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Chapter 20

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Has the side effect of the Energy Accumulation Technique completely disappeared?

Or has the progression speed slowed down?

I need to confirm that.

I had intentionally avoided mentioning it until now, but I had no choice but to ask directly.

I thought that was the quickest way to ascertain the existence of the monsterization symptoms.

I went to see Irene at the Knights Order Headquarters.

Irene, who was working on paperwork in her office, brightened up upon seeing me.

“Ian, it’s been a while.”

“It hasn’t even been two days, so calling it a while seems a bit much, doesn’t it?”

“Even two days is long enough.”

As I approached her desk, I took out the dessert I had bought.

It was the beef jerky pie we had eaten together before.

For some reason, Irene seemed to really like beef jerky pie, enough for the shop owner to promote her as a regular.

“I brought this since it’s lunchtime, and you might be feeling peckish.”

“Oh! It’s the beef jerky pie. I was just about to go buy one. This works out perfectly. Thank you, I’ll enjoy it.”

Irene stepped out of her office and led me away.

We walked towards a small garden behind the Knights Order headquarters.

Irene seemed to know what she was doing as she pulled out a blanket hidden under a bench and spread it out on the grass.

When we placed the food and tea on it, enticing aromas wafted through the gentle breeze.

“This is the first time eating in the garden like this.”

At my words, Irene shrugged her shoulders.

“Even during lunchtime, I don’t want to be cooped up inside. The breeze is nice here.”

She took a big bite.

As the crispy pie crumbled, the rich scent of beef jerky surged up.

The scene was so peaceful that it made me hesitate to ask the question I had in mind.

What would I do if she was indeed progressing towards monsterization?

Did I have to finally confront the matter I had procrastinated about for the past four years, finding various excuses since joining the Special Forces Unit?

The emperor declared that monsterization occurred only in the dead, but one can’t simply dismiss it just because someone denies it.

There was a possibility that the emperor was misinformed or hiding something.

Perhaps it was foolishness, or one could even call it stubbornness.

“Commander.”

“Yes?”

“How has your right arm been lately?”

Confirming the monsterization directly held meaning.

Since I first noticed something was off with her, she had mainly been using her left arm.

It seemed like her right arm was unsteady, even holding a sword she hadn’t been using properly.

That was the reason I had judged it as a sign of her monsterization symptoms.

“Why do you ask about my right arm?”

“I’ve been observing you for a while, and I noticed you’ve primarily been using your left arm since five years ago. You used to be right-handed.”

“Oh… Keen observation. You’ve known that for five years?”

“At first, I thought it was just a simple anomaly. But it persisted unusually. Even to the point of gripping a sword you hadn’t been using.”

“So? You’re saying you came to check if I was injured… or maybe if I had monsterization symptoms.”

She spoke calmly, yet there was something suppressed beneath the surface.

“I wanted to confirm. I wanted to know if you are alright now.”

“One of the nagging questions when facing humanoid demons at the front lines is whether they were once human like us. Could they have become monsters for some reason? Perhaps they themselves…”

That was unexpected.

I had just asked about her right arm, yet her expression flickered with wariness instead of relief.

Did she misunderstand the intent behind my question?

“Was the killing intent I had unconsciously been showing since then because of that? Because I was afraid I might turn into a monster?”

Irene’s expression looked both happy and sad at the same time.

Joy and sorrow, guilt all intertwined into a mix of feelings that were hard to describe.

For a moment, she quickly composed herself and playfully asked.

“Have you been interested from that time?”

“Of course, I have.”

“What do you mean――”

Irene didn’t finish her sentence.

She shook her head mid-sentence, and I felt that some emotional misunderstanding had begun to emerge.

“No, forget what I just said.”

She remained silent for a while.

Sitting on the blanket, we gazed at the Knights Order building.

Trainee knights emerged from the training ground, drenched in sweat after finishing their training.

Some of them, seemingly familiar with each other, made jokes and hurriedly bent forward upon noticing Irene and me sitting on the blanket.

“Uh, Commander Irene, good day!”

“Good day!”

Irene greeted them casually and then turned her head towards me.

Her ice-blue eyes trembled.

It was as if she couldn’t tell whether my words were simple worries, accusations, or the signs of long-held hate.

“…Do you resent me?”

After a short deep breath, she concluded her question.

“Are you resenting me?”

Did she mistake my question as a signal of the anger she had kept hidden all this time?

Guilt seemed to weigh down on her heart even more.

Through that question, I understood the torment and turmoil Irene had been harboring all this time.

I realized she had been suffering immensely because of it.

She was asking me.

If I blamed her for putting me in the Special Forces Unit and using them as a delay against the Greater Demons.

If I wanted her dead for having pushed countless comrades into peril and killed them.

Or if the emotions directed towards her were not love but hate.

Had she resolved to kill herself out of deep-seated hatred?

I felt pricked by that question.

Her words struck me strangely at my core.

If I said I had never resented her, it would surely be a lie.

I had always been looking at the dead.

If I closed my eyes, they would come to mind, and I couldn’t put down my sword.

But even so, when she asked me if I resented myself, I shook my head.

“No. That’s not it.”

It was true that she created the Special Forces and led others to form the unit.

At the same time, it was also true that she managed the Special Forces to lead the extermination efforts in such a way that as many knights as possible would survive.

But does that mean I still resent her?

No.

“I don’t resent you, Commander.”

She was sending all her salary to the families of the deceased.

She was helping them to lead safe lives in her territory.

Rather than avoiding responsibility, she sought to directly take it on.

That it was the best choice meant she continued to remember their deaths instead of ignoring them.

It was because she was such a person that I decided not to resent her any further.

I wondered how my answer felt to her.

Humans cannot read the thoughts of others while interacting with them.

Because we cannot know each other, we trust one another, and because of that, conversations carry meaning.

There is nothing convenient like mind-reading or telepathy, at least in my world.

Irene bit her lip.

“…Are you blaming me for your comrades’ deaths because I was late?”

I now understood Irene as a person.

I knew she hadn’t been late by her own choice.

I now understood she wasn’t the type to do that.

I looked into her untrusting gaze.

“At least, I do not blame you.”

Irene closed her mouth.

The beef jerky pie had fallen to the ground.

After hesitating, Irene finally seemed to have made up her mind and stood up to turn towards me.

“…There have always been things I wanted to ask you and things I wanted to convey. But… yes, saying it alone isn’t enough. So I’ll show you directly.”

It was her way of saying that actions spoke louder than words.

I had no intention of avoiding it either.

***

The training ground was as lively as ever.

Trainee knights swung their swords in rhythm, while regular knights paired up to hone their skills in the afternoon.

However, when Irene passed through the main gate, the atmosphere changed as if cold water had been splashed.

“…Commander?”

The first trainee to notice knelt down in surprise.

Others quickly followed and adjusted their postures upon seeing this.

The hands holding swords and the sweat beads that had been glistening just a moment ago suddenly froze as if solidified.

“Relax. I’m just here to borrow the training ground.”

Irene spoke firmly yet gently.

However, the name of the Knights Order Commander did not easily fade away.

The man who entered behind her was wearing a solid gray coat.

His well-groomed black hair and military elegance showed beneath his black leather boots.

Knights who recognized who he was began to whisper among themselves.

“That person… could it be the Duke?”

“Isn’t he one of the strongest from the Northern Front? Said to be on par with the Commander.”

“It’s true. I saw it myself. He pierced the sky with just one sword.”

The trainee knights whispered among themselves.

Even the regular knights cautiously lowered their wooden swords and focused their gazes.

The strongest commander of the empire stood facing the superhuman who had pierced the sky with a single blade.

They stood in the center of the training ground.

“Let’s do it here.”

Irene pointed to the wide-open central floor.

“It’s spacious enough, and there’s no interference, right?”

“That would work.”

Irene and I, as if we had agreed, prepared our swords and spears.

Gasps escaped from the knights around us.

“Wait… are they really going to go through with this?”

“Is it a real duel? Who do you think will win?”

“Honestly, I’m putting my money on the Duke. They say he’s insane in the Northern region.”

“The Commander isn’t to be underestimated either.”

Despite the murmur, Irene paid no mind.

I felt the same.

We were both focused solely on each other.

“I knew this kind of event would happen at least once.”

The deputy commander overseeing the training ground chuckled.

“Everyone, step aside! Hey, trainees! Back off! If a sword falls, you won’t be able to handle it!”

The trainee knights and regular knights hurriedly cleared the training ground.

However, soon after, a small crowd formed around the outer edge of the training ground, as if they were arranging themselves.

Though no one spoke, all their eyes were directed at one spot.

It felt like the air above the ground was trembling.

These were not practice swords. Both were sharpened to perfection.

“Are both of you using real swords?”

Irene smiled and replied.

“I’m fine. Ian is too, right?”

I nodded.

“It was an agreed duel.”

“…If that’s the case.”

The instructor swallowed a sigh and stepped back.

Behind him, the silent audience came into view.

Irene spoke briefly.

“Let’s begin.”

The moment the words were spoken, the tips of both their feet moved simultaneously.

I Mistook the Genre and Ended up Becoming a War Hero

I Mistook the Genre and Ended up Becoming a War Hero

장르를 착각해 전쟁영웅이 되어버렸다
Score 10
Status: Ongoing Type: Author: Native Language: Korean
I thought I was possessed by a dark fantasy world. If I had known it was a romance novel, I wouldn’t have enlisted twice.

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