"What is your name?"
Yuz remained silent instead of answering as he stared at Derek.
The faces of his dead family and friends passed before Yuz's eyes, as if appearing on Derek's face.
His heart was beating violently and his fists were trembling.
For his part, Theo urged.
"What are you doing?
Aren't you going to answer the general?"
Instead of answering, Yuz gritted his teeth.
'He wanted to kill that man immediately.'
'He will kill him.'
The moment Yuz decided to pounce.
to stop!
His body stopped.
Keisha grabbed his wrist tightly.
It was so powerful that he couldn't get rid of it.
Yuz looked at his captain with troubled eyes.
But Keisha ignored him and said to Derek in an indifferent voice.
“Theo exaggerated it.
This kid isn’t that important, the General doesn’t need to care about him.”
Then he turned his head and ordered Yuz.
"Go to my office.
I have work to assign to you."
“But...”
“Go.”
Keisha interrupted his words firmly and looked at him angrily.
Yuz swallowed involuntarily.
Because the look Keisha was staring at him was terrifying.
Much more than when they met on the battlefield.
Yuz nodded involuntarily, feeling a shiver run down his spine.
"Good."
After Yuz disappeared, Theo and Keisha went to the reception room with Derek.
Derek opened his mouth as he drank his tea.
“That trainee I just saw, his eyes were full of life.”
“More importantly, what is the reason for your visit?”
When Keisha changed the subject, Derek answered.
“Sorry for coming on a holiday.
But I have words to convey.”
Derek put down the teacup and looked at Keisha and Theo.
“It is about honoring the military achievements in the operation to eliminate the insurgents this time.”
After the long war with the rebels is over, it's time to receive military achievements.
“You, Keisha and Theo, will be awarded the Legion of Merit.”
Theo's face contorted when he heard those words.
The Legion of Merit, although called a medal, was more like a consolation prize given to all soldiers who participated.
“Is that all?”
A sharp, unusual sound came out of Theo's mouth.
“As a military doctor, even if we ignore my order, don’t you know, General, what great achievements Instructor Kesha has achieved in this war?”
In addition to training the cultivators like crazy at the training center, raising the Imperial Army's combat power several folds from what it was before, he also went out on scouting battles when requests for help came from various regions.
Whenever Keisha appeared in battle, rebel groups would fall like autumn leaves, and the Imperial Army would score sweeping victories.
But even when he led the battles to victory, Keisha received no reward at all.
In return, other soldiers of noble origins, less qualified than him, received all kinds of titles and rewards.
Keisha didn't make any particular expression about it, but Theo found himself annoyed more than once.
He felt anger rising inside him.
But he endured it, believing that once the rebels were eliminated, the high command would recognize his efforts.
However, when it came to this point, Theo couldn't take it anymore.
“If you think about the achievements that Coach Keisha has achieved throughout this period, he deserves to be appointed a junior general to command an entire corps, not just an instructor in a training center.”
“Are you ignoring the decision of the high command now?”
Derek shot him a threatening look but Theo didn't back down.
“Not to ignore, but please reconsider this matter again...”
“I am fine.
I will accept the medal with gratitude.”
Keisha quickly interrupted Theo and stopped his words.
Theo looked at Keisha with confused eyes, but Keisha ignored him and asked Derek.
“Is that all you have to say?”
Derek nodded, then got up and added.
“His Majesty the Emperor hopes that you will continue to train excellent soldiers as you always have.
Keep up your hard work.”
After he finished speaking, Derek got up and left the reception room.
After saying goodbye to Derek, Theo exploded in anger at Keisha.
"What a ridiculous thing to do?
I've been patient enough!"
"to stop."
“That Derek intends to lock you up and exploit you in this training center forever!
Don’t you know that too!
Say something!”
Keisha remained silent.
The greater the fighting power of the Imperial Army, the greater the influence of Derek, the overall official in command of that army.
In fact, after Keisha took over as an instructor at the training center, Derek's political influence in the Imperial Palace had increased greatly.
If Keisha promoted and left the training center to take command of a separate unit, that unit might become stronger, but the balance of the entire Imperial Army would collapse.
Keisha had known very well for a long time that Derek was holding up his promotion for his own selfishness.
“Don't get overly emotional.”
Because of Keisha's annoyingly calm response, Theo eventually gave in.
'Is this guy the Kesha I know?'
'The old Keisha would not have tolerated injustice, he would have stood up to it first.'
'Now that you mention it, it seems that Keisha has changed a bit after annihilating the rebels.'
'The murderous look in his eyes was no longer what it was before, and he was sometimes seen lost in thought.'
Meanwhile, Keisha had headed towards his office.
Theo looked at his back and sighed.
•
“What work do you want to order me to do?”
When Keisha arrived at the office, Yuz who had arrived before him asked him.
His eyes were still trembling with anger.
Keisha pointed to the pile of papers piled like a mountain on his desk.
“Arrange all those papers and classify them.”
Upon examination, they turned out to be not urgent papers at all.
Yuz didn't understand why Keisha ordered him to do such an act.
While he was arranging the papers, he saw Keisha's sword lying on the side of the wall.
'His heart was beating violently.'
‘He felt an urgent desire to grab that sword and immediately rush out to find Derek and kill him.’
"Why are you looking at my sword?
Do you intend to pick it up and stab Derek to death?"
Yuz's eyes shook violently at Keisha's words.
“K, how did you know that?”
"Are you an idiot?
You've been giving him that 'I'm going to kill him' look from the first moment I saw Derek, so did you expect me not to notice?
Of course, Theo seems too foolish to notice."
Yuz closed his mouth and lowered his head.
The clipboard he was holding trembled.
Keisha looked at that sight and muttered.
"It was the Battle of the Western Front, wasn't it?
Where Derek slaughtered everyone, rebels and civilians alike."
Now, Yuz clenched his teeth and stared at Keisha and asked him in a scolding tone.
“Since you know that, why did you block me earlier?
Is it because he is your boss?”
Yuz's eyes were filled with anger and resentment.
But Keisha, without changing his facial expression, asked him in a cold voice.
"What if I had rushed in there?
Would you have been able to kill Derek then?"
Keisha started gesturing coldly.
"You had no weapon and were unarmed, while Derek had five armed guards around him.
If you had attacked, you would have been subdued immediately.
Is this the revenge you so desperately desired?"
Yuz's eyes shook.
He couldn't utter a single word, and his face turned red.
“When revenge and anger get the better of you, you might do this.
There is nothing better than working on papers to calm your head.
That is why I summoned you.”
Yuz now began silently arranging the papers.
But his face was still dark.
Keisha looked at him with pity and sighed.
"Don't blame yourself.
I understand you.
Because I was too."
At his words, Yuz raised his head and looked at Keisha in astonishment.
“Why are you looking at me like that?
Do you think you are the only one who lost his family and valuables in the midst of this long war?”
Keisha began arranging the papers in front of him mechanically like a machine.
After a while, Yuz spoke.
“Is it possible that the rebels killed the coach’s family?”
"Okay."
The corner of Keisha's mouth rose bitterly.
“I too, with the same feeling as you, joined the Imperial Army at your age and lived madly slaughtering the rebels who killed my family.
I considered that the sole purpose of my life.
Then in the end, I exterminated them and succeeded in taking revenge.”
“You must have felt relieved.”
At Yuz's words, Keisha, who was arranging the file of papers, stopped.
He looked away from the folder of papers and then stared at Yuz steadily.
“Never.
It was just a feeling of loneliness and emptiness.”
His dark blue eyes sunk.
“Even if the rebels disappear, the family, friends and colleagues who died have not returned.”
“……!”
“I myself, full of wounds, was left alone.
Even the purpose of life had disappeared.”
Yuz's eyes shook.
“How should I live from now on?
While I was immersed in these questions, I met you.
You, whose eyes bore the same look as my past.”
Yuz's eyes widened.
“And I wished you wouldn't live like me.
So I brought you here.”
To his words, Yuz responded with a voice full of anger.
"Isn't that your position, Coach?
Does that mean I should do nothing and forgo revenge?
Rather, I should become a follower of the one who killed all my loved ones?"