Chapter 14: Unsuccessful Idiots
"Why are you the only one who returned from your team?"
The girl with a tan complexion looked at Lucas with pleading eyes.
"W-we didn’t try to fight. There were just too many."
Lucas asked:
"Are you lying to me?"
"N-no, there really were so many."
"I’ll believe that, but not that they didn’t try to fight. Whatever..."
Lucas leaned forward slightly, then added:
"What I want to know is why they’re dead and you’re alive."
"...Because I ran."
The girl hung her head, letting her dark, wavy hair fall over her eyes.
Lucas continued his barrage of questions.
"When did you run? Before, during, or after they fought?"
That seemed to set the girl off. She shot to her feet and screamed at Lucas.
"Are you accusing me of abandoning them?!"
"If you want to take it that way, then do so. Not that it truly matters. I was trying to gauge whether they might still be alive."
"I... I ran during the fight. B-but it was already doomed. Two of them had died, and the others were knocking on death’s door."
Lucas replied calmly:
"I don’t care for excuses."
"I’m s-sorry."
"I don’t care for apologies either. You survived. That’s enough..."
The words caught Axel off guard. He hadn’t expected them from a man who had been speaking with such a cold demeanor.
Lucas continued:
"That was what I intended with my order: for you to run. Leaving behind idiots who ignored my warning is not something I’ll scold you for."
"I-I see..."
"However, I do hope you have something useful to share. What direction did your group go, and what did you discover?"
The girl paused, trying to regain her composure. Then, as calmly as her shaking voice would allow, she said:
"W-we went north. We found an array of l-logs. Before we could investigate, a patrol of five g-goblins found us. We barely managed to fight them off, but then an ungodly horde of around f-fifty appeared and surrounded us."
"I see. Thank you for the information. Your name?"
"Am-amaya."
Once Lucas was done with her, Amaya sat back down, lowered her head to her knees, and began sobbing.
Lucas turned to address the next scouting group, but Axel’s gaze remained fixed on Amaya.
Something about her felt off, as though she wasn’t being entirely truthful. He didn’t know what she could be lying about or why, but the nagging feeling irked him.
Still, whether it was a lie or the truth, it made no difference. She was here alone, and her group was dead.
Lucas continued to interrogate the last group and praised them for actually following his directions.
With all their information pooled, Lucas suggested that they head to the goblin camp Axel’s group had taken over and take refuge there for the night. First, though, they would take a thirty-minute respite to catch their breath and eat some of the rations Axel’s group had brought back.
During that time...
"Is he really dead?"
Axel questioned Maks, who sat against a tree, resting with his head lowered.
"Yes," Maks answered curtly.
"What of his body, then?"
"I told everyone already. A goblin came by and took him. Instead of fighting to save a man who was probably going to die anyway, I ran as ordered."
Maks looked Axel dead in the eyes, then added:
"What? Are you going to berate me for running?"
Axel hung his head.
"No, I don’t blame you. It’s just a shame."
"Yes, it is."
Maks, probably not wanting to talk anymore, got up and walked away without even giving Axel a proper farewell.
Axel wasn’t mad at him, even though Maks had abandoned his savior.
It was a savior’s destiny to die, after all.
That was the beauty of a savior. They were only ever meant to become a memory.
Axel’s memory of him, and of how he’d saved him, should be vivid enough to last until another one came around.
Axel let a wry smile creep onto his face and sat down where Maks had been.
Although, now that he thought about it, it did seem odd that the place where his savior had been showed no blood trail or splatter.
But it wasn’t good for the mind to overthink things in these situations.
Axel needed to relax.
***
During the break, a few questionable things happened.
Mainly involving Zayn.
Zayn didn’t seem interested in any of the looks people gave him. He was too occupied with gazing at his tattoo and, surprisingly, Axel.
Apparently, Axel had been added to Zayn’s list of things to stare at because he alternated between looking at his tattoo and looking at Axel.
Oddly, Zayn’s gaze also fell on Amaya once. He walked over to talk to her while she sat motionless, staring at the ground.
When Axel saw that, his feeling of unease deepened.
’I still don’t know why my gut dislikes those two...’
Other than that, people kept asking Axel how it felt to fight goblins and how he was so strong. But with the image of goblin children exploding into chunky bits and the man in puppy pajamas being eaten still fresh in his mind, he wasn’t in the mood to talk.
Eventually, people left him alone.
Then, as promised, the eastern scouting group led the Summoned to the camp they’d taken over.
In the time they’d been gone, all evidence of their crimes had been erased as if none of it had ever happened. The only proof was the green blood splattered across Axel and the others. Any blood that had stained the ground or the black wood had disappeared.
The Summoned quickly claimed their own spaces within the enclosure, and Lucas worked on dividing the loot evenly. In the end, everyone was armed with a weapon, even if it was crude.
After a time, Lucas gathered everyone for an announcement and declared that when night fell, guards would be chosen to watch the area outside the gate. The guards would be divided into groups of four and would switch every two hours.
Lucas assigned the guards and their shifts.
Axel and half his group were chosen as the first guards as punishment for disobeying Lucas. It wasn’t too bad a punishment, though. At least they wouldn’t have to wake up in the middle of the night.
The four guards on the first shift were Zayn, Connor, Ryon, and Axel.