Chapter 3
Ā Alliance
The child’s eyebrows were slightly furrowed as they lay on a navy blue bedspread. He waited patiently until the child woke up on their own and got up.
Suddenly, the child’s face, which had frowned as if the name he had given them wasnāt quite to their liking, flashed before his eyes like smoke, then disappeared.
The child’s eyelashes soon began to flutter. He gave the side of the camp bed a few quick taps with his hand.
“I know you’re awake. Don’t drag it out, get up,” he said.
At his words, Sasha slowly opened one eye and curled up slightly. Her body language was still full of wariness, but strangely, it seemed a lot more relaxed than before.
Was it my imagination?
Sasha struggled to lift her upper body. Then, she began to mimic writing something on the palm of her hand. She probably wanted a pen and paper.
The man obediently pulled out a notebook and pen from his pocket and handed them to the child.
While the child wrote, he glanced at the frame of the hastily set-up field hospital tent. Then, he felt a light tap on his hand.
[Are you planning on leaving me here?]
As soon as he saw the neat handwriting, the man furrowed his brows.
“Do you think Iām such a good person?”
At his question, Sasha buried her face back in the notebook and began writing again.
[Well, we donāt know each other very well yet.]
“…”
The man’s thoughts were interrupted as he pondered what the child meant by those words. Sasha began writing again.
[I overheard the conversation. Anyway, you donāt plan to send me to a concentration camp, right?]
Upon reading those words, the man was impressed by how sharp Sasha was.
In these times, there were no permanent enemies or allies. Thus, he believed that abandoning narrow-minded thoughts was one of the most important traits for surviving in this era.
Moreover, he didnāt want to crush the will of a child who had the desire to survive.
“…How old are you?”
[Twelve.]
“I thought you were barely eight, or maybe seven. What’s your name?”
After a brief pause, the child grabbed the pen again and started writing, one character at a time. The child was surprisingly proficient in the common language.
[In Inferna, a name is considered the soul of a person. My name… I want to send it to my family instead of me.]
Sashaās eyes, which seemed on the verge of tears, were tinged with a reddish glow as she spoke.
Her head dropped, and her fingers, gripping the pen tightly, were pale from the strain. It seemed to be one of Sashaās habits.
Softly,
It was unintentional. The hand moved first.
The man placed his hand on the childās disheveled hair. When he applied slight pressure, Sasha attempted to raise her head but found the hand staying firmly in place.
“Iāll tell you what you need to do.”
“…”
“Just survive. Live for the sake of your family.”
With that, he removed his hand. Soon, small droplets of water began falling onto the notebook Sasha was holding.
The man stood quietly, waiting until the child stopped crying.
There was nothing more he could say. Technically speaking, the country he served in had wiped out the child’s family.
Still, he wished the boy would grow stronger. In this era, to survive, one had to be able to use even others’ sympathy and sorrow as weapons. Even if it meant wearing a mask for a lifetime.
To survive, one had to be willing to do whatever was necessary.
Letter to my mother, father, and Theodore, who are in heaven,
Mom, Dad, Theodore. I hope you all have arrived safely in heaven. This is the first spring I’ve experienced thatās been filled with so much pain, and I’m still terribly scared and confused. But maybe it’s because everyone is surrounding me that I’m still holding on.
I survived alone.
I can still vividly remember that moment when everything warm fell apart in my hands.
I know you wonāt want me to cry. Iām sure mom will say that I should be an adult now since Iām twelve, so Iāll try not to cry.
You must be curious about how Iām surviving, right? I donāt know where Iāll end up, but for now, Iām staying with the 32nd Infantry Company at the front lines of the Salvator Empire.
This was the will of Major Sir.
Who is Major Sir, you ask?
Heās an enemy general, but now, he acts as my guardian.
Itās a temporary alliance, you could say.
What? Theodore, are you thinking Iām making this up again? Itās not like that! Heās tough and sometimes scary, but I donāt think heās a bad person.
Oh, I think itās dinner time now. Someone is walking toward the barracks. Major Sir is always so busy, so a big, scary-looking guy often brings my meals.
Ah. He doesnāt treat me badly just because he looks rough. Sometimes, he even talks to me.
But thereās one thing that bothers me. Just like mom told me, Iām pretending to be a boy, but I keep thinkingāhow long can I keep lying to the person who saved me? Iāll have to think about it. Iāll write you again soon. I hope this letter reaches heaven.
I will always remember and pray for you.
Forever.
P.S. I will send my name, Selene Nicomache, to heaven in place of me. Whenever you miss me, look into that nameās soul. My heart will be there.
From Sasha, who misses her family.
Sasha, now staying with the Salvator troops, rarely went outside the barracks. She could sense that most of the soldiers who saw her didnāt feel comfortable around her.
Maybe it was because she had always been quick to pick up on such things since she was young.
In an unfamiliar place, especially in a situation where she couldnāt predict what would happen, it was hard not to feel uneasy.
Thud, thudā
The heavy sound of footsteps made Sasha hastily fold the letter and put it into her personal drawer.
Tap-tapā
As the sound of someone tapping the roof of the barracks came, the door opened immediately. A man with silver hair entered, carrying a tray of soup and coarse bread.
She had only been here for two days.
In those two days, the only people she had spoken to were the man named Eisen and Major Sir.
Eisen, the man who had argued with Major Sir, was rough-looking but had the kind of speech and mannerisms typical of an older man.
When he spoke, it felt oddly familiar.
āKid, eat. You canāt go wandering around if youāre nothing but skin and bones.ā
ā…ā
Sasha wrote down on a piece of paper and showed it to him.
[I’m not a kid. I’m already twelve years old.]
āAlright, alright. Young master. Just eat quickly. If you donāt, Iāll get in trouble with Major Sir.ā
At Eisenās words, Sasha tilted her head and gave him an innocent look.
[Why would Eisen get in trouble if I donāt eat?]
Eisen frowned at her words and felt a mischievous feeling rising. He suppressed it and shrugged before sitting her down at the table.
Who was really concerned about whom here?
Eisen couldnāt help but think that.
He couldnāt help but recall how Sasha could be sent to a concentration camp if Major Sir changed his mind. Salvator’s camps were some of the most dreaded places. They housed prisoners from Inferna and other refugees, filled with torture and disease.
If that little child went there, one of two things would happen: either they would die from illness, or they would be assaulted and killed. Even if it was a boy, there would be no exceptions in these times.
Eisen sat down at the table next to Sasha and gestured for her to eat. Reluctantly, Sasha started to sip the soup.
Even with her unkempt hair blowing in the wind and wearing an oversized Major Sirās T-shirt, she had quite a striking face.
People from Inferna were said to be beautiful, and even though Sasha was a boy, it was hard not to think she was somewhat pretty.
By the way, her wrist was as thin as his thumb. Seeing such an underdeveloped child, Eisen couldnāt help but think of some of the crazy men in Salvatorās army. Theyād jump at anything with a soft bodyāmale or femaleāand rip their clothes off.
Disgusting bastards.
Eisen hated those kinds of people. Thankfully, Major Sir, who was above him in rank, wouldnāt tolerate such behavior, which was why their unit was relatively calm.
Tap-tapā
“ā¦Huh?”
Eisen, lost in thought for a moment, looked up at Sasha, who was smiling innocently with soup smeared on her lips, handing him her empty bowl.
She had finished.
Having been in the blood-soaked battlefield for years, Eisen wasnāt sure if his brain had already begun to crack. But in that moment, Sashaās innocent smile made him feel strangely detached from reality.
In a place where you never knew when youād die, this rare moment of peace was something Eisen had never felt before.
