Chapter 2
“Indeed, the Nexus’s victory is all thanks to Duke Debert Cliff.”
Arthur spoke with a bright face, sweeping back his flowing blond hair. The whisky in his hand swirled lightly in rhythm with his words.
Seated with his long legs crossed diagonally on the side table, Debert looked more like the duke he left in Wayne than the commander of the imperial army. He was very elegant, and to some, he might even look beautiful.
Arthur quietly observed Debert. He looked so refined that it was hard to believe he was a military leader about to be attacked at dawn. Debert’s demeanour, devoid of any anxiety, was like a well-honed sword or a silent bomb ready to explode.
“We will complete everything once ‘Dawn’ concludes.” This war too.”
Despite his friend’s lack of response, Arthur continued speaking. Such conversations were familiar to Arthur. Having fought together since they were fifteen, he knew Debert’s temperament well.
“When we return, the ladies at the banquet will go wild to see Debert again.”
“Whisky.”
At Debert’s finally opened mouth, Arthur playfully shook his head and poured the whisky.
“With this kind of victory, you should be nicknamed the Goddess of Victory like Nike.”
There was no one in Nexus who didn’t know the Cliff family of Debert.
A founding hero who established the empire with the first emperor, and a war hero who led endless wars to victory. With his unique warlike spirit, immense wealth, and military accomplishments, some even joked that Nexus belonged to the Cliff family.
Well, they weren’t wrong. Even the capital’s name, Wayne, was named after the ancestors of the Cliff family.
Wolf cub, drug addict, war maniac. Even being called the ghost of his deceased father, Cassius, didn’t tarnish Debert’s name.
The Cliff family was practically a symbol of Nexus, and Debert had never neglected his duty.
A man who could evoke both fear and admiration. That contradictory man was Debert Cliff.
“You spent your youth rolling around in the dirt, so I’ll give you a pretty nickname this time.”
Despite Arthur’s lighthearted joke, a heavy silence soon settled over the table. Of course, the silence that arose from tension was not Devert’s. It was Arthur’s, who felt unprecedented anxiety before the final battle, the air raid.
(T/L: An air raid is an attack in which bombs are dropped from aircraft on to a ground target.)
“Shall I tell you something interesting?”
And hiding that low-quality emotion was also Arthur’s job.
“A really pretty nurse is coming to the front hospital.”
Debert’s one eyebrow twitched as he fiddled with the mouth of the sleek glass. His expression was blatantly arrogant, fully implying it was nonsense.
“It’s true. Allen heard it from the gossip. The really interesting part is from here.”
Arthur’s voice dropped as if sharing a very secret story.
“That woman can’t speak.”
“Commander Debert…!”
A soldier rushing into the barracks cut off Arthur’s words.
Arthur’s lips, about to joke about the soldier interrupting the prince, hardened at the soldier’s pale face. A cold sweat-like drop slowly dripped from Arthur’s glass, which was hanging precariously on the table. (T/L: Oh, so Arthur is a prince.)
Debert’s expression as he listened to the soldier was quite peculiar. Though his face showed no emotion, his gleaming eyes seemed to enjoy the situation. His eyes twisted in a different direction when he heard the report from another soldier who followed.
“So, to sum it up… We caught a spy trying to hand over the Dawn operation map, and today of all days, the rear hospital was also bombed?”
Arthur summarised the reports of the two soldiers. This time, he turned his head to his friend, not the commander of Nexus. As if urging him to say something.
“Today is the day to catch rats.”
Debert’s review was brief.
* * *
In the car speeding through the darkness, Debert was lost in thought.
It was expected. Before the final battle, reassessing his side was always part of the routine. No matter how well they hid, it wasn’t hard for Debert to catch spies when the time came.
He set a trap and caught them.
At first, I thought my plan was correct when the soldier who had just entered the barracks reported.
But then, an unexpected variable arose when the signalman, covered in soot*, came in.
(T/L: a deep black powdery or flaky substance consisting largely of amorphous carbon, produced by the incomplete burning of organic matter.)
It just so happened that the military hospital was raided on the night before the operation.
Devert’s grey eyes became even darker as they took in the night air. The military hospital was located in Debert’s territory. Should he call it the enemy’s unfortunate arrogance or a meticulously planned trap to have dared to come here?
Debert, who set the trap, now had to suspect if there was a trap under his feet.
“Stop.”
The car, which had just passed the unpaved dirt road and entered the forest path, stopped. It was the starting point of the path leading to the rear hospital.
“Turn off the lights.”
The driver’s shoulders stiffened with tension at the quick command. The commander he glanced at was staring into the darkness like an abyss.
What on earth do you see? The driver strained his eyes, but he saw nothing at the entrance of the path, stretching out like the jaws of a beast.
Debert’s military boots silently crushed the fallen leaves as he got out of the car. The footsteps of Arthur and a few escort soldiers who followed stopped at Debert’s gesture.
Debert entered the darkness slowly, like a beast watching its prey.
The path, with its long shadows cast by the trees intertwining their heads, was a good hiding place for both those seeking and those hiding.
It was instinct to enter alone. Devert’s instinct to find hidden things in this silence. When catching such things, you must not make a fuss. You must approach them quietly, even holding your breath, so that the alert things cannot escape, and so that they believe they are completely alone.
“Ouch. It hurts… Save me, please.”
That’s how you catch these things.
Debert’s mouth twisted subtly after walking for a while.
Rather than becoming a beast grabbing its prey by the neck, Debert decided to be a spectator of the play. For a more perfect viewing, he took a step back. Even the moonlight couldn’t catch his shadow, which had stepped back.
“Please save me… Hah, hah…”
The chest of the injured soldier, whispering for his life, was already soaked in blood. His pale face and the blood dripping from his mouth with every cough. Would he last another hour? Debert made a meaningless calculation.
The only thing worth watching was the other soldier, with his back to Debert, fumbling around in a panic.
A soldier wearing a uniform obviously too big for him frantically searched his pockets. Bandages and medicines tumbled onto the leaves. Finally, even a syringe.
Unlike the clumsy initial movements, the way he shook the painkiller, inserted the syringe, and used the injured man’s belt as a tourniquet showed he wasn’t new to this. Even though medical officers were illegal in Nexus.
Meanwhile, the mischievous moonlight clung to Debert’s shadow again.
“Ugh, it hurts…”
The injured man’s blue lips suddenly began to tremble.
Despite the syringe falling powerlessly to the ground, the man continued to writhe, as if nothing else mattered.
“De… Debert…!”
Devert’s head, which had been tilted crookedly along the needle of the syringe, slowly turned around.
“It’s the Kobach Army.”
The play was over.
The muzzle of the gun gleamed as he walked slowly out of the audience.
It was obvious what was happening on the other side of the road.. The communication soldier reported that the hospital director had colluded with the enemy. The hospital always had spare uniforms, which they handed over, making it easy to cross the Nexus border in an allied uniform.
“Please, spare me…”
How cliché.
Even before the last plea was finished, Devert’s gun, fully loaded, was pulled first.
Turning back, Debert’s clean military boots headed for something more interesting. To the pitiful prey staring at him blankly, forgetting even to tremble.
From beneath the military cap, the pale, thin chin showed he wasn’t from the Kovach army. Which meant he was from Nexus. An ally saving the enemy. Debert laughed at the absurdity of the situation.
Debert slowly picked up the syringe that had fallen at the soldier’s knee. Despite bending one knee, the small soldier couldn’t meet Debert’s gaze. The lips under the cap were the only visible part.
“Affiliation.”
No answer.
Debert decided to be a little more patient. After all, he was the only one who knew the situation beyond the path and might provide a decent answer.
“Only two kinds can come from that path. Allies, or…”
Debert’s straight fingers pointed to the corpse behind him.
“Enemies pretending to be allies.”
“An enemy pretending to be an ally.”
Devert’s hand slowly wrapped around the soldier’s chin. Lips that had no intention of opening were roughly squashed under Debert’s coarse thumb.
“Which one are you?”
The grip on the trembling chin tightened. The thick fingers that had been circling his lips opened the soldier’s teeth. The clammy warmth, contrasting with the cold night air, was transmitted without a filter.
Just enough heat to be scared.
“Speak.”
Even though his hands were gnawing at his mouth so viciously that it seemed as if they would swallow him up to his throat, the soldier did not scream. The shallow breaths escaping between Debert’s fingers confirmed that the soldier was at least not dead.
Debert, having discarded the syringe, roughly grabbed the soldier by the collar. The soldier, ensnared by the oversized uniform, looked as if he were caught in a net. Debert’s brutal gaze remained fixed on a grand tree bathed in moonlight.
When he tossed the struggling soldier at the tree’s base, the soldier crawled on the ground, wheezing without making a sound. It made Debert feel even more impatient.
Debert again grabbed the soldier’s collar, lifting him. He lifted him up with his back against the tree, and the soldier’s feet clacked against the tree. His eyes, tightly shut, showed no sign of opening as if he were suffocating.
“Open your eyes.”
Only when the soldier was on the brink of passing out did their eyes finally meet. Shadowed by his cap, the soldier’s eyes appeared darker than they really were.
“Speak.”
Debert’s ash-grey eyes gleamed like a predator’s in the night.
At that moment, a fierce wind violently shook the serene forest. Branches, stretching endlessly, collided with each other, making eerie sounds, and Debert’s usually neat hair fluttered wildly in the wind.
People called the winter nights in Nexus the “nights of secrets.” The strong winds were said to be perfect for concealing secrets.
But sometimes, something too sweet to hide would come along. For instance.
“Who are you?”
Like an unfamiliar scent carried by secrets pouring down like ebony.(T/L: This story looks interesting)
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TRANSLATOR:
If you find any mistakes, please let me know in the comment section.
Happy reading : )
