“What are you saying?
You bastard!”
Ludus shouted as he stared at the insolent soldier in front of him.
How dare he blame his commander when he didn't fight properly in the battle!
As Ludus grinded his teeth in anger, Keisha grabbed his arm and threw him away.
“Ah!”
His body flew into the corner and fell.
Ludus couldn't believe what had just happened.
This was a clear rebellion against authority.
Anger boiled in his eyes.
“What are you doing!
Kill this vile dog immediately!”
As soon as he issued orders to the nearby soldiers, the soldiers immediately drew their swords and surrounded Keisha.
Keisha didn't bat an eyelid.
The blades swung towards him, and Theo closed his eyes tightly as he watched.
“Stop immediately!”
When a loud sound was suddenly heard, the soldiers stopped at once.
Theo opened his eyes and turned his head towards the source of the sound.
There, a middle-aged man, blond-haired, muscular, wearing armor stood.
The man's blue eyes were glowing sharply.
Ludus' face turned pale when he saw the man.
“General...!
What brings you here...?”
Derek Ruppelt, Commander-in-Chief and Grand General of the Imperial Army.
After his victory in the battle of his area, and hearing that this nearby area was experiencing difficulties in suppressing the rebels, he came to offer assistance.
Ludus quickly got up and bowed his head.
No matter how high and influential his family was, it could not match the noble Ruppelt family in the Imperial Army.
Derek Ludus ignored him, looked at Keisha surrounded by soldiers, and muttered:
"He's a really crazy man.
To challenge his bosses like that."
"I apologize."
As Keisha quickly bowed his head in apology, Derek strode closer to him and stared at the badge pinned to his chest.
“Kisha Philgate.”
“Your order, sir!”
Derek now looked directly at Keisha's face and asked coldly:
“So, are you sure you won't let a single one of our soldiers die?”
Instead of answering, Keisha fell into silence and thought.
Moments later, he opened his mouth.
"Okay."
“How?
You know very well that even brilliant commanders can lose in battles.”
Keisha answered, looking directly at Derek who was asking him as if testing him:
“We must create a unity that will never be defeated.”
“……!”
“An extremely powerful unit, it can survive without ever dying, no matter what enemy it faces.”
Strong emotions sparkled in Keisha's dark blue eyes, and Derek didn't miss it.
“He's a crazier guy than I expected.”
But contrary to his words, a slight smile appeared on Derek's lips.
He looked at Keisha from head to toe, then added:
“When you return, I will recommend you as a training instructor in the Imperial Army.
There will be no punishment.”
•
Afterwards, the rebels were suppressed, and Theo and Keisha returned safely to the Imperial Army.
On Derek's recommendation, Keisha became an instructor, leaving the unit he was in with Theo, to begin working at the Imperial Army Training Center.
The night before he left for the Imperial Army Training Center, Keisha summoned Theo.
The unit barracks, which were always noisy and crowded, were very quiet.
This was because all the comrades they lived with in the unit had died in the Battle of the Valley.
In that sad silence, Kesha suggested to him:
“Theo, come with me to the training center.”
But Theo hesitated.
The role of a demonic instructor who pushed soldiers hard did not suit him.
Then, Keisha suggested to him:
“You will follow me and become a military doctor.”
“Military doctor?”
Theo was confused by Keisha's sudden suggestion.
He had no medical knowledge at all.
Therefore, he never considered becoming a military doctor as a career path in the army.
“Why a military doctor in particular?”
When asked in a voice that lacked confidence, Keisha replied:
“Theo, through this incident, I realized that the one who truly saves soldiers’ lives in the army is not a skilled military doctor, but rather a competent leader who makes the unit strong.”
“……!”
“In this empire, I will create and lead an invincible unit that will never be defeated or die at the hands of the enemy.
Those I will train, I will not allow them to die an unworthy death, no matter what the cost.”
Keisha gritted his teeth.
“But in order for me to create such a unit, someone must save the soldiers next to me.
You play this role.”
Theo's eyes twitched when he heard his words.
Now, Keisha stared blankly at the lockers of his dead comrades in the empty barracks.
"If you don't become strong, you won't be able to protect what's precious.
And I couldn't protect them again."
He didn't show tears in front of Theo like he did before.
But his calm appearance seemed even sadder.
“Theo, help me so that I can protect valuables from now on.”
Theo just had to nod.
•
Theo sighed as he thought back to the past.
Eventually, at Keisha's insistence, he became a military doctor, while Keisha, as was his goal, trained strong soldiers at the Imperial Army Training Center.
He built a strong unit as he wanted.
But…
However, the dead were also present in that unit in the end.
Rather, he was his favorite and most competent subordinate.
Distraught by the loss of Yuz, he left the imperial army with Theo and settled in this Grand Duke's palace.
Perhaps the reason why Keisha walked around sad for a while was because he felt a deep sense of self-blame, because he was unable to keep his promise not to let his soldiers die an unworthy death.
But now, in this new loneliness that he thought was just a swamp, there was a glimmer of hope that Keisha might be able to keep his promise again.
Erhan Trincin.
Perhaps this young man was able to fulfill the sad promise that Keisha had made while grinding his teeth in the empty barracks.
Hoping that no one in this unit would ever lose their life at the hands of the enemy, Theo closed the drawer containing Keisha's medicine box.
•
The next morning, eight o'clock.
Outside the Grand Duke's Palace.
“What a breath of fresh air!
It's really different!”
Illya screamed as she inhaled air deeply into her nose.
Next to her were Yusar, Lennox, and Axion, who went on vacation with her.
“Where is everyone going?”
I asked, and Lennox replied:
“They said a vehicle would be sent to me from my hometown in an hour.”
Indeed, the son of a merchant family who became wealthy is different.
Yusar scratched his head and replied:
“I'm going to the city to find a hotel to stay during the vacation.”
“And you, Axion?”
When Ilya asked, Axion answered brusquely:
“I will go to the city to take a public carriage.”
At the mention of the public carriage, Ilya tilted her head in confusion.
“Why a public carriage?
Doesn’t your family send you a carriage?”
Axion did not answer, an ambiguous expression on his face.
“I also have to go through town first.
I have to go to the bank.”
She had to withdraw the money she had collected and return triumphantly to the baron's fiefdom.
"So, everyone's going to town except Lennox, right?
Let's go together."
Then Lennox clung to her arm.
“Elle, let me go with you!
I have nothing to do for an hour, and I would like to walk around the city with you.”
In the end, the four of them headed towards the city together.
The capital city in which the Grand Duke's palace was located was enormous.
"Wow!
What a long time we haven't seen this!"
Carriages roaming the city, commercial streets, and people dressed in luxurious clothes!
For them, who saw the same faces and went through the same exercises every day in the Grand Duke's unit, this was a whole other world.
“I'll go to the hotel first to book a room.”
As soon as Yusar was gone, Lennox took a small notebook out of his pocket.
“Actually… like Elle said, I’ve written down here the things I most want to do on this vacation.”
“What next?”
“When I go on vacation, there's something I really want to do with you!
You'll do it with me, right?”
Lennox looked at them, his eyes sparkling.
It was a look that couldn't be rejected.
"H, okay...
I see.
You're okay with this too, right?"
Illya looked at Axion with a confused face.
Axion remained silent without saying a word, and Ilea took that as a sign of agreement.
“So, what exactly do you want to do?”
“Follow me.”
Lennox led them somewhere in the city.
He stopped in front of a building.
“Here!
When I go on vacation, I wanted so much to come here with you!
Yusar will be here shortly too.”
What is this place that makes him act like this?
Lennox grabbed Elijah and Axion's arms and entered the building.
Elia's face completely reddened when she saw the scene inside.
Men who were completely undressed were wandering here and there.
'What the hell is this place?!'
Having nowhere to look, she hastily turned her head to the side, and Lennox shouted with a happy face:
“When I go on vacation, my wish is to go to the public bathroom with you!”
Why this particular place?
'Even in my previous life, soldiers would always go to the sauna together when they had leave…'
More importantly, wasn't Lennox the shy young man who was even embarrassed to use the public bathrooms in the annex of the Grand Duke's Palace?
Elia asked him with a confused face:
“What, what's happening all of a sudden?
In the unit, you're ashamed to use public bathrooms, so you use magic soap in your room.”
“That's true, but… how to say it, my thinking has changed after this field training.”
Lennox continued, his voice suddenly serious:
“After we fought monsters together at the risk of our lives, I feel like you are like my brothers now.
My shyness has disappeared, and I want to share my true self with you.”
You don't have to share such things now!
“Haha...
I'm fine, but Axion will probably hate this kind of thing...”
She looked at him with pleading eyes.
But Axion took off his military coat and answered:
“I'm fine.”