“WHAAAAATTTT?!” Ana’s loud shriek pierced everything in the room.
The shock she felt clearly displayed on her face as the young woman glared at the one in front of her while still letting out a surprised noise.
“Ana, calm down.” Charles quickly interjected. H
“What the hell, Charles? How can I calm down?!” Ana let out, refusing the man’s request.
At this point, she had let go of the notion of superiority. Ana’s rage was far too intense for her to consider such a thing.
Charles looked a little flustered and even annoyed by Ana’s reaction— this only caused the latter to flare up in greater anger.
“You sent Jeremy to the battlefront?! How could you?!” Her shriek increased with each passing statement.
Charles attempted to speak, but she cut him short and kept spurting words of annoyance and disbelief..
Not only Ana, but every member of her team expressed their displeasure— of course, none of them were bold enough to say anything, but through their facial reactions, they supported Ana’s fury against the Camp Leader.
Charles was exhausted at this point. Frustration didn’t even begin to describe the emotion that swirled deeply within him. Was there any way for him to explain to the woman in front of him that her worry was misplaced?
“Jeremy is nothing but a weak boy! He did so much for the Camp, yet you still sent him to die!?!”
Charles wanted to scream, but he kept his composure. Ana didn’t understand anything— that was why she was able to valiantly fight for Jeremy with so much energy.
“Explain yourself, Charles!” The seething young woman demanded.
‘What should I tell you, Ana?’
Charles couldn’t have told her the truth, now could he?
‘Hey, Ana, do you know the ‘weak boy’ you’re so worried about is powerful enough to level this entire Camp? He has been fooling everyone this whole time!’
Charles couldn’t have said these words to her. He wanted to, so badly, but what would that achieve? Even if she believed him by some miracle, Ana was no match for Jeremy. Plus, as things stood, the entire squad was relying on Jeremy.
It was no understatement to say that the Camp’s survival was only guaranteed by Jeremy’s existence. Plus, the current plan was enacted by the ‘weak boy’ that Ana wanted to protect so much.
‘I just have to play by his rules… for now…’ Charles but his teeth.
Despite his growing hatred for the boy, he couldn’t lose sight of his goals. Besides, his dear wife was currently on the field with Jeremy. She was more or less a hostage.
“Let me make myself perfectly clear, Ana…” Charles began, finally obtaining the opportunity to speak.
Ana’s eyes were still ablaze with rage, but she allowed the Camp Leader to speak his mind… she wasn’t entirely unreasonable, after all.
“This is what Jeremy wanted.”
Upon hearing this, Ana burst out in another tantrum.
“Why would you even use that as a basis to-“
Jeremy might have wanted to contribute to the Camp since he would be viewed as a burden to his new family if he did nothing, but Ana knew he was only a powerless boy. Why would Charles listen to the selfless request of such an innocent child?
“It’s because that’s the final resort we need to win!” Charles declared, banging his hand on the desk to request decorum.
He had just uttered a lie.
But, just as Jeremy wanted, he would go with the plan and deceive Ana. That was the only way things would be resolved— though just barely.
“W-what are you talking about?” Ana muttered, slowly mellowing out.
“Jeremy told you, didn’t he? That there was a way he could help the Camp contact the Masked man… but he could only reveal that to me.”
Ana nodded, clearly remembering that Charles and Jeremy had had many private sessions all because of this ‘secret plan’. She had thought the Camp Leader was warming up to him, but to think he still sent him out to die!
“Well, the only way to contact the Masked man is if Jeremy gets in contact with a Demon. Apparently, the masked man imbued Jeremy’s Status with that effect. If he’s in any grave danger of Demon aggression, the masked man would appear!”
Ana listened in astonishment. She didn’t know anything like this.
“B-but, that means…”
“Yes. He offered to go with the Subjugation team in case they wouldn’t be able to handle the Demon Horde. His presence with them only serves as a last resort and I’m sure Daniel and everyone else will ensure that his safety is top priority— second only to stopping the Horde.
Ana gritted her teeth as soon as Charles made that statement. Something about it didn’t seem right.
“Why… would you allow something like that? He’s only a harmless child…”
Charles felt like screaming a bug ‘NO!’ but once again kept his emotions in check. For the sake of the Camp’s safety— for his family… Charles has to play by Jeremy’s rules.
“It was the only way, Ana. Hopefully, it won’t come to that. The formation ensures he is given the safest position, so there’s no need to worry about him so much. The only way he dies is if everyone on the Subjugation team dies. And… if that happens, the. The Horde will make its way here and everyone in this Camp will meet the same fate as well.”
Charles made a valid point. If Jeremy was bound to die in the Subjugation team, it meant he would die if he stayed back too. The judgment was logical and cold-blooded. As one who was easily swayed by her emotion, Ana found that unacceptable.
“How can you just make a plan like that? Charles… are you even human?” Her whisper indicated hatred, something Charles felt he didn’t deserve.
In the first place, the plan wasn’t his— Jeremy wrote a script and all he was doing was following his lines. Plus, it wasn’t like the Camp Leader had nothing to lose either. His wife was in the Subjugation Team as well.
He hoped, more than anything, that they all returned alive.
“Call me whatever you want. As long as the enemies are vanquished… that’s all that matters.”
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