Chapter 54

The Importance of Early Education

After the graduation ceremony ended, the newly commissioned officers were assigned to the subjugation campaign.

This time, the existing unit structure had been completely dismantled. Only a small number of personnel carefully selected by the commander and me would be divided into ten teams and deployed.

Rather than moving together, the ten teams would fan out from the zone and conduct separate searches.

Of course, each team had fewer than ten members, so we weren’t expected to engage monsters immediately.

The plan was to scout the area, regroup at base camp, share the locations and movement routes of large-class monsters, and only then begin the actual subjugation.

The commander took charge of the center with experienced soldiers as the leader of Team One, while I was assigned to Team Ten with the newly commissioned officers.

“The subjugation campaign is just beginning, yet he’s also making me write the entrance exam.”

“Please don’t complain so loudly, Lord Haydam. The team members can hear you.”

At Meursault’s warning, the others all turned their gazes elsewhere and pretended they hadn’t heard anything.

Why didn’t this bastard Meursault join Team One under the commander? Why was he hanging around Team Ten and intimidating the new officers?

For reference, Plato’s abilities had been recognized, so he was currently leading Team Nine as its captain, commanding several other newly commissioned officers.

Stay-at-home Wifey, whom I had shoved into the subjugation force, was probably somewhere among Teams Three through Eight, which were composed of ordinary soldiers.

The only familiar faces on my team were Lucas and Bones.

Perhaps because neither of them had particularly pleasant memories of me, they flinched when I looked at them and quickly disappeared, claiming they would scout farther ahead.

The area assigned to us was along the outer edge of the zone, where the barrier should normally have stood.

Large-class monsters appeared much less frequently here.

It was an appropriate scouting area for new officers with no real combat experience, and it was also perfect for me since I had come to inspect the barrier.

There was still no sign of it when Meursault spoke.

“By the way… I never expected you to make Cadet Plato do something like that.”

“Something like what? It’s not as though I ordered him to do anything bad.”

“But you knew, didn’t you? You knew that graduation speech would make things difficult for him in the future.”

I gave Meursault a crooked smile.

“Since when did you care so much about other people? And he’s not a cadet anymore. He’s a second lieutenant.”

Plato and the other academy graduates were no longer cadets. They were now commissioned officers holding the rank of second lieutenant.

Of course, they had no seniority whatsoever, so their rank was practically meaningless….

“It seems they never did decide on your rank, Lord Haydam.”

I had expected the commander to assign me one by the time the subjugation campaign began.

Perhaps he had noticed that I was already speaking casually to Meursault, who was a major general.

Or perhaps he realized that if he gave me some ambiguous rank, I would inevitably commit insubordination.

Either way, he had not granted me a formal military rank.

Well… any rank would have been awkward, so simply calling me a “team leader” might have been the best solution.

“Don’t worry about Plato. His father’s a captain. What could possibly happen to him?”

“That is remarkably cold of you.”

“Meursault, Plato is the kind of person who causes trouble for others. He’s not the kind who gets victimized by them.”

“That… is true.”

Meursault slowly closed his eyes, probably remembering the graduation speech in which Plato had exposed my past.

Fortunately—or perhaps unfortunately—the commander appeared to have decided not to pursue that matter.

Of course, he might already have scolded Plato somewhere I couldn’t see….

Still, Plato’s limbs had all been intact before we left for the subjugation campaign today, so nothing serious could have happened.

“My mind went completely blank back then too.”

“At least it ended without trouble.”

Meursault nodded, seemingly convinced that worrying about Plato was pointless, then continued.

“I understand that there’s no need to worry about him, but….”

“But?”

“I would also advise you not to trust Plato too much. Such unpredictable behavior will not appear only in something as minor as a graduation speech.”

I was well aware that Plato’s impulsive actions occasionally crossed the line….

But Meursault’s lecture was unusually long today.

He had spoken as though participating in the subjugation campaign were nothing special, but perhaps he was at least a little nervous.

“Still, you were moved too, weren’t you?”

“Me?”

“Weren’t you? You were clapping pretty enthusiastically.”

“Ahem…. You there. Come see me for a moment.”

Meursault coughed awkwardly, then walked away while staring in a direction where it was impossible to tell whom he was addressing.

That bastard really can’t be honest with himself.

Meursault was an NPC who had failed to enter the military academy, started as an ordinary soldier, and climbed all the way to the rank of major general through his own strength.

He must have been pushed around endlessly by academy graduates before attaining that rank.

Even after reaching his current position, he had probably continued to be looked down upon by officers raised and sponsored by those people.

Now that the rotten system had been abolished, he must have felt immensely relieved.

His uncharacteristic concern for Plato was likely born from guilt over leaving a task he himself should have accomplished to a young cadet.

Meursault had said that making Plato do such a thing would cause trouble for him later.

What he had yet to realize was that because Plato had done it, Meursault could now treat Anton’s son without prejudice despite Anton being the leader of the pro-Daphne faction.

By the way, Anton must know I’m the one writing the exam, yet he hasn’t reacted at all….

Just then, the team members walking ahead became noisy.

“What is it?”

“Lord Haydam, Lucas and Bones….”

“Move.”

When I heard the names of the two who had deliberately gone scouting farther away to avoid me, I wondered whether they had been injured.

I pushed through the team members and stepped forward.

“……What the hell?”

The two of them were holding something that should not have been here.

***

The Love Zone player, Long-Tailed Tit.

Before being transported into the game, he had been a survival expert. His talents had caught the attention of the Love Zone’s Man-God, the player known as “God,” and he had been given a special mission.

His task was to travel to the Cola Zone and gather information about Dopamine Addict.

The Man-God had even authorized him to torture Cola Zone NPCs if necessary.

Long-Tailed Tit had asked what he should do if the Cola Zone NPCs knew nothing about Dopamine Addict, but the Man-God had explained that Dopamine Addict was pursuing the Illegitimate Child route.

Therefore, all he needed to do was investigate “Haydam Goodman.”

As expected, the Man-God knows everything!

Several irreverent players seemed to doubt the Man-God’s abilities, but Long-Tailed Tit believed in him completely.

That was why he had willingly undertaken the grueling journey from the Love Zone to the Cola Zone in the body of a child.

As a player, Long-Tailed Tit possessed a fair amount of knowledge about the Cola Zone.

He knew that around this time, Cola Zone NPCs should have been swarming outside the zone to participate in the monster subjugation campaign.

However, after arriving at the Cola Zone at precisely the right time, he encountered a major problem.

There are… fewer soldiers than I expected.

He didn’t know what had happened, but the Cola Army, which should ordinarily have poured out in overwhelming numbers, was nowhere to be seen.

The only soldiers he occasionally spotted seemed to be patrolling in pairs.

This is troublesome….

There was a saying that the best place to hide a tree was in a forest.

Long-Tailed Tit had planned to blend in with the masses of soldiers by pretending to be a new recruit.

But with so few soldiers around, a child like him would inevitably stand out.

Had Dopamine Addict interfered with the deployment of the troops?

Assuming they had started under the same conditions, Dopamine Addict should also have been merely a ten-year-old child.

Yet he had already reached the point where he could move an army.

I think I understand why the Man-God ordered me to investigate Dopamine Addict.

In truth, Long-Tailed Tit had always found Dopamine Addict’s followers in the Love Zone rather irritating.

But after witnessing this situation with his own eyes, he understood why they had been so determined to find out whether Dopamine Addict was on their side.

The Love Zone’s leader, God, was only capable of ordering around players like Long-Tailed Tit.

Dopamine Addict, meanwhile, was already moving an army of NPCs.

For now… I’ll need to change the plan.

Originally, he had intended to infiltrate the soldiers’ ranks and casually extract information by asking things such as, What kind of person is Lord Haydam?

But pretending to be a soldier was no longer possible.

Still, I’m a player. Manipulating a few Cola Zone NPCs will be easy.

Every player knew that Cola Zone NPCs were less intelligent than those of other zones, although they had better personalities.

At present, he looked like a ten-year-old child.

What would the Cola Zone NPCs do if they saw a child like him wandering through the snow?

If he claimed he had injured his leg and could no longer move, they would surely approach him without suspicion and attempt to help.

When the first one came close, he would slash his throat with a knife.

Then, while the remaining soldier was still confused and panicking, Long-Tailed Tit would subdue him and drag him away.

They seem to patrol in pairs, which is perfect. Kill one, keep the other alive, and extract information from him.

They would never imagine that a ten-year-old child could harm them.

Nor would trained soldiers ever expect to be defeated by an injured child abandoned in the snow.

Long-Tailed Tit was already looking forward to seeing their expressions when they realized they had been deceived.

This is why playing Safe Zone is so much fun.

At first glance, being transported into the body of a ten-year-old might seem like a disadvantage.

However, as a veteran Safe Zone player, Long-Tailed Tit knew how to exploit this body to its fullest potential.

Even if this was the Cola Zone where Dopamine Addict resided, nothing could be done about the intelligence of its NPCs.

If he used the Cola Zone NPCs to deal a blow to Dopamine Addict, even the bastard followers back in the Love Zone would finally shut their mouths.

Thinking that way, Long-Tailed Tit lay collapsed in the snow and waited for the Cola Zone NPCs to approach, completely unaware of the fate awaiting him.

“—Lucas.”

Before long, a deep, rough voice came from nearby.

“Unless my eyes are playing tricks on me, there’s a brat lying facedown in the snow over there.”

“What?”

Still sprawled in the snow, Long-Tailed Tit clutched his knee and groaned as though injured.

If that’s Lucas, then he must be the newly commissioned officer…. Judging by the way the other one talks, that has to be Bones.

After quickly identifying the approaching Cola Zone NPCs, Long-Tailed Tit rejoiced inwardly.

Lucas and Bones had only just become officers.

They’ll be easy to handle.

Bones might have a foul mouth, but he was softhearted.

Even if Lucas died right in front of him, Bones would probably still hesitate to attack a child.

Lucas, on the other hand, was rational but followed regulations to the letter.

That meant Lucas had to die first.

Kill Lucas, then torture Bones.

Having settled on his plan, Long-Tailed Tit covered his mouth with his shoulder so they couldn’t see and smiled faintly.

First-timers on a subjugation campaign are no match for me.

He waited for them to come closer.

But….

Something was strange.

Why… aren’t they coming any closer?

Unable to suppress his curiosity, Long-Tailed Tit pretended to writhe in pain and subtly glanced toward the direction of the voices.

Lucas and Bones stood there, staring down at him with eyes colder than ice.