“Why are you standing there looking so dazed?”
Han had already left the shooting range.
Other than Samuel, who had picked up a gun and said he wanted to practice, no one had any reason to remain there.
Yet Lara stood still, lost in thought.
Fabian made a guess.
“Does being told that you’re doing well bother you that much?”
“.......”
Lara pressed her lips tightly together and said nothing.
Han had told her that she was doing well, so she only needed to keep doing what she was doing.
Even Lara thought the words were absurd.
The Special Unit’s job was to capture criminals.
Heretical Mages, at that.
Yet with her currently unable to cast while moving, he had told her she was doing well and only needed to continue as she was....
Of course it made no sense.
There was no way it could.
“You can’t even accept praise simply as praise. It seems you’ve lived quite a harsh life yourself.”
Fabian shook his head sympathetically.
Only then did Lara finally react.
“...Because it wasn’t a situation where I deserved praise.”
“And yet you managed to mark Miss Stella, a veteran, with paint twice.”
“That was because I fought like hell before she restrained me.... No, that’s not what matters right now.”
“If that doesn’t matter, then what does? Were you about to say Team Leader Han’s judgment was wrong?”
“.......”
Lara was momentarily lost for words.
She cautiously parted her lips.
“...That’s not it. If Team Leader’s judgment is wrong, then that would mean the way I’ve lived until now was wrong too. I don’t want to deny my entire life.”
“Then isn’t that enough?”
“Haah.... But this isn’t that simple.”
Lara sighed.
Being unable to cast while moving was a glaring weakness both as a Special Unit agent and as a mage.
That was why Lara had spent years trying to overcome the weakness.
But no matter how much time and effort she poured into it, she could not.
She had practiced thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of times.
It still remained impossible.
So she had expected Han to give her a harsh reprimand this time.
She had even prepared herself to be thoroughly chewed out in front of the other team members.
Instead, he had suddenly praised her.
Of course she was confused.
“...Well. I know practically nothing about magic myself, so I ought to be careful about speaking too freely.”
Fabian seemed to understand how she felt.
Standing beside Lara, he looked toward the spot Han had left and continued.
“Team Leader Han doesn’t strike me as someone who says things without a reason. ...If he had a basis for saying it, then his words certainly wouldn’t have been light.”
“.......”
“Besides, I was told the same thing as you, so it would be troublesome if that weren’t true. I’d rather take the praise at face value than twist it into something else.”
Fabian raised the corner of his mouth playfully.
Just like Lara, he had also been told by Han that he was doing well.
“......Ha.”
For some reason, seeing that easygoing smile made the weight pressing down on Lara’s shoulders feel a little lighter.
Fabian had a talent for naturally shifting the atmosphere.
“...You haven’t known Team Leader for that long, but you seem to trust him quite a bit.”
“Rather than trusting him, I trust my own eyes.”
“Your eyes?”
“My eye for people. Years of crossing the line between life and death while dealing with all kinds of people. Even in the Covert Mobile Unit, I was known for being a good judge of character.”
“.......”
“And... I don’t know how you see him, but Team Leader Han is a capable man. Capable enough that even I can’t fully measure the extent of his abilities.”
As a former member of the Covert Mobile Unit, Fabian had personally witnessed Han’s Mobility Gear techniques and marksmanship and had been impressed.
As a soldier, when one encountered a highly capable leader, it was only natural to want to trust and follow them.
“So trusting Team Leader’s judgment might be one way to go about it. Besides, it means continuing with the method you’ve already been using. Perhaps one day, you might find your element just like Samuel over there.”
BANG—!
Lara turned her gaze.
Samuel was still practicing his sniping deep into the night.
Even from afar, it was obvious how excited he was.
It almost felt as though the Samuel who had spent the joint training earlier that day shrinking back in fear had been a completely different person.
“...Well, you’re not wrong.”
“I’m never wrong to begin with.”
“Seriously. Unbelievable.”
Lara gave a hollow laugh and started walking away.
“Where are you going?”
“To practice. Team Leader said I’m doing well and should just keep doing what I’m doing.”
Perhaps it was only his imagination, but Lara’s steps seemed a little lighter.
Fabian watched Lara and Samuel, both now filled with motivation, then gently tried moving his injured arm.
“I suppose I should focus on recovering first.”
At twenty-six, he was the oldest member of the team.
But he had no intention of falling behind.
After all, he was still far too young himself.
***
Meanwhile, after leaving the shooting range, Han headed for the medical unit.
He wanted to check on those who had been injured by Allen.
“We’re fine. I’d actually been wondering lately if we were getting a little too full of ourselves, so you could say this was a timely wake-up call.”
“That’s right. And we’d rather this not turn into something bigger than it needs to be. That kid... I heard he was placed in isolation, but he’s far too talented to just leave there.”
Gilbert’s team members, lying in their hospital beds, actually defended Allen.
Seeing how good-natured they were, almost to the point of foolishness, the corner of Han’s mouth rose slightly.
Han chatted casually with the two of them, then asked as he was about to leave.
“Is your team leader in the training room? ...No. That was a pointless question.”
Gilbert had apparently stopped by the medical unit as well.
That left only one possible place.
Gilbert had said before that unless he did high-intensity weight training before bed, he could not sleep properly.
“These are by way of apology.”
Han set down two fruit baskets he had brought with him.
Gilbert’s team members vehemently refused, saying they could not accept something like that, but in the end, they lost to Han’s persistence.
“Then please take these instead.”
“...Protein shakes and energy drinks?”
“We thought you might need them if you were going to see Team Leader.”
It was strange enough to wonder why such things were lying around in a hospital room.
But considering they belonged to Gilbert’s team members, it somehow made sense.
Han smiled faintly and left the medical unit.
“I’ll gladly take them.”
Han’s next destination was the training room.
The moment he opened the door, hot air and the smell of sweat rushed over him.
Even though it was late....
No, perhaps because it was late, agents who had finished their daily duties were working out.
And among them, the one who stood out the most was, without question, Gilbert.
“Hoo.... Hoo....”
A man with pitch-black skin and muscles that looked ready to burst.
Gilbert breathed rhythmically as thick beads of sweat rolled down his body.
His bench press was so stable that the weight almost looked light.
But one glance at the plates made it impossible to say such a thing.
“Haa....”
Gilbert caught his breath as though soaking in a hot bath.
After finishing a set, he sat up.
Then he noticed Han.
“It seems like you add more plates every time I see you.”
Han handed him the protein shake and energy drink.
Gilbert thanked him and accepted the gesture.
“If I don’t increase the weight, all I’ll do is maintain what I already have.”
“Are you planning to build even more muscle than this?”
“I should keep going as far as I can.”
“...There are already rumors that you’re using drugs, and you still want to get bigger?”
“What, drugs? Hahahaha! That’s the greatest compliment you can give a natural lifter!”
Gilbert burst into laughter, genuinely delighted.
Thanks to that, the remnants of awkwardness left over from the joint training melted away.
Gilbert then drank the energy drink as though downing an ice-cold beer and asked Han,
“So. You didn’t come all the way here just to deliver these. What do you want?”
“What I want...?”
“Hm?”
Han thought for a moment before answering.
“Ah.... I came to work out. I don’t think I’ve done heavy lifting in quite a while.”
“In uniform?”
“...That’s true.”
“Sometimes you really are a strange one.”
Han had come to properly make peace with Gilbert.
But they could hardly hold hands and declare that they had made up like children playing soldiers, so Han had planned to let things resolve naturally while they talked.
Then Gilbert suddenly asked what he wanted, leaving Han to give an awkward answer.
Gilbert seemed to roughly understand what was going on.
His lips stretched into a wide grin, revealing bright white teeth.
“So, anyway. You came here to work out.”
“...Now that I think about it, I forgot that I only came to deliver those.”
“No. A real man doesn’t go back on his word.”
Gilbert blocked Han’s retreat.
“...I’m a Captain and a team leader now too.”
“I know. Which is why, unlike before, I intend to treat you to the ‘Team Leader Course.’”
“Team Leader Course?”
“We alternate while gradually increasing the weight. Until one of us collapses. Cardio included, of course. How about it? Doesn’t just thinking about it make your blood race?”
“.......”
Han stared directly into Gilbert’s eyes.
Then he thought,
This is hopeless.
Those eyes are already full of anticipation.
In the end, Han let out a short sigh and removed his jacket.
Muscles built solely for practical combat were revealed beneath it.
Gunshot wounds and blade scars covered his body.
Han’s body displayed his life in cross-section.
Han warmed himself up.
“Fine. Let’s do it. But you should prepare yourself.”
“Heh heh heh. This takes me back. Despite how you look, you’ve always been fiercely competitive. Good. It’s been a while since I’ve really been able to burn myself out.”
Han unexpectedly found himself in a high-intensity workout competition.
But he did not avoid it.
He knew this would completely restore his relationship with Gilbert.
And so, the two began their workout.
Naturally, it drew the attention of everyone around them.
A competition between two team leaders made for quite the spectacle.
“Team Leader Gilbert’s obviously going to win, right? Look at those muscles.”
“You’ve never gone into the field with Team Leader Han, have you? If you had, you wouldn’t say that so easily.”
“Still, they’re in completely different weight classes....”
“They’re not just doing the big three lifts. Team Leader Han has the advantage in endurance. ...Whoa, he actually lifted that.”
““Wooooooooah!””
Gilbert lifted a barbell loaded with a weight everyone had thought impossible.
The agents burst into cheers and applause.
At some point, they had formed a circle around Han and Gilbert.
Gilbert merely set the barbell down, yet—
THUD!
—the floor trembled.
Having finished his turn, Gilbert rose with a broad laugh.
“Han. Aren’t you going to injure yourself pushing this hard?”
“I won’t go far enough to damage my body. I’d be too ashamed to face my team members tomorrow.”
“Hahaha! Good! Let’s take this all the way!”
CLAP!
Gilbert brought his massive hands together.
They called it a competition, but Gilbert and Han encouraged each other and enjoyed the moment.
““Wooooooooah!””
“That’s insane! Absolutely insane!”
“Where the hell is that strength coming from?!”
“Han Augustus! Han Augustus!”
The two continued trading turns several more times.
After competing in various other events as well, three hours had passed before they knew it.
Eventually, the training room’s closing time passed, so they went outside and sat on a quiet bench.
“When did you get that much stronger? I haven’t seen you around the training room much lately.”
Gilbert poured half the protein shake into his tumbler and handed the rest to Han.
“I didn’t realize my lifting numbers had increased this much either. I haven’t measured them separately.”
“I’d heard you’ve still been training consistently.”
“To be precise, I’d say my technique improved more than my raw strength.”
“Technique, huh. Heh. You’ve already been around long enough to start saying things like that.”
The two raised their drinks in a toast.
Then they gulped down the shakes.
“Anyway. That was a good match. It’s been a long time since I’ve been able to get this fired up.”
The competition had ended in a draw.
Each of them had scored points in the areas where they specialized, but closing time arrived before they could settle it.
Neither of them seemed disappointed.
“It reminded me of when I first joined the Special Unit. ...Come to think of it, back then, you seemed especially determined to give me a hard time.”
Back when Han had been a rookie, Gilbert had approached him without hesitation and constantly pressured him to build up his body.
Remembering those days, Han looked at Gilbert with a teasing gaze.
Gilbert soon burst into laughter.
“I heard the top graduate was coming, so I had expectations. Then this scrawny Easterner showed up.”
“Did I really look that frail?”
“At least to me, you did. You looked like a scarecrow that would fall over if someone hit you once.... So my body moved on its own.”
The smile around Gilbert’s mouth changed.
It now looked somewhat bitter.
Han watched him and asked,
“Because I’m an Easterner?”
“I won’t deny it. It’s true.”
The Oberian Republic was a nation of Westerners.
Especially in the capital at its heart, anyone who was not a Westerner was practically treated as an outsider.
Han, an Easterner, and Gilbert, a Southerner, were both unwelcome presences.
Gilbert knew that reality all too well.
That was why he had wanted to help Han.
It was simple, but at the very least, if Han built up his body, people would be less likely to look down on him.
“...Of course, it didn’t take long for me to realize my worries were unnecessary.”
Contrary to Gilbert’s concerns, Han had shown remarkable ability from his rookie days onward.
Even among elites with different skin and hair colors from his own, he had never shrunk back.
Instead, he had kept charging straight ahead.
Gilbert quietly looked Han over and asked,
“Are Easterners all naturally that quick?”
“Are Southerners all naturally that huge and muscular?”
“Hahaha! You’re right, you’re right! That was a stupid question!”
Gilbert rose from the bench.
Showing his bright white teeth, he said,
“Let’s head in. Going to bed too late will interfere with muscle growth.”
“You truly never change.”
“Don’t they say people die when they suddenly change?”
“I feel like you’d survive even if you got shot in the chest. Your muscles are thick enough.”
“I’ll gladly take any compliment about my body.”
Han likewise stood and gathered his things.
As they returned to the officers’ quarters together, Gilbert suddenly spoke.
“About your team. I think you’ll lead them well.”
“That came out of nowhere.”
“I probably won’t see much of you starting tomorrow, so I figured I should say it now. ...I still think you’d be better off getting rid of that Allen bastard, but you probably have your own way of handling things. Just like when you were a rookie.”
“...I intend to do everything I can.”
“I believe you will. Because you’re the one saying it.”
A firm answer.
It was enough to show Han’s standing within the Capital Second Headquarters at a glance.
Han had accumulated enough conduct and achievements that such an evaluation no longer felt out of place.
And as a result, the trust of those around him naturally followed.
...However.
After parting with Gilbert and returning to his room, Han took a satisfying shower and began thinking.
‘The awkwardness with Team Leader Gilbert is settled.’
‘The problem is.......’
Han immediately sat at his desk.
He opened one of his team members’ profiles.
‘What the hell am I supposed to do about Lara’s weakness after telling her not to worry?’
Captain Han Augustus was fairly well trusted within the Special Unit’s Capital Second Headquarters.
But this was his first time being a team leader too.