“The roads around the station are complicated, so follow me closely. Don’t get distracted and lose me. Outsiders often get lost here.”
“I got it. Let’s go quickly.”
“Why are you answering like that? I’m looking out for you because you keep falling behind.”
“...I understand, but we’ll be late if we keep dawdling.”
Leonardo responded dryly as he stepped two paces ahead of her. The black uniform with highly polished military boots, a stiffly angled beret, and military gear as large as her own body were enough to draw attention. He was already suspicious-looking with his face covered, and walking with a noisy soldier would make him even more conspicuous, which was concerning.
“I’m leaving early because of someone, and you don’t even appreciate it.”
“If you just tell me where it is, I’ll go alone. I’ll even pay for your snacks before I go.”
“I told you I can’t explain it in words. And do you think I’m doing this for money? This is all—military spirit.”
The woman who answered like that puffed out her chest and began walking ahead again, her whole body brimming with energy. Her gait alternated in a regular rhythm, as if she were doing drill training. However, to the former Armsilver squad captain, there were many deficiencies. The overly arched back and raised chin, and the angle of her arms were such examples.
Recalling his own stiffened appearance in the store, Leonardo shook his head.
‘To think I was intimidated by someone like that.’
The urge to tell her to relax her shoulders, straighten her back, and tuck in her chin rose to his throat, but he held it back. There was no point in acting like he knew. What good would it do to lecture a greenhorn who didn’t even have rank insignia about proper form? Would she even understand?
Moreover, he was no longer a soldier. Recalling this extremely obvious fact made his heart tighten.
He turned his eyes to the massive train station visible through the crowd ahead. Now that he had somehow acquired an unwelcome guide, he was heading toward the station with the soldier who had barged into the store earlier.
The magic supply shop owner’s meddling played a large part in how things had turned out. His recollection went back about fifteen minutes.
*****
“Is this a smuggling scene?”
When the Imperial Army suddenly barged in, it was truly chaos. Though only one person was visible, the abrupt mention of smuggling made him think it was a surveillance officer who had been staking out the place and raided the scene.
Though the transaction between him and the shop owner wasn’t that kind of shady activity, they hadn’t officially registered the items to avoid tracking. It was a kind of tax evasion under imperial law. Moreover, with blood that hadn’t yet been absorbed and newspapers tangled on the floor, it would look quite suspicious to anyone else.
With one misstep, he could end up greeting the Council again on an ugly charge. Meanwhile, the thought crossed his mind that the owner might be an informant. Though there had been no such cases when he had checked, it was also unlikely that his trail had been followed.
Leonardo, thinking of retrieving the heart and fleeing if necessary, snatched the memo from the owner’s hand and took a step forward. But the owner’s reaction that followed was surprising. He grabbed Leonardo’s forearm as if it were nothing and asked the soldier who had entered:
“There’s a customer here. How rude to joke around. Is today recruitment day?”
At his nonchalant response, the soldier who had entered the store answered in a much lighter tone:
“You’re a villager anyway. More importantly, didn’t I just look like a real soldier?”
Why is it so dark in here? I really thought you were smuggling. The soldier said this while pulling back the window curtains and fixing them herself. She also nagged that there was a foul smell and that they should ventilate the place.
Leonardo, blinking at the rapidly changing situation, turned to look at the shop owner. The owner, meeting his gaze, chuckled and said:
“Don’t be tense. She’s my daughter, my daughter.”
As he later learned, she wasn’t his real daughter; rather, children who had become war orphans were cared for together by the villagers, becoming like relatives. He said they had a comfortable relationship where they even played pranks, and she occasionally helped at the store.
Also, though she was wearing a military uniform, she wasn’t an official soldier with rank insignia. She was a recruit scheduled for enlistment who had completed her physical test and medical examination about ten days ago and had only received her uniform and supplies. And her enlistment date was just two days away, so she had come to say goodbye to the shop owner, who was like a father to her.
The problem was that her enlistment unit was in the same direction as the destination on the memo. The shop owner asked the soon-to-be recruit to guide his customer instead of doing it himself. Leonardo rolled his eyes, as if it were unnecessary talk, but the owner continued, saying the route was somewhat difficult for a first-timer.
He didn’t say exactly what “the turtle that took the train” was, but he did say:
“You know the big inn at the station of beginning and end? Take the customer there. Get some snacks on the way, too.”
After giving them a specific location, he told them to go now and stuffed a few bills into Leonardo’s pocket. At first, Leonardo wondered why he was giving them to him instead of his daughter, but it seemed to be payment for the amulet made with Siculus. He appeared unexpectedly meticulous about money, no matter whose money it was.
By the way, what was the station of beginning and end, and what was this talk about an inn? There were many questions, but the owner soon sent the two of them out, saying it was time for the Council’s patrol.
*****
Thus, Leonardo, who had ended up following the guide, fingered the bills in his pocket. Thinking about it now, wasn’t it his money that would be spent buying something for that greenhorn?
After being beaten down on the price of the heart, he’d properly taken on a burden. And he couldn’t exactly send off someone who was about to enlist...
As he grumbled, he pulled his face mask—slid down to the middle of his nose—back up beneath his eyes. Just then, the soldier walking ahead turned around again. The distance between them, now familiar, closed as she approached and spoke:
“Why are you going to the station of beginning and end? There’s not much to do there.”
Leonardo glanced at her. She had helped with the store, but she also seemed to have a talkative, meddlesome personality. Careful not to leak information, he responded moderately so he wouldn’t seem dismissive:
“I have someone to meet.”
“...Hmm. Family?”
His brow furrowed automatically at the thought of that mad scholar being family. Sensing his displeasure, the soldier hastily added:
“Ah, I used to go there often with my family when I was young. That’s why I asked.”
“.......”
“We’re separated now, but I still drop by occasionally, thinking I might meet them there. It’s a place with many memories.”
When the sudden family story came up, Leonardo kept walking straight ahead, eyes forward, his nerves shutting down. People who brought up heavy topics ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) when the distance wasn’t close enough were uncomfortable. If he had the leisure and interest to listen, it might be different, but when he didn’t, it was only awkward and tiring.
Moreover, listening to a war orphan’s family story was torture in a different sense—perhaps because he was tangled up in something similar. There was also the uneasy thought that he might have been involved, somewhere, in the circumstances that led to her separation from her family.
Taking advantage of the moment when she was adjusting her gear, Leonardo shifted the conversation without straying too far:
“Why did you apply for the military?”
Though it was a dry question, without even meeting her eyes, the woman stared at him with surprise. It was the first question from the customer who had been cold all along.
“Don’t people around here usually dislike the Imperial Army?”
Perhaps happy a topic had finally been established, she answered in the same bold, spirited tone as before:
“My sister is a soldier, and honestly, though I hate to admit it, she’s really cool. She enlisted four years ago and was immediately deployed to the Irandel Siege. She’s a Turandos War veteran. I want to be like my sister.”
Leonardo’s eyes twitched for a moment. Ah... the topic selection had failed. What followed was something he couldn’t help but know.
The Irandel Siege, though major forces including Leonardo weren’t deployed, was a significant battle that destroyed the Turandos Army’s fortress hidden in the valley after four days of intense confrontation. That battle, by securing a new infiltration route through the valley, became a turning point that tipped the balance of the stalemate in favor of Raina Logia.
Therefore, no imperial citizen could be unaware of the siege that had been a hot topic at the time. However, Leonardo just walked on silently, as if hearing it for the first time. The question that slipped out—clearly not his intention—came a moment later:
“Is she alive?”
“What?”
“Your sister. Is she alive? You said you’re separated from your family.”
“Ah, that was about my parents, and of course she’s alive. My sister is so ill-tempered and tough. She’s someone who even went through special forces training, saying she’d take at least five enemies with her when she dies. She’d probably come back alive even if she fell into hell.”
Though she spoke like that, she clearly adored her sister. She praised her as her hero, even while looking embarrassed.
Even when they lost their parents to the Turandos Army’s bombardment, her sister carried her on her back and walked nonstop along the railway to this Riverside. She doesn’t remember the details because she fainted after crying so much, but her sister’s shoulders never wavered once, even as they crossed the gaps between artillery fire and screams.
That was about eleven years ago, the second year of the war’s outbreak. They were just fourteen and nine years old. It would have been an age when it was hard to accept the reality of suddenly becoming war orphans while living peacefully—just as he had.
Leonardo stared blankly at the greenhorn soldier talking about her hero with shining eyes. In a way, it was fortunate that she’d kept such a cheerful personality despite everything.
Just as he was about to ask the name of the person she called her sister, a shadow fell over his head, and he looked forward.
“It’s the station.”
The woman, who had been chattering, also lifted her head and looked up at the tall building. The complex style—arch-shaped windows packed tight against the stone exterior—stood out. In the middle, a wide entrance leading into the waiting room spread out in perfect left-right symmetry.
Numerous passengers bustled in and out through the entrance, breathing life into the station.
The soldier, adjusting her beret again, muttered as if amazed:
“Wow, we just talked for a bit, and we’re already here?”
Saying she hadn’t even noticed the weight of her gear because they’d been talking while walking, she adjusted it once more.
Leonardo, who had been watching her, answered calmly:
“The shop owner told us to hurry. Do you have a ticket? Isn’t it departing soon?”
“Ah, right. This way.”
She gestured for him to follow and climbed the stairs in front of the station. People occasionally looked when the black uniform entered, but Leonardo was already calmly accepting the gazes.
Instead of pulling his cap down further, he matched his stride to hers and followed half a step behind. He didn’t bother to tell her that someone was holding the buckle of her military gear and lightening the weight.
