BXBX NOVEL Chapter 8
Chapter 8
Chapter 8
A Medal of Honor. The highest honor a military person can achieve..
Since the founding of the empire over 200 years ago, fewer than 100 individuals have received this honor.
Moreover, more than half of them were posthumously awarded, as they had already passed away and were resting with their comrades-in-arms.
So you could say that receiving the Medal of Honor alive was an incredibly difficult task.
No, it’s not just difficult, it is considered impossible.
Yet, the recipient of such a prestigious medal emerged from the academy.
The officers who came from the Ministry of War took the utmost courtesy and even provided guidance for the event.
It would be strange if there weren’t stories circulating about the hero.
However, as rumors often go, most were absurd and baseless.
“That senior from the 19th grade who returned to school this time. That senior, was in the Luzerne War apparently… ”
“Cut off elf ears and wore them as decorations, right?”
“How crazy do you have to be to receive an honor medal in your 20s?”
“Maybe single-handedly taking down entire enemy units?”
“Could have been assassinating key figures from behind! Or extracting internal information!!”
It was a very quick turnaround for an ordinary academy student to become a monster, a killing machine if you will.
****
“There’s Senior Karl!”
“How incredible are your achievements?! Please tell us!”
“Did you really fly through the air, firing guns at elves?!”
Crazy bastards. Please stop. None of that happened. What incredible achievements?
And I’m not some Gundam, how could I possibly fire a gun in mid-air?!
Who’s spreading these insane rumors? Are there any Ministry of War public affairs people lurking around here?
“Congratulations on receiving the Medal of Honor, Senior Karl!”
“Oh, thank y—”
“By the way, did the elves really call you Angel of Death”
“….”
I’d truly appreciate it if you just congratulated me. Junior. But Angel of Death? I don’t have such a grotesque nickname.
Instead, my comrades often called me an asshole. It’s just one word difference, but the gap is huge.
If my fellow soldiers saw me now, they’d probably hold their stomachs to stop themselves from laughing.
Being called an asshole instead of an angel of death. Ha, those assholes. Suddenly, I miss them again.
“Senior!”
“Senior Karl!”
“Hey, Karl!”
“For God’s sake! Stop it already!”
All sorts of attention is being paid to the man who was practically a ghost not too long ago.
The problem is that the attention is focused on the ‘military memories’ that I don’t particularly want to bring up.
I don’t even want to mention it, but people keep coming up to me like this.
Indeed, too much attention is suffocating! I would have preferred indifference! Damn it!
I don’t mind being the center of attention, but I didn’t ask for this kind of scrutiny!
I just wanted to quietly go about my student life like any other student!
“I heard the news, Karl. Truly remarkable. To receive an honor at your age, and that too a medal of honor.”
“Thank you, Professor.”
“Karl, if you’re free, would you like to join me for lunch? If you have any interesting topics you’d like to discuss with my students, I’d be interested in hearing them.”
“Oh, it’s an honor. What would you like to know?”
Ah, of course, I must express my gratitude profusely in front of the professors.
Receiving a medal of honor is impressive, but this is the academy
These are the people who will be responsible for my precious credits in the future, and I need to earn them.
If I’m lucky, they’ll give me a point or two… or maybe not.
Anyway, since the people from the Ministry of War came, my evaluation has changed a bit.
From the strange 19th Grade student who enlisted and returned to an Elven Judge, even though I’ve never judged elves.
When I told them I’d never judged elves, they didn’t even pretend to listen. They even said I was modest?
‘These damn people… It’s not that I’m modest; I never had a chance to be arrogant…’
Honestly, I secretly hoped to be called a war hero, but even on my deathbed, they won’t call me that.
Damn it! And what the fuck is an Elven Judge? It’s So fucking lame! Childish! Call me a war hero! A FUCKING WAR HERO!!
Why are they treating me like this! I’m not some forgotten war hero from a novel!
Kyaaaaah! I’ll make you regret this! I’ll haunt you! Regret this! Haunt you! AAAA!
“Oh, here comes our Elf Slayer.”
“…Even Senior Marcus saying that? And I’m not a slayer; I’m a judge! And not even a judge!”
“Well, well, well. It’s the same thing, isn’t it?”
It’s not the same! It’s completely different! If you’re going to call me something, call me something normal!
A slayer! Anyone who hears that will think I’ve been skinning heads!
“Actually, it’s quite impressive. You said you didn’t do much in the war.”
“I didn’t. Really.”
“Don’t talk shit. You’re telling me you received an honor for doing nothing? Isn’t the Imperial War Academy supposed to be a place for kids playing war games? Just be honest and tell me. What the hell did you actually do?”
“Fuck, I’m not being modest, I really didn’t do anything.”
Markus shakes his head at my answer.
“Then what about the rumor of being an elf slayer?”
“No, seriously! I’m not a slayer! And that was exaggerated!”
Frustrated, I explained to him the most plausible reason.
The story of venturing alone into an enemy encirclement and bringing back fellow soldiers.
It was a moment when luck was truly on my side, as others were also fortunately rescued at the same time.
Yeah, I was just lucky. I didn’t fight bravely like others.
It wasn’t a crucial moment in the war, and there weren’t any important figures among those rescued.
…Ah. Did I mention that Selena’s brother was there? That’s good I guess. I saved her brother.
“Anyway! Do you get it now? I’m not some kind of ruthless slaughterer”
“Hmm.”
“Do you think receiving an honor means I’m some kind of war machine?”
“Hey, Karl.”
“What!”
I snapped, irritated by his nonsensical chatter.
“…”
The expression on the senior’s face was quite interesting.
Yeah, that expression, it’s the same one he made when I told him about enlistment.
“Are you really nuts?”
“If you keep talking like that, your junior will be hurt. I could just report you for verbal abuse…”
“Do it then! Crazy bastard! What? You’re telling me going in alone and rescuing hundreds of people was nothing?! Huh? Doing what no one else could or even thought of doing, and you did it alone!”
“No, it was just sheer luck! I didn’t fight bravely, I didn’t kill many elves! I didn’t have any decisive impact on the battle, did I?!”
I just wanted to save my squad members.
I couldn’t stand the thought of those bastards, who I’ve seen in every possible state over the past two years, ending up on the corpse pile.
They looked like shit even with their heads intact, how much worse would they look without their scalps?
Smiling even while being dead. They should at least be alive for me to pity them.
That was all. The moment I entered hell wasn’t when I received the medal.
***
A looming graduation project. It’s kept Selena awake for days and nights.
Only after finally winning the battle against the project and catching up on the sleep she had missed did she regain some peace of mind.
‘What’s going on? Why is the academy so noisy?’
The academy seemed oddly chaotic. Everyone seemed busy gathering together and chattering incessantly.
At first, she thought someone was confessing their feelings to someone else. Or maybe a couple had broken up, or someone was starting a new relationship.
[Selena]
It was before she received a sudden call from her older brother.
“Brother? What’s going on?”
[Have you heard the news? I just heard about it and called you right away.]
“What news?”
She had been working on her project for the past few nights and sleeping late.
She had no idea what had happened or what the situation was.
Then, her brother’s voice came through the communicator.
[Remember what I told you last time, Selena?]
“Um… Is this about the soldier who saved you and your squad?”
[That’s right. The unknown hero. We now know who that person is.]
“Really?! That’s great news! You found the savior! Who is it?”
Someone who saved countless lives, including her brother’s.
So, even if he’s just a soldier, I should thank him personally.
Thinking so, Selena smiled as she waited for her brother to continue speaking.
[Oh, Selena, it seems you still don’t know anything.]
“What? Um, what do you mean?”
[Don’t you know there’s a medal ceremony at your academy next week?]
A medal ceremony? Could it be that he’s talking about the Medal of Honor?
The most prestigious recognition bestowed upon the greatest heroes.
A token of sacrifice that everyone in the Empire salutes.
“Really? Why would they hold such a ceremony at the academy?”
[Because the medal recipient is a student at the academy. The person who saved my life.]
“A student at the academy? Who on earth…”
As Selena’s thoughts wandered, a certain someone popped into her mind.
Someone with whom she had shared a drink not too long ago, but before that, their relationship had been rather awkward and uncomfortable due to some embarrassing incidents.
‘Karl?’
And then, her brother on the other end of the communication device spoke up.
[Karl Adelheit. Yes, that was definitely the name.]
“…Ah.”
So, what’s going on here? Karl insists that his enlistment was not at all my fault.
But surely, my rejection of his confession must have been one of the reasons.
And yet, he saved my brother in the midst of that gruesome war?
“Goodness…”
Karl. How… How much do you…!