"Greetings, General Wester. Welcome."
Claude and Captain Durioro stood at the entrance of the mountain road that led to Squirrel Village and expressed their respect and welcome to the investigation team that came from afar.
General Wester, whose hair was slightly white, returned the salute with a straight face. He turned around and waved his hand. A captain's adjutant beside him yelled, "Everyone, dismount!"
The long line of horses stopped on the mountain road and the officers and soldiers on horseback dismounted.
"General, you can ride up the mountain," Captain Durioro said as he stepped forward.
"There's no need. I've been rushing for the whole morning. I can dismount and stretch my body."
General Wester looked up at the mountain road and said without changing his tone, "Bring us to the camp first."
"Yes, General Wester. Please follow me."
Captain Durioro wanted to lead General Wester's horse, but the general threw the reins to his adjutant. Captain Durioro could only turn around and lead the way for General Wester.
The open space to the east of Squirrel Village had been leveled by the soldiers of the local garrison camp, and four rows of military tents had been set up on it. This was the accommodation camp for the investigation team of the Military Justice Department. In addition to providing them with food and daily necessities, the security of this accommodation camp was also the responsibility of the investigation team's military police squadron.
In the kingdom's army, there were regulations governing the reception of any investigation team.
Be it accommodation, food, or expenses, they all had to be carried out according to the regulations. This was also to avoid disputes in the army because of the reception.
It was only about 200 meters from the mountain road to Squirrel Village. Many people arrived at the designated accommodation area for the investigation team in a short time.
"General Wester, this is the accommodation area for the personnel. The stable is at the back, and the public toilet and warehouse are on the left. We've prepared enough hay, fodder, and firewood.
The canteen and bathing area are on the right. The big tent in the middle is your office and meeting room. There's a map of Squirrel Village inside. The green area is the grassy hillside in front of Squirrel Village. Horses can be grazed there … "
Captain Durioro introduced the place to General Wester. He had spent three days setting up the camp with the garrison soldiers. To make enough space, he even dismantled a large number of simple sheds that Claude's unit had built and moved the soldiers from those sheds to a row of wooden houses at the back of Squirrel Village.
The purpose of this was to set up the entire accommodation camp as neatly as possible so that the investigation team would feel comfortable and satisfied at first sight.
Claude could only let Captain Durioro do as he pleased. He wasn't as good at dealing with people as Durioro. Or rather, he was a complete rookie in that regard. He didn't know how to receive an investigation team led by a general.
It was obvious that Captain Durioro's painstaking efforts weren't in vain. General Wester looked at the camp and nodded with satisfaction. "Thank you, Captain Durioro."
The adjutant next to General Wester was a smart man. After hearing the general's words, he ordered the rest of the troops to hand the horses to the stable. He then ordered the military police to set up a sentry post and set up a cordon. He then took a few orderlies to the big tent in the middle to tidy up the general's accommodation for the night.
There were only about 30 people left by General Wester's side. Eight of them were field officers with two or three silver crescent moons on their shoulders. The rest were junior officers. Many of them had the rank of captain like Claude.
A first lieutenant walked out and saluted Claude and Durioro before introducing himself as First Lieutenant Launard of the Royal Guard's logistics department. He was in charge of logistics for the investigation team.
During the investigation, he needed Claude and Durioro's assistance to complete the logistics and procurement of the investigation team.
As expected of the logistics department, his eloquence was unquestionable. It didn't take long for him to become familiar with Claude and Durioro as if they had been good friends for many years.
Only then did he bring Durioro and Claude to the field officers and introduced them one by one. "This is the head of the military law department of Lasdonkellan, Colonel Ballevia.
This is the head of the military law department of Kuklia, Colonel Crombit.
This is the head of the military law department of Krusger, Colonel Magilir.
This is the head of the military law department of Dodessas, Colonel Edbowen. "
The second-line corps of Aueras was basically formed from conscripted soldiers within a prefecture. During times of peace, they would only maintain a single division. During times of war, they would be forcibly conscripted in the prefecture until it was filled to the brim. After a short period of training, they would be sent to the frontlines.
That was why the name of the corps represented a prefecture. But in the ministry of the army, such corps were known as second-line corps.
It was only then that Claude understood why Launard came out to greet the two of them first. It was to introduce the eight second-line military law supervisors and field officers to them so that they could get to know each other naturally without any awkwardness.
Otherwise, Claude and Durioro couldn't just walk up to the field officers and salute first before asking, "Who are you?"
General Wester didn't mind. He was the only general there. His epaulet had a golden sun on it and he was easily recognizable.
However, the eight second-line corps law officers were all colonel-ranked officers and they were all mixed together. It was impossible for the general to personally introduce them to Claude and Selina as their ranks were too low.
Claude's heart was pounding as he didn't know how to get to know the eight field officers.
At that moment, Launard's appearance was a great help to the two of them.
With his introduction, everything seemed very peaceful and natural.
"Captain Claude of the 1st Band of 1st Ranger Tribe, a unit directly under frontline command, greets you, Sir."
"Captain Durioro, battalion commander of Mountain Road's garrison force, sequence 037, greets you, Sir."
Claude and Durioro saluted the eight field officers nonstop and introduced themselves, including their unit, position, and rank.
Every time Launard introduced a field officer, Claude and Durioro would have to introduce themselves again and salute.
Only after the field officer returned the salute could they move on to the next one.
After saluting the eight field officers, it was the turn of the remaining junior officers.
Getting to know so many officers at once was a troublesome task. Claude felt that he could barely remember the names of the eight field officers, but he would probably forget most of the thirty or so junior officers after that by the time he was done introducing them.
Launard was only doing the introductions for Durioro. The kingdom's military rules dictated that junior officers had to salute their superiors when they met and report their rank, position, and name.
Poor Captain Durioro. Although he was a captain, he belonged to the garrison troops. By default, he was one level lower than the regular army. He was about the same rank as these first lieutenants. That was why he needed First Lieutenant Launard to introduce him first and then bow to him.
Claude, on the other hand, was different. Even though he was also a captain, he had received a Knight's Medal and was naturally half a rank higher than the other captains. So, the captains were the first to salute him and report their names and backgrounds before the first lieutenants and the last ones were the second lieutenants.
Claude returned the salute one by one. It didn't take long for him to realize that quite a few of the junior officers harbored ill intentions towards him.
After more than half an hour, he finally got to know all the junior officers.
As expected, these first lieutenants and first lieutenants were the military law enforcement officers of the Imperial Guard Corps and the eight second-line corps, while the seven or eight second lieutenants were the personal aides of the eight second-line corps' military law department's field officers.
Captain Duriolo stepped forward and told General Wilster that he had booked the only tavern in the village to welcome the members of the investigation team who had come from afar.
Naturally, the banquet was only for officers above the junior rank. A platoon of gendarmes and other attendants would be provided by the garrison's canteen.
As for dinner, the investigation team would get their own ingredients from the garrison's logistics department.
Even though the tavern in Squirrel Village was simple, the farm-style mountain produce and wild vegetables left the investigators in awe.
It wasn't exactly a sumptuous banquet, but it suited everyone's appetite. They all expressed their gratitude to Durioro for his hard work.
Claude, on the other hand, was rather taciturn. Apart from the few who greeted him, he didn't give off the air of Durioro at all.
After the banquet, the investigators returned to their camp to rest for more than an hour.
Wilst's adjutant, Lineker, informed Claude and Durioro that the first meeting would be held at three in the afternoon in the general's tent.
The topic of the meeting was the investigation into the deaths of the frontline's law enforcer, Second Lieutenant Becky Milo, and staff officer, First Lieutenant Giprick. All relevant evidence, items, and the bodies of the two officers would be sent to the scene for inspection by the investigators' law enforcers.
Durioro didn't expect Wilst to be so swift and decisive. Less than two hours after enjoying the banquet, the investigation was already underway.
However, he and Claude were already prepared and weren't worried. They ordered the relevant people to bring the evidence and the two bodies to the investigation team's camp.
This time, Claude and Durioro weren't the hosts hosting the guests. Instead, they were the ones being investigated.
First, Durioro recounted what happened. Two military judges from the frontline asked him to take the criminals away, but he refused. The two military judges then trapped him in his office.
His adjutant, Staff Sergeant Siegfried, went to look for Claude. Claude rushed to his office with his platoon jarl, Second Lieutenant Moriad.
With the support of Claude and Siegfried, Durioro had more confidence to refuse the two military judges' unreasonable request.
However, when he presented the secret order from the kingdom's Ministry of the Army, the secret order told him to first imprison the four criminals who pretended to be official officers of the kingdom and wait for the Ministry of the Army to send someone to investigate.
As a result, the two military judges flew into a rage. Second Lieutenant Becky Milo brazenly took out a short gun from his uniform and lit a match, threatening the three to release the criminals immediately.
Second Lieutenant Moriad rushed forward to pry open the gun while he wasn't paying attention. Claude also rushed forward to help.
They only wanted to remove Second Lieutenant Becky Milo's gun, but Second Lieutenant Becky Milo wouldn't let go. He even bent down and used his body to prevent the gun from being snatched away.
Claude and Moriad were both taken aback by the sudden misfire of the musket. They thought that the other party was injured.
Unexpectedly, Second Lieutenant Becky Milo fell to the ground. When he turned over, he found that he had been shot in the face and died on the spot.
The evidence was the gun. The handle of the gun was engraved with Becky Milo's initials. Those familiar with him would definitely be able to recognize it as his.
The gun was still in its original state after the misfire. It could be seen that the handle of the gun had been modified to be more sensitive. The slightest vibration could easily cause the match to go off.
There were also many witnesses. The disarmed military police squad were witnesses. They proved that Second Lieutenant Becky Milo always carried the gun with him and heard the gunshot. However, they had already been disarmed by Second Lieutenant Dyavid and were crouching in the hall downstairs.
Claude and Moriad's account was similar to Durioro's. That allowed the investigation team to easily conclude that Second Lieutenant Becky Milo had indeed died from the misfire of the gun.
The examination of the corpse proved that as well. There was a bullet hole in his face and the caliber of the gun was also a short gun, not the common matchlock used by the military.
That meant that no one else could be blamed for Becky Milo's death. Nobody liked it when someone pulled out a gun and threatened them in the middle of an official meeting. It meant that he had been prepared for it.
The only question left to the investigation team was why Claude ordered Dyavid to take his platoon to disarm the gendarmerie squad when he received the message from Sergeant Siegfried, Durioro's adjutant, when he brought Lieutenant Moriad to his office.
Claude's answer was very clear. He and 1st Ranger Tribe broke out of the enemy encirclement. Immediately after that, Major Kerry was arrested by the frontline command's military law office.
After that, there were four people who pretended to be officers of the kingdom and said they were from the frontline command's military law office. Durioro and Durioro saw through them and arrested them.
Now that he heard that two military judges had come with a squad of military police and trapped Durioro in his office, he felt that something was amiss.
Even if the military judges were here on official business, there was no reason for them to trap a local officer for no reason. Claude had his suspicions and ordered Second Lieutenant Dyavid to disarm them.
The military judges looked at each other and had to admit that Claude's suspicions were reasonable.
Durioro wasn't a criminal. He was the commanding officer in charge of the local garrison. There was no reason for anyone to trap him in his office for no reason.
Claude's order to disarm the military police squad was correct. His orders were to defend Squirrel Village. This was the frontline, after all, so he had to be cautious.
And so, the death of Second Lieutenant Becky Milo came to an end.