Illya stared at Axion in amazement.
Rocks pulled from the ground were piled up around him.
If Axion's words were true, his shovel must have been enchanted to attract rocks.
"Don't talk to me.
I'm busy."
Axion replied coldly, continuing to dig hard.
Elia looked at him as she pushed the handle of her shovel into the ground.
The shovel went in very smoothly.
As she lifted the soft soil, she stared at Axion's back as he dug with the shovel for some time.
•
“It seems the groundwork is over.
Today's work is over.”
At Keisha's words, the unit put down their shovels and sat down.
The day-long shovel-digging hell was finally over.
The land of the wide plain, which had been overgrown with weeds, became level and well-groomed.
But it was too early to rejoice.
‘From tomorrow, the hell of sandbags, the hell of hammering, the hell of transporting utilities, and more will await us……’
Illya sighed deeply, then frowned, looking at her waist.
The pain was still palpable.
I took a painkiller brought by Yusar, but the pain did not completely go away.
“Then set up tents!”
Keisha ordered, and the unit began setting up tents in a corner of the plain.
The good thing was at least a tent for each person.
‘Maybe because they are the Grand Duke’s soldiers, the treatment is good.’
But when the tents were completed, her face froze.
“H, is this really a tent……?”
Its shape was like a large rough blanket with two wooden poles attached to the front and back.
It was worse than the barracks that had accommodated five people in a previous field training.
There was no portable flashlight, and only one blanket on the bare floor.
“Well, this is what real outdoor sleeping really is……”
However, she decided to be grateful to have some privacy.
After eating dinner, which was distributed in the metal bowl, I entered the tent.
As soon as she lay down to sleep, an involuntary moan came out of her.
"Yes!"
As she was lying on the dirt ground with only one blanket, the rugged terrain of the ground was mercilessly pressing on her waist.
She tried to lie on her side, but her waist was getting more and more painful, and she couldn't sleep at all.
'I can't take this anymore!'
After she was in pain and unable to bear it, she quickly left the tent carrying the empty metal bowl.
“I should at least put a hot compress on.”
It will get a little better if you put hot water in the metal bowl and use it as a compress.
The sun had already set, the surrounding area was dark, and I headed to the officers' tent where Keisha and Theo were staying.
It was much larger than the unit's tents.
“Walaa!
Excuse me, can I get some hot water……huh?”
The tent was empty.
“Where the hell did these people go?”
When they still didn't come, Illya scanned the surrounding area.
Meanwhile, I found a kettle boiling on a small portable stove.
“It's over there.
I'll fill the bowl and get out quickly.”
After pouring hot water copiously into the empty metal bowl, she quickly left the tent.
Her face lit up as she thought about quickly going back to making a hot compress.
But after a short while, her face froze.
“Where is my tent...?”
Before her eyes, there were 50 identical tents lined up in rows.
Because of her waist pain, she quickly went out without checking her tent location.
It was already dark, making it harder to find.
“Unfortunately, there is no flashlight either...”
Elia wandered between the tents as she recalled her memory.
“She must be in this neighborhood.”
There was no choice but to check each tent individually to find hers.
“I apologize to them, but I have no help.”
Elia thought like this, then raised the entrance to the tent in front of her and entered.
One of the unit members woke up from his sleep on the floor and looked at her in surprise.
“Ah!
Deputy Commander Erhan, what’s the matter suddenly!”
“Sorry, I thought it was my tent.
Wait, is that your pajamas?
Haha!”
Illya laughed lightly at the sight of the unit's uniform.
He was wearing white one-piece pajamas filled with lace, and even a hat decorated with little pompoms.
'I have never seen a pajama with so much lace hanging from it in my life!'
‘What taste these young gentlemen have.’
'No, but when did they bring such pajamas when they were coming here?'
The unit shouted, his face red, as he covered his body with the blanket on the floor.
“Eh, these are my favorite pajamas...!”
“I see.
Then goodnight, princess~”
Elia greeted jokingly, then waved her hand and walked out of the tent.
Then I moved to the next tent.
“Deputy unit commander!
What’s going on?”
“Sorry, I made a mistake in the tent.
But what are you doing now?”
The unit's face was covered in layers of cream.
“We have been working all day under the hot sun.
My servant has repeatedly warned me that not taking care of your skin like this will cause big trouble.
Would you like to put some on as well, Vice Commander Erhan?
This is a good cream that Yusar brought me.”
Elia stared open-mouthed as she saw the unit member reach for the cream container.
For her, who barely bothered to lay out the basics, it was worthy of respect.
‘It seems like they were doing this in the dormitory after training every day…’
'While she was busy with agency purchasing work and other matters after the training ended.'
"I'm fine.
So, take good care of yourself."
When Elia walked out of the tent, she felt a throbbing pain in her waist.
“I wish I could find my tent quickly.”
She frowned and quickly entered the next tent.
The tent was empty, and Elijah's eyes widened.
“You've finally arrived!”
There was only one blanket lying on the floor.
She thought it must have been her tent, so she lay on her stomach and placed the metal bowl filled with hot water on her waist.
“Oh, I feel like I'm getting my life back.”
As the heat spread to her waist, the pain was greatly reduced, and the fatigue seemed to go away.
She closed her eyes without fighting the drowsiness that overcame her.
•
“Haaaah!
Haaaah!”
From an area a little away from where the unit's members had set up their tents, the sound of intermittent breathing was heard.
Accion was doing one-arm push-ups.
This was personal training that he did alone in the residence after the unit schedule.
The tent was very narrow, so he had no choice but to do it outdoors.
After he finished his training, he took off his sweat-soaked training shirt.
When he looked at his strong arms, he remembered holding Erhan that afternoon.
The feeling of her body touching his arms was so strange that he could not forget it.
Underneath the muscles she had trained, there was a strangely soft feeling.
In addition to Erhan's expressions, which were shy and complaining while he was in his arms...
Axion's face flushed slightly as he remembered.
Honestly, even he thought that Erhan's appearance at that time was cute.
He felt confused at himself for having such feelings for him.
Therefore, after that, when Erhan spoke to him, he did not even look at him, but continued to dig silently.
'Are you really crazy?'
'I bet that cute boy?'
'Maybe this is a kind of comradely affection.'
Justifying himself thus, he brought a bucket of water and poured it on his face.
He deliberately wiped his face forcefully to wash away the strange feeling.
'I probably shouldn't be close to him for a while.'
He didn't want to get carried away by such feelings.
And so, thinking about this, he returned to his tent shirtless, his shirt thrown over his shoulder.
Even though it was already dark, he walked with confident steps without losing his way.
He had put a small mark on the path leading to his tent so he wouldn't get lost.
‘Erhan, what is that boy doing now?
Is his waist okay?'
When he remembered Elia holding her waist and in pain, he shook his head vigorously.
Why is he thinking about that boy again?
'He should be fine after he gets some sleep.
Let's go to sleep quickly.'
And so, thinking about this, he opened the entrance to his tent.
His eyes widened as he looked inside the tent.
“……!”
Elia was fast asleep inside his tent.
Why the hell is this kid here?
Axion stood still for a while, confused.
‘Should I wake him up……?’
But he was sleeping too deeply to be woken.
More importantly, what is that on his waist?
Axion reached for the metal bowl at his waist.
Considering that it contained hot water, it looked like it was being used as a poultice.
It seems like his waist really hurts a lot.
“Umm……”
At that moment, Elia, who was lying on her stomach, moved and turned her body, so that the metal bowl moved dangerously and almost fell down.
The hot water was about to spill over Elijah's body.
“……!”
Without having time to think, Axion quickly pulled Elia's body lying on her stomach towards him, and hugged her tightly in his arms.