Traces of the Father (2)
The moment the campsite was cleared, the march resumed.
“How was it?”
While advancing at the front during reconnaissance, Garan, who shared the vanguard duty with me, spoke up.
“What do you mean, sir?”
“The ‘lesson’ you received yesterday. It must have been quite informative.”
The fact that I could use magic was a secret known only to Arisha, Garan, and Seo Hayun.
“…….”
I couldn’t answer. One of the fundamentals required to use magic was drawing spell formulas. There were as many different formulas as there were spells in existence. While they shared common elements based on attributes, principles, and functions, it was only natural that each individual spell had its own unique formula.
Learning those basics and advancing all the way to the deeper stages was the worst possible task for someone like me, who had always been terrible at memorization.
Yes. To be honest, it had been the worst.
But there was no way I could say that out loud.
“Judging by your expression, I can already tell how it went.”
Garan read the answer from my face as I kept my mouth tightly shut with a complicated expression. He offered a bitter smile and tried to comfort me.
“I believe the captain’s actions were ultimately for your sake. Even if it doesn’t seem so now, it will definitely help you someday.”
“Yes.”
I nodded reluctantly. I didn’t think the lesson had been completely useless to me. It was just that, at my current stage, I couldn’t quite grasp how to apply the magic theory and spell formulas Arisha had taught me.
It was different from when I had sought guidance after already forming a rough concept of the magic I wanted to create in my head.
Still, it probably wasn’t entirely meaningless.
There was nothing I could use right away, but as Garan said, it might prove useful someday.
Then I recalled the other matter Arisha had asked me about. Before trying to correct the way I used magic, she had first asked me a question.
“During the Beltar operation two years ago, did one of the captain’s acquaintances participate?”
“…….”
Garan fell silent at my question. The complicated look on his face kept him from answering right away. A short silence followed as he closed his mouth.
I realized too late that talking about the Beltar operation from two years ago wasn’t a pleasant topic for him either.
“If it’s uncomfortable, you don’t have to—”
“I told you before. My son participated in that operation.”
His voice had grown heavy, so I answered immediately.
“Yes. I remember.”
“The flag the captain showed you was the one belonging to the unit my son was part of. And…”
Garan continued, as if exhaling long-buried, complicated emotions.
“It was also the unit led by Captain Arisha’s father.”
“…….”
My footsteps, which had been leading the way, came to a halt. The moment I stopped, the marching column behind me froze as well. The vanguard, mistaking it for the detection of an enemy, tensed up and gripped their weapons.
“Ah, I’m sorry.”
I bowed my head slightly in apology and started moving again. Thankfully, the only one who had heard Garan’s quietly spoken words was me, walking right beside him.
I pushed down my agitation as much as possible and sharpened my senses to watch our surroundings.
“I see…”
Garan’s story was incredibly shocking, but my role right now was still that of a scout, watching for enemy presence or terrain anomalies. Even while speaking of his fallen son, the man walking beside me did not neglect his vigilance.
“I asked something I shouldn’t have.”
“No. From the moment I asked if you had seen that flag before, I knew I would have to explain the circumstances. It’s just that the captain didn’t have the luxury to worry about it herself.”
Garan was saying that he had taken it upon himself to explain it to me. I pondered the meaning behind his words.
Besides the defense division commanded by Arisha, the allied forces contained numerous units performing various missions. The special operations unit I had belonged to was different in that it carried out special missions in its own way, but in reality, it had been little more than an errand squad that assisted other units and handled miscellaneous chores.
The situation from the Beltar operation two years ago rose in my mind. Soldiers and units that had made quite a name for themselves within the allied forces had gathered in one place. With such powerful forces united, there would be no enemy they couldn’t defeat. That was what everyone had thought.
Of course, that victory did not include slave soldiers like me.
“…….”
During that operation, the mission assigned to our special operations unit had not been support or chores. It had been to step forward and desperately block the demonic beasts so that the allied forces could minimize their losses and display their full strength.
Wielding weapons to annihilate the enemy was the duty and obligation of soldiers belonging to the allied forces, but it was not the mission given to slave soldiers like me. Whether with weapons or by clinging to them with our bare bodies, we were to slow the monsters’ advance even a little. My life, used for that purpose, was nothing more than a consumable to the allied forces.
That was how most slave soldiers were treated, and how most of them ended. In fact, Seo Hayun had said that Rumia’s special operations unit had been disbanded after most of its members died. Aside from the commander and senior soldier Rumia, Seo Hayun, and one slave soldier, every single slave soldier had perished.
It was an utterly bitter ending. I didn’t feel any sympathy for my fellow slave soldiers who had shared my status. It was simply hollow that they had crumbled away, leaving behind not even a trace of their forms.
As I was recalling those bitter memories from the past, a sudden question occurred to me.
“So, is that why you took me in back then?”
When I had first encountered Garan’s reconnaissance squad in the forest, he had offered to recruit me. Could the reason have been that I had participated in the Beltar operation two years ago? That he wanted to ask me about the situation at the time?
“It wasn’t that.”
Garan let out a small chuckle at my question.
“I saw you fight and was convinced you would be useful to us. Besides, I pride myself on having a pretty good eye for people.”
“…….”
“And haven’t you been doing well so far? Thanks to you, I think the atmosphere in the reconnaissance squad has become much brighter lately.”
Garan casually placed his hand on top of my head and ruffled my hair. It wasn’t the gesture of a superior, but of a father toward his child. I didn’t dislike it, but something in my chest felt ticklish, and I wanted to erase the feeling as soon as possible.
“…Please don’t let your guard down.”
“My apologies. I’ll be more careful.”
It wasn’t the kind of remark a subordinate should make to a superior, but Garan simply laughed and brushed it off.
“Anyway, it looks like you’ll find them first.”
He added those words while seemingly enjoying my reaction as I forcibly removed the hand from my head. I deliberately ignored him. As if to bury my complicated emotions and thoughts, I sharpened my senses even further to watch our surroundings.
And a few minutes after we advanced—
I felt a faint presence brushing against the edge of my senses, like something grazing my ear. Only then did I stop walking and raise my clenched left fist to signal a halt to those behind me.
The column came to an abrupt stop once again in response to my action. This time, sensing that it was real, the unit immediately shifted into combat readiness, filling the area with a fierce aura.
I stared in the direction where I had faintly sensed the presence, trying to identify its true nature. It was a familiar presence I had felt once before.
“It’s an orc settlement.”
“Understood.”
Garan replied quietly. His calm voice sounded incredibly heavy. He signaled to the rear that an orc settlement had been discovered. Soon, Arisha’s voice, carried by the wind and infused with mana, reached us.
"All units, prepare for battle. Vanguard charges in five seconds. Upon signal, commence mana rifle fire."
⟨ COMMAND ⟩
The order from the commander was extremely concise. The shorter the time taken to deliver it, the clearer it became. I gripped the sword at my waist. I circulated Heavenly Fate throughout my body. Like unlocking a latch, the suppressed energy flowed out from my heart, surging beyond its usual rhythm.
I tightened my grip on the sword in my right hand so it wouldn’t slip from cold sweat. Even while staring ahead, I could see Garan beside me. His aura was honed to a razor’s edge, and his face was as hard as steel. It was as if the lighthearted jokes he had tossed at me earlier had never happened. The presence of a veteran soldier who had survived countless battlefields was truly on another level.
Three, two, one…
I counted down in my mind in time with my heartbeat. The moment the steadily decreasing numbers finally reached zero, the vanguard—including me and Garan—broke formation and charged.
Chik.
The orcs spotted us from a distance. Their reaction was… strange. Even after seeing us launch a surprise attack, the orcs remained eerily calm. There was no sign of surprise or agitation. Instead, they looked as if they had already prepared for a possible attack. Or as if our ambush posed no threat at all.
As I wondered what the basis for that was, the question rose in my mind at the same time my instincts screamed.
This is…
“It’s a trap!”
The moment I shouted, mud erupted from beneath my feet. My feet, which had been kicking off the ground as I ran, sank into the mire, and in some places, sharp blades shot upward. Spear tips made from sharpened bone fragments burst from the ground.
It was too late to stop or dodge now.
“Tsk…!”
I clicked my tongue and accelerated the flow of Heavenly Fate circulating through my body. The spell formula engraved directly onto my skin reacted. With Hoshin-ganggi activated, I kicked away the spear blades rising from the ground.
Kwajik!
The sharply honed spear tips failed to pierce my leg and snapped instead.
“What the hell…!”
The soldiers who had been charging in with me faltered at the spears shooting up from the ground and gasped in horror. The orcs had already armed themselves and finished preparing to fight us. A surprise attack against a fully prepared enemy was utterly meaningless.
The ambush had failed. From then on, it was only natural that the orcs’ counterattack would follow.
Chik!
“They’re coming!”
The orcs charged from the front with ferocious momentum. It was on a completely different scale from the surprise attack we had attempted—threatening and heavy. The agitation from having their ambush blocked. The overwhelming pressure of the monsters that seemed to devour the completely overturned atmosphere and dominate the surroundings. As the soldiers at the vanguard stiffened, their bodies frozen under the crushing weight—
Garan’s voice rang out.
“Reform your stance! Raise your shields!”
The hands of the soldiers, whose minds had gone completely blank, began to move. As if possessed, they lifted their shields and lined them up to form a wall. The clubs swung by the orcs collided with the reinforced shield wall.
Kuuuung!
“K-Kgh!?”
Due to the heavy impact, one soldier was pushed backward along with his shield. If not for the backup from the other soldiers holding him up, he might have been sent flying into the sky. The shield that had taken the orc’s club blow was dented and warped inward.
“These damn monsters…”
The mere thought that if it had been an arm instead of a shield, it would have been crushed and sent flying, was enough to make my hands tremble. I slipped into the embrace of the orc holding the club.