Chapter 19: From Now On, You’re Mine

Major Kim was living the sweet life within his own territory.

He had nothing to fear anymore.

The Party that used to interfere and monitor his every move, suspecting he might start a rebellion, had been uprooted, and most general-grade officers were serving sentences.

Except for one.

A woman with impressive long ears, blonde hair, and green eyes.

A woman so beautiful she could steal the soul of anyone who looked at her.

And a woman who openly exploded a person to death in front of commanders.

Even more, a woman who recently obliterated an entire city.

If he just watched out for that woman, his future path would surely be smooth. He vowed never to get involved with Fride.

And that vow shattered not long after…

An official document came down from above.

It basically stated that due to a shortage of Jangryeong (General)-grade officers, special promotions would be conducted.

And luckily, Major Kim was included in the list for special promotion.

Coincidentally, Major Kim, who was scheduled for promotion to Jungjwa (Lieutenant Colonel) soon, ended up skipping three ranks in one go.

But something was strange.

Most candidates for special promotion were Daejwa (Colonel)-grade officers. But only Major Kim skipped several ranks.

‘Something’s fishy…’

And that strange feeling soon materialized as a major crisis.

“Assignment notice…?”

After the promotion ceremony, Kim, now evolved from Major Kim to Major General Kim, received the assignment notice.

The assigned post was the Territory Reclamation Command, with the bizarre title of Administrative Deputy Commander.

And the Supreme Commander of the Territory Reclamation Command was…

“General Yakovlena El Fride…”

“Ah.”

Someone bursts through the door.

“Supreme Commander Comrade has come to… get, no, pick up Comrade Major General Kim!”

“Damn it… Tell them I’m not here!”

“What do you mean not here? You’re perfectly fine right here.”

He thought his heart stopped for a moment.

Major General Kim salutes with a deathly expression.

And Fride returns the salute with a faint smile.

“S-Supreme Commander Comrade…”

“Long time no see, nice to see you? You saw the assignment notice, right?”

“…”

“Why the long face? I came to escort you personally.”

To him, she was like a demon come to escort him to hell.

‘Escort my ass… Isn’t this kidnapping…’

“It’s an honor…”

“Right, let’s handle the moving later. Shall we go to the new workplace? With me.”

“Yes…”

Territory Reclamation Command Headquarters. A place was prepared there for Major General Kim.

Inside the antique office, letters were proudly engraved on the nameplate.

‘Administrative Deputy Commander, Major General Kim □□’

“Isn’t the office nice? I tried to make it look rather cool.”

“Yes, yes! It’s very nice.”

“Right, let’s work well together from now on. It’s a short life, after all. Shouldn’t we live it well before we go?”

“That is correct.”

***

This is totally screwed.

Doesn’t this mean I’ll be working directly under that woman?

If I mess up…

-Pop!

Will I end up like that guy…?

He shook his head vigorously.

Right, that guy ended up like that because he acted recklessly. I just need to not do that.

Thinking positively, she specifically picked me out, right?

This might actually be a path to success… no. Haven’t I already succeeded?

In reality, I might be pushed around by the staff officers, but nominally, aren’t I second in the military order of precedence?

If I slack off here and do a sloppy job… pop.

…Right, let’s think positively.

If I just handle the tasks assigned well and stay on her good side, I probably won’t explode. Probably.

Don’t they call it ‘managing moods’ in South Korea? I guess I just need to do it like that.

Well, thinking about it, isn’t it largely the same as before? Compared to the past where they’d accuse you of being subversive, reactionary, or purge you if they felt like it.

At least, I won’t die by anti-aircraft fire.

***

-[“The former North Korean territory reclamation operation conducted by the Pyongyang Reconstruction Government is in full swing.

The Pyongyang Reconstruction Government Territory Reclamation Command announced the completion of reclaiming all territories except the North Hamgyong Province area…”]

-[“This is a video uploaded by a soldier belonging to the Pyongyang Defense Force. It shows people being hang…ed under the direction of someone who appears to be a commander.

Even though we’ve mosaic-ed it, the shapes are visible, so viewer discretion is advised.”]

-[“Assemblyman ■■■ of the Unified Korea Party strongly condemned this as a clear violation of international law and the Geneva Convention.

Meanwhile, the government explained that under the Republic of Korea Constitution, the Workers’ Party of Korea is a terrorist organization and not subject to international laws like the Geneva Convention.”]

-[“Meanwhile, testimonies have emerged alleging numerous civilian casualties during the Pyongyang Reconstruction Government’s reclamation of Gaechon City.

The government responded that these are unconfirmed matters and stated its policy to firmly counter fake news. The Pyongyang Reconstruction Government has yet to release an official statement.”]

-[“This is a photo uploaded to an internet community. A facility resembling a hospital is riddled with bullet holes and bloodstains. It’s a mess, as if an explosion occurred.

Soot, apparently from an explosion, is also visible. Netizens who saw this photo reacted with comments like ‘Was there fighting inside the hospital?’, ‘Looks like they shelled the hospital’, ‘Those commie bastards must have hidden in the hospital to fight’.”]

-[“This is clearly a civilian massacre! The government must demand a clear fact-finding investigation and truth revelation from Pyongyang.

Why is the government being dragged around by Pyongyang instead of leading Pyongyang! This absurd situation…”]

-[“So… regarding this Gaechon incident, shouldn’t the National Assembly conduct a parliamentary investigation! Or hold a hearing! We need to uncover the truth!

The government and the Democratic Liberty Party seem only preoccupied with hiding the truth right now. Are they the Pyongyang Liberty Party instead of the Democratic Liberty Party?”]

-[“Our news team went there directly. This is one of the few roads leading into Gaechon City.” / “Huh? Up ahead…” / “A checkpoint has been installed on the road.

Our team checked all roads leading into Gaechon, but checkpoints were installed on all of them.” / “Can’t we go inside here?” / “Yes, that’s correct.” / “Why?” / “It’s dangerous. Reactionary forces might still remain…” / “The answer we received was always the same. It’s dangerous. Public security is unstable.

At first glance, it seems like a plausible excuse. What are they trying to hide? This has been JBC reporter Oh Daegi.”]

Tsk… this is a bit troublesome.

“General! What are we going to do about this?”

The Chairman shouts.

Pyongyang Reconstruction Government regular state affairs meeting. I attended that meeting.

The Minister of Economy still looks dead.

“First, the target of the magic was clearly the enemy garrison. It wasn’t magic targeting civilians. And there are no civilian deaths.”

“Is that really true?”

“Of course not. But is it my responsibility that decrepit buildings couldn’t withstand the shock of the explosion and collapsed? If they were properly built, they would have been fine.”

“I even gave advance notice the day before. And all the bodies were cremated.”

“Haa… Alright, I understand for now.”

“Officially, there are no civilian casualties. To be precise, there are no civilian deaths.”

“It seems the Republic of Korea National Assembly is trying to hold a hearing or parliamentary investigation, but fortunately, the ruling party is the majority, so it will likely be blocked as much as possible.”

“Next is the national economic report. Currently, most of the central Pyongyang city area reconstruction is complete…”

The dying Minister of Economy speaks.

No matter how you look at it, he resembles a corpse dead for a month, brought back as an undead.

It’s even pitiful.

Maybe I should help him out a bit.

“Minister of Economy, come over here for a moment.”

“Yes?”

The Minister of Economy, finished with his report, approaches me puzzled.

I took the Minister’s hand and chanted.

-<endurnýjun> (Renewal)
-<endurnýjun>
-<endurnýjun>

It seemed once wouldn’t be enough, so I chanted three times.

What I used was fatigue recovery magic.

Magic that restores not just fatigue but the body’s overall condition.

“Wh-What!”

The Minister jumps startled as I grab his hand. As I began chanting, his decaying face turned deathly pale.

I’m not killing you…

“How is it?”

“This is completely… the fatigue is gone! My body feels much better too, and the headache disappeared. Thank you, Comrade Fride.”

“Glad to hear that.”

Chairman Kim Pyongjin looks at me with a somewhat displeased expression.

“Do you have a complaint?”

“Um… could you do it for me too, just once…”

So that was it.

In the end, I used the magic once on everyone gathered at the meeting.

***

Lately, I’ve been busy and haven’t spent much time with Ion.

Just looking at Ion’s puffed-up cheeks, I could tell how sulky she was.

She looks like a pufferfish, which is cute. Maybe I should leave her like that a little longer.

If I did that, she might get genuinely angry. Or cry.

Crying Ion is especially cute.

“What are you looking at so intently? Hmph.”

“Don’t be like that. That’s why I made time, didn’t I?”

“Just for you.”

“Just… for me…?”

“Well, of course. You’re my precious Ion.”

Trying to spend time with Ion after a long while… what should we do?

“Um, well. Should we go eat something delicious?”

“Don’t we always eat delicious things?”

“Then how about going to the sea?”

The sea… not bad.

Though we probably can’t go in due to the cold weather.

A beach on the East Coast. We booked a nearby pension.

“Maybe we should come again when the weather gets warmer. It’s a pity we can’t go into the sea.”

“Or should we try going in?”

“Won’t we become frozen elves?”

“This is nothing compared to the training I received?”

If you insist.

Ion runs towards the sea.

“The sea~~~”

And then…

“Aaaack!! Cold!!!”

Heh heh, I knew that would happen.

“You said let’s go in together!”

“When did I?”

“Ugh… freezing to death…”

“Let’s go inside quickly.”

-Sizzlee

The sound of meat cooking. Indeed, the charm of such trips is grilling meat over charcoal.

I made a wrap and offered it to Ion, who was opening her mouth like a baby bird.

“Nyam Delici…ous? Spicy!!”

Because I put a ton of garlic in it.

“General!!! What was that!!!”

Such a drama queen…

“Not spicy! General, you try it too!”

I was originally Korean. This much garlic is nothing…

-Keck

???

I only came to my senses after gulping down water.

My current tongue couldn’t handle the garlic-loaded wrap.

Ugh… spicy…