Chapter 46
Yeah, I’d forgotten. That he was the one in the original who bullied the juniors.
That damned Zaiden taunted his subordinate Beni for being weak, and because of that Beni had been shaken even more!
Honestly, I didn’t care what he did to the other juniors, but when the target is Beni — someone I want to protect — things are different.
“How can that bastard be so useless to my life?” I tightened my eyes without meaning to. I clenched my fist and glared down at the ground, and Beni, standing in front of me, flinched and called me hesitantly.
“Um, Sarubia…?”
“Alright, Beni. Go on and start the laundry first.”
“Yes…?”
“I need to have a sincere heart-to-heart conversation with someone.”
“Zaiden.”
“Sa— Sarubia-nim?”
A little later, when I called Zaiden in a sweet voice while he was pulling weeds, he looked toward my face and jumped up in surprise.
“Can I ask you something? Got time?”
“W-why, of course!”
Zaiden looked scared for some reason. He hurried toward me and politely clasped his hands together.
“Zaiden, did you—”
“Yes! Yes!”
“—say useless things to Beni?”
“Huh?”
Zaiden jumped at that, and from his expression I knew I’d hit the nail on the head. He fidgeted, about to offer some excuse, but I raised a hand to stop him.
“You want to die? Someone in our batch recently lost a comrade; you should be protecting the juniors who’re going through a hard time, not tormenting them.”
“I—I really meant it as advice…”
“Who gives advice like that, huh? Advice has to come with a gentle attitude and good words — otherwise it’s just bullying.”
I felt my blood pressure spike, but to calm myself I smiled even brighter. Zaiden shrank even more.
“If the seniors hear that you were picking on Beni, we’re all dead… No, seriously, this guy’s gone mad.”
“W-well…”
“If you keep poking people unnecessarily like that and someone finds out, you’ll be finished. Seriously.”
I gave Zaiden another stern warning, then left and ran to Beni. It was time to patch up the mental damage Zaiden had caused her. Previously I would have said leave this to a professional, but my thinking had changed.
‘Beni is strong.’
Beni was not a weak girl. With a little help, she could probably pull through on her own and come out stronger.
Then, when she reveals her identity later, she might even help me in return!
And more than that…
‘I absolutely cannot go back to being the youngest in the women’s barracks!’
I would make sure that Beni’s shaken mental state never caused her to make a fatal mistake while hunting monsters.
“Beni!”
“S-Sarubia-nim?”
I reappeared with a brighter face, and Beni looked at me puzzled.
“Gasp— I have something to tell you.”
I arrived beside her, breathing hard.
“You don’t have to become a bad person!”
“Huh?”
My sudden shout made Beni’s eyes grow wider.
“Being cruel and being strong are different things! It’s true you must harden your heart to survive here, but that doesn’t mean you have to abandon your humanity and become evil!”
Maybe April or Yuri would disagree, but at least I thought so.
“If you absolutely must avenge your comrade, then do it — but don’t let the failure of this time keep you in pain forever.”
I grabbed her hands.
“Use this failure as a stepping stone to become stronger. If you want to keep living the way you have until now, you’ll have to grow stronger.”
Beni looked at me with a strange expression.
“Ah…”
She slowly nodded.
“Sarubia-nim, you’re right.”
When I smiled because it seemed she’d accepted my words, Beni spoke in her calm, serious tone.
“You are right. Here, if you don’t have strength, you must give up what you have. I know I must become stronger to maintain myself…”
Her expression brightened considerably.
I was happy — it seemed things had gone well! It looked like Beni would finally stop being tormented by the ‘unavenged enemy.’
Then Beni spoke in a shy voice.
“Sarubia-nim…”
“Hmm?”
“If you need help later, please tell me…”
‘She’s hooked.’
As in the original, Beni never forgot a favor!
“Help? How could you help me?”
I pretended I didn’t know anything, and Beni smiled meaningfully again.
“I can help with anything. Really, anything…”
‘…Of course, the daughter of Two-Star.’
“If you ever need help, please tell me. I’ll help with anything.”
She said that with a smile, and from her face I felt a strong reliability.
With that, I’d taken another step toward survival!
And not long after, in a monster hunt, Beni tracked down and killed the firehorn that had killed her comrades.
I don’t know how she found the exact same firehorn or how she sent an aurablade across the border to strike it…
Anyway, Beni is damn strong.
‘Feels like I raised a tiger cub.’
D-2190 days until discharge.
Today I felt great.
“Now that you’ve been promoted, work harder and set a good example.”
“Yes, sir!”
Of course — today was the day I was promoted to Private First Class! After a short promotion ceremony at the company headquarters with other members from different squads, I looked at the chevron with another stripe and beamed.
I still had to go back to the squad and do the sewing, but the important thing was I’d been promoted!
“I’m so happy…”
I grabbed Aquila’s arm and shook him; he looked at me kindly. That was definitely a pleased look.
We’d finally survived two years in this messed-up place and been promoted to PFC.
‘Damn, by Korean standards I should’ve been discharged already…’
Thinking about the insane service time made me boil with rage, but I decided to be content in the present. In this place, the less you overthink things, the happier you tend to be.
“Ah, I’m glad we can skip squad training today.”
Demian from Gamma squad said, and Blue, my mate in Beta squad, nodded.
They were our only batchmates in Beta and Gamma squads, and we only chatted briefly when they came by, but right now we felt close kinship.
“Come to think of it, aren’t new recruits supposed to arrive today?”
I tilted my head and asked, and Blue answered quickly.
“I heard this intake doesn’t have any new recruits for our company.”
“Oh? There weren’t any last time either, but maybe next time there’ll be some.”
Blue belonged to Beta squad, which was attached to the company HQ, so information reached him fast. Having an information-savvy buddy helps.
“Anyway, we’re finally free from chores.”
Thinking about the endless laundry, weeding, sewing, and other tasks made my face go wistful. Since joining, I’d become the housekeeping master.
‘No matter how skilled a homemaker, even they couldn’t do this…’
One downside — I couldn’t make the clothes smell sweet after washing them. Toothpaste scent is still the best!
…A sudden reality check made me stop talking.
Then Demian spoke with a serious face.
“But from PFC you’ll have to take border guard duty.”
“Yeah, once you do that you’ll be exhausted.”
Border guard duty literally meant guarding the border: a main task of the border defense force. It involved manning posts at scheduled times and was dangerous because monsters often appeared; duty started from PFC and above.
Duty ran day and night, and sometimes, seeing Yuri take night shifts, I thought being a trainee might have been better.
‘Seems PFCs only have to work…’
Before, I only had to work daytime; now I had to work nights too. Damn. Don’t the monsters sleep at night? Can’t we all rest then?
“I heard many deaths happen on guard duty.”
Blue said with a grave expression.
“Everyone’s confident because they passed their trainee phase and think they won’t die to monsters, but guard duty is much more dangerous.”
The mood turned solemn instantly. After overcoming one big crisis, another awaited.
‘Damn, this army never has peaceful days…’
“Ah, I have to go now.”
“Yeah, thanks for the info.”
After a while, we said a light goodbye and dispersed to our squads.
‘Still, being promoted is something.’
Although we’d had a serious talk a short while ago, I was still on cloud nine!
‘Only six more years to go!’
I’d passed the trainee hurdle; six more years and discharge!
But when we returned to the squad, we were met with shocking news.
“Denin has died.”
“What? What do you mean…?”
I made a mistake with words I’d never made before, standing there stunned.
“I mean literally. Denin died while on border guard duty.”
I looked around at the others in confusion, but from their faces I knew this was no joke. No one would joke about someone’s life.
Even Blair and Topio from batch 85 had reddened eyes as if they’d been crying.
‘This is bullshit…’
I realized then: being promoted to PFC didn’t mean good things — it meant a new danger had been added. Damn it!
The deceased PFC Denin was from batch 84 and was the senior to Blair and Topio. He had only half a year left until promotion to Senior Private, so his skill was already well recognized.
Yet he died on guard duty…
I grasped the danger of guard duty again and realized this apocalypse-like world was intent on killing me.
‘…An apocalypse?’
At that moment something popped into my head.
What if I’d transmigrated not into a romance fantasy but into something else!
“Status window!”
…Nothing happened.
‘…Try another phrase?’
“System window!”
…Again, nothing.
Damn. Yeah, I’d run out of time to deny reality. Pull yourself together, Sarubia.
In the end, I accepted that I would be deployed to that dangerous border guard duty where people were dying even today.
