Chapter 7

‘I’ve never seen that uniform before… But it’s definitely not a Barbaros Army uniform.’

Could he be from the Kingdom of Willem’s army? Or the Pharos military?

Looking for the answer, Aethlyn took a closer look at the unfamiliar man.

He had a lean yet muscular build. Even beneath his thick military uniform, it was unmistakable.

The military cap he wore cast a deep shadow over the upper half of his face, but his amber eyes still stood out vividly beneath it. Combined with his rugged yet sharp features, firm jawline, and tightly pressed lips, he was undeniably handsome in a masculine way. Yet perhaps because of his unshaven, shabby appearance—or perhaps because of the strange aura those golden eyes gave off—she found him utterly unlikable. More than that, he radiated something unsettling, something that carried the scent of violence.

“…”

The uninvited guest remained silent as Aethlyn and the soldiers stared at him. He simply stood there, returning Aethlyn’s gaze with unwavering eyes.

About ten awkward seconds passed.

Then, without a word, the man began walking toward them.

Step.

Step.

With each heavy footfall, the pressure everyone felt only intensified.

“Eek!”

Behind her, Corporal William Buffon let out a terrified gasp.

Instinctively, Aethlyn spread both arms to shield the soldiers behind her.

“Who are you? State your affiliation and identify yourself.”

The man stopped the moment she spoke.

“I asked who you are.”

“…Yeah.”

He finally spoke.

His voice was low and rough, echoing like it had come from deep inside a cave.

But it was hardly an answer.

“If you don’t answer within three seconds, I’ll consider you hostile and attack.”

Aethlyn slowly extended her left hand.

She reactivated the magic circuit she had just shut down.

Her voice trembled as she counted.

“Three… Two…”

One.

‘I’ll capture him with a binding spell.’

A translucent, lattice-patterned magic circle materialized above the back of her left hand.

The instant the man noticed it, his amber eyes widened, flashing with an intense light—

Like a predator that had just spotted its prey.

She couldn’t hesitate any longer.

“Platoon Leader!”

Just before Aethlyn launched her attack, someone leaped between them.

It was Doist.

That fool who always carried a chicken around.

Frantically waving both arms, he hurried to stop her.

“Platoon Leader, don’t attack! He’s one of ours! He’s an ally!”

“Doist! Stop talking nonsense and move! Unless you want to get attacked too!”

But Doist refused to budge.

If anything, he went a step further and dropped to his knees in front of Aethlyn.

“I’m serious! I know him personally!”

“…What? You know him personally?”

She was dumbfounded.

About as dumbfounded as when she’d first arrived at the trenches and seen a chicken.

Without realizing it, she raised an eyebrow and asked again, her magic circuit still active.

“How exactly do you know him?”

“He’s an older guy from my neighborhood. We’re close.”

“…”

Silence fell once more.

Only the distant cries of magpies echoed across the trenches.

Aethlyn, the soldiers cowering behind her, and everyone else stared at Doist as though he had lost his mind.

Embarrassed by all the attention, the boyish-looking soldier’s face turned as red as a tomato.

Meanwhile, the man standing behind Doist remained completely detached, as if none of this concerned him.

His gaze stayed fixed on Aethlyn’s active magic circuit.

Doist cautiously nudged him with his elbow.

“Sergeant, what are you doing? You can’t just show up like this! At least introduce yourself properly to our platoon leader!”

“…Ah. Sorry.”

As if finally snapping out of it, the man slowly blinked his amber eyes and straightened his back.

He already looked tall, but somehow seemed even taller now.

He gave a small nod before offering a crisp, efficient salute.

“…Sergeant Gennadi Vilev, Fenrir Detachment.”

Aethlyn reflexively returned the salute.

Even as she did, she still felt dazed.

After deactivating her magic circuit, she massaged her left hand with her right while replaying his words in her head.

‘The Fenrir Detachment…’

Wasn’t that the infamous special unit composed entirely of werewolves?

Even Aethlyn, who rarely paid attention to gossip, had heard the countless stories surrounding them.

Legends claimed they had recaptured an entire fortress city in a single night without support.

Others said they had destroyed hundreds of Imperial Army golems.

Stories like those always followed the name “Fenrir Detachment.”

Of course, not all of the tales were glorious.

Some were downright horrifying.

There were rumors that they had survived a siege in an isolated mountain fortress by eating captured enemy soldiers…

Being made up entirely of werewolves—the most violent and ferocious among the Wildmen—they had become the centerpiece of countless military ghost stories.

No one ever bothered to verify which stories were true and which were false.

After all, encountering a Wildmen special forces unit was exceedingly rare.

That rarity was exactly why the rumors spread so widely.

‘But why is someone from the Fenrir Detachment here…?’

The answer came to her almost immediately.

She remembered what her friends had said during the farewell banquet at the Wintercrown Estate before she left.

“So you’re really heading to Pharos? There were plenty of other places to earn merit. Why there?”

“Yeah. They say there are a lot of Wildmen soldiers stationed there. Just thinking about it gives me chills.”

‘Right… There are Wildmen soldiers here.’

If that was the case, meeting someone from the Fenrir Detachment wasn’t strange at all.

Everything finally made sense.

The unfamiliar uniform.

The soldiers’ terrified reactions.

Aethlyn swallowed hard.

She had let the lax atmosphere in the Kran trenches make her forget, if only briefly, that this was the most dangerous front on the Pharos border.

She studied the werewolf standing before her once more.

Now, every detail about him took on a different meaning.

His tall, slender frame.

His dark wheat-colored skin.

The blackened shadows beneath his eyes, like the scorched edges of burnt paper.

And above all…

Those glowing eyes.

‘Right… That’s a werewolf trait.’

Recalling what she had learned at the academy calmed her considerably.

She could finally fit this incomprehensible being into a framework she understood.

Once she’d composed herself, she introduced herself.

“…I’m Aethlyn Wintercrown, platoon leader of Delta Company’s Fourth Platoon.”

“…”

The moment she spoke her name, Sergeant Vilev’s yellow eyes suddenly seemed to glow with an even greater intensity.

Or at least, that was how it looked to Aethlyn.

A cold sensation crawled up the back of her neck, making her shiver involuntarily.

‘What was that?’

Before she could make sense of the strange feeling, Doist hurriedly added an explanation.

“Platoon Leader, I’m sorry. Sergeant Gennadi isn’t very familiar with human etiquette. Even so, he’s the most sociable one in the detachment, but people still misunderstand him all the time. I promise he never means to be rude!”

Like a lawyer desperately defending a dangerous criminal, Doist repeatedly pleaded for understanding.

Aethlyn looked at him calmly.

“…I understand.”

“Really?”

“I’m not doubting your story. I just want a reasonable explanation for why a member of the Fenrir Detachment suddenly showed up here.”

Aethlyn turned her gaze toward Gennadi.

He was still staring at her as though entranced by something, his eyes never leaving her.

As if she were prey.

Just as that unwavering gaze was beginning to seriously irritate her, Doist answered in his place.

“W-Well… maybe because I’m the youngest child, my parents have always worried about me too much. They asked Sergeant Gennadi, whom we’ve known for a long time, to check on me every now and then to make sure I was doing alright!”

“Haha…”

Doist laughed awkwardly.

Aethlyn wanted to ask how someone could possibly have known a werewolf since childhood, but he didn’t seem to be lying.

Still bowing and scraping, Doist turned toward the completely unhelpful Sergeant Gennadi and complained.

“Sergeant, say something too!”

“That’s exactly what you said.”

“I send my family plenty of letters! There’s really no need for you to come all the way here just to check on me!”

“It’s more certain when I see it with my own eyes.”

“Ah, come on!”

As the two bantered back and forth, Aethlyn’s irritation gradually faded.

Only exhaustion remained.

She had probably tensed up far more than necessary.

Putting on a calm front, she spoke.

“…Doist. If you have personal business, take care of it after your shift in the rest area. This is the route leading to the observation post.”

“Y-Yes, ma’am! Platoon Leader! Understood!”

Without waiting to hear anything else Doist had to say, Aethlyn turned and walked away.

She could still feel the man’s gaze lingering on the back of her neck, but she forced herself to ignore it.

If she kept looking into those unsettling yellow eyes, she felt like she’d become sick.

Of course, not all of her questions had been answered.

‘The Fenrir Detachment is only deployed for especially dangerous operations. Does that mean some kind of operation is about to take place here as well?’

Or perhaps they were simply stopping here between missions.

As she considered the possibilities, Aethlyn slowly shook her head.

‘I’ll find out why the Fenrir Detachment is here during the platoon leaders’ meeting.’

As she settled on that thought and continued walking, something one of her friends had said at the banquet suddenly came back to her.

“Even so, always watch your back. They may look human, but everyone says they’re beasts on the inside. Who knows what they’ll do if you get on their bad side?”

Aethlyn barely managed to suppress the urge to look back.