Chapter 59
"…The smell of another woman is far too strong."
…….
No wonder she was cute as a puppy. Who would have thought her nose would be as sharp as a dog's, too? No, perhaps… it was because her mana-sensing ability was so sensitive. She seemed to have detected Seraphina's perfume and the traces of sex.
'Status Analysis.'
[Name: Hannah Meyer]
[Status: Jealousy, possessiveness, and intense sexual desire.]
[Emotion: Anxiety that the Captain might be taken away by another woman. Wants to imprint her presence on his body.]
"So… I waited because I wanted to wash you, Captain."
Hannah's hand slyly felt around my waist, drifting lower. Her eyes were unambiguous. She didn't merely intend to wash me.
'Haa….'
I sighed inwardly.
I had barely gotten Seraphina to sleep and returned, only to find Hannah waiting for me this time. And she was brimming with energy, looking like a hungry bitch.
My stamina was already completely spent.
Take on Hannah in this state? The term death from sexual exhaustion flashed through my mind.
But I couldn't refuse that desperate look in her eyes, nor could I send her away when she was standing in front of my room. If I did, she'd pout and make me suffer for days.
I rubbed my face and recalled the skill selection window from last time.
[Iron Virility]
Description: During sexual interactions with the opposite sex, physical vitality and endurance increase dramatically.
The skill I'd dismissed with a sneer as useless for anything but sex.
'…I should've picked it.'
Regret hit me with painful force.
I lifted my heavy eyelids and put an arm around Hannah's shoulders.
"……All right, let's go in."
"Yes, Captain♡"
Hannah beamed and burrowed into my arms. Praying that my lower back would still be intact tomorrow morning, I opened the door.
*
The next morning.
"Ugh…."
I woke up clutching my aching lower back. Hannah was sleeping obliviously on the tangled bed sheets.
[Name: Hannah Meyer]
[Status: Deep sleep, happiness, satisfied after making him ejaculate four times last night.]
"She just never seems to get tired, no matter how much we do…."
The old Hannah, who used to be satisfied after one round and fall asleep, was gone. Especially yesterday, when I was already exhausted from having sex in the car with Seraphina, Hannah had pounced on me, forcing me to suffer through the entire night.
'As expected, I should've picked [Iron Virility] back then.'
If [Bullet Time] was a survival skill, [Iron Virility] was a survival skill for my lower back. Considering the identity of the [Harem Overlord Integrated Pack], the number of women would only increase in the future, not decrease. It was practically a mandatory mod.
Only now did I check the system messages I'd been unable to examine because Hannah had kept me busy all night.
[Rank increase (First Lieutenant -> Captain) confirmed.]
[Congratulations on your promotion!]
[A large amount of experience is acquired.]
I grew slightly tense, wondering if I might not have enough experience.
[Your level has increased to 13 due to your promotion.]
Fortunately, it seemed my worry had been unfounded.
[Skill Points Held: 1]
[Select one of the options below to receive a reward.]
1. [Enhance Existing Skill]
2. [Acquire New Skill]
Without hesitation, I selected [Acquire New Skill].
1. [Iron Virility]
Description: During sexual interactions with the opposite sex, physical vitality and endurance increase dramatically. This skill cannot be leveled up.
2. [Material Conversion]
Description: Consumes mana to temporarily convert inorganic matter nearby into certain consumables (ammunition, food, fuel, etc.). The converted materials revert to their original form after 24 hours. As this skill's level increases, its efficiency and versatility increase.
"Haa…."
[Material Conversion]. It was an excellent skill at a glance. In an isolated situation or on a battlefield cut off from supplies, it would be nothing short of a godlike ability. To think I could turn dirt into bread and pebbles into bullets.
But this skill had a catch.
'It consumes mana.'
I hadn't awakened mana like Seraphina or Hannah. Naturally, I didn't know how to manipulate mana, and the mana concentration in my body was negligible.
Unless there was a skill that could awaken my mana later, it was useless for the time being—a white elephant.
In that case, I'd rather choose [Iron Virility] and have it take care of my lower back and lower body.
With trembling fingers, I pressed 1.
[You have selected the skill 'Iron Virility'.]
[Acquiring a new skill!]
That was when it happened.
"Ugh…?!"
A searing heat surged from deep in my lower abdomen. It felt as though highly concentrated caffeine and an energy tonic had been injected directly into my veins.
A tingling current ran up my spine, and the lower-back pain that had felt ready to snap vanished as if washed away. Vitality coursed through my heavy leg muscles, and an almost unnaturally abundant energy welled up throughout my body.
The most dramatic change of all was in my lower body.
Throb.
My manhood, which had been hanging limp after being worked to its limit, rose stiffly like a steel pillar. The blood flow pulsing through it and its hardness were on an entirely different level from before. It even felt as though it had grown a little larger.
"It really worked."
It was then.
"Mmm… Captain…?"
Hannah woke at the sound of rustling and sat up, rubbing her eyes. Her brown hair was tousled, and she wore nothing but a loose shirt, an utterly defenseless sight.
As she yawned, she spotted my lower body tenting the blanket.
"Huh…?!"
Her eyes went round.
"After… doing it that much yesterday… already…?"
She ran her tongue over her lips as if savoring it.
[Name: Hannah Meyer]
[Status: Surprise, curiosity, and surging sexual desire once more.]
[Emotion: Joy at knowing that the Captain wants her. Though physically exhausted, the thought of pleasing the Captain again makes her lower abdomen tingle.]
"Aren't you tired, Hannah?"
"U-um… It is a little sore, but…."
Hannah shyly crawled up onto my thigh.
"If Captain wants me……"
"……Anytime♡"
*
Two weeks passed.
Time in the capital flew by like the wind, and in a dizzying blur.
The Emperor and the military leadership were frantic to use the 'war heroes' as propaganda tools. During the day, we were dragged around to all sorts of banquets and events, and at night, we indulged in the capital's pleasures.
Of course, I made sure to profit from it all.
I converted the enormous reward money bestowed by the Emperor into shares in defense companies and deeds to land in newly developed districts. My assets would grow rapidly as time passed. Wouldn't I have to become a monster born of capitalism and live in luxury after retiring from the military someday?
I also didn't forget to make the rounds of the black market and auction houses whenever I had the chance. As a bonus, I used [Status Analysis] to sweep up genuine treasures disguised as fakes at bargain prices. While others called in appraisers, I made profits dozens of times over with a single use of my skill.
Of course, I had another asset far more dependable than money.
"To the Second Company Commander, present arms!"
Clack!
"Loyalty!"
The sound of military boots filled the parade ground. It was the unit reorganization.
As the 7th Regiment was elevated to the 7th Brigade, the unit expanded dramatically, and I was promoted to command the 2nd Company of the 1st Battalion.
Normally, a newly appointed company commander spends months trying to learn the unit and bring the NCOs who throw their weight around under control.
But that had nothing to do with me. Every man in the company drawn up below the reviewing stand had already become one of my hands and feet.
"Order arms!"
First was that huge man bellowing loudly enough to shake the parade ground.
"Company administrative and supply NCO, Sergeant First Class Gunther! Report!"
The company administrative and supply NCO's post would normally have been held by a master sergeant, but due to the special circumstances of wartime and my strong recommendation, Gunther had secured the position.
*
After the inspection ended, we moved to the company commander's office.
"Heheh, Company Commander. There seem to be a few useful ones among the new recruits. I've investigated all their backgrounds from top to bottom."
The first to approach was Kurt, wearing a sergeant's stripes.
He was still doing my bidding. Did my earlier threat to send him to the Pioneer Battalion still work? No, this sly fellow had probably already decided to get in my good graces.
Take a look.
'Status Analysis.'
[Name: Kurt]
[Rank: Sergeant]
[Status: Opportunistic blind faith, a strong thirst for handouts]
His loyalty came not from conviction but from profit. That was precisely why I could trust him. As long as I kept dangling bait in front of him, he would never betray me.
"All right, leave the list on my desk. Assign the useful ones to your side first."
"Yes, sir! Understood! As expected, Company Commander, your eye for talent is something else!"
Kurt snapped off a salute and left.
The door opened again, and the next person entered. The room filled with the fragrant aroma of coffee.
Click.
With the sound of the door closing, the stiff atmosphere melted away in an instant.
"Captain…! I made your coffee. Two spoonfuls of sugar and one spoonful of creamer… right?"
Hannah approached me with flushed cheeks, looking quite sharp in her uniform.
She was wearing the insignia of a staff sergeant, no less. A conscript had been promoted to an NCO in a short period of time, and to an unfamiliar position called 'Tactical Intelligence Analyst,' at that.
In fact, no such position existed at the company level, no matter how thoroughly I searched through the Imperial Army's table of organization.
Even so, the reason this absurd appointment had been approved was clear. Marshal Ludwig and Brigade Commander Karl, who had recognized her [Mana Detection] ability, had my back.
'A talent with an innate sense for reading the flow of battle.'
That was how I packaged her in the report to the higher-ups. In reality, it was a cover identity I'd created to officially exploit her radar ability without restriction, right by my side.
Now, even if she stuck right beside me throughout operational meetings, no one could object. She was practically my dedicated intelligence aide.
"Heheh… To think Captain Jaeger is my direct superior… It feels like a dream…!"
There was no need to open the [Status Analysis] window. If she'd had a tail, it would already have been spinning like a propeller.
That wasn't all.
The two officers who had been sitting on the sofa, studying the operational map, rose to their feet. Lieutenant Walter, the former 1st Platoon leader, and Lieutenant Franz, the former 4th Platoon leader.
Even they, who had been commissioned before me, had been assigned under my command in the reorganization.
"Heh heh, Captain Jaeger. No, Company Commander. I look forward to working with you. To think I can watch your almost supernatural command right from beside you…"
Rather than feeling bitter, Lieutenant Walter seemed relieved. After all, survival was the most important thing on the battlefield. To a veteran who had been through every kind of hardship, pride would have been a secondary concern.
"To think Captain Jaeger is my direct superior… It feels like a dream…!"
Lieutenant Franz was looking at me with outright worship.
With the existing 3rd Platoon members and my comrades forming the backbone of the entire company this way, the 2nd Company was in the palm of my hand from its very first day.
It was nearly perfect.
Money, fame, power, and loyal subordinates to boot.
I wished I could keep enjoying the easy life in the capital and serve out my time in a rear-area posting like this.
But the world—or rather, the war—had no intention of leaving me alone.
The following day, news arrived that the Republic had declared war on the Empire.