American Isekai - Chapter 162 (Patreon)

I spent a week reading over the Orb that Polly had given me. There were four books within, all four of them being a cumulative of 3500 pages long. 

These books were centered on two main topics. The first was legislation. The legalities of war, the military, how it operated, its history, and more. It was basically everything that gave the Kingdom the legitimacy to do whatever the hell it wanted, and a reminder to all who read it that the Kingdom was in control. Stepping out of line was supposed to be met with big consequences. 

Was it? Not always, no. It depended, usually based on the nobility of the person and who was giving judgement. 

Either way, the first 2000 pages comprising the first two books were all on legislation. The last 1500 pages, split across the latter two books, were on wartime tactics. 

Of course, not all lessons on how to win a war could be given in two books. These two books dealt with all the matters that would make someone an effective Colonel who operated on that level. A Colonel wasn’t supposed to control a war. They were supposed to manage the area they were in charge of. In the case of someone like Colonel Polly, she had to manage everything around Stronghold Charlie. 

Of course, it became obvious very quickly that the happenings around Stronghold Charlie was more than a Colonel should be able to handle, given its position on the frontlines and high level of combat power. But that’s why Polly was so good at what she did, and why she had the confidence to quickly rise into the General positions now that slots had opened up. She had already proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that she could handle a higher rank. 

The two books on tactics were a glimpse into what she was capable of handling. It was all about how to manage local battlefields, how to use terrain to your advantage, how to utilize different kinds of soldiers across different power levels, how to allocate materials and weaponry, and most importantly, how to interpret the Scourge and its actions. 

The first of the latter two books were, in short, on how to handle the human side of the local war. The second was how to handle the Scourge side of the local war. 

It was clear from all this that the rank of Colonel was the first step into becoming someone who could contribute to the war in the realm of strategy. Of course, most of the information was only supposed to apply to the small scale. It wasn’t enough to make you understand how to manage the overall war across multiple bases and warfronts . 

But, if you were smart enough, it wasn’t difficult to extrapolate and understand the bigger picture, especially if you could receive information on what was happening elsewhere. Polly no doubt had those channels given her bodacious claims regarding her social network and experience.

And in this realm, I actually had a pretty good advantage. 

I may not be a history nerd, but it was always easy to let myself fall into the spiral of sleepless nights and 4am documentaries and videos regarding all things war. I’ve seen no shortage of analyses on the world wars and why things went the way they did. And while much of that stuff wouldn’t apply to this world given the difference in technology and the fact that we were fighting an inhuman enemy, there were still some constants and parallels that I could draw. 

I highly doubted that this world could possibly compare to the breadth of Earth’s wartime expertise, let alone its complexity. I didn’t care that this world had summoners with magical smarts. Sometimes, tactical genius was an inborn trait that couldn’t be replicated. 

And I grew up in an area where all of that information was free to study all I wanted. Before, I couldn’t dream of accurately recalling it all, let alone learning from it. But with my new magical smarts, that was no longer an issue. 

That was why a lot of those books came easily to me. Sure, I needed to memorize it to give them the answers they wanted in the future. I couldn’t pass tests with my own interpretations of things. But that meant nothing for how I would operate in the future. 

The hardest part was the details. Knowing what the Scourge was trying to do required you to know what their seemingly unintelligent actions meant. There were always brains behind a scout troop or a sudden attack, even though the monsters carrying them out were brainless. It was a Colonel’s job to interpret what a Royal general’s goals were based on the mindless movements of monstrous troops. 

That meant there was a lot of information on the different types of Scourge monsters, their purposes, and interpretations on why they were fielded. Seeing something as inconsequential as a Scout hideout would mean that they were not only really far from the main Scourge body, but that a large attack force was planning on coming to that area to establish a nest, which was one of the very few reasons a Scout would ever take up long-term residence beyond their home nest or base. 

This also meant that mission reports and observations were incredibly important. Failing to mention that the Scout had made itself a nest could mean that the Colonel fails to predict an oncoming attack force, which could result in troops getting wiped out spontaneously. 

They had to pay attention to the small details, which meant parsing through a ton of information from a lot of reports over many days, weeks, or months. After all, the Colonel, in the vast majority of cases, couldn’t be out there on the field. 

Which was why Polly wanted to turn me into a Colonel, or mentally raise me to the level of one, so I could provide her with a far more thorough overview of the battlefield. With me there, she wouldn’t have to rely on the variability of mission reports from people much less intelligent or observant than her. 

I came to understand why she was offering this to me specifically. A summoner capable of combat and survival on a battlefield was practically unheard of. 

After the first week of crunching all the information in the book I spent the second week relaxing a bit more and going back to normal training with my advancement formation. Although I could memorize all the knowledge, I needed real data in order to understand and use it. For that I needed to study things with Polly, but after we got back from the Treehouse, she had been a bit busy. 

There was definitely going to be an attack on the Treehouse, potentially the Stronghold as well. That meant that the Snow Doves needed to be mobilized, so they were. It was only a few days after we came back that they left for the Treehouse. However, that left the stronghold vulnerable to some extent. 

When the second week hit, tons of patrols started going out. The Pathfinders had to pick up some of the slack and do many of those patrols, and I was obviously among them. Polly started testing me by seeing how detailed of a report I could give while seeing if I paid attention to key details. She also started feeding me past data and other mission reports, letting me parse some of that information. 

In general though, things felt slow even though we seemed to be priming for battle. Patrols certainly weren’t eventful, and we didn’t get attacked at all. Plus, Polly’s two Colonels weren’t there for me to converse with. One was sent to the Treehouse while another was away on a short vacation. Things were quiet in headquarters. 

The second week passed quickly. My leg completely healed and although I didn’t get much time to practice with the White Death’s rifle, I was still able to get a read on some of its unique properties. 

The M/28-30 had more accuracy than the M1 Garand. Its MOA was noticeably tighter which meant I could hit farther targets with much more reliability. What was more important than all of that though was the attunement I felt with the rifle when I used it. 

When I first got the rifle, I had felt like I could estimate distances with much greater accuracy. With my eyes, I could estimate distances within 500 meters down to the 5 meter mark. Beyond that, accuracy started to go down, but being able to know when something was 720 or 760 meters away was very nice. 

With a bit of experience wielding the rifle on patrols though, I started to understand the spirit a bit more. These weapons weren’t just hunks of metal and wood. They were living things, and this particular spirit allowed me to meld with it much more than other, less powerful spirits. 

Thus, when I really focused, I felt like I could ‘reach out’. It was an odd feeling. It partly felt like my Aura was extending out into the distance, but this was far more refined, more focused. With this rifle, I could ‘reach out’ up to about 600 meters away. Anything beyond that was too straining. 

And when I fired, it felt like I knew whether my bullet would hit or not. It felt like I drew a path for the bullet to travel, my influence extending to it, capable of influencing its trajectory without actually adjusting its course mid-flight. 

Put simply, it was precognition but for shooting. And by using that, I could better understand when to take a shot. When using this ability, my accuracy skyrocketed. I no longer took shots that I was going to miss, only shooting when I knew I would hit despite inherent inacccuracies at those ranges. 

This ability stemmed from an incredibly deep link with the rifle, one that the White Death had with his own. He understood his weapon so thoroughly that he grasped its inaccuracies and could adjust to them himself. This only came with experience and time.

Now, I was inheriting some of those abilities. Of course, the second I touched another rifle, these feelings would fade. I would still retain the ability to estimate distances, but until I got in tune with another rifle, I would hardly be able to understand it and predict its shots with perfect accuracy. 

Still, even though I would someday give up this rifle for more powerful options, it opened up a whole new world to me. It was another level of shooting mastery that I had never been exposed to. Now, I was beginning to understand the level I needed to strive for. 

Like that, the third week came around.

……

…

“AAAHHH!! Help me!!”

“Haah…”

I let out a long breath, bounding across some rooftops before stopping when I got near the street. 

Down the street, I could see a little girl running in my direction, a man behind her scrambling away all the same. He picked her up and ran when he could, just as the monsters nearby started to run after them. 

I raised my rifle, training my sight on them before opening fire. 

6 beasts fell before my rapid semi-auto fire. The noise I made attracted more attention, several other beasts taking to the rooftops and bounding toward me. 

I shot them all down as they came, dropping magazine after magazine, some monsters taking more hits than others to go down. They were tough. This sieging force wasn’t like the others I had fought.

I kept one eye on the running pair, watching them go down the street toward me. However, it was only when I saw the light of the fire when I realized what was chasing them. 

A Bellowbeast. It’s throat expanded as it filled with fire, concentrating and turning superheated, its skin glowing under the power. 

It was going to light up the whole street. 

I fired a few more times in front of me, killing the last few beasts that were trying to jump on me. Then I let off a few rounds toward the Bellowbeast, trying to stop its attack. 

But it was stronger than most, Authority 8. My rounds, despite slamming right into its head, only dfelayed it for a second. It’s fire came out all the same, spewing down the street and filling every inch with a thunderous wave of fire. 

I jumped down into an alley way, seeing the man run in front of me, stopping when he saw me. But then he saw the fire coming. I could see it coming as it started singing his hair. 

He threw the girl toward me, who was no more than 8 to 10 years old. I reached forward and grabbed her just as the fire engulfed the man. 

Then I bent my knees and took a few more steps down the alley just as the fire started tumbling in. I wrapped up the girl when I felt the heat. Beneath my gear and hood, it still felt like I was being blasted with air from an oven. 

I could hardly hear the screams. I tried running more, but deep down I knew it didn’t matter. 

The fire quickly rushed past, dissipating in a matter of seconds. It left everything around me scorched, everything flammable on fire, continuing to burn with small flames. 

And I lifted my body, opening my arms to find a charred body sitting within. 

The skin flaked off my chest, now nothing more than cinder. The body partly crumbled when gravity bore down, breaking open in certain places and revealing bone and cooked flesh. 

Even through the mask the smell reached me. I wanted to retch, but the danger approaching me was only getting closer. 

Still, my eyes remained locked on the corpse, once alive just seconds ago. 

The danger stopped, that thing looking down on me from a rooftop. 

“I can’t say I’m a fan of cooked meat anymore. Especially not that cooked. All the flavor is gone. Little girls are the good ones too. Why couldn’t you protect her better?.”

I looked back at the voice, the sadistic piece of shit nothing but smiles. 

Completely black eyes and a face I could never stand. There wasn’t even a trace of mutation on it either. The process wasn’t difficult, then. It had changed willingly. 

My mind almost drew a blank. The overwhelming anger and frustration paralyzed me. I couldn’t understand. 

Why did this have to happen? Why did the Scourge have to exist?

I would sacrifice my life if it meant stopping them, killing them all. But that was too easy, apparently. My death meant nothing. 

No, it was my life they wanted. My time, my blood, my sweat, my sanity. 

With every death, with every kill, they continued to chip away at it. I hadn’t quite noticed at first. I could brush off death so easily back then. I still could now. But its toll was climbing. I could sense myself being broken down. 

I didn’t want to be. I felt like I could resist it, either by simply not caring, or by accepting it as part of the job. Death was everywhere, I’d encountered it everywhere I went, and there would always be more. It was just a fact of life and I’d gotten used to it. It couldn't phase me. 

But that’s not what I was feeling. The cinder that stuck to my chest, peeling off the body in my arms was so vividly harrowing. I dropped the corpse when the threat to my life started growing even more, but I only felt heavier when I stood. 

I looked into the eyes of the thing smiling at me. That deep, corrupted abyss made me shiver in unadulterated hatred. And yet, the very darkness that I so abhored, they relished in. I knew that so intimately, yet it only fed into my rage in a spiraling loop of wrath. 

Killing this thing would bring me no joy. I used to think the comfort of their death was enough. I used to think that it could keep me going. The fact that one less monster was walking this planet, sparing one more person from death and destruction, was fuel that helped me through even the most straining days. 

But even though I could imagine the corpse of this fiend plastered across the floor, I felt nothing. There would be no sense of accomplishment, no relief that it could no longer harm those that were still alive. 

There was only one thought on my mind, even as my body moved on its own as it had a thousand times before, seeking the death of this monster. 

It wasn’t enough!

……

……

“Haaaahhhh!”

I shot out of my bed, almost screaming. 

My dream, my nightmare, crashed through my mind at full force. It hurt so bad that blood actively streamed down my nose. I could taste it on the tip of my tongue, smell it when I took heavy breaths. 

Despite my amazing memory, details faded from it just as fast as it came, as if something didn’t want me remembering it. 

Yet the feeling remained all too vividly. I looked down at my bare chest. There was no ash, no charred flesh. 

But the sheer rage… it made me feel like my head was going to explode. It was powerful, much more than I was currently. 

But with the fading memories, that feeling also dulled. I was able to filter it out and keep myself under control. Still, I sincerely hoped nobody would come to check on me. 

Minutes passed, my mind gradually coming to full lucidity, no longer clouded by the thought that I needed to kill everything around me. 

I didn’t just hate the Scourge. I was feeling sincere anger toward them.

In a sense, the Scourge was only half the problem. The other half was the people defending against it. They were another problem.

This wasn’t just my hatred for nobles seeping through. This was something else, something I was only mad about a good time from now. Question was, why?

What they hell did they do to get me so pissed off?

After all the mind-numbing thoughts started to wash away, a headache hit me while the blood going down my nose came to a stop. I got out of bed with a sigh, deciding to think about things later.