The moment Gale faced Raskal, the emotions he had been desperately suppressing all this time burst out as if exploding.
In the middle of the blood-red whirlpool of rage and hatred, Gale stared straight through his opponent.
Raskal Krupp.
How long had he been looking forward to facing him?
The images of his dying comrades surfaced in his mind.
Of all moments, it was the moment when he had been forced to watch helplessly amid their screams for someone to save them.
The corpses made from his comrades’ deaths piled up one by one, forming a great mountain, and atop it was himself, kneeling before Raskal.
His own face, barely lifted, was twisted with helplessness and self-loathing.
Raskal spoke.
What can the current you possibly do?
Now, he could do it.
With Deus’s power.
He could cut off the neck of that trash bastard right here and now.
Gale clenched his madly trembling hand.
“How many... years?”
As if he had been waiting for Gale’s words, Deus’s voice came from behind him.
[Half.]
[If you offer half your lifespan, I will cut that bastard’s neck for you.]
Gale lowered his head and burst into laughter.
To think he could kill a core member of the Golden Dawn Society, who had driven thousands of soldiers to their deaths, for only half of his own life.
It was so cheap that he wondered if it was a scam.
“...Ha.”
And yet, for some reason, he could not answer readily.
Considering the influence Raskal would have on the Imperial Army in the future, he deserved to die here.
But if Gale killed him here, how much would change?
[What are you hesitating over? Have you already forgotten that ending?]
There was no way he could forget.
Even now, he remembered it clearly enough to draw it before his eyes.
That was precisely why he had to be cautious, and cautious again.
Was killing Raskal now, blinded by hatred in this moment, truly the best choice?
It was certain that Raskal had played a central role in the Empire’s destruction, but even if he died now, they would not stop.
In that case, would it not be better to protect the future he knew—
the greatest advantage that only he possessed in this world?
Gale closed his eyes and cast himself into the endless questions.
And when he opened them, Deus asked, [How foolish. Are you saying you will repeat the same history?]
“Raskal... will definitely die by my hand.”
[You regretted failing to do that even in your previous life. Do you think you can make it possible now?]
“...I’ll make it possible. So until then, don’t act on your own, Deus.”
[You will regret this, mortal.]
“If you want my lifespan, I’ll sell you as much of it as you want later, so for now, get out of my sight and....”
Although he had conversed with Deus before, he had never once faced him properly, so Gale looked back, intending to carve his appearance clearly into his eyes.
“...Disappear.”
But Deus’s form was not reflected in Gale’s eyes.
He vanished, leaving behind only a faint laugh.
Soon, color returned to the world.
When Gale turned his head again, Raskal’s dog-like face had drawn closer.
“Let us have tea sometime, if the opportunity arises. I have taken an interest in you as well.”
Taken an interest....
Gale wanted to say something, but his mouth would not readily open.
“Have a pleasant time. I will be going first.”
Raskal patted Gale’s shoulder and left Deren’s office.
Then Deren sighed from the other side and said, “Sorry for startling you. That bastard came by on his own.”
“It’s fine.”
Gale brushed off the shoulder Raskal’s hand had touched.
“So why did you call me here?”
At that, Deren pointed to the sofa in the center of the office.
“There is no need to rush, so have a seat. Barania, bring us some tea to drink.”
A small voice came from outside the door.
A moment later, Barania came in with tea.
“Do not feel burdened. I did not call you here to scold you.”
Since earlier, both Barania and Deren had seemed strangely intent on putting him at ease.
‘Do I look frightened?’
Perhaps it was because bringing a cadet all the way here was not common.
Gale sipped the tea Barania handed him.
It had a much better aroma than the frog-piss tea he had drunk in the field.
Deren seemed to have wrapped up what he was doing as well, and sat in the seat across from Gale.
“While you were training hard, I contacted Josef.”
“Did you, sir?”
“He praised you until his mouth went dry.”
Josef was Count Orhan’s name.
As Gale remembered it, the two of them had fought together in the Magical Beast War.
Deren took a sip of tea and continued.
“I heard you saved Miss Rita?”
“That’s correct.”
Were they close enough to talk about even that?
Deren laughed softly and said,
“You look surprised. Josef may be discharged now and peacefully playing with land, but once, he was a comrade-in-arms who cut down magical beasts with me. Hahaha.”
Suddenly, Deren wore a bitter expression.
“Well, he himself does not seem too fond of those days.”
“Is that so?”
“He considers it a disgrace. The fact that magical beasts were left in this world after the Magical Beast War.”
It had only been a few decades since waves of magical beasts had swept over the world.
Compared to back then, the number of magical beasts had clearly decreased.
Even so, magical beasts still existed in the world.
In other words, that also meant something similar could happen again someday.
“Perhaps because of that, Josef tends to hide the fact that he was once part of the Imperial Army. Thanks to that, it is regrettable that his achievements are not widely known.”
At those words, Gale suddenly recalled the conversation he had had with Count Orhan.
When Gale said he knew Count Orhan had been in the Imperial Army, his reaction had been sharp.
‘So that was why.’
If Rita had not been there as an excuse, Gale might have been suspected of something on the spot.
Deren said,
“And when I heard a man like that had made a former-officer recommendation, just imagine how curious I became.... Do you understand my feelings a little?”
“Yes, well....”
“I saw it during the qualification exam as well, but you were as talented as I expected, so I was relieved too. Who would have known you would destroy the dummy I had taken such care to make? I suffered quite a bit thanks to you.”
“I apologize for that.”
Deren continued, saying he had nearly forgotten himself.
“In any case, to return to the main point, I heard you encountered the Black Moon Syndicate. Is that true?”
Gale nodded.
“The leader of the bandit group that kidnapped Rita was a man belonging to the Black Moon Syndicate.”
“I knew about them, but... to think they would move this boldly.”
Deren stroked his chin.
“Do you know why they caused the incident?”
Gale hesitated for a moment before answering.
Deren was certainly close to someone he could trust, but the fact that he had just been with Raskal bothered him.
When Gale hesitated to answer, Deren’s eyes sharpened.
“I did not ask because I did not know. I asked whether you knew their objective.”
So he knew everything and was probing me?
Feeling as though he had taken a blow, Gale let out a small inward sigh.
“Yes. Count Orhan told me.”
“Haha. If you are going to test me, you are thirty years too early. Still, it is good to see that you are cautious.”
Deren drank his tea and cleared his throat.
“I should tell you this. Like Josef, I also received their proposal.”
“By ‘their’ proposal, you mean...”
“The hardliners within the Empire. That is why Raskal came by just now.”
Gale silently nodded.
He had already known since the matter with Count Orhan, but their movements were far ahead of what he had expected.
‘To think they’ve already reached this deep inside the Imperial Army.’
As Gale thought that, Deren sipped his tea and said, “You said it during the qualification exam. That you wanted to protect everyone.”
“That is correct.”
At that, Deren’s face grew serious.
“There is only one thing I want to say. Join the Military Police. The process will never be easy, but it will be the only way to realize the wish you have in mind.”
Now that Gale had returned to the past, Deren was practically a different person from the Deren he had known. For some reason, however, his words carried a deep resonance.
It felt as though he was telling Gale that what he had been thinking all this time had not been wrong.
“Well, you may not understand things like ‘the only way’ right now, but... before long, you will understand what I mean.”
Gale looked at him.
“May I ask one question?”
“Go ahead.”
“Why are you going this far for me?”
At that, Deren smiled.
“For the same reason you applied to the Imperial Army. Well... saying it myself is strangely embarrassing.”
Because he wanted to protect the Empire.
Gale smiled faintly.
Perhaps Deren was not so different from the Deren he knew after all.
Gale rose from his seat.
“It seems your mind is made up.”
Deren smiled in satisfaction.
In truth, what he needed to do had been decided from the beginning.
His conversation with Deren had only made that goal clearer.
“It is thanks to you, Lieutenant Colonel. Next time... I will see you in the Military Police.”
But for now, Gale decided to leave it as though Deren had persuaded him.
***
After the conversation ended, Gale left the office.
Deren still sat in place, lost in thought.
Barania, who had come inside at some point, asked, “Did the conversation go well?”
“It went well. It certainly did.”
Deren recalled the energy he had felt from Gale the moment he entered the office.
A thick, unpleasant, black energy.
It was difficult to explain exactly what it was, but it was quite different from killing intent.
Strictly speaking, it felt closer to hatred and rage.
And yet, the reason he had tried to embrace Gale was because, quite apart from Gale’s tremendous talent and that ominous energy,
“I find him strangely likable.”
“Are you concerned about that boy, sir?”
“Of course. Very concerned.”
Deren had not felt a single shred of falsehood in Gale’s words.
The statement that he wanted to protect everyone had surely been sincere.
In Deren’s eyes, Gale appeared as a gray existence where good and evil had merged.
Deren emptied the last of the tea into his mouth and muttered,
“If necessary evil exists, I imagine it would look like that. An existence one cannot reject, even knowing how dangerous it is.”
***
Before long, the training camp entered its third week.
The third week was so-called field practicum, where the cadets were assigned to departments actually operating within the Imperial Army and experienced practical work on-site.
Of course, since they were only candidates, accompanying instructors were assigned with them for safety.
The assigned instructors also evaluated how well the candidates adapted to the field.
“To think it’s already the third week. Time really flies.”
Gale muttered quietly while looking at the duty assignment sheet posted on the bulletin board on the first floor of the barracks.
If the first and second weeks had been a process of theory and practice, then the third week was fieldwork, and the fourth week was exams.
Since the training was highly dangerous, the third week’s training accounted for a large share of the candidates’ overall evaluation score.
For Gale, who was aiming to graduate at the top of the training camp, it was also an extremely important period.
Gale’s gaze slowly moved downward.
[3rd Guard Unit Assigned Practicum Personnel List]
Since the number of instructors who could lead them was limited, group assignments were only natural, but a remarkably perfect group had been born, as if someone had arranged it intentionally.
‘Joseph... and Anesia. Not bad.’
Since they would be living and carrying out missions together during the practicum period, the composition of the team was extremely important.
Putting aside the competence of his teammates, Gale thought that having no troublemakers on the team was already something to welcome.
At that moment, Joseph, who had approached beside him before he knew it, slung an arm around his shoulders.
“Is this fate? We use the same room, and now our practical assignment is the same too.”
“What fate...?”
Gale vaguely recalled the soldiers belonging to the Guard Unit.
The Guard Unit was mostly made up of active-duty soldiers, and judging by the atmosphere alone, it felt less like the Imperial Army and more like some bandit gang.
In particular, the 3rd Guard Unit, where Gale had been assigned, was a guard unit in charge of managing the southern wall of Rustav, the Empire’s capital.
Because entertainment districts were concentrated around it, rumor among the Imperial Army had it that the 3rd Guard Unit had the worst working environment among the guard units.
‘The 3rd Guard Unit... The person in charge around now should be him. This practicum won’t be easy.’
Inwardly recalling the face of the 3rd Guard Unit’s captain, Gale headed for the assembly point with a displeased feeling.