Chapter 93 – Week 2 Epilogue – Northern Front [Julia Pahu]
Cold. As soon as I arrived at the northern front, it was a brief thought. Everything was dyed white. The uniforms of the passing soldiers, the military buildings, the distant plains, and the mountains so high that it is difficult to guess their height.
“Julia Parhu, welcome back to the northern front.”
“I will return to Balter right after this subjugation is over, so you don’t have to welcome me that much.”
Surely he was an officer senior? I couldn’t remember her in detail, but I could recognize her face. The attitude of treating the officer who pretends to be friendly is very cold, making those who approach him take a step back in surprise at the coldness.
“Let’s go straight to the operations department. I don’t like the cold in the north, so I want to go back soon.”
“Yes, then right away…”
I followed the man who was walking fast.
“Thanks for the help, Major Julia Pahu. No, lieutenant colonel.”
“Major. And I was discharged. Please call me Pahugyeong.”
The corner of her old man’s mouth trembled as he greeted Julia. It looked like nothing had changed from before. A machine that devises hard, unattractive strategies. Since she was a teacher at school, I expected things to change a bit, but the granddaughter he knew was still her granddaughter.
“She seems cold to her grandfather whom she hasn’t seen in a long time.”
“I was always the same. Show me a map. What the hell did you do to call me?”
Trying to lightly change her mood, Julia seemed uninterested as she walked past her general and headed towards the map. And she looked at the unfolded wire and let out a brief impression.
“… Am I dreaming?”
“Sir Julia, what’s wrong?”
“General Elton, why is there a red flag hanging over Fort Norton?”
The general shrugged his shoulders. Julia’s expression twisted fiercely. When she saw her ferocious face, she let out a small laugh. As she glanced at her adjutant, she brought a greeting iron and held it out to Julia.
“The commanding officer of Fort Norton pushed his eldest son here by providing various support and personal connections to the writer family after Juron. Showing a brash temperament, he was appointed as the second-in-command of a defense fortress without real power. Rumors circulated that it was a very grand banquet, and it was said that former soldiers had a drinking party and did not raise any boundaries.”
All the supply officers who brought the alcohol were executed. Elton added.
“Where is the commander?”
“The responsibility was so great that even if he lived, he risked his life to command, knowing that it would harm the family.”
His life was a kind of indulgences. Risking one’s life or committing suicide made people more tolerant. Unless it was treason, even the iron-blooded emperor did not bother to hold the remaining members of the family accountable. He couldn’t complain much because he knew that there was a backdoor deal because it was full of political issues.
“…As for the deputy commander.”
“That idiot ran away alone.”
“Crazy bastard…”
However, even though indulgences were right in front of their noses, the results of those who could not hold them were always the same as mine.
“The Queen was furious. His life was spared, but his arms were cut off and the Juron family was demoted to the rank of count. There was a mistake by the defense commander, but he said it was ambiguous to hold a single person accountable. If I had known that Juron was the idiot who even blew his lifeline while trying to grab the line, he wouldn’t have been put into Fort Norton.”
If the indulgence right in front of your nose is torn, your family and family will be punished. Since he was a marquis family, it could be said that the punishment was relatively light. Julia sighed heavily.
“The general didn’t have eyes for people.”
“I’m regretting it, will you come back to the northern part of Julia Pahu? This time, don’t push with all your might. The reason he sent you to the center from the northern front was all for you. Even if you kick your big father, I’ll set you up as the kicking head, and…”
Although he had absolutely no regrets about his family, General Elton’s proposal to support him with all his might was irresistible. He wasn’t interested in being recognized by anyone or being liked by someone. However, it was very attractive to present the conditions for him to unleash his talents to the fullest.
“It’s okay.”
Two weeks ago, obviously acceptable conditions. However, it was different now. A precious boy who could not be replaced with anything had a place in her heart. Of course, he was a promiscuous child who lusted after his stepmother and other female teachers and released his lust, but even that was understandably strong enough to connect with Marei.
“Julia Pahoo…”
“…I will say one last thing. General. I came out of the house. If you bring up the story just one more time, I will give up the emperor’s request and return to Balter. So General, what is your goal?”
“Yes, the old man’s lingering feelings were a bit filthy… Let’s talk in earnest. Our goal is to reclaim Fort Norton. Please tell us about the recovery operation when Fort Norton was captured right before the exile’s discharge. Sir Julia.”
Speaking of Fort Norton, it was a fortress that the Empress had poured a large amount of money into in a place that was already called the Wall of Heaven. Its role was a huge shield to stop the invasion of Orcs and monsters descending from the northern mountains. A place that can be dismissed as bullshit at the word that it was taken away. I was not interested in the idiot who threw a huge poop.
“The situation on the entire northern front is necessary. Please prepare the materials.”
Julia clutched the pendant tightly. It seemed that the operation meeting would be very long.
“Do you think there is a possibility?”
“Yes, General.”
From Julia’s point of view, he didn’t need to come. It was strange that the geniuses who crawled far from the apple school were risking their lives to plan a strategy, but it didn’t work. It’s just that under General Elton’s command, the idiots didn’t have the eyes to tell what was jewel and what was trash.
“It’s private, so feel free to call me. Even if you don’t have a family relationship, doesn’t that mean you don’t have a relationship with me?”
General Elton filled his glass with wine. The old general, who was approaching retirement, looked very small unlike before.
“…Would it be okay if it was Grandpa?”
“Call me whatever you want. You may not know it, but to me you are still my granddaughter. Are you satisfied with the life of Walter?”
Julia’s face instantly turned red with embarrassment. When she thinks of her little boy who couldn’t even come to her neck, her heart pounds like the girl of her first love. She hastily clears her throat, suppressing her emotions that rise like a fever.
“I was very worried when that green lizard took you, but it turned out to be a good thing for you. It’s not bad… Yes, it’s not bad… So what’s the guy you like doing?”
“I’m a student.”
General Elton’s hand, which was emptying his glass, stopped. He fills up the wine again and slowly wets his mouth.
“As a student… You are a little young. Is it the Imperial Military Academy or the Imperial University?”
“This is my student.”
The old general stared at his granddaughter. After being discharged from the army, he looked to see if her granddaughter had suddenly developed a sense of humor and was playing pranks on her. Julia’s eyes were very still and locked. That bastard. No, her own granddaughter was a teacher at Walter’s school. So, is she a high school student?
She was an age that Elton thought would be pitiful, but how could she understand if her granddaughter was good.
“…If you’re a student, then you want to aspire to the military academy.”
“They said it was still undecided.”
“Don’t you usually decide when you’re 18? It’s the green old hag’s school.”
“Marey is 15 years old.”
The glass in his wrinkled hand shattered. The wine spilled out and stained her clothes, but General Elton didn’t have time to pay attention to such trifles. Having lived on the battlefield for decades, he leaned back in his chair and sighed, confident that he could flexibly deal with any situation.
“Fifteen…? Not twenty-five? Not even thirty-five?”
The place called Balter School had a middle school and a high school attached to each other. Although they are physically separated, they are called by the same name. Even if he cut ties with his family, he could not erase the weight of blood ties.
Elton, who had been sparingly hearing news of her granddaughter, knew at least that Ravela was teaching her high school students. But you’re fifteen Unless she is now senile, isn’t she the age at which common sense dictates that she should still be in middle school?
“I skipped my grade.”
Perhaps reading Elton’s thoughts, Julia answered briefly. General Elton leaned back in his chair, feeling even more depressed than when he saw the picture of his little son’s portrait.
“…May I ask where you are from?”
“It’s a secret.”
I felt dozens of wrinkles on her face increase. She is a kind granddaughter who has been smart since childhood and did not rebel against the words of adults. From the moment she said she would become a soldier, she was Julia who monopolized Elton’s love. Of course, it could be said that it was her last remaining treasure for him, who had passed on her family headship to her uncle and ignited the last flame on the front lines.
However, she had her own wish for Julia to be comfortable in the center rather than the rugged northern front, and the head of the Pahu family, who did not want her Julia to build a reputation in the north. How her uncle’s understanding of her Julia meshed, relegating her to her center (which, she felt, was usually close to power, the springboard for her leap).
“Do you still hate us?”
“I don’t decide who I like with those frivolous feelings. And I wish I could get married. If only I could accept a concubine…”
Looking for a new glass, Elton took a few breaths before he picked up the wine bottle and started drinking it like water. With his dazed mind and clouded judgment, he had to perfectly admit that this was a dream.
What a terrible nightmare. Shit!
“The center is a better place to get promoted than this hell of an eye! I believed that you could do well there too. Considering the achievements you made on the northern front, you don’t have to wander around the battlefield anymore!!”
“I didn’t leave the military because I had any complaints. Loren, I just said that the green dragon grants me my wishes. I don’t know if she meant it, but I got what I was looking for.”
The sunken wall, colder than the pure white snow, was staring at Elton with an expressionless expression. When asked if she was trying to express dissatisfaction with herself about her family, she didn’t even laugh and just spat out her own words.
“I’ve said it many times, but I don’t have any complaints about the personnel transfer, the head of the Pahu family, or my grandfather. More specifically, it was just a family.”
‘It was a family.’
I meant not now.
“I made my decision and said I wanted to go to Valter. The reason I left the family was because of the head of the family and my grandfather who never intended to accept my opinion. The name of the Pahu family was established on the northern front. I thought that what I received from my family was enough. Are those many majors not enough?”
“I didn’t mean it that way, Julia.”
“Please call me Sir Julia. Grandpa.”
If Marey saw it, she would not have thought that she was the homeroom teacher. But to Elton she was very familiar and familiar. A monster on the northern front that didn’t even hide its sharp claws. Not ‘Sir Julia’, but ‘Soldier Julia Pahu’,
The general cut off the bottle’s neck with the blade of his hand. Unable to stand the anger boiling inside, he poured his alcohol into his stomach.
“Julia.”
“This is Sir Julia.”
“Julia!!”
“Sir Julia.”
-Bang!!
Elton, who couldn’t beat Boone, smashed the table and smashed it.
“Do you even know how old you are?! Fifteen blood clots and what kind of love?! Even if you disgrace the family, you’re still in a relationship with a young kid?! And that with the child you teach!?”
“I am an outsider. Grandpa.”
“Do you think you can throw off the name of the family? Even if you came out on your own and cut off ties, in the world you are the daughter of the Pahu family!! By the way, concubine? Did you say concubine! The daughter of our family, who has been protecting the north since before the empire was united, is a concubine!? The emperor was a man, so even if he asked for you as his concubine, he would be angry! A concubine with only fifteen clots of blood!? Are you crazy, Julia Pahu!!”
Seeing her grandfather glaring at her, Julia let out a light sigh.
“Think whatever you want. I just live where I want to live. When I get married, I will change my last name. Just like my mother.”
“Tell me honestly! You don’t like your eldest father, you resent this old lady!”
“…If you want to think that way, you can think about it. However, I was just speaking honestly out of my relationship with you. If you don’t want to believe it, don’t believe it. Is the story over?”
Despite Elton’s resentment and pointing fingers at her, Julia just sat upright. The blue eyes that just joked lightly made me cry and get angry.
“I have nothing more to say to you. Scram!”
“Would you like to hear more about the operation?”
“Get out. Get out…! Get out!!!”
Julia nodded her head lightly and left her room. As if she hadn’t calmed down, General Elton grabbed her chest and gasped for breath. She calmed her heart that was about to explode several times and grabbed her bottle. He took a few sips and called her adjutant.
“Walter School, 15 years old, Marey. Investigate!!
-Yes?
The wine bottle in his grasp is shattered at the sound of the deluded adjutant’s voice over the phone.
“Investigate right now!!! First name or last name doesn’t matter, 15-year-old Marey! Go to Balter School!!”
The communication machine could not overcome the power of the old veteran and was crushed and smashed. I just didn’t want to admit it. Her own granddaughter fell in love with a young pit bull and made sounds like her ‘concubine’.
“Julia… What the hell are you thinking…”
The old man’s voice, like a sigh, wanders around the empty room and then fades away. Wine bottles were scattered on the floor.
