Chapter 2
“Senior Harriet.”
“…Ender?”
Harriet, who had been limping with a cane, looked up at the familiar voice. About ten steps away, his young junior was staring intently at Harriet with unwavering eyes.
Ender, who had called out to him with an unreadable expression, didn’t move a single step from where he stood. The red eyes meeting his own sparkled beautifully like rubies.
To think that today would be the last day he’d see his cute junior who worried about his height. A feeling of regret blossomed within him.
His small-statured junior was a talent coveted by the military, while he himself was damaged goods. Once he left this place, he might never encounter that junior again.
“Congratulations on your graduation.”
“Thank you.”
Did he come all the way from the middle school division to the high school division just to say that?
Harriet smiled cautiously. Carefully folding his cane with the red gem embedded in it, Harriet bent his knee.
As he raised his uncomfortable knee to match Ender’s eye level, Harriet thought about getting a black-furred cat. A cat with black fur and beautiful red eyes.
“You’ll do well, Ender.”
“……”
The McGuire family that Ender belonged to had produced numerous talented individuals for generations, and Ender, who had inherited the most exceptional bloodline among the current family members, was a prodigy with great promise.
The military had long set their sights on the young man, and once he graduated from the academy, Ender’s life would be smooth sailing. Even if they were to meet on the street after becoming adults, Ender might very well ignore him. After all, he himself was now just an unnecessary part for the military.
“…I will.”
Curious about what his junior’s final words would be, Harriet quietly listened.
Ender, seemingly sweating, wiped his small fern-like hands on his clothes several times before speaking. He looked pained, as if something was caught in his throat. It was an expression Harriet had never seen since he’d known him. His ears had turned red.
“…I will fulfill your wish, sunbae.”
“Mine?”
“Yes.”
Why?
The morning had passed, and the intense sun shone down on the two of them. Ender’s black hair glittered as if shattering in the sunlight. Harriet was the school’s troublemaker who hadn’t received even a single bouquet. Yet to him, Ender was like an angel descended from heaven, true to his name.
But Harriet didn’t answer and instead smiled awkwardly again. Looking at such a Harriet, Ender spoke again.
“…When the time comes.”
The wind passed through the lush trees, spreading a fresh scent in all directions. When summer arrived, Harriet would be stuck in a place designated by the military for the rest of his life.
“……”
“Please make me your adjutant, sunbae.”
“……”
That was something he hadn’t expected at all. It wasn’t something the only son of the McGuire family would typically say. But he couldn’t mock the words of his young junior who was rarely seen blushing, nervous, and even sweating.
Harriet scratched the back of his head and moved his lips. Ender persistently stared at Harriet, who was fidgeting with his white hair that seemed like it would fade in the sunlight, as if he didn’t want to miss a single moment.
* * *
He poured freshly brewed coffee into a large glass and generously added four spoonfuls of sugar. After pouring in milk and stirring a few times, a pleasant aroma spread through the air. Topping it with crushed ice, it took on a rather impressive appearance.
From behind Harriet, who was absentmindedly staring at his coffee, Angela raised her voice with concern.
“Captain. You’ll get diabetes if you keep eating like that.”
Harriet didn’t respond to Angela’s words and just stared blankly into space. His colorless white eyes held an indiscernible, dazed expression.
A stranger might think they were being ignored, but Angela, who had been seeing him for a tiresome five years, knew better. She understood Harriet’s recent concern for his health.
“If you’re that worried, give up on sweet things.”
“But… that’s like telling me to die.”
Harriet, who muttered in a blank daze, brushed his hair up and quietly took a sip of the sweet coffee he had prepared.
Angela, who was also his direct subordinate, tied her long hair that reached her waist and sighed.
“Do you know that the new recruit ran away yesterday?”
Although Angela and Harriet were soldiers belonging to the military, they had no special duties. In fact, they had been virtually demoted to the countryside. This place was a gathering point for soldiers who had become useless. Because of this, it wasn’t uncommon for people to say they’d rather leave the military than spend their youth in such a place.
As a result, this shabby unit with less than five members, including Harriet, was similar to a vigilante group that ran small errands for the villagers and protected wildlife.
“…Already?”
“Yes.”
Slurp. After taking a sip of coffee, Harriet rubbed his head as if troubled.
Angela strode to the corner of the office and came back with her hands full, holding a pickaxe and a shovel. Angela’s ability was superhuman strength, allowing her to lift weights up to about 200kg.
Despite her formidable strength, she smiled brightly with her cute face.
“So, I think the captain will have to help with today’s work.”
“……”
Harriet blinked blankly once more, then nodded.
Today was the day they had to help an elderly man who owned more than 10,000 square meters of land. Their current job was to assist the old man who cried about being unable to work in the fields due to his injured back.
Angela went outside the building, carrying the heavy farming tools. Following her, Harriet got up from his seat, took his cane with the red gem embedded in it, and limped out of the office.
In that brief moment, Angela had already opened the trunk of the car, loaded the farming tools, and was waiting for Harriet. Harriet glanced back at the office several times, seemingly regretting leaving behind his coffee with the ice still unmelted.
Seeing such a Harriet, Angela grinned broadly and got into the driver’s seat. Soon after, Harriet tucked his cane at his side and opened the car door. After confirming that Harriet was seated in the back, Angela started the car.
“…Ryan?”
“He went on patrol with the village chief~”
Angela’s driving was not gentle, and the rural roads were bumpy and unpaved, causing a lot of shaking. Harriet sweated as he barely managed to support his body, which was shaking as violently as the car.
Unlike other cities that were currently tense with the ongoing war against mermaids, this was a peaceful village. The geography, surrounded by mountains rather than the sea, also contributed to the current peace.
Angela hummed for a while, then, as if bored, turned on the radio.
“…Thanks to the heroic efforts of Major Ender, the southern mermaids have been repelled, securing a victory…”
“Whew, at this rate, it seems like this war will end soon, right?”
Angela whistled at the breaking news from the radio. Harriet looked down at the cane with the red gem he was holding and smiled bitterly.
“Seems so.”
“Those mermaids were quite persistent.”
“They probably didn’t want to lose their home.”
“If they just allowed a few ships to pass through the sea, it would’ve been fine. What’s so difficult about that?”
Angela spoke lightly as if it were someone else’s problem.
The war with the mermaids, which had lasted for about 20 years, was finally showing signs of ending. Numerically, humans were vastly superior, but the sea was essentially the source of the mermaids’ power.
As a result, the war, which had continued for about 20 years, had inflicted massive damage on both sides.
“…Is that so.”
There was no expression on Harriet’s face as he gazed out the window and murmured.
Ender McGuire was the heir to a long-standing family in the military. His parents were military officers, and he was a prodigy whose abilities manifested at the age of nine. With his exceptional abilities, he had now become a hero indispensable to the military.
“Sunbae is also from the Academy, right?”
Angela asked Harriet, who was staring blankly without saying a word.
“……”
“But I guess it doesn’t matter since the place where Major Ender was is where only geniuses among the elite gather?”
Harriet didn’t answer and just stared at his fingertips. It seemed Angela couldn’t imagine that Harriet, who was assigned to this rural village and spent his days doing tasks unrelated to the war, had come from the same place as Ender. Harriet also didn’t bother to explain, finding it tiresome to speak.
To begin with, Angela was unsure if Harriet had even attended the Academy. The Academy was mostly for those with abilities, and Harriet had never used his ability once in the five years since he was assigned here.
Although he wore an officer’s uniform, he had been demoted to this place, and his rank was sergeant. He didn’t seem to be following the smooth elite path that most Academy graduates took.
“……”
Harriet stroked his chin as if troubled. Soon after, wide rice fields came into view, and the car stopped.
Taking a shovel and a rusty sickle from the trunk, Angela, true to her “superhuman strength,” quickly began cutting down the rice plants. Harriet limped over with his uncomfortable leg and neatly tied the rice plants that Angela had cut and thrown aside.
Angela was undeterred even with mud splashing all over her body. Watching her finish a long row in an instant, Harriet absently thought that this was why Angela monopolized the love of the village elders.
After using the sickle for a while, Angela ran over to Harriet with a refreshed face and a bright smile. Then she sat down next to Harriet to catch her breath.
Angela gathered the neatly tied rice plants that Harriet had meticulously arranged and stacked them in one place for the landowner to easily take, enjoying a short break. Then she took up the sickle again, advanced into the rice field, came back out to rest, and repeated the cycle.
Harriet meticulously organized the rice plants while gazing at Angela’s gallant back as she worked alone. Then, he noticed a small frog popping out from between the rice plants and reached out.
Placing the frog, which was only as big as a finger joint, on his palm, Harriet blinked his white eyelashes and observed it. However, the frog escaped to the ground, avoiding Harriet’s hand as he held its legs and stroked its body with his finger.
Without thinking of catching it again, Harriet blankly watched the escaping frog before turning his gaze elsewhere. Soon after, Angela, who had been enthusiastically using the sickle, also looked up at the presence.
“……”
Harriet, who had been blankly blinking, stood up. Then, the man who appeared before his eyes carefully supported him by holding his forearm as he limped.
“???”
Though he didn’t know why he was here, the man who had grown much taller than Harriet was now supporting him and smiling gently. A man with black hair and red eyes, eyes that reminded him of the red gem attached to the cane Harriet always carried.
“It’s been a while, sunbae.”
“…Ah.”
Angela dropped her sickle in surprise and shouted.
“Ender!!!”
The man briefly turned to her, then met Harriet’s eyes again. Staring blankly at those eyes, Harriet recalled his junior who had once been much shorter than him.
His “Ruby,” who had always silently followed behind him, the young boy who believed like a frog in a well that that place was the entire world, had now appeared before his eyes as a mature adult.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
