The Calm Before the Storm (2)
Thus, the next day. The soldiers of the Guillotine Unit arbitrarily occupied the command and control room inside the Lion Heart headquarters and thoroughly searched through the records on criminal organizations and bandit groups that the Lion Heart Unit had collected so far. The Lion Heart soldiers frowned at their rude behavior of suddenly barging in without following proper procedures and conducting what amounted to a seizure and search, immediately reporting it to Adelia. Upon hearing the story, she rushed straight to the command and control room. Adelia was furious to the point of her head spinning at the act of being ignored.
When she arrived at the command and control room, Orleans was seated in the head position. He had his feet propped up on the desk, flipping through documents one by one. “What is this nonsense you’re doing without consulting me?” “What do you mean? I’m just working with my subordinates.” Orleans replied nonchalantly, licking his lips with his tongue. “By the way, I found something interesting. So I have a question—will you answer it yourself?” He pulled out one sheet from the documents he was looking at and waved it at Adelia, who was glaring at him. “This Elk Bandit Group right here.”
Adelia flinched, her eyes widening. The stack of documents Orleans had been examining included the materials Chen had previously handed over regarding the Elk Bandit Group, supplemented by additional information the Lion Heart Unit had gathered over time. Orleans stared intently at Adelia, whose expression had instantly hardened, and gave her a sly smile. “It looks like the investigation into their hideout has been roughly completed. Why did you order your subordinates to stop the pursuit midway? If the investigation is done, the next step should be to wipe them out, no? That’s how I’ve always done things.”
Adelia stood frozen like a statue, unable to give a proper answer. “I’m sure it’s not the case, but our justice-loving Guardian of Light, Lady Adelia, wouldn’t do such a thing—but you never know with people. Just in case, I’m asking: you didn’t make some kind of deal with the Elk Bandit Group, did you? If the reason we’re coming in last in the bandit subjugation competition is because of something like that, I’d be truly shocked.” He chuckled softly. Adelia hastily made up an excuse and fled the command and control room as if escaping. Upon reaching her office, she collapsed into her chair and let out a heavy sigh.
Sinclair, who had followed her in, spoke with a serious expression. “It seems the Guillotine Unit has set the Elk Bandit Group as their first target. I’ve heard that Lord Orleans has ordered preparations for departure to be completed by tomorrow.” She continued, “What do you intend to do? Will our unit participate in this operation as well? Lord Orleans appears to be acting on his own, but if we want to earn merit, joining them would…”
Adelia, who had been staring blankly at the ceiling, quietly parted her lips. “Are you telling me to betray him…?” “Do you think Kang Hyunwoo’s bandit group can withstand Lord Orleans’s unit?” Sinclair countered, then went on. “I don’t think this has anything to do with loyalty. Kang Hyunwoo is a bandit who harms people. It’s only natural that an evil man deserving punishment receives it. Why should we feel guilty? I believe breaking the promise we made with him wouldn’t cause any problems. If we’re not careful, we might be the ones betrayed by him first. Honestly, expecting loyalty from despicable bandits who could stab us in the back at any moment isn’t reasonable to begin with.”
Adelia bit her lip. She chewed on it thoughtfully. After a long silence, she looked at Sinclair standing before the desk. “Sinclair.” “Yes.” “Come with me for a moment.” “Where are you planning to go?” “I’m going to inform Hyunwoo of this. I believe keeping him alive will be more beneficial for our unit’s future activities. If Hyunwoo dies, all our plans will fall apart. The Guillotine Unit will try to control everything. That would further restrict our unit’s activities, and the higher-ups will continue to look down on us. To regain our independence, we need Hyunwoo’s help—and first, he must survive.”
When I arrived at the mountain stronghold with Unia, it was 8 PM. Everyone in the 15th squad barracks, adults and children alike, welcomed her warmly. Marcus clicked his tongue the moment he saw Unia, asking if I’d brought another woman. “Aren’t there too many women in this squad? We need more men to get work done faster and make it easier to boss people around. How is the squad supposed to function properly like this?” At that, Unia said, “Don’t worry, old man,” then suddenly lifted Marcus up. She sat him on one shoulder and did squats thirty times in a row. Haida, Evynee, and Peggy clapped enthusiastically, calling it fun and amazing. Marcus, who had been lowered back to the ground with a dazed expression, looked at her with admiration after witnessing her incredible strength. “H-he’s got monstrous strength…!”
We lit a bonfire beside the barracks and placed the five jabilin we had bought on the way back to the stronghold side by side on a long grill. Jabilin was a freshwater fish found only in this region, famous enough to appear on the royal table. Since adults could grow up to 50 cm, they had plenty of meat, few bones, and excellent taste—some regions even considered them the best among freshwater fish. Because they were so sought after, each one was quite expensive, but we had specially purchased them to welcome our new comrade, Unia.
The delicious aroma spreading around as oil dripped from the sizzling fish and it browned stimulated our salivary glands. When the special sauce—made according to Jane, Pasvachio’s wife’s secret recipe—was evenly applied to the surface of the fish, the rest of us couldn’t help but swallow hard. Once the grilling was complete, everyone raised their glasses together and shouted a toast, clinking them. The children lifted their juice cups high. When we picked at the well-grilled jabilin flesh and ate it with vegetables gathered from the mountain, the taste was exquisite. The aroma of the vegetables, the juices of the jabilin, and the sweet-and-sour flavor of the special sauce combined to create an incredible taste.
With delicious food in front of us, the atmosphere naturally became lively. Everyone took an interest in Unia and had many conversations with her. The only one who couldn’t participate in the conversation, Dana, held a plate in one hand and a fork in the other, carefully separating the fish flesh piece by piece and busily making something. Soon, she held out the plate to me. On it was a large heart drawn by connecting small pieces of fish flesh together. “What’s this?” I laughed at how cute she looked, playing by herself. But of all things, a heart. Did she make it a heart because it was easy to draw? As I tried to hand the plate back, saying her drawing skills were impressive, she pushed the plate away with her hand, refusing. “Eat it?” “Yeah.” “You worked hard on it, so it’s okay if I eat it? Even if the heart shape gets messed up?” “I made it for you, Hyunwoo.” She added with a grin, “A heart dish made with my feelings.”
Suddenly, I felt as if someone had struck the back of my head with a hammer. Something about this… it felt like that. Could it be that Dana liked me? But since we were close friends without any barriers, it might be a friendship heart meaning LIKE rather than LOVE. Yet something about the feeling… Ah, forget it. Let’s just test the waters. “Here, say ah~.” “Ah~” I picked up a piece of meat from the plate with the fork and put it into her slightly open mouth. Then I took a bite myself. “It tastes even better because Dana made it.” Teasingly, I gave Dana another bite, took one myself, gave her another, took another, then Dana gave me one and I gave her one again—exchanging bites like that, we ate deliciously together. “That was good.” After emptying the plate completely, I held her hand with a satisfied face and gently stroked the back of it. They say this is how you set the mood. Preliminary work to draw out sincerity. As I put on the most serious expression I could and looked at her with soft eyes, I wondered if it was my imagination that her long eyelashes seemed to tremble slightly as she gazed back at me.
Around us, everyone was laughing and chattering loudly, but in the small space where the two of us sat, no sound seemed to reach us. It felt as if only Dana and I existed. Meeting her eyes, I asked quietly, “…Dana. Do you like me?” “I like you.” Her answer came out immediately without a trace of hesitation, her eyes as clear as a transparent lake fixed on me. The answer came so easily that I became confused instead, so I wanted an even clearer response. “So when I ask if you like me, I mean do you lo-lo-love…” “Hyunwoo.” Nancy’s voice suddenly cut in from behind. “The boss is calling for you.” Nancy had come to let me know that the female leader was looking for me. Looking at Dana, who was still staring at my lips waiting for my words, I swallowed my regret and stood up. “Let’s talk next time.” After saying that to Dana, I approached Nancy. “What does she want me for?” “There’s going to be a leaders’ meeting. Since you’re a staff officer now, she seems to want to bring you along too.” After finishing her words, Nancy glanced at Dana sitting nearby and gave an unreadable smile.
Anyway, the leaders’ meeting was a gathering of all the bandit leaders active in the Nobern territory. “A meeting suddenly called this late at night?” “I think the news that Chen is dead has only just spread.” “They’re gathering because of that…” “It’s the first time a bandit group has been wiped out since the Lion Heart Unit arrived. Everyone’s hearts must be shrinking. They must feel like the fire’s been lit under their feet.” A leaders’ meeting. If I went there, I could probably get some useful information for Adelia. I felt expectant. After explaining the situation to my squad members, I slipped out alone and quickly finished preparing for the journey. As Nancy and I walked side by side toward the leader’s barracks, she suddenly said something strange. “Do you like that girl?” Even though I knew who she meant, I deliberately asked back. “Who.” “Dana. That pale doll-like girl.” “I like her.” “As a romantic interest?” “I don’t know about that. But why are you suddenly asking?” “Seeing you two stuck together like that makes me jealous.” Though she spoke as if it were nothing, there was a subtle force in her voice. I scolded her, saying it was nonsense. “You don’t need to feel jealous. I never trusted you in the first place. Without trust, how could we develop into lovers? Don’t even expect it.” “I swore I wouldn’t get attached to you either, but I guess I’ve developed some physical attachment. Crazy, right.” She giggled. “But hearing you say you don’t trust me makes me oddly angry. What would it take for you to trust me?” “Nothing.”