As they were making their way further toward the outer fortress, Ebbo and his men had found a group of enemy soldiers who seemed to be quarreling.
“…I’m glad we found you.”
If Ebbo and his men had not spotted the enemy soldiers at that moment, if they had been even a little late, if they had not been able to reach them in time… The mere thought of it sent shivers down Ebbo’s spine.
“Thank you for saving me. I really thought this might be the end back there.”
Ebbo embraced the fragile body in his arms tightly.
When he confirmed that his men had finished concealing the bodies, Ebbo signaled for them to return.
“…It may not be a very comfortable journey, but hold on tight.”
With Ebbo’s superhuman strength, carrying Leorino felt like cradling a twig.
The men ran back across the predawn grasslands toward the inner fortress at an impressive pace. The braziers of the outer fortress grew farther away with every step.
“Lord Leorino, please tell me what happened.”
Holding Leorino in his arms, trying to keep him as still as possible, Ebbo sprinted across the plains in the dark night.
“I was in my home in the royal capital when I was kidnapped… Ebbo, I met him. The ability user who carried that boulder eighteen years ago.”
“He kidnapped you?”
“Yes. He called himself Smirnov, though I doubt it’s his real name. The owner of the same Power as Vi kidnapped me from the royal capital, and…I was held captive in the outer fortress until now.”
“…I’m glad you managed to escape.”
Your body being the way it is, was the part he kept to himself.
He looked down and met Leorino’s sad eyes. He was entirely different from Ionia, but his eyes were undoubtedly the eyes of a man who had once fought by his side in these lands.
“When I was trying to escape, I killed an enemy soldier who was not much older than me… I had no choice.”
Ebbo looked at Leorino’s filthy face. Were those bloodstains the blood of an enemy soldier?
He was not particularly shaken to learn that Leorino had killed an enemy. If anything, he was impressed Leorino had managed it at all with his thin arms.
“You should be proud of yourself. You may not be a warrior, but you have done well. You must not show mercy to enemy soldiers. That’s how warfare works.”
“…I know. But the feeling of thrusting a sword into a person’s body is indescribable. In my dreams, I must have killed enemy soldiers countless times…but even though I have Ionia’s memories, in reality, it feels…far stranger.”
“It’s a world you will never be a part of, Lord Leorino. You can forget about it now.”
Leorino shook his head.
“It doesn’t erase what I’ve done. And…I won’t forget it. Not yet, Ebbo.”
Violet eyes looked up into Ebbo’s wrinkled, scarred face.
“As long as that man lives, we will never know a moment’s peace. It’s just like eighteen years ago.”
“So the outer fortress…”
“Yes. I think it’s already under their control, just as it was eighteen years ago. That man confessed that, eighteen years ago, and again tonight, he…he threw the guards off the top of the fortress walls. And he transported enemy soldiers in for the takeover.”
Ebbo held him tighter. It was a miracle Leorino had made it out of the outer fortress at all.
“God…I’m so glad you’re safe and well.”
“I escaped using the hidden staircase, but my legs wouldn’t last much longer… When you found me, I couldn’t move anymore. If not for your help, I would have died there. Thank you so much.”
“Is your body all right? I mean…”
Ebbo asked hesitantly. Leorino noticed Ebbo’s concern and hugged his thick neck to reassure him.
“Yes. I can’t move because I overworked my legs and because of the cold. Otherwise, I’m fine. I mean…they didn’t hurt me, so don’t worry.”
“…Thank God. We must somehow let the general know that you’re safe.”
Leorino nodded.
The men continued running toward the inner fortress.
“Where is the main battlefield now? Here or in the Baedeker Mountains?”
“We are deployed to both, but the Baedeker side is still under observation. His Excellency is regularly at our main camp. Our enemy here is mainly Gdaniraque.”
“How many Gdaniraque troops do you think they have?”
“I’m not sure. It is said that Gdaniraque’s army is ten thousand strong, but they are a mercenary state. It’s unlikely they would lend their entire force to Zwelf, so His Excellency estimates that half at most would be used for this war, of which one-third would be sent against our ally, Francoure, and two-thirds against us.”
That would mean that some three thousand enemy soldiers were likely waiting beyond that outer fortress.
“And our army?”
“Three thousand men are encamped behind Zweilink. Combined with the fortress guards, our numbers are about even with Gdaniraque’s.”
“I see. What about my father?”
“I don’t know the details, but it seems that he has already deployed nearly half of his troops in the rear. The rest are meant to defend the castle of Brungwurt.”
Leorino nodded.
Half of the Brungwurt Autonomous Army, roughly two thousand soldiers, were deployed at the border of their territory. That’s where his eldest brother, Auriano, or Josef’s father, Lev, would likely be preparing to intercept the enemy forces if Zweilink were to fall.
“As of last evening, we were still watching the enemy from the outer fortress. The assault had begun, but it was localized.”
“It’s the same as that night. Until night fell, the outer fortress was under our control, but it was taken over in the blink of an eye.”
“It’s because of that ability user. The Power to leap is fearsome and beyond human understanding.”
“Yes… Just a handful of people can turn the tides of a war… It really is terrifying.”
Leorino imagined the face of the man with the same ability as Gravis, the most special of supernatural abilities: the ability to leap.
“…I don’t want to see people suffer the way they did that night again.”
His voice was so tired.
Leorino’s words sounded like they were coming directly from Ionia. Gently, Ebbo tightened his grip around Leorino ever so slightly in an attempt at comfort.
“…Why were you there, Ebbo?”
“Same reason as eighteen years ago. I came here to scout. Someone noticed something was wrong with the outer fortress.”
Leorino forgot his fatigue and took a long hard look at his former subordinate. Talk about déjà vu. There seemed to be a hidden meaning to Ebbo’s gaze.
“Hey, Bosse! Come here!”
Ebbo called to the man running behind them. It was the young soldier who had just nearly killed Leorino. The soldier sped up and ran alongside Ebbo.
Hearing his name, Leorino looked up at his former subordinate with a start.
“Bosse… You don’t mean…?”
“Remember Tobias Bosse with the good hearing? …This is his son.”
Leorino stared intently into the face of the young man running beside them. It was too dark to see, but the young man did indeed resemble the man who had fought and died with him. Leorino’s chest felt tight.
“My God… He really looks so much like…Tobias.”
“…Did you know my father?”
The young soldier inclined his head, understandably suspicious. The general’s fiancé was younger than him, and yet he called his father’s name with the sort of familiarity that implied they’d known each other, even though his father had been killed in battle in these lands eighteen years earlier.
“…What’s your name?”
“Sir. My name is Gehman Bosse.”
“And just like his old man, he has the unusual ability of particularly sensitive hearing. Right, Gehman?”
Leorino looked up at Ebbo’s rugged face with shock. A soft smile appeared on the scarred face.
“Talk about wild coincidences…eh, Captain?”
Leorino with Ionia’s memories, Ebbo, and Tobias Bosse’s son. The men with a shared history met in this fateful place once more, and just as on that day, they were running across the plains through the night toward the inner fortress.
“Captain Ebbo! Gdaniraque soldiers have appeared!” a soldier running in front of them warned. They all stopped.
No one had been there just a moment before, but now a group of Gdaniraque soldiers suddenly materialized. There were more than a dozen of them.
Leorino bit his lip and glared.
In the middle of the group of enemy soldiers stood Smirnov.
“We can’t let the reward run away now, can we? …Isn’t that right, Lord Leorino?”