I, who was eager to retire, became an Imperial General.

Chapter 25 John felt he was capable again.

John felt he was back to normal.

After learning from Wendy that Leia, who seemed to be a complete weakling, was actually an ace recruit.

He instantly realized that his previously failed plan to shift blame could now be put into practice again.

Of course, before carrying out the mission, he had to have a proper talk with Leia, the scapegoat and super henchman.

After all, having Wendy, who was causing trouble, was already exhausting enough for him.

If another phoenix chick were to appear, he truly couldn't imagine what kind of hellish life awaited him.

Ah, great gods of this world!

Please help me adjust Leia's stats so that, except for her combat power which is at full score, all other stats are zero.

No, everything else is negative, negative, okay?!
I promise to offer you tribute later.

John prayed frantically in his heart, then suppressed his anxiety and turned to Leia, who was sitting in front of him with a slightly furrowed brow, seemingly unaccustomed to being so close to people, and said with a kind expression:

"Warrant Lieutenant Leia, after Wendy's introduction, I am aware of your combat capabilities. Also, would you mind revealing your previous position in the Black Hawk Special Forces?"

"..."

Leia did not answer, but fell silent, staring blankly at John, making it difficult to fathom her thoughts.

Just as John was feeling a little uneasy under the other person's gaze, wondering if he had spoken too softly and the other person hadn't heard him clearly, and was about to repeat himself, Wendy, who had been chattering away beside him, spoke up as if to claim credit:

"I know that. Warrant Officer Leia is an assault soldier, after all, that's the position where Warrant Officer Leia's strength can be best utilized."

"Moreover, her position is unique in the Black Hawk Special Forces, Captain. Now you know how valuable Warrant Officer Leia is as an ace rookie!"

Assault troops?
I do know that; there is indeed such a branch of service in the army's organizational structure.

But aren't Black Hawk Down the Imperials' assassination squad?
They're not army assault troops, so where does this "assault soldier" position come from?

This is not reasonable at all!
After all, the main task of assault troops is to draw fire from the main force, thereby creating an opportunity for the main force to attack.

Although this type of soldier is one of the core soldiers on the battlefield and can play a key role in major battles.

But Jet's Black Hawk Special Forces are the Empire's assassination force. These people rely on illusion magic to walk without making a sound when carrying out missions.

Putting assault troops into this kind of unit is like entrusting a house full of New Year's goods to college students to look after.

Pureness is a side effect!

Something is wrong, nine out of ten times something is wrong.

Wait a minute, could it be that Leia is not good at assassination, which is why Jet singled her out as an assault soldier in the assassination unit?

Aside from this possibility, there seems to be no other reason that can explain it clearly.

Thinking of this, John immediately turned his gaze to Leia, and the next second, under his almost ecstatic gaze, the silver-haired girl with her head bowed responded in a muffled voice:
"The colonel said that I have no talents other than fighting."

"I know that I may not be able to be of much help to you in this mission, but I will try my best."

For someone with social anxiety, it's quite impressive that you were able to say so much in one go.

Not bad, very energetic!
Looking at Leia, whose hands were clenched so tightly they turned white from nervousness when she spoke because she wasn't used to talking to people, Warrant Officer John, who saw through everything, understood perfectly.

But he was soon overwhelmed by an unprecedented sense of happiness.

Assault soldiers are great! Assault soldiers don't need to use their brains; all they have to do is charge into battle.

Warrant Officer John needs someone like you who won't cause trouble!
I thought it was just a burden, but it turned out to be an epic card.

This feeling of going from hell to heaven is just so amazing, haha!

John's inner demons roared with laughter, but outwardly he showed no sign of it. Instead, he coughed lightly, then reached out and patted Leia on the shoulder, smiling as he spoke to her:

"There's no need to be so self-deprecating, Warrant Officer Leia. After all, in my opinion, apart from uncontrollable factors caused by physical defects, there isn't much difference in everyone's intelligence."

"Besides, you are still young and have plenty of time to try different paths. You haven't even tried or worked hard for it yet, so how can you deny yourself because of someone else's words?"

"If you ask me, you can relax and have more confidence in yourself."

"Colonel Jeter is nothing but a mission-obsessed guy. You can completely ignore his biased assessment of you."

"After all, in my opinion, we can do without anyone in this joint operation, but we absolutely cannot do without you, Warrant Officer Leia!"

John spoke with conviction, his tone full of sincerity and seriousness.

Nonsense, if you don't come, who am I supposed to take the blame for?

I can't do it myself, can I?

With my pathetic fighting ability, I'd probably be sent to meet the Three Pure Ones by that Serbian dragon girl in three seconds.

"Captain, Captain, what about me? What about me? Wendy is important too, right?"

Seeing John praising the new lieutenant so highly, Wendy, seemingly feeling that her position as John's number one follower was being challenged, hurriedly asked him for details, her big eyes looking at John expectantly.

She was John's old subordinate, and although they had only known each other for two days, she had arrived earlier than Leia.

As a veteran subordinate, how could she possibly lose to a newcomer?
Even if the other side is an elite recruit, it won't work!
Wendy mentally rallied herself while nervously watching John, awaiting the warrant officer's reply.

"Yes, yes, Wendy is very important too. You're my right-hand woman, and this operation definitely can't be without you!"

John gave a forced smile in response, but inwardly he was seething with anger.

In fact, if John hadn't been afraid that leaving Wendy, that idiot, in the military would cause him more trouble while he was away on missions, he would never have brought her along.

After all, the fact that this guy had ruined his plans twice already proved just how wicked the other party was.

Honestly, if John didn't know that there were no true villains in this world, he might have even suspected that Wendy was the villain. After all, he had only made up the mission on the spot to fool the other party, so how did this guy find the real target as soon as he took over?
And twice!

After two rounds, the allied forces, to which the protagonist's camp belonged, were severely weakened. If this isn't the villain, then who is?
So there's definitely something wrong with this guy; I'll have to be more careful around him!
Lest I get corrupted by this idiot and become a villainous leader someday, then I'll have nowhere to cry.

John reminded himself, while Wendy was unaware that her idol, Warrant Officer John, was whispering about him in her mind.

Upon hearing John acknowledge her as an important member of the mission, she immediately raised her head arrogantly and gave Leia a look that said, "See? I'm the one Warrant Officer John trusts the most. You, a newbie, are far inferior to me."

However, Leia didn't seem to care about Wendy's provocation.

After hearing John's words of comfort, she froze on the spot, seemingly never expecting that she, who had no commanding abilities whatsoever, would be so firmly chosen by this man, whom even Colonel Jet couldn't help but call a true genius.

Having grown accustomed to being rejected, she was momentarily dazed, the other person's words echoing in her ears.

A strange emotion, inexplicable to her, suddenly welled up in her heart.

My nose felt a little sore for some reason.

Feeling the strange changes occurring in her body, Leia couldn't help but feel a little panicked.

Just as she was about to turn around and flee this strange tent, heading to the room where she practiced her spells, hoping to use the reassuring darkness to restore her to her original state.

The next second, the moment her tense gaze met John's in mid-air, she was surprised to find...

The panic in my heart inexplicably vanished, replaced by an indescribable sense of peace.

So, was that feeling just now an illusion?

Leia was puzzled and remained silent, staring blankly at John across from her.

what's the situation?
Why is this scapegoat staring at me? Is there something on my face?
That can't be right. When I looked in the mirror when I went into the tent, I didn't see anything dirty.

Should I take another look?
Seeing that Leia was staring at him without saying a word, John couldn't help but feel uneasy.

But then I thought about it, and there were two people in my tent, both of them of the opposite sex. Looking in the mirror in front of them would seem a bit vain.

John suppressed the urge to tidy himself up and instead pretended to be a little hot, first raising his hand to vigorously wipe his face.

Then, he casually took out his pocket watch, glanced at it, ignored Wendy who was blinking incessantly and seemingly 'showing off to the newcomer,' and turned to Leia, who was deep in thought, and said in a deep voice:
"Although I would love to continue our conversation, I regret to inform you, Warrant Officer Leia, that it is getting late and we should probably depart."

"After all, the rest of the troops for this operation have already assembled, and it wouldn't be good to keep everyone waiting any longer, would it?"

"So, let's talk about it on the way."

John clapped his hands, making some noise to bring Leia, who was inexplicably lost in thought, back to reality. Seeing her nod, he then nodded to Wendy, who was watching him excitedly, and gave her instructions:

"Wendy, go and gather the members of Squad 14. We should head out."

"Yes, Captain!"

……

Meanwhile, just as John was about to lead his troops to assemble and set off to carry out this suppression mission.

In the study of a private residence in the town of Bahamut.

"Wow!"

Under the bright lights, a woman with red hair and a slender figure sat in a chair in front of a desk, frowning as she examined the intelligence report in her hand.

Upon seeing the description above—that the three Allied legions had completely withdrawn from the Walden front and that the Imperial Army had occupied Walden Pond and was now encircling and annihilating the remaining forces in the Walden area—her brows furrowed involuntarily.

She didn't put the intelligence report on the table until she had read the entire document.

His wine-red pupils looked at the intelligence report on the table, but a mocking smile slowly appeared on his delicate face.

Then he muttered to himself:
"I thought they would be a good buyer, but I never expected that in the end, they would be no match for the Empire at all?"

"The Allied forces? It seems they're nothing special."

They clearly had a numerical advantage and also possessed a device to counter the Imperial Magic Soldiers.

As long as we hold the front line, we can win this war.

However, as a result, this group was ambushed by a small team sent by the Empire, which raided their anti-magic device stronghold.

This resulted in the complete loss of equipment to counter the magic soldiers.

In just one night, no, less than three hours, they were utterly routed by the Empire's attack.

Even a brigadier general from the camp was captured by the Empire.

Can such an ally really help them achieve their goal of overthrowing the empire?

"Perhaps it's time to find a new place to go."

Serbia muttered to herself as she slowly rose and walked to the bookshelf. Her gaze was fixed on the map directly above the bookshelf, on the map representing the town of Bahamut, with the areas representing her own forces circled in red.

A flicker of struggle crossed his eyes, but it was quickly replaced by determination.

Just as she was preparing to gather the gang members, intending to leave Bahamut that day to find another way out.

Accompanied by a series of hurried footsteps, the door to her study was suddenly pushed open.

Immediately afterwards, a tall man walked in, surrounded by a group of guards.

Then, under her icy gaze, the newcomer first smiled and bowed slightly, then stated his purpose:
"Your Excellency Miss Serbia, Baron Hardman has sent me to invite you to the castle to discuss important matters. Would that be convenient for you?"

……

(End of this chapter)