Chapter 226: Has Anyone Hurt Him?

"...And don’t send another group out until the ones you’ve already sent have returned."

Karius stood behind his desk with one hand on the map spread before him, while Frank stood opposite, following the point he indicated.

"I want clear reports on the routes, the races present in the area, even the animals. I want to know which have dwindled in number and which have increased. I don’t want empty estimates based on speculation, Frank."

Frank nodded obediently, maintaining a posture of impeccable military respect.

"I’ll inform the squad leaders under my platoon and make sure—"

He stopped when the office door suddenly opened in the middle of the meeting.

Karius looked up at Antonius, who had entered without waiting for permission, and needed only a brief glance at the paper in his hand to understand that the matter could not wait.

"What happened?" Karius asked.

Antonius stepped inside and quietly closed the door behind him.

"An urgent report from the main gate."

Karius took his hand off the map.

"Speak."

"A young man has arrived at the camp’s perimeter and asked the guards to inform you of his return."

Antonius truly did not want to be the one delivering this news, but it was his responsibility, and he had to fulfill it without complaint.

Karius’s expression did not change, but Antonius noticed his eyes narrow slightly and continued without delay.

"He says his name is Ravian Veyr, and that he’s... your disciple, sir."

For a moment, no one moved.

Frank remained where he stood, but his eyes shifted from Antonius to Karius with a hint of shock the instant he heard the name.

And which of the platoon commanders did not know Ravian? That thin, weak boy whom Karius had described as brave and personally brought to the meeting hall in this very building to introduce to all of them?

Every one of them knew him, especially after his disappearance and the secret search conducted throughout the forest, an operation only a handful of people in the camp had been aware of.

Karius, however, looked only at the paper.

"Give me the report," he said.

Antonius handed it over.

Karius read it quickly, then returned to the lines bearing the name and description, as though the remaining words no longer mattered.

"Where is he now?"

"At the gate. He hasn’t been allowed inside, and he hasn’t tried to—"

Antonius attempted to answer, but another question from Karius interrupted him before he could finish.

"Has anyone hurt him?"

Antonius fell silent for a fraction of a second.

"No confrontation was mentioned, sir. The guards simply stopped him and sent the report."

Silence returned.

Frank studied Karius’s face, trying to determine whether what he saw was anger or something else. His jaw was tight and his gaze steadier than usual, but the paper between his fingers did not tear, nor did his voice rise, which only made him harder to read.

Karius stepped out from behind the desk.

"We’ll continue with the instructions later, Frank," he said, glancing at him briefly.

"Yes, si—"

Frank was about to salute, but Karius had already passed him.

He opened the door and headed down the corridor with a stride that made the soldiers standing there clear his path before anyone had to ask them.

Antonius followed, but had barely reached the stairs when he felt a stir of air from the open balcony below.

By the time he looked out through the window, Karius was already above the buildings, heading toward the main gate.

Antonius exhaled, then hurried downstairs to inform the communications officers that the company commander was on his way to the camp’s gate.

Frank, meanwhile, remained in the room for a few seconds, staring at the open door.

"Ravian? Out of nowhere? Just like that? Seriously, man?"

The words finally left his mouth, low and full of disbelief.

He had entered the meeting to receive instructions concerning the front and had never expected to leave with news like this.

Then he remembered his sister and the rest of her squad, who had treated Ravian like a younger brother from the very first day because he was so young compared to everyone else in the camp.

’They need to hear this.’

He cast one last glance at the map, then left the office and headed toward the quarters of the Death Squad, one of the squads under his platoon’s command.

...

"Fasten it again. It’ll slip out of place like that."

Elias pointed at the strap secured near Darius’s shoulder while the latter tried to reach it with one hand, then lost patience and thrust his arm toward him.

"Then fix it yourself."

Elias looked at him for a moment before taking hold of the strap and pulling it into place so tightly that he nearly cut off the circulation to Darius’s arm.

On the other side, Claria was carefully checking some of her medical supplies, while Evelyne sat near Lysandra and spoke to her quietly, though Lysandra seemed preoccupied with something else. Kael, meanwhile, was sharpening a dagger as he listened to Malrik’s instructions about preparing the squad for a possible raid that morning, based on information from scouts working with the camp’s intelligence units.

There was nothing unusual about the scene.

Until Frank entered.

Malrik looked up first, then straightened when he saw his expression.

"Have the orders changed?"

Frank did not answer immediately, his gaze passing over everyone until it settled on his sister, then returning to Malrik.

"A report reached the central building a short while ago," Frank said, pausing briefly before continuing. "And I thought you might be interested in hearing it."

Kael stopped sharpening his dagger.

"About an attack?" he asked, his expression cold.

"No."

Frank looked at them once more, then said:

"Someone at the main gate says he’s Ravian Veyr."

That unsettling silence descended once again, though this time, the shock on most of the faces around him was far more apparent, and the silence itself seemed louder than any noise.

Their expressions were much alike, with one exception: a tiny smile appeared on one young woman’s face and quickly vanished as she nodded, as though acknowledging someone.

Then most of those present cried out almost in unison:

"What?!"