TMBE 04

CHAPTER 04

Chloe wrote replies to Andrea and Julia in turn, and while she was at it, she also penned a short letter to Benjamin. After that, she briefly recorded the day’s duties and the situation inside the base. By the time she finished all of this, it was already pitch black outside the window.

Chloe quickly accepted the reality that she wasn’t going to sleep early today either. She had learned years ago that the anxiety of “needing to sleep soon” was the fastest route to ruining sleep itself.

As a result, she had developed a flexible attitude toward day and night. She had also gained a certain unusual boldness.

“Not sleeping for a day or two won’t kill you. If it feels like you’re going to die, your eyes will close on their own anyway to save themselves. …Or maybe not?”

But she also had to accept that this self-destructive rhythm damaged the human body. A prickly personality came as a bonus.

Since coming to the base, syncing her schedule with the soldiers had improved things a lot, but she still occasionally pulled all-nighters.

After thinking for a while, Chloe opened her second drawer and took out another long-neglected notebook. She also pulled out the pre-drawn staves she had prepared earlier. Then, unlike when writing letters, she simply stared at them at an angle.

“……”

Suppressing a wave of nausea, she opened the notebook. The first page unfolded, containing only a few scribbled words.

“Just a slightly more transparent barrier….”

She kept staring at the unfinished sentence.

At first glance, her eyes looked sharp and cold. But looking closer, there was caution and fear beneath them, as if she were facing an enemy she had to defeat.

There is something admirable about labor that is not proportional to time. It means that with just a little work, you can produce more than its worth.

But labor that is not proportional to time is also like poison. It means that no matter how much time you pour in, you may never reach the result you want.

She knew that well, but all she had—everything she could invest—was time. So she often sat endlessly in front of blank paper every night.

Yet her hands and feet kept growing cold, and cold sweat formed on her back. At some point, she even began to struggle to breathe.

In the end, Chloe closed the notebook and pushed it aside on the desk. After sitting for a long time with her face in her hands, she let out a painful sigh and looked up.

That was when she witnessed something strange outside the window.

A flash of light, turning the night sky white, appeared for an instant and then slowly faded. Excluding the sentries, Chloe was likely the only person in the base who saw it. And she knew exactly what it was. Unlike before, the light was faint and murky—but it was absolutely not something that could occur naturally.

“Why is that… here…?”

Muttering in confusion, she shot to her feet. Flames were now rising high into the sky right in front of the base.

She froze for a moment, but soon unlocked the latch and threw open the door. She ran after turning two corners, heading toward the barracks where the male medical staff and volunteers were staying. It was a place she normally avoided at night, but she thought they would be far more useful for extinguishing the fire and providing strength.

Chloe knocked on several doors to wake people up. And when she knocked on the fifth, one of them clicked open.

A shirtless man stepped out, startled to see Chloe. His unusually hairy chest recoiled as he went, “Ughhh!” But recognizing a familiar face, she didn’t mind and stepped toward him.

“Matthew, there’s a fire in front of the base. But no matter how I think about it, I don’t think it’s just a fire.”

“What…?”

“You know, what we saw together last time.”

His expression stiffened as he understood what she meant—one of the survivors who had returned to the base with Chloe after the last bombardment.

Before dawn even broke, the base was in an uproar.

Seeing the strong men heading out with bayonets on their shoulders, Chloe returned to the women’s quarters. Her heart was still racing, but after waking people one by one, she felt somewhat calmer than before.

The first room she knocked on was Anna’s, the oldest of the doctors. She intended to report the situation and then head back out immediately.

“Anna, there’s a fire outside.”

“A fire?”

“Yes. There may be casualties. Could you get ready?”

Experience and age could not be ignored. Though she had just woken up and the situation was sudden, Anna showed little agitation.

“Chloe, are we under attack right now?”

“…Maybe.”

Anna grabbed Chloe’s thin wrist as she turned to leave. Then she asked again with a careful gaze.

“Should we wake the wounded?”

“……”

Chloe hesitated, unable to answer immediately. It was too complicated.

The fire wasn’t large, and if it was just a simple blaze, it would be extinguished quickly. There was no need to cause unnecessary panic.

But if it wasn’t just a fire…

Chloe was certain it was fire magic. If that was the case, Edelin’s soldiers needed to know. Some were now mobile again, and as former soldiers, they could help.

But what about the Pitzmark soldiers? If they found out, it could turn into a riot inside the base.

“…I’ll go check the situation first. Please observe the Pitzmark ward. I’ll be back within ten minutes at most.”

If she didn’t return, it meant Anna would have to decide what to do next—whether to wake people or distribute weapons.

They nodded to each other several times, and Chloe ran outside again.

People were gathering in confusion in front of the base. Chloe pushed through their shoulders and joined the crowd, looking at the strange sight.

The fire did not spread—it shot straight up into the sky. Perhaps it had nothing left to burn. Someone cautiously spoke up.

“Shouldn’t we put it out quickly?”

Matthew nodded.

“Half of us stay here. The other half form teams and scout the area. And we should request support from the front line.”

“What if the front line has been breached?”

They fell into thought, but soon shook their heads. If that were the case, they would have heard intermittent artillery fire—but tonight, everything had been silent. If troops had moved, it could not have been this quiet.

The enemy’s key force, the fire mage, was shrouded in mystery, but had never acted alone. Besides, the Weltington Medical Base was not of much military value. It was only a small treatment facility, not a true strategic base.

They stared a little longer at the rising smoke, then began turning their eyes toward Chloe.

All of them seemed to be saying the same thing:

“Hey. You’re sure you saw it right?”

Chloe pressed her lips shut, unable to defend herself. Her face tightened.

Searches continued until dawn. Reinforcements were finally sent from the front line, but no abnormalities were found.

Chloe felt like a blatant liar. If not for the consistent testimony of the sentry who had seen the same thing, she might have been labeled delusional.

Noticing her bleak expression, Matthew offered a belated attempt at comfort. The fire was out, and reinforcements had agreed to assist with patrols for a while—wasn’t that good enough?

But Chloe didn’t feel any better. Since arriving at the base, she had never skipped a single record, and now she didn’t even know what to write about this situation.

After a sleepless night, she wandered through the infirmary with a tired, irritable face. Those involved in last night’s incident had quietly agreed not to discuss the details. There wasn’t much to say anyway—nothing really had happened.

Still, the wounded seemed to know there had been a fire. The atmosphere was oddly restless.

Cheerful, smiling faces looked at her expectantly, hoping she would say something. She ignored them completely.

“Chloe, hey…”

“What do you need?”

“Chloeeee.”

“Get to the point.”

“Wow, you’re in a bad mood.”

She went around the wards as always, taking notes of what the soldiers needed and passing things along.

When she entered Edelin’s side once, and then Pitzmark’s, similar gazes gathered again. Chloe, already worn down, tried to ignore them—but Alvin stared directly at her.

She walked past him, but unexpectedly, he grabbed her collar. When she stopped, he pulled lightly at it.

His right hand—once injured—was now healed, leaving only a faint scar. Chloe stared at it for a moment, and when he released her clothing, she lifted her gaze again.

Her sky-colored eyes were dry and flat.

Don’t talk to me. I’m not going to say anything.

But what came from Alvin’s lips was something unexpected.

“Your face today is…”