“I will soon be leaving to rescue the kidnapped craftsmen.”
Gravis was visiting Leorino in his bedroom. His visits were always unannounced and sudden, but that was why Leorino longed for the moments he would arrive.
In recent times, it was only once every few days. Gravis would come to see him before bedtime, for half an hour at most.
Leorino always sat on his bed, waiting for the moment to come.
It reminded him of the time Ionia lived in the dorms, back when Gravis was still a boy and came to visit him every night before bed.
Now they were nineteen years apart in age.
Leorino was glad to be able to spend the same sort of time with him, creating his own version of Ionia’s memories.
But today, the man’s visit was painful.
“So you’ve discovered where they are being held?”
“Yes, at long last. It’s a village, too small to even be on the map. They are being forced into labor processing iron. It’s in the far east of Gdaniraque. I must get them out before the season turns cold.”
Leorino understood how Gravis’s mind worked by now.
“I suspect you’ve already been there in person.”
Gravis smiled. Ionia’s memories had taught him all about the man’s nature.
“Yes. We have already made arrangements for the rescue operation.”
He could vaguely remember Gravis’s fighting style.
Given his position, the man rarely saw any actual combat. But even if he found himself crossing swords with an enemy, Leorino knew that he was quite the skilled warrior.
Above all, his special ability was unparalleled.
That was why Leorino believed Gravis could bring back the kidnapped people. He would never be defeated.
Still, the uneasiness in his chest was not something that could be solved with reason. Its cause was Leorino’s frustration with his own uselessness, his inability to fight by the man’s side.
After executing the rescue mission, Gravis would go straight into battle and head for the frontline command.
Given Gravis’s non-committal relationship to physical distance, he might even return to the capital once in a while.
But Gravis was the general of the Royal Army.
Once the conflict was well underway, he would not have the luxury of coming to see Leorino. It would be a while before they could meet like this again.
“…Can we win this war?”
“Of course. I do not envision us losing.”
Leorino hoped that the words of the man who didn’t even consider defeat an option would wash away the anxiety in his heart.
“I realize they have raised funds, but is Zwelf in a position to fight a war?”
“I can’t say for certain. They paid reparations to our country for over ten years, then they built up their military for this war. The last war was an invasion due to starvation caused by the cold snap… The people of Zwelf likely still live in poverty.”
Leorino felt crestfallen. War required money. When he thought of the innocent people starving under a foolish monarch, he couldn’t help but wonder if there was anything they could do to stop this war.
That was the one major difference from when he was Ionia. Only after losing the ability to fight did Leorino begin to wonder if there was a way to resolve the issue through dialogue instead of combat.
“I believe this war is actually being orchestrated by Zberav, the general of Zwelf’s army, using King Vandarren as his puppet. I am told that he is a man of great loyalty to the king…but if we were to capture someone, he would be the first man I would look for.”
“What about Gdaniraque?”
“It’s hard to say. It is a country in name only, where mercenaries from groups of different sizes come together and call themselves a nation. It does not have explicit diplomatic relations with any of its bordering countries. In truth, there is very little about them we know for certain.”
Leorino knew just as little about Gdaniraque.
“What’s certain is their strength. Gdaniraque has no monarch. Instead, the man who controls the largest group of mercenaries is named the general. The man on the front lines of this war won’t be him, but the leader of the second largest group, Lieutenant General Hannibal Barca.”
Hannibal Barca—an unfamiliar foreign name.
“We don’t know who he is or how he fights, but he is rumored to be a ruthless man. The battle at Zweilink will likely be fought by the Gdaniraque army under his leadership.”
“I see.”
Leorino was dejected. He thought he had come to terms with needing to be protected, but it was still frustrating that he could not fight on his own when push came to shove.
He wanted to go with Gravis. He wanted to have the Power required to be entrusted with Gravis’s back. Even without Ionia’s unique ability, if Leorino had at least been blessed with a strong, robust body like his brothers, he would have been able to fight by his side.
Leorino looked at his helpless hands and muttered, “Vi, I’m afraid of being apart from you.”
“…I’m afraid of leaving you, too.”
Leorino lifted his gaze and watched Gravis.
“Vi…”
“I’m sick with worry at the thought that a man with the same Power as mine is among our enemies. To think that such a dangerous man is on the loose… The mere thought he could find and kidnap you sends chills down my spine.”
Leorino exhaled.
He was not alone in his fear.
Physical strength was of no importance. Both Leorino and Gravis were afraid to leave the other because they had already entrusted half of their hearts to each other.
Hadn’t Ionia been afraid? How could he have chosen to part from this man after that last night in the dorms, when their bodies had been melting into each other?
“…Come here.”
Gravis extended his hand to Leorino. As he approached, Gravis pulled his slender body close and held Leorino fast to his chest.
The next moment, they were standing in the bedroom of his palace.
Leorino tightly embraced Gravis’s muscular body. Gravis squeezed Leorino’s thin body back. Then both of them moved, their lips meeting.
“…Vi… Vi… I love you. So much.”
“Leorino, shall we make love?”
When Gravis lifted him, Leorino keenly clung to his neck in a sign of approval.
Leorino also wanted to feel him.
He was laid on the bed, and his body was opened more fiercely than ever, as if at the mercy of the elements.