33
Krakow, occupied territory of the Russian Empire. Home Affairs Command.
As soon as I opened the door and walked in, I was terrified of living.
Violet flames flashed at me through the silver hair lying on the table.
“……”
“……”
I couldn’t stand the staring staring at me, so I opened my mouth.
“……Are you tired a lot?”
Immediately after speaking, I realized it was a mistake. But there was no way to pick up the words that had already been spoken. I prepared for a bomb to explode in a moment.
“Then do you think it would have been very convenient?”
“Uh… I’m sorry.”
Irina stared at me for a long time.
“It is good that the Count enjoys it. But why do I always seem to do the cleanup?”
“I’m sorry……”
“My Count, why would someone who is so paranoid when it comes to assassinations risk their lives like that? Do you think I’m the only one who thinks so? Why do you keep making people worry!”
“I took my life enough, and the enemy had no weapons capable of destroying a tank, and unless I was very lucky, no tank would ever be destroyed. It has been proven by a criminal record.”
“Why are you distorting the facts? When besieging the enemies, they clearly aimed and attacked the tank units. Moreover, many of the tanks suffered non-combat losses, the light infantry was outnumbered, and the artillery was mobilized…”
“It was just an effort to exhaust our offensive capabilities before they retreat and stop the pursuit.”
“Anyway, the damage was concentrated on the last day, and there were several tanks that were completely lost! But what’s safe? Aren’t many of the tankers burned? What if you were unlucky and got hit by a shrapnel and leaked fuel into the tank? I don’t see anything like that!”
“Thanks to that, you achieved a far greater achievement than expected, and for the risk you took, you made a lot of profit……”
“If you’re playing with your life, will you kill me? Count, there is only one thing I want to hear. All I am saying is that I will not do that in the future, and that I will not embarrass me by passing this on.”
“But honestly, there wasn’t much of a difference from what I was doing before, so there were some difficulties…”
“big. The difference. No?”
Oh, that’s a mistake. After a while, a storm began to rage.
“Are you interested in how much trouble I have suffered this time? What do you think I should have said when, without prior consultation, you threw me the title of deputy commander-in-chief and went to the battlefield to take command, but when a direct line came in from Moscow and asked the Count to connect you?”
The subject of a joke came to mind for a moment, but I felt like I would be really killed if I spoke here.
There was silence for a moment.
It was Irina who broke the silence.
“ha.”
Irina let out a short sigh and lowered her head.
“Please. It’s okay that I suffered. Anyway, it’s all over and the results are good. But please don’t make me worry too much. Please do this.”
“…… Sorry.”
“Don’t just say you’re sorry, promise me. If you are really sorry for me.”
In the end, after I promised over and over again that I would not do anything dangerous to Irina, I was kicked out of my office saying that there were more people who worried about me than I did.
***
Even a victorious army must be able to think of the dead.
The number of wounded lying in the ward was by no means small.
“Uh… Mother…”
The soldiers who were judged as hopeless were gathered in one corner. There was no point in taking any measures other than to relieve the pain.
Passing through the wounded, the girl in white with a Red Cross armband found the person she was looking for.
She sat quietly on the bedside, holding the hand of a wounded soldier.
“It will be fine.”
Though she repeated that, Tatiana, the girl, looked at the code hanging in front of his bed and closed her eyes.
Concussion, multiple fractures throughout the body, rupture of the right eyeball, rupture of the eardrum, and third- and second-degree oil burns to most of the upper body.
A survivor who was rescued by light infantry from a tank that was hit by enemy light artillery fire.
No, it was difficult to even call him a survivor. It was a miracle that even in a 21st century university hospital, he was still breathing even though he was seriously injured.
At the end of the battle, the morphine reserves were freed up, so the system was running to supply the seriously wounded with morphine as long as they could endure so that they would not feel any pain. It was a minimal humanitarian action.
Her eardrum had ruptured and many of her skin nerves died, so holding her hand and repeating that she’ll be okay didn’t do much, but at least she could let her know that someone was watching and caring for her.
Olga was holding the hand of a dying wounded soldier because he couldn’t be alone and watch them die.
“sister.”
“…… a little bit.”
I knew what that little bit meant. Tatiana prayed quietly without saying a second time.
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May this soldier’s soul find rest in the Almighty.
After a while, Olga checked the soldier’s pulse and covered his face with a towel with eyes wet with regret.
“Tatiana, what’s going on?”
“The Count has returned. You are coming now.”
“… we better go?”
After spending a few days here, I realized that the subordinates don’t like to see their superiors sneak around.
For a while alone, the medics and surgeons couldn’t speak, so they were only military nurses here.
However, when the chief of the unit comes to the ward, it is a nuisance as it is.
“I see…”
In an instant, there was a commotion from the front door. The princesses who saw it turned their heads and looked at the door.
there he was His always neat attire, smeared with premieres, mud, and possibly blood, he stood with a pistol on his chest, a short-cut shotgun at his waist, and a submachine gun around his shoulders.
“Mikhail Nikolaevich Kim, Earl of Vostok, meets Princess Olga Nikolaevna Mama Romanova and Mama Tatiana Nikolaevna Mama Romanova.”
“…Nice to meet you, Count.”
I felt a bit distant, but I couldn’t help it. There are many eyes to see here, and now that they have grown up, they can’t play pranks by pulling the ball like they did when they were young.
They didn’t feel that way either. Even if a war was won, the war was only terrible.
“Can you spare a moment?”
At his words, the princesses nodded their heads.
***
A command vehicle with a pedestal drove through the outskirts of Krakow.
It was eerie with collapsed buildings and corpses that had not been recovered. Although friendly casualties were prioritized, there was no room for burial of the enemy dead or civilians, as the dead allies also had difficulties in retrieving their bodies.
Thanks to this, the devastated streets swept away by the battle were quiet. I chased the driver out and took the steering wheel myself, but neither Olga in the seat next to me nor Tatiana in the back seat said anything.
Thinking that I had come out enough, my eyes disappeared, so I stopped the car and opened my mouth.
“How was your battlefield experience?”
“……I wanted to pluck out my tongue.”
It was Tatiana’s words.
“War is sweet to the unexperienced (Dulce bellum inexpertis ? Erasmus). It has been that way for a long time. If you stick your tongue out for telling such a story, no one in the world will be able to speak. I was like that before I knew the war.”
“… I knew this country was so terrible, not just war… but reality.”
I silently looked at my face reflected in the car window.
“Someone said, it’s a war to end all wars… But no. War doesn’t end anything, and nothing makes anyone great. War is not a picnic or an adventure. As you may already know.”
Obviously, when this war is over, the world will change forever.
But nothing will end in truth.
“This country has to change. Nobles… Fathers. It is clearly wrong in this country where the people are unilaterally sacrificed for the luxury, pleasure and power of the nobility.”
“It is very difficult being a human being, because all of their values change in an hour, and there are some who do not want to give up their stubbornness for the rest of their lives.”
Usually we despise the former and praise the latter. Since such people are said to have faith, great men, independence activists, saints, and those who receive the respect of future generations all had faith.
On the other hand, the belief often leads to ruin.
“This war is terrible…. When will the war be over?”
Instead of silent Olga, Tatiana spoke softly, and I responded.
“This battle will not bring victory. I think it will be possible next year at the earliest.”
If we can push hard and really hard to advance to the world beyond war, if we can reach a place that this country of original history could never reach.
“But that is not the end of all wars. Even if the princess is not interested in war, war is interested in all of us. The war will end, but it will never end.”
Not only in the 20th century, but also in the 21st century.
Chaos, the most appropriate word to define this world.
Cold and hot wars, with and without gunfire, taking place on land, in water, in water, on paper, in electronic space, in the air, abroad, at home, on the front lines, behind the scenes, in space, and in any space.
War continues without end, even if the subject, method, and battlefield change.
Can I break that chain? It will be difficult. It is a feat that is close to impossible even if you know the future.
But the number of tragedies could be reduced a little more.
I got out of the car and opened the passenger door.
“Let’s go for a walk.”
Olga and Tatiana followed me down without saying a word.
“Nothing can change this. It’s impossible for me and you to stop all the blood that will flow. Because this is karma. The karma that the so-called civilized people have built up under their own arrogance under the name of imperialism.”
Had I stopped the Sarajevo incident, the Great War would have ended. The Sarajevo incident was just the last drop.
On a day when it’s raining, don’t let the cup full of water overflow. If you stop the last drop, wouldn’t the cup overflow?
I can only give you a moment’s respite. Even that failed.
“But you can reduce the blood flow. We can reduce the tears of the young blood and families that will fill this world a little. If you have a strong will.”
“Are you saying you can do it?”
“Only one person can do it. But with the will of many people, we can do it.”
I looked at Olga.
“Do you remember what I said a long time ago?”
– The time will come when you will make an important decision.
– Then, trust me.
“Mama, Princess Olga Nikolaevna Romanova. The time is near. It’s time to make a choice.”