Dropped Into Another World V3C42

Chapter 42 – Special Investigation Unit Commander Marofe (4)

-Emperors Kingdom’s Special Investigation Unit Commander Marofe’s POV-

Having finished disposing of the rubble of the village that had been attacked by mixtures, we moved on to investigate the mixture in the forest.

We experienced the miracle of encountering the king of the forest and the god of the forest as soon as we entered the forest and we were so excited that we could not work on that day at all, and even the next day.

We managed to calm the crew down and began our investigation.

We did not expect to find mixtures right away but contrary to our expectation, we found them immediately.

While we were investigating their ecosystem and looking for ways to eradicate them once and for all, something a little unplanned happened.

We found out that mixtures reproduced faster than we had imagined.

No matter how many we took down, their numbers did not seem to be decreasing.

「Commander, excuse me.」

That voice, that should be vice commander Pisce. I lifted my gaze from the papers.

「Come in.」

Vice commander Pisce, who had entered the tent, looked a little tired.

From the look on his face, you can immediately tell that the result was not something he wanted.

「Thanks for your hard work. So, how was it?」

「We were able to confirm that the two monsters we saw yesterday were mixtures and we were also able to confirm that there were cubs.」

As expected, they were mixtures.

And they even have cubs.

Normally, monsters reproduce once a year.

Some monsters reproduce every few years.

However, we have confirmed mixtures that already reproduced thrice.

If they continue to increase, the forest will lose its balance.

「We’ll take them down tomorrow. Inform everyone.」

「Understood.」

「Thanks. After you’re done, take a break for today.」

I watch vice commander Pisce walk out of the tent and I slump against my desk.

I’m tired.

….I want to go home…..

I want to complain to someone.

But….haaa.

If the commander is weak, the morale of the whole squad will shoot down.

I need to be patient.

But…..

「Excuse me.」

I immediately sit down straight and fix my messy hair with my hand.

「Come in.」

Adjutant Abar enters the tent.

「How was it?」

「It is as we expected.」

「I see.」

If you stay in the forest for too long, it is easy to get sick.

Humans, in particular, are less adaptable to the forest compared to beastkins.

Even if it’s not a problem under normal circumstances, it can be fatal if you’re in the forest.

I had told them to report even the slightest change in their condition but many of the members of this team don’t do so. Perhaps because they are trying too hard.

For this reason, I asked Abar to check on them regularly and we were right.

「How many of them?」

If many of us get sick, we have to think about getting out of the forest.

「Three. I already asked the doctor to check on them and he said they were all sick due to fatigue. He recommended them to take it easy for the next three days or so.」

Three?

They must have been tired from our daily work.

However, that’s fewer than I expected.

「Understood. Thank you. Tell them to take it easy.」

「Ano….」

「What?」

I looked at Abar and noticed that he had a serious expression on his face.

Why do you look like that?

「……..」

…..stop being silent!

Is it really that hard to say?

Let’s see, we’ve been debating since this morning and we got it right, didn’t we?

So, is this some kind of revenge or something?

If not, what is it?

After the battle was over, we took a lunch break and checked on the squad members but they looked tired from defeating enemies day after day so we just took a break this afternoon.

Are you still mad at me for not discussing the break with you?

No, given Abar’s personality, he won’t be angry for something like that.

But, I can’t think of anything else.

「Several members of the squad want to apologize to commander. What do you want me to do?」

They want to apologize to me? Why?

I don’t remember them doing anything to me or….did I not notice?

No no no, I probably noticed it if there’s something.

Perhaps they want to apologize for something trivial.

「Tell them they don’t have to mind it.」

I don’t need an apology for every little thing.

I looked at Abar and saw that his eyebrows were wrinkled.

Areh?

Was that a bad response?

「Still can’t forgive them?」

Can’t forgive them?

What? I don’t even know what you are talking about.

「I’m not angry so I don’t need an apology.」

I mean, nothing has happened since the formation of this unit that would make me angry.

I look at Abar and he looks at me, stunned.

….am I doing something wrong?

「Well, when you met the squad members, there were those who have bad attitudes…..」

You mean those guys who were glaring at me when I first greeted them?

I didn’t take them seriously because they didn’t do me any real harm. It’s just glares.

Besides, I already expected those kinds of behavior so I didn’t really pay any attention to it.

「That’s true but nothing has happened since then so I don’t think there’s anything to worry about.」

Abar looks puzzled at my reply.

Should it have been regarded as a problem?

But those are just glares, right?

For us, beastkin knights, being glared at is pretty normal.

Even now, there are people among the knights who don’t like us beastkins.

They glare at us every day.

I don’t have time to deal with every single one of them and the best thing to do is to ignore them.

「During the battle against mixtures, there were times when some members of the team acted arbitrarily, weren’t there?」

There certainly were.

There were those who ignored my orders.

However, it was them who were harmed.

They weren’t able to avoid the mixture’s attack and got hurt.

I got quite impatient that time.

It’s a good thing that the stone I’ve thrown luckily deflected the mixture’s attack and the team member only suffered minor injuries.

That was really lucky of us.

「 They suffered the consequences of their action so it should be fine.」

Besides, thanks to them, the rest of the team understood that ignoring orders is quite dangerous in the forest.

In fact, they’ve followed every order since then.

Besides, I heard that vice commander Pisce gave them special training in person as punishment for violating orders.

That’s enough.

It can’t be helped that some of them don’t want to listen to the order of a beastkin.

「I understand. I will tell them that since you’re not angry with them, an apology is unnecessary.」

「Please.」

Apology.

To be honest, I’m not familiar with it.

I had been apologized to recently when someone bumped into me but I don’t know how to respond.

「Was it the influence of the past?」

「Hnn? What did you say?」

I heard Abar’s voice but even my ears weren’t able to hear what I said.

「No, it’s nothing.」

「Oh, well, we’ve got another round of debates tomorrow so if you’re done with today’s work, take your time to catch a break.」

「Understood.」

I watched Abar leave the tent and stretched my arms upward.

I’ve been doing paperwork all afternoon so my shoulders are stiff.

「Finally, done.」

I put away the paperwork on the simple table.

「Apology」

Gaji also told me that if a member of the team does something I don’t like, I have to punish him according to the knight’s rules.

I was also told that it was necessary.

However, compared to the days when I’m still a slave, glares, being ignored, and being attacked are pretty normal.

I don’t feel particularly uncomfortable with things that don’t matter.

Yes, I dare say that they really don’t matter.

I don’t have time for things that don’t matter now.

So I pretended that it didn’t happen but from what I saw from Abar, I guess I shouldn’t have done that.

From now on, if someone needs to be punished, someone will be punished.

「…..can’t I just throw this all to someone else?」

Maybe to vice commander Pisce or Abar or even Rashi.

Ah, no.

Gaji told me that if I’m going to give someone punishment, I must tell that person in person.

Did he see this coming?

Even so, this commander job makes things more troublesome, doesn’t it?

「I guess I’ll just relieve my worries using tomorrow’s hunt.」