3. A choice between two.
3. A choice between two.
Kal, who had just stepped onto Earth's soil for the first time in a while after coming down on a transport ship, felt a sense of overwhelming emotion. Having spent 5 years traveling all over the universe, he had learned one thing: there were very few planets in the universe as blue and beautiful as Earth.
His face glowed red in the beautiful sunset.
"Please follow me, Doryeon-nim."
Ellis, who had recently been promoted to deputy leader of the 1st team of the Solar Knights, led Kal somewhere.
"Fuck, Earth's air is good."
Kal took a deep breath, savoring the refreshing air of Earth to his heart's content. Plus, he got to see plenty of his own kind....
When he had the label of a fugitive, he felt self-conscious and nervous no matter what he did, but now that he was a free man, he couldn't help but feel relieved. This must be why people say you can't live while committing crimes.
"Ellis, you should travel space too so you can get a cosmic perspective. Don't you think?"
However, she didn't answer and just walked forward silently.
Yeah, where's a dog barking, you fuuuuck.
The two soon entered a massive building and got on an elevator. It moved smoothly with a vroom sound, taking them to the upper floors.
Ellis, who had been keeping her mouth shut for a while, opened it very carefully.
"...Kal."
At her call, his face slowly turned to the side. She had changed from a knight into his friend.
"Can't you just live normally now? Please, get a grip. How long are you going to live like this? My heart is always anxious when you're like this. Please, go back to how you were before, okay?"
His lips, which had been looking at her with a deadpan expression, curled crookedly after a long moment.
"It's not like the world will end if I'm gone anyway...."
"That's not what I meant. I'm just worried about you...!"
"Shh, stop. It's none of your business."
Ellis let out a long sigh and returned to being a knight. Soon, the elevator stopped at a high floor.
The two got off and began walking down a quiet corridor again. Seeing knights stationed here and there, it seemed to be a place related to the military.
...Hey, no way.
Kal felt a sudden sting in his chest. So, just in case, he asked Ellis, who was walking beside him.
"...You're not telling me Father is here, are you?"
"It seems even the Doryeon-nim is afraid of him."
"Who wouldn't be? So, is he here? ...He's not here, right? Right?"
"No, he is not here."
"Fuuuuck, that scared the shit out of me. If he were here, I would've died of a heart attack today."
The only person in the universe Kal was afraid of.
Duke of the Empire and military commander, Jeffrey Jaleㅡ.
"Don't contact Father. If you do, we're all deadㅡ!"
However, Ellis said nothing this time either. While Kal was jumping around asking if she would or wouldn't, she stopped abruptly in front of a door. There was a member of the Solar Knights there.
"I've brought the Doryeon-nim."
"Yes!"
The knight saluted smartly and pressed a button, and the door opened smoothly. The man and woman entered.
"I'm supposed to stay here?"
Kal asked, looking at the floor-to-ceiling window that overlooked the flashy downtown area. Just then, she went to the table and started pressing buttons to operate something.
"What? What are you doing?"
Then, the window darkened, and a familiar face popped up on it. Ahㅡ. Kal almost freaked out when he saw that face.
"Ah, Father...!"
- Kal Jaleㅡ!
Ellis stepped back to the doorway, stood straight, and saluted. However, the Commander's attention was focused solely on this troublemaking youngest son.
"Haha..., you must be busy, what brings you to this humble place."
- Shut up. I'm barely holding myself back from throwing you in prison right nowㅡ!
"Hey, I don't think there's a reason to go to prison...."
- You deserted without permission before getting approval from aboveㅡ! How can you say that after mocking military lawㅡ!
Kal's face hardened.
"Then how could I stay still when Mother passed away?"
- That is that, and this is this. A soldier must act like a soldierㅡ!
"That's why I took off the uniform. I didn't want to be a soldier."
- Enough. Choose right now.
The Commander glared at his son with terrifying eyes.
- Will you go to prison, or will you re-enlist? ...I've been lenient enough.
"I'll go to prison. I'm never being a soldier again."
- Oh, really? Then I'll send you to prison. Do you think I'm just scaring you with words?
Soon, a window popped up on the screen. It looked like the prison Kal would be going to.
...Uh, fuck, waitㅡ.
However, what appeared on the screen was not a simple prison. It was the place that boasted the worst notoriety among prison planets.
Hell-Lugal.
- You'll have to rot there for 5 years. I warned you. I don't go easy on my son.
"Ah, Father, waitㅡ!"
- Why? Changed your mind?
A smile played on his father's lips. It bore a striking resemblance to Kal's own devious smile.
"Come on, this is too much. It's just simple desertionㅡ!"
- You disobeyed orders to return and ran away for a long time. Obviously, it's an aggravated sentence. Consider yourself lucky it ends with this. If you don't like it, re-enlist. Of course, since you took off the uniform yourself, you have to start from the beginning.
Kal felt like he was going crazy. Re-enlisting was truly a shitty thing to do. But he also hated the idea of going to that notorious prison.... It was a terrible dilemma.
"Still, making me go to training camp twice is a bit much, Father...!"
- A soldier must know how to take responsibility for their choicesㅡ! I hope you use this as a stepping stone to grow. Anyone can make mistakes. But trying to avoid them is not right. I don't want my son to become such a cowardly person.
He realized he couldn't break his father's stubbornness.
In short, he was totally fucked.
- So, will you re-enlist?
Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuckㅡㅡ.
After a long hesitation, Kal had no choice but to accept his father's proposal.
"...Yes...."
Kal hung his head in despair. It felt like he was having a terrible nightmare.
If he had known it would turn out like this, he should've just blown up the spaceship and diedㅡ!
- Understood. Good choice.
The screen turned off, and the flashy scenery appeared again. Ellis, who had been standing by the door, slowly approached Kal.
"Doryeon-nim, you will stay here today. And since we leave tomorrow, you must wake up early."
"What? Leave tomorrow? Hey, you shit, you should at least give me some time to enjoy myselfㅡ!"
Kal jumped in surprise. He hadn't been able to get laid in ages, and it made no sense that he was being dragged to that hellish place without even time to enjoy himselfㅡ!
"It was the Commander's order not to give you time to delay. So you don't get any other ideas."
"Wow, so you two were in cahoots."
"It was just one of many scenarios."
"Scenarios my assㅡ."
"Then rest well. And, you can't go outside, so don't bother trying...."
Ellis didn't even flinch when Kal glared at her sharply, and just walked away.
...Fucked in the end.
To think I have to re-enlist at this rankㅡ!
He trudged over to the armchair and flopped down into it helplessly.
Damn bitch. Dog-like bitch. Bad bitch. Petty bitch. Betraying a friend? Fuuuuckㅡ.
...But her boobs got a lot bigger.
· · ·
The next day, early morning.
Ellis entered Kal's room with two knights in tow. Kal, who had jerked off five or six times throughout the night, was still fast asleep.
She gave them a look to put the items down and wait outside. Once they disappeared, she let out a small sigh and approached the bed where he was sleeping.
"Doryeon-nim, it is time to wake up."
Ugh.
He mumbled like a kid and buried his face in the pillow.
"Doryeon-nim. Doryeon-niiimㅡ!"
"Ah, shi...."
At the repeated shouting, Kal eventually couldn't hold out and woke up. Ellis announced that it was almost time to leave and pointed to the item left on the table.
"This is an item that was kept here. ...It was originally yours...."
Ahㅡ.
Kal's eyes widened. He quickly jumped out of bed and approached the table. There was a machine part the size of a fist.
Ion Busterㅡ.
The physical enhancement device he used when he was a knight.
While physical enhancement devices themselves were extremely rare and expensive items, this Ion Buster was in a completely different league from those ordinary ones. It was even of much higher quality than the enhancement device the Commander was currently wearing. After all, it was a custom-made item his father had ordered to commemorate his son's completion of training.
Honestly, putting a price on it was ridiculous, but if converted to money, it would be at least 500 million Zeny. It was enough to buy a medium-sized warship, so that said it all.
"The Commander specifically authorized it. However, he said not to use it too noticeably."
"...So he was worried since his son is going to a rough place?"
Kal felt good even though today was the day of re-enlistment. That's how amazing the Ion Buster was.
"Oh, and one more thing."
"What is it?"
"About the place you are going."
"...Aren't I going to training camp? O-ver there."
He had naturally assumed he would be going to the training camp on Earth.
"No."
When Ellis said it flatly, Kal's spine went cold for a moment. Because he had a bad feeling.
"...Then where?"
"Hell-Lugal."
ㅡ!
Hearing that name, Kal freaked out.
"This fuck, I told you I'm not going to prisonㅡ!"
"It is not a prison."
"That's a prison planetㅡ!"
"It is a prison planet, but the place you are going is not a prison."
...No way.
"It is the Hell-Lugal Training Camp located there."
Wow, fuckㅡㅡ.
"The Commander said he could rest easy if he entrusted you there."
Cancel the thought about him caring for his son.
A truly devilish father.