handle my own affairs. You don’t need to involve higher-ups…”

“Ugh, phew.”

Rex spat phlegm on the ground and interrupted Lumina.

“Want to try? Lieutenant, what will the battalion commander do this time?”

Even though Rex was shamelessly threatening her, Lumina couldn’t speak up.

He had done this sort of bullying before, and every time, she had submitted complaints to the battalion commander and personnel officer, but the result was usually just a light reprimand.

There was no choice. Rex was among the highest-ranking sergeants in the Third Platoon.

And because of that, he had a lot of responsibilities within the unit.

Originally, in a Mage Battalion, Mage Officers didn’t have much to do.

They lacked knowledge in areas like personnel, logistics, and support duties.

Since guards were assigned to handle the unit’s security, commanders and staff officers were the ones directly managing the unit. For regular Mage Soldiers like Lumina, when there was no schedule, they were on indefinite standby.

Thus, in peacetime, Rex’s role was more important than Lumina’s as a non-commissioned officer.

Moreover, due to a series of ‘incidents,’ Lumina had already lost favor with the battalion commander, and there was no one to support her.

Rex knew this well and always treated Lumina as inferior to himself.

No, to be precise, he was constantly looking for opportunities to take advantage of her.

That disgusting gaze that scanned her body, even the slight sound of him smacking his lips. Lumina couldn’t bear it anymore and threw the book she was holding to the ground.

Just as her furious hand was about to hit the corporal’s cheek…

BOOM!

With a tremendous shock wave, the outer wall of the building in front of her collapsed.

*

The first thing that came to mind was finding a plausible excuse. There had to be a valid reason for destroying a perfectly good building wall with an explosion.

Like saying there was a huge spider inside?

‘Sure, the battalion commander will believe that, you fool.’

Maybe it would be better to say the truth: I failed to control my magic power.

Upon further reflection, this wasn’t a good idea either.

Recently, she had been making a good impression during work meetings with the battalion commander and other officers, so she couldn’t afford to ruin it with her own hands.

But there was no real excuse.

Her mind went blank.

Wait, was the Fireball spell originally this powerful? I know Fireball shouldn’t even penetrate infantry armor.

I felt uneasy as I looked at the collapsed wall. Surprisingly, the furniture inside was intact. The wall was the only thing destroyed.

Then, a familiar voice echoed from outside.

“Is the platoon leader okay!?”

It was Sergeant Lumina Blue.

She seemed to have come to deliver the books she borrowed from the library and witnessed the incident.

“Oh, Sergeant! I’m fine. But we need to do something about this wall…”

For a moment, she held onto the hope that the damage could be repaired.

However, uniformed personnel from the battalion headquarters rushed out like ants. Naturally, with a building wall collapsing in broad daylight, it couldn’t go unnoticed.

‘Oh man, this is definitely going to be a public execution.’

While I stood there in a daze, Lumina stared at me and the broken wall with wide eyes.

“Platoon Leader, what happened?”

“Well, um… I was demonstrating a spell and…”

Given the situation, she had no choice but to take the lesser evil route.

Yes. This was destined to happen. A downgraded platoon leader in a downgraded platoon.

Since a flashy debut in the Third Platoon was out of the question, she would have to quietly bide her time for the minimum service period of one year and then move on to another unit.

Only then could she start preparing seriously.

RE: This is how it starts, a Mage Officer’s life.

How could she be blamed for a mistake from the beginning? I’ve done my best.

I meticulously processed paperwork, attended meetings regularly, and even cleaned the barracks on my own.

Isn’t this enough to say I fulfilled my duties faithfully?

At least, there was some comfort in knowing that even if she wasted a year, four years remained.

That gave her a slim chance to prepare properly.

“Oh my…”

Lumina muttered, disbelief in her voice as she looked at the debris.

“Platoon Leader Revendale, are you alright?!”

“Sergeant Lumina Blue, I’m sorry. It wasn’t intentional. I suddenly used Fire…”

“Who uses high-level magic indoors?”

“What?”

When I didn’t understand immediately, Lumina raised her voice again.

“Even if it wasn’t a Fireball, using a high-level spell like ‘Flame Buster.’ Really, what were you thinking…”

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