Chapter 36: Harvest (3)

Chapter 36: Harvest (3)

It was the rule in Caliburn Fortress that, except under special circumstances, nobody was permitted to leave the fortress during their period of service. For this reason, a form of entertainment was always needed for both soldiers and officers alike, and one of them was ‘love.’

Tini was as straight as an arrow. She was a commoner, without a prestigious background. She had achieved her present position purely through her outstanding talents and hard work. These kinds of people usually had good taste in their choice of partner.

Also, it was common for people to feel attracted to those who had things that they did not have, or those who were far superior to themselves in some way.

In that sense, Iselan was Tini’s ideal type. Iselan had also been a commoner, but his overwhelming talent and hard work had allowed him to earn the title of Commander-in-Chief. Unfortunately, Iselan was the same age as her father, not to mention that he had no real interest in women.

Then, Henry had appeared in Tini’s life.

‘Henry is good enough. Young, smart, talented. I should make him mine before anyone else takes him away,’?Tini thought as she heard a knock at her door.

“Come in.”

Henry stepped into Tini’s residence. The first thing that caught his eye was her blouse with a deep neckline.

Tini was also rather popular within the fortress. The number of female soldiers was already very low, so she was in a favorable position when it came to romance without even having to try. However, since she was a woman who had made her own future with her own strength, she also wanted to achieve romance on her own terms too.

“Thank you for inviting me to lunch, Ma’am.”

“Just call me Tini in private. We’re not working right now, so there’s no need to address me as ‘Ma’am,’ is there?”

“Then, may I?”

Henry was wearing a white shirt with a low collar and black trousers. This had been Henry’s favorite type of outfit in his previous life. The biggest advantage was that he looked neat and was comfortable moving around in it.

“Is pasta okay?”

“Did you personally cook it?”

“Yeah, the chefs sometimes cook for me, but I usually cook for myself. It tastes a lot better that way, too.”

“I didn’t know you had a knack for cooking.”

“You’ll be surprised when you try it.”

On the table were a couple of simple meat dishes, as well as pasta and some fresh salad.

“Shall we have a light drink to pair with the meal?”

“That sounds good to me.”

“Don’t tell me you feel forced to say ‘yes’ to drinking, just like how you do with our Captain, do you?”

“Haha, as long as we’re not drinking by the barrel like him, I’m good.”

The meal started with a friendly atmosphere. There was no sense of awkwardness between the two, as Tini was the person Henry had interacted with most, after his own platoon members.

‘How peaceful.’

Henry was also feeling satisfied with this sense of peace that he hadn’t felt in a long time. The two chatted and soon emptied two bottles of wine, carried away by the pleasant mood.

“Ah~ it’s been a while since I had a break like this, it feels great,” Tini said.

Her cheeks were blushing, but she wasn’t drunk. As expected of the drunkard Captain’s personal attendant, she, too, had a high tolerance for alcohol. For her love strategy to work, however, she needed to appear a little loose.

“Me too,” Henry replied.

“Shall we... move elsewhere and get another bottle?”

“Sounds good, where is it? Shall I bring it over?”

“No, I’ll bring it over. You stay here.”

As time passed, the atmosphere heated up. Tini clenched her fist as soon as she was out of Henry’s sight. She had created the perfect mood, just as she had hoped.

‘Now, with one more bottle...!’

Tini was going to bring out her prized liquor called ‘Love Potion’. She walked toward her front door, as the wine cellar was located outside the residence. Just as she opened the door...

“Oh, I was just about to knock. Officer Tini! I came here because I have an urgent letter for you.”

“...What?”

A soldier stood at her door, waiting for her to deliver urgent news.

“What is it?”

Tini was now wide awake. With the mood completely ruined, Tini struggled to keep a straight face as she tried to process the news.

“Commander Carter has woken up from his coma.”

“What?”

The first to respond to the news was none other than Henry.

* * *

Upon hearing the news, all the commanders, including Iselan, left their offices and rushed to the infirmary. The medical officer reported on the outcome of the examination.

“He may be conscious now, but so far, his body is still extremely debilitated from prolonged exposure to demonic energies.”

“How long will it take for him to recover?”

“It’ll take at least a year for a full recovery.”

“A full year?”

“As you know, the concentration of demonic energies is on a different level in the 6th district. Moreover, our examination has shown that a lot of his organs were damaged by the Demonic Beast that was arbitrarily extending his life without giving the proper nutrition for about a month.”

“...Will he really recover fully in a year?”

“Yes, we expect the recovery period to be around a year. Oh, and...”

“And?”

“As soon as he regained consciousness, I informed him that Black had been eliminated, and he asked me to pass on these words.”

WIth a brief pause, the medical officer looked at Henry before he resumed.

“Thank you very much.”

Upon hearing the news that Black had been eliminated, Carter burst into tears, despite barely having the strength to open his eyes.

The killing of Black. For Henry, it had been a relatively simple task, but for Carter, it had been his one mission, his life’s purpose, for years. Carter had felt a rush of gratitude to Henry for helping him accomplish his mission.

After the briefing, the medical officer left the room, leaving behind only the officers. It was Solomon who finally broke the silence.

“Captain Iselan.”

“What?”

“I was just wondering, but what will you do when Commander Carter fully recovers in a year?”

“What do you mean?”

“Didn’t you send Commander Henry to the special task force because we presumed Carter to be dead? Following our military law, now that we know Commander Carter wasn’t dead and was simply missing, in a year, will you reinstate Commander Carter to his original position in the special task force?”

“That...”

Solomon had pointed out a fairly important issue. The final decision was Iselan’s to make. However, no matter how much he favored Henry, he had to be fair in his decision-making in this case.

‘What a headache, this is...’

It was a thorny dilemma. No one could come up with a response to Solomon’s question. At that moment, Henry, who had stood silently the whole time, solved that dilemma right away.

“...What?”

“Is that true?”

“No, there wasn’t any word of that, was there?”

Everyone who heard Henry’s answer was a little perplexed.

* * *

- Sheesh.... Perhaps you just have no talent?

“Nonsense.”

At dawn, under the light of a slowly setting full moon, Henry was drenched in sweat from his intense training and lay spread out on the floor.

- No, think carefully. Even the neighborhood fool could unlock it after a year in the battlefield, so why can’t a genius like you learn it?

“Shut up.”

A year had passed since Carter had woken up. In the meantime, Henry had continued to serve faithfully as the platoon commander of the special task force and had become an elite officer, recognized by many for all kinds of merits.

However, no matter how many missions he completed, or how deep he entered the forest, Henry still remained a Sword Learner. He couldn’t find out the reason why.

During that time, Henry had honed his Imperial Swordsmanship and Hector’s swordsmanship every single day. He had also trained his physical strength and even given himself a handicap when battling against the Demonic Beasts. However, Aura, which he had expected to obtain easily, showed no signs of manifesting within him.

- Incredible.

Hector couldn’t help but admire Henry's tenacity. The Aura was, in essence, intensified life force emitted when one’s body reached its limit. For that reason, it was easier to unlock the Aura in dangerous places like the Demonic Beasts’ Forest.

Henry was different.

Even without such power, he was strong enough on his own. Because of that, he had not had any encounters that would have allowed him to unlock his Aura. In other words, the stronger one was, the harder it was to unlock their Aura, and the later one obtained their Aura, the more powerful the Aura would be. That’s exactly what had happened to Hector, and that was why Hector decided to hide this fact from Henry.

If Henry was indeed a true natural genius, obtaining his Aura naturally at some point was the best possible outcome for him.

‘Breaking your own limits is the greatest way to train.’

Soon, the morning sun began to rise. As it rose, Hector naturally returned to the Underworld. Henry muttered softly as he watched the sun.

“...I guess it’s time to slowly prepare for my discharge.”

The minimum service period under the Noblesse Oblige system was one year. It was now the discharge day, exactly one year after Henry’s enlistment.

Henry's discharge wasn’t sudden. His plan had already been underway for a year, since the day Carter had woken up in the hospital.

“Clean.”

After cleaning himself with magic, Henry got dressed—not in armor, but in a uniform. He no longer had to attend the daily morning meetings. Wearing the uniform for the first time since he had received it, Henry stood in front of the company commander. There were other commanders alongside him, as well as many other members lined up behind them.

Looking at Henry, Solomon asked, “Are you really choosing to discharge?”

“Yes, that’s my will.”

Solomon sighed. “Your will... I suppose I can’t convince someone who has already made up their mind.”

“Thank you for everything.”

“We should be the ones thanking you. Thanks to you, we’ve benefitted so much... Yeah, you’ve done well. Now, stand up straight.”

At the company commander’s command, Henry stood up straight.

“Turn.”

“To Platoon Commander Henry Morris, salute!”

“Sir!”

A salute from all company members on the day of his discharge. It was the highest display of honor and respect toward Henry. Then...

“Sir, do you really have to go?”

“You can’t. There’s no one else like you...”

The night before, the platoon members had already thrown a farewell ceremony in tears, downing alcohol the whole night. However, the members burst into tears again, despite having bawled their eyes out already. In response, Solomon attempted to quickly wrap up Henry’s discharge.

“Commander Henry, do you have any final words?”

Henry had already given them plenty of words of encouragement the night before, using the speaking abilities he had gained as a former sage of the Empire.

“You’ve all worked hard so far, and I hope to see you all again.”

Hugo smiled and patted Henry on the shoulder. “That’s so like you.”

A short, succinct speech.

“Well then, thanks for everything.”

The final farewells were over. Henry raised his right hand and saluted all of the company members.

“You all take care of yourselves too.”

Bidding one more farewell, Henry quietly left the company.

* * *

“Are you really going?”

“Yes, I am.”

“Such a fast discharge for someone who was so eager to be enlisted.”

After Henry’s declaration of intent of discharge, Iselan had constantly encouraged Henry to serve longer. But each time, Henry brushed it off with a laugh, and in the end, Iselan wasn’t able to change Henry’s mind. Iselan felt a sense of pity for himself as he wiped his dry lips.

Iselan handed Henry a small silver tag. “Take this.”

“Thank you.”

It was an identity tag offered to those who had successfully completed their obligation to their respective institution. Henry’s identity tag had originally featured an engraved blue star as an indication of the Medal of Merit. However, his updated identity tag contained an additional star for the fulfillment of his duties, and another for his outstanding achievements during his service.

A silver identity tag with a total of three stars. With this, he could easily earn a salute anywhere he visited.

“As you requested, I didn’t announce this news to your hometown.”

“Thank you.”

“And also, take this.”

“Is this that token?”

“Yeah, upon your request, I’ve made the one and only token that represents me. I’ve made all sorts of things because of you.”

Iselan’s one and only token of proof. This had been Henry’s sole request after announcing his discharge.

“Anyway, as long as you have this token of proof, upon my honor, I will grant you one request. Anytime, anywhere.”

“Thank you, Captain.”

Henry had made a request to Iselan for ‘future help.’ The help of powerful talents like Iselan would surely be needed in the distant future.

“Ah, and as I said, please take good care of him,” Henry said.

“You mean Ronan, right?”

“Yes. He’s the only person who was able to push me to my limits. Besides, he’s an adoptee who’s bound to the Foram family, so there’s no danger of him suddenly leaving, unlike me.”

“I’m so used to only dealing with the best of the best, I don’t even look at inferior goods. I’m only giving him a chance because of you, but if he fails to meet my expectations... you know what happens, right?”

“Of course.”

This completed most of Henry’s preparations. Having finished his business, he got up from his seat and prepared to leave.

“Leaving already?”

“Yes.”

“At least try to look a little sad, you bastard.”

“I definitely am.”

“How thick-skinned... anyway, you’ve done well. This may just be the stubborn old man in me speaking, but if you ever change your mind, I’ll always be here waiting for you, so feel free to come and visit me anytime.”

“Thank you, Captain.”

“What Captain? Get moving!”

Henry gave Iselan one final salute. Then he headed back to Jade, who was tied up in front of the administrative office, and departed for the outside world.