Chapter 10: Discharge! (2)
Even though the sun hadn't risen yet, everyone had already gathered at the training ground with their bags packed, as if they were about to head off on a long journey.
"Is everyone up?"
"Yes, sir!"
The 6th unit soldiers responded with big smiles to Kyle's shout.
Maybe it was because this was the discharge day they had all been desperately waiting for. You could clearly see the excitement on their faces.
“There are a lot of visitors out there,” Kyle said as he looked outside.
Everyone followed his gaze and saw a crowd of people gathered, clearly waiting to rush in the moment the 6th unit stepped out.
Kyle had prepared quite a few things for them.
“Hope they enjoy it,” he thought, grinning with a mischievous smile.
Just then, the door to the 6th unit opened, and the corps commander arrived.
“Sorry I’m late.”
“No problem.”
Silvio stood in front of Kyle, dark circles under his eyes—he had clearly been through a rough few days.
He had hoped to be discharged before Kyle but failed. With a bitter smile, he reached out to shake Kyle’s hand.
“You did well.”
“Sir, I hope you’ll be able to safely discharge, too.”
“…I hope so.”
Silvio gave a bitter smile. No matter what, he wouldn’t be able to avoid the chaos that would come once Kyle was discharged.
Eventually, he would just end up quietly leaving after all the trouble—such was Silvio’s fate.
“The commander was supposed to come himself, but unfortunately, I was told to deliver these instead. He asked me to apologize on his behalf.”
He handed Kyle a reward recognizing his achievements during his military service.
It wasn’t just Kyle—Silvio personally handed reward pouches to every member of the unit.
While Kyle’s record was especially outstanding, the other members were also far from ordinary. Many of Kyle’s subordinates were already making a name for themselves outside the empire.
People in the know already respected Kyle and the 6th unit. The moment they were free from the empire, everyone would want a piece of them.
“They said they’re heading south? There might be a recruitment war there.”
It was a foolish move from the empire’s leadership, but that wasn’t surprising anymore.
Silvio, who was already planning to escape to the western autonomous region after discharge, didn’t really care.
He just needed to finish the handover and escape this soon-to-be hellish unit.
“This document proves that your achievements were underreported. But it likely won’t be announced officially.”
“That’s fine.”
Kyle’s answer made Silvio chuckle—it was clear he never expected recognition anyway.
At this point, the public already knew about Kyle crushing the assassins without taking losses. It was meaningless to cover things up.
Everyone knew his “defeats” were fake records anyway.
“I envy you.”
Looking at Kyle’s calm, indifferent expression, Silvio couldn’t help but feel jealous. Kyle was finally free of everything.
“…I truly congratulate you on the freedom you’ve earned.”
Kyle smiled and nodded, knowing Silvio meant those words from the heart.
“He’ll be stuck even after discharge.”
Despite quickly filing for discharge, Silvio was too late.
He wouldn’t be able to leave the capital anytime soon—he didn’t have the power or weapons for it.
“The discharge ceremony is over.”
With those words, Silvio and his men quickly left through the gates. They didn’t want to get caught up in whatever chaos would soon unfold.
Kyle also picked up his things without hesitation.
“Let’s go!”
He gave the order and was the first to move.
While going outside the base wasn’t new to him, today was different—it felt like removing heavy shackles.
As he stepped through the gates of the 6th unit, it felt like something had been released, like he could hear a ‘clank’ in his head.
Kyle turned back with a bright smile, waiting to welcome his comrades as they stepped outside.
“Congratulations on your discharge!”
The others followed with the same joyful expressions, looking up at the sky with relief.
“Alright, let’s get out of this damned place. The guests are waiting.”
Everyone laughed and started heading toward the train station.
They were curious about who would receive the "gifts" they prepared—but more than that, they just wanted to get as far away from the capital as possible.
To them, the capital was worse than the hellish north.
Without even being told, they all moved quickly toward the station.
“Are they gone?”
“They really left.”
As the sun started to rise, people watching from afar looked shocked.
Seeing the 6th unit disappearing down the road, they turned to look at the base.
“Looks like it’s already started.”
People began climbing over the walls and rushing in—hundreds of them.
But strangely, most of them started coming back out not long after entering.
“Why are you out already?”
“There’s nothing! We have to look outside!”
“What? There’s gotta be something inside.”
A man sighed and showed a clue he managed to grab.
“Inside, it’s just military secrets. Anything useful to us is somewhere else.”
As they left, more people rushed out, cursing the 6th unit in frustration.
When military personnel arrived a bit later and went inside, they finally understood why.
“…Hah.”
The 6th unit base had turned into a complete mess.
The funny thing was, all the important military secrets were hidden behind fake locks, and most of them just led to jokes like “The next clue is at ㅇㅇㅇ!”
Meanwhile, some real secret documents were just lying in plain sight on desks, mixed in with random papers.
Because of this, a few lucky people who came in late found valuable stuff unexpectedly.
The ones suffering the most were the intelligence agents.
“Search everywhere! We don’t know where those bastards hid things!”
“You guys, follow me!”
They were ordered to search every inch of the base like finding a needle in a haystack, and also to chase after private armies of noble families who had already left.
All of this was the intelligence department’s responsibility.
That didn’t mean the military was just sitting around.
They also had to secure all the scattered military secrets in the base.
But that wasn’t the only problem.
“This place isn’t for stealing!”
A military officer shouted angrily, drawing his sword.
Then, a man holding some suspicious-looking documents suddenly ran away.
“Catch him!”
Soldiers began chasing after him.
And this was just the beginning.
Rumors about the 6th unit’s secrets spread all over the capital, attracting a swarm of thieves.
They didn’t even need big secrets—just small, useful info would be enough.
Who knows?
Maybe what they stole could turn out to be valuable.
Like pirates chasing treasure, these thieves poured into the base.
The documents weren’t all in one place either—some were hidden all around the base just to mess with people.
It would probably take days to find everything.
And during that time, thieves would keep sneaking in and out.
The soldiers were already exhausted trying to guard and search at the same time.
Meanwhile, all the 6th unit members had arrived at the train station.
“It must be chaos back there by now.”
“They’ll be busy for a while.”
Korn and Coutinho said with smiles.
Even the usually quiet Parshu had a small smile, imagining how crazy things must be.
“They won’t have time to worry about us now. While they’re busy, we’re crossing the Empire’s border.”
Everyone nodded and went into the station with Kyle.
People in the station were whispering and stealing glances at them.
“Looks like we’re getting a bit famous, huh?”
Kyle just smiled and walked toward the train.
Then, a man wearing a black fedora came up to them.
“I’ve cleared two cars on the southbound train just for you. This way, please.”
It was clear the Intelligence Bureau wanted them out of the capital as quickly as possible.
Kyle smirked at the gesture and followed with his team.
Still, he couldn’t help but suspect—what if the Intelligence Bureau had done something to the train?
As if reading his thoughts, the agent added:
“Our agents will be riding the train with you as well.”
He boarded the train first, and the rest of the 6th unit followed.
Once everyone was on board, the train slowly began to move.
“It’s really over now.”
Parshu muttered as he looked out the window.
His face looked much more relaxed than when they first left the base.
Outside the window, the city slowly faded into the distance.
Parshu had been dragged to the capital from the North and never allowed to leave—until now.
“Shall we have a discharge drink?”
Kyle pulled out a bottle from his bag.
“Good job, everyone.”
“Thank you, sir!”
They all cheered and took a drink.
“Ah! This is amazing.”
They laughed, enjoying the taste of freedom and alcohol, watching the hated capital disappear in the distance.
“The view is the perfect side dish,” Kyle joked with a smile.
Far behind, one of the Intelligence Bureau agents watching them couldn’t help but whisper his true feelings:
“…I’m jealous.”