Chapter 65

The news spread quickly. Within a few hours, many people knew about the scene that had unfolded on the training field that afternoon. Regarding this, everyone’s evaluation of the major was unanimous: gentle yet terrifying. Conclusion: Never provoke him during training.

Hels sat in the medical room, his face drained of all color from the pain. A bone reset device had been installed on his left leg. After checking the other parts of his body one by one, there were no major issues—just superficial wounds. Even the most serious injury, his left leg, was not a big problem. With some rest and the bone reset device, he would recover fully soon, though it would hurt for a while.

Horne did not come to check on Hels’s injuries. Instead, Ben Yian stayed by his side. Hels glared at him, not wanting to say a single word.

His mind was full of Horne. Just thinking about him brought shock, grievance, and admiration.

Ben Yian, sitting nearby, was also speechless. He explained, “I just came to deliver dinner to Horne. I didn’t want to stay here with you either. It was Horne who told me to come.”

Hels gripped the bedsheet, nearly tearing it to shreds. He said harshly, “Horne doesn’t need you to bring him dinner.”

Ben Yian smiled, casually sat down on a chair, crossed his legs, and said helplessly, “He often skips dinner. I just felt a bit sorry for him.”

Hels was about to jump down, but as soon as he moved, the doctor immediately stopped him. “Don’t move! The bone reset device is still scanning and recording your leg’s condition!”

Hels sat back down, his chest heaving. His eyes glared viciously at Ben Yian.

Ben Yian found this child’s hostility strange. He thought about it but couldn’t figure it out, so he asked in confusion, “What’s wrong with you? Didn’t you stay at my place at the beginning? I never provoked you, did I?”

Hels sneered and threw three words at him: “Two-faced.”

Ben Yian was completely baffled. “Huh?”

Once formal training ended, the training field emptied out. After dealing with his injuries, Hels slowly got down from the bed. Walking was very laborious. He sent messages to Horne via his terminal, but Horne didn’t reply to any.

Ben Yian asked if he needed help walking, but Hels refused outright.

He would rather stumble along than let this two-faced guy touch him.

Ben Yian shrugged, sighed, and slowly followed beside Hels. He opened the door to the medical room and trailed behind at an extremely slow pace. In ten minutes, they only covered a few meters.

Still unable to make sense of it, Ben Yian thought for a moment and asked again, “I’m really curious. How am I two-faced?”

Hels ignored him, focusing only on his steps. His mind was full of the scene from that afternoon when Horne had subdued him.

Getting no answer, Ben Yian glanced at him and said, “I heard Horne gave you a harsh lesson this afternoon. Looks like it was really bad. Can’t you walk any faster?”

Hels nearly swung at him, but as he raised his hand, Ben Yian dodged. Hels lost his balance and fell.

Ben Yian stood nearby with his arms crossed, showing no intention of helping. He smiled and said, “Even in this state, you still want to hit me? Looks like Horne didn’t teach you enough of a lesson. Does he know you cursed me out? Guess if he’ll give you another round?”

Before Hels could respond, hurried footsteps approached from the side.

Horne had seen Hels fall from far away. He quickened his pace, walked over, and squatted down beside Hels.

“Why didn’t you help him up?” Horne asked as he pulled Hels to his feet.

Ben Yian was about to speak when Hels looked at Horne with a grievance and said, “He pushed me.”

Horne: “…”

Ben Yian: “…”

What a schemer. Ben Yian raised his hands, looking numb. “I swear I didn’t. I just wanted to test his perseverance, let him try standing up on his own.”

Horne was speechless. He ruffled Hels’s hair and said helplessly, “I saw you fall on your own.”

With the lie exposed, Hels didn’t care. “Oh.”

Horne sighed and squatted in front of Hels. “Get on. I’ll carry you.”

It was a gentleness completely different from when he had disciplined him. Hels felt aggrieved, but recalling the afternoon scene made his heart race—an emotion he had never felt before: awe.

He stood still without moving.

“What’s wrong?” Horne asked. Feeling it was taking too long, he looked up at Ben Yian and said, “You go back and rest first. I’ll take him back directly.”

Ben Yian hesitated, then nodded. “Remember to eat the dinner I brought you.”

“Okay, thanks.”

Under the dim yellow streetlights, a figure moved forward slowly, carrying another person on his back, his steps still steady and unwavering.

Back home, Hels ignored Horne. He washed up slowly and changed clothes slowly. Horne asked him questions, but he didn’t respond. In the end, Horne simply finished his book, tidied up, and got into bed.

Hels inched to the edge of the bed, laboriously lifted his leg, and tucked it under the covers, sleeping right on the edge.

Horne wanted to turn off the bedside lamp but thought better of it. He sat up, lifted the blanket, and checked the records on Hels’s bone reset device.

That afternoon, he had gone in with the mindset of teaching him a lesson but hadn’t intended to really injure him. He had controlled his strength carefully.

Hels shrank back a bit, nearly falling off.

Horne glanced at him, his hand pausing in mid-air. “Still mad at me?”

Hels shook his head. He wasn’t really angry; he just didn’t dare get close to Horne.

“Let me check the records,” Horne said.

Hels refused to move. Horne simply opened the recorder directly and checked the various metrics and conditions the doctor had entered.

The force had been precisely controlled—not a serious injury. The bone reset device was repairing it constantly. At most, it would take a week to recover fully.

Horne closed the records and saw Hels’s position—half his body hanging off the edge. He pulled Hels’s arm to tug him back a bit and couldn’t help but want to laugh. “Why so far away? Do I eat people?”

Hels pouted and silently scooted back a little. He looked up at Horne.

Horne ruffled his hair, just like in the hundreds of days before. It was as if the Horne from the training field was just a fleeting illusion in time.

He was still so gentle, making people feel close, unable to resist drawing nearer, wanting to explore. The resolute, kind, and ruthless Horne—how many more sides were there yet to discover?

Hels said aggrievedly, “Brother, you were so fierce to me on the training field.”

Horne burst out laughing. He remembered telling Hels about this rule before.

He said softly, “As long as I’m not fierce to you at home, it’s fine.”

“If you were fierce to me at home too, I’d…” Hels was very angry. He started but got stuck, not knowing how to continue.

“Hm? You’d what?” Horne turned off the bedside lamp, plunging the room into darkness. He lay down and pulled the blanket over both of them.

“I’d…” Hels thought for a moment. “I’d just follow you around forever. I don’t care.”

A sulky outburst. Horne patted him. “Alright. Then do you know why I treated you like that this afternoon?”

Hels turned his head away, unhappy. “I know.”

“Know what?”

“I shouldn’t treat my comrades like that. I shouldn’t be so arrogant…” The more he said, the more aggrieved he felt. Finally, he buried his head and started tugging at the blanket. “I’m still so far from it.”

He learned fast, admitted fault quickly, and reacted swiftly.

Horne smiled, gripped the hand clutching the blanket, and said softly, “Good. Then stop avoiding me. You haven’t said a word to me all evening. Let me hold you while we sleep, okay?”

Hels turned his head, pulled his hand free, and scooted to the edge. “No, I’m going back to the attic to sleep.”

“Fine.” Horne didn’t stop him and just watched as Hels sat up and got out of bed.

Even when he reached the edge, Horne showed no sign of stopping him. Hels turned his head. “Why aren’t you stopping me?”

Horne said, “This isn’t the training field. At home, do whatever you want.”

Hels slapped the blanket. His voice grew louder. “I don’t want to go to the attic anymore, and I don’t want to just sleep like this with you. Coax me. If you do it right, I won’t leave.”

Horne was silent for a moment, then suddenly laughed out loud. He found this kid so sincere.

Hels pursed his lips and said nothing. In the darkness, he couldn’t see Horne’s expression, so he lay back down in self-abandonment.

Horne’s eyes held a watery smile. He pulled Hels into his arms and asked, “Then should I sing you a lullaby?”

“Okay.”

“One more thing,” Horne thought for a moment, still not understanding. “Can you tell me why you dislike Ben Yian?”

Thinking of Ben Yian made Hels unhappy. He nestled closer into Horne’s arms and mumbled, “Because he didn’t speak up for you.”

It must have been from overhearing Ben Yian talking with Woody before. He hadn’t expected the kid to remember it for so long and even dislike Ben Yian because of it.

Horne stroked his hair and said softly, “Getting along with people is complicated. Behind every choice of action, there are many motives. He’s a good guy. He’s been injured a lot for my sake and often covers our backs. He’s very important. Not speaking up for me doesn’t make him two-faced.”

Hels: “…” So childish. How could someone tattle like that?

Hels stuck to his view. “If he likes you, why didn’t he speak up for you?”

Horne’s hand paused in stroking Hels’s hair. He clarified, “Don’t talk nonsense. We’re all good friends.”

Hels denied it, saying Ben Yian’s feelings for Horne weren’t ordinary friendship. Horne found it amusing and said, “Acting like this, it makes me think the one who likes me isn’t Ben Yian—it’s you.”

“Can’t I like you?”

Horne said, “You can.”

“Oh, then I like you.”

Horne smiled. “I like you too. Alright, time to sleep.”

“Brother, lullaby.”

“I know.”

–

Horne had not given up on the idea of exterminating the aliens, even if operations were repeatedly restricted. When supplies were ample, he took a small elite team out. When not, he went alone.

The next morning after training, Horne gathered about ten people and drafted a plan for a short trip out of the city. This was the first time in a while they were going out as a small team, and it was also Han Ya and Wen Yu’s last few days in Loch City.

In the distance, Hels sat on the edge of the open ground with a book in hand, glancing occasionally at the situation over there. Seeing Horne standing straight and tall, he zoned out again.

“Hels.” A voice sounded from behind. Hels turned his head.

It was a teammate from shooting training. Hels glanced at him and turned back, uninterested.

The other felt a bit awkward but pressed on. “We didn’t really learn the shooting you taught yesterday. Can you teach us?”

Only then did Hels notice more than one person standing behind.

He found it annoying—they were disturbing his reading, disturbing his watching Horne.

Everyone knew Hels preferred to be alone, but there was no helping it. He always learned everything the instructors taught quickly. While others were still fumbling, he was already applying it and mastering it swiftly.

No one wanted to ask Hels, but during training, the instructors would spot-check.

After a moment of silence, Hels continued reading.

“I told you asking him is useless,” another person muttered unhappily. “Better to take the scolding.”

The one who had approached Hels added, “The major told us to come find you.”

At the mention of the major, Hels’s gaze lifted over the edge of his book to the door of the nearby Command Room.

“This time, ammo is limited. We need to fight fast and decisively. If we encounter a large group, withdraw immediately. No prolonged battles,” Horne said seriously. His back was straight, his features sharp. Just as he was about to continue, an unfamiliar voice interrupted.

“Plan canceled.”

Immediately, a dozen gazes shot over at once.