Precisely three weeks and one day after receiving the mission, Arin finally saw the new camp appear on the horizon. It had taken far longer than expected to find it. The army had pushed forward relentlessly, advancing more than 500 kilometers from its original position, and the old camp had long since been abandoned. There was no point keeping it that far back when every step forward demanded efficiency. Walking such distances just to rest was considered a waste, something no one in command would ever allow.
Finding a legion had been easy enough. Logistics officers were everywhere, directing supplies and personnel with mechanical precision. But finding his family was another matter entirely. They were too small to be widely known, too specialized to be listed clearly, which meant Arin had to rely on asking around. And asking meant talking. A lot of talking.
That alone made the journey worse than it should have been.
The land they had conquered was absurd in scale. The left flank alone stretched across at least five hundred by five hundred kilometers, and it was still expanding. Every day, more territory was taken, more enemies cleared, and more ground secured. The cleaning operations were something Arin tried not to think about. There were simply too many bodies.
As he passed through the main supply corridor, something resembling a massive toll station that guided traffic caught his curiosity. He stepped toward the edge and looked down the massive ravine.
He immediately wished he hadn't.
On both sides, the land had risen into unnatural formations, massive rectangular sections lifted more than a hundred meters high. It should have formed slopes. It didn't. The shape alone told the truth. The sheer volume of corpses packed beneath the surface was something Arin refused to process.
"…Yeah, not thinking about that," he muttered, quickly turning away.
He continued on, following directions given by various officers, each interaction draining what little patience he had left. Eventually, he decided to check with Legion 23, hoping they might know something. Unfortunately, they were still busy preparing for future battles, training for armored goblins and stronger opposition. His question wasn't important to them.
"No idea," they told him.
Which meant more asking. More talking. More frustration.
By the time he finally found his family's camp, the extra day made perfect sense.
Part of him felt vindicated. His grandfather had said three weeks. He was late. Clearly, that meant he deserved compensation.
The rest of him was too exhausted to care.
His social battery wasn't just low. It was gone.
Completely.
He walked into camp with dull eyes, barely noticing the people around him. A few greeted him, but he didn't respond. He didn't even register who they were. His only goal was simple.
Sleep.
He moved quietly between tents, instinctively using stealth to avoid attention. If he could just reach his tent without being stopped, everything would be fine.
He reached it. Opened the flap. Trying to slip inside.
"Hey, Arin."
He froze.
Slowly, he turned around.
Dennis stood behind him, smiling in a way that immediately put him on edge.
"Dad needs you," Dennis said casually. "Main tent. You have to give a report. Then you're coming with him to a meeting."
Arin's expression didn't change, but something behind his eyes shifted.
"…A meeting?" he repeated.
Dennis's smile widened just slightly.
That was enough.
The change was immediate.
Invisible, yet overwhelming.
When Arin met his uncle's gaze, something heavy surged outward. Bloodlust. Not faint or subtle, but dense and suffocating. It carried the weight of thousands of kills, a presence that pressed down on everything around it. Mana had allowed things to manifest previously, though as fiction or psychological trickery. even if the people involved had no control over it.
Dennis stiffened instantly.
His instincts screamed danger.
Real danger.
He took half a step back without thinking, his body reacting before his mind could process it. His breath hitched as the pressure wrapped around him, cold and suffocating.
Arin didn't say anything.
Didn't wait.
The moment he saw the reaction, he moved.
Gone.
The pressure vanished as quickly as it had appeared, leaving behind a lingering chill.
Dennis stood there for a moment, pale and tense.
"…That's new," he muttered.
A hand landed on his shoulder.
"Are you okay?" Teun asked.
Dennis nodded slowly. "Yeah. It just caught me off guard."
Teun frowned. "What happened?"
"He didn't like the 'meeting' part," Dennis said dryly.
Teun sighed. "That sounds about right."
If it had only been a report, Arin would have done it. Maybe without complaint. But a meeting meant people, conversations, and expectations. That was a different problem entirely.
Still, that reaction…
"That was excessive," Teun said quietly.
Dennis nodded. "Yeah. That wasn't normal irritation."
They both knew what it meant.
If this wasn't handled carefully, Arin would withdraw. He'd disappear for days, maybe weeks, until he felt ready to return. And when that happened, resolving the issue would become much harder. As he would be too ashamed to face them.
"I'll talk to him," Teun said.
Dennis hesitated. "Do it soon."
Teun nodded and headed toward the main tent.
Inside, Karl sat calmly, sipping tea.
Real tea. Rare and precious at the front line. He had brought it from the heartland months ago and rationed it carefully. Now only a small amount remained, and he treated every cup with care.
He took a slow sip, then paused.
A faint wave of bloodlust passed over him.
He raised an eyebrow.
"…I see," he murmured.
His grandson was not in a good mood.
"That's troublesome," he thought. "Getting back here must have been more stressful than expected."
He tapped his finger lightly against the table, thinking.
"We leave in two hours," he added. "This will be difficult to resolve quickly."
The tent flap burst open.
Arin stepped inside.
He didn't speak.
Didn't move further.
He simply stood at the entrance, staring at Karl.
The air felt heavy. The bloodlust hadn't disappeared. It lingered, uncontroled but present, pressing against the space between them.
Karl met his gaze calmly.
Neither spoke.
Because both understood one simple truth.
The first to break the silence would lose the initiative.