Upon Returning Home As A Military Major General, I Was Told To Attend School, Even Though It’s Quite Late Now - Chapter 122

Chapter 122. What’s Up With Adult Sibling Relationships?

“Hey, Yuusuke.”

“What is it, Misuzu?”

“You said the Hao tribe were gentle people.”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“Then, what’s with this situation?”

We were currently being held captive in the dungeon of the Junker Fortress, deep in the jungle far from Japan.

“Uh, w-who knows? When we first teleported to the front of the fortress, the Hao soldiers welcomed us just fine…”

Basically, since Japanese soldiers had once fought alongside the Hao tribe against a common enemy, the Eastern Union, I didn’t think they’d hold any grudge against us.

“Yuu-sama… it seemed to me that the Hao tribe’s attitude changed drastically the moment Miss Number Two appeared before them.”

“I’m not fluent in the Hao language, but I caught words like ‘nightmare,’ ‘demon,’ and ‘charge’ being thrown around.”

Hayami and Toshi-nii both cast sidelong glances at Misuzu, their eyes dripping with judgment.

“Well, to be blunt, it’s all my fault. Frankly, I’m surprised they didn’t shoot me on sight.”

“Misuzu, what’s your connection to the Junker Fortress anyway?”

“This place, the Junker Fortress, is protected by raging rivers at the back and sides, so it can only be attacked from the front. It’s a natural stronghold.”

“Right. Even though they’re a minority tribe and massively outnumbered in terms of military power, the Hao tribe has managed to survive here by making the most of the terrain.”

For the Hao tribe, all they had to do was defend the front.

And of course, that front was littered with traps and landmines.

“For the Eastern Union, it was a nightmare of a battlefield. They had no choice but to charge at the waiting Hao soldiers head-on. That’s why they sent me in.”

“When you say they sent you in, you mean the homunculi you created were deployed to the battlefield here at Junker Fortress, right?”

“Exactly. They sent in a thousand dozen units.”

“That many…”

In other words, Misuzu’s homunculi, relying only on their overwhelming numbers, had repeatedly charged the Junker Fortress, enduring the full brunt of the Hao tribe’s attacks.

That meant the Hao soldiers had been shooting down endless waves of girls who all had the same face and body type.

No matter how many they killed, another identical girl soldier would appear.

It’s no wonder the Hao soldiers would get PTSD from that.

“It was, in a way, the perfect battlefield to deploy me. But even with such overwhelming numbers, we couldn’t capture the fortress. Meanwhile, as battery technology advanced, more of my units were diverted to other priorities, and the assault on Junker Fortress was postponed.”

From the Eastern Union’s perspective, Junker Fortress wasn’t a strategically critical location, even if they did capture it.

It was more about putting on a show to prevent the independence movement of minority tribes from spreading any further.

Because it was so close to the Euro border, they couldn’t send in bombers either, so the whole thing turned into a slow bleed of money and lives.

“No wonder Misuzu’s face is a trauma trigger for the Hao tribe.”

“Exactly. Things were finally starting to settle down without any fighting, and just when they thought they could relax, the original trauma shows up. It was a real headache calming the soldiers down.”

My muttered thoughts were answered from outside the cage.

“And you are…”

The woman standing on the other side of the bars had long hair tied into a single braid, a combat uniform under a Hao tribe traditional cloth shawl.

“Hello. I’m the commander of Junker Fortress. Welcome, visitors from Japan.”

Her skin was tanned, but from her features, it was clear she spoke Japanese.

“…State your name, unit, rank, and identification code.”

“Sara Kobako. I’ve forgotten my ID code. I was with the Army Special Operations Group, rank Captain. That is, if I’m still officially listed in the Japanese military.”

Toshi-nii muttered something under his breath, and the woman outside the cage smiled at him.

“I can’t confirm her ID code, but there’s no doubt this is Captain Sara Kobako. As her family, I can vouch for her. No mistake, Major General Kamiya.”

In response, Toshi-nii sent me a formal reply.

“I see. Nice to meet you, Captain Sara. I’m Yuusuke Kamiya, Major Major General of the Japanese military.”

“Major General at your age, huh… impressive.”

Thinking Toshi-nii was the leader of our group, Captain Sara chuckled to herself, seemingly amused by the misunderstanding.

“Surprised?”

“Yes. But your name, and your achievements fighting alongside the Hao tribe, have reached even this remote jungle.”

It seemed even though she didn’t recognize my face, she’d connected the dots when she heard my name and knew about the boy soldier.

“Now that we’ve cleared things up, can you let us out of here?”

“Sorry, but you’ll have to wait a bit longer. We need to make sure the message spreads throughout the fortress that ‘the Nightmare of the Charging Girl’ isn’t an enemy. It’s not safe for you to walk around yet…”

“By ‘Charging Girl,’ you mean Misuzu, right?”

“Yes. Every soldier here, myself included, still dreams about her as a nightmare.”

Captain Sara glanced over at Misuzu, then quickly averted her eyes. It was clear she found Misuzu intimidating.

“The Nightmare of the Charging Girl is a pretty cool battlefield nickname, Misuzu.”

“I’m well aware I’ve ruined the soldiers’ sleep. I’ll cover my face while I’m inside the fortress.”

“We’d greatly appreciate that.”

Captain Sara bowed her head, then gave some instructions in the Hao language to the male soldier standing beside her, probably about announcing the situation regarding Misuzu.

“Hey, Toshi-nii. You’ve been standing there with a sour look on your face this whole time. Come over here. We’ve still got a bit of time before we can leave, so why not enjoy this reunion with your sister?”

“No, I…”

“It’s fine, it’s fine.”

I pushed Toshi-nii from behind, trying to be helpful, and nudged him forward.

“It’s been a few years, Toshiaki. You’ve gotten older and more like an old man.”

“Like I said… we’re both getting older, sis.”

To her teasing, Toshi-nii muttered back like a sulky teenager.

“Oh right, you’re a lieutenant colonel now? You’ve outranked me. So, what are you doing these days?”

“I’m an instructor at the military academy…”

“Hahaha! The kid who used to cry all the time because of me is now a military instructor?”

“Come on, sis! Stop always bringing up embarrassing childhood stories to get one over on me!”

“What’s he like in the military? Major General Kamiya?”

“Yes. Toshi-nii is the older brother I’ve always looked up to.”

“Pfft! Looks like you’ve got someone who sees you as a big brother, Toshiaki. Though, you’ve been outranked by him, huh?”

“Ugh… shut up, sis.”

This is bad… what is this?

Watching siblings reunite after years apart, with zero planning but perfect banter, is just too precious.

And seeing Toshi-nii, who’s usually so cool and older-brother-like, getting totally steamrolled by his sister is kind of adorable.

“Now I kind of get why Hayami-san’s a bit obsessed with big sister characters.”

“Really, Yuu-sama!? Then next time, how about we do a roleplay with an older sister and younger brother—”

“Sorry, I take back what I said.”

Trying to wash away the unsettling depths of Hayami-san’s preferences, I turned my eyes back to the sibling reunion in front of me.

What I saw wasn’t a military officer or fortress commander.

It was just two siblings catching up after a long time apart.