Squad Leader Creed returned to the Fourth Squad and leaned against a cot.
There was hardly anything to call a squad. All they had was an old tent that let the wind whistle through.
They had even lost a squad member in the recent incident, leaving them the smallest squad in the knight order with only three people.
'Hans was a spy?'
Could that really be true?
They had spent three whole years together.
Hans had been the only person who brightened the somber Fourth Squad.
The squad members had secretly liked him for that very reason, yet he had been a spy.
If it was true, did Creed not also bear responsibility for failing to notice?
He had no intention of avoiding responsibility, but he had even less intention of defending the brat named Rohan.
'He's fifteen?'
The boy remained calm even after killing someone.
Murder might be commonplace in these days of war, but wasn't the boy only fifteen?
At fifteen, Creed had not even been able to properly kill the prey he caught.
The boy's actions were far outside any ordinary way of thinking.
'How did all this happen in a single day?'
The knight order was fairly peaceful whenever they were not on the battlefield.
And yet...
A spy had surfaced within their ranks, the prison had caught fire, and every Noxis prisoner had died.
All in a single day after Rohan appeared.
Though it was only a suspicion, Creed guessed that Rohan had also set the prison on fire.
Everything the boy said fit together, but something about it did not sit right.
Since Shupern had taken him away, Creed could only cling to the vague belief that the commander would determine the truth.
"Squad Leader. Are you angry?"
Kaisen approached gingerly and spoke.
Judging by the way he was watching Creed's mood, allowing Rohan to escape during his watch seemed to be weighing on him.
His thick beard came within a hair of touching Creed's face.
Creed frowned.
"Go away. That's disgusting."
"There you go sulking again."
"...You might face disciplinary action this time."
"Hmph. You think I'm afraid of carrying a full pack around the training ground a few times?"
Creed did not particularly intend to berate him.
The prison guards all fought in numerous battles while undergoing training.
Exhausted both mentally and physically, they fell asleep on duty all the time.
"Still, isn't that kid strange? Fucking hell. If I'd known someone like that was locked up, I never would've fallen asleep... No, I never would've let him escape."
Kaisen insisted to the very end that he had not fallen asleep.
It might have been important to him, but whether he had slept was not a particularly important question to Creed.
What was the point of arguing now when the deed was already done?
"They should've given me a proper handover. Goddamn it."
Kaisen kept grumbling to the end, which did not suit his size.
He had been assigned to duty immediately after returning from three days of leave and had not known Rohan existed.
It seemed the previous guard had changed shifts without briefing him.
Of course, that did not excuse him.
"That boy used Hans's swordsmanship."
Johanna, the only woman in the squad, spoke.
Creed had thought she was asleep, but apparently everyone was awake.
At Johanna's words, Creed straightened from the tent wall.
"So I wasn't seeing things."
He had been holding his tongue just in case.
Her words felt as if they had scratched an itch he could not reach.
'Those were definitely Hans's movements.'
Hans had a tendency to interpret swordsmanship however he pleased.
That extended to his footwork. He often pulled his thigh backward when he was supposed to raise it.
Creed had tried to correct him, but Hans never broke the habit.
"It was a movement I couldn't imitate even when I tried. How did he copy it? Was he a child Hans had hidden away somewhere?"
"As if. Say something that makes sense."
Kaisen mocked Johanna's suggestion.
Johanna scowled and replied sharply.
"A barbarian like you wouldn't have paid attention to the footwork."
"No? I'm sure I would've seen it."
"Then why did you stand there doing nothing?"
"I wasn't there. I was away on personal leave."
"I didn't know that."
Kaisen's face twisted into a scowl.
"I've been gone for three days, you know?"
"......."
Creed let out a deep sigh at the conversation's sudden turn.
Johanna's words had merit.
She had the keenest eye in the unit.
Creed had noticed it as well.
He had recognized the movement thanks to his habit of closely observing his squad members' actions.
After organizing his thoughts, Creed sprang to his feet.
"Huh? Squad Leader, where are you going?"
Every squad member looked at Creed.
He answered impassively.
"To crush that bastard."
There was much he needed to learn about the boy.
He had just finished speaking and was about to leave the tent when he collided with someone coming in.
"Who are you going to crush?"
Creed's heart sank at the voice.
It belonged to Knight Commander Shupern.
"Sir!"
Creed saluted reflexively.
But Shupern had not come alone.
Beside him stood the source of every conflict...
Rohan.
Creed stared at Shupern in bewilderment.
Then came an astonishing statement from the commander's mouth.
"He's the Fourth Squad's new recruit. His name is Rohan. Take good care of him."
"Sir?"
Goddamn it...
Creed swallowed the curse.
Something seemed to be going terribly wrong.
***
A cold silence settled over the squad when Rohan entered.
Every squad member lay on a cot without a word and turned their back on him.
Squad Leader Creed had gone outside the tent to speak with Shupern.
He was probably being ordered to watch Rohan or kill him if the situation demanded, but Rohan did not care.
He had no intention of causing trouble within the knight order.
"Sleep in the second empty cot."
A gravelly voice spoke.
Kaisen. A man from the mountains with formidable strength and excellent explosive power.
He looked as rough as a bandit on the outside, but was tenderhearted within, the sort to stand strong against the strong and gentle toward the weak.
With Hans's memories inside him, Rohan felt as if he had already watched Kaisen for three years.
Without a word, Rohan sat on the cot Kaisen had indicated.
Aside from the sword he had brought, he had no luggage to unpack.
"That was Hans's spot. The man you killed."
This time, a biting voice spoke.
Johanna. She came from an organization of assassins and specialized in swift attacks and stealth.
She was always in a foul mood and had interacted with Hans less than anyone else.
"Thanks."
Rohan answered calmly.
The two people lying with their backs turned rolled over at the same time.
Kaisen arched an eyebrow.
"Casual speech?"
"Unbelievable."
They spoke at the same time.
Rohan asked back in a tone that suggested he did not understand the problem.
"Isn't casual speech the rule between comrades in the same unit?"
Kaisen scratched his head vigorously.
Johanna pulled up her blanket and turned away again.
"You, haaa... fuuuck. Do whatever you want."
"A lunatic joined us."
Once the two looked away, Rohan lay down on the cot as well.
As soon as he did, everything that had happened began creeping back to him.
His mother had died a week ago.
Until then, he had been an ordinary country boy.
The moment he killed the Noxis soldier, however, Rohan had sensed it.
He could never go back to the way things were.
'Reinach.......'
His heart raced when he thought of the name.
It felt as if only killing Reinach would settle all his emotions.
'First, I have to catch the spies inside the knight order.'
That was what Rohan had to do to survive.
There had been five spies in Hans's memories, including Hans himself.
That meant four spies remained within the White Wolf Knight Order.
The problem was that not even Hans had known their identities.
That was because they appeared at every gathering wearing masks that concealed their identities and voices.
'They're probably hell-bent on killing me.'
He had killed a Noxis spy.
If he let down his guard, his life could be threatened at any moment.
To operate within the knight order, he had to deal with the four of them quickly.
'Whatever happens, I have to become stronger.'
Catching the spies within the unit.
Killing Reinach.
Strength was the prerequisite for everything.
Simply absorbing memories had its limits.
He could absorb information, but without the body to support it, that information was useless.
He had felt that keenly when reading Dave's sword.
'A way to become stronger.......'
Rohan raised his head slightly and surveyed the tent.
The squad members had their backs turned and were breathing softly.
Kaisen, with his strength and instinctive techniques.
Johanna, with her covert operations and agile techniques.
Creed, who led the unit through unending effort.
That was why Rohan had asked to join the Fourth Squad.
These people were the most useful within the knight order.
At least, that was how Rohan saw it.
'I have to win them over.'
Rohan was under Shupern's supervision.
If he could not kill them, he had to win them over.
Until now, Rohan had never felt the need to win another person's heart.
But he had his mother's teachings.
- If you want to grow close to someone, it is best to first give them what they need.
His mother's words seemed to echo in his ears.
It was a night when he missed his mother more than usual.
***
CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG—!
The sound announcing morning rang throughout the camp.
The members of the Fourth Squad, now burdened with a new recruit, stirred awake with puffy faces.
Not many of them had slept properly.
None of them were particularly pleased by Rohan's arrival.
"Uaaah! What a good night's sleep."
Of course, there was an exception.
Kaisen rose with an enormous yawn and stretched as if refreshed.
His eyes suddenly widened as he rubbed them.
"What? Where's the recruit?"
Rohan's cot was empty.
When Kaisen looked at the Squad Leader, who was folding his bedding, Creed answered indifferently.
"He said he was going out to exercise at dawn."
Ha! Kaisen let out a hollow laugh.
Exercise on his very first day? Did the Squad Leader really believe that?
It would be fortunate if the boy had not deserted, yet the Squad Leader was far too calm.
Creed's problem was that he was too lenient.
Kaisen wanted to say something, but clicked his tongue and swallowed it.
Johanna sneered at him.
"You slept well even as the boy openly walked out. Good for you. If an assassin comes, you'll go to heaven in your sleep without ever knowing why."
"This bastard, first thing in the morning."
The provocation came early, but it did not do much damage.
Something like this happened every other day.
'Right. We're better off without someone like that.'
Wouldn't it be for the best if he had deserted?
Regardless of whether Hans was a spy, Kaisen felt deep discomfort around the boy.
It was much better than taking the boy in and inviting needless trouble.
"Fourth Squad. Rations."
CLATTER!
The ration detail entered through the tent flap, set down a bucket, and left.
Inside was an unappetizing pile of mashed steamed potatoes.
Kaisen scowled at the sight.
"Fuck—! Potatoes again? Potatoes again?!"
"......."
People like Kaisen were why the ration detail hurried away as soon as it dropped off the food.
Though the ration soldier was already gone, Kaisen shouted into the empty air and then, still unsatisfied, flung open the tent flap.
He could see the ration soldier distributing food in the distance.
"If you're going to feed us, at least make it look nice! Why mash it? Is this dog food? Ptooey—!"
"Keep it down first thing in the morning!"
"Shut up! If you don't like it, fight me on the training ground."
Someone in another tent complained, but Kaisen was not one to lose in force of personality.
The other man flung open his tent flap, saw Kaisen in his underwear with only a blanket wrapped around him, and silently closed it again.
Kaisen returned to the tent looking satisfied.
"Many of the potatoes are in poor condition, so they mash them before serving."
Creed, already eating the mashed potatoes with a spoon, spoke to Kaisen as if teaching a child.
Kaisen looked dumbfounded.
"You think I asked because I didn't know? Seriously."
Johanna did not miss the opportunity.
"You didn't know."
"Good grief."
Kaisen considered snapping back, then gave up with a deep sigh.
Eating nothing but potatoes every day had left him without the energy to fight.
"This fucking war. I want to feast on meat for once."
Kaisen imagined meat.
Meat roasted a mouthwatering golden brown.
Chewy, savory flesh... infused with the scent of flame.
He could not even remember the last time he had eaten any.
"Thinking about meat almost makes me feel as if I can smell it."
Kaisen sniffed.
It truly seemed as if the scent of roasted meat was coming from somewhere.
The smell did not disappear. It grew stronger.
"Have I finally gone mad? Or is this a dream?"
Just as Kaisen spoke, the tent flap was thrown wide.
It was Rohan.
He held something in both hands.
"Meat?"
Kaisen's eyes went round with disbelief.
Rohan was holding two rabbits, roasted to a perfect golden brown.
He dropped the meat onto the serving table and spoke.
"Eat."