Guiding the Male Lead out of His Trauma - Chapter 46.2
Acteon, despite the clingy attitude directed at him, calmly tried to state his name and affiliation.
“Acteon Brondearn, assigned to…”
The platoon leader raised a hand to stop him.
“Why so stiff? We’re all in the same unit, so just relax.”
…Wow.
There was a lot I wanted to say. Really, a lot.
But I held back.
“…Acteon.”
Even after introducing us to the unawakened soldier, the platoon leader lingered beside us for quite a while before finally leaving.
Only after he moved on to another car did I open my mouth.
“This country is finished…”
“Seriously. It’s honestly embarrassing that this House is being praised among people like that.”
“How long are we supposed to stay again?”
“…One month.”
A heavy silence fell between us.
By the time we overheard the platoon leader boasting in the next car that ‘two S-Class Awakeners have arrived’, it was already too late.
Clack, clack.
The train ran for several more hours, shaking increasingly as it went, and eventually the tracks ended.
From here on, we had to continue on foot.
Two full days passed like that.
“…That damn Crown Prince Sibellin.”
I swear, I’ll slit that damn bastard’s throat one of these days.
Walking from morning until night, keeping watch shifts, dozing in scraps of sleep, crossing rivers.
The aftermath of sustaining ourselves on tasteless dried rations was severe.
If this was the life I’d have to live, maybe that status erasure Cassiel mentioned wasn’t such a bad idea after all…
‘Wouldn’t it be better to live on the run?’
Just as my boiling murderous intent was starting to consume my reason,
the curses bursting out from all around finally made me realize we’d reached our destination.
Tattered tents belonging to the frontline unit began appearing one by one in the distance.
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We were shown to our quarters for the month. It was so shabby, anyone might think they’d brought in a couple of beggars.
The accommodations for awakened and unawakened soldiers were kept separate.
It wasn’t special treatment, exactly, but under the unspoken rule of non-interference, the place we were to stay was also separated from the other tents in the unit.
And the inside of the Awakeners’ barracks, where our seniors resided…
“Oh, fresh meat’s here.”
“Another cadet? That’s already depressing. Hey, Mitchel! Come take a look at the kids!”
Someone who had been lounging around reading a book shouted out.
The man named Mitchel stood up. In the back, he’d been laying out a red blanket, mid-fortune-telling. But when the one giving the fortune stood up, the others immediately voiced their complaints.
The tent for the Awakeners, which I had assumed would hold at least a dozen people, had only eight in total. That included Acteon and me.
Mitchel approached us, stroking his chin with a pitying expression.
“You’re from the Military Academy, right? So young… What are your names?”
“Yes, I’m Liliope Ortis.”
“And this is?”
“Acteon Brondearn.”
As soon as he heard Acteon’s name, Mitchel seemed to understand the situation and let out a sigh.
“Brondearn? This is really bad. How much did they tell you about the frontlines? Wait, don’t answer. I bet it’s nothing. Man, this is seriously bad.”
What are we supposed to do.
He gave our shoulders a few pats in encouragement, but couldn’t hide his uneasy expression.
The special operations platoon made up of Awakeners was nicknamed the ‘Tyr Platoon’.
Deployed cadets were usually rotated through various frontline units to fill manpower shortages.
Depending on how much support was needed, each deployment would last about a month per unit. If you were lucky, you could return after just one. But during shortages, you might get stuck rotating for half a year.
I glanced at Acteon’s expression.
Claire Brondearn. The one I’d seen in his memories.
Having awakened at a young age, she would’ve entered the academy before she was even twenty and had to rotate through these frontlines too.
Someone here might still remember her.
I didn’t know how they viewed someone long dead, but I hoped it wouldn’t come back to hurt Acteon.
Upon hearing that new cadets had arrived, the other seniors briefly poked their heads out to glance at us, but quickly returned to whatever they’d been doing.
“For today, nothing’s going to happen, so unpack first. You didn’t get any proper sleep on the way, right?”
“Huh?”
Sleep…? Are we really supposed to sleep comfortably here?
Seeing us standing there bewildered, Mitchel waved at the group he’d been fortune-telling for.
“If there’s a spare sleeping bag, toss one over. Didn’t leave one behind?”
Someone threw over a sleeping bag that had clearly been used as a pillow.
Looking again, this place was a disaster too.
Mitchel handed us two sleeping bags he’d scrounged up from around the tent.
“Get some rest. I’m going back to finish the reading. When you wake up, someone will explain things, more or less.”
Can things really run this loosely? During a war?
It didn’t take long to find out what had led to this defeated attitude.
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