My Strange Savior - Chapter 67

Chapter 67

“Commander.”

“Spencer.”

As Kalion forced himself to send Spencer off, who had insisted on staying with his comrades until the end, Kalion’s eyes contained warmth. 

Spencer clenched his fists at the emotions conveyed. If he didn’t do that, tears might have burst forth. 

Kalion, who hadn’t healed his ankles and wrists, and the wounded members behind him, looked as if his eyeballs were about to burst, seeing them.

Knowing Spencer was exerting strength to avoid showing tears, just as Oscar had done, Kalion patted his shoulder.

“You’ve worked hard.”

Just a simple phrase of appreciation, but Spencer could feel the sincerity and weight behind those words. Spencer’s shoulders, who had been praying for the safety of his remaining comrades while his heart ached, shook uncontrollably up and down.

“Commander. Hmph… Thank you.”

Closing tightly the lips to avoid crying was in vain. As soon as he spoke, sobs burst out along with his words.

“Really… Thank you so much.”

It didn’t matter to whom the gratitude was directed. It seemed necessary to pour out the warmth exploding from the heart. The words, mixed with sobs and intense emotions, were so tangled that they were difficult to understand.

Knowing what Spencer wanted to say, Kalion silently hugged his shoulders. After sobbing for a while, Spencer, who seemed strange, wiped his eyes roughly with the back of his hand.

By now, criticism should have been heard. Blood vessels showed through the damp back of his hand. Trying to erase the negative emotions rising in his mind, Spencer shook his head vigorously.

“No… Why… is it so quiet like this?”

Even when he closed his eyes and opened them, the person he should see wasn’t there. Spencer’s lips, counting the personnel by repeating the same actions several times, contained the anxiety that seemed unbelievable.

“Uh…”

While realizing Spencer’s hesitation to speak out loud in case it became reality, Kalion also couldn’t find words.

“Huh? Uh…”

The words that couldn’t become sentences scattered into the air.

“No? Yes? Uh… No, it can’t be.”

Spencer let out a disbelieving sound, denying that what he was thinking wasn’t true. Seeing Spencer, who was searching for Rockt, dry lips trembled, and he flinched several times.

As the Commander, Kalion needed to inform his comrades about the warrior’s news. However, Kalion, Gia behind him, and the other members found it difficult to speak. Like people who had committed a crime, they all fixed their gaze on the ground, lowering their heads.

“Vice Commander… Is he behind?”

Unable to overcome his anxiety, Spencer clenched his fist tightly, and fingernail marks appeared on the pale palm. Kalion, facing the cold wind, raised his eyes to the path Rockt had walked, hoping to find even a trace of him.

“Oh, ah…”

Looking at Spencer’s distorted face, Kalion lifted his heavy gaze.

“Rockt.”

Kalion’s lips, exposed to the cold wind, cracked, and blood appeared. 

“He fought honorably and fell as a warrior.”

Upon the pronounced words, Spencer slumped into his seat. 

Rockt who had unwittingly taken care of Spencer was now gone. Knowing how much Spencer appreciated Rockt, Kalion, in disbelief, grabbed his shoulders as he sat there in astonishment.

“Rockt didn’t run away until the end and fought his best.”

“No…”

Tears that had been held back exploded like a dam, streaming down from Spencer’s clear eyes. 

Drip, drip. The sorrowful tears formed small holes in the snowy ground.

“Spencer, go and recover Rockt’s and the other members’ remains. That’s what you have to do. Crying can come later… later.”

Each vigorous nod of the head made tears spurt out like sweat. Watching Spencer cry without making a sound, Kalion, feeling awkward, wiped his eyes.

Does he have the right to cry?

Although Gia told him to cry when he wanted to, Kalion, who didn’t want to show tears in front of the other members, maintained a firm expression. It seemed as if Spencer in front of him was crying on behalf of him, who couldn’t cry in this situation.

Worriedly looking at Spencer, who kept swaying as if his legs couldn’t support him, Gia extended her hand instead of the injured Kalion.

“Spencer, grab hold and get up.”

“Gia…”

Seeing the tears welling up in Spencer’s eyes as if they would fall any moment, even Gia wasn’t feeling well. However, they couldn’t continue to cry and sit here, so Gia quickly took care of Spencer and moved away.

“Let’s go this way.”

Supported by Gia, with the other members following behind, Spencer, who was weakly trailing, moved in the direction Gia led. 

Oscar and Kalion, still with stories to tell, watched Gia and the members move away. Kalion finally released the breath he had held, making it a hot breath that cut through the cold air. The rising steam seemed to express Kalion’s frustration.

“We’ll stop marching here for today. Denver, prepare the camp.”

At Oscar’s command, his subordinate, who had been standing next to him, nodded and disappeared like the wind. Whether they were trying to carry out Oscar’s orders or not, the subordinates standing in the wide clearing made clinking sounds as they set up camp.

The makeshift tents were completed quickly, a skill Joseph seemed to have practiced more than once. The improvised tents, unlike Joseph’s spread-out tent, were somewhat different in quality.

“Come inside.”

Entering Oscar’s tent, which was the first to be completed, Kalion staggered and took a seat. Oscar reached out towards makeshift chairs that were made to be reasonably comfortable, even if not as luxurious as those in the castle.

“Please, sit.”

At Oscar’s invitation, Kalion took his seat. Facing each other, Oscar sat down and gently examined Kalion’s injured leg and wrist.

“How are the ankle and wrist… are they okay?”

In an instant, Oscar’s eyebrows, now returned to being a teacher after turning into a lord of Morreta, frowned. In the trembling voice, there was the worry and concern of a teacher inquiring about his student’s well-being. 

Smiling at the warmth, Kalion casually exposed the injured areas as if they were nothing.

“Thanks to you for sending Joseph in time. There’s no problem now, but if he had come a little later… I might not be able to wield a sword anymore.”

“Oh, my.”

As if his arm or leg had been cut off, Oscar’s eyes, filled with pity, bent sadly. It seemed that he was worried about the bright future of his student.

“That… Morrison was strong, stronger than a dragon.”

Thinking of the horrifying Morrison, Kalion’s handsome face twisted as if he couldn’t bear to look at something unpleasant. 

Morrison, a creature resembling a monster more than a human, had transformed his body at will. Kalion had never heard of such a being anywhere. 

Morrison, as Gia had conveyed verbally, seemed somewhat superior to what Kalion had in mind.

Certainly, when he tamed the dragon, it wasn’t as gruesome as this. Even Gia seemed to know very little about the current Morrison.

“Is he really… that strong?”

“Yes.”

“Haah.”

A sigh escaped from Oscar’s lips. Kalion, unrivaled in the Empire in swordsmanship, evaluated Morrison without a moment’s hesitation.

‘Strong.’

Knowing the weight of Kalion’s words, Oscar’s face couldn’t help but crease in wrinkles.

“When we first climbed the mountain…”

Kalion slowly recounted the events that had transpired, starting from the coordinated attack of the familiar goblins and trolls to meeting Jose and Kayler and losing the sniper rifle. And then, the ability to kill a dragon at Gia’s base. 

Kalion’s lips, constantly narrating the story without pause, trembled at some point.

The sacrifices of the members.

When conveying that while pondering, Kalion’s firm voice trembled as he thought about the sacrifices of his comrades.

Despite having the highest skill in the Empire with a sword, Kalion lacked experience. As the Empire, forming a peaceful age, hadn’t faced the battlefield, Kalion was not accustomed to losing his people. Looking at Kalion as a teacher, Oscar’s eyes held sympathy.

Though Kalion seemed cold and unexpressive on the outside, Oscar knew better than anyone that he was a person with a lot of affection and justice inside. Therefore, Oscar only wished that his devoted disciple wouldn’t suffer for too long from these wounds.

“And… he was capturing villagers for live experiments.”

“Live experiments?”

“Yes. According to Gia, he seemed to conduct experiments on the villagers, probably to spread a zombie virus or something like that.”

“Unfortunate luck amid misfortune.”

Whether to consider it fortunate or not, Oscar wiped his white-bearded chin, lost in thought.

“Morrison…”

Kalion looked at his bandaged ankle and wrist. His skeletal structure was twice as robust as that of others. Despite being born with an unyielding bone structure, Kalion’s hand was helplessly twisted and broken.

Recalling the sensation from that moment sent shivers down his spine. Even though he hadn’t fought properly and had lost, could he win if they faced each other again?

The answer was ‘no.’

Despite aligning with Gia, they were played with as if it were amusing. The sharp claws that emerged from Rockt’s abdomen. Morrison transformed his body freely, weaponizing it.

“I don’t know if we can capture him… with human strength.” 

Kalion said seriously, causing Oscar’s head to ache.

As Kalion spoke about Morrison’s disappearance after the last opportunity to kill him and suggested the hypothesis that there might be a flaw unknown to them, Kalion himself lacked confidence. It was just a hypothesis. There was nothing certain.

“Haah.”

Kalion sighed deeply to calm his complicated thoughts.

“He suddenly disappeared?”

“Yes.”

“This is… troublesome.”

“What if he went to the village?”

At Kalion’s words, Oscar, looking perplexed, rubbed his wrinkled forehead with his fingers.

“The only relief is that he can’t spread the plague. That’s the only thing.”

Kalion’s exhausted voice echoed.

“We’ll have to do our best for now.”

Oscar, who pulled Kalion out of the dark abyss, spat out words with a face that expressed the hardships he had endured.

“We should send Joseph to track Morrison. He knows the Hagria Mountains like his own house. With that, we might be able to find some clues.”

Kalion agreed with Oscar’s words since he had confirmed Joseph’s abilities during their travels.

“Yes, I understand. Ugh… Master, what should we do now?”

With evidence to present to the Emperor in hand, the crucial point now was how to maximize that evidence and proceed with the remaining tasks.