Chapter 19

“What the hell are you talking about?!”

“Apologize to Second Lieutenant.”

The red-faced man let out a scornful snort.

“Hah! The fuck do I care if she’s a second lieutenant? I’m a captain! A captain!”

He shouted at the top of his lungs while thrashing wildly. The scene was utter chaos. One man was hanging in midair, screaming his head off, while the other flailed uselessly, throwing punches that accomplished absolutely nothing.

Aethlyn clicked her tongue without thinking.

‘They’re completely out of their minds.’

Amid the chaos, Sergeant Vilev’s face remained expressionless.

But it wasn’t his usual unreadable, subdued expression.

The icy gleam in his eyes beneath the brim of his cap sent a chill down her spine.

‘This is bad.’

If Sergeant Vilev so much as left a scratch on the other man…

‘If that happens, I might be fine—but the sergeant won’t be.’

The world was never kind to Wildmen.

If word got out that a Wildman had assaulted an officer of the Kingdom of Willem Army…

It was obvious the entire continent would explode with outrage.

Every newspaper would be plastered with sensational headlines:

“Violent Wildman Soldier Goes Rogue.”

“Werewolf Sabotages the Alliance.”

She had to prevent that at all costs.

Aethlyn shouted at the top of her lungs.

“Stop! Stop it! That’s enough!”

But despite her urgent cry, the sergeant didn’t move an inch.

He continued gripping the captain by the collar, only shifting his eyes toward Aethlyn.

Meeting that inhuman gaze suddenly reminded her of the assault on the Imperial Army trench.

Back then, Sergeant Vilev had asked her with a hand signal.

Advance?

‘What did I tell him…?’

The answer came to her immediately.

‘I told him to advance.’

She remembered exactly how he had obeyed.

How could she forget?

Right before her eyes, the sergeant had become a monster.

With a shotgun, a shovel, and a crescent-shaped saber, he had mercilessly torn through the enemy.

The memory made the ground seem to give way beneath her feet.

And at the same time, it made the gravity of the current situation painfully clear.

‘The newspapers aren’t the real problem.’

This could turn into something far worse.

Aethlyn spoke firmly.

“Let him go.”

“…”

She repeated herself.

This time, with unmistakable authority.

“I said let him go, Sergeant. Did you not hear my order?”

At that, the sergeant calmly loosened his grip.

Thud.

The drunken captain from the Kingdom of Willem Army landed hard on his backside and toppled backward onto the marble floor.

“You bastards!”

“I said that’s enough already!”

While the furious drunk slurred incomprehensible curses through his liquor-thick tongue, Sergeant Vilev never took his eyes off Aethlyn.

Without even glancing at the fallen man, he answered flatly,

“He appeared to be intoxicated, so I was helping him stay upright.”

“Helping my ass! You sons of bitches! You Estarians think we’re idiots?!”

“Leave while I’m asking nicely.”

“You fucking bastard!”

The only relatively sober officer hurriedly dragged the drunk away, muttering nonstop.

“L-Let’s just call it even. We’ll say we’re even!”

“Who says we’re even?!”

“For God’s sake, enough already! What are you trying to accomplish by picking a fight with a mage?!”

“…”

At the word “mage,” Sergeant Vilev slowly turned his head to glare at them again.

The icy look in his eyes made the two officers flee even faster.

Aethlyn called out once more.

“Sergeant Vilev.”

“…”

“Sergeant Vilev, I’m fine.”

‘Please calm down… You’re starting to scare even me.’

Then, in a quiet voice, the sergeant muttered,

“The apology…”

“…What?”

“I never heard… an apology.”

“…”

“Are you truly alright?”

“Shall I go bring them back?”

The tension drained from Aethlyn’s shoulders.

She let out a weary laugh.

“Oh… if that’s what you’re worried about, forget it. What were you expecting from a couple of drunks who could barely think straight?”

“But…”

“Thank you for standing up for my honor. I truly mean that… but there was no need to confront them so directly. You’ve been in the military long enough to know that better than anyone, haven’t you?”

“…”

She genuinely was grateful that he had cared about her honor. Compared to the insolent soldiers back at Kran Trench, his actions were honestly a little touching.

“And this is precious leave. Isn’t it a waste to spend it dealing with a couple of drunks?”

Without realizing it, her tone had become almost soothing.

The sergeant seemed to agree, at least, that his leave was too valuable to waste.

“…Yes.”

“Let’s check in first.”

She gave his elbow a light pat before heading to the front desk.

Standing before the staff, who were drenched in cold sweat, Aethlyn smiled politely.

“Two single rooms, please. We’d like the ones with the best view.”

After checking in, the two met again in the first-floor lobby.

The sergeant had arrived first.

He was sitting on a sofa with his arms folded and his eyes closed as the afternoon sunlight streamed through the windows onto him.

‘Is he sunbathing?’

Standing on the landing between the first and second floors, Aethlyn quietly watched him for a moment.

‘Looking at him like this… I can still see traces of what he looked like when he was younger.’

The youthful face from his personnel record was still there.

Of course, it wasn’t exactly the same anymore.

The furrow between his brows, the firm set of his mouth, the sharper, more rugged features…

And yet…

‘Why does he feel so familiar?’

As though she’d crossed paths with him somewhere before.

The strange sense of familiarity vanished the moment she reached the first floor.

He opened his eyes.

Beneath sandy-colored lashes, unnaturally brilliant golden eyes came into view.

“Second Lieutenant.”

He stood up, putting on the cap that he habitually rested on his knee.

Aethlyn nodded.

“Today’s plan is to watch a movie, then have dinner at a restaurant. Come on, let’s go.”

“…A movie?”

His sharp eyes widened just a little.

Seeing his mildly surprised expression, Aethlyn couldn’t help but smile.

“That’s right. A movie. We came all the way into the city—it’d be a shame not to watch one, wouldn’t it?”

As they strolled through Parieri together in the late afternoon, Aethlyn thought,

‘This isn’t nearly as awkward as I expected.’

Before leaving on vacation, she had actually spent some time thinking about what they should do together.

If they wandered around without any plan at all, she felt they would end up remembering only the awkwardness.

Truthfully, she had no idea what they could even talk about.

She and the sergeant came from completely different backgrounds, lived in different worlds, held different values—

And most importantly, they weren’t even the same species.

If she brought up the wrong topic carelessly, she could easily offend him.

It seemed much safer to watch a movie together, chat about it afterward, and let that carry them through dinner.

‘Still… it’s not as awkward as I’d imagined.’

Walking beside Sergeant Vilev after leaving the hotel, Aethlyn quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

Maybe it was because of what had happened with the officers from the Kingdom of Willem Army in the lobby.

For some reason, she even felt a strange sense of closeness toward him now.

The lazy afternoon air before sunset settled over the clean streets of the new district.

As they passed rows of colorful storefronts, Aethlyn casually asked,

“Sergeant, have you been to Parieri before?”

“…More than ten times, I think.”

“That many?”

“We usually pass through here whenever we’re deployed to the eastern front.”

‘What?’

‘He said he wouldn’t have anything to do on leave.’

For some reason, she felt like she’d been tricked.

“Then there’s really no need for you to stick with me. If you’d rather explore on your own…”

He answered before a second had passed.

“No.”

“…”

“It’s fine, Second Lieutenant.”

“R-Right… Well, if you say so.”

Before long, the movie theater came into view.

“…There’s no way anyone could miss it.”

Even from a distance, it was unmistakably a theater.

A gigantic poster painted in Parieri’s dramatic artistic style, flashy signs, and even murals covered the building.

Among all the colorful buildings around it, this one stood out the most.

As they got closer and the poster came into full view, Aethlyn’s expression turned a little awkward.

‘Of all things… it’s a movie with a mage as the protagonist.’

A man was unleashing enormous bolts of lightning from both hands.

Beside him stood a delicate-looking woman.

And looming behind them was a terrifying-looking man…

Probably a vampire.

Somehow, she felt as though she’d already seen the entire movie—from beginning to end—just by looking at the poster.

Approaching the ticket booth, Aethlyn asked cautiously,

“What movies are showing right now?”