The General's Wife Wants to Leave-Chapter 43: The topic that piques his interest

"This is Captain Marvin Zilberman and he has been assigned to give you company for the naval base inspection which is scheduled tomorrow morning by Admiral Leon Vich. Admiral Vich also asked me to convey his apology as he cannot attend today’s meeting because his wife was in sudden labor this morning. And we ask for your understanding of that, General von Rodega," informed the senior General.

Drifting his gaze from the young Captain, Canillas turned his head to look at the senior General who had shared the information with him. "I am fine with that, General Clementine. Please pass my regard to Admiral Vich and thank you for letting me know about that," replied Canillas, offering a nod of understanding.

Having said that, Canillas directed his gaze back toward Captain Zilberman, who still had his subtle scrutinizing eyes on him. As if noticing the intensified attention was returned to him, Captain Zilberman offered Canillas a salute, which was returned by Canillas, before both of them exchanged a handshake.

After being introduced to all the Terran soldiers who were the participants of the meeting, the meeting began.

The meeting that was held with tact and efficiency went on for about three hours and it finished before dinner time arrived.

Although Canillas was not a navy soldier, it did not mean that he had zero knowledge and experience of naval systems.

In Archess, as instructed by King de la Roca, all of the Archessan generals had to be involved in the navy, as the army and navy could not be separated from each other.

It was of high importance for the armed forces in the Kingdom of Archess to walk together in harmony so that when there was an ambush or invasion either from land or water, they would not be in a state of having no idea of what to do to immobilize their enemies and protect their kingdom.

Therefore, in the present meeting, Canillas shared the complete range of necessary functions of naval systems for the Terran navy, including the facilities of the naval base, the security improvements on the peninsula, the military defenses, the shipyard, and the supply areas.

Aside from that, there was also an agreement to develop the alliance’s vision for future defense cooperation in which the Terran forces would fall under the control of the Archessan if both of the kingdoms were involved together in a war against enemies.

Following this agreement, some of the Archessan soldiers would be stationed on Terra and joint military exercises would be carried out. They would also train to increase the rate of mobilization and improve their skirmishing and tactics.

When it came to the time for dinner, a stark contrast to the ordinary days, today’s dinner at the naval base of Seidel was held more splendidly and it was all thanks to the visit of General Canillas von Rodega of Archess.

Sitting together at a long dining table with the Terran soldiers, Canillas enjoyed his meal quietly while the other soldiers were merrily having conversations with one another as they felt reluctant to initiate a conversation with the aloof General or lure him to join their conversation.

As the dinner went on, the sound of people talking and laughing, the clinking noise of glasses and dishware, and the predominant smell of beer, mixed with roasted chicken, and baked potato filled the dining room, which was lightened by candles lit on the chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, making the room become livelier.

But, at that moment, while having his meals in silence, Canillas only focused on the conversation that was brought up by the Terran soldiers, who were sitting next to him.

"I never thought it would happen here in Seidel," said one Terran soldier who was bald with a thin brown mustache on his upper lips.

"Poor Viscount Thompson. Lady Angeline is his only daughter if I am not mistaken," responded another soldier with platinum hair which was tied behind his neck, sitting across from the bald soldier. He took a deep breath.

"It is the third case within this month and it will continue if this case is not handled soon," General Clementine joined the conversation, clicking his tongue as if showing his annoyance.

"Did the city guards have a long, deep slumber? Why couldn’t they do their jobs properly?" The platinum-haired soldier criticized in the form of a question to whoever joined the conversation while taking a bite of the roasted chicken thigh that was held in his hand.

"I think it is not about the guards doing their jobs well or not, but it is the ambush skills that are hard to decipher, especially for ordinary guards like them," General Clementine stated his opinion as a response to the platinum-haired soldier, who was one of the soldiers that had been part of his regiment since he joined the Terran army.

"Do you think they are still alive?" the bald soldier asked General Clementine.

General Clementine shrugged his shoulders while letting out a heavy sigh. "It is a hard question to answer as long as we haven’t found out their motives yet. But they will surely be alive if they are kept for pleasure or possession or hostage for threatening or bargaining," answered the older General, giving the most possible probability based on his perspective and experience as a senior soldier.

"Yeah, you are right, General. That’s why it is important to capture them as soon as possible, making them sit in the torturing chamber until they confess what their real motives are," the bald soldier, Colonel Bernard Blain, showed his resentment, gritting his teeth.

"But what makes it strange is that this month’s cases are different from what happened last month," Colonel Blain spoke again as he recalled the other information he had heard.

"Ah, you reminded me about that horrible case," responded Major Robin Torrance, the platinum-haired soldier. He shook his head before continuing to speak, "It was too cruel. I didn’t see it myself but my sister, who happened to be one of her close friends, has experienced a sleeping disorder after witnessing the condition of the corpse of Lady Molly."

He spoke in a lower tone this time, as if not wanting others than them to hear the information he shared, even though it was impossible for their conversation to be heard by the other soldiers as they were engaged in their own topic of conversation under the noise of chatter and laughter that were created in the dining room.

"May her soul find peace," Major Torrance murmured, resuming to take another bite of the roasted chicken that was still piled up on his plate despite the gore topic that was talked about by him. It was noticeable that he liked roasted chicken a lot.

"What happened?" Canillas asked a sudden question to Major Torrance, who sat on the right side of him.

His curiosity had reached its peak with the rising tension of the conversation that was built by the men around him and this caused the Terran soldier, to whom his inquiry was directed, to be startled at his sudden involvement in the conversation.

Major Torrance did not expect the young General, who was two years older than him but already had a much higher rank compared to him, to be interested in joining in their conversation. He had been quiet, as if the conversation did not meet his interest and was a disturbance to him. Hence, they brought up this sensitive topic in their conversation as he thought the young General would not listen to them sharing the story.

But to hide it from the General of Archess was not a wise choice as he had already heard them talk about the topic. Not getting information from them, he would for sure try to find the answer from the other sources as the topic seemed to pique his interest.

Major Torrance glanced at General Clementine, asking permission in silence if he could elaborate on the truth behind their conversation with General von Rodega. As he received approval from the senior General, who gave him a single nod of affirmation, he could not help but take a quiet sigh of relief.

Putting the bone of the roasted chicken thigh, where some meat was still left on it, on the plate in front of him, Major Torrance wiped his hand with a napkin and took a sip of beer as if cleansing his mouth before answering the question given by the curious young General of Archess.

Major Torrance began to answer, "Some noble ladies were reported gone missing and they were strongly assumed to be kidnapped. This kidnapping case has happened in Terra since last month. It was begun in Lasse, the largest territory in the eastern region of Terra. Three young noble ladies were reported to be missing and one of them was found dead... in a poor condition," explained the young Major in a low tone of voice, trying to carefully select more appropriate words, excluding the grievous ones.