Alen immediately ran towards the line where the medical staff soldiers were. He joined the line along with his other friends.In addition, all the soldiers there, both senior soldiers and prospective soldiers were seen lining up in different places.This was to make it easier for soldiers with high positions such as commanders to check on their soldiers.Greg Sehel turned around and swept his gaze towards the candidates lined up on the right. He frowned, “Why don't I see the two recruits from this group?”One of the senior soldiers assigned to the task swallowed before replying, “Commander, two of the recruits from this group are missing.”Greg Sehel's eyes bulged as if they were about to jump out of place, “What? Disappeared? How did that happen?”The commander's breathing began to quicken as if he was holding back anger, “Tell me! How did you lose those two?”“Riley Wood and James Gardner. They're missing, aren't they?” Greg said, looking at the senior soldier impatiently.The sold
One friend replied with a whimper of pain, “He didn't kill us, but he ... paralyzed us.”“Did he intend for us to be tortured and die slowly?” another friend continued.The group leader limped to his feet despite the pain in his legs. He replied, “If he was torturing us, he would have at least shot where it hurts. Look at all of your wounds!”“He's ... just trying to make us unable to hold weapons or ... walk. That means he really doesn't want to kill us,” the leader continued.Someone cursed, “Damn it! Why would he do that? Does he think we're not his opponents?”The leader shook his head with difficulty, his strength drained from the pain, “I don't know what his intentions were. But ... he certainly didn't kill us. What his motives were, I don't care.”“It's better to find a way to contact the commander! Hurry! We're still alive, but ... if we keep losing too much blood, we'll die,” the chairman continued.In another area, about a few miles away, James Gardner had just received a ki
The Kingdom Fermoza soldier held a hot iron right in front of James Gardner's eyes in the hope that the young man, who he estimated to be in his early twenties, would give up out of fear.Unfortunately, what he wanted did not happen. He saw the young warrior from the Ans De Lou Kingdom staring at him without a trace of fear and instead said, “You go ahead and do that. I'll keep my mouth shut tight.”The soldier widened his eyes in surprise at the young man's boldness. He replied, “Oh, so you don't mind if I put a hole in your heart? No problem if you die slowly?”Still not looking afraid, James replied, “There is no one I fear in this world, except ... my mother.”The enemy soldier laughed mockingly, “Uh, I see. Then, what if your mother sees your horribly dead corpse?”He looked at James with a lopsided smile, but James stood his ground and said casually, “She will be proud of me because I died as a true soldier, not as a traitor.”Instantly the soldier lost his fun. “You young fool,
James Gardner laughed crisply, pleased to see the panic among the now defenseless enemy troops.The remaining soldier immediately took offense, “Are you laughing at us?”James in between laughs replied, “Of course I am. Who else can make me laugh?”James glanced at the name on the right side of the man's combat uniform. Edwin Grace. “Damn you. You're laughing when your life is in my hands, do you think he's going to save you? Don't ever dream it!” Edwin said.James grinned, “You idiot, do you realize that or not? That guy already managed to get your friends down. If I were you, I would have saved myself.”“I'm not a coward,” Edwin retorted as he wandered around, scanning every corner of the forest. He didn't want his attacker to catch him off guard and end up attacking him too.James wanted to open his mouth again to reply, but Edwin shouted again, “If you don't come out, your friend will die.”James bit his teeth and snapped, “Just kill me! Hurry up! You say you're not a coward, bu
James took no offense and instead chuckled, “I'm just tired.”"Tired? Are you stupid or something?” Riley retorted, getting annoyed.“I'm tired of the insults,” James said in a soft tone.Riley did not reply it.James winced as his broken leg hit a rock as they walked over the rocks.Riley suddenly turned his head and glanced at James' leg which was not bleeding but seemed to be dangling. Without even examining the leg, Riley had already guessed that James' right leg was broken.James was not a weak person who would complain if he was sick. The man would act strong and not suffer anything. However, seeing James not hiding his pain from himself, Riley quickly assumed that the injury was indeed severe.“How bad is it?” Riley asked in the end.James grinned, “No need to worry about that. I can still walk although not normally."Riley sighed in exasperation, she shouldn't have
"Hey, don't be quiet! You made me bored,” James said with an annoyed snort.Riley kept his eyes locked with James who was still raising his eyebrows, waiting for an explanation.Was it because of guilt? But, why?Riley didn't know how to answer that either. He himself could not understand his actions. The young man with the injured leg had indeed grown up from a baby without his father present. Even though it was all related to his father, it was still not his father's fault.If that was the case, shouldn't he not have any guilt towards the young man?Then, why was he doing this? Come to think of it, this was the first time he had done something so dangerous in his life. The thing he did this time was not like breaking the palace rules that would only end in a punishment, but certainly not to the point of sacrificing his life.But, this time he was actually risking his life in the enemy kingdom's territory in order to save the young man who annoyed him so much.However, when he lo
“Ryan, stop it!” Ben screamed, the group leader who quickly ran towards Ryan who had grabbed Riley by the neck.He did not want his friend to do unnecessary thing towards his junior. "Don't do that!"Actually, it wasn't that Riley couldn't fight the senior soldier, but he seemed to know that it would be better if he kept quiet. After all, he had indeed broken the rules and had certainly angered the senior soldiers.Ryan still wouldn't release his grip on Riley so Ben was forced to take action by pulling Ben away from Riley."You're defending him, Ben? Seriously. Because of him, Commander Sehel is angry with us,” Ryan shouted with an angry snarl.Ben also knew that but he tried to be more patient."That's enough, Ryan! Control yourself!” Ben said sharply.Riley was still silent, not daring to say anything. James, meanwhile, remained where he was. He heard the small commotion and chose not to take any action so that things wouldn't get worse.Ryan hissed, “What the hell are you doing? H
Riley could only smile in resignation. However, at least he was not punished alone. There was James who would accompany him through the punishment that he didn't know what form it would take.At the same time, more precisely in front of the main gate of Ans De Lou Kingdom, William Mackenzie had just arrived accompanied by Vincent Crack, one of his bodyguards who had also accompanied him to the palace when he wanted to meet the son.Unlike in the past when he entered unofficially and became a sneak. This time the most powerful war general used the official process, entering through the main gate. In accordance with royal regulations, William immediately walked to the staff section that would record who would enter the palace.On the side of the gate, there was a room where visitors or guests of the palace were required to report. “Good afternoon, I would like to see King Keannu,” William said as he searched something into his coat, intending to take something.The staff, who was a yo