Chapter 1 – Part 2

Ignoring his question, Anne ran to where she had been urgently called before.

Watching her leave with his hand outstretched, Evan, with a composed expression, swept his hair back and thought.

‘Where did they bring that kid from? ’

A young woman like that walks around with blood all over her body.

She still looked so young.

In Evan’s mind, the thought of causing harm to the young woman and ultimately bringing poison upon himself crossed his mind.

He halted his steps toward the severely injured companion and turned back. He needed to find out who she was and get her out of here.

Evan turned back to his barracks, not far from the field hospital, and asked his second-in-command, Joseph, who had followed him.

“Who was that woman just now?”

“Oh, that’s Lieutenant Riley. Eight months ago, she was cowering on the ground in front of the field hospital asking for a job. I didn’t realize she was still there.”

“Weren’t you told not to accept just anyone?”

Evan glanced at his subordinate, who was too frozen to say anything.

Instead, he stared at the paperwork listing casualties.

Many soldiers as well as civilians died instantly when enemy shells hit the city.

Even if it was to combat this inhumane act of war crimes, there was no need for this woman, who still looked underage, to be in the middle of the battlefield.

‘Pretending to work.’

The image of her young face haunted him, with its bright, hazel eyes and brightly colored hair.

Evan forced down his anger at the thought that she might be a child, but she was also a victim of war.

Evan sighed, feeling a deep sense of fatigue at having to check the list of people who had signed up for the war again.

‘Just when I thought I could relax. ’

“What exactly was her name again?”

“Anne Riley, as I recall.”

Evan found Anne’s enlistment application among the stack of papers, and his brow narrowed as he flipped through it.

Even for a field hospital, it was odd that she was listed as belonging to the Medical Corps, a separate branch of the imperial administration.

‘Military? Why? ’

At most, she would only be paid for cleaning the wards.

Frustrated by the more disorderly appearance of the military than expected, Evan frowned as he looked at the application form that Anne had written herself.

It contained nothing but an unremarkable resume. Evan leaned back in his chair as he skimmed over it.

The protracted war had left the Terran Empire short of wartime manpower, among other things. Even if they’d let anyone in, they’d never let this small human pass.

He was angry at his predecessor for the way he’d handled things in his absence.

But Evan was stunned to see the seal on the very last page.

It was the imperial seal.

And next to it was a promise of a promotion to lieutenant and a salary of 1,000 milan per month.

“Lieutenant?”

To put a nobody without military training in such a position…. Even though field hospitals were essentially propaganda facilities for the army’s morale, it was difficult to tolerate such negligence.

Evan ordered Joseph, who was standing like a mannequin, to investigate.

“How could someone with no background rise to the rank of lieutenant?”

Joseph scratched the back of his head and answered.

“…I don’t know the details, as I was also there when the commander was executing the operation on the battlefield.”

“Bring one of the medics who has been at the field hospital for a long time right away.”

“Yes, sir.”

Evan nodded slightly at Joseph’s booming voice.

Averting his gaze from Joseph, who immediately went off to carry out his orders, Evan stood in front of the mirror, dabbed his razor with water from the basin, and brought the blade to the tip of his chin.

This place was no longer a battlefield filled with screams. It was a relatively safe rear base.

He didn’t have to stay awake at night to prepare for enemy ambushes, and he didn’t have to watch his men die with his own eyes. For now….

With this realization, Evan slowly relaxed his body. But no sooner had he relaxed than the guilt of being in a safe place weighed down on him.

The countless cries still echoed in his ears, but it was time to forget the past and plan for the future.

Evan wiped a damp towel across his chin and then changed into his uniform.

He’d been poring over the reports of the fighting around Terran’s borders, pondering the weaknesses of the enemy kingdom of Vails.

He heard a voice outside his barracks asking permission to enter.

“Come in.”

“I’ve brought a medic.”

“This is Private Kyle Elman. At your service.”

“Private Kyle Elman.”

Kyle saluted, then stood facing straight ahead. He was so nervous that his clothes were soaked through with sweat.

Evan Davis’s reputation had been around all through the war, and he was familiar with it.

Once upon a time, his swordsmanship, even from a distance, had been so great that anyone would have kneeled before him and pledged allegiance.

Being summoned by such a commander, Kyle thought it must be something important.

A low, clean voice echoed through the barracks.

“Anne Riley. I understand she’s a lieutenant, is that correct?”

“Yes. That’s right.”

“I don’t see why she needs the rank of lieutenant in Carl Hessen’s Field Hospital, which is not even a mobile hospital in the middle of the battlefield. Besides, at a thousand milan, it’s about the salary of five privates.”

At the slight hint of exasperation in Evan’s voice, Kyle opened his mouth to speak but then spoke up.

“…I don’t think that’s even enough.”

The answer surprised Joseph.

He quickly kicked Kyle in the shin to silence him, but instead, Kyle fell to his knees and shouted.

“Without Lieutenant Anne Riley in the hospital, seventeen of us are going to die. I know what you’re thinking, Commander, but if you kick her out, it’s going to be chaos.”

“You bastard, how dare you, in front of the commander?”

“I dare say this.”

“What do you know anyway?”

Joseph grabbed Kyle by the scruff of the neck again, pulling him to his feet, but Kyle didn’t stop.

“I guarantee it with everything I’ve got, so please!”

That was it. A crisp chuckle echoed through the barracks, and everyone here could sense the mockery in it.

Kyle’s face hardened, but Evan’s laughter was unmistakable.

“Is putting up everything you have any guarantee of trust?”

Although he was almost paralyzed, Kyle seemed determined to speak until he was convinced.

“If you find my words unsatisfactory, call someone else. They will surely say the same thing. Lieutenant Riley may not have gone to the battlefield, but she is a person who has achieved accomplishments equivalent to that.”

Evan smirked at Kyle’s disobedience to his orders.

“It looks like a bunch of kids playing war games.”

Evan Davis meant it.

A field hospital.

They were simply a means to boost the morale of soldiers.

They claimed to treat soldiers when they got injured, but in reality, they prioritized treating officers from noble families.

Ironically, it seemed that the higher-ups were more troubled by the wounded than the soldiers dying.

Kyle gritted his teeth and shouted.

“Don’t you dare speak when you know nothing!”

“Stop it right now. How dare you talk like that in front of the commander!”

Joseph grabbed Kyle in a desperate attempt to hold him down, but the struggling man’s strength was too much for him.

As Joseph’s grip loosened, Kyle moved curiously toward Evan Davis.

He tried to express his true feelings to Evan, but they were not realized. Kyle was grabbed by Evan and slammed his face onto the desk.

It was then.

“Anne….”