Chapter 4
The Only Person I Can Rely On
Izen suppressed a smile that was rising on his face and quickly placed the empty bowl on the tray.
[Shall I leave now?]
As he was about to greet the child and leave, the corner of his military uniform was grabbed. Izen could see the anxiety of being left alone in the neat handwriting the child had written.
His conversation with Sasha was purely born out of sympathy. There was no obligation to continue it, nor any pressure to do so. However, every time Izen looked at Sasha, he thought of his wife and child, who had cried out when they heard news of his deployment.
“…Well, should I spend some time with you in the tent, Captain?”
At Izen’s words, Sasha blushed and nodded slightly. For a moment, the child’s blue eyes, which looked almost turquoise, seemed to stir up both compassion and sorrow in him.
[Captain doesn’t even come to the tent, though.]
The child showed Izen the paper again, with a written message. After reading it, Izen agreed with the child’s words. The captain was currently busy contacting the unit tracking the movements of the Verus army, which had allied itself with Inferna.
The war was gradually spreading across the entire continent. With Inferna and its ally Verus moving, the situation was only becoming more complicated.
Given this, Izen considered it fortunate that they were still in Force. Force was a strategic military point, so the news of its capture had likely made the Verus army more inclined to attack it.
The capital of Inferna, Force, would soon find itself surrounded by the Inferna Republic, the Verus Kingdom, and the Salvator Empire.
This place was likely to become the final battleground.
The thought sent a chill down Izen’s spine.
[What kind of person is Captain?]
While Izen was lost in thought, the child wrote something on a piece of paper and showed it to him.
“Hmm. Curious, huh?”
At Izen’s question, the child nodded vigorously.
“Hmm. Alright. I’ll tell you about him. He is the head of the Grenfell Duke family, the owner of the largest estate in Salvator. Coming from a knightly family, he is currently leading the front lines as a captain.”
The child’s blue eyes sparkled with excitement, and the child quickly began to write more. Seeing the child’s admiration, Izen smiled faintly.
[Someone so high up is fighting in the war?]
“Well, I’m not entirely sure, but I imagine a noble family like his would think that way. If you’re really curious, why not ask the captain directly? Everyone has their own reasons for things.”
Though Izen wondered if the captain would even tell the child the real reason.
As Izen hesitated for a moment about whether to say more, he tightened his facial muscles and looked at the child.
“Hey, do you know the giant bear that lives on the mountain?”
The child nodded while gulping nervously.
“It’s said that it can kill a person with one swipe of its paw. But I think the captain is scarier than that.”
The child’s face showed confusion for a moment, as if trying to understand, and then the child made a strange, powerless smile. Izen jokingly mimicked the gesture of cutting his own neck with one hand.
“The moment the captain finds out I’m slacking off like this, he’ll chop my head off with a single strike.”
At this, the child’s eyes widened, and Izen saw the amusement fade from the child’s face. He smiled once more and ruffled the child’s messy hair.
“Alright, I’ll be going now.”
At his farewell, the child immediately bowed deeply, smiling brightly.
The child’s earnest yet somewhat clumsy bow made Izen chuckle again. The child was so diligent and yet so innocent. Despite the child’s somewhat ragged appearance, the clear blue eyes and straw-colored hair somehow tugged at his heartstrings. He decided to bring some snacks with him next time. He also wanted to ask the child’s real name, not the one the captain had given.
Later that Day
Sasha was sitting in front of the tent, squatting down and doodling meaningless lines in the dirt.
When will Captain come?
It had only been four days since she’d joined the captain, but Sasha could think of no one else to wait for.
The thought made her feel bitter, but she tried to comfort herself with the fact that she still had someone to wait for. If she didn’t, she would be far too lonely.
In the distance, she could see the circular shape of the camp. Beyond that, the land, scarred by bombings, had a desolate sunset falling over it.
In any case, to survive, she needed to be on the captain’s good side. He was her lifeline. No matter how much the enemy army pushed forward, the fact that her life was in the captain’s hands couldn’t be changed.
As Sasha continued to draw lines with a stick, lost in thought, she soon buried her face in her knees.
“Captain… When are you coming? I’m so bored…”
Just as her hidden emotions began to surface, a dark figure loomed over her.
Could it be the captain?
With her face still hidden, she looked up, but it wasn’t the solid captain she was expecting. Instead, a rough-looking man, his face red as if he had been drinking, stood before her. He wore the same dark military uniform as the captain.
He looked like the wild boar that had caused trouble in Sasha’s yard sometime ago.
“So, you’re the little kid from the rumors.”
“….”
Sasha, startled, let out an involuntary gasp. Frozen with fear, she couldn’t move, her hands and feet trembling.
“Bored, are you? Want to play with me?”
Sasha stared at the outstretched hand, but then turned her head away. She wanted to scream, but as usual, her voice failed her.
Instead of screaming, she shook her head vigorously, rejecting the man. The man stepped forward and quickly closed the distance between them.
Terrified, Sasha stumbled backward, falling hard onto the ground, with a tiny tear glistening at the corner of her eye.
“Do you want to go to the internment camp? That would be better than playing with me.”
The man’s creepy laugh echoed in Sasha’s ear. Since her family had died, she had learned to fear, anger, and panic. Her childhood, when she was unaware of such feelings, felt like a distant dream.
Sasha bit her lower lip, trying to push the man away with her hands, but he grabbed her wrist with an iron grip and started to pin her down with his body.
His rough hands and panting breath made Sasha’s skin crawl with terror.
“Ugh, ugh.”
Sasha knew exactly what this meant, even if she didn’t understand everything about it. It was something deeply humiliating and painful. And that made her feel even more helpless.
Overwhelmed by shame and anger, her head throbbed as she realized how unjust this world was to her. She felt the metallic taste of blood fill her mouth as she bit down hard on the man’s hand.
“Ugh! You little brat!”
The man slapped Sasha’s face with his rough hand. Sasha felt her hearing go dull and her face throb with pain, but she held on, refusing to scream.
The red droplets of blood that fell onto the dirt ground reminded her that this was no nightmare.
The man glared at her.
Captain… Please, save me…
Sasha cried out in her mind, but her voice couldn’t reach her lips, and the words lingered in her heart.
“You want to survive, right? You’ll survive for the sake of your family.”
Suddenly, Sasha recalled the captain’s words, the promise to her family. To honor that promise, Sasha had to get away from here, no matter what it took.
Just as the man reached for her short hair, Sasha grabbed a clump of dirt with both hands and threw it at his eyes.
“Ah! You bastard!”
The man screamed, clutching his eyes in pain. Sasha quickly scrambled to her feet and ran away. She didn’t know where she was going. All she knew was that she needed to escape.
But what if the captain scolds me for running away? What will happen to me then? Will I be sent to the internment camp like he said?
Sasha hid under a military truck, her body curled up in fear. She thought she could hear a voice reprimanding her, but she pressed her ears shut and huddled into a tight ball.
Captain…
Of course, after losing her family, Sasha had no one else to rely on but the captain. The man who had saved her life and given her a new name.
