Chapter 28
“Captain…”
“Why are you out here? I told you to go inside and rest!”
Cadel reached out and urged him up. Van rose slowly, his face scrunching in a slight wince. Judging by the awkward angle of his legs, he had been sitting so long they’d cramped up. He quickly let out an awkward laugh, but Cadel’s expression remained dead serious.
“How long have you been sitting here?”
“You were gone, Captain… I thought about going to look for you, but I figured you’d be back soon, so I just waited a little bit. It really hasn’t been long… so you don’t need to worry, Captain.”
“You don’t have the face of someone who only waited a little bit. You’re freezing! If I’m not around, just assume I’m busy and go to sleep. What are you even waiting for? You must have energy to spare.”
Even as he scolded him, Cadel scanned Van’s condition with eyes full of worry. The night air was already chilly, and Van wasn’t even wearing a coat.
His nose, cheeks, and ears were frozen red, and his stiff legs wouldn’t even straighten properly as a testament to just how long he had been crouching there. His voice was already nasal, as if he’d caught a cold, and the skin around his eyes was flushed. If left out here any longer, he was bound to run a high fever.
He thought Van wouldn’t notice if he sneaked out and came right back. If he had known this would happen, he would have at least given him a heads-up. Cadel felt a pang of belated regret.
I never imagined he’d be waiting for me… How is he going to survive in this harsh world with such a soft personality? What’s his deal? Aren’t handsome guys supposed to be fundamentally obnoxious?
This wouldn’t do. Supporting Van to his feet, Cadel made a decision.
Tonight, he was absolutely going to watch Van Herdos’s story.
He needed to see exactly how this unpredictable puppy’s loyalty had been forged. Unless he saw it for himself, this cycle of surprise and guilt was bound to repeat.
Then there was Lumen, watching the two of them. Tilting his head in apparent displeasure, he opened the inn door for Cadel and drawled sarcastically.
“Can someone really be this perfect of a loyal dog? So restless just because his master is out of sight for a bit. Isn’t it exhausting dealing with him all the time?”
He said it fully expecting Van to lose his temper and lunge at him. But the response came from Cadel, cold and sharp.
“Don’t talk trash about my subordinate.”
It was the first time Lumen had seen such a dark look from Cadel. A faint hostility rippled in his deep brown eyes. At that sharp attitude, Lumen’s eyes narrowed.
“…And if I do?”
“Then today will be your last day with us.”
He had only thrown that out there out of a pointless sense of rebellion. At the unexpectedly firm response, the corner of Lumen’s mouth twitched. Cadel went into the inn with Van without giving him another glance. Instead of following them, Lumen stood rooted to the spot.
As he relaxed his grip, the inn door slowly clicked shut. Standing blankly in front of it, a hollow laugh escaped Lumen’s lips, mingling with his white breath.
“…Ruthless for someone who lured me in first.”
* * *
After coaxing and taking Van to his room, Cadel headed straight to bed. The lethargy that washed over him the moment he lay down made him consider putting off the story a bit longer, but every time the thought crossed his mind, Van’s pitiful face surfaced, forcing him to steel his resolve. He had an obligation to understand Van better.
[Entering the unconscious state.]
[There is a viewable story.]
[Van Herdos’s Memories – Starting Member Exclusive Story]
[Van Herdos’s Memories – Past Story (Affinity surpassed 70)]
He selected the “Starting Member Exclusive Story”.
Why am I so nervous over this?
Sitting alone in the black void, Cadel waited for the story to play.
A moment later, his vision flickered with a light so bright it could blind him.
* * *
“Get lost.”
As his consciousness snapped awake, the first thing he heard was an annoyed curse. Cadel tried to find the owner of the voice through a field of vision that felt strangely alien, but his body wouldn’t move as he wished.
Instead, he saw a slender forearm, caked in dust, poking at a campfire with a branch. Judging by the angle and position, Cadel realized it was his own arm.
Did I enter the past protagonist’s body? I guess it shows the story from their point of view… Well, at least I don’t have to bother moving around.
Having quickly grasped the situation, he relaxed, deciding to treat the experience like a 4D theater. Cadel’s arm silently stoked the embers while the sharp voice continued to ring out from behind him.
“Are your ears blocked? If so, I’ll carve those useless things right off.”
“Hmm, how? I don’t think that’s possible.”
“Don’t act like my superior just because you saved me on a whim. Do you want to die?”
“Like I said, that’s impossible. I really don’t understand why you’re so angry.”
Despite the one-sided hostility, Cadel’s past self remained completely unfazed. He even giggled, as if teasing the other person.
But the present Cadel couldn’t laugh at all. The angry voice he was hearing was far too familiar.
No way… No way, it can’t be. How could he say such harsh things? Especially to me, of all people.
There was no way his puppy would do that. He might bite others, but he would never bite his master.
As if mocking those thoughts, his vision slowly turned from the campfire to look behind him. In the corner of the cavern lay a man, glaring daggers in his direction.
His body stood up, stretching its arms, and walked toward the man with a relaxed gait. As the distance closed, the man’s face came into clear focus. The moment it was perfectly captured in view, Cadel felt dazed, as if he’d been struck in the head by this unbelievable reality.
Van…? Are you kidding me?
No matter how he looked at it, it was Van.
Of course Van would appear in his own story, but Cadel had just seen his pitiful subordinate, who had crouched waiting for him for so long his legs wouldn’t even straighten. It was hard to accept that the man in front of him with that vicious glare was the same person as his loyal puppy.
“Stop glaring so much. You’re going to shoot fire from your eyes.”
“Don’t lay your hands on my body, you noble bastard!”
“Do you really have to treat the guy changing your bandages like a pervert? That’s unfair! And I’m not a noble, you know.”
Once the shock subsided, Van’s miserable state belatedly caught his eye. It felt like seeing the dying Van from their first tutorial quest all over again. The bandages wrapped around his exposed upper body were stained red from the blood slowly seeping through.
When he tried to touch him, Van resisted roughly, planting his palms on the uneven ground. He tried to force himself up, but soon froze in an awkward posture as extreme pain struck him. Cadel let out an exasperated sigh and crouched in front of him.
“Were you planning to just die if I hadn’t saved you from that Red Wyvern? Don’t you want to live? Why are you making such a fuss when I’m just trying to treat you?”
“I would have survived just fine even if you hadn’t saved me. Don’t get drunk on your own arbitrary goodwill. It’s obnoxious.”
“Ha! Survived just fine? Don’t make me laugh. If you really think that, you either have zero situational awareness, or you’re just a guy whose days are numbered anyway.”
Van bit his lip so hard that just looking at it made Cadel wince. He glared daggers for a long moment, then let out a seething breath and slowly lay back down.
Only then did Cadel take a dagger from his bag and slice through the blood-soaked bandages. The wound revealed underneath was truly gruesome. His chest and abdomen had been ripped open along three thick, jagged lines. The gaping flesh dangled, oozing dark red blood. The unmistakable mark left by the monster known as the Red Wyvern. The cold wind blowing into the cavern must have stung the exposed wound, as Van’s chest heaved heavily.
“The smell of blood is strong. If we’re unlucky, monsters might flock this way.”
“…Then you can stop this nonsense and get lost.”
“And leave the guy I went out of my way to save to just die? No thanks. I’m a fan of efficiency.”
Van gritted his teeth as the disinfectant was poured deliberately over his wound. His bloodshot eyes flew wide, reflecting a Cadel who was smirking like a pervert enjoying someone else’s pain.
Seriously, with a relationship like this, how on earth was recruiting him even possible? I saved that bastard Lumen’s life and still got betrayed.
Just as he was puzzling over the worse-than-expected atmosphere, a sudden dizziness washed over him, and his shared vision rapidly blurred. As the surrounding background shifted in a flash, severe motion sickness hit him. For about two minutes, he was overwhelmed by a nauseating urge to hurl that he couldn’t expel.
When he finally managed to regain his senses, he was face-to-face with a giant monster, an Armor Ogre.
