NOVEL NEXT Chapter 284
The headquarters company commander, who appeared to be causing a ruckus while holding a pistol, was being stubbornly dissuaded by several senior soldiers.
Behind them were children who seemed to have originally lived in this city—slight, emaciated kids with dirt-streaked skin. The children gazed blankly with lifeless eyes at Reverend Antenelli, who was indifferently tending to their wounds.
Reverend Antenelli’s complexion was darker than usual. Ever since the death of Priest Helena, it had always been dark, but now it appeared much more so than usual.
To exaggerate a little, he looked as if he had just died and come back to life.
The bizarre sight of them together made Colonel Meijhem feel nauseous.
Even in the midst of this, Colonel Meijhem continued to walk steadily forward. The soldiers who had been crowded together had come closer.
When he got closer, he saw that the headquarters company commander was being restrained by some of the soldiers.
His hand still tightly gripped onto the pistol.
“Let go! I said let go!”
As the headquarters company commander shouted while still holding onto the pistol, the soldier who was forcefully gripping his fingers to keep them from moving the trigger shrieked out.
“Commander! We’re in a tough spot too, but what do you think those kids will think if you do this!”
The children who seemed to have been rescued were emaciated, dressed in clothes stained with dirt, with a trace of white salt lingering on them.
Colonel Meijhem also knew well that both the elves and dwarves were short on food and all supplies.
It was far too insufficient to implement a rationing system for the captured civilians.
And the coastal city of Palts was famous for fishing.
He noticed the children’s hands. Wounded, their hands were riddled with scars.
What should have been delicate hands were now pitifully disfigured by scars. Some of the children even had fresh scabs that looked like they had recently cracked. The girls were no exception.
It would be impossible for anyone not to understand that these were wounds that would typically be suffered by fishermen handling nets.
The pieces began to fit.
“You fucking crazy bastards! Forget about prisoners or anything else, they all need to be killed—!!”
Colonel Meijhem could snap back to reality thanks to the headquarters company commander, who shouted again. He was still glaring at the prisoners as though he were about to kill them while still holding on to his pistol.
He was not the type of person to behave this way. According to international law, respecting prisoners was one of the headquarters company commander’s favorite sayings.
“Hey! What are you doing?! Hurry up and take the prisoners away!”
“Uh, where should we take them?”
“Anywhere out of the headquarters company commander’s sight!”
In front of them were a group of prisoners, perfectly bound and kneeling.
About thirty individuals, mixed in with elves and dwarves.
As Colonel Meijhem hurriedly approached, the headquarters company commander, who was desperately aiming at the prisoners with his pistol, looked at him with a pale face.
“…C-Commander.”
“Headquarters company commander. What’s going on?”
A chilling tone escaped from Colonel Meijhem’s mouth. Firing a gun at the prisoners was absolutely forbidden.
However, the headquarters company commander was about to lose control and shoot. This behavior was utterly out of character for him.
Hearing Colonel Meijhem’s question, the headquarters company commander hesitated before stuttering out a few words.
“City hall, inside….”
“City hall?”
“Inside, in there….”
Looking again, the headquarters company commander’s face was not pale out of fear of Colonel Meijhem’s reprimand regarding the chaos.
“C-city hall, inside… people… c-civilians….”
He was terrified.
He was clearly afraid of what he had seen.
And his gaze and finger were pointed directly at the city hall.
The city hall was in a horrific state, with about three-tenths of the building collapsed and half of it blackened by smoke.
Inside the gaping front door, Colonel Meijhem furrowed his brow upon seeing the writhing darkness.
“Hold tight…!”
“Gah…! Commander…! Just put down the pistol first…!”
“AAAH!”
The soldiers holding onto the headquarters company commander seized the opportunity to kick the pistol from his hand far away. The soldiers were sweating cold in a manner that was anything but ordinary.
Colonel Meijhem felt a piercing anxiety surge through his body.
His eyes, wildly shifting in panic, were still directed toward the darkened city hall.
“Commander.”
At that moment, Reverend Antenelli, looking pale, approached Colonel Meijhem. Meijhem turned his gaze away from the city hall.
“…Reverend Antenelli.”
Reverend Antenelli’s face was so disheveled that it looked as though he had seen something he should not have, contorting as he tried to manage it.
If he expressed such disgust, what in the world could be inside?
As if answering Colonel Meijhem’s unspoken question, Reverend Antenelli nodded and shouldered his rifle.
“…Wait, I think you should follow me into the city hall.”
“Let’s go.”
Regardless of what this anxiety was about, he felt that it needed to be confirmed quickly.
It was an action born not out of instinct, but out of a sense of responsibility heavily mixed with his duties as a commander.
Colonel Meijhem, accompanied by his aide and several soldiers following him, stepped into the city hall behind a slightly staggering Reverend Antenelli. They were welcomed by a thick, rancid darkness.
“This way.”
On the opposite side of the collapsed city hall hall, sunlight was streaming into a room with a door completely toppled over. Reverend Antenelli guided Colonel Meijhem there.
As soon as they entered the room.
“……”
Colonel Meijhem, his aide, and the soldiers lost their words.
“This can’t be…….?”
“No, it can’t be, right? Reverend! This is a lie, right?”
“…This is really a nightmare.”
“Ugh… Gah—!”
The room was a blackened shell, like a charred stove.
In the center of that room were things huddled together, equally blackened. No, they were people.
Two black sticks with five protrusions at the ends and a round something attached to the body. Two legs visible beneath.
Are they pointed-eared?
No, they weren’t.
Are they short?
No, they weren’t.
Are they human?
They are human.
Then, are they… soldiers?
……
……
……
No, they are not.
Without a shadow of a doubt, they are civilians.
– The order was to occupy the city of Palts as quickly as possible.
The message relayed by the communications sergeant echoed in his ears.
What followed immediately was tinnitus.
A piercing sound where no noise could be heard. A white veil seemed to cover his vision. It felt like all the blood was draining from his body.
He saw the body of a woman. Clutched in her arms was something small.
A child.
Grown to the size of Colonel Meijhem’s first son———.
“Commander! Commander!”
When he came to his senses, Colonel Meijhem found himself emerging from the city hall. In his quick and rough strides, there was not a hint of hesitation.
Colonel Meijhem’s left hand moved. Roughly adjusting his waist, his left hand soon raised the pistol.
After rapidly exiting the city hall, Colonel Meijhem’s wide-open eyes scanned the surroundings. He soon spotted what he was looking for.
Colonel Meijhem walked straight toward it. And he raised his left hand.
His one remaining arm, shaking from holding the pistol, was aimed directly at the crown of a lowly dwarf who had his head bowed.
In other words, he was aiming at a prisoner.
“You… you bastards…!”
The sour smell still tormented his nostrils. It felt disgusting. So filthy it felt like he was rolling in muck alongside the scraps.
“Calm down! Commander!”
“They are prisoners!”
Some senior soldiers and his aide tried to hold onto Colonel Meijhem’s arm and stop him. Regardless, veins bulged in the colonel’s eyes.
In those bloodshot eyes, tears began to swell.
Despite the blurry vision and the various pleas from the soldiers trying to stop him, Colonel Meijhem stubbornly loaded the pistol with his mouth. The harsh sound echoed coldly, instantly silencing the surroundings.
“Why did you kill them… innocent civilians…?”
“……”
“Answer me———!!”
– Bang! Bang! BANG!
Three shots rang out into the air. The prisoners flinched and ducked at the sound. Colonel Meijhem was filled with rage at the sight.
“You… you….”
“……”
“You worthless bastards….”
His finger resting on the trigger tightened.
Should he pull it?
Let’s pull it.
Let’s kill these abominable creatures, born of filth, right now.
Colonel Meijhem felt foolish. He felt like a complete idiot for having indirectly refused the subtle orders from higher-ups while treating the captured prisoners according to international law.
“This…! This damn fool! You dimwit!”
Those words were directed at himself. A pain that felt as if his heart was being crushed pulsed through him.
If he had mercilessly killed the prisoners who slowed their advance, as the higher-ups had commanded.
If he had quickly entered the city before those demons, born of wickedness, could slaughter civilians.
Then, perhaps, they would have all survived.
If he had moved according to orders. If he had disregarded international law and entered the city days faster.
Then, the child inside the city hall… that charred child, might have——.
– Crack—!!
Clenching his teeth until blood seeped from his gums, Colonel Meijhem thrust the pistol forward. The muzzle pressed down hard against the forehead of the dwarf.
“Did I kill them?”
He did not kill them.
“Was my order… wrong?”
He simply complied with international law.
“Because of me, civilians… died like that?”
That might be.
“AHHHH———!!”
– KAKAKAKA—!
The pistol was hurled forcefully, scraping against the ground. Colonel Meijhem spoke with a trembling voice, barely managing to get the words out.
“We… complied with international law….”
“…C-Commander.”
“Prisoners… will be spared according to international laws… and entrusted all to the 2nd company….”
“……”
“Record the evidence of war crimes… so that during post-war processing, these damn bastards… all of those involved in this incident… will be sentenced to death without exception….”
The words were uttered slowly, with great difficulty. The soldiers hearing that hung their heads heavily.
“We are soldiers….”
“……”
“And soldiers, soldiers, soldiers….”
What the hell is a soldier?
The eyes of the headquarters company commander, staring vacantly at the prisoners, caught his attention.
It felt like everything was chastising him sternly.
Colonel Meijhem turned his back and walked away, almost as if to flee.
The burned civilians. The corpse of a woman who had perished in the fiery blaze, clutching a child tightly.
The civilians who needed to survive no matter what were dead.
The soldier who had stood there was alive.
It was a dreadful contradiction.