Chapter 29 : The Wait of 100 Years (2)
Emily and Ismael, having finished all preparations, stepped back, and there were no longer any obstacles blocking me and the members.
“…….”
However, despite that, the members did not open their mouths rashly.
“If you can’t think of what you want to say right now, you can take your time to think. Since we have quite a bit of leisure tonight, I will wait as much as needed. See? Just in case, I even brought something to keep me occupied.”
I spoke with a relaxed expression while turning the page of the book placed on my knees.
“You…… You see us as complete pushovers.”
Eventually, the first one to open his mouth at my urging was Pierce, the leader of the wolves.
“From ‘you’ (informal) to ‘you’ (polite)? May I assume you are in the process of learning manners?”
“It seems old man Morphee didn’t explain enough. You still don’t seem to know that we are crazy bastards? Do you think we can’t kill just one of you here if things go wrong! If you mess around with your petty skills, you could end up dead!”
Whether he thought coming to meet them in the middle of the night was a provocation towards them, Pierce growled while revealing his canines.
“We are guys who have nothing to lose anyway! We can screw up someone like you without thinking about the consequences!”
“No matter how great you are, do you think you can handle all 500 of us?”
The blatant hostility revealed by Pierce spread to the entire wolf pack.
“Is that so? Then go ahead and try.”
However, whether he didn't feel that hostility, my expression was nonchalant beyond measure.
“I’ll tell you in advance, the reason I made this occasion is because of the belief that some trust has built up between you and me, not to accept your nonsense. So if you have something you want to say to me, I hope you show at least minimum courtesy.”
I said while turning my gaze to the book.
“Well, if you really want to act without manners, I won’t necessarily stop you. In fact, that side is a little more comfortable for me too.”
“This bastard!”
“Captain, let’s kill that bastard and hang ourselves too. We don’t have much lingering attachment anyway!”
Eventually, the members started shouting.
Riding on that momentum, Pierce took one more step towards me.
“Oh, is that so? You mean our Captain sir is so great? Then I’m dying to know how the Captain will act if we behave even more rudely.”
Following Pierce, the members also moved their steps filled with killing intent, and soon the distance between me and them began to narrow rapidly.
“…….”
But for some reason, Pierce and the members who were approaching me couldn't take a single step further from a certain point.
The reason was unknown, but their sharp sixth sense was warning them.
‘Damn it…….’
If they took one more step closer here, it was really dangerous.
I threw a question towards the members who had stopped in their tracks, with my gaze still fixed on the book.
“Didn’t you say you were curious about what would happen? But why is everyone just standing there like that?”
“…….”
“Look here, Pierce. If you intend to only flap your gums, it’s less ugly to flap them after at least lowering your tail. If you really don’t have the courage, make your minions do something at least. And, if you don’t even have the courage for that…….”
My gaze, which had been directed at the book all along, turned to Pierce.
“It would be better to shut your mouth and think about what you want to say. Because a day like today is not an opportunity that comes very often.”
Ending with these words, I began to turn the pages of the book again.
It was a truly defenseless posture beyond measure, but none of the members took that final step.
Rustle.
After a while, around the time my full teacup was almost emptied.
A man with sharp eyes standing to Pierce’s left opened his mouth.
“What is the reason for doing this to us?”
“Right, a relatively good question. Hendrik.”
Did I like the first proper question that came out? A faint smile spread on my face.
“It’s simple. Because I am your Captain, and you are my members. I need you. So there is a need to train you a little more.”
“Are you saying this occasion was made to train us?”
“Well, for now, the long-term goal lies in training you, but I would appreciate it if you understand that it was because there was a need to get to know each other for that.”
I spoke while looking at Hendrik, but the sharp response returned to Pierce.
“You need us? And you want to know us?”
“That is correct.”
“Ha, since when did you people need us? wasn’t what you people wanted from us just to watch us get stuck in this corner and die of old age very slowly?”
“Pierce, I suppose you think you were abandoned?”
“Are you going to say we weren’t?”
“I have no intention of denying it. But at least my thoughts are different from the people who neglected you until now. This is sincere.”
“Ha! Sincerely? Since our Captain sir is coming out sincerely, should we also tell you a little about our sincerity? Look here, do you know how many people there were in total when we were first trapped in this fortress?”
Pierce’s voice became calm, but uncontrollable madness was blazing in his eyes.
“976 people.”
“You know well. Then do you know how many are remaining currently?”
“512 people.”
“Right, but as the Captain sir also knows, we don’t even age because of that damn drug. But where did all our over 400 comrades go?”
“……If you insist on hearing the answer from my mouth, there is no reason I cannot say it. But doesn't that seem disrespectful to those friends?”
My expression, which had been overflowing with ease all along, hardened.
The fact that 464 members had evaporated was a very uncomfortable matter for me as well.
“Is that so? Then on behalf of our noble Captain sir, I, who know nothing of manners, will tell you. Our 464 comrades-”
Was it difficult to continue speaking?
Pierce paused to catch his breath for a moment, then spoke in a voice that sounded like he was chewing and swallowing his words.
“Hanged themselves. They hanged themselves and died. It means they chose to die on their own, unable to endure this dog-like pigsty!”
“…….”
“If we did something wrong, it was just following your people’s orders that soldiers of the territory must protect the people with their lives! But what did you people do to us? You people locked us up here like abandoned dogs, and our comrades who couldn’t endure that hanged themselves. What were you people doing during that time? And yet now you say you need us!”
Uncontrollable madness seeped out from one of Pierce’s eyes, and unbearable sorrow from the other.
“Do you know what it feels like to wake up and hear that a comrade you spent decades with hanged himself and died, and eat breakfast while watching that corpse go out! Do you know that!”
It was Pierce alone who shouted, but the feelings of the 512 people gathered here in one place would not have been much different from this.
The sense of betrayal and sorrow accumulated over a hundred years filled the hall and weighed down on me and the members.
“I won’t make excuses. You received unjust treatment, and Reichart failed to sufficiently look into the sense of betrayal and sorrow you felt during that time. Regarding that fact…….”
I, who answered their outcry with a heavy voice, rose from my seat, assumed a posture of apology, and bowed politely once towards each direction.
“In the name of Hein Reichart, son of the current Family Head Redin Reichart, I apologize to you. Please forgive Reichart.”
“……!”
Hearing the words coming from my mouth, the members all made expressions of astonishment.
‘The son of the Family Head! That kid?’
The members couldn't have imagined that the greenhorn who came to command them was the son of the Family Head.
That I possessed such a precious bloodline, and that a person with such a noble bloodline bowed his head to them who were abandoned, were both surprising things.
“If you cannot forgive Reichart, I also have no intention of bothering you any further. But first, won't you listen to the story I have to tell?”
When the members couldn't regain their senses, I took the initiative in the conversation.
“It is unfortunate, but I cannot compensate for your lost past. However, I can give you a future.”
The keyword I chose to bring the initiative was precisely ‘future’.
I knew.
That longing for honor and glory was engraved as deeply as the sense of betrayal in their hearts.
These were people who volunteered for an experiment dangerous beyond measure.
The cause for making such a choice must have been a longing for honor and success.
I decided to stimulate that point.
“If you want, I will give you the opportunity to learn aura.”
The moment they heard these words, a light of longing that could not be hidden formed in the members’ eyes.
“Would that be possible? There must be many people who oppose giving power to dangerous guys like us?”
Hendrik, who had thrown a question a moment ago, asked with an expression of disbelief.
“It is possible. Before coming here, I received a delegation of full command authority over you from my father. If you want, it is entirely possible. I swear this on all the honor of me and my family.”
However, I nodded with a firm expression.
This wave soon spread to all the members.
During that time, they received the title of ‘Haken Knight Order’, but no one within the Reichart territory had ever treated them as knights.
But I had acknowledged them as a formal knight order.
“And one more thing. I intend to treat the wounds you are harboring starting tomorrow. Hendrik, didn’t you express yourself as a ‘dangerous guy’ a moment ago?”
“That is true, but…….”
“If the treatment proceeds according to my plan, there will no longer be any instances of others calling you dangerous.”
The second carrot I pulled out was that I would treat the side effects of the drug sleeping in the members’ bodies.
“……Are you saying that is also possible?”
“It is possible. If only you trust me.”
The members looked at each other with expressions of disbelief.
The fact I was guaranteeing in front of them was truly a miracle-like thing the members had hoped for even in dreams.
But since I was guaranteeing such a miracle-like thing so confidently to them, it was no wonder they showed such a reaction.
“There are two ways to treat you. If you choose the first method among them, you will have a normal human aging speed instead of maintaining the enhanced physical abilities. If you choose the second method, you will lose the enhanced physical abilities instead of showing the aging speed like now.”
This was a fact Gabriel had told me the other day.
To treat the side effects of the reagent showing violent tendencies, one has to give up either the enhanced physical abilities or the abnormal aging speed.
“Which treatment method to choose among these two is entirely your freedom.”
Then, a question burst out abruptly from among the members.
“What happens if we choose the latter? If we lose these bodies, will we become rice weevils that are just living long with no value at all?”
“Of course, if you choose the latter, we will no longer be able to find value in you as soldiers. But does that mean the value of the decision you made 100 years ago is damaged?”
I looked straight at the member who threw the question and spoke.
“If ‘Peyton’, you choose the latter, I will send you wherever you want immediately after the treatment ends, and create an environment with not a shred of lack for making a living.”
Perhaps I had already memorized the names and faces of all members, so I spoke the member’s name without hesitation.
“Can we…… trust those words you just said? That…… Captain.”
“Of course. Because you have the qualification for that.”
Before they knew it, the title Peyton used to call me had become ‘Captain’ instead of greenhorn or kid.
“What I wanted to say to you ends entirely with this. Since it seems you have nothing to say right now, I will take my leave now.”
I marked the book I had spread on my knees with a bookmark and placed it on the table.
“I say this once again, but choosing whether to live a life as a knight or become an ordinary person and enjoy longevity is entirely your share. I only hope you make a choice with no regrets. Also, after today, there will be no more locking you up. At least inside this fortress.”
Ending with these words, I turned my back.
Pierce’s voice was heard behind my back.
“Asking us…… to trust you, no, the Captain, how can we?”
“I believe I said it a moment ago? That the choice is entirely your share.”
The members watched my receding figure without being able to say anything.
Creak.
Before they knew it, Ismael, who was ahead of me, was waiting for his lord while holding the doorknob.
“If you choose to become knights, a very rough journey will be waiting for you. Because I will give you the greatest power I can give, and I will also demand an attitude befitting that power.”
Gulp.
Sounds of members swallowing dry saliva were heard here and there.
“Well, glory befitting that roughness will also be prepared. Then have a good night.”
Emily, who had packed all the tea sets before anyone noticed, followed behind me with graceful steps and exited the door.
When even Ismael disappeared, only a heavy silence flowed among the remaining members.
“…….”
As I promised, the members’ doors were never locked again.