Turning

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Chapter 105

‘Understood. I apologize. I'll answer, so ease the grip of your hand. The flame has been ignited, yes. The notion of keen eyesight... it's just that, quite literally. You, Yuder, calmly assess the situation regardless of what it may be. Whether it involves an enemy, an ally, or even yourself.’

‘Anyone with reason can do as much.’

‘I apologize, but I can't.’

At the unexpected confession, Yuder hesitated, and Kishiar raised his hand, beckoning him closer. Yuder glanced at the luxurious white glove that enveloped his hand, then slowly moved towards him.

Even when he felt he had approached close enough, the man continued to gesture him nearer. Frowning at the continuous beckoning, Yuder navigated around a large desk to stand directly in front of Kishiar. This time, a suddenly outstretched hand grabbed his arm and pulled him in.

Within moments, Yuder found himself seated on Kishiar's lap, embraced in his arms.

‘...What are you doing? It's broad daylight.’

A sweet voice lingered near his ear.

‘But you're capable. We need someone like you as the next Commander of Cavalry, someone who can grasp their surroundings under any circumstance. Isn't that the epitome of keen eyesight?’

‘I'm fairly certain that resorting to this to make your point... is not a good decision.’

‘Isn't it, though?’

Despite the reproach in his words, Kishiar grinned nonchalantly. Yuder endured as Kishiar gently caressed his cheek, knowing it was the only area that had been injured during his duel with the others.

‘That must have hurt quite a bit.’

‘It wasn't too bad. I've applied some holy water with healing properties, so it should heal soon.’

Because of the smooth leather glove, Kishiar's touch always felt cold. There was only one occasion when it wasn't so.

A time when they were together in a room during an invisible night.

‘You seem a little... thinner than before.’

‘I'm not sure about that.’

‘Moderate your training a bit. At this rate, we'll need to adjust your uniform before the Commander's inauguration ceremony.’

While he spoke, the hand that had been lightly caressing his rib area through his clothing slipped down to encircle his waist. The breath that had been grazing the top of Yuder's hair while he inhaled and exhaled steadily began to slow and thin.

Listening to the slow and deep breathing that sounded as if he was scenting, Yuder let out a quiet sigh, careful not to be heard.

There were times when Kishiar returned after stepping away, calling Yuder close to behave as if he was sniffing an animal. Therefore, when he had just called him closer, Yuder had prepared himself for another such event, and he was glad his intuition hadn't been mistaken.

Why would he behave this way when he surely knew that Yuder didn't emit any special energy or scent like other second gender manifesters?

Despite his curiosity, knowing that he wouldn't receive an answer, he decided not to say anything. Even so, sitting on his lap still felt a bit awkward.

In their interactions, Kishiar was typically the one to initiate conversation. Hence, moments like this, filled with silence when Kishiar closed his mouth, always made Yuder feel peculiar. Even though he had touched his partner's bare body, the current situation seemed to make him feel more restless than those moments.

'...Yuder. The tactical game I taught you before. Do you remember?'

Then, at last, Kishiar, who had been only breathing slowly and quietly, opened his mouth. Yuder instinctively stiffened his shoulder and replied.

'Yes.'

'The rules associated with the special piece?'

'I remember.'

Not long ago, Yuder had learned a two-player tactical game from Kishiar. In that game, there was something called a 'special piece', not a regular piece that existed from the beginning, but a sort of secret weapon that the player secretly designated from among the regular pieces before the start of the game.

Although the special piece could exert power beyond its original movement limit, due to the nature of the game where two players took turns, once it was used, it was always eliminated by the opponent.

Therefore, most often it was used only at the crucial moment when the victory had been nearly secured after being well hidden. Since losing the special piece meant having to return some of the opponent's pieces they had taken, many did not even designate it in the first place.

As Yuder was recalling these rules, Kishiar continued his words.

'The worst thing you can do when using the special piece is to get caught by the enemy before using it. You suffer a great loss.'

'...'

'So, if I feel like my special piece is about to be exposed, I take the initiative and put it out as a bait in front of the enemy.'

'Does such an obvious strategy really work?'

To his skeptical question, a response mixed with laughter returned.

'Surprisingly, it does. Even though they think that the piece right in front of them might be the special piece, they continue to doubt because of the potential penalty that might come back if it isn’t. It works especially well on those who believe that the more openly revealed, the less valuable it is. To save something, sometimes such a ruthless method of putting it at the forefront is necessary.'

He had thought that Kishiar had brought up the tactical game to say something important, but it turned out it was just about the game.

Anyway, since Kishiar often talked about such nonsense, Yuder was not greatly disappointed and responded casually.

'If it works, it's a good tactic. I don’t particularly think it's a cruel method......'

'But from the point of view of the special piece, wouldn't it be considered cruel? It's supposed to be a piece that's treated preciously and takes up the most important part of the board, after all.'

Yuder doubted for a moment whether Kishiar might be drunk. Was he really saying that the hard stone-made piece used in the game was pitiable?

'Firstly, it's not like we asked for the consent of the piece when choosing the special piece. How to use it is up to the person playing the game.'

'That's true.'

'Knowing that, why are you asking? Did you suddenly develop a fondness for the stone-made pieces?'

Kishiar was silent for a while. Just when Yuder half-forgot their pointless conversation and started to think about the impending headaches he had to deal with, Kishiar gently nudged his back with a soft touch, prompting him to stand.

'Alright. We can go back now.'

Kishiar’s face, as Yuder stood and turned, looked as calm as always. However, Yuder thought, for some reason, his red eyes staring at him seemed oddly subdued.

—---

The first thing he saw when he opened his eyes was not the small barracks where Yuder always fell asleep and woke up, but the high ceiling painted with a beautiful golden sun symbol.

Yuder blinked, staring at a ceiling he had grown tired of seeing in his past life, before slowly rising to a sitting position.

'Here... this is the guest room in the command post quarters. Why am I here?'

His head felt empty and lethargic, a momentary confusion setting in. However, when he lowered his gaze to the blanket he held with both hands, his memory suddenly cleared.

'Ah, that's right. After receiving treatment from Kishiar, I said I would return to my room...'

Yuder hadn't fainted until the discoloration on his arm was reduced to its original size, just as he had told Kishiar. The horrifying ordeal was endured in silence, a feat so impressive that even Nathan Zuckerman, who was simply observing, couldn't hide his admiration for Yuder's perseverance.

The problem occurred after the treatment was finished. He intended to get up and leave as soon as he put his clothes back on, but the moment he tried to stand, his strength drained from him.

And so, he found himself here.

"..."

He must have collapsed immediately upon trying to stand. Given the difficulty of moving a passed-out person to the regular member's quarters, they must have left him here. While he could guess the rough sequence of events, it only deepened his self-loathing.

Even when he had been tortured, flesh stripped raw from bone, he hadn't fainted. But to collapse from merely having a spot on his arm healed with divine power was shameful. He didn't want to guess what Kishiar and Nathan were thinking.

Straining his ears, he found the outside to be incredibly quiet. Judging from the dark landscape visible beyond the curtains, it seemed to be night, making it likely that Kishiar was sleeping in his own room.

'It's probably for the best...'

Figuring it would be better to carefully return to his original quarters while Kishiar was asleep, Yuder rose from his bed and stepped onto the floor. His vision blurred for a moment, but he was able to keep from passing out again by leaning on the wall.

Suddenly, he remembered the dream he'd had. It wasn't exactly a perfect dream, but more like a brief reenactment of a moment he'd shared with Kishiar in his past life. Since it was such a long time ago, some memories were so blurry he wasn't sure if they were real, but Yuder thought they probably were.

'I can't remember the specifics... but I did learn strategy games from Kishiar.'

Also, during the days when he was a candidate to succeed the Commander, it was true that his colleagues would constantly pick fights with him.

'Back then... I was indeed too young. It was so hard for me to ignore such comments.'

While he was outwardly twenty, internally he was an experienced veteran, he was confident he could handle the same issues without getting angry. However, it wasn't the case back then.

Even though it was a dream, it was rare to objectively observe oneself from such a distance. After all, it was those moments that had shaped him into who he was today. Yuder felt anew how impressive it was for Kishiar to patiently teach the young Yuder Aile with a smiling face.

Kishiar had complimented Yuder's keen eyesight, but from Yuder's perspective, it was Kishiar who truly had the keen eyesight.

'But I'm not sure why I dreamt of that period now. I wonder why?'

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