Chapter 29: The Lava Inside Me

The atmosphere between us became thicker. Gerard stood no more than six steps ahead of me, but I felt a huge lake between us. Gerard's lips were still pressed tightly together, but the look in his eyes was saying a lot.

"Of course to protect the people. It's my duty." , he said as a result of three minutes of silence thinking of an answer.

Such a clichéd answer. I didn't expect a long answer, but at least three minutes was enough to make a good answer. Not the market template of royal soldiers who spend their time riding around on their horses.

When Gerard thinks of an answer, I hope that what comes out of his mouth is a strong reason, a reason that no one else would think of. No one would fight so hard without a good reason. Are the people that important to him? Is he a king? Even a king adored by his people would not walk across a bridge built by the people.

I'm sure the reason is bigger and stronger than that.

"Why am I disappointed, huh? I'm not satisfied with your answer. You sound very nationalistic." , I commented, leaning back against the railing while staring at the orange light that was beginning to appear on the eastern horizon.

"Looks like you were expecting an answer." , he replied, pulling me to turn to him.

I stared at him for a few seconds before finally nodding, "Yes. Something like that. Think of it as me looking for flaws in you, captain."

No, I'm not. Actually, I'm just looking for a friend who might share my fate. Isn't the power of two better than one? Especially if that person is Gerard. One person like him is equivalent to five people like me.

"You must be upset about not finding it, huh? Then keep looking, when you find it let me know."

"Gosh, you're a specialist in making other people feel annoyed, aren't you? You surely don't have many friends."

"What about you? I've never seen you talk to anyone other than Sam and your horse." Gerard sneered as he walked away to his horse.

I stammered. Because it was true. Out of the hundreds of people here, I just passed by them and so did they. Naturally, I felt different. Maybe it's because I have a reason for being here. Everyone has a reason, but I'm sure, no reason is bigger than mine.

"I came here out of spite." I said, right behind him. Yes, I followed him.

His hands stopped moving, and he turned around.

"I know, it's not okay to be here out of spite. I know. But that's the truth. I have a good reason to be here and I want to go out to meet them and avenge myself." I explained again.

Gerard didn't speak. It was obvious that he was thinking about something.

"That's why I need you to help me, yet you rejected it outright without even thinking about it first."

"Why did you tell me?" , he asked, "Aren't you afraid I'll rat you out to Mr. Wymond?"

"I trust you,", I said, "We both know the risks if you were to tell Mr. Wymond about this, but I don't think you will."

"Why are you so sure? I've taken you out before, remember? It wasn't that hard for me to get you out."

I stepped forward, bringing me in line with him, "You didn't even rat Sam out. I heard the stories. Why didn't you rat Sam out to Mr. Wymond? Even though you've taken him out before, I'm sure it wasn't that hard for you to get Sam out of here. But you didn't." I questioned him.

Unlike what I expected, Gerard smiled, "Ah, you heard the whole story, huh? Then shouldn't you come to your mind and forget your ambition for revenge?"

The smile on my face faded and was replaced with a look of confusion, "What did I back out for?"

Gerard looked up at the sky with a sigh before finally facing me, "Listen, little girl. If you've heard the stories and you've even seen how our troops died in the attack that time, can't you just imagine- look, this beast we're facing isn't what you think it is. It's not your opponent. Sorry to say this, but your revenge mission sounds impossible."

My jaw hardened in annoyance. He wasn't willing to help and was even now intent on discouraging me. I didn't know what his intentions were, but I didn't care. No matter what happened, I would do it. That was all that was left of me.

I took a step forward, looking at him seriously, "Thank you for reminding me, captain. I appreciate it. But I don't care. Nothing is impossible in this world, on this land. There's nothing new under the sky, remember? If humans in the past have defeated them, then so can I." , I said with emphasis, "Thank you for today's training. It was very helpful."

I immediately turned to leave him. Gerard's words didn't dampen my spirits at all. On the contrary, like an ember being fanned, my spirit was ignited. I knew I had to venture out immediately to look for any clues about that beast. Valuable information like Sam's would be helpful to figure out how to defeat them and learn their tactics. There was nothing I could gain by just sitting around, cooped up inside this circle of five-meter-high stone walls.

When I arrived in my room, Sam was still lying down with his blanket all messed up. Once I finished showering, he was still in bed, not changing position in the slightest. I impatiently jumped onto his bed and jumped up and down on it, hoping the shaking would wake him up.

"Sam, wake up! Hurry up and wake up! The siren has sounded!", I shouted excitedly.

But what the hell, Sam just turned his body back to me while covering his ears. Unfortunately that didn't deter me, and I continued to shake the bed harder and kept calling his name. After a while, Sam still didn't react and I gave up as sweat was already flooding my body again.

The siren sounded as soon as I got off the bed and I saw Sam immediately get up to rush to the bathroom. I was glued to the side of the bed, imagining all my efforts to wake him up, when all Sam needed was the sound of the siren.

While waiting for Sam to come out of the bathroom, I chose to let my body be exposed to the morning sun on the balcony right in front of the room's door. A few people from the next room also came out and did a little stretching while waiting for their turn to shower. Remembering Gerard's words about me not having many friends, I took a little initiative to greet them.

"It's a beautiful morning, isn't it?" I said, smiling at two people not far from me.

Instead of a friendly greeting or response, what I found was a confused look, staring at each other. At first I thought maybe my voice wasn't loud enough to be heard over the siren that was still going off.

Unexpectedly, the siren suddenly stopped sooner than usual. The two people I greeted spontaneously panicked and ran into their rooms. Some people from other rooms rushed out of their rooms with their clothes not yet put on properly. I found that some of them hadn't even touched the water and had only changed their clothes. It was obvious on their faces that they had just opened their eyes.

I was surprised to see them in such a hurry. The next second my eyes bulged out in a gasp. I quickly returned to the room and banged on the bathroom door. Saving Sam from punishment.

I managed to get the center row, while Sam was a few rows behind me, wearing only one shoe and the other pair left somewhere else. It was better than having to run around the field in just your underwear. Yeah, that's what the five late troops experienced.

At ceremony time, we were told that the morning shower time was cut in half to train the troops' dexterity and speed, and the women were no exception. There is no gender difference, as Mr. Wymond used to say.

Thankfully, our meal times remained the same. Thirty minutes before we moved on to the next training. Now I understand why Mr. Wymond put the mandatory workout before breakfast, not only to make the time more efficient so that we don't have to wait for our food to go down our stomachs, but also to make our eating time faster. Evidently, on average, everyone only took five minutes at most to finish their food. The hunger overcame them from the moment they got in line to queue for their turn to have their food poured into their eating places.

"You owe me a favor." I said as I seated myself in front of Sam who had already enjoyed his breakfast of pumpkin soup and two boiled eggs.

Sam's eyes glanced at me without raising his head, "You're very selfless, aren't you?"

My eyes smiled as my lips pulled upwards, "Look, I only have five days and I need to be able to ride a horse. I want you to teach me."