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Chapter 2
All of this had begun exactly one hour and thirty minutes ago.
“Let’s take off our ranks and settle this in a fight!”
It all started with Noah’s daring challenge to a duel, knowing full well he might have to voluntarily discharge himself from the military.
“……”
And the one receiving the challenge, Reto, simply stared back at Noah with a frozen, chilly expression.
“Shouldn’t someone… try to stop them?”
A young man with a close-cropped head like a chestnut muttered. His body was trained, but his face still held traces of boyish immaturity.
“Forget it, kid.”
A disinterested voice cut him off.
“Lieutenant Chitia….”
“You want to get bitten and chewed up for butting in?”
She was Noah’s peer, having entered the military the same year as him. On her chest gleamed the insignia of a lieutenant and a nameplate reading Ami Chitia.
“But what if Captain Velo ends up dishonorably discharged for insubordination?!”
A dishonorable discharge was the worst possible ending for any soldier.
Everything they’d achieved, their honor, their efforts—gone in an instant. All benefits and rights they’d be entitled to after service would be stripped away.
What Noah was doing bordered dangerously close to insubordination. If Reto discharged him dishonorably before Noah could voluntarily resign, it would all be over.
“Private Honess Mera.”
“Private Honess Mera, sir!”
The young soldier whose name was called immediately straightened his posture and shouted his name and rank.
Ami, finding his sudden discipline oddly cute, asked him shortly:
“What kind of man is Captain Velo, in your eyes?”
“He is an excellent man, ma’am. He cannot tolerate injustice and possesses the courage to stand firm against the strong.”
Honess’s answer flowed without pause, as if he had thought about this many times before.
“His unshakable will is also his strength. Especially his achievements during the pirate subjugation mission, which he joined on his very first day of service—”
“Enough.”
Ami cut him off. She had heard plenty.
“Then you should understand well enough.”
“…Excuse me?”
“Noah is just…”
Instead of finishing her words, Ami spun her finger by her temple, making a “crazy” gesture.
Honess’s eyes widened. But he couldn’t bring himself to disagree. His tightly shut lips were proof of that.
“This is nothing more than a fight between two mad dogs—one of them will lose.”
The Empire’s most infamous mad dog was Lieutenant General Reto Oceanus. But within the navy, there was a rapidly rising second mad dog.
And everyone knew exactly who that was.
Because he was standing right in front of them now.
“But do you think a mad dog will just back down quietly?”
“……”
“If he’s leaving anyway, he’s going to land at least one punch.”
Ami could fully understand Noah’s feelings.
Especially after what he had gone through last month.
Though…
His reaction was admittedly a little excessive.
“…Noah.”
That was when it happened.
Reto, who had remained silent until now, finally opened his mouth.
He’s smiling…?
Noah, who had been glaring with full intensity, frowned in suspicion.
He’s gone insane, hasn’t he?
From experience, whenever Reto smiled like that, something terrible always happened—ten times out of ten.
“If that’s your wish…”
Reto shrugged lightly and then signaled to his adjutant with his eyes.
“Warrant Officer, go fetch a sword.”
The adjutant, who had been staring blankly, now gaped, his red throat bobbing visibly.
“Do you… mean a wooden sword, sir?”
“Do you think that mad dog over there will be satisfied with a wooden sword?”
“…Which sword do you mean, then?”
“Mars.”
Noah’s eyes went wide.
“General, that’s—!”
The adjutant tried to object, but under Reto’s heavy stare, he had no choice but to obey and go fetch the blade.
So we’re going to lose a talent like this….
Noah was a prodigy. His rapid promotion to captain at such a young age was proof of it.
He had been expected to achieve great things ever since the Academy. It was a shame to see such a gifted officer be lost so pointlessly.
But no matter how talented, before Reto he was just an ordinary man.
The adjutant, however, resolved at least to prevent a dishonorable discharge.
If Noah was guilty of anything, it was only that he had caught the attention of this mad dog.
But if the general valued the captain so highly… why do this?
With that unresolved doubt, the adjutant handed Reto the sword he had retrieved.
“Hey.”
Meanwhile, Ami whispered to Noah so only he could hear.
“You’re not really going to die from this, are you?”
“…Get lost.”
Noah kicked back at her half-heartedly, but it was weak and fell short. His eyes were locked solely on the crimson sword.
“Say the duel’s off while you still can.”
“That’s not an option.”
Reto had already strode forward with a sly smile.
“Lieutenant Chitia.”
“Lieutenant Ami Chitia, sir…”
“Step back.”
“…Yes, sir.”
Grumbling as she retreated, Ami looked utterly defeated.
“Such a shame, having our fun interrupted like this.”
With those words, Reto tossed the sword toward Noah.
It traced a clean arc through the air before Noah caught it, eyes wide.
“I’ll give it to you.”
“…Excuse me?”
“You said you wanted to fight me without rank. You hate me enough to want to kill me, don’t you?”
“Not that much.”
Noah’s sharp reply surprised Reto even more—and then Noah, seeing Reto’s startled reaction, was also surprised in turn.
“I’m not foolish enough to kill a comrade I’ve fought alongside.”
“……”
Reto muttered something then. Noah didn’t catch it, but his adjutant Past looked stricken with horror.
“I just…”
Since it had come to this, Noah spoke honestly.
“I just want one chance to plant my fist in that smiling face of yours, General.”
“…Crazy bastard…”
Ami, watching from behind, muttered. Others around them reacted similarly.
No wonder the general torments him on purpose. They say mad dogs attract mad dogs.
Why am I the mad dog here?
The real mad dog was standing right in front of him. Noah was just an unfortunate victim, dragged along.
Even that nickname had been forced onto him.
“Captain Velo.”
The call snapped Noah out of his brief sulking.
“Do you want to leave your mark on me that badly?”
Why phrase a simple punch in such a creepy way?
Noah grimaced, but nodded anyway.
Reto’s smile turned strange.
“Then I’ll give you the chance.”
Alarms went off in Noah’s head. Danger.
But the thought of finally punching that damned face was too tempting.
So Noah ignored his instincts.
“I’ll set aside the sword.”
“Keep it. I gave it to you for real.”
“…Pardon?”
“I said it’s a gift.”
Noah stared down at the sword in his hand with wide eyes, then quickly strapped it at his waist.
Idiot.
Why refuse if someone’s giving it?
Still…
His fingers traced the sheath carefully, loaded with unspoken emotions.
Reto noticed but pretended not to.
“But in exchange.”
Reto added a condition to the duel. In his hands was only the battered wooden sword Noah had thrown earlier.
“Each of us grants the other one wish.”
“No.”
Noah answered instantly.
“My grandmother always said, never gamble needlessly—it only shortens your life.”
Reto had even added, If you’re eager to shorten your life, I’ll cut it myself, but Noah kept that part to himself.
“You think I’d demand something outrageous?”
Reto chuckled, shifting his grip on the wooden sword.
“It’ll be within reason. Something anyone here can agree on.”
“……”
“With all these witnesses, do you still doubt me?”
“…That’s exactly the problem.”
Because Reto’s “reason” wasn’t anyone else’s.
“……”
After a moment of thought, Noah set aside the crimson blade and picked up a nearby wooden sword.
I’ll lose anyway.
He was confident in his own skill, but before this monster, he was just another man.
Fighting with Mars would only endanger his life more.
“No bets involving money or bodily harm!”
He shouted one last warning—then charged. His steps were light, fast, his wooden sword flashing quickly.
“Do I look poor to you?”
Reto tilted his head slightly as Noah came at him.
“And bodily harm…?”
Only then did Reto move his sword.
“You shouldn’t say such things to a priest.”
“……”
“……”
Hearing the story, Clare and As were both struck speechless.
“And that’s how I won.”
Reto recalled the earlier scene with a sweet, enthralled smile, as though there were no love song greater or more beautiful.
“Since we promised to grant each other’s wishes, Noah had no choice but to accept mine—my proposal. Romantic, isn’t it?”
“……”
Next to the world’s happiest self-proclaimed groom sat the world’s most miserable so-called bride.
Noah, face buried in his hands, remained silent—the tragic heroine of this farce.
And Reto was the devil, luring that heroine into a pit of mischief.
“…Unbelievable!”
Smack, smack!
Clare began smacking Noah’s arm with her small hand.
“How old!”
Smack!
“Are you!”
Smack!
“Supposed to be!”
So embarrassing she could die!
Her sharp scolding and little slaps continued for quite a while.
