Chapter 45: Your Children Are Doing Great

He’d only just woken up. Wasn’t he supposed to have at least one peaceful morning after nearly getting himself killed yesterday?

"Can’t he come here instead? I’m a patient! Look at all these bandages! My body is practically falling apart!"

The two soldiers’ faces hardened. "The Lieutenant specifically requested your presence once the healers confirmed that you were conscious."

"What kind of person requests a patient to come to him? Shouldn’t he adjust for his employee? Can’t you see my body still hurts like hell?!"

The healer approached them before Zishan could continue complaining. "He can walk, but he’s still recovering from severe exhaustion and multiple combat injuries. Don’t make him run around the entire station."

"Understood."

Zishan gave her a grateful look. ’Oh! Sister! You’re finally on my side!’

Then, she turned toward him with knitted brows. "And don’t start shouting at your superior officers. Can’t you see they’re Senior Soldiers, and the Lieutenant you’re shouting about outranks the Sergeant? Where are your manners?"

"..."

The soldiers waited while he changed into a replacement uniform and collected his personal belongings. Once the healer finished checking his bandages, they escorted him outside.

The forward medical station looked quite different in daylight.

Several sections of the western barricade had been repaired during the night, and fresh reinforcements were now stationed along the damaged defensive line. Soldiers were carrying broken weapons and pieces of destroyed equipment away from the battlefield, while others worked alongside the healers to transport wounded men between the treatment tents.

Zishan also noticed several covered bodies near one of the supply wagons.

He stopped walking for a moment.

Yesterday, those soldiers had been fighting alongside him against Larper’s horde. Some had died protecting the medical station, and others had been injured so badly that even the healers were struggling to keep them alive.

’Fuck...’

One of his escorts noticed him looking toward the wagons.

"We’re still accounting for the casualties," the soldier explained. "The eastern approach remains under guard. Nobody’s been ordered to retake the Reserve Station yet."

Zishan nodded.

He wondered whether the scout who’d delivered the news about the Eastern Reserve Station had survived his injuries. There had been other soldiers trapped there when the enemy launched its assault, and they still didn’t know how many had managed to escape.

The news had already spread throughout the medical station. Every conversation he overheard seemed to involve either the missing soldiers or the reinforcements expected to arrive from rear command.

He had been hoping that defeating Larper would at least give everyone an opportunity to rest.

’Damn those bastards. They really planned everything, huh?’

His escorts led him past the repaired barricade and toward a larger tent near the center of the station. Two armed guards were standing outside, and several officers were gathered around a table covered with maps and reports.

The Sergeant was among them.

"Zishan Walker!"

"S-Sergeant!"

Zishan straightened his posture and saluted. The Sergeant examined him from head to toe before asking whether the healers had cleared him to leave the recovery tent.

"YES, Sergeant! I’m practically a new man!"

"Then why are you holding your shoulder right now?"

"..."

"Never mind," the Sergeant compromised and said, "The Lieutenant is waiting for you."

Zishan lowered his hand and followed the Sergeant inside.

’Can’t I at least eat my fill first before going to work?’

The first thing Zishan noticed upon entering the command tent was Larper Forteza.

The young Corporal of the Kingdom of Degenerates was sitting on a wooden chair with his wrists restrained behind his back. Two armed soldiers stood beside him, and his slave collar remained firmly secured around his neck.

His face looked considerably worse than Zishan remembered. ’HAHAHAHA! Look at that bastard! Who told you to kick me in the stomach?!’

Larper raised his head.

Their eyes met.

"..."

"..."

"OH! GOOD MORNING, BROTHER!"

The Sergeant closed his eyes.

Larper’s expression darkened as Zishan gave him an enthusiastic wave.

"I hope you slept well! Your children are doing great, by the way. Four of them are living with me now!"

"You—"

"Mr. Forteza. Remain silent." A man sitting at the opposite end of the table interrupted Larper before he could finish.

Zishan turned toward him.

The man wore the dark forest-green uniform of the Olmost military, with a Lieutenant’s insignia displayed prominently on his shoulders. He appeared to be in his thirties and had several documents spread across the table in front of him, including what looked like a report from the medical station and another containing Larper’s information.

He gestured toward the empty chair across from him. "Zishan Walker. Volunteer Auxiliary. Eastern Formation, Third Supply Line."

"Yes, sir!" Zishan saluted.

"Sit down."

"Thank you, sir!"

Zishan sat.

The Lieutenant examined him for several seconds before returning his attention to the documents.

"I’ve spent most of this morning questioning Corporal Larper Forteza about yesterday’s attack. He has refused to provide information regarding the assault on the Eastern Reserve Station, although we have already confirmed that the horde was intended to draw reinforcements away from it."

Zishan glanced toward Larper with a gloating expression.

The Lieutenant continued, "According to the reports submitted by the Sergeant and several surviving soldiers, you’re the one responsible for capturing him."

"Yes, sir!"

"Alone?"

"Well, I fought him alone, sir! But the other soldiers were busy fighting his beasts, and the reinforcements were helping them, too. I wouldn’t say I defeated the entire fucking horde by myself!"

The Sergeant gave him a warning look.

Zishan cleared his throat. "Sorry, sir. I mean... the entire horde."

The Lieutenant wrote something on the document before asking him to explain what had happened from the moment he’d encountered Larper.

Zishan did exactly that.

He told the Lieutenant about the countless Ridgefang Hounds, the Ironback Razorboars, and the other creatures that had been attempting to overrun their station. He described how he’d used Wildfire Requiem to attack groups of Magic Beasts and how the fighting had continued even after the reinforcements arrived.

Then, he explained his encounter with Larper. "That bastard was controlling an insane number of beasts while fighting me at the same time! I thought I’d finally found somebody I could defeat, but he started swinging that fucking sword around like he was personally offended by my existence!"

Larper’s jaw tightened. "You insulted me first!"

"Who would not want to insult someone trying to kill everybody in the first place? Are you stupid?!"

"Enough!" the Lieutenant ordered.

Both of them fell silent.

The Sergeant rubbed his forehead, already looking as though he regretted bringing Zishan into the tent.

After another warning, Zishan continued describing their fight. He explained that he’d acquired Beast Taming Affinity and Beast King’s Authority during the battle, then used his newly obtained ability to interfere with Larper’s control over several of his Magic Beasts.

That particular detail attracted the Lieutenant’s attention. "You’re saying you awakened a Beast Taming Affinity during your fight?"

"Yes, sir!"

"And acquired a Sovereign-tier Skill at that?"

"Yes, sir!"

The Lieutenant glanced toward one of the officers beside him before examining the report again. "How?"

"I received a reward after a quest appeared during the battle, sir."

"What quest?"

’Shit...’ Zishan scratched his head.