Cardina watched from behind with a dumbfounded expression as Kuklo dashed off. Kuklo’s extraordinary physical ability was amply clear from the chain of events that had brought him here, but calmly running ahead with his burden despite having no training was still stunning.
Cardina hadn’t fared well after his first logistics training session. Unable to get food down his throat, anything he did manage to eat he’d thrown back up. The other recruits had met similar fates, with many even blacking out, and Cardina came to realize that it was a way of screening unfit candidates. Kuklo’s instant adaptation testified to his astounding stamina; he didn’t even seem to be suffering.
Kuklo’s harsh upbringing had indeed granted him exceptional vitality. It wouldn’t have been an exaggeration to call him a beast in human clothes, or a feral child. Not only that, in his veins ran the blood of his father Heath, a Survey Corps team leader. Kuklo was cut out to be a soldier, and he could even come to embody the next generation of soldiers that Jorge sought to turn out.
If there’s one problem… Cardina watched Kuklo pulling farther and farther away. Should I stop him or not?
At this rate, Kuklo might cause a row mere minutes after joining the Training Corps. It would damage his impression.
Unsure of what to do, Cardina looked to Jorge, but the instructor issued no reprimand even though Kuklo’s behavior clearly posed a problem.
“Are you just letting him go?” Cardina asked, unable to hold his tongue.
Maintaining his indifference, Jorge simply stated, “I’ll leave this to you.”
Leave this to me? Being entrusted with the situation limited Cardina’s choices. Actually, there’s only one thing I can do.
As soon as Cardina reached this conclusion, he realized what Jorge’s intentions were. This was rough medicine to make Kuklo conform to life as a recruit.
I do feel like I’ve pulled the short straw here, though. Cardina couldn’t hold back a bitter grin, but his expression soon stiffened as clamors came drifting from the front of the group. He hardly needed to wonder why.
“Sheesh, I should have had Sharle teach me how to handle the kid,” lamented Cardina. He put a hand to his forehead, let out a groan, and dashed forth, prepared for the worst.
✦ ✦ ✦
Kuklo single-mindedly charged ahead. He closed the gap between him and the rear of the main group in an instant, then charged through the recruits who were running in an orderly double-file formation. He was trying to get to the very front.
I know he’ll be up there. From his earliest days as a person, Kuklo had been with Xavi. It was easy to imagine him running at the head, eagerly feeding his conceit.
All right! Kuklo roused himself and continued to plunge forward with forceful steps.
Not expecting to be passed by anyone who’d been trailing them, the recruits clamored as he left them behind, but Kuklo kept running, paying them no mind.
The frontrunner sped about three hundred meters ahead, and it was the exact person Kuklo expected to see. Even from behind, he would never mistake Xavi for anyone else. Kuklo even remembered the sound of Xavi’s feet hitting the ground.
As soon as he recognized Xavi, Kuklo’s days in the shed replayed themselves in his mind. It sent a chill through his heated body, but he only increased his speed as if to shake off the memories.
Xavi’s body had always been imposing, but it was now incomparably larger, thanks either to the training having built his muscles or to a growth spurt. He stood out even among the other recruits, and if one were to judge by his physique alone, he could pass as a competent soldier. Since he ran at the front of the group, he was reasonably able too, as much as Kuklo didn’t wish to concede the point.
Swiftly closing the distance to Xavi, he began running alongside him. This seemed to bother Xavi, who clicked his tongue and glanced at Kuklo with an annoyed look on his face.
“Wha…”
Xavi’s expression turned absolutely befuddled; his eyes couldn’t have opened wider. It must have seemed to him that Kuklo had come back from hell. Though Xavi’s cheeks should have been flush with blood, his face looked almost pale.
“You… Weren’t they supposed to execute you?” He seemed to know about the verdict handed to Kuklo.
Xavi must have been informed of all the details as the victim’s relative, up to and including the execution of the sentence. While the method, banishment, may have been covered up, it made sense for him to believe that Kuklo was dead since the sentence had been carried out. Kuklo felt like taunting him further, but just seeing Xavi so flabbergasted was soothing.
As Kuklo gloated, he heard Cardina’s footsteps come drumming toward him from behind. Maybe he feared Kuklo would get violent, but he bore no such intention. Shocking the hell out of Xavi was plenty satisfying.
Right as Kuklo turned around to assure him, Cardina yelled, “Look out!” At the same time, he sensed a wave of malice.
“Why are you still alive?!” came the enraged scream, along with a powerful, log-like arm.
Angling his head to dodge the approaching right fist, Kuklo snapped a kick into Xavi’s defenseless left flank.
“Guhh…” Xavi stopped in his tracks and groaned, holding his side. The menacing gleam that his eyes still gave off proved that the kick hadn’t done much.
It isn’t like before. Some time had passed since Kuklo last confronted Xavi, and the present standoff was very different. There were no chains restricting his movement, nor was there a precious person he needed to protect. He wasn’t going to stand there taking punches.