"Marie!"
"Dad!"
An emotional reunion scene between Director Jang and Marie, father and daughter. Without paying them any mind, I coldly interrupted.
"Save the emotions for when you get home, Director. We need to settle some accounts."
"A-Accounts?"
At my words, the Director tensed up sharply.
"It means I'll be taking what you cherish most."
"......!"
Marie’s shoulders flinched. The Director jumped in surprise and stepped in front of Marie. Frederica looked at me with an expression that said this wasn’t right.
"Effective today, the Suasong Central Post Office is placed under the direct command of the Imperial Army Jäger Combat Battalion."
"The... the post office... did you say?"
Director Jang staggered, perhaps going limp with relief. Marie’s reaction was uniquely pronounced—she let out an exclamation and laughed hollowly.
"A-Ahaha...."
A strange heat rose in Marie’s face. Her cheeks and even her ears were flushed red—she seemed quite angry.
But she wasn’t even an adult yet, so there was probably nothing she could do for her father. For some reason, Director Jang was letting out a sigh of relief. Ignoring Marie, who was glaring at me with angry, disgruntled eyes, I approached Frederica.
Frederica asked me as if she couldn’t understand.
"...Lieutenant Colonel, did you say that on purpose?"
"...Hm? What do you mean?"
"...It’s nothing. I just thought the young lady Marie seemed pitiable."
"Marie...?"
'Status Analysis.'
[Name: Marie Bernard]
[Status: Extremely angry at Max Jäger]
Does she like the post office that much...?
Frederica continued asking.
"Also, Lieutenant Colonel. I question whether there is any need to place the post office directly under our command. Wouldn’t it be better to simply install a communications relay station at City Hall instead?"
"Major. You know tanks well, but you don’t know intelligence."
I picked up a letter lying on the desk.
"The post office is this city's veins. Not merely a delivery service."
"Veins... sir?"
"Yes. Who is sending money to whom, who harbors what grievances, where the rats are gathering. It’s all written in each and every one of these letters."
I ordered.
"From now on, all mail coming in and out of Suasong will undergo Imperial Army censorship. Bring every letter from suspicious individuals straight to my desk. That is the price for the Director and his daughter to live safely."
This was the very core of information control.
"A-Ah, understood.... I will do as you say. As long as you guarantee my family’s safety...."
Director Jang nodded weakly. With his family’s safety on the line, he had no other choice.
"Good. Then now... shall we take a look at this one?"
I grabbed the hair of Antoine, who had collapsed on the floor, and lifted his head.
'Status Analysis.'
[Name: Antoine]
[Affiliation: Republican Liberation Front]
[Status: Unconscious, Strong Will]
*
Several hours later. A temporary interrogation room prepared in the basement of Suasong City Hall.
Antoine, bound to a steel chair, still had eyes full of venom.
"Give up, you Imperial dogs. Nothing but spit will leave my mouth."
Antoine spat blood-mixed saliva and sneered. The military police captain in charge of interrogation made a troubled expression.
"Lieutenant Colonel, my apologies. This one is extraordinarily stubborn. He appears to be a fairly high-ranking operative in the Republican Liberation Front, and he endures even torture by biting his tongue."
Frederica, standing nearby, added.
"It’s a waste of time. It would be more helpful for city stability to just hang these types in the town square as an example."
'Status Analysis.'
[Name: Antoine]
[Status: Extreme Pain, Fanatical Will]
[Emotion: Swollen with the self-satisfaction of being a martyr]
A typical fanatic type. Dealing with him normally would only be exhausting. I immediately activated a skill.
'Mesmerizing Eloquence.'
[Skill 'Mesmerizing Eloquence (Lv.3)' is activated.]
"Antoine. Do you think your homeland will remember you just because you endure? If you die, you'll merely be processed as one of countless nameless stragglers. Cooperate now, and I will guarantee your family’s safety."
[Ding! Persuasion failed!]
"Ha! That’s exactly the kind of talk an Imperial dog would make!"
[The target's convictions exceed the skill's influence!]
But even [Mesmerizing Eloquence] didn't work properly. As expected, this was no ordinary willpower. I sighed and took off my gloves.
"Everyone out. Major Frederica, you too."
"But Lieutenant Colonel, he is...."
"It’s an order. Five minutes is enough."
At my resolute attitude, Frederica asked no more and left the interrogation room. The military police also withdrew and closed the door. Now, only Antoine and I remained in the room.
"Hmph, what are you planning to do alone with me? Break my fingers one by one?"
"No. Such primitive methods aren’t to my taste."
I slowly walked behind Antoine. And stealthily placed my hand on his stiffly tensed nape.
'Tuning Touch.'
[Skill 'Tuning Touch (Lv.2)' is activated.]
[Detecting the target's bio-energy flow.]
Through my palm, I felt his rough pulse and the waves of his excited nervous system. Antoine shuddered at my touch, but soon stiffened his body.
"What... is this...?"
"You see, the human brain may grow accustomed to pain, but it is helpless against 'interference.'"
I began directly casting the skill on the nerve bundles running along his spine. A process that forcibly scrambled the sensory signals his brain perceived.
[Forcibly synchronizing the target's pain receptors with pleasure receptors.]
[Inducing neural signal overload.]
"A-Aaaaaaugh! Uu, uwahaha! Hieek, urg!"
A bizarre scream burst from Antoine’s mouth.
Along with tearing pain, an extreme euphoria he had never experienced in his life assaulted his brain. At moments that should have been painful, pleasure flooded in; when he tried to scream, his muscles relaxed. Antoine’s body, its sensory order collapsed, convulsed violently along with the chair.
"Now, talk. Where are the remaining stragglers in Suasong?"
"I... I don't know! Kill me... please kill me!"
"Hoo, it seems we still have a ways to go?"
I raised the intensity of the tuning by one more level. This time, I amplified the sensory receptors across his entire body to 1,000% sensitivity. Now, even the air brushing against his skin would feel like a blade, and his heartbeat would sound like a cannon tearing his eardrums.
"Kuaaaaaaaaargh!"
Antoine's pupils rolled upward. The will of the man, drenched in saliva and tears, plummeted in an instant from unyielding steel into the muddy water of the abyss.
"Talk. Where?"
I whispered softly into his ear.
"If you talk... I'll end this hell."
"Uu, uuu... West Sector 4...."
Antoine eventually spilled everything.
"The stragglers in the city... are bait.... To turn your attention toward the city center... the real ones... tonight at 2200 hours... Republican stragglers lying in ambush on the western outskirts... are coming in...."
"The western outskirts?"
"Kehehe... you're finished.... One battalion of 2nd Legion stragglers... and a special operations unit will enter.... The objective is recapturing Suasong...."
Having finished speaking, Antoine collapsed to the floor like a severed puppet. I took out a handkerchief, wiped my hands, and opened the door. Frederica and the military police commander, who had been waiting outside, turned to me.
"Lieutenant Colonel!"
"Tonight at 2200 hours. The western outskirts. The Resistance in the city center was merely bait to draw our attention."
"Yes?! You already made him talk?"
The military police commander looked inside the interrogation room in shock. Seeing Antoine sprawled motionlessly, he gulped and looked at me.
*
The moment I left the interrogation room, I picked up a radio.
"All officers, assemble in the operations conference room immediately. You have ten minutes."
Suasong City Hall situation room.
When I opened the door and entered, all the key personnel were already gathered.
'Status Analysis.'
[Name: Hanna Mayer]
[Name: Frederica von Kessel]
[Name: Seraphina von Reinhardt]
[Name: Erika von Stahlberg]
[Name: Gunther]
"Western outskirts, National Route 4 entry point."
I raised a pointer and tapped a spot on the map.
"Tonight at 2200 hours. Enemy remnant forces roughly one battalion in size will enter through here. Objective is recapturing City Hall and inducing chaos in the city."
"One battalion...."
Erika furrowed her brow.
"Those Republican bastards still had that many troops left? It’s been ages since the legion was annihilated."
"They must have scraped together stragglers. They believe we’ll be distracted in the city. In other words, they’re aiming for an empty house."
I looked around the room.
"But unfortunately for them, we know exactly when and where they’re coming."
I quickly assigned roles.
"Major von Reinhardt."
"Yes."
"1st Battalion will block the city outskirts. Cut them off so that not even an ant can escape."
"No problem."
Seraphina nodded.
"Captain von Stahlberg."
"Yes! Ah, no... yes, sir."
"Your company will perform a flanking maneuver and hit the enemy from behind. Crush them when they try to flee."
"Leave it to me. I'll grind them to dust."
"Gunther. Your company takes the sewers."
"Yes, sir! We did it in Rosenheim too, so it's our specialty!"
Gunther answered robustly.
"And the armored battalion will handle the frontal breakthrough."
"Yes, Lieutenant Colonel."
Frederica, standing in the corner, snapped to attention.
"Operation commences at exactly 2200 hours. Dismissed."
The officers scattered with perfect discipline. I rose from my seat to gather my equipment. Then Hanna approached with a troubled expression.
"Lieutenant Colonel. We have a problem."
"What is it?"
"The command armored vehicle... cannot be repaired. Sugar water got baked onto the engine cylinders; they have to remove the entire engine."
"Ha, they really do all sorts of things."
To think the commander would be reduced to walking on foot during such a critical operation. Just as I was wondering whether to requisition a military police vehicle.
"Lieutenant Colonel."
It was Frederica. She hadn’t left the conference room yet and was waiting for me.
"...Would you not ride with me?"
"Where?"
"In my tank."
Her gaze was unwavering as it turned toward me.
"Unit 101. The battalion commander’s vehicle. The communications equipment is perfect, and above all... it’s the one you personally repaired, sir. It will be the safest."
She was offering up the inside of the turret—a tank commander’s exclusive domain. And from the prideful Frederica, no less.
I smirked and straightened my cap.
"It is an honor. To think I'd have the chance to ride the beloved steed of the Empire's youngest armored battalion commander."