Chapter 35

Kanis was tapping her shoe soles against the wall to knock off the frozen snow stuck underneath.

The weather had turned bitterly cold, leaving everything covered in frozen snow.

Unlike humans, monsters weren’t affected by temperature or weather, making it a time to exercise extra caution.

At that moment, an irritating sound of movement came from above.

Kanis didn’t even bother to sigh.

As soon as a pile of garbage came tumbling down, she quickly moved away from the building to avoid it.

And in that instant, someone jumped directly under the falling garbage heap.

Logically, it seemed like they had tried to shield Kanis from the falling trash.

It was a face she had never seen before.

Was someone like that even in the barracks?

Kanis stared blankly at the young man now covered in the foul-smelling trash, then walked away without a word.

The young man brushed back his drooping hair and let out a sigh mixed with laughter.

After that, Kanis kept running into him for some reason.

It wasn’t like he was deliberately getting in her way, but he was always within sight, standing out too much to be ignored.

Recently, with many people struggling to make ends meet, there had been an increase in volunteers joining the military. He must have joined as one of those new recruits.

Everyone else scattered like minnows whenever they saw Kanis, but his gaze lingered on her so blatantly that even someone as indifferent as Kanis could feel it.

When she couldn’t stand it anymore and turned her head sharply, she expected him to look away. Instead, he met her eyes as if he had been waiting for it.

In the end, Kanis was the one who had to look away first.

One day, Kanis found her armor—meant for battle—so damaged it was unwearable.

With no other choice, she had to take a standard-issue leather armor from the storage and join the ranks wearing it.

A blonde man leading the group on horseback glanced at Kanis and chuckled.

“Who’s that man?”

Kanis instinctively turned her eyes toward the voice, only to realize the question was directed at her.

“…Are you asking me?”

The young man nodded as if to say, 

“Who else would I be asking?”

Kanis redirected her gaze toward the blonde at the front.

“Prandia Sylan.”

“Ah, the Crown Prince’s right-hand man.”

“…”

It was the first time anyone had spoken to her so unnecessarily.

Kanis scratched the bridge of her nose and walked away.

Another day, during the dinner distribution, Kanis sat alone at a table, with every other seat around her empty.

Everyone naturally passed by her with their food in hand.

Then, someone sat directly across from her.

By this point, Kanis didn’t even need to look up to know who it was.

She was slightly on edge, worried he might try to strike up a conversation, but the young man quietly ate his meal and simply stood up when Kanis did.

There was also this incident.

During an intense skirmish with monsters, Kanis had returned with injuries worse than usual.

The injured soldiers were being treated by the barracks’ medics.

As Kanis limped toward the medics for treatment, the young man suddenly appeared and scooped her up.

He bypassed the line of injured soldiers and ran straight to a medic, setting her down on their lap.

The medic, who had been startled into dropping their bandages, and the soldier who had been shoved aside, were undoubtedly bewildered.

Kanis, left speechless and cradled in the medic’s arms, could only open and close her mouth in shock. The young man quickly explained:

“Emergency cases are treated first.”

Technically, Kanis did have the most severe injuries.

The medic cautiously slid out from under her and began examining her wounds.

Kanis remained in a daze until the young man, satisfied, walked away.

What was that all about?

Kanis furrowed her brow.

…Why did this feel familiar? Like I had thought something similar before.

But she couldn’t quite recall who it was about.

***

One day, a small reconnaissance team was formed to scout the movements of the Demon King’s monsters.

When night fell, the team camped out on a mountain trail, sitting around a fire and sharing sleeping bags.

As expected, no one bothered to offer anything to Kanis, who sat apart from the group.

She didn’t intend to join them anyway, so she curled up under a tree trunk, turning her back to them to sleep.

After all, she wasn’t here to make friends.

But when Kanis opened her eyes slightly at dawn, she sighed deeply.

A small fire had been lit near her, as if someone had been watching over her just moments ago. She was also covered with a thick blanket up to her chin.

Sitting up slightly, Kanis easily spotted the culprit, leaning against a tree across from her and dozing off.

He had wrapped himself tightly in his own blanket.

So whose blanket was this?

Looking further, she noticed a man among the group shivering without a blanket.

Kanis chuckled softly, walked over, and draped the blanket back over him before returning to her spot.

Sitting by the fire, she could see the young man’s features clearly in the flickering light.

They were both delicate and striking.

Not the kind of face that seemed accustomed to hardship. 

How had he ended up in the expedition?

And why was he here, even though he wasn’t part of the reconnaissance team?

Whenever he was involved, things always seemed to take an odd turn.

Even now. She shouldn’t be feeling this way.

Kanis stared blankly at his sleeping face, then poked the fire with a stick.

If he wanted something, he should just say so.

Whatever he wanted, she would give it to him. Anything, as long as—

Kanis hugged her knees and buried her face in them.

She wished he would disappear from her sight soon.

She whispered such a selfish hope, though it wasn’t what she truly wanted.

But she swore, she had never wished for his death.

Kanis nearly lost her composure during a battle.

It was a chaotic fight against burrowing centipede-like monsters and flying monsters.

The battlefield was riddled with traps, and one wrong move could be fatal.

Most mages held the front line, while regular soldiers and knights stayed in the rear, using arrows to fend off the flying monsters and finishing off the incapacitated ones.

Naturally, Kanis was fighting at the forefront.

A monster’s tentacle shot out from an underground tunnel, wrapping around her ankle and pulling her down. The rain-soaked ground caused her to lose balance.

A flying monster dove down, raining spikes on her.

As Kanis was dragged into the tunnel, she raised her shield, ready to endure some injuries.

But then, a soldier appeared out of nowhere, deflecting all the spikes with his sword.

Kanis was in the chaotic front line, a place even seasoned mages struggled to hold.

And yet, a mere soldier had entered the fray.

“Who the hell are you?”

Kanis, stabbing her sword into the monster pulling her down, turned and shoved the soldier’s chest.

When she saw his crimson irises through his helmet, her anger surged like never before.

“…You!”

Her vision turned white.

“Why are you here?!”

Kanis swatted away another volley of spikes with a wave of her hand and tackled him to the ground as a large-scale magic attack struck the battlefield.

The scorched earth was littered with corpses, both human and monster.

As the battle ended with the monsters retreating, Kanis stormed after the soldier, who was removing his helmet.

“What’s your deal? Do you even realize where you are?!”

“If it weren’t for me, you would’ve been hurt.”

“Yeah, and you could’ve died!”

“But you’re alive, and so am I. So what’s the problem?”

Kanis was speechless.

She ran a hand through her hair in frustration before asking abruptly:

“How old are you? Why are you so recklessly foolish at your age?”

“And how old are you, Kanis? Seventeen? Eighteen?”

“What? Why does my age—”

Kanis suddenly felt a strange sense of dissonance.

Now that she thought about it, she was eighteen.

“At our age, being thrust into life-or-death situations is the same for both of us, isn’t it?”

“You and I are different!”

“How so?”

“…”

“Explain it to me.”

Kanis felt like he was angry.

Why was he mad when he was the one at fault?

Kanis scowled.

“Do you think you’re the first reckless kid I’ve seen? Keep this up, and you’ll die. You’ll die!”

“Then set an example for me.”

“What?”

“I’ve only been learning from you.”

“But you’re weak!”

Her voice betrayed the anxiety and unease she couldn’t hide.

Realizing her slip, Kanis clamped her mouth shut, her throat tightening.

The young man’s expression changed.

“…Are you worried about me?”