I Became The Tyrant Of A Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 110

“Jupiter.”

At my voice, Jupiter turned, her one eye blinking in surprise.

“Your Highness! What brings you here?”

“Came to give you a bonus.”

I shrugged, tossing a pouch of gold coins to Jupiter.

“My luck was pretty good today.”

Jupiter whistled after checking the contents of the pouch.

“Aren’t you being too generous to an old woman who can’t even work and is just resting?”

“You’ve suffered enough; this is nothing.”

“Thank you, Your Highness. In return, may I buy you a drink?”

“Sure.”

I didn’t refuse and sat next to Jupiter. Jupiter gave me her usual villainous smile.

“It’s an honor to pour a drink for Your Highness.”

She poured whiskey into a new glass and handed it to me.

Jupiter raised her own glass. I also raised mine.

Clink-

We clinked glasses silently and swallowed the liquor.

“…Your Highness.”

After quietly emptying and refilling our glasses once, Jupiter let out a long sigh.

“This old woman has caused Your Highness a lot of trouble, but I’m still proud to say that I’ve been of considerable help in defending this front.”

I nodded.

“You have every right to be proud. It’s the truth.”

“Then, Your Highness. This is a truly rude request, but… could you listen to this old woman’s grumbling?”

“Grumbling?”

Jupiter refilled her glass, looking embarrassed.

“It’s pathetic even to myself, but I don’t know how I’ve lived my life, and now in my old age… I don’t have a single acquaintance left to listen to my drunken ramblings.”

“Is it because you’re a wandering mercenary?”

“Wandering, yes. Wandering…”

Jupiter savored the word ‘wandering’ for a while.

I chuckled.

“Go ahead and speak comfortably. Grumble away.”

“Thank you, Your Highness.”

Jupiter took a sip of whiskey, held it for a moment, and then slowly swallowed it before opening her mouth.

“As you might have guessed, it’s about my granddaughter.”

“……”

“It’s been 15 years, but I remember it like it was yesterday.”

Jupiter’s one eye took on a distant look.

“The moment I first met that child…”

***

15 years ago.

Everblack Empire Northern Front.

Magic Corps of the 1st Legion of the Imperial Army. 2nd Squad Barracks.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Jupiter, struggling to light a wet match, frowned deeply.

Her eyes, as if containing lightning, were filled with clear annoyance.

“Damn, it won’t light.”

Tap. Tap. Tap.

“Damn it!”

Finally throwing the match on the ground, Jupiter snapped her fingers in annoyance.

Kwarurung!

A bolt of lightning struck a dried-up tree right next to her, and the tree caught fire.

“Hoo~…”

Jupiter lit her cigarette with that fire.

“This is why I learned magic.”

Jupiter puffed out smoke, satisfied with her smoke, when,

“I told you not to use magic in the barracks, Jupiter.”

A sarcastic voice came from beside her.

Jupiter frowned and turned to see a middle-aged female officer with her black hair tied back, wearing a uniform, walking towards her.

Reina, the captain of the 1st Squad of the Imperial Magic Corps.

“What kind of crazy mage lights a cigarette like that?”

Jupiter curled up the corners of her mouth and chuckled.

“Why, it’s none other than this body, the captain of the 2nd Squad of the Imperial Magic Corps! Jupiter lights it like this.”

“You’re such a pain in the ass…”

Reina waved her hand while grumbling, and a gust of wind blew, extinguishing the fire on the tree.

“Give me some of your leftover cigarettes.”

Reina, standing next to Jupiter, gestured with her eyes. Jupiter was horrified.

“Hey, am I your supplier? Why do you ask for cigarettes every time I see your face?”

“It’s been a month since the last cigarette supply came. You’re the only one left in the entire Magic Corps with good quality cigarettes.”

“I saved this much because I’m smoking them sparingly. Anyway, I can’t give you any!”

When Jupiter flatly refused, Reina suddenly put her hands together and spoke in a sweet voice.

“Oh~ please give me just one~”

“You bitch… Hey, you old hag! Stop acting like that at your age.”

Horrified by Reina’s cheesy aegyo [acting cute], Jupiter handed over the cigarette she had in her mouth.

“Here, have a taste of a cigarette lit by lightning.”

“Can’t you just give me a new one?”

“This is the last one. I don’t have any more.”

“This old hag has been smoking the last one her whole military life, what is this.”

In the end, Jupiter and Reina took turns smoking one cigarette.

As the two exchanged curses while smoking, the soldiers passing by kept saluting them.

“Loyalty!”

“Yeah~ Loyalty.”

“Loyalty, loyalty~”

Although the two women were smoking like gangsters with relaxed postures, the soldiers’ gazes towards them were full of respect.

The two aces of the Imperial Magic Corps.

Cold Wind Reina. Lightning Fire Jupiter.

The reason why the Imperial Magic Corps had a prominent position within the Imperial Army was entirely thanks to these two top players.

For the past 20 years since the Magic Corps was established, the Imperial Army had been undefeated in battles where these two mages participated.

After the soldiers’ greetings ended and the surroundings became quiet, Jupiter said to Reina.

“Seeing our kids’ respectful greetings reminded me, hey. The other unit commanders all have a lot of scars on their faces. Their faces are all tanned too.”

“Huh? Well… they’re all people who got promoted after fighting with swords on the front lines.”

“But we mages don’t have any scars, and our faces aren’t tanned, so we all look pale.”

Jupiter had served in the military her whole life, but her face was clean.

Reina glanced at Jupiter and chuckled.

“That’s the role of mages in modern warfare. The headquarters gives us the coordinates, and we just bomb them.”

The Imperial Army headquarters seemed to think of mages as high-performance cannons.

And what they actually did wasn’t much different.

Jupiter chewed on her cigarette and nodded.

“Well, yeah. Our job is to safely unleash magic from afar. Intelligent and gentle. I like my job.”

“Then why? What’s the problem?”

“I feel like my dignity as a commander is a bit lacking. I feel like I’m being subtly ignored by the other unit commanders every time a meeting is called.”

Jupiter ran her finger over the area below her left eye.

“So, I’m thinking of getting a tattoo next time.”

“You’re such a pain in the ass… Hey. The reason you’re being ignored at meetings is because you’re always sleeping.”

“Hey, I only dozed off once, why are you scolding me so much. Damn it.”

“That’s because the meeting you dozed off at was one that His Majesty the Emperor was directly attending! You useless bastard!”

The two mages started bickering again when an adjutant came running from the other side.

“Captain Reina! Captain Jupiter!”

“Yeah~ We’re listening. What’s the matter?”

“We received a message from headquarters. They’ve discovered a facility that appears to be a military base of the Camilla Kingdom army at the foot of the mountain north of this base.”

The 1st Legion of the Imperial Army was currently invading a small kingdom called the Camilla Kingdom.

The war was in its final stages, but sporadic resistance continued.

The Magic Corps was carrying out messy and tedious missions to clean up the Camilla Kingdom army guerrillas scattered everywhere.

“What is this ant nest. They keep popping up even after we wipe them out. Haaah.”

The adjutant handed a headquarters telegram to Jupiter, who was yawning widely.

“The order is for both of you to strike simultaneously at 05:00 tomorrow morning.”

“Our headquarters really likes starting operations at dawn… Anyway, tell them we understand. We have to do what we’re told.”

Jupiter crumpled the telegram paper into her pocket and smiled at Reina.

“Hey, Reina. After this war is over, shall we go on a trip to the south?”

Reina shuddered.

“What kind of trip is it for two old women in their fifties, how disgusting.”

“What’s wrong with that? Two rich and capable gold misses going on a cool trip. Who knows? Maybe we can catch some young and hot guys.”

“Oh my, they have eyes too…”

“Hey. It’s because we’re only serving in this cold and damp north that your thoughts keep becoming negative. Instead of that, let’s go to the warm south just once.”

Jupiter chuckled.

“I’m definitely going to live in the south when I retire. I’ll lie down at a resort with a swimming pool filled with water, basking in the warm sunlight.”

“……”

Reina, who had been listening to Jupiter’s unrealistic retirement plan, eventually chuckled.

“Yeah, whether we go on a trip or get a resort after retirement… Anyway, let’s go to the south once before we die.”

That story was as far from reality as the distance from this front to the south.

The two mages laughed and talked about retirement and old age for a long time.

***

The next day. 4:30 AM.

Jupiter, looking through a telescope at the operation point designated by headquarters, frowned.

“Hey. Is that really a military base?”

Reina, who was sipping hot tea with a sleepy face, made a sound of “Huh?” and looked in that direction.

“Why? Doesn’t it look like a military base?”

“It just looks like a village? How does it look to you?”

Reina took the telescope and tilted her head.

“Hmm… I’m not sure. It doesn’t look like a military base; I don’t see any cannons or weapons.”

Jupiter instructed the adjutant.

“Contact headquarters. Confirm one more time if it’s a military base.”

“Yes, sir.”

The adjutant sent a messenger to headquarters.

A little while later, the messenger returned, and the adjutant reported what he had heard.

“According to headquarters’ judgment, it is definitely a military base.”

“……”

“The Camilla bastards’ guerrilla tactics are vicious, and they often disguise themselves as civilians. Headquarters has determined that the village is already occupied by guerrillas.”

“Is that so…”

The adjutant checked his pocket watch and nodded.

“It’s 30 seconds before 05:00. I will count down until the start of the operation.”

“……”

“30, 29, 28…”

Jupiter, frowning and staring at the north, glanced to the side. Reina was already gathering magic power in both hands.

Reina, who met her eyes, gave a faint smile.

“We’re going on vacation to the south, right?”

“……”

“Then we have to finish this quickly, Captain of the 2nd Squad?”

“10 seconds left until the start of the operation! 10! 9! 8! 7!”

Listening to the decreasing countdown, Jupiter began to gather lightning in both hands with 5 seconds left.

Crackling…!

The headquarters’ judgment was always accurate.

And this was what she had been doing her whole life.

If she received an order, she carried it out. That was what a soldier was.

Rumbling….

A huge dark cloud gathered in the sky,

“3! 2! 1!”

The countdown ended.

Kugwagwagwang!

Several dozen bolts of lightning summoned by Jupiter poured down on the enemy’s military base.

The buildings swept away by the bright yellow lightning collapsed and caught fire.

Everything was reduced to ashes in an instant.

Following that, a huge tornado summoned by Reina struck the remaining debris.

***

“The operation is complete. Both of you captains have worked hard.”

The adjutant said after confirming the complete destruction of the military base.

“Now the Heavy Knight Order will move in to clean up and investigate the enemy base. You two can return to the base.”

“……”

Jupiter, who was staring at the enemy camp she had burned, suddenly muttered.

“I’m going to go.”

“What?”

“I have to go there myself.”

Reina, horrified, tried to stop her.

“The Magic Corps is forbidden from approaching the site. We are strictly long-range bombardment specialists. Why are you doing this when you know that?”

“……”

“If you go there and get ambushed by the enemy’s remnants, our corps’ combat power will be drastically reduced…”

“I’m going to go.”

“Hey, Jupiter!”

Reina tried to grab her, but Jupiter was stubborn. She was already running up the mountain slope.

“Hey, hey, grab her.”

Reina looked at the surrounding soldiers and shouted urgently.

“Grab her! Quickly!”

But who would dare to grab and stop a mage?

Roughly pushing away the soldiers trying to stop her, Jupiter finally entered the enemy base.

Only embers remained flickering in the blackened village. Everything was in ruins.

Jupiter carefully approached the corpses of people who had been burned to death.