Chapter 17

“Prrhh.”

“There you go.”

Sergeant Gennadi Vilev slowly stroked the horse’s neck.

Apparently his broad hand felt good, because the horse let out another pleased snort.

The sight was strangely heartwarming—and amusing.

Aethlyn couldn’t help smiling.

With a hint of smugness, she turned to the driver.

“It seems your horses are rather fond of my subordinate.”

“…”

The driver’s cheeks flushed bright red.

He clearly wasn’t happy about how things had turned out, but he couldn’t think of a single argument to make.

Finally, he huffed and turned away.

“Just get on already!”

The wagon rattled along the road.

Throughout the ride, Sergeant Vilev barely spoke.

Aethlyn stole glances at his expressionless profile.

The rough scar running across his gaunt cheek stood out even more beneath the clear sky.

‘Is he upset?’

Of course he was.

Anyone would be after hearing someone call them “blood-smelling” or compare them to a beast right to their face.

“Don’t let it get to you.”

She spoke in little more than a whisper.

“It’s just ignorant nonsense from someone who doesn’t know any better.”

The sergeant blinked slowly.

He looked genuinely puzzled.

“You mean what the driver said? I’m fine.”

He answered without turning his head.

When she looked at him properly, his face was as calm as ever.

That only made her more confused.

“It really doesn’t bother you?”

“What doesn’t?”

He answered her question with another question.

“What exactly was I supposed to feel?”

“Not that… I just meant, weren’t you offended?”

“What would I have to be offended about? People like him aren’t exactly rare.”

“But hearing things like ‘you smell like blood’ or ‘you’re bad luck’… I’d think it’d make anyone angry.”

“Not really…”

He stopped mid-sentence.

Then he spoke again.

“If anything…”

The corner of his mouth lifted ever so slightly.

“…I was happy.”

“What?”

Sergeant Vilev finally turned to face her completely.

Meeting her eyes, he spoke so quietly that only Aethlyn could hear.

“You called me… ‘my subordinate.’”

“…”

“So… I was happy.”

“I wasn’t angry at all.”

For a moment, Aethlyn couldn’t think of anything to say.

Well, of course you’re my subordinate. What else would you be?

Even if it’s temporary, I am your direct superior.

She had intended to answer just like that.

But there was a strange warmth burning in Sergeant Vilev’s eyes.

For some reason, she felt like she had to choose every word carefully.

She cleared her throat awkwardly and mumbled,

“…It’s not that big a deal.”

About an hour later, the station finally came into view.

The wagon rolled to a stop.

Aethlyn and Gennadi climbed down and headed straight inside.

‘This is the station where I arrived the first time.’

Nothing had changed since then.

Which was only natural.

Hardly any time had passed.

Still…

Why did it somehow feel even more desolate than before?

They stepped into the station building, which didn’t even have a roof.

A train was already waiting at the platform.

Perhaps because this was the departure station, the first-class carriage they boarded was completely empty.

No soldiers.

No government officials.

The other troops had all crowded into third class.

‘At least it’ll be a comfortable ride.’

Taking the sunny window seat beside Gennadi, Aethlyn pulled a thin book from her bag.

On the Interpretation of Ancient Rune Magic.

She’d been too busy in the trenches to finish it.

She intended to use the trip to finally read the rest.

That resolve didn’t last long.

The moment she sat down, exhaustion washed over her like a tidal wave.

Soft, steady breaths.

Her chest rose and fell gently in rhythm.

With every clatter of the train over the tracks, her hair swayed ever so slightly.

Gennadi looked at the woman sitting beside him.

He didn’t move his body.

Only his head turned as far as it could.

Aethlyn had folded her arms and sunk into the seat, fast asleep.

Her closed eyelids.

The relaxed corners of her lips.

She looked so peaceful that Gennadi hardly dared to breathe.

Instead, he clicked his tongue silently.

‘You’re far too defenseless.’

You haven’t changed at all.

Not then.

Not now.

You pretend to be cautious, yet you trust people so easily.

A bittersweet warmth accompanied the worry blooming inside him.

Perhaps…

Perhaps Aethlyn only ever let her guard down this much around him.

Of course, that was a ridiculous fantasy.

She didn’t even know who he really was.

She wasn’t interested in him in the slightest.

Besides, there was another reason she’d relaxed this much.

For the first time since arriving at the trenches, she’d finally escaped that place and returned to the comfort of civilization.

It was only natural for the tension she’d been carrying to melt away.

The train continued to rattle onward.

Each jolt made Aethlyn’s head sway gently from side to side.

His fingertips itched to steady her.

At the same time, he wanted nothing more than to keep watching her.

Warm autumn sunlight traced the brim of her cap before spilling across the tip of her nose and her lips.

As though entranced, Gennadi quietly spoke.

“…To tell the truth.”

His voice was so soft that even he could barely hear it himself.

“At first… I was angry.”

When the driver had called him a beast.

When he’d spat out those insults.

Gennadi had felt murderous intent.

Not the detached, instinctive killing intent he felt on the battlefield.

This had been personal.

Violent.

Savage.

It had been a long time since he’d felt something so intense.

“That’s not what I meant! It’s bad for the horses’ health. They may be dumb animals, but they’ve got good instincts. Just because something walks on two legs doesn’t make it huma—”

It wasn’t simply because the man had insulted him or his race.

People like that had become tiresomely familiar.

And dealing with them was easy.

There was no need to argue.

Regardless of rank or status, a little violence solved most problems quickly enough.

This time would’ve been no different.

Grab the man by the collar.

Shake him a little.

That would’ve been the end of it.

But then—

“The moment they catch even a glimpse of a Wildman’s shadow, they’ll drop dead!”

The instant the driver said that in front of Aethlyn…

…something inside Gennadi snapped.

A shame he’d long forgotten touched the deepest part of him.

Violent impulses surged to the surface.

He wanted to grab that man’s head…

…slam it into the ground…

…and crush it.

It would’ve taken only an instant.

The man’s skull would’ve caved in before it even hit the dirt.

Of course…

He didn’t do it.

Instead, despite every nerve in his body being on edge, he forced himself to focus on what Aethlyn was saying.

“They are human. Wildmen are people. They’re soldiers of the Morning Star Alliance, and he’s one of my men.”

The moment he heard her say those words…

Gennadi froze.

The instant he heard Aethlyn speak up for him so firmly…

…the murderous rage that had blazed through him…

…the fury that had been gnawing at his heart…

…vanished all at once.

As his anger subsided, even the horses trembling beside them gradually calmed down.

Remembering that moment now, overwhelming joy welled up inside him…

…alongside an equally overwhelming bitterness.

Running the tip of one fang against the soft flesh inside his mouth, the man swallowed a self-mocking laugh.

‘The defenseless one… was me.’

“Defenseless.”

It was a term Gennadi had learned at the mercenary academy. It described a trench, a minefield, or any position so poorly secured that anyone could break through at any moment.

It perfectly described him now.

If the instructors at the mercenary academy—or the soldiers of the Fenrir Detachment—could see him like this, they would have laughed until they cried.

They would have mocked him for going soft over a human and kicked him behind the knees and across the shins to knock some sense back into him.

But there was no one here to laugh at Gennadi.

So… maybe it was alright for him to be happy just a little longer.

Just a little.

Then—

“Mmh…”

Still asleep, Aethlyn shifted uncomfortably before letting her head come to rest completely against his shoulder.

Gennadi’s pupils shrank, then his irises widened.

His upper body, already tense, went completely rigid.

With his left hand, he caught Aethlyn’s cap before it slipped off.

Her neatly combed crown came into view.

I want to bury my face in it.

She still carried that cool, clean scent.

And beneath it lingered the faintest trace of cypress.

He wanted to breathe it in from even closer.

The sudden, overwhelming urge made him swallow unconsciously.

His grip tightened around the cap, wrinkling the fabric slightly.

“Nng…”

Then Aethlyn let out a pained whimper without lifting her head from his shoulder.

“I’m sorry… I’m sorry…”

Did she wake up?

Gennadi’s shoulders stiffened.

The desire that had been quietly smoldering in the pit of his stomach vanished without a trace.

“Second Lieutenant?”

“It hurts.”

“Are you alri—”

“It hurts… it hurts…”

She whimpered again.

Resting her forehead against his shoulder, she murmured weakly.

Is she having a nightmare?

So her first battle really did hit her that hard.

The corners of Sergeant Gennadi Vilev’s eyes narrowed.

An unfamiliar, unpleasant feeling—worry—surged through him.

A moment later, she groaned again in obvious pain.

“My left hand… my left hand hurts…”

“…Ah.”

Only then did his eyes fall on her left hand.

It trembled aimlessly, opening and closing over and over.

That’s right.

Aethlyn wasn’t having nightmares because of the trench raid.

The true source of her nightmares was—

Me.

The heart of Gennadi Vilev, which had been lying completely defenseless, was torn to shreds.