"Beyond this point is General Staff Headquarters. May I ask the purpose of your visit?"
After staring at the summons notice for a few minutes and finally resigning myself, I proceeded to General Staff Headquarters.
Just imagining what Bern might say next is enough to dampen my spirits.
"…I am Lieutenant Touri Lowe. I have come in response to the summons from General Staff Headquarters."
"Confirmed. Please enter, Lieutenant."
The General Staff Headquarters in Winn was an old-fashioned building located at the back of the base.
The soldier at the reception was wearing a shiny golden military uniform and had a prominent aristocratic mustache, which left a strong impression.
Come to think of it, wasn't the General Staff Headquarters in the capital only staffed by nobles?
There were marble sculptures inside the building, making it more like an art museum than a military facility.
"Major Bern Valou is waiting for you. Please proceed to the medical room at the back."
"Understood."
Bern is currently staying in the medical room at General Staff Headquarters.
He might use his injuries as an excuse to commit some kind of sexual harassment.
I need to mentally prepare myself and try to stay as calm and mechanical as possible.
"I'm Lieutenant Touri Lowe. I request permission to enter."
"Get in."
After taking a few deep breaths, I calmed myself down and prepared myself for whatever he might say.
I knocked on the door to the hospital room where Bern was waiting and opened it.
────The smell of death.
"Welcome."
As soon as I opened the door, a pungent odor of rot assaulted my nose.
It was the familiar smell of decaying flesh, the kind I had encountered on the battlefield.
"What's the matter, enter. Come in front of me now."
"…Yes."
From the depths of the hospital room came the voice of the demon, Bern.
His voice was hoarse and muffled, his words tangled with a viscous phlegm.
"It's been a while, Touri Lowe."
I followed his instructions, walking slowly with a clacking sound until I reached the bed where Bern Valou lay.
"─────!"
"Haha, what's with that face?"
There, lying there, the skeletal remains of Bern Valou were covered in blood and bandages.
…His leg was necrotic and half of it had been amputated.
The sheets were dark red and had stringy yellow serous fluid on them.
His lips were purple and cracked and dry.
"…It's been a while, Major Bern. You've really gone through a lot."
"Oh, I look so thin now. I've lost half my weight."
The right side of his face was covered in burns and his eyes were sunken.
His body was covered with pressure sores and bruises, and the area around his sides was inflamed.
His cheeks were hollow, and his muscles were withered.
…I don't know how he's still alive in this state.
"It's going to be difficult for me to continue as a staff officer with injuries like this."
"I think so too."
I see, it makes sense that he was ordered to recover in the capital.
…He is truly on the brink of death.
"I took three bullets. Then, I was roasted by a grenade. Lieutenant Reiteryu said it's a miracle I'm still alive."
"It certainly looks that way…"
"Hahaha, I really got played."
He weakly laughed, looking at his blackened legs.
Even if he recovers in this condition, he will never be able to walk again.
"Hey, Touri Lowe. Do you hate the people from the former Sabbath?"
"Eh? The former Sabbath?"
"Yeah. The former Sabbatian government forces, the ones you enjoyed killing. Do you hate their leader, Sylph Nova?"
"Well, I certainly do…"
Bern asked me this question with a smile on his face.
If you ask me if I hate Sylph, I can undoubtedly say that I do.
She has taken away things that were precious to me…
I must kill Sylph without hesitation.
"Me too!"
"Huh?!"
So, at that moment I replied to Bern.
He yelled in rage, a vein popping out of his forehead.
"It's maddening, infuriating, annoying, bothersome, disgusting! It's already a lost cause! Just stop struggling! Seriously, she's so damn irritating!"
"Uh, Major Bern?"
"What the hell is with that bitch?! Does she want to get in my way that badly? Why can't she realize everything's already falling apart? There's nothing worse than an idiot with only sharp battle instincts!"
I was left stunned by the sheer intensity of his fury.
"Ough! Oeugh!!!"
"Ah, wait, Major Bern!!"
"Ugh, guh."
"Oh no. Nurse, prepare for tracheal suction!"
Soon, Bern started choking, his face turning pale as he collapsed.
He was nearly choking, so I hugged him and squeezed his stomach, forcing him to vomit.
"Cough, cough! Ah, I thought I was going to die."
"Major Bern, don't lose your temper and nearly die! I'll be the one held responsible!"
"Wow, this is the first time I've seen you yell. Hahaha."
"Please don't suddenly return to your usual mood…"
After that, a nurse came hurriedly into the room.
I left the treatment to them and sighed in exasperation.
"Well, that's how it is. Our feelings are in agreement for the first time."
"…Yes."
"Now, Lieutenant Touri. No, Austin's new savior! Hurrah, hero!"
"Can you stop that? It's disgusting."
Having calmed down after his outburst, Bern returned to his usual lighthearted demeanor.
…This personality is probably his "mask".
I feel like that moment when he yelled earlier was him really showing his true colors.
"So, may I ask why you called me here?"
"Hmm, oh right."
Once his condition stabilized, I asked him about the purpose of the summon again.
"Well, I thought we might chat for a bit."
"Just chatting?"
Bern only gave a dubious smile in response to my question.
I couldn't tell if he had ulterior motives or if he just called me to kill time.
"What do you want to talk about by calling someone as boring as me?"
"Hmm, maybe about recent events?"
But there's one thing I can say for sure.
Bern's gaze is fixed not on me but on something distant.
"I heard you had a month off. How was it? Did you have fun?"
"…Well, if it weren't for the sudden call, it would have been a great vacation."
"Hahaha. Having your days off ruined by emergency summons is the fate of a soldier."
It may seem like an ordinary conversation, but this is Bern Valou I'm talking to.
It's better to be cautious and think about what lies behind it.
"Okay, let me ask. Do you have a favorite type of gun?"
"…I like the Sabbatian rifle. They fit well in my hands."
"Oh, I see. Apparently, there are quite a few soldiers who prefer Sabbatian rifles. Austin rifles are more durable, though."
Bern seemed to be enjoying himself and continued the conversation.
The injuries look so severe that it's just horrifying.
"By the way, I heard you're good at party tricks. I'm bored in this bed. Show me something."
"…Ack, ack, it's Mr. Fox. Meow, meow, it's Mr. Cat."
"Ventriloquism? You're pretty good at it."
But in my eyes…
Bern Valou genuinely seemed to be enjoying the conversation.
"Are you satisfied?"
"Ah, and while you're at it, could you call me 'big brother♪' in that cat voice of yours?"
"…May I leave now?"
"I'm only kidding."
I tried to engage in small talk, but it was just trivial conversation.
Maybe he really was just killing time by calling me.
"I'm afraid I'm not in a position to chat with you, Major Bern. Please excuse me, but it's time for me to go."
"Okay, okay… Geez, you could at least humor an injured person's attempt to pass the time."
Did he realize that I was seriously about leaving?
He made a sulky face, scratched his head, and got to the main topic.
"As you can see, I'm seriously injured. I don't know if I'll be able to stand on the battlefield again."
"…With the medical technology available in the capital, I'm sure you'll make a full recovery."
"Maybe so."
Bern Valou said this, gazing sadly out the window.
His face looked lonely, as if he was entrusting a precious toy to someone.
"Lieutenant Touri Lowe. What I'm about to tell you is merely my speculation."
"Yes?"
"Austin will lose."
He spoke without any emotion whatsoever.
It was as if he was confirming something that was already obvious.
"Austin will lose because of my blunder in the crucial moment."
"…Do you think so, Major?"
"Yeah. Within a few years we will lose, be overrun, and become a colony."
Bern is usually a devilish man who spews nothing but lies and schemes.
But It felt like those words were spoken from the heart.
"Our production capacity has already reached its limit. We don't have enough manpower, and we're out of bullets. We'll be able to fight properly for only another year."
"…"
"Austin is on death row awaiting execution."
For someone like Bern Valou, who never gave up on "victory" no matter how dire the situation was…
It was probably the first time he had made the decision to "give up".
"It's rare to hear that from you. I thought you were the type who never whined."
"I'm not whining. I'm just telling you the truth."
It's just as he said.
At that time, Austin had no chance of winning.
I think anyone who looked at the data on remaining food supplies, production capacity, etc. would come to the same conclusion.
"I'm planning on retiring from the military and taking refuge in the Sabbath."
"That's…!"
"The odds are already stacked against us, and now I've withdrawn from the battlefield. Do you still think Austin has a chance of winning?"
"…"
"Until now, we wouldn't have been able to win without me."
In such a critical situation.
Even Bern Valou has given up on the outcome of the war.
"But I thought maybe you could make something happen."
"Hah…"
This guy is trying to shift responsibility onto me.
"Why me?"
"There's no one else. Someone who might have a chance to win."
His utterly casual way of speaking left me speechless.
It's as if he were a child who had thrown away a game because he was about to lose a game.
"I don't want to lose. I won't be satisfied until I teach that Sylph brat a lesson."
"Hah…"
"But with me in this state, we have no chance of winning no matter how hard I try. At a time like this, what if there was a commander who kept achieving results beyond what I could even imagine?"
He stuck out his tongue playfully.
As always, he speaks as if he's making fun of people.
"I heard about what you did in Argalia. You're quite something."
"Yes."
"This war is impossible if you think about it normally. But I thought maybe you could do something."
But the scary thing is…
There was not a hint of "lies" in his statements today.
"If you can refuse if you want. How about you try being my successor… as chief of staff?"
He was speaking from the bottom of his heart, intending to entrust everything to me.
"…I decline."
"Guess it's impossible after all, huh?
"I'm a commoner recruited into the army. What made you think I could be chief of staff?"
"Because you've been doing things that even the chief of staff shouldn't be able to handle without batting an eye."
Bern said that and laughed heartily.
There is no sense of defeat in his demeanor.
"Okay, I understand. I'll recommend someone else. Sorry for taking up your time, Lieutenant Touri Lowe."
"…No, it's fine."
Bern put an end to the topic rather abruptly with that.
Thus, my meeting with Bern concluded.
It's like he's both playful and sulky today.
"…Seriously, those old Sabbath folks are hopeless. Hah."
I felt like I had seen this attitude of Bern's before.
It was the image of a gamer being crushed and deflated by someone of higher rank.
"Hmm? You can go now, Lieutenant Touri."
"…"
…The moment I realized this, I looked down on this man in disgust.
Even though Austin's soldiers fought with their lives on the line to protect their hometown and their families…
For this man, even defeat was nothing more than a mere "loss in a game."
So once the outcome was decided, he threw in the towel and handed the controller to another player.
What does he think about the comrades who fought and fell under his command?
It was a mistake to rely on such a man for the war.
"Major Bern, what are you planning to do in the Sabbath?"
"Oh, me?"
Even if we lose, you should at least command until the end. That's the responsibility Bern Valou should take.
I somehow managed to swallow those words.
Nothing will change by criticizing Bern Valou here.
"It's a secret♪"
"…I see."
For now, this man is still my superior.
Currently, he is one of the most powerful people in the Austin military.
My own position would only worsen if I insult him. I can't let my emotions be disturbed by this man any further.
Thinking that, I managed to ignore what he was saying.
"That's all I have to say. I will now excuse myself."
"Ah, don't glare at me with those scary eyes, Lieutenant Touri. It's ruining your cute face."
"…"
There's nothing more to discuss with this man.
As a courtesy to my superior officer, I saluted him before leaving the room.
If what he said is true, he will soon resign from the military.
In that case, I'll probably never see his face again.
"Well, leave it to me."
With that thought in mind, I opened the door to my hospital room and was about to step out into the hallway when…
"Even on this side, I'll do what I can."
The cheerful voice of Bern Valou lingered in my ears just before the door closed.
***
Looking back…
It was a major misunderstanding on my part to think that Bern Valou had thrown in the towel.
Regardless of his true nature, he had not given up on making Austin win.
Indeed, after that, he retired from the front lines and moved to the Sabbath where he began his treatment.
Yet, Bern's malice remained undiminished.
He only retired from the front lines because, "There was no chance of victory for Austin otherwise."
Thus, the Austin Army, now without Bern Valou, entered the final stages of the war.