Kill The Dragons - Chapter 50

“It’s not so bad. I can endure this much. Though it hurts every time I breathe.”

Kijo sat on the bed and said. For the time being, Kijo had been hospitalized for a penetrating wound. He would have died had the arrow landed a little closer to his heart.

Kijo seemed much more mature after experiencing a near-death experience. Han left the hospital ward. There had been a lot of second years hospitalized. Unfortunately, many of the hospitalised youths had no hope of recovering.

Han and Canute visited their injured peers from time to time after stopping by Kijo’s room. He walked toward the psychiatric ward.

Creak.

Squad 7, Kato Souki, appeared from within the mental recovery ward. He had lost half of the members from Squad 7.

Squad leader Kato Souki had a severe case of neurosis as a result of the brutal battles. He had just witnessed numerous members of his squad die as a result of his commands. He was having trouble coping mentally.

“Kato.”

Han spoke first. Kato looked to Han with tired eyes.

“Han, I really dislike you, but I’m glad to see you safe like this. As you’ve said, I don’t have the strength to kill nor see someone be killed in front of me.”

Kato’s tone of voice seemed indifferent. He was emotionally depressed. Han could see Kato’s condition was extremely dangerous.

“You will get better. Kato, stay strong.”

Han couldn’t think of any words to say other than this. He was not a psychiatrist. He didn’t know much about that subject.

The trivial rivalry between the squads had become meaningless. They were all youths of Ark. They had seen for themselves, their one true enemy. They were merciless and cruel beings from another world.

Han’s commanding skills were excellent. This had been acknowledged by the drill instructors and students.

‘However, I must become stronger. If I had been stronger then….’

Han had never had a problem winning in the battles he had fought while in Ark. They had always battled with those of similar strengths.

Han could win in close combat as long as they were of similar strengths. If he had lost, it was by a small margin, and most of the time it was due to a mistake from his team that had thrown off the flow of the battle.

The second years of Ark were in a lull. Their training and lectures were put on hold. Han returned to his dorms to lay down in bed. Everyone had shut themselves in their own rooms.

“Hey! Our Hero! If it isn’t Squad Leader Han.”

Jose said with an exaggerated tone. Han chuckled. Han had a will as strong as steel, while Jose’s passion was as hot as fire. The two were used to coping with sadness.

“How are the squad members doing?”

Han asked Jose.

“Not too bad. Though, they may seem a bit cold… Squad 13 only lost two members and everyone else survived. Our situation is a lot better than many other squads. Rather, it seems their murderous killing intent has risen exponentially. They say sadness and happiness are all relative, right?”

Jose examined Han’s condition. He had been worried about Han more than anyone.

‘Han’s sense of responsibility is heavy. It’s highly likely that the missing two members of Squad 13 were dead. It would be troublesome if he felt like they had died because of himself.’

Jose’s worries were groundless. Han mourned for the two missing squad members, but he didn’t let that completely occupy his mind. He was already experienced in dealing with such situations from his time in Korea.

“The dead have died, and the living must live on. If we spend a day praying for those who died, then that would mean that someone would starve to death the next day.”

Han had experiences that others in Ark had not. These experiences could not be forcefully learned through artificial training drills. The chances of someone surviving through such circumstances were slim.

‘Now I feel embarrassed for worrying about him.’

Jose scratched his head after hearing Han’s answer. It was hard to believe that he had such control of his emotions although they were the same age.

“I’ve never been to Korea, but I know that it’s a very difficult place to live. I didn’t have as tough a time like you, but my family wasn’t on the wealthy side either. I lived in the Barcelona slums and our house was nearly falling apart. My mother and father, although poor, loved alcohol and had continued to produce children one after another. I had four siblings. I got news that a new baby was born not too long ago, and so I have five siblings now. It should be obvious why I came here, right?”

Han nodded. He was in a similar situation himself. Lots of poverty stricken children had come to Ark for similar reasons.

“It’s similar to my case as well. Though you’re already aware.”

Han had never spoken out loud, but Jose had been by his side for a long time and could conclude as such. From time to time Han would go off by himself to read his mail, and would take out a hologram photo of not his family, but a photo of a group of children.

“After the war ends, let me invite you to my home. Though, I’m not sure if Spanish cuisines would be to your liking.”

“I’m not picky with my food, so you don’t need to worry.”

Han and Jose passed the time talking about this and that. The topics were never ending. They were both from different countries and cultures. This alone had an endless amount of topics to cover.

Someone barged in without knocking. There was no one in Squad 13 who would behave like that. Han narrowed his eyes. The person who had let himself in wasn’t the most pleasing guest.

“S,Silence?”

Jose was more surprised. Silence had barged in while dressed in a full black battle suit. It seemed like he kept the skull mask on for 24 hours a day.

The mask solidly covered even the back of his head. There were theories that he kept his face hidden because of a disfiguring scar on his face.

-You have been temporarily drafted. Han. Follow me.

Silence wrote in his electronic notebook to express his thoughts. One could feel a chilling coldness from his words, though he didn’t express himself verbally.

‘He must not like me.’

Han stood up from his seat.

“Will this be a long-term draft?”

Silence nodded. Han looked to Jose.

“Until I return, Jose, you will be the leader of Squad 13. They’re in your care.”

“Okay.”

Jose didn’t ask questions. Han followed behind Silence. Of course Silence didn’t speak another word. Even the back of his head seemed to let out a chilling aura.

“Excuse me, would it be okay to know who requested for me?”

Silence spun around and took out his electronic notebook. This was a very inconvenient form of communication.

-Sergeant Red. Stop annoying me.

“Okay.”

Han shut his mouth and followed Silence. Han never entered the third year dorms before. Many youths who looked to be third years stared at Han.

“So that’s the brat who’s the thirteenth squad leader.”

“He defended against the Elu Hunters and werewolves in an impossible situation without a single fatality.”

There didn’t seem to be many third years. They looked more relaxed than the second years. Everyone was either training their stamina or reading books. There were no unified drills or lectures.

They passed the third year dorms and escaped the complicated maze-like building structures. All the buildings were labeled with abbreviations so Han had no idea what the structures were for.

Silence entered a building. The inside seemed similar to a basic student dorm. The dorms had all sorts of convenience rooms. He saw two familiar faces in the common room.

‘Sergeant Red… and Simon Dell.’

Simon also recognized Han.

“Reporting Sergeant Red sir.”

Han saluted.

“Stop looking like pitiful mutts whose bones have been taken away, and sit down. This will take a while to explain.”

Sergeant Red said, while Silence pushed Han onto a chair.

“The remaining squad code is W. Choose a squad code between white and whisky.”

Sergeant Red didn’t bother to brief them on the situation and spoke. However, Simon and Han had quick senses to read between the lines to understand the situation.

‘The current members here will make a team. We will be making a temporary squad for a certain objective.’

The room went quiet for a period of time. Silence broke the standstill with his electronic notebook.

-White.

Han and Simon also chose White. Sergeant Red showed a crooked smile and said.

“Then our squad code name will be Whisky. Everyone here will work temporarily in Squad Whisky. Han, Simon. Is there anything you don’t understand?”

Simon raised his hand.

“Why is it me and Han? Silence is a third year, but we are both second years.”

“That is a good question. Usually, we will form temporary squads from amongst the third years.”

“Ark is a psyker training institution; however, when countries from around the world request for our aid, we will lend them some of our troops. The general public is still not aware, but many minions remain hidden in different locations around the world. Nations around the world would rather send psykers than their own military forces to deal with the minions. They help sponsor Ark by donating an astronomical amount of money, and they do everything they can to wring out their money’s worth from us. The third years are the reserve troops made for this purpose.”

“This would probably be helpful towards transfering into third year.”

Simon said. Sergeant Red nodded his head.

“Yes, we are on our way to Sinuiju right now. Our research department traced the remnants of whatever attacked our planes, and found that it should have been from a source one kilometer away from the dimensional crack. We speculate that it had been an Elu mage. We will capture the Elu mage alive and return to Ark.”