Cold sweat poured down her face.
If the fact that she was a woman was discovered, not only would she be punished, but also the baron and his wife.
How much does Theo know?
She looked at him with trembling eyes.
Then Theo let out a soft sigh and opened his mouth.
“But it doesn't matter anymore.”
Following his unexpected answer, Elia looked up at him with surprised eyes.
“You have always used that ability to the benefit of the unit.
Whether it was suggesting the use of slime pillows during the march, bringing civilian products to boost morale, or even nominating Claude as my new quartermaster.
But…….”
He paused for a moment, then took a deep breath before continuing.
“……There is nothing like saving the unit by sacrificing your life in this training.
Thanks to you, it is no exaggeration to say that this training did not result in any loss of life.”
Theo kept looking directly at her.
But the sharp look he had shown until just before now became much kinder.
“You did nothing different than saving the lives of this entire unit.
As the military doctor of this unit, I wanted to express my sincere thanks to you.”
Theo offered his sincere thanks, while Elia stared at his form in amazement.
'This Atheo is praising me?!'
Theo was strict, but in a slightly different sense than Keisha's strictness.
Even in the original novel, he was very suspicious and overly cautious.
Elia had long been aware of the strange suspicion Theo had towards her, so she strove to be cautious in front of him.
“Erhan Trincin.”
“Yes!
Did you call me sir?!”
As soon as Theo called her name, she quickly answered.
Theo opened his mouth, speaking to her in a calm voice.
“I believe that the one who truly saves the lives of soldiers in the army is not a skilled military doctor, but a competent leader.
Do you understand me?”
Elia nodded involuntarily.
What is meant is that the commander must lead and command correctly in the first place, so that the soldiers are not exposed to injury or death.
It was a fitting statement for Theo, who always cared about being alone.
"concept!"
She answered loudly and looked up at Theo.
But she saw a hint of sadness in Theo's eyes.
'What is this?'
Meanwhile, Theo quickly concealed his expression and returned to giving her advice in his usual stern voice.
“I hope you become like this leader in the future, using the abilities you possess.”
"concept!"
Theo returned to his place and gave his order.
“So, go now and make your vacation plan quickly.
Although planning your first vacation is not enough to spend all night preparing it.”
He smiled faintly, and Illya followed him with a smile.
Theo, accustomed to military life, knew well what a first leave was like.
Illya gave a loud military salute, then left the military clinic.
•
As soon as Elijah disappeared, Theo closed the door of the military clinic and went back to sit in front of his desk.
When he opened the drawer, he saw the box of Keisha's medicine that he had just put down.
'What luck!'
Because he did not have to increase the medication.
If that Erhan had not returned from the gate, what would have happened to Keisha?
He had just recovered from the wound of losing one of his subordinates, but he was probably going to fall into a new quagmire.
But fortunately, nothing like that happened, so Theo was grateful to Erhan.
He kept repeating in his mind the words he had said to Erhan a while ago.
‘The one who truly saves soldiers’ lives in the army is not a skilled military doctor, but a competent commander.’
In fact, this was not his idea.
Rather, there was someone else who said those words to him first.
Events from the past flashed through Theo's mind.
•
In the third year since he and Keisha joined the Imperial Army as soldiers, a war broke out in the Empire.
It was a war between the imperial army and the rebel forces.
Battles broke out with rebel forces throughout the empire.
Keisha and Theo were also sent to the southern region of the empire to defeat them.
Keisha's face was more determined than usual, and Theo was well aware of why.
The rebel forces had annihilated Keisha's family and his family, which was the reason why young Keisha joined the Imperial Army with tears in his eyes.
Once they arrived in the southern region, they engaged in fierce fighting with rebel forces.
This was the first battle they fought in their lives.
In that battle, Theo killed a human for the first time.
The disgusting feeling of the blade piercing a human body would never be forgotten.
The pungent smell of blood spreading everywhere was unbearably disgusting.
But what was more hateful and disgusting than all of that was the image of him getting used to all of these things little by little.
Meanwhile, Kesha was fighting like a fish in water, downing the rebels one by one with his sword.
It was an unimaginable superior skill for a soldier in his third year.
It was not just a skill, but Keisha's sword that destroyed enemies was mixed with the anger of losing his family at the hands of enemy rebels.
But despite their desperate fighting, the imperial army retreated terribly.
It was because of their leader at the time, Ludus.
Lodus was a leader who rose to his position through the influence of his family, and he was powerless.
Moreover, he possessed excessive ambition for achievements.
There is nothing uglier than the ambition of a helpless person.
Moreover, this ugliness on the battlefield turned into a terrible tragedy.
He was blind to achievement, so he rushed into using his tactics and strategies, which led to the sacrifice of the majority of the Imperial Army.
In battle, fighting competent soldiers like Theo and Keisha was useless.
Everyone knew that Commander Ludus was making mistakes, but no one could object.
Because the army meant obeying higher orders without discussion.
One day, this incident happened.
They went to the valley on the orders of Ludus.
It was a strategy aimed at instantly crushing the enemy positions stationed there.
If things had gone well, they would have been able to eliminate the enemies in one fell swoop as Ludus had ordered, but the valley was rugged and steep, and there was a great risk of being surrounded by the enemy if things got a little bad.
This idea stemmed from an hasty desire for a military achievement.
Keisha and Theo knew this, but they headed to the valley with their fellow soldiers.
The moment they entered the valley,
"Enemy!
Kill everyone!"
Enemies appeared from the top of the valley, and soon a huge bang was heard.
Kougoum!
From the top of the valley, huge boulders fell towards their forces.
It wasn't a rockslide, it was deliberately dropped by enemies.
“Ahh!”
From all sides, the cries of their forces were heard.
In the eyes of Theo, who was risking his life to avoid the rocks, he saw images of his colleagues being crushed to death under the rocks.
Their heads were smashed and their legs were twisted in strange directions.
There were colleagues who died in a horrific condition that is difficult to describe.
Theo's eyes twitched violently.
They were all comrades who shared the hardships and joys of the Imperial Army for three years.
Not long ago, the conversation they had had about what they would do on bonus leave after the war ended was fresh in his memory.
These comrades died in a single moment without even being able to fight properly.
It was a miserable death in every sense of the word.
As Theo stared in shock at the bodies of his comrades in amazement,
Kougoum!
Above his head, a loud bang was heard again.
He had to avoid it, but his body didn't move.
Images of his comrades kept flashing before his eyes over and over again.
"risk!"
Keisha hugged Theo and threw himself towards the corner of the valley.
And in his ears, in Keisha's arms, the cries of their troops were heard.
He couldn't get up again, couldn't do anything.
slap!
“Theo, wake up!”
Keisha slapped his cheek hard.
“We will come back from here alive.
Do you understand?”
Keisha's face was so resolute that Theo nodded involuntarily.
After that, he didn't remember how he endured that time.
When he regained consciousness, the enemy had retreated, and only the two of them survived.
When they returned, Ludus, instead of asking about their safety, exploded in anger.
"You idiots!
Didn't this happen because you didn't fight well?!
What were you doing while the enemies were killing all those of our troops?!"
As Theo and Keisha lowered their heads deeply, Ludus approached them and alternately kicked their legs.
Theo couldn't bear the shock and sat down, but Keisha held on until the end and gave Ludus a cold look.
“Aren't you going to lower your eyes?”
Ludus raised his fist to hit Keisha in the face.
Knock!
Keisha gripped his arm tightly.
“You, what are you doing now?
Can’t you let go of my hand?”
Ludus gave orders in confusion, but Keisha, instead of letting go of his arm, twisted it more forcefully and said in a cold, clear voice:
“Whoever annihilated so many of our forces was not the enemy.”
His dark blue eyes staring at Ludus shone with a chilling intensity.
“But you.”