Adjutant Raina serves a truly troublesome superior.
That superior’s name is Miros. A man who could pop up anytime, anywhere—utterly unpredictable. A weirdo who hated everything in the world. As evaluations of one’s superior go, it was harsh beyond measure, but Raina was confident no one could make a more perfect assessment than herself.
Others were busy singing praises of her superior and General, Miros. Setting aside his outstanding appearance and his large yet sleek physique, that is. All she heard were trite accolades like “undefeated commander,” “avatar of victory,” “one loved by the gods.”
“Haa, they just don’t know our General.”
A sigh escaped her naturally. She was convinced people’s eyes were utterly mistaken. Of course, he was an incredible man—that much was true. No words could diminish his achievements. He had actually accomplished tremendous things. He’d made the impossible possible. One could even call it historic.
But that was only as a general. As a human being, he was such a bratty bastard that made one wonder if such a creature even existed in this world.
Usually, the age when one hates everything in the world is around seven or during puberty. Once that period passes, people compromise in one way or another. They come to accept things in their own way. Growing older and maturing, of course. Because hating things or getting angry consumes considerable energy, and one realizes there’s no real need to be angry.
But the Miros she knew was twenty-six years old and still hadn’t gotten his head straight. I hate this, I hate that. He was desperate to pour out his rage at the entire world. Even he knew this, so he rarely opened his mouth.
What was truly absurd was that people even gladly praised his uncooperative social skills. They even attached the fitting epithet “Silent Valor” to him. A talented man looks good no matter what he does, I suppose. If they knew how fucking crazy his true nature was, they wouldn’t dare make such sounds.
But separate from Raina’s internal sarcasm, she didn’t truly dislike Miros. No matter what kind of person he was, he wasn’t a bad superior to serve.
He knew he’d kill innocent people if he opened his mouth, so he kept quiet. He never refused anything shoved at him. Well, he was a man who cared about nothing except his own anger anyway. Whatever his inner state, the result was a mild and quiet superior.
He never gave unjust orders, never turned people into cripples with pointless chaos. For a place that was none other than a battlefield, this made him an excellent superior. Others couldn’t manage even that, routinely meeting violent deaths from knives in the dead of night.
So yesterday at the victory ceremony, Miros leading the procession had felt rather proud to her. Whatever else he was, he was a hero. And she was someone who stood with such a hero.
Thus, Adjutant Raina finally arrived at her destination—the bedroom of the separate palace where Miros was staying.
Really. How old is he that he still needs to be woken up every morning? She grumbled internally as she knocked on the door. Knock knock—a light sound rang out, but there was no response from inside. Of course there wouldn’t be. She knew that too. It was merely a ceremonial action.
“General, I’m coming in.”
The air in the room she entered with a click of the door was somehow strange. It was cold. An unpleasantly frigid energy flowed out. Only faint creases remained on the bed, some of the furniture was smashed to pieces, and mysterious debris was strewn across the floor.
The window was wide open. Was it because of the dawn breeze? No. This was something different. Even the curtains swaying in the wind somehow felt eerie.
“General?”
Looking around, the adjutant saw that the bathroom door was open. And the moment she entered the bathroom, she froze at what she saw.
In the bathroom tub, Miros was sprawled out like a waterlogged stuffed doll. The adjutant, who had been in a daze wondering what on earth had happened, quickly came to her senses.
“General!!”
What in the world was going on? The adjutant practically flew over and pulled Miros out. Given his considerable size it wasn’t easy, but perhaps due to her urgent state of mind, she succeeded in getting him out of the tub. The horrified adjutant examined Miros. His breath was faint, and his body was cold as ice.
At least he was alive. Having confirmed he was still breathing, the adjutant frantically ran outside.
***
The palace physician who was summoned was initially shocked, but after examining him thoroughly, became rather indifferent. At worst it would be just a cold? He might run a slight fever, but his condition was better than expected, so the physician just gave him some medicine and left.
“No matter what, he’s a victory hero—shouldn’t you stay and observe him a bit more?”
Grumbling alone, Adjutant Raina looked at Miros lying there with a pale face and let out a deep sigh. If this is fortunate, then it’s fortunate, I suppose. She knew he was sturdy, but even after lying sprawled in that ice-cold water, apparently it would only be a cold at worst.
What in the world had happened? The adjutant’s head throbbed from this unexpected disaster. At first, she really thought she’d be disposing of a corpse. None other than a victory hero drowning in cold water the morning after—what kind of farce was that? Even a clown couldn’t make such a joke.
Relief returned her soul to her body, but left her energy completely drained. Just when she thought she should probably leave soon, Miros’s eyelids trembled and slowly opened. The adjutant, who had been sitting half-dazed, urgently straightened up.
“General? Are you conscious?”
“…My head hurts.”
“What on earth happened, really…!”
Miros just groaned, pressing one hand to his throbbing head. At his appearance, the adjutant began pouring out nagging as if she’d never been worried at all.
“Why is someone who’s usually fine acting like this? You can’t collapse like that. Please take care of your body from now on.”
The words were very long and detailed, but unfortunately, Miros didn’t hear them at all. More precisely, he had no capacity to. As soon as he regained consciousness, his gaze turned toward the window. It wasn’t a conscious action. It just happened without him realizing it.
“…Are you cold?”
The adjutant, who had been rattling on, keenly noticed his gaze. Oh right, I was so frantic I forgot the window was open.
The physician said he’d probably suffer a cold at worst and be done with it, but she thought he might still be cold. Even her hand had been freezing from just a brief dip—a person who’d been completely submerged could certainly feel cold.
The adjutant rose from her seat and approached the window to block the cold wind. Then, Miros’s voice rang out low.
“Don’t close it.”
The adjutant hesitated. Why is he being like this? She looked at him with a strange expression and said,
“You almost became a corpse in that ice water, and now you’ll get chilled to the bone if you catch the cold wind too.”
“Just leave it.”
Was it because he just woke up? His foul temper showed itself completely. What should I do? The adjutant hesitated briefly before reaching for the window again. No matter how annoying the bastard was, she didn’t wish him ill. But unfortunately, he didn’t have the mental capacity to accept such consideration from the adjutant.
Eventually, Miros sat up from where he lay. And he spat out as if growling,
“Get out.”
At the clear dismissal, Adjutant Raina was dumbfounded. I save this bastard and now what tantrum is this? She moved her lips briefly before finally sighing and saying,
“Fine. But really… you can’t do this anymore, General.”
“What did I do?”
“Separate from you being a damn brat, you’re a not-too-bad superior.”
The adjutant drew a picture-perfect smile, but the sound of her grinding teeth rang out nakedly. Miros glared at the adjutant silently, and the adjutant met his gaze without yielding an inch. The one who gave up first was the adjutant.
Aigoo, fine. You reckless damn brat. I’ll be patient. She reluctantly left the window as it was, bowed her head, and left the room.
When the door closed, only quiet cold air circulated in the room again.
Left alone, Miros sat on the bed gazing out the window. His eyes wouldn’t leave the White Snake Mountain Range visible faintly in the distance. Cold wind brushed past the curtains and touched his face. Yet he couldn’t even blink.
“Fuck, why am I acting like this over that thing?”
He knew it was strange even to himself, but he couldn’t stop either. His body just moved that way. Completely unrelated to his own will.
Last night was the same. He’d definitely seen that for the first time. More precisely, he should say he’d seen the real thing for the first time. Separate from knowing where it was and hearing rumors about it. But when he kept looking at it, his whole body boiled over.
How else could he explain smashing everything unable to endure it, then lying down in cold water? No matter how nice the weather was now, it wasn’t weather for swimming in cold water. He knew that himself. But he couldn’t help it. It felt like thousands of insects were gnawing at his flesh in tiny bites.
It was the same now. No, the form seemed to have changed. His wrist trembled faintly. Soon, a strange heat crept up from inside his arm. With each exhale, his lungs ached as if burning.
“Damn it…”
He covered his face with his trembling hands and muttered low. Everything was uncomfortable.
It wasn’t simply because of the cold water. He couldn’t explain it, but he knew for certain. An inexplicable sensation inside his body was slowly encroaching on him.
His instinct warned him. Don’t look at all. You need to get away quickly. No, just run away instead. Yet at the same time, an inexplicable thirst arose. A feeling of hunger. Again, he didn’t know why. He knew nothing. He didn’t know everything. There was nothing but things he didn’t know.
Miros made groaning sounds while opening his eyes. Far outside the window, the outline of the White Snake Mountain Range cast a thin shadow.
There was no reason or explanation, but just looking at that place made heat surge through his entire body. He was angry. He even felt wronged by these sensations that had no answer.
Of course, anger had been constantly boiling inside him before too. He thought he was crazy. There was no other way to explain this. He just tried to pretend otherwise a bit. Those who should know, know that he’s lost his mind. He had neither the capacity nor the interest to hide it, though.
“Why am I…”
He’d never not been in pain, but now he felt like he’d go even more insane. Still, until now he’d at least pretended to endure it. He’d imitated that monkey-like appearance at least. But in this moment, he couldn’t do anything right now.
Well, I never knew the reason anyway so I can only feel wronged, but I’m irritated with myself over my body’s response that has no answer.
No, endure it. Try to endure. You can do it.
He struggled to catch his breath. He gripped his wrist tightly but the trembling didn’t stop.
But, how strange is this? That thing is so far away, so why does it feel so close? No, is it close? It’s not, though? It’s so far that even its form looks blurry. But separate from reason, it felt like something was whispering.
Time flowed relentlessly. Though he was clearly watching the sun set, he couldn’t move. Even though his whole body was in pain, even though his arms throbbed as if they’d shatter.
Miros eventually got up from the bed and sat by the window. Cold wind brushed his skin, and the sizzling heat somewhere inside his body still writhed.
The faint form of the White Snake Mountain Range was cast against the sunset that seemed ready to burn away. He looked at that scene, then spat out a short, harsh curse.
“Ah, fuck, this is really driving me crazy.”
Even after the brief curse, no one answered him.
Rather, that curse seeped into the room, leaving only deeper silence.
