The Immortal Genius Spear knight (22)
Fear.
Fear of new arrivals.
Fear of getting emotionally attached and growing close to them.
—Ah… Ah… Noooo!
The first death of a comrade after joining the Neo-Calitz unit.
It wasn’t anything special.
If one were to pinpoint a reason, it was probably carelessness?
The mission was to eradicate a group of goblins.
The goblins had come out to the edge of the forest due to hunger.
They were low-level monsters even among those found in the Bronzerian Forest.
But unlike the serious veterans, the faces of the new recruits were full of ease.
Of course.
It was just about hunting goblins.
But that’s exactly when things went wrong.
One of the new recruits got hit by a poisoned dart from a goblin.
And it was from a goblin they thought had already been killed.
To make matters worse, the dart hit them right in the eye, making treatment impossible.
The poison spread inside the eye, becoming uncontrollable.
After that, new recruits continued to come in occasionally.
Dianal remembered that incident and trained them.
He told them never to be careless in the forest.
To make sure to eliminate even worms properly.
“…Damn fools.”
Dianal cursed as he remembered the recruits who had died.
Especially those who were too arrogant.
He told them not to be careless.
Always be cautious of their surroundings, and be meticulous with every step.
But they only answered with words and didn’t practice it.
Most of them died.
About a year later, Dianal stopped giving advice to new recruits.
He stopped caring.
After all, they would die eventually.
“Ugh…”
But for some reason.
‘…What was that?’
That young kid.
There was something strange about the way he looked at him.
In fact, it wasn’t an entirely strange look.
How should I put it?
‘It felt like he knew me.’
It was a peculiar feeling that couldn’t be explained with words.
‘Forget it, whatever.’
He decided not to worry about it.
Dianal then took his boots and went to the military store in front of the base.
“I’m here.”
“Welcome.”
It was the only military store in Erkal that only served members of the Neo-Calitz unit.
The owner, Mr. Osman, had an extremely bad personality.
—If you’re just going to waste time, don’t even think about coming to my store!
The time he yelled at Erkal’s Defense Forces was still vivid in Dianal’s memory.
Dianal held up his boots.
“I need to replace the soles.”
“Again? Isn’t it time to replace the boots themselves?”
“Haha, I have other places to spend money.”
“Tsk tsk, you’re not turning out like the older guys, are you? Save your salary and invest in your equipment. That’s the only way to live for even a day longer.”
It was a jab at the veterans who squandered their money on entertainment.
Since they never knew when they might die, they spent a lot on alcohol and women.
“But I don’t have any money left.”
In reality, Dianal sent most of his salary home.
Osman knew that fact and chuckled.
“I’ll replace them with a sturdy pair. If these wear out, I’ll just give you new boots next time.”
“Is it free?”
“Heh, a young one like you… Alright, I’ll give you a free replacement!”
It was a roundabout way of saying he hoped Dianal would survive until the soles wore out.
Dianal chuckled softly.
“Hehe, thank you. I’ll work harder.”
“Work well, not just hard.”
Osman then removed the soles of the boots and swiftly repaired them.
After the repair was done, Osman handed the boots back to Dianal and asked.
“By the way, I saw some clueless kids outside the base earlier. Are they new recruits?”
“Did you see them?”
Dianal’s expression hardened.
Understanding the meaning, Osman clicked his tongue.
“Tsk tsk, I thought they were just inept recruits from the Defense Forces… so they’re your juniors.”
“…I’ll come by next time.”
Dianal gave a slight nod and left.
Juniors.
Damn.
Returning to the base, Dianal bit his lips in frustration.
They were probably not following the cleaning orders properly.
Most of them complained about having to clean right after arriving.
‘First, I need to crush their spirit.’
Ambition, confidence, pride.
Such things were unnecessary here.
Instead, they would only hasten their own demise.
It’s better to crush them thoroughly so they can’t even move in front of the veterans.
That was Dianal’s chosen method.
But when Dianal returned to the barracks.
“…What is this?”
Dianal gasped and muttered.
“…We were surprised too.”
“Youngest, how many kids did you kidnap?”
Inside the barracks, the senior soldiers looked at Dianal and asked.
The walls, previously covered in mold, and the floor’s ingrained filth.
Apart from some spots that had yellowed due to the passage of time, the barracks was now shining like new, making Dianal gulp.
And.
“Oh. You’re here, Private Dianal?”
A young recruit, holding a bucket full of dirty water, said.
* * *
“Kyle.”
“What?”
“Wipe.”
“…?”
Damian suddenly went somewhere and came back with a mop.
Kyle frowned as he took the mop Damian handed him.
“Are we here to clean?”
“This is part of our job too. Stop complaining and clean from there to here. I’ll take care of the other side.”
Damian, looking somewhat pleased, started mopping the wall with the mop.
He dipped the mop in the bucket and diligently cleaned the wall.
Kyle sighed at the sight.
“Damn, cleaning as soon as I arrived.”
I came here thinking about fierce battles, but I ended up cleaning.
But since the kid was doing it himself, he couldn’t just stand by.
Even though it was annoying, Kyle started cleaning the area that Damian had pointed out.
“Hey, scrub harder!”
“I got it!”
Damian somehow managed to bring a brush and scraper in a timely manner, in addition to the cleaning tools.
He eradicated old stains on the floor, mold spots caused by moisture, and dust in the corners of the ceiling.
Kyle wondered if Damian’s parents ran a cleaning service.
But.
“Gasp… Gasp… Gasp…”
Was cleaning always this tough?
At some point his whole body felt stiff, and sweat poured down like rain.
He had to wipe the sweat that dripped onto the floor while cleaning.
“D-Damian, isn’t this enough?”
It was clean enough.
But Damian shook his head.
“Can you lick the place you just cleaned?”
“What kind of crazy talk is that?”
“Make it clean enough to be licked. There are still water stains. Finish it off with a dry mop.”
“You’re crazy! You might as well quit and start a cleaning service!”
Kyle shouted.
He thought it was too excessive.
But Damian looked at Kyle with a serious expression.
“Kyle, this is the first mission we’ve received since joining this unit.”
“This cleaning isn’t a mission…”
Kyle grumbled.
But Damian cut him off.
“I don’t want to treat this first mission lightly. It has to be perfect. That’s important. If you’re going to do it half-heartedly, it’s better not to do it at all.”
“……”
Kyle wanted to say Damian was talking nonsense.
But he couldn’t.
Damian’s seriousness was too intense.
‘…Perfect.’
And he reconsidered what Damian meant by ‘perfect’.
‘Damn, since we’re doing this…’
“Alright, I’ll do it.”
Kyle said, and Damian grinned.
* * *
The barracks shone brightly.
The members of the Neo-Calitz unit who entered the barracks couldn’t hide their astonished expressions.
“Hey, how many new recruits did you have to catch to clean up like this?”
“No, I… not much…”
He just gave cleaning instructions, that’s all.
Dianal looked at Damian with a bewildered expression.
Unfazed.
Instead, Damian approached him with a seemingly relaxed smile.
“I’ve finished the cleaning instructions. Could you check if anything is lacking?”
“That…”
There couldn’t be anything lacking.
In fact, it was so thorough it seemed excessive.
Dianal was at a loss for words, like he’d swallowed honey.
‘What the hell is this kid doing?’
What was his motive for this?
Usually, recruits either don’t clean or do it sloppily.
All of the previous recruits had been like that.
But what was this situation?
‘…Is this intelligent defiance?’
Dianal looked at the recruits.
Both of them were sweating heavily, their shirts soaked.
From just the sweat dripping down, you could tell how fervently they had worked.
Cleaning.
“You, you bastard…”
Dianal couldn’t hide his confusion.
He was at a loss for words.
Is this rebellion?
It was just cleaning done thoroughly.
But then.
“Kekekekekekekeke.”
Taron, who had been observing the situation, chuckled softly.
The eyes of the unit members shifted slightly at this sight.
‘The captain is laughing?’
‘That iron-faced guy?’
The unit members looked at Taron with the same astonishment they had when they saw how clean the barracks were.
This was because Taron’s usual face was mostly devoid of emotion.
As if he had forgotten how to smile.
Taron was always seen with a dry expression, making other unit members’ expressions similarly subdued.
As though they were just enduring a grim situation.
Taron addressed Damian and Kyle, paying no mind to the other unit member’s gazes.
“Newbies, come here.”
At Taron’s words, Damian walked over to him without hesitation.
When the two were in front of Taron, he asked.
“Did you two do this?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Why did you clean so thoroughly?”
“Those were Private Dianal’s orders.”
Damian answered.
Seeing there were no further words, Taron looked puzzled.
“Is that all?”
“Yes, that’s it.”
The senior gave instructions.
So, they cleaned thoroughly.
With no further explanation, Taron kept his mouth shut and observed Damian and Kyle.
It was clearly a good opportunity to show off.
Or leverage to request other conveniences.
But.
“……”
Taron looked at Damian and Kyle.
The big guy seemed a bit uncomfortable in this atmosphere and swallowed nervously.
And the young one…
‘Can’t figure him out.’
One can usually gauge a person’s depth by looking at them.
Especially someone like Taron, who had spent a long time in life-or-death battles.
The kid was quite impressive.
To the point that you almost couldn’t see him as a newbie.
It was almost enough for him to be considered for immediate deployment in battle.
Yet, Damian’s depth was elusive.
—This kid graduated at the top of his training class.
Taron suddenly remembered Kyle’s comment.
‘So, there was a reason.’
What that reason is, he wasn’t sure.
But it meant that there was something about Damian that he didn’t know.
Moreover, resources.
It was rare for someone from the Baroque Kingdom to not know about the Neo-Calitz unit when volunteering for the military.
They couldn’t apply without knowing.
‘Yet he came on his own?’
Unpredictable kids.
Taron chuckled.
He tried to suppress the laughter, but it escaped through his lips.
Smoothly.
Taron stood up from his seat and placed his hands on Damian and Kyle’s shoulders.
With a smile.
“Listen up, everyone.”
Taron had Damian and Kyle face the unit members.
“Starting today, these guys are our youngest. Be sure to welcome them.”
