Chapter 143 : Misunderstanding (1)
Misunderstanding (1)
On the way to see Devanne, following Lantz.
Unlike Lantz, who was moving along excitedly at a brisk pace, I wasn't happy about it at all.
If anything, I felt more uneasy.
First of all, it didn't sit well with me that he only showed up after all the hardship was over.
After all, Devanne is also a company commander, so he must be 4th-rank,
and if he had arrived just a few days earlier and fought alongside Schutmann, the result might have been different.
Well, I could chalk this up to fate decreed by the heavens.
But the truth was, there was a different reason my thoughts were churning inside.
'Because there's a chance the fire mage who raided the spirit stone quarry was Plerine.'
In fact, my suspicions about this had only been growing stronger with time.
Several circumstances pointed in that direction.
The rumor was that a single fire mage had wiped out the entire garrison stationed at the spirit stone quarry and put a 4th-rank company commander into a coma.
There aren't many mages who can produce that kind of firepower,
but if it was Plerine, it was certainly possible.
And—
'As soon as Plerine got her memory back, she tried to leave the village.'
It was only barely that I managed to keep her here,
but that day, the look and atmosphere she showed me went beyond nervousness to outright anxiety.
That was why, as time passed, my doubts about her kept growing.
'Maybe the real reason she wanted to get away so fast was because she herself had raided the spirit stone quarry.'
Just as I was thinking this, the only survivor to have faced the mage at the spirit stone quarry, Company Commander Devanne, had arrived.
That meant he would soon reveal the identity of the culprit who raided the spirit stone quarry.
'Who exactly is the culprit, I wonder?'
Mulling over these thoughts while following Lantz,
Thump, thump.
I could feel my heartbeat gradually speed up.
Of course, it was possible I was just overreacting or barking up the wrong tree,
but my brain seemed to sense an oncoming fight and was pumping out adrenaline.
'Damn it.'
Just as I toppled the external enemy and was about to go home, a variable like this appeared.
When would I ever get any proper rest?
'Please, let it be a false lead this time too.'
Lost in such thoughts as I walked,
"Company Commander Devanne!"
Lantz's voice brought me back to reality.
Before I knew it, Lantz had already dashed ahead,
and the person coming from the opposite side was using his sheathed sword as a cane, limping along.
His face was wrapped in bandages, telling me this was Devanne.
But—
'He looks better than I expected?'
It's not a short distance from Granfen village to this frontline garrison,
and yet it seemed Devanne had come all the way here alone, without any escort or support.
'Then when did he wake up?'
It must have been quite some time since he came out of his coma.
Even for a 4th-rank, making that journey alone right after waking from a coma would be impossible.
Sure enough,
"Urgh."
Devanne's hand slipped, and he staggered as if about to fall,
but Lantz shot forward and barely managed to catch him.
"Are you all right, Company Commander Devanne?!"
Devanne answered with a bitter smile at Lantz's question.
"I almost had to kneel before you, Company Commander Lantz."
At the sound of his voice, I frowned instinctively.
Devanne, who obviously looked older than Lantz, was using formal speech,
and I couldn't help but recall the infuriating Schutmann.
First impression: minus one hundred points.
'No, let's upgrade it to minus one hundred fifty points.'
As I scored him internally, Lantz cracked a joke.
"Did you forget after waking up? Officially, I'm the 1st Company Commander and your senior, you know."
"If that's the case, could you please speak casually just once, Company Commander Lantz?"
"... Ahem, that would be a bit..."
As Lantz avoided his gaze in embarrassment, Devanne smiled contentedly.
While I roughly inferred the relationship between the two,
Devanne's eyes met mine.
'??'
Though his face was covered in bandages, his eyes weren't.
The deep wrinkles at the corners of his eyes and his sharp pupils were completely visible.
"..."
As the eye contact lasted for about three seconds,
my pounding heart gradually settled.
'This is completely unexpected.'
His gaze conveyed a profound gratitude toward me.
If my guess was right and it had actually been some time since he woke from his coma,
he'd have heard rumors about me and Plerine in Granfen village by now.
Yet to give me a look like that— it could only mean one thing.
'No way, was I wrong?'
Maybe Plerine really wasn't the mage who raided the spirit stone quarry,
I was painting such a rosy picture in my head when Devanne brushed off Lantz's support and began hobbling toward me.
Even though he was still limping,
he didn't use his sword as a cane, instead coming up as upright as possible.
It looked like he was trying his best to show respect.
'Should I retract the negative points I docked him earlier for his first impression?'
Devanne came to stand right in front of me and spoke.
"Black hair and a kitchen knife—that must make you the outsider Ian."
I couldn't help but furrow my eyebrows.
The term 'outsider' now felt extremely awkward to me.
'Minus a thousand points to you.'
So now Devanne is at minus one thousand one hundred fifty points, and I wondered how to answer in a way that would properly offend him,
But chak! Devanne saluted me and said,
"It's a relief you're safe."
"Pardon?"
Had we ever met before, to warrant him being glad that I was safe?
*
We moved to the battalion commander's tent.
Apparently, commanders weren't supposed to chat idly in front of their soldiers or something.
'Then you should have excluded me, the platoon leader, from this.'
I grumbled internally as I braced myself for Lantz and Devanne's trip-down-memory-lane banter,
but just then, the tent flap opened and a red-haired girl burst in, panting for breath.
"What kind of state are you in, Devanne? You're not a mummy from the Holy Kingdom, you know."
Legion, too, flashed a huge grin at seeing Devanne.
Devanne responded with a smile of his own,
"It's been so long that it looks like you've gotten taller. Congratulations, Special Investigator Legion."
The moment those words left his mouth, Legion dashed over and jumped, delivering a hectopascal kick right at him.
Of course, the angle of her kick was a work of art, but there was no strength behind it at all—
Pow!
"?!"
Crash.
Contrary to everyone's expectations, Devanne collapsed pathetically,
and Legion, startled at her own kick, shouted.
"De-Devanne! Are you all right?!"
Lantz hurriedly checked Devanne's condition and then called out to me.
"Devanne's mana is completely drained. Help, Platoon Leader Ian!"
... Ha. This is a mess.
*
It had barely been a few days since the battalion commander died and disappeared,
but in that short time his absence was keenly felt.
There was the work itself, and making the tough decisions for the unit was no joke,
but even harder than all that was managing the commanders.
'Seriously, it's like dealing with children.'
No matter how happy you are to see someone,
how can you just run up and kick someone who nearly died?
'Well, this is the same Legion who asked to sleep with me after the minor Demon Realm raid.'
Never forget.
Despite her appearance, she's both strictly military and mischievous, true to her looks.
Anyway, just as I did for Hank, I performed the most inefficient task ever—injecting mana into Devanne.
Maybe it was because my concentration was off, but it was tens of times harder than with Hank.
"Haa. Back from the dead... khak, khak!"
Devanne coughed like a patient.
'... Wasn't that blood?'
There were red stains on his bandaged white hand,
but Devanne just wiped them away indifferently.
Meanwhile, Legion looked ashamed and was simmering medicine in the corner.
"Just hang in there, Devanne."
The bitter smell of medicine filled the tent and calmed me a bit,
and Devanne, seeming to have regained his composure, spoke.
"I owe you my life twice now, Platoon Leader Ian. Thank you, really."
He might owe me once, but for him to say "twice,"
I looked at him quizzically, and Devanne explained.
"While I was unconscious, my subordinates kept feeding me food from Happiness Gukbap. Not a single day's rest. The food was called 'rice porridge', apparently..."
I understood instantly.
The ingredients bought from the [shop window] themselves have buff effects.
Maybe that buff helped a little with his recovery.
'Though it only lasts a few minutes as a strength buff.'
Honestly, I doubt that alone would have helped Devanne recover from a coma.
Dunbell's cooking doesn't apply my completed Korean food buff either.
Most likely, it was the 'placebo effect' whipped up by rumor and atmosphere.
'Hmm. He's completely mistaken.'
Either way, he was giving me grateful looks, so it wasn't a bad situation.
I decided to gloss over it and ask something more pressing.
"I'm glad my shop's food helped you recover, but more than that, why did you say you were relieved I was safe?"
Didn't that sound odd?
It implied he knew something had happened to me and came because of it.
Then—
"If I'd known you'd be this fine, I would have taken my time coming. Or just stayed put."
Devanne joked, and I had to quickly mask my expression.
"The waitress with the blindfold at your shop told me. She said something was happening at the frontline."
My heart sank.
Could it mean that Plerine and Devanne had met? I asked,
"Did you... meet Plerine?"
"I don't know her name. Just a tall waitress with long violet hair."
When he mentioned her height, Legion, crouching in the corner, flinched,
but I ignored it, mind racing.
'Devanne met Plerine. But if he says this now...'
Before I knew it, the corners of my mouth curled up.
'The mage who raided the spirit stone quarry and put Devanne in a coma was NOT Plerine!'
That thought occurred to me, but I didn't let my guard down.
This wasn't something to just guess at and move on.
"When you saw Plerine, did you notice anything strange?"
"Strange? Hm. Ah! For some reason, the moment she saw me, she started crying."
At that answer, I felt my breath catch in my throat.
The only times I'd ever seen Plerine cry were when she was moved by my food, and when her memories returned.
For her to cry upon seeing Devanne meant—
'It really was her. Plerine.'
It was as if poison dissolved in the center of my solar plexus,
sending a bitter pain spreading through my entire body.
At the same time, my brain began to calculate the situation,
but Devanne's voice interrupted my thoughts.
"Don't worry. I'm sure that waitress was just worried about you, Platoon Leader Ian."
"Sorry? What do you mean...?"
"She cried for a while after seeing me, then suddenly seemed to regain her senses and frantically told me the frontline was in danger and I needed to send support immediately. She was begging, really."
At last, I understood why Devanne had said he was glad I was safe.
When I used the enchanted magic Plerine had cast on Nash,
she realized something had happened to me.
And just then, Devanne showed up, startling her—
but Plerine realized:
'Devanne doesn't remember her.'
Just as Plerine had suffered amnesia,
Devanne, who'd spent even longer unconscious, also lost his memory.
In that sense, it was natural.
So, even though I wanted to ask Devanne if he remembered anything about the spirit stone quarry attack,
the moment didn't fit at all,
'And there's always the risk he could suddenly regain his memory.'
So I quietly closed my mouth and just nodded, and Devanne said with a satisfied smile,
"While I was asleep, that waitress's influence on the village was no joke."
The first time Devanne heard from Plerine that something was going on at the frontline,
he thought the woman in the blindfold was crazy.
But the reactions of the villagers and soldiers were different.
― Company Commander! We have to listen to Plerine!
― Nobody's ever come to harm by listening to that blindfolded shop worker!
Once again, my chest was filled with emotion.
It was without me realizing that Plerine
was, in so many ways, protecting Granfen village.
That's how she earned the villagers' trust
and made it possible for Devanne to rush here without rest.
"I didn't eat or rest for two days coming here. And then immediately got KO'ed by Special Investigator Legion's kick."
That explained why he was limping upon arrival at the frontline garrison.
"But unfortunately, this time, the blindfolded waitress was wrong."
Devanne wrapped up with a wry smile.
"Hm? What's with you all? Khak! Khak!"
He seemed startled by Lantz's sudden change in expression,
and coughed awkwardly.
Looks like it's time for us to tell our side of the story.
"Let us tell you what happened while you were sleeping."
I'll make you feel glad you slept through it all.