AKIHIRO ATLAS
Sometimes when a person thinks about his or her past, she or he doesn't remember only the events their experienced. They were also seeing again who they were in those events. And to be honest... when I looked back at myself in the past, I often had a bittersweet feeling inside. Because the me of that time was someone who could only see the dark side of the world. I could see people's fears, selfishness, and hypocrisy, but I couldn't notice the hands they extended to each other. Maybe I didn't want to realize it. Because when a person is alone for a long time, their mind stops hoping in order to protect itself. I did that too. Examining humanity's flaws was easier because those flaws gave meaning to my loneliness. "Look," I kept telling myself, "the problem isn't with you, it's with humanity itself." But looking back now, I realize that the matter was never that simple.
Because humanity was not made up only of wars, fears, and hatreds.
Humanity... was also made up of people like Aurelia. People who can touch someone's life…
And this thought was still shaking my mind even today.
I looked at the girl sitting opposite me. The warm light in the room was spreading softly over her blonde hair. The scattered documents, books, and unfinished notes on the desk were still strewn everywhere. It was almost nightfall outside. The lights of Cistern, visible after the window, looked like distant star clusters. And in the midst of all this silence, Aurelia was looking at me, her chin resting lightly on her hand.
Years had passed. Perhaps everything about Akihiro Atlas had changed...
But that light in Aurelia's eyes had never changed.
This made me strangely restless, because time changes people. Wars would change it. The pain would change. People often lost some of the good things within themselves in order to survive. But when I looked at Aurelia... I saw that light was still there.
And this was one of the biggest reasons why I regained my faith in humanity.
Because if a person can still remain warm despite all the darkness... I was thinking maybe the world hasn't truly completely decayed.
A small smile formed on my lips without me noticing.
Aurelia immediately noticed this.
"What is it?" she asked, squinting slightly. "You're looking at it like you're going through fifty different monologues in your head."
Involuntarily I gave a short sigh.
"It's already returning." I said, and without realizing it, a little smile formed on my face.
"That was the answer I was waiting for." she said, with a hopeful look, unlike me.
She laughed lightly.
And My God…
That smile was still the same.
It's so vivid that it can silence even the harshest thoughts within a person for a few seconds.
I slowly interlocked my fingers on the table.
"I was thinking about the past." I said quietly.
The expression on Aurelia's face softened slightly.
"The day we first met?"
I nodded slightly.
"I too have often thought about that day when you weren't here…" she said..
I smiled and wanted to reach out and caress her hair, but I couldn't because she was currently sitting across from the table.
And then I turned my eyes to the window for a few seconds.
"Strange..." I said slowly. "I feel as if there was another life between me then and me now."
Aurelia was listening quietly.
I continued. One by one, I thought about my words.
"I wasn't trying to understand people at that time. I was just staying away from them." A bitter smile formed on my lips. "I have watched the worst sides of humanity for so long that I had forgotten that there might be another side."
My eyes shifted to her again.
"But then..." I said quietly, "...you appeared in front of me."
Aurelia looked at me for a few seconds.
And she involuntarily blushed slightly.
"Don't say that so seriously..." she said with a small embarrassed laugh. "My heart is getting strange."
"I'm telling the truth." I said this to her face, looking at her with the same slightly narrowed but happy eyes."
"That's the trouble, anyhow." she said and took one hand to her cheek.
She was trying to smile, but I could see the softness in her eyes.
I, however, continued talking without realizing it.
"Do you know..." I said slowly, "Looking back now, I realize what the most beautiful part was."
Aurelia bowed her head slightly.
"What was it?"
She can't look because she's embarrassed... It's incredibly easy to literally make her stupid.
"Everything starting out as if by pure coincidence."
Her eyebrows lifted slightly.
I gave a little sigh.
I said, "Imagine..." "If I hadn't known you that day, probably my life would have been completely different. Maybe I would still be someone who hates people and believes no one can understand me.
Aurelia looked away for a few seconds.
Then she spoke in a very quiet voice.
"But I would find you again."
My heart paused involuntarily.
Because she said it so naturally...
As if it were impossible for us not to know each other in this universe.
Aurelia smiled slightly.
"The universe is sometimes stubborn." said. "It brings some people together again and again."
I looked at him for a few seconds.
And the same thought occurred to me again.
"Like the sun..."
Because Aurelia truly was like a light born into darkness. When one stayed near her for a long time, one began to forget the harshness within oneself.
But just then...
Another thought rose within me.
And the expression on my face changed involuntarily.
Aurelia immediately noticed this.
Her smile faded slightly.
"…Aki?"
I stayed silent.
Because my mind suddenly returned to the present.
War.
Destruction.
Blood.
They were all together.
The shattered streets of Cistern were filled with them.
Collapsed towers.
People we lost.
These things had come together here while I was away.
My fingers involuntarily clenched together tighter.
"Aurelia…" I said quietly. "I've been thinking about what happened while I was away."
The air inside the room became heavy for a few seconds.
The light in Aurelia's eyes flickered slightly.
And the moment I saw this, a bad feeling welled up inside me.
But I had to continue.
"The battle at Cistern…" I said slowly. "I learned most of what I heard later."
Aurelia lowered her eyes to the table.
And even that small movement was enough to make me feel suffocated.
Because until that moment, I had always seen her as a source of light.
But now, for the first time...
I could feel that light was getting tired too.
The silence grew longer. We were both just staring at each other. She would look away every now and then.
As for me, I wasn't just looking at her; I was watching her.
She didn't speak for a few seconds.
And then she smiled very lightly.
But that smile...
It wasn't as bright as before.
"Yes…" she said quietly. "It was pretty bad."
That's when something inside me ached.
Because I heard that genuine weariness in Aurelia's voice that I rarely hear.
The feeling I had when I heard that tiredness in Aurelia's voice was strange. I vaguely remembered the times when he had spoken to me this way before. Because it was very rare. Aurelia was always trying to spread her energy around. Even if he wasn't in that mode himself, he would try. That's why we rarely saw it in a negative light.
Although the formation of this feeling was strange, it was normal.
Because I knew war could destroy cities.
I knew it could tear people's bodies apart.
I knew it could destroy lives, memories, homes, and dreams.
But those weren't the scariest parts of war.
The scariest part was... it turned off the light.
Additionally, from what Urizen said, I almost knew that most of our people had been killed. The part that upset me the most was that Aurelia was our team's general in this battle. Losing so many people and losing the one you love... It would affect him as much as it affected me. Therefore, it was not difficult for me to feel your sadness.
It's been two years since the war, but... there's no such thing as a forgetting period for some wars.
Sometimes one could physically endure, but certain things inside them were silently breaking. And that's exactly what I felt when I looked at Aurelia right now. She was still smiling. She was still trying to look strong. But there was weariness in the depths of her eyes. The silent exhaustion of a person who has carried a burden alone for a long time...
And this thought weighed heavily on me.
Because that girl...
She showed me the light in my darkness.
Now, there was a weight on her shoulders.
And for some reason, seeing this hurt me much more than I expected.
I silently got up from the table.
Aurelia raised her head slightly and looked at me. She still had that soft expression in her eyes, but obviously she didn't understand what I was going to do. I, too, walked slowly to her chair.
And then...
I knelt down next to him.
Aurelia's breathing paused slightly.
"A-Aki…?"
But I didn't answer right away.
I gently held his hand.
Her fingers were warm.
And when I realized this at that moment, a very strange thought occurred to me; the fact that this warmth still existed despite all the darkness of war... seemed to be proof that humanity had not completely disappeared.
I slowly brought your hand closer to my lips.
And I kissed you gently.
Aurelia's eyes widened slightly.
Her face started to turn red within a few seconds, but I straightened up without taking my eyes off him. Then my hand slowly went to her hair.
And I began to caress her head.
It happened so naturally that even I paused and thought for a few seconds.
Because I've been a person all my life who doesn't know how to touch people. But now... when I was touching Aurelia, I didn't have a single fear in me.
There was only a desire for protection.
I looked at her silently as my fingers slowly glided through her blonde hair.
"You needn't be afraid any more." I said in a calm voice.
Aurelia's eyes trembled slightly.
I continued.
"Because I'm here."
The silence in the room deepened.
And at that moment I realized that these words weren't just phrases said to comfort him. It really came from within me. Because for the first time in a long time, I wanted to protect a place.
I wanted to protect a person.
I wanted to protect someone I couldn't protect before.
This was the result of the regret I felt for leaving him here without me, with the greatest possible responsibility, for another task.
Aurelia parted her lips slightly but couldn't speak.
I continued without removing my hand from her hair.
"We need to talk about the war." I said quietly. "I have to find out what's going on here. Who have we lost, what is the situation of the city, what do the generals think... I need to know all of them."
Aurelia's face fell slightly again.
As soon as I noticed this, I softened my voice a little more.
"But not now."
Her green eyes turned back to me.
"I don't want you to experience this again right now.I said. "So... I'm going to ask you to be ready next time."
Aurelia looked at me for a few seconds.
And then she nodded very slightly.
But she still looked sad.
I understood that.
Because she knew, just like I did; talking about the war wasn't just about sharing information. It was about reopening wounds.
I took a deep breath.
"Anyway," I said, slightly averting my eyes, "I have to go to the Meeting of Generals soon."
Aurelia immediately looked up.
"Now?"
Her surprise was genuine.
I frowned slightly.
"Probably something about the war will be discussed. It is very obvious that there will be a possible disaster in the near future, and the disaster of the past has not been forgotten," I said. "They will not postpone the meeting because I have just returned."
Aurelia remained silent for a few seconds.
And then the expression on her face slowly turned bitter.
"You just got here..." she said quietly. "You haven't even had a chance to rest."
This sentence…
It created a strange warmth inside me.
Because people usually didn't think about how tired I was. They assumed I was strong. They assumed I was resilient. But Aurelia… she was thinking of me first again.
A little smile formed on my lips.
"I'm used to it." I said lightly.
"But this is not a good thing."
The way she objected was so natural and sweet that I involuntarily laughed with a short gasp.
Then I slowly extended my hand towards him.
Aurelia hesitated for a few seconds, but then she took my hand.
And I gently helped her to her feet.
The distance between us had closed again now.
We just looked at each other for a while.
Then…
I slowly wrapped my arms around her.
And I pulled her closer to me.
Aurelia's breathing trembled slightly.
But a few seconds later, she hugged me tightly too.
Oh my God...
How much I missed you.
I understood that at that moment.
The smell of her hair was still the same. Lightly floral, soft and soothing... One felt as if they had returned home after a long battle.
I closed my eyes.
And for a few seconds, I truly forgot everything.
The wars.
The blood.
The death.
The gods.
The weight of the universe.
All that's left is his warmth.
I lightly rested my lips on her hair.
"...I really missed you very much." I said in a low voice.
Aurelia's arms tightened a little more.
I continued.
"But we'll have plenty of time to talk from now on." I said quietly. "I'm not going to disappear anywhere this time."
When I said that sentence, I realized that... I really believed it.
Because for the first time, there was a place I wanted to return to.
And that place...
It was next to Aurelia.
I slowly stepped back.
Aurelia's eyes were still slightly moist, but there was a small smile on her face.
I looked at her one last time.
Then I started walking towards the door.
I paused for a few seconds as my hand reached for the door handle.
And I spoke quietly without turning around.
"Get ready, Aurelia."
My voice was calm.
But there was something much heavier inside me.
"Because this time… we won't let anything happen to Cistern."
As soon as I closed the door behind me, the room's warmth gradually receded.
The corridor was quiet.
Only my footsteps could be heard echoing on the stone floor. The dim lights of the lamps on the walls made long shadows. The night had now completely fallen, and the atmosphere inside the headquarters still carried that strange post-war feeling of weariness. People continued to live here, but everyone bore an invisible burden on their shoulders. It was as if the entire building was trying to stay standing without being able to take a deep breath.
But for some reason...
I felt light-hearted right now.
Because for the first time in years, there was a place I could return to.
And this thought left an unfamiliar warmth inside me.
I started down the stairs. As my fingers slowly slid over the railing, my mind was still stuck to the moment a few minutes ago. Aurelia's eyes. The way she hugged me. That shaky yet peaceful tone in her voice...
Sometimes, after living in darkness for a long time, one forgets the existence of light.
But the worse part was this:
When you saw the light, you no longer wanted to live without it.
I took a deep breath.
As I walked down the corridor, my footsteps echoed off the metal structure of the team building, but this time the echoes didn't feel as suffocating as they had a few hours earlier. There was still a weight inside me, there were still things I had to think about, unanswered questions were still running around in the back of my mind, but... despite this, for the first time in a long time, I really felt like I was back home. I thought this was strange because sometimes one could feel both utterly devastated and strangely at peace within the same day. I think that was exactly what was meant by "nest". Maybe it didn't heal the person, but it made them feel like they weren't alone when they were hurt.
As we descended to the lower floor, sounds began to be heard coming from the lobby area. Laughter. Someone shouting. Most likely, Kai is causing havoc again while trying to compete with someone for power. And when I heard these sounds, a warm feeling filled my chest that I hadn't felt in a long time. During my years in Sacred Domains, I had grown accustomed to living in silence. Most nights, sitting alone and gazing at the skies of other worlds, I even felt like I was beginning to forget human voices. But now... now this noise seemed like the most beautiful thing in the world to me.
And finally, I reached the lower floor.
Voices were coming from the headquarters' common room. Light laughter, arguments, glass clinking... For the first time in a long time, these sounds didn't seem like noise to me. In the past, crowds of people used to tire my mind. And now... it felt strangely peaceful.
As soon as I walked through the door, a few people turned to look at me.
Mizu was standing next to the long table by the wall, examining some documents. Due to its enormous size, it was someone who involuntarily drew people's attention wherever it was located. His long golden hair falls down her shoulder, the stern expression on his face carried a seriousness that made one a little nervous as usual, but as soon as he saw me, I noticed the familiar warmth hiding under that hardness in his eyes.
"Ha," he said, lifting his head slightly. "Our lost general has appeared at last."
His tone of voice sounded serious, but I knew him well enough. This was his normal way of speaking.
I walked slowly next to him. "I'm going to the meeting," I said in a calm voice. "I thought I'd let you know before I left."
Mizu looked at me for a few seconds. Then he gave a heavy sigh and left the documents in her hand on the table. Then suddenly he hit my shoulder hard.
Really hard.
"Hey, at least stand up straight," hhe said, frowning. "Look at you now. Your face looks like it came out of a funeral."
My shoulder slipped back slightly in pain. "Be a little more respectful to your general..."
"Shut up." he said instantly. "You disappear for three years and come back, and then you walk around as if your face carries the whole burden of the world. A person stands a little upright."
Kai burst out laughing from the back.
"The lieutenant is right, but the General," he said, grinning and leaning over the back of the seat. "You really look like a beaten philosopher right now."
"You don't talk." I said without looking at him.
Kai instantly grabbed her breast dramatically. "Wow. He just got back and started breaking me."
Hikari immediately leaned over the seat towards me. With her long hair sliding down her shoulder, she had her usual overly emotional expression on her face. "I think it looks very cool..." she said seriously. "He has a bit of a sad male mood..."
Asahi instantly hit his sister on the head.
"Stop it."
Hikari turned to her brother with a sudden movement.
"Aaah?! Why are you hitting me?!"
Asahi replied without even looking at him.
"Because you're weird."
"Is that a compliment?!"
Several people in the room laughed involuntarily. Leonard gently shook his head from side to side as he placed the coffee cup in his hand on the table with a graceful movement.
"No matter how much time passes," he said with a theatrical sigh, "it truly exhausts one to see that this team's level of civilization will not improve.""
Kai turned around instantly. "The way you speak is more tiring."
Leonard closed his eyes and smiled slightly. "You're jealous."
"No, I'm getting nervous."
I felt like I was unwittingly starting to smile while watching this ridiculous debate.
I was truly smiling.
And the moment I realized this, something inside me softened.
Because for the first time in a long time, I didn't feel alone.
Mizu looked at me for a few seconds and then grinned slightly as if he had noticed this. Then he hit me on the shoulder again, but this time he was more controlled.
"Listen to me," he said in a slightly more serious voice. "No matter what happens at the meeting, you will stand up straight. You are the general of this team. People will look at your face. If you look like you've collapsed, everyone will collapse."
My gaze lingered on his eyes for a few seconds.
Because that sentence wasn't just an order.
This was my brother's way of saying 'be well' to me.
I nodded slowly.
"I understand."
Mizu looked at me for a few more seconds before suddenly grinning. "And if possible, don't beat someone up in the first five minutes."
"I can't promise that."
Kai broke into laughter again.
"That's my general!"
Sia was silently watching from the corner, but a small smile had formed at the corner of her lips. She rarely did this anyway. Hikari was still staring at me as if she were about to pounce on me again. Asahi, on the other hand, looked ready to stop her at any moment.
And me...
I really felt like I was home.
Sometimes one thinks that peace consists of big things. From victories. From achievements. From changing the world.
But it is wrong.
True peace was sometimes just being able to sit in a room where people were shouting at each other.
After a while, I started walking towards the door. Everyone involuntarily looked at me. It was like they thought I was going out normally.
This thought brought a slight grin to my face.
I stood in front of the door.
Then I looked over my shoulder at them.
"I'm going."
"At least walk out the door like a normal person," Asahi said instantly.
"No," I said.
And the next second, my body completely turned into lightning.
Blue-white electricity lit up the corridor in an instant. An intense smell of energy spread in the air. After the lightning crackled and spread across the ground, my body transformed into light and suddenly leapt forward.
I heard a few people shouting in the back.
"HE WALKED OUT THE WINDOW AGAIN!"
"GENERAL AKI!! THAT PLACE HAD JUST BEEN REPAIRED!!"
"I SAID SO!" Asahi shouted.
Kai was bursting with laughter.
I even heard Mizu's deep sigh.
And as all this remained behind me...
For the first time in a long time, I had a genuine smile on my face.
From the moment I transformed my body into lightning and left the team building, the night of the Cistern opened before me like an endless ocean of metal. As I moved through the upper layers of the city, the sounds of electricity splitting the air echoed in my ears, the blue lights circulating around my body left short-term traces in the darkness. But even amidst all that speed, my eyes kept wandering around. Because I had returned to Cistern, which I had left three years ago... but this place was no longer the place I had left it.
Cistern had never been a warm city anyway.
This city was always harsh.
It was like a mechanical civilization rising on massive pillars. Black metal structures stretching up to the sky, energy towers rising for hundreds of meters, and huge pipe systems running through the entire city... at first glance, it would give a person the feeling that this place was a war machine, not a living place. But today, for the first time in a long time, I felt something different when looking down from above.
Because I wasn't just seeing structures anymore.
I was seeing people.
I saw workers working in the lower layers. Even though it's night, the men are still carrying heavy equipment. Women with tired faces handing each other coffee. Young soldiers emerging from training areas. Some were laughing. Some were arguing. Some were just trying to get home.
And for a moment, a strange silence fell over me.
Because while wandering through other worlds for three years, I always saw humanity at two extremes. They were either terribly ugly or too good to be broken. I saw their greed. I saw their betrayal. I've seen how they destroy each other. But at the same time... I've also seen how they protect each other. I saw hungry people dividing their bread. I have seen dying people praying for others even with their last breaths. And all of this eventually left only one thought in my mind:
Humanity was weak.
It was fragile.
It was easily frightened.
But despite this, they were still fighting to not lose each other.
Perhaps that was exactly what made people beautiful.
The fact that they're not perfect.
As the lightning circled around my body, I slowed down a bit. As I passed through the central layers of the city, the massive columns rose before me in all their grandeur. Cistern's main carrier columns... these giant structures, built hundreds of years ago, stretch up into the sky, the blue energy lines on them shining like veins in the night. On each column were different unit emblems, engravings from ancient battles, and giant platforms that led to tiers housing thousands of people. When viewed from above, the city was truly transforming from being man-made into something else. It was as if the hopes and fears of millions of people had piled up on top of each other, and this mechanical giant emerged.
And me...
I loved Cistern.
Maybe I didn't want to admit it for a long time, but I loved it.
Because this was my home. Master Shu always advised me to love Cistern, my home, and he taught me this.
During the years I spent with Magnus, I learned to look at the world differently. I had stopped denying the darkness of humanity. I no longer had the childish belief that everyone could be saved. Some people were truly terrible. Some just wanted to destroy. Some even turned love into a weapon.
But still...
Still, most of the people living on Earth, where I spent three years, were just trying to survive.
Unlike the world, in Cistern...
They were trying to spend one more day with the people they loved.
And now I knew how valuable it was. But at the same time, I knew how valuable the other one was, too. The experiences were the concepts that taught me everything.
That old oath has become heavy inside my chest again.
I won't lose again.
This thought echoed in my mind.
I won't be late again.
I involuntarily remembered the moment I collapsed in Jared's room. Those seconds when I covered my face with my hands and cried. The moment I said, "I'm sorry, because it's me."
I clenched my teeth slightly.
No.
This would never happen again.
I no longer wanted to be just a warrior.
I wanted to be a general.
Someone who protects his people.
Someone who protects his home.
Someone who sees people living instead of mourning the loss of those they love.
And for this, I was ready to tear down the entire system if necessary.
As I approached the main area where Team 1's building was located, the atmosphere of Cistern began to change completely. The relaxed chaos of other parts of the city gave way to strict discipline here. Security drones were flying among the massive black towers, while armored guard units were standing guard on high platforms. The energy barriers had been placed layer by layer. Even the air around the building complex felt heavy. Because today, an ordinary meeting was not being held here.
All the generals had been summoned.
And this... it always meant something bad was about to happen in Cistern.
The Team 1 building looked different from the other structures even from a distance. The central structure, built on huge white-black columns, rose towards the sky, the gold embroidery on it shone faintly in the night. Even the entrance section of the structure was like a small fortress in itself. Layered doors. Identity screening areas. Energy control points. And hundreds of officers.
I slowly descended to the ground.
As soon as my shoes touched the metal floor, several guards around me reflexively turned towards me. The remnants of the lightning that had struck me were still crackling faintly.
I took a deep breath.
And for a few seconds, I just looked around.
Then my eyebrows furrowed slightly.
Because…
I didn't understand anything.
Nothing really.
When I left three years ago, the security system wasn't this complicated. Now before me were dozens of interconnected entrance corridors, checkpoints bearing different unit emblems, and constantly moving security teams. People were running around with holographic documents in their hands, while some generals were entering with their own escorts.
For a while, I just stood where I was and looked around.
I muttered involuntarily, "What the hell is this?"
I truly felt lost.
Even though I was a general, I felt like an ordinary visitor right now.
A few staff members passing by looked at me and greeted me, but no one seemed to have time to stop. At one point I tried to enter the wrong corridor and a red energy barrier opened up in front of me.
"Unauthorized entry."
I stared at the barrier for a second.
Then I took a deep breath.
"Great…"
I tilted my head back slightly. My eyes began to wander through the crowd.
Ok.
I needed to calm down and come up with a solution.
I thought to myself, I need to find a guide.
Because if I wandered around this damn place alone, I'd probably accidentally stumble into the war council chamber or something.
After spending a few minutes at the entrance of the Team 1 building, I gradually began to realize that no one here really had a chance to understand what they were doing. No, maybe the people on duty knew, but to an outsider, this place looked like an ant colony left in the middle of a huge organization. There was movement everywhere. There were sounds everywhere. Footsteps echoing on the metal floors, automatic doors constantly opening and closing, the mechanical vibrations of security drones passing through the upper layers, and orders transmitted by people shouting at each other... the whole building resembled a huge living machine. And I felt like someone standing right in the middle of this machine, trying to figure out what each gear does.
For a while, I really did run around from place to place.
First, I went to the registration desk on the right side, but they directed me to another floor. Then the officer there sent me back downstairs because there was a "separate procedure for generals." From there I went to another corridor, this time two different security lines appeared in front of me, and when I tried to pass from the wrong side, the red energy barrier closed in my face again.
"Unauthorized access."
"Okay, I understand." I grumbled, clenching my teeth.
People were streaming out in front of me. Some generals were walking along the corridor in their long cloaks, carrying escort troops with them. Some high-ranking officials were arguing with each other by looking at the holographic screens in their hands, others were walking with fast steps with serious expressions on their faces because of the upcoming meeting. And in the middle of all this chaos, I... was truly lost.
At some point, this thought stopped being annoying and started feeling funny.
"Great," I thought to myself as I continued walking. "I survived in other dimensions for three years, but I can't find my direction in my own city."
I threw my head back slightly and ran my eyes through the crowd. Actually, there was only one person I was trying to find.
Logos.
That guide I encountered on the first day I joined Team 1.
At first, he was the person who kept me from getting lost in this huge structure. He was quiet, professional, and had an air about him that made people feel slightly uneasy for some reason, but he did his job incredibly well. If he were here somewhere, he could solve all this mess in a few minutes.
The problem was that...
I couldn't find the man anywhere.
At one point, I went to one of the upper floors because an attendant said he might have seen Logos there, but when I left, I found only long white corridors, heavy security doors and similar meeting rooms. On another floor, two guards stopped me and asked for identification. When I went back downstairs, I went to a completely different section this time.
And I was slowly starting to get tired.
But not physically.
Mentally.
Because in the midst of all this chaos, people were involuntarily starting to think.
The upcoming meeting.
Why all the generals were summoned.
Kuren.
Kazami.
Jared's room.
That old heaviness in my chest began to stir again, but this time I managed to suppress it. Because I had no luxury of letting myself go here. Mizu was right. People would look at me. If I collapsed, everyone around me would feel it.
I took a deep breath.
Then I started walking again.
One of the corridors was much more crowded than the others. It was probably one of the main passages leading to the meeting rooms because there was an incredible flow of people inside. Officers Decked out in black uniforms were running around with documents in their hands, some soldiers were checking security points, high-ranking people were having serious conversations among themselves.
While trying to squeeze through a group passing right in front of me, I collided harshly with someone.
I retreated reflexively.
"Oh, sorry—"
My sentence was cut short.
Because the moment I looked up, my mind completely stopped for a few seconds because of the person I saw.
The man carrying the Team 4 emblem on the shoulders of his long dark coat stood calmly in front of me. Her smile stood out even in a crowd, but what truly set her apart was the expression on her face that her smile conveyed. When a person looked at him, the first thing he felt was not strength.
It was peace.
A strange, heavy, but reassuring peace.
His eyes still retained the sparkle of youth, but they also had a calming warmth. His dark blue hair added a deeper depth to her appearance.
And the moment I recognized him, my eyes opened involuntarily.
"...General Vartin?"
My voice sounded genuinely surprised.
Because the person standing before me was no ordinary person.
Vartin Voldert.
General of Team 4.
And much more importantly...
My master Shu's childhood friend.
The man about whom I've heard dozens of stories from Shu throughout my life.
The time they trained together. The tasks they entered into in their youth. Being one of the few people who could elicit one of Shu's rare, gentle smiles.
And now...
He was standing in front of me.
Suddenly, all that chaos and all that noise seemed to fade into the background.
Vartin looked at me for a few seconds, then a slight expression appeared on his face.
Then...
He smiled.
This wasn't a showy smile.
It was quiet.
It was calm and tolerant.
But for some reason, even that small expression was powerful enough to relieve all the tension inside a person.
"So you're finally back," he said in a deep but soft voice.
Something inside my chest relaxed slightly.
Because for the first time in a long time... I felt like I was truly in the presence of someone great.
END OF CHAPTER