Chapter 58
* * *
Just as Taro had said, the number of soldiers showing strange symptoms began to increase.
Few reacted violently to hallucinations like earlier, but many soldiers were now seeing the path distorted. They were walking forward with their eyes closed, moving only their legs.
And I was no exception.
“XX….”
At this point, the only thing coming out of my mouth was cursing. At least I wasn’t seeing hallucinations, which I was grateful for.
“Short break!”
Then, I heard the second most welcome command after discharge orders. All around me, I heard the sounds of soldiers collapsing onto the ground. With half-closed eyes, I barely managed to sit.
“Haa… haa….”
“You okay?”
Maybe he came closer because it was break time—Aquila’s voice brushed against my ear.
“I’m cold.”
“…Cold?”
Before he could react, I buried my face in the direction his voice came from. I felt warmth.
“Yeah, I’m cold… But at least I’m not seeing hallucinations….”
“A-Are you okay?”
He was so flustered he was actually stuttering, something Aquila rarely did. But I didn’t have the strength to lift my head again.
“Give her some water.”
“Sarubia, want some water?”
Ishina and Aquila’s voices came one after the other. I nodded to signal I wanted water.
Soon, a canteen pressed against my lips, and I bit onto it.
…Then, suddenly, Ishina and Aquila went silent.
My mind was still foggy, and my vision was blurred. But through that blur, I could clearly see Aquila’s red eyes. He was looking straight at me.
“Water…”
Since no water was entering my mouth, I mumbled around the canteen, signaling for him to tilt it.
When Aquila still didn’t move at all—without any warning, my body was yanked upward.
Someone slipped an arm under my shoulders and lifted me. My body rose sharply, and I felt like I was being pulled out of deep water.
When I turned my head, I saw Ishina’s green hair. Standing behind me, he held me up so I could stand on my own two legs.
“Why…?”
“Come on, come on. We need to isolate you for a bit.”
I was about to ask why he was doing this when he cut me off and pulled me a few steps away. I stumbled along helplessly as he dragged me by force.
Ishina sat me down a short distance away from where we had all been resting and asked:
“Okay, Sarubia. Are you sober now?”
“…Huh?”
I looked around. Dense forest. Exhausted soldiers slumped over, too drained to care about anything. And Ishina leaning over me.
With forest-colored dark-green eyes, he examined me with worry, then brought his hand to my lips.
…There was drool.
“Uh… I’m sor—”
I must have been seriously out of my mind. Drooling on myself? Great.
‘XX… there goes my dignity.’
I tried to apologize, but Ishina only wiped my lips with a stiff expression.
“You’re such a handful.”
“…Sorry?”
“You can see properly now? How many fingers?”
He held up three fingers in front of me.
“…Three.”
“And who am I?”
“Sir Ishina…?”
Ishina let out a long exhale.
“Haa… seriously, such a handful…”
“…Sir?”
“You know you were hallucinating earlier, right?”
“…What?”
I stared at him with trembling eyes. He replied with the expression of someone who has accepted the futility of life.
“You weren’t biting a canteen. Why were you biting someone’s fingers…?”
“…What?”
“The real problem is him. Why the hell didn’t he pull his hand away? When we get back, I need to have a serious talk with that kid…”
“…What?”
I probably sounded like someone whose only vocabulary was “What,” but—wait.
‘…I really thought that was the canteen.’
If your squadmate suddenly bit your fingers, you might freeze too. Ishina and Aquila’s weird behavior earlier now made perfect sense….
Just then, a voice announced the resumption of marching. I staggered to my feet.
Seeing my hair hanging down like a ghost’s, Ishina grimaced, then made me sit again so he could tie it up.
“Seriously… seriously… SERIOUSLY, what a handful…”
* * *
“Yuri, are our squad members doing okay?”
At Winter’s question, Yuri—panting heavily as she walked—answered:
“Yeah. Sanchez is taking care of the newbie, Sanchez is taking care of Benny, and Sanchez is taking care of Milphy too.”
“…What?”
“Yeah, it sounds weird even to me. But it’s true.”
“I see…”
Normally, Winter would have scolded someone for dumping too much work on a single soldier. But it was Sanchez—so he found himself readily accepting it.
“Oh, right. Blair and Topio are walking while cursing like they’re casting a spell or something.”
“They always do that… It’s improper language, but if it’s effective for them, I’ll allow it.”
Since Winter had to walk at the front, he couldn’t check on the soldiers at the back. So he kept checking if anyone had fallen behind.
Yuri mentally reviewed what she had reported and realized she forgot something.
“Oh—Sarubia saw hallucinations earlier and wasn’t doing well, but Aquila and Ishina are taking care of her now, so she’s fine.”
“I didn’t know Ishina had that much stamina.”
“He seemed tired, but for some reason, he acted like he absolutely couldn’t leave her to Aquila alone.”
Winter nodded. There were no stragglers, so things weren’t too bad.
Yuri observed Winter’s face—completely unbothered despite the grueling march—and asked:
“You’re not worried?”
“About what?”
“About Sarubia. She hallucinated. Isn’t she in your line?”
But Winter answered calmly:
“Sarubia’s strong. So I figured she’d be fine.”
“…You overestimate her strength.”
Just as Yuri was about to retort—someone shouted from behind.
“Monster on the right!”
High on the branches of a massive tree, yellow eyes flashed. Hard to see in the dark, but unmistakably a monster.
Sergeant El, who was near the monster, tried to lift his rifle—but the person behind him moved faster.
Half-closed yellow eyes snapped open, a pale hand swiftly adjusted the rifle grip, and a body in navy uniform aimed up at the tree.
Bang!
Before anyone else could react, Sarubia fired at high speed.
The monster—looking like a massive serpent—fell from the tree. Altair sliced the corpse again for good measure.
Yuri stared at Sarubia in awe, impressed by her quick reaction.
But then—next to her—came a comment she didn’t expect.
“See? I told you. Sarubia is definitely strong.”
A voice filled with certainty.
* * *
“XX, I’m gonna die….”
“…Want me to carry it?”
Aquila tapped the pack resting on my back and asked carefully. But I clenched my teeth and shook my head violently.
“No. Absolutely not…”
Sure, saving Altair was my goal, but I had more than one reason to finish this march properly.
Yuri was marching up front without issue. Lisa from Gamma platoon was also walking strong.
Even though Ishina and Aquila were helping me, I wanted to prove that I was strong enough to survive in the Border Defense Force by carrying my own pack to the end.
‘I refuse to lose in front of my juniors.’
Swagger wasn’t exclusive to male leads. I had my own damn pride too.
Every day I mocked how the male leads’ coolness stats were in the negatives, but if I failed to finish this march properly, then my coolness would also hit negative.
Thinking of Jaiden made my stubbornness flare, and I bit my lip.
“We’re almost done. Just hold on a little longer…”
Ishina encouraged me in a tired voice.
When I lifted my head, the pitch-black sky had begun to brighten. The sky was turning blue—dawn was coming.
I don’t like the color of dawn. No tragic backstory—just trauma from guard duty.
Standing guard from 3 a.m. to 6 a.m., staring at the dawn sky, knowing that after duty you can’t sleep and must start the day? XX. Infuriating. Seriously, XX. I’m getting pissed again.
Anyway, seeing the dawn sky made my teeth clench automatically. As if guard duty wasn’t enough, now I was marching at this hour too.
“We’ll be back at the starting point soon!”
Deer shouted energetically. At one point we’d turned and looped around, so we were nearing 16th Company, where we first began.
I looked around.
In the distance, one of the 16th Company watch posts came into view. We were really getting close.
‘…But the skupper hasn’t appeared yet.’
The march was almost over, yet my tension only increased.
Because that meant the monster would appear soon.
“Aaaaahhh!”
Suddenly, someone screamed. I tensed and snapped my head toward the sound.
“That is…!”
Biting onto rookie Dori’s neck was a massive tiger-like monster. Dori was being dragged, flailing wildly in resistance.
“That’s not a Skupper—it’s a Ghost Tiger!?”
