Chapter 2 – It’s A Mistake, Captain! (Part 3)

After a brief contemplation, she stepped onto a protruding rock beside the nest. For a very brief moment, the dagger at her waist seemed to resonate with something, but Lena had no time to notice it.

She grabbed onto the protruding rocks and carefully stepped on the relatively flat parts as she climbed down. She succeeded a few times.

A few times.

Crack-.

“Huh?”

The rock she was holding onto broke off from the cliff. Lena instinctively enveloped herself with aura. Even though it would only slightly cushion the impact, it was better than nothing.

The ground beneath her feet gave way, and her entire body tilted downward in an instant. A chilling shiver rose to her head, making her dizzy.

“Huh!”

Tears streamed down her face and fell with her. Meanwhile, she desperately covered her mouth with both hands.

There was no one to save her even if she screamed. She didn’t want to attract other monsters with unnecessary noise.

If she fell and died like this, there would be no way to stop monsters from coming to eat her shattered corpse…

It was a horrible thought. Lena didn’t even want to imagine such a future.

‘Help! Someone, please help me! Sobs, Captain! Please save me!’

Her heart pounded violently in fear.

In the midst of falling at a fierce speed, the one she desperately cried out for was neither her betrothed nor her family. It was… him, who always worried about her until the end.

Splash–!

“Puh, cough!”

Was it a stroke of luck in misfortune, or another misfortune?

The place where Lena landed was a river being swept by a rapid current.

The direction of the river’s flow led deeper into the monster’s territory, further away from the empire’s border area.

***

Buzz-.

“Ugh.”

Buzz-.

“What is… so noisy…?”

Buzz buzz-.

“Ha…”

The vibration starting from her waist made her dizzy. Her whole body was soaked and aching.

“What is it?”

She fumbled around her waist trying to find the source of the persistent vibration, but it had already stopped.

Her fingers accidentally brushed against Alhendore’s dagger, but she didn’t have the energy to care.

“Ah, whatever…”

Lena, feeling nauseous, staggered and barely supported herself against a tree.

The dark forest was still a bleak reality, but it was much better than being in the middle of a cliff. She wasn’t injured to the point of being unable to move, after all.

Lena reached into the inner pocket of her chest and took out a compass.

A compass was a mandatory part of the subjugation squad’s uniform. They never knew when they might get lost.

‘I never thought I’d actually use this.’

Following the compass pointing east, she walked endlessly.

How much time had passed? 

She began to feel chills as sweat started to form despite already being soaked.

Moreover…

The damp, dark forest made her dizzy. The sight was eerie, as if bluish-black hands were beckoning her to come closer.

The occasional roar of something added to the creepiness.

Had it rained? 

The ground was a muddy mess. The sticky sensation of the mud clinging to her toes felt like it was constantly holding her ankles, trying to prevent her from escaping.

‘What is this smell…?’

She covered her nose at the intense smell she had never encountered before. The thick, heavy odor pierced through her hand covering her nose.

At some point, Lena had been walking while hunched over. She hurriedly looked around. What she saw in her peripheral vision was the decaying corpse of something.

“Ugh, ugh! Blegh!!”

Her stomach churned, but there was nothing to expel except bile. She tightly closed her eyes and ran without looking back.

She ran and ran. Even as the thick branches of the pathless forest scratched her skin, leaving small and large wounds.

She ran for a long time. It didn’t take long for her already exhausted body to reach its limit.

Her desperate steps gradually slowed. She panted heavily, and her chest tightened with spasmodic pain.

Her courage, which was already waning, quickly and mercilessly eroded like a sandcastle on the shore, swept away by the sea of fear.

“Sob…”

How did it come to this? 

The rising sorrow was as hard to endure as the biting cold and fear.

“Really, sob, that terrible person…”

If it weren’t for that awful boss, she’d be sailing across the vast ocean by now.

Arm in arm with her fiancé, sharing wine as the mood set in, and then heading to the bedroom-

“Sob, that’s… even worse!! Hic, ugh…”

Honestly, she felt bad for Galverd, but she didn’t really like men who looked like anchovies.

Her type was a rugged, muscular, cold beauty. She especially liked men with a perfectly chiseled V-line on their lower abdomen.

“I hate my dad. Sob, I hate my aunt…”

How could they bring someone who looked like a date palm and call him my fiancé?

The memory of his greasy face looking down on her lingered in her mind.

But what could she do? Her father had brought in all sorts of debts to save such a man as her fiancé, so she had to get married. Earn a dowry, pay off the debt.

“Sob…”

Life is truly sad.

Lena wiped her tears with the back of her hand. Her steps halted, and her overflowing emotions showed no sign of drying up.

“Eh, eh, eh-choo!”

As if things weren’t bad enough, the increasing cold made her lower jaw tremble.

“Sob, Captain…”

If you brought me to a place like this, you should take responsibility!

Finally, she couldn’t hold back her tears any longer, and they poured out uncontrollably. The rationality she had barely maintained shattered helplessly, along with her trembling hands.

“Waah! Captain, you’re mean. Really mean! Sob, Captain, sob, you’re so cruel…!”

“Shh.”

“Sniff, huh?”

Captain?

The sound was so faint it could be mistaken for the wind. Lena thought she had misheard.

Why would he come running in the middle of such an important extermination? 

He wasn’t just anyone; he was the captain, the core of the subjugation squad.

Then, when the bushes rustled, she was so startled she nearly screamed. The man who appeared through the foliage, breathing heavily, pulled her into a tight embrace.

Lena, now held in his ample embrace, blinked dumbly. 

Had he been running the whole way? 

He was breathing heavily.

“Captain?”

Is it really you?

“You shouldn’t make such noise in a place where you never know what’s going to come out.”

The deep, steady tone of his voice brought an overwhelming sense of calm. Her trembling heart began to settle.

“Don’t cry. It’s okay now. It’s okay, Lena.”

He patted Lena’s back as she sobbed. Perhaps it was his gentle actions, but the sorrow she had momentarily stopped feeling surged back.

“Sob, Captain, sob, what are you doing here!”

Lena’s tearful scolding made Alhendore sigh softly.

“Where else would I be? Where do you think I should be?”

“The wall, the monsters, the invasion, sob-.”

“It’s okay, it’s okay. Hyde and Aran are both excellent knights. My absence won’t be a problem.”

As he comforted the incoherent Lena, Alhendore hugged her tighter. How frightened and scared she must have been. It felt like everything was his fault.

Stupidly, he had let his guard down, thinking she was safe on the wall. He was foolish. His lack had caused her harm.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Lena.”

How could I have been so foolish to bring her here?

Hadn’t he known from the beginning? This place was a battlefield where lives could be lost.

‘But.’

Even so, he had no choice but to bring her. He was terrified that if he didn’t, some other man would take his Lena away.

Yes, he was afraid.

“I’m sorry. I should have stayed by your side.”

His voice trembled slightly. The guilt was palpable in the moisture that clung to his words.

“Captain, you should be fighting….”

“Others can fight well too.”

Lena, who was tightly held in his arms, peeked her head out.

Even though she was the one who fell into the water, he was the one soaked even more. The strong smell of his sweat felt like the result of his relentless run to reach her.

“What are you talking about….”

Lena, who had been sniffling, gave a bashful smile. Alhendore made a silly remark that betrayed that smile.

“Being this wet, you look like a drowned rat.”

“You jerk!”

That rat! It seemed she would have to pick up the sword she had set aside for a while.