TWWSY 09

Chapter 9

The soldier barely managed to steady himself and replied. Etienne scoffed. No matter how low-ranked he might be, a member of the Holy Legion shouldn’t be fumbling for words in front of a superior. It was laughable—though not in an amusing way.

“I’ll ask again. You think there probably wasn’t anything?”

“I-I’m sorry! I’ll correct myself!”

Only then did the soldier realize the commander’s displeasure and started to panic.

“That’s enough. Stop wasting time with useless chatter and go back to the site to confirm things properly. If you return with nothing but vague answers again, you won’t escape responsibility for incompetence.”

Not even his strikingly handsome features, which drew attention wherever he went, could conceal his irritation. With his brows furrowed and voice sharp as knives, Etienne issued the grim order before personally going to investigate the situation himself.

The investigation concluded sooner than expected.

Apparently, the prisoners had hidden explosives inside their bodies. Or rather, calling them “explosives” might not be entirely accurate. Hadn’t they just searched the prisoners again the previous night on Mia Blanchard’s advice? Nothing had turned up then. So where had those devices suddenly appeared from?

Even though it was clear something had exploded near the prisoners’ barracks, the wreckage showed no typical components of an explosive device. It was as if some unknown curse had struck them.

In fact, the very assumption that this incident wasn’t a supernatural phenomenon was based solely on one person’s opinion—hardly something to put full faith in.

What was even stranger was the timing of the suicide attack.

It had been quite a while since the battle ended, and after a failed interrogation attempt, no new questioning had taken place. With the chaos surrounding Leonard’s incident, there simply hadn’t been the manpower or resources to spare for further prisoner interrogations. Essentially, the prisoners had been neglected.

There weren’t even many people near the barracks, so the idea that they picked the perfect moment to cause the most damage didn’t hold water.

Then why—why now, of all times, did they decide to set themselves ablaze and escape?

The mysterious attackers, who left without even a trace of a corpse behind, gave no answers to any of the mounting questions.

Etienne’s mind was consumed by riddles with no clues in sight.

“Um, Commander.”

Bertrand, the medic, had returned after finishing treatments and interrupted Etienne’s thoughts. The sudden call made Etienne’s expression harden subtly.

“Must be something urgent, then?”

Though the question was asked with his usual calm and polished tone, it carried a chilling implication—“If it isn’t urgent, you’ll regret it.”

Fortunately, Bertrand was quick enough to pick up on the mood. He hastily delivered his report and left. The gist was that the patient’s treatment was complete, and a full report would be written up for review at a less busy time.

“Before you return, check again near the storage area to make sure there are no more injured.”

Bertrand nodded quickly.

Etienne clicked his tongue as he watched the retreating figure.

With every step he took, he encountered more shattered debris and scattered supplies. The damage was so severe that the items could hardly even be called “supplies” anymore. Splattered food covered the ground.

Seeing the extent of the explosion, it was almost miraculous that the damage hadn’t spread even farther.

“If this is all the food we have left, we can’t stay here much longer.”

Etienne looked up. As he turned his eyes away from the nearby wreckage, one tent caught his attention—a barrack he hadn’t noticed before, nestled between collapsed wooden posts.

Etienne paused.

“Did I check that tent already?”

He didn’t remember going near it. That tent also had one wall collapsed, but there was no obvious damage to the items inside. Perhaps that’s why it had been excluded from the initial investigation.

Given its location among the storage tents, it was likely just another storage area that happened to escape the blast. If so, there was probably no issue, and he could simply send someone to investigate it now.

But Etienne didn’t move—not because he thought it unnecessary, but because of a strange feeling of déjà vu.

Even as the head of the entire legion, he didn’t memorize the layout and purpose of every temporary barrack in a field camp. He had far more pressing responsibilities.

And yet, this tent felt familiar.

That could only mean it had served some role beyond being a mere warehouse…

No way…

A name suddenly flashed through Etienne’s mind.

His face drained of color. Ignoring the startled cries of his subordinates, he sprinted toward the tent.

Boom!

It was the sound that signaled the beginning of the incident. It wasn’t loud enough to be heard from the center of the camp, but could definitely be heard from the tent of a lowly operations officer.

No one, not even Mia, knew what method the attackers had used to make such a thing possible. Regardless of how it worked, the fact that the explosion occurred at the exact time Mia remembered proved that her warning had been ineffective.

Etienne—Rochefort—wasn’t the type to overlook a potential threat to camp safety. He had likely searched the prisoners thoroughly, only to find nothing suspicious.

And that made sense—Mia herself had experienced this once before and still didn’t know how the “explosive” worked or what it even was. Expecting anyone else to uncover it might have been unrealistic.

Still, she had never thought to speak directly with the prisoners herself. Maybe a more thorough search might have changed things.

But now that everything had exploded, it was clear—finding that “explosive” was harder than expected.

Even putting aside the fact that the root cause hadn’t been addressed, Mia’s own situation was precarious. Her plan had been to claim she noticed something during interrogation—if something was found during the body search. That would explain her “suspicious” warning.

But if they found nothing, and yet Mia had still predicted the explosion…

Then she’d be the prime suspect.

Tsk. Serves me right for sticking my nose in.

She needed a cover story. Now. Anything to avoid being accused of colluding with the enemy.

Mia pressed her temples hard—a habit whenever her thoughts became tangled.

As if mocking her scrambling mind, the entrance of the tent—still standing on one side—suddenly flapped open. The person standing beyond it was no surprise at all.

“Sir Rochefort.”

There wasn’t a shred of composure on his face. His dust-covered skin glistened with sweat. His sunken eyes darted around the tent as if searching for something.

Mia watched him for a moment before speaking. Coincidentally, it was just as Etienne finally laid eyes on her.

“I figured you’d co—”

Before she could finish, Rochefort rushed toward her.

She didn’t even have time to defend herself or register what was happening. In the blink of an eye, it was done.

Etienne grabbed her face with both hands, checking her carefully for wounds. Only after confirming she was unharmed did he finally ease up and pull her into his arms.

Her tense body collapsed against his firm chest.

Still dazed, Mia stared into space, unable to process anything.

A strangely comforting scent tickled her nose.

“You’re safe,” he murmured.