Chapter 6
Harriet’s room didn’t even have a common TV.
The only electronic device was an old-fashioned large radio. Judging by the thin layer of dust on top of it, it seemed unused.
Newspapers and magazines were strewn in the corner, with a couple of mugs placed beside them. There were many mugs in Harriet’s room. Ender scanned them with sharp eyes and carefully took out a small notebook from his chest.
From what was briefly visible, it contained notes like “182cm, 75.3kg. ★0.5kg less than last year.”
After writing something in the notebook with its mysterious contents, Ender nonchalantly put it back inside his chest pocket.
With his back to Ender, Harriet was lost in his own dilemma. Harriet’s hobby was collecting mugs, and he used each one for a different purpose.
He lifted each mug one by one, examining them in detail with a serious expression. This one was for drinking cocoa, and the one next to it was for using while reading books. He skipped the glass cups since most were used for coffee, and this one was exclusively for water. Unfortunately, the mug he bought for guests was accidentally broken the day before yesterday.
Ender, who had been staring intently at Harriet’s back, casually rummaged through the trash can placed in the corner of the room. His movements were so natural and fluid that Harriet didn’t think he was doing anything strange.
The handsome Ender, expressionlessly going through the trash, found a wooden chopstick, trembled slightly, and quietly slipped it into his pocket. Unlike his trembling hands, which received it as if it were a one-of-a-kind treasure, Ender’s expression remained completely relaxed.
Meanwhile, Harriet seemed to have made a decision and turned around holding a mug with cherry blossoms painted on it and a white mug. Surprisingly, they contained rich cocoa and job’s tears tea.
“Ender, you like job’s tears tea, right?”
“Yes.”
In truth, he didn’t like it.
Most of what Harriet had were just sweet things, which had never suited Ender’s taste, as he had disliked sweet foods since childhood.
It was just that the job’s tears tea was what the Harriet before him—with his white hair and eyelashes that looked like they would crumble in the sunlight—occasionally made for him.
“You still drink your cocoa hot, I see.”
“This is the only way I know how to make cocoa.”
“You could add ice.”
At Ender’s calm suggestion, Harriet smiled a small, troubled smile. Ender, who had been persistently staring at that helpless smile without blinking once, opened his mouth.
“Sunbae.”
“Ender.”
Without waiting for Ender’s words, Harriet lowered his head. Harriet was lethargic, lacked enthusiasm, and was insensitive, but he wasn’t a fool. He was a top student who had never missed being first in his class at the Academy.
“Why did you drive the southern mermaids here?”
“So you knew after all.”
“……”
Harriet didn’t particularly scold or reprimand Ender. He didn’t guard against him asking what his ulterior motive was. As always, he just smiled with a troubled expression. A smile that wasn’t quite a smile, with his white eyebrows, lacking pigment, bent into a frown.
“Sunbae, do you remember the promise?”
Ender, who had been staring intently at the steaming job’s tears tea, quietly spoke. Harriet just blinked, then raised his head.
That day, Ender had whispered those words to Harriet as he was leaving the Academy. With that cute and small appearance, nervous and sweating, unable to hide his reddened cheeks, Ender had made a unilateral declaration.
He was incredibly cute back then, and small.
Harriet smiled and stroked the mug he was holding.
“I remember.”
“So do I.”
“……”
“Not even once…”
Recalling his childhood when he wanted to reach Harriet’s broad back but couldn’t, Ender raised his head. His red eyes sparkled beautifully, even under the cheap fluorescent lighting.
“I have never forgotten it for a moment.”
That didn’t explain why he had driven the southern mermaids here. Harriet looked down at Ender with a perplexed expression. His junior, whom he had met after a long time, seemed to have only grown physically since that day.
Then, Harriet hesitated for a moment before speaking.
“But… I only have one blanket.”
“Yes.”
“It seems we’ll have to sleep together.”
Ender’s face brightened. He didn’t show it on his face, but he fidgeted and quickly moved aside.
“By all means.”
What exactly “by all means” meant was unclear.
When Harriet, who had entered the shower at Ender’s insistence, came out, the room had been cleaned spotlessly.
“…You didn’t have to clean.”
“I did it because I wanted to.”
Ender, who rarely smiled pleasantly, rolled down the cuffs of his dress shirt that he had folded up. Each movement was as beautiful as if from a fashion spread.
The floor was sparkling, as if he had even mopped it. Ender hummed as he entered the shower that Harriet had just exited. And he didn’t come out for quite a long time.
Did war heroes have some special way of bathing? Harriet, who had been waiting for Ender to come out, ended up nodding off.
When Ender came out of the shower with a bright smile, it was already past midnight. Harriet, who briefly woke up at the presence, seemed sleepy and lay down on the bedding first. Then Ender followed and lay down beside him.
As expected, even if the bedding was wide and large, it was very narrow for two grown men. Harriet, thinking he should have made Ender stay at a nearby motel, opened his drowsy eyes and said:
“Is it cramped?”
“No.”
“Hmm…”
Ender, who had been staring intently at Harriet’s white eyelashes as he closed his eyes, whispered.
“It’s just right.”
With those whispered words, darkness descended.
* * *
Well, well.
Anschel checked his wristwatch and snorted.
He could see Harriet’s silhouette limping from a distance. Perhaps because it was the dim dawn, Harriet’s image was very faint. With a person full of presence behind him, it seemed even more so.
Seeing Ender’s satisfied smile, Anschel wanted to ask what was so good. It was the first time he had seen that guy smile brightly since becoming his adjutant.
“Did you rest well?”
Ender extended his hand without replying to Anschel’s words.
This is the shameless Ender McGuire.
Anschel, feeling relieved, placed the documents in his hand. Ender, who had been flipping through a few pages of the documents while stroking his lips, smiled an unpleasant smile.
“It’s disappointing how easily everything moves according to plan.”
“Is there a pipeline leading to the lake around here?”
Harriet shook his head at Anschel’s question.
“No pipeline… but there is a cave.”
“A cave?”
Behind Anschel stood two military officials, both of whom appeared to be ability users. Well, I heard that Ender’s army was all ability users. It would be difficult to gather such people even by pulling them from the Academy, making Ender all the more impressive for commanding them.
Harriet led them to the narrow entrance of a cave not far from the base.
“Be careful.”
Anschel cautiously said. If Harriet were to get hurt, he dreaded to imagine how Ender would react. Harriet, who smiled slightly at such an Anschel, handed his cane to Angela who was beside him.
Ryan couldn’t come today because he was dragged away by the village chief again. He reportedly followed the village chief, greatly regretting not being able to see Ender up close.
“Are you injured?”
Anschel, who was closely following Harriet, asked as they entered the cave. His voice echoed but wasn’t that loud.
“Yes, I was bitten by a shark.”
“A shark?”
“Yes.”
“The shark that lives in the sea?”
“Yes.”
Harriet answered concisely and continued to descend.
What kind of childhood would one have to be bitten by a shark that lives in the sea? Anschel’s expression became even more complex.
Harriet navigated the cave with familiarity, walking well despite his uncomfortable leg. Eventually, the place the two arrived at surprisingly had a pond connected to who knows where. It wasn’t large, but it looked very deep.
Harriet pointed his finger toward the pond.
“There’s a path leading to the lake below this.”
“How long does it take?”
It seems the lake is unexpectedly close.
Anschel asked seriously.
“How long does it take to reach the lake?”
“About… 20 minutes.”
“…How does one pass through such a place unless they’re a mermaid?”
Anschel marked an X on his plan to head to the lake through this route. Harriet once again smiled awkwardly and stroked his chin.
“Indeed.”
Mermaids could basically manipulate water, but their abilities varied slightly in detail. The abilities of mermaids were diverse. Some had the ability to turn water acidic, and others could create storms and typhoons as if controlling the weather of the sea.
These were all equally annoying abilities to humans. As if all the power of water belonged to mermaids, not a single human on land had the ability to manipulate water.
Mermaids were a race that didn’t particularly covet things on land and lived quietly in the sea. In fact, it was humans who first invaded their space.
Humans wanted to use the sea as an easier trade route, or more broadly and diversely. So they notified the mermaids that they would cross over their habitat, but it wasn’t accepted.
As a result, countless trade ships carrying goods and people sank in the middle of the sea. The price for forcibly invading the mermaids’ territory was too horrific.
Eventually, war broke out, and the war in the sea, the source of the mermaids’ power, caused tremendous damage and many sacrifices. Among them, there was a battle where hundreds of warships disappeared as offerings to the sea. It happened in the eastern sea, where all the mermaids are now extinct.
At that time, a hundred warships and hundreds of mermaids waged war, and the result was the annihilation of both sides. The power of mermaids was stronger and more terrifying than humans had imagined. Acid that dissolved warships and inescapable whirlpools raged underwater.
The mermaids did not spare humans who fell into the sea. Thus, the sea had to contain vast amounts of blood for a while.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
