Finler spun on his heel, fixing his sharp gaze behind him as he continued, “Alright, follow me.” With those words, Finler marched forward.
Enmie and Lusia followed close behind.
Hawen stood beside Ersak, waving his hand as he stepped ahead, “Come on, let’s go, let’s go.” …
The group began to venture deeper into the massive training camp.
“AA!!” a young man screamed, charging forward with his blade raised high.
Ahead of him, another soldier rushed over, swinging his sword decisively in an upward arc!
“CLANG!!” The two blades clashed together.
A loud crash echoed out.
The metal groaned as the weapons ground against one another, vibrating violently.
Both soldiers gritted their teeth, sparks flying in bursts from the intense friction.
The youth channeled his strength, shoving the opposing blade aside before lunging forward to bring his weapon down.
As the sword swung down, time itself seemed to crawl.
A blade thrust out from nowhere, intercepting the young man’s weapon.
“CLANG!” In an instant, the sword flew into the sky, ripped clean from the youth’s grip.
The sudden turn of events left both the soldier on the ground and the young man completely frozen.
The youth’s face went blank, struck speechless as he watched his weapon plunge straight into the dirt.
The intervening sword slid back into its scabbard with a sharp click, the crystal embedded on its hilt casting a faint gleam.
The training soldiers stopped to stare at the figure clad in iron armor engraved with royal crests.
The young man stared at him.
The man’s voice suddenly cut through the air, “This is just a sparring match, is there any need to use live blades?” Finler leveled an interrogating glare at the pair.
The soldier sitting on the ground looked over, breaking out in beads of cold sweat.
“Heh!…” He scrambled to his feet immediately, bowing deeply before snapping to attention.
“YES, Commander…” Seeing the soldier so terrified, the youth looked at his comrade in utter confusion, “Huh?” The soldier’s hand shot up, shoving the young man’s head down.
“Apologies, Commander, he’s a rookie, so he’s lacking a bit of respect…” Finler eyed the duo.
Ersak walked closer as Finler waved his hand to dismiss the tension.
“You two stand up.” The soldier and the youth straightened their backs as Finler pressed on, “Why are you using live blades when sparring with a recruit anyway?” The soldier stammered, scratching his head.
“He kept insisting on using a real sword.
I refused at first, but…” Finler listened, his expression remaining perfectly blank.
Lusia walked up from the side, drawing Finler’s attention.
Lusia stood before Finler, looking at the two soldiers.
“Rules are rules.
What if something happened while you two were swinging real swords?” The soldier’s face turned pale at the sight of Lusia.
Cold sweat poured down his neck as he trembled, looking at her.
“L-Lusia…
when did you get back?!!…” The young man standing beside him took a few steps back, body tensing up.
Lusia crossed her arms, her eyes cutting like ice.
“It seems since I haven’t been around lately, everyone thinks they can just ignore the regulations, huh?” The soldier’s jaw shook with terror.
“EE-!!” He grabbed the youth’s head instantly, slamming both of their faces toward the ground repeatedly while yelling out, “SORRY…
W-WE’RE SORRY, WE WON’T DO IT AGAIN!!” The young man struggled, shouting back, “GET YOUR HANDS OFF MY HEAD!!!” The soldier let out a forced laugh, backing away while looking toward Finler.
“Haha…
I’ll take this rookie back to training.
Please overlook what just happened!…” The boy looked at the soldier, completely bewildered.
“What are you so scared of??” Without another word, the soldier suddenly yanked the young man and bolted.
Standing behind Lusia, Finler called out to them, “It’s fine, don’t worry about it.” Lusia turned her head back as he added, “He’s just a rookie, no need to blame him.” Lusia faced Finler, her voice thick with irritation.
“If you keep letting them off easy like that, they’re only going to become more undisciplined!” She marched past Finler.
His shoulders slumped in defeat, his eyes closing.
“That might be true, but we should still show leniency if it’s nothing too serious, right?…” Lusia glanced over.
Ersak was sitting on the ground hugging his knees, watching her with a blank expression.
Hawen held a bunch of green grapes in one hand, using his other to pluck them off one by one and pop them into his mouth.
Enmie stood right beside him, snatching grapes from Hawen’s bunch and tossing them into her own mouth with a loud, crisp crunch, her eyes fixed on Lusia.
Lusia glared back at the bunch, muttering under her breath, “These guys!…” Taking a long, deep breath, she exhaled slowly.
She opened her eyes to face the group again, turning around to command, “Let’s go.” Ersak tracked her with his gaze.
Closing his eyes, he stood up, brushed the dirt off his clothes, and walked forward.
Lusia and Finler led the way, with Hawen and Enmie trailing behind as they tossed the last few kernels of popcorn into their mouths.
Ersak brought up the rear, slowly pacing after the others.
In this manner, they passed the barracks, the armory, the sparring rings, the marching soldiers, and the mess hall, everything flashing by like a gust of wind until night fell.
The moon rose high, casting down its shimmering light.
Massive, dark clouds slowly gathered around it as a gentle breeze swept through, causing the trees to sway softly.
On the dirt road leading into the kingdom, the city lights illuminated a vast area.
Ersak and the others walked together along the path, slowly advancing toward the kingdom.
Footsteps echoed on the dirt road.
With no streetlamps, only the moonlight shone down on the four figures moving through the night.
Glittering red eyes flashed, reflecting the image of a small crystal slowly rotating beside a larger one at the top of a tower.
Lowering her head, Enmie walked along the path ahead of the group.
The air was silent and empty, with only their footsteps ringing out in the night.
…
…
A sudden gust of wind blew past, causing Enmie’s hair to shift slightly.
Ersak looked down at the grass with tired eyes.
Large flowers surged upward alongside the grass, rustling gently to create a soft, scratching sound all around.
Ersak’s hair stirred slightly.
His eyes slowly closed as he lowered his head, keeping his pace, his facial muscles relaxing for a brief moment.
Beside him, Hawen watched Ersak with his large, round blue eyes.
Suddenly, Enmie’s voice broke through, shattering the silence of the night.
Hawen looked ahead.
Ersak’s eyes snapped open, and he lifted his head to look at Enmie.
Enmie’s voice rang out at the same time, “I think we can take him with us tomorrow, so tonight is probably the last night…” Lusia lowered her head slightly in thought, keeping silent.
Enmie stared intently at Lusia without saying a word.
Hawen shrugged from behind, “We’re done with our mission here anyway,” Ersak glanced over at Hawen as he continued, “and we need to start the training course as soon as possible.”