Chapter 02
Ā What is this War for?
The military vehicle stopped on a forest path on the outskirts of Force. The soldiers moved quickly, leaving the child in the vehicle. A few hours later, the child was lifted like a piece of luggage by a large man.
The place they arrived at was a makeshift barracks that looked quite impressive for being set up in such a short time.
“I don’t like asking twice.”
He briefly commanded, holding out a yellowed paper and a pen.
“Name, do you have one?”
“….”
He asked again. His gaze briefly lingered on the child’s chubby, pale cheek before moving away.
“Letās call you Sasha. Well, since you donāt seem to want to talk, it would be best to wash up for now.”
“….”
“Can you wash by yourself?”
The child, now called Sasha, frowned at his words but nodded. The man, nodding as well, pressed the doorbell with an indifferent expression.
“Yes, Colonel.”
As if waiting for the command, the barracks door opened, and a soldier bowed his head respectfully.
“Go prepare bath water.”
The soldier, who had been looking between the child and the man, saluted and quickly left the barracks.
As soon as the man left, silence returned to the barracks.
“…Tch.”
The man clicked his tongue, then stood up. Even with his small movements, the boy remained on edge, not letting his guard down. But inside, he was filled with questions he desperately wanted to ask.
What does he intend to do with me? Is he planning to send me to a concentration camp?
The child already knew how terrifying that place could be. His mother, father, and older brother Theodore had been killed while fleeing the bombing during the evacuation, trying to avoid going there.
Suddenly, his father’s words came to mind.
The Salvatorians are merciless and violent. So, if you’re an Infernan, they’ll go mad and kill everyone.
He still remembered those words, and because of that, he couldn’t understand why the man in front of him had given him a name.
If he’s going to send me there, then what’s the point of giving me a name? Iāll die anyway.
The man sat at a desk in the barracks and took a cigar, chewing on its end.
What do you intend to do with me?
Though he wanted to ask, for some reason, his voice wouldnāt come out. When had this happened? When did he stop being able to speak?
“Why are you staring like that? What? Do you want one?”
“….”
The child frowned at his question.
Is he serious?
Perhaps his expression conveyed his thoughts, because the man, who had been expressionless until then, suddenly burst into laughter.
A Salvatorian, known for his cruelty.
Even though he had that reputation, why did the child feel relieved by his laughter?
It felt as though the tension in his body had loosened, and cold sweat started running down his forehead. His body, once tense, began to relax.
He felt dizzy, and his stomach churned. His eyelids, which had been heavy since earlier, started to close.
“…Hey, kid. Kid? Hey, hey!”
Why did you give me the name Sasha?
The words he wanted to speak remained stuck in his mouth, swirling inside. With his vision growing darker, he heard a dull thud.
Was that the sound of his head hitting the ground?
But it was soft, and he could smell the burning cigarette scent his father used to give off.
The child, lost in thought, suddenly remembered that day.
A small child, in the ruined Force, spent fifteen days with the remnants of his family.
Sometimes, he wondered if he had died. He cried, and at other times, he laughed while seeing the illusions of his family.
And in the end, he saw the bright, ash-colored eyes. He saw the tightly sealed lips. The child saw a large, cold man for the first time in his life.
He was a man who looked like falling raindrops.
The man who had given the child the name “Sasha.”
“Colonel. Keeping the enemy’s child in the camp doesnāt make sense. Thereās never been such a situation in wartime….”
“Aizen, Lieutenant.”
“Yes, Colonel.”
Aizen fixed his gaze to the ground under the cold eyes of the man. Despite being much younger, Aizen felt there was no way he could match the sharpness of his eyes and voice.
“Didn’t you hesitate when you heard the child couldn’t speak?”
“But….!”
“More than that, if we hadn’t heard about the mines being planted in the front, we would have all been dead by now.”
At those words, Aizenās brow furrowed involuntarily.
“War is a powerful act. It forces the enemy to surrender completely, making future resistance impossible.”
“Yes, but what is this about…?”
“Do you remember the day after we lost the First Battle of Force, when a large number of soldiers were replaced?”
“…”
Aizen didnāt quite understand why the Colonel was bringing up this topic, but he recalled the events from the past.
Numerous soldiers had died in the battle for the military stronghold of Force. The resistance from Inferna had been far stronger than anticipated. The Salvatorian air force had to approach the Force headquarters to bomb it.
Unexpectedly, their air defense tactics were beyond imagination, and the attack planes that passed near the headquarters were shot down one after another.
It had been a controversial incident.
However, high-ranking officials only spoke of how the fact that Force was captured would be a noble achievement for the dead, elevating their patriotism and self-sacrifice.
“Many soldiers died. They pressured and bribed young soldiers to fly into the battle, and then used the sacrifices to win over public sentiment by declaring a mourning period.”
“…Thatās a separate issue.”
“Ah. The real beginning of this war was for the rights to mine precious metals.”
At those words, Aizen froze.
The rights to mine precious metals.
The meaning behind that was clear. It was a key that would lead the nobles to greater wealth. In other words, soldiers were being sacrificed not to protect the country, but for the noblesā meaningless display.
“…”
“The usual attitude of superiors should be to promote the soldiers’ honor and morale. Iām sorry, but how could I risk my life over some foreign mining site? Our lives or that childās life are at the mercy of the upper brass’ orders. Donāt you think thatās ridiculous?”
“…But we canāt leave the child in such a dangerous place.”
Aizen gazed at the gray-eyed man, who appeared to understand how the situation was unfolding better than anyone. He was only twenty, not even a Colonel, just a Lieutenant. Aizen was far below him in rank and experience, yet the man seemed to have an understanding of the situation beyond his years.
Even when they were deployed in the operation to seize Inferna’s port, the Colonel had acted with extraordinary decisiveness and turned his ideas into reality.
He not only gained victories wherever he went but also managed to ensure most of his men survived the battlefield. Aizen thought he would soon surpass even the rank of Colonel.
Yet now, Aizen never imagined the Colonel would be thinking this way.
I wonder if General Dwight knows about his thoughts?
“…Then you want to send him to a concentration camp?”
The Colonel whispered softly, after a long moment of contemplation. A slight smile flickered at the corner of his lips. Aizen couldnāt refute him. Sending the child to a concentration camp would mean certain death.
The child seemed to be about the same age as Aizen’s own son. That made it even harder for him to ignore.
Aizen decided to respect the Colonelās opinion for now. He didnāt want to push a child into the battlefield, even if they were from Inferna.
It seemed best to stall for time and look for a way to send the child to an orphanage or even find a foreign adoption.
The Colonel dismissed Aizen’s concerns and turned toward the makeshift hospital bed. Aizen, still gazing at the manās back, didnāt understand how such a high-ranking noble could be so filled with doubt and hesitation.
Yet, the Colonel didnāt even acknowledge him. Aizen stood at attention and saluted as he watched his superiorās back, before turning and leaving the barracks.
Despite his usual disdain for nobles, for the first time, Aizen felt a slight sense of respect for the Lieutenant Colonel with a noble title.
