Reborn: Imperial Officer Promotion Guide

"Huh?" Major Schneider was stunned.

"Huh?" Ling didn't seem to understand.

"Major Schneider, your brain is not good, is your hearing also so bad? And Ling, you don't have to act anymore, you should understand what I mean, right?"

The black-haired girl named Ling couldn't help but take a few steps back in fear.

"I understand, but I don't understand what you mean. Teacher, do you want me to feed Major Schneider horse manure?"

"Huh? Yeah, what's the problem?"

"… Are you kidding me—!" A girl's crazy scream rang out in the room.

"I'm not kidding, I'm serious."

"Why do you have to make me do this? Major Schneider will be so pitiful!"

"Ling, listen to me, put away your sympathy, there are many people in this world who do not deserve sympathy."

"Also, you have to make one thing clear to me first. It was this cunning Major Schneider who thought he had something on me and secretly planned to humiliate me by swallowing feces. I was just returning the favor."

"But judging from the final result, didn't he do that? Teacher, you are still sitting here. At most, he just talked about it and vented his anger."

"Ling, I really don't know what to say to you. If you have to suffer to learn your lesson, you will suffer endlessly and endure endless pain and suffering in your life."

"Once I'm hurt by the other party, even if I succeed in revenge, I won't be able to recover the loss. So my approach is to strike first before being framed, so that the other party loses the ability to attack and prevents it from happening again."

"Isn't that just pure one-sided sadism?"

"No, I won't attack irrelevant or innocent people. I will only target those who clearly have subjective ill will towards me, such as this Major Schneider. His malice makes me sick to my stomach, and the abacus beads are about to jump on my face. Do you think I could possibly show mercy to such a guy?"

Hull's eyes were as sharp as a knife and his remarks were so unorthodox that even Major Schneider felt a chill down his spine and a physical discomfort.

To Major Schneider, Helheim was his subordinate's subordinate's subordinate, three levels lower in rank.

As the superior of the superior of the superior of the superior, I have already knelt before him. Must I still be forced by him to eat horse manure in the end? !

"What's wrong? If you don't want to, please leave now and don't disturb me from reading."

"..."

Things like horse manure should definitely not be eaten. Physical damage is a small matter, but this double insult to the spirit and personality is absolutely unacceptable.

but...

If I don't do as I'm told... the territory exchange mission will definitely not be able to proceed. If I anger Colonel Giroud Maguno, I won't get promoted and may even be demoted.

If you eat it, you will be a major general, if you don't eat it, you will be demoted. If you eat it, you will be a major general, if you don't eat it, you will be demoted... If you eat it, you will be a major general, if you don't eat it, you will be demoted...

The two options kept circling in Major Schneider's mind like a merry-go-round.

Finally, Major Schneider, breathing heavily, made up his mind.

"As long as I eat, you will be willing to be my translator and lend me a hand, right?"

"Well, of course. If you can endure this kind of humiliation, I am willing to help you just for this awareness."

"I understand... then..." Major Schneider was unusually calm at this moment, and his expression even seemed to be relieved.

"I really can't stand it anymore! Are you two just children who haven't grown up yet? Which adult would trade such disgusting things for no reason? I really don't understand what the point of you arguing like this is! Can't you find something more practical to do?"

At this time, Ling angrily pushed away Hull's foot that was stepping on Major Schneider's face, and tried hard to help Major Schneider up.

"You don't have to beg him, and you don't have to swallow horse manure. I don't want to dig it out because it's dirty. Let me be your translator. I understand Kumin language."

"You...! Do you also speak Kumin?!"

Major Schneider looked at Ling with an expression of disbelief. This girl should be less than 10 years old, right?

But at this point, Major Schneider would rather believe that the bell is the only life-saving rope hanging from the cliff than actually swallow horse manure.

"Ah! That's great! I'll leave everything to you! Please be my interpreter--"

Before Major Schneider could finish his words, Helheim interrupted him with an icy voice.

"Ling, how could I allow you to act on your own?"

Seeing that the light he had finally found was about to be taken away, Major Schneider jumped up from the ground and swung his fist.

"Helheim——————!"

But the next moment, a strange pressure swept through his body, and Major Schneider was pressed to the ground.

"This...this is..." Major Schneider had no idea what was going on. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't stand up.

"Teacher!? Isn't that [Earthbound] in your hand?!"

Ling looked at Hull with a look of astonishment on her face.

"Yes, it is [Earthbound]. Don't worry, I only applied double the gravity on the two of you."

Xiaoling was also lying on the floor, completely unable to move.

"Ah! I'm so fed up with you! Goliath! Come over here and help me!"

Goliath, who had recovered after these few days, stood in a corner of the room, leaning against the wall, with saliva hanging from his mouth.

Hearing Ling's call, he immediately perked up.

"What's wrong? What happened? I'm not asleep."

When Goliath opened his eyes, he saw Major Schneider lying on the ground with his arms and legs spread out, and Ling half-kneeling on the ground.

"What's going on? Isn't the floor cold? You'll catch a cold if you sleep here."

Goliath came over and tried to help Major Schneider up from the ground.

"Goliath, don't be a pushover. That kind of guy is not worth saving."

"Ah... Heer, people should help each other. If someone is in trouble, we should lend a hand if we are able to."

Hull snorted coldly and turned his head away.

"…Forget it, whatever you want. You have the right to refuse me."

"Why...why...Goliath can reject you...me...but I can't!"

Even though Ling was pressed to the floor, she still tried to raise her head and stared in the direction of Hull.

"Goliath and I are classmates and friends. We are in an employment relationship, and we are equal in status. He has the right and freedom to reject me. But, Ling, I bought you at a high price, so you are a subordinate. As long as no one pays you back, you need to obey my instructions completely."

"So do I just need to find someone to pay it back for me, and from now on, I won't have to obey your orders anymore?"

"Of course not."

“W-why!?”

"I am your adoptive parent. You do not have the right to terminate the adoption relationship until you reach adulthood."

"What about this?"

With Goliath's help, Ling took out a piece of parchment from her arms.

At this moment, Hull, who had looked calm just now, had a changed expression.

"Adoption power of attorney...? When did you know about it?"

"I already knew that you hid my adoption letter. Do you remember that time? You allowed me to go back to the orphanage to visit the director, and I took this letter to the director and asked her to sign it. Legally speaking, I have now been reassigned to the orphanage!"

"Hehehe... Do you think I won't be on guard? Even if you want to cancel my adoption relationship with you, according to the terms of the power of attorney, you must pay me ten platinum coins as liquidated damages. I believe you must have already contacted Nandar or the Blue Queen, but ten platinum coins is not a small amount of money. You can't raise it in such a short time."

"Hehe, then guess why I have to show you this adoption power of attorney now? Hello, Major Schneider?"

"...Huh?" Major Schneider was stunned when his name was called.

"Please pay me 10 large gold coins and give me my freedom. In exchange, I will be your translator."

Ling showed an innocent smile that only girls can have.

"I see. Indeed, Major Schneider was born into a high-ranking noble family and seems to be related to Lieutenant Mosbia. However, how could he possibly come up with ten platinum coins?" Hull smiled calmly.

One gold dragon coin is enough to buy ten children from an orphanage, and three gold dragon coins are equivalent to the annual income of a small village.

On top of that, as the highest value coin issued by the empire, one platinum coin is equivalent to a major's salary for twenty years.

This kind of currency is only used in large-scale transactions between chambers of commerce, trade activities between countries, and payment for major engineering projects.

Ten platinum coins are more than the total wealth that a normal major-level officer can possess in his lifetime.

"I'll pay for this!"

"...What?" Judging from Hull's expression, Schneider's answer was obviously beyond his expectations.

"I say, I'm here to buy this little girl! Helheim, you're not smart enough, are your hearing even that bad?"

Major Schneider still couldn't move freely, but his voice was not affected.

"I can't understand your behavior. Ten platinum coins, you can't earn that much money in your lifetime, right? Do you really want to spend all your wealth in exchange for Ling's freedom?"

"Money is nothing! What I want is to stand out from the crowd!"

Schneider had to endure a lot of hardships before he was promoted to the rank of major.

As the second son in the family, he never received care from his parents and was often looked down upon by other relatives.

Even if he joined the army, his noble birth did not bring him much help in this world where strength is respected.

He could only bow and scrape to his superiors and live a hard life by flattering them. Not only that, he also had to take care of things everywhere regularly and give gifts to his superiors to win their favor. Therefore, he reached a cooperative relationship with the Jabadavor Chamber of Commerce to make money together.

After twenty years of hard work, he finally achieved the status of major today.

For him, his position as an officer was everything.

He wants to make all those who once looked down on him kneel at his feet!

I can clearly see that the position of colonel is beckoning to me, how can I give up now!

Isn't it just ten platinum coins? I'll give it to you!

"I have already told you that a verbal agreement alone is useless. You need to draft a new adoption letter of authorization, sign your name on it, and pay the sufficient amount. Only after the amount is verified can the new adoption letter of authorization take effect. According to your ability, it will take at least six months just to sort out so much information."

Hull said, looking at Ling with a smile: "It's hard to say whether you can be free."

Ling curled her lips and pulled Major Schneider's sleeve.

"Major Schneider. If you give it to me, as long as the money is in place, I can sort out the materials within a day. As long as I can make the adoption letter invalid and give me my freedom, everything is fine."

"Ring...you..."

It was the first time that Major Schneider saw Hull look so anxious.

Major Schneider was sure that this girl named Ling was the only one three inches below the head of the poisonous snake Helheim!

"Hahahahaha, Helheim! You've got to suffer this day! Don't think I don't know. Be it those lieutenants, the privates from the 8th Squad, or that businessman, it's all you who's behind all this!"

"You just want to force me into a corner and then come here to beg you! And you dare to ask me to swallow feces for you? Clean your neck and wait, the colonel and I will sentence you to death! When you die, I will use your self-righteous head as a chamber pot!"

Even though his body was completely unable to move, Major Schneider's expression was twisted into a knot, and his tone was full of sarcasm.

"Hey! Major Schneider! Don't provoke him! If he attacks you, you'll be dead! Your death is a small matter, but what about my freedom?"

When Ling tried desperately to stop Major Schneider from continuing, Hull smiled bitterly again.

"Hey, hey, hey, Ling, do you think I'm some kind of lawless outlaw? If the contract is to be abolished in a reasonable, legal and compliant manner, I will never use violence to stop it no matter how unhappy I am. Come on, Goliath, show them away for me. I don't want to see these two people again."

"Okay...Okay, come on, Major Schneider, I'll take you to the infirmary first. Can you walk on your own?"

Goliath took Major Schneider's shoulder and helped him out of the house.

Even though his body was still unable to move, Major Schneider felt happier than ever. He looked up at the sky with a smile on his face.

Being able to make that poisonous snake Helheim suffer a setback, just thinking about the scene just now, I feel like I am in paradise.

"I won...I won that monster...I really won!"

Captain Lorenzo and other lieutenants failed to do it, but I was the only one who finally accomplished it!

As expected, those guys are a bunch of incompetents! In the end, it is me, Lord Schneider, who has to take action!

“Hahahahaha! Hahahahahahahahahaha!”

Major Schneider's laughter drifted around the fortress.

Only Ling was behind him, whispering: "Idiot..."