Actually, Dad Was a Hero

Chapter 26: City of Death

Paris, once called the city of art and culture, was no more.

The famous Pont Neuf bridge where lovers used to stroll, the Eiffel Tower Square teeming with tourists, the Arc de Triomphe roundabout always bustling with cars – all were now covered in corpses and bloodstains.

And even within that city of death, the ordinary Parisian alley where Ghost Squad was holding out was truly a mountain of corpses.

“This is unbelievable.”

Jin Beom-Min looked down from the railing, shaking his head.

More than a thousand zombies were sprawled around the building, surrounding it in layers.

The number was so great that the pile of corpses alone was as high as the second floor of the building.

Countless zombies trampled on each other to climb the building walls, crushing the corpses below into an unbearable sight.

“There’s no way to get out of the building like this.”

“We can’t get out anyway because the rooftop entrance is blocked. The building corridors are probably full of corpses too.”

Reaper leaned against the railing and sat down, speaking in a low voice, looking exhausted.

Not only her, but all the members of Ghost Squad looked drained and tired.

“I have good news.”

Sandman, who was still moving enthusiastically, fiddling with the communicator, spoke.

“Is there any better news than the Necromancer being dead?”

Reaper asked languidly, and Sandman replied with a smile.

“Of course there is. Not having to walk back to the base is good news, isn’t it?”

“Did you call a cab or something?”

“Something better than a cab.”

Sandman pointed to the darkening sky. A helicopter was flying in the distance.

“A helicopter?”

“It seems the guys who stayed at Villacoublay Air Base found a helicopter that was under maintenance. They’re coming this way.”

“They’re pretty quick.”

“If you keep grumbling like that, I’ll make you walk back.”

Sandman said that and then patted Jin Beom-Min on the shoulder before picking up the communicator again.

But Jin Beom-Min was lost in his own thoughts, ignoring him.

‘If this happens, we can’t hide the monster incident anymore…’

The previous incidents could be concealed from the public somehow.

This was because they were relatively small-scale incidents, and the number of casualties was not that high.

Therefore, it was possible to prevent a global chaos by disguising them as terrorist attacks or gas explosion accidents.

But this time was different. The casualties were too high, and there were too many witnesses.

It seemed impossible to cover up the truth this time, no matter what.

Finally, the time had come.

The time to officially acknowledge the monster invasion.

‘There will be tremendous chaos…’

Even the people of Jindar, who already knew about the existence of monsters, were thrown into great confusion when the monsters suddenly began their invasion.

The people of Earth, who knew nothing about monsters, would be even more mentally shocked.

Moreover, the fact that no one knew when and where the monsters would invade was also a problem.

The fact that the object of fear could appear at an unexpected time and in an unexpected place would only heighten the anxiety.

‘We need… some kind of countermeasure… don’t we?’

This incident was a prime example.

If Jin Beom-Min had arrived at the scene a few hours earlier, he could have saved many more people.

Even if the French army had cooperated properly, they would have been able to find the Necromancer much faster.

From now on, they needed a way to respond more quickly and effectively when an incident occurred.

But he didn’t know what that method was yet.

******

Waaaaah―!

Corporal Leo cheered with all his might towards the old transport helicopter that was slowly landing.

In addition to him, countless soldiers were gathered at the Villacoublay Air Base helicopter landing pad, cheering and applauding.

Seeing that even the maintenance crew, who were usually tucked away in the maintenance hangar and rarely seen, were all out, it seemed that every single soldier remaining at the base was gathered there.

Whirr! Whiiiiir!

Clap clap clap clap!

〈Awesome!〉

〈Woohoo!〉

The sounds of whistles, applause, and various cheers were almost drowning out the loud noise of the helicopter’s rotor.

As the helicopter landed gently on the landing pad and the door opened, the soldiers’ cheers grew even louder.

〈Waaaaaaaah!〉

〈Amazing!〉

〈Korea! Korea Number One!〉

The soldiers waved their hands and shouted, welcoming Ghost Squad.

To Corporal Leo and the other French soldiers, Ghost Squad was nothing short of a savior.

Strangers from the East who appeared when the base was surrounded by zombies and even the commanders had abandoned them.

They had repelled a massive horde of zombies with a single swing of a sword, as if by magic, and eventually turned all the zombies back into corpses with a force of only six.

Only six people.

It was truly a miracle.

〈Waaaaah, you’re the best!〉

Corporal Leo, along with the other soldiers, surrounded the members of Ghost Squad, cheering and reaching out their hands.

He wanted to touch the miracle workers, even just once.

Especially the knight in armor who had slain hundreds of zombies with a single swing of his sword at the main gate.

He couldn’t believe that the legendary figure was real unless he touched him with his own hands.

〈Ah, thank you. Yes, yes.〉

The members of Ghost Squad who got off the helicopter looked quite exhausted. But the one who appeared to be the leader was responding to the soldiers’ welcome in fairly fluent French.

〈Thank you for the welcome. But… is there a mess hall here by any chance?〉

As soon as he heard those words, Corporal Leo raised both hands and shouted.

〈Yes, here! I’m the cook!〉

Corporal Leo pushed his way through the soldiers and stood in front of them. All the members of Ghost Squad stared at him. Their eyes were tired from fatigue and hunger.

〈Ah, sorry, but… do you have any food…?〉

〈Of, Of course! Follow me!〉

The soldiers gathered at the helicopter landing pad followed behind Corporal Leo, surrounding the members of Ghost Squad.

They wanted to see the members of Ghost Squad for a little longer, and they were also hungry.

Corporal Leo was leading them with a confident attitude, but he was blaming himself inwardly.

‘I should have thought of this earlier…! Of course they would be hungry after such a fierce battle…!’

If he had been a little more thoughtful, he should have prepared a hearty meal instead of coming out and cheering meaninglessly with the soldiers.

‘As the cook of Villacoublay Air Base, I was cheering with the soldiers instead of fulfilling my duty!’

Corporal Leo was ashamed of himself.

〈Um, well… actually, the meal isn’t ready yet.〉

Corporal Leo slowed down and spoke in a less confident tone.

〈Ah, then, MREs are fine.〉

〈No, that won’t do! I can prepare it right away!〉

That wouldn’t do.

Although French military MREs were quite edible for MREs, he couldn’t treat the heroes who saved Paris like that.

Corporal Leo beckoned the soldiers following behind him and gathered the cooks, then gave instructions.

〈Darcy, quickly go to the kitchen and preheat the oven. Emile, prepare the vegetables and meat.〉

〈Yes, Corporal.〉

〈Enzo, raid the officers’ quarters. There should be some fine wine stashed away.〉

〈What? You want me to steal it?〉

〈Steal? We’re picking up what they left behind.〉

〈Ah, yes. I’ll pick it up.〉

〈Good. Move quickly! The honor of France depends on how we treat them!〉

〈Yes, Corporal!〉

******

The Villacoublay Air Base mess hall had turned into a party hall.

Dance music, which would never normally be heard, filled the mess hall, and the soldiers who had survived the unprecedented crisis were chatting loudly and eating and drinking.

And at the center of the party was the table where Jin Beom-Min and the members of Ghost Squad were seated.

“Wow, I never imagined we’d be treated like this here!”

Imp said, raising his wine glass with a flushed face.

Not only him, but Jin Beom-Min and all the members of Ghost Squad had taken off their stuffy helmets and masks.

They couldn’t eat with their masks on in the first place.

Moreover, judging by the attitude of the French soldiers, they wouldn’t divulge information about Jin Beom-Min and Ghost Squad even if a knife was held to their throats.

“Me neither! I didn’t know wine could taste this good!”

Reaper also smiled pleasantly, sipping wine with her red lips.

After Jin Beom-Min and the members of Ghost Squad settled down in the mess hall, the French soldiers moved quickly.

They brought out fine wine, brandy, cognac and other high-quality liquors from somewhere, and after about ten minutes, they started serving various dishes one after another.

Salads, steaks, various fish and chicken dishes, various cheeses and breads.

Except for the fact that the tableware was a bit simple, it was no exaggeration to say that it felt like being in an authentic French restaurant.

“That cook from earlier is quite skilled.”

Jin Beom-Min agreed, tearing into the lamb chops piled high on his plate.

Just a while ago, he couldn’t tell if the food was going down his throat or up his nose because of the French soldiers who kept thanking him or asking for a handshake.

However, after some time had passed, the French soldiers began to talk amongst themselves and enjoy their food and drinks.

But some soldiers still showed constant interest in them, and one of them was a female soldier who was stuck to Reaper’s side, chatting with a happy smile.

“Look at her, grinning from ear to ear.”

Ogre chuckled as he watched, and Reaper shrugged and replied.

“Good for her. Reaper needs to meet a real woman.”

“Well, you had a line of handsome men around you earlier too.”

“Eh, I’m not into Western men. I dated one before, but I couldn’t get used to the smell.”

“Well, we haven’t showered since we got back from the operation, so we probably smell about the same right now.”

“That’s true, but it doesn’t make me feel very good.”

It was a natural instinct for humans… no, living beings to have sexual desires on a battlefield where their lives were threatened.

It was the same when Jin Beom-Min was at the Hero Academy.

While it was implicitly taboo for fellow students at the Hero Academy to have deep emotional exchanges, physical exchanges were not.

In fact, it was inevitable, considering that it was a place where boys and girls at the age of sexual awakening were gathered.

Thanks to this, relationships between the sexes were quite liberal within the Hero Academy, and it was not uncommon to have exchanges with multiple partners.

Having experienced all those things, Jin Beom-Min accepted the current situation very naturally.

In fact, there were three or four French female soldiers who had been giving him seductive glances and eyeing each other warily.

But he had already experienced this situation countless times in the past, so he didn’t feel particularly good about it.

He just felt a little younger.

However, his thoughts were shattered by a sudden sharp command.

“Attention!”