Death, Death and Death

There was no doubt.

That body, its tongue hanging out and gasping for air, was Gen Gott's father.

This was his first moment as an official knight of Velmara.

"A-Ah... N-No, it can't be..."

Gen fell from his horse, but his eyes never left it.

A hand instinctively reached out as if to protect him, from nothing.

After all, there was no danger — nothing out of the ordinary. Just something common in this world.

Igor rushed to him, screaming his name.

His companions could only watch, their mouths agape.

"Gen, you... I told you to be prepared for anything."

Gen's eyes twitched as he turned to Igor.

"NO! T-This... this doesn't make any sense at all!"

He stood up, his hands pressed to his head.

"IT SHOULDN'T BE LIKE THIS!!!"

He mounted his horse. Tears streamed down his cheeks.

"I-I thought I would find him, n-not... AGH!"

He simply started riding, wherever the world led him.

"GEN!" Bellowed Igor as he mounted his horse.

"Stay here, men. I'll go after him."

Nobody nodded.

Igor dashed forward, chasing Gen's horse toward the horizon.

"GEN! Where are you going?!"

"I-I-I..."

Gen didn't even hold the reins; he just looked at the palms of his hands.

"THIS IS NOT FAIR!!"

"Gen, you... You had to be prepared for anything. I told you!"

"B-But... GUAH!"

He rode aimlessly.

The chase lasted about ten minutes, until Gen's horse tripped over a rock and fell to the ground.

Igor slowed, stopping at the boy's feet.

"Gen..."

He sat at the foot of his horse, eyes full of tears, his fingers dug into the dirt, shoulders shaking with silent sobs

"I... I-I thought he wouldn't die... THEY TOLD ME THEY WOULD COME BACK!"

Igor took his time speaking, choosing his words carefully.

"He died as a soldier..."

"NO! NO HE DIDN'T!" the boy screamed.

"H-He was fucking hanging, like he... HE DIDN'T EVEN WANT TO BE THERE! WHY DID HE HAVE TO DIE LIKE THAT?!..."

"I repeat, Gen: he died as a soldier."

Those words made Gen freeze for a moment, as if he had a reality check.

"N-No... NO NO NO, I DON'T WANT TO DIE LIKE THAT! I DON'T WANT YOU TO DIE LIKE THAT!"

He threw himself to the ground, tearing up grass with his hands.

"WHAT DID HE DIE FOR?! WHY WAS HIS LIFE TAKEN?! WHY DID HE HAVE TO LEAVE TOWN?! Y-YOU'RE TELLING ME HE SHOULD HAVE BEEN EXPECTING THAT?! I SHOULD HAVE EXPECTED THAT FOR ME?!"

Igor got off his horse and approached Gen slowly.

"Listen, Gen. This is the story of every soldier who has fulfilled his purpose. They don't send us out here expecting us to come back; they expect a body count. Your father knew that."

"D-Defend my country..."

Gen stopped for a moment, absorbing the information.

"D-Dad died for Velmara?... I WILL DIE FOR VELMARA!? YOU WILL DIE FOR VELMARA?!"

"Yes, Gen. By the time you join the army, you should already be well aware of this."

"...T-That is our life purpose? Die fighting for this town?... NO! I-I DON'T WANT TO DIE LIKE THAT! I-I DON'T WANT TO LIVE MY LIFE FOR A COUNTRY!"

Igor's gaze remained calm, a little reassuring.

"We don't have royal blood, so there's nothing we can do."

Gen's wide eyes stared at the grass.

"T-This is not fair... NOT FAIR GODDAMMIT! WHY DO WE HAVE TO DIE FOR THIS COUNTRY!? WHY SHOULD THIS COUNTRY DECIDE MY FATE?!"

He stared at Igor, eyes burning.

"I-I'm going to change this... I won't let us die for nothing... I WON'T LET THIS COUNTRY KILL ME! I WILL KILL IT FIRST!"

"...Gen..."

Voices carried through the trees.

"HEY! COMMANDER IGOR! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?! YOUR PLATOON WAS KILLED!"

Two mounted soldiers came riding through.

For a split second, Igor's composure faltered, but he quickly turned to Gen.

"Gen."

"T-They... died?... No... are you kidding—"

"I have no time, so listen. There's something in the basement I want you to see."

Then he smiled.

"Do what you think is right, Gen. I won’t be the one deciding your life."

"Igor?" murmured Gen from the ground. "Why are you saying that now? What are you—"

The two soldiers approached.

"Why the heck are you two here?! During your absence, your platoon was attacked by an entire army. No one survived."

"I take full responsibility," Igor stated firmly.

"Wait — you two... Did you try to desert?!"

Igor wasted no time responding, "Yes."

A silence swept over everyone.

"I-Igor—"

"T-Then... Commander Igor and soldier, you're both... sentenced to death—"

"No, the boy has nothing to do with it. I was using him as a hostage."

Gen's heart started beating faster.

"H-Hey... I- Igor, what are you thinking?"

One of the men glared at Gen, then at Igor.

"He doesn't look much like a hostage—"

"Are you going to doubt a commander?"

"N-No sir..."

They both took a deep breath.

"Very well. Commander Igor, you will be taken with us as a deserter. The penalty is death."

The two put handcuffs on his wrists. He offered no resistance.

"H-Hey, Igor... WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

"Leave the boy. He knows the way back."

With those words, both soldiers began to ride forward, Igor as a prisoner.

"No... NO NO NO, IGOR, NOT YOU TOO!"

Rivers of tears ran from Gen's eyes. He tried to stand up but failed. His leg had broken when he fell from the horse.

"No... no... Igor, don't go... I don't want you to die... not you... I-It's my fault..."

'Igor didn't die at the hands of the kingdom,' Gen's heart twisting. 'He died because of me.'

"NO GODDAMMIT! IT CAN'T BE ME!"

However, he didn't want to believe it.

"IT WAS THIS FUCKING COUNTRY!... D-Dad died fighting for it... My friends died fighting for it... Igor... Igor is going to... WAHHHHHHH!"

He started punching the ground repeatedly.

"WHY DOES IT HAVE TO BE LIKE THAT?! NO NO NO! WHAT IS GOING ON?! WHY DOES EVERYONE HAVE TO DIE FOR A COUNTRY?! ...but me?..."

He watched the last remnants of the horses disappear through blurred vision.

"I- Igor... I will make them pay, Igor... This country... Velmara... I don't care what happens... I'll make them pay."

On his first and last morning as a soldier, Gen learned the truth about his father's death. His comrades were exterminated, and his greatest idol was sentenced to death.

And the only thing he could do was cry.

Later that day, Gen arrived at Igor's house.

It was a dark, small, cramped place. Gen used a lantern to navigate.

There he found a box. Opening it, he saw a piece of paper and a black-and-white tracksuit.

The letter said the following:

'Hi, son! Hehe — you're not even born yet; I don't even know who your mom is, but anyway, I hope you're a really cool guy! So, Dad here wants to tell you a little family secret. Since your grandfather, we've passed down this piece of clothing from generation to generation. Grandpa said it was important; that we should always wear it just to see if anyone recognises us. It sounds kind of stupid, right? I honestly think it's kind of ugly — a really strange outfit that I've never seen anywhere; that's why I don't wear it, haha. But anyway, it's my job to leave this with you. Do what you want, but then give it to your son too. Love, Papa Igor.'

After reading the letter, Gen's strength left him, and his knees hit the floor.

Again, he cried. His hands hugged the tracksuit as if he were hugging himself.

"I- Igor," he choked, a sob catching in his throat. "I'm sorry... I- I am so sorry..."

"WAH?!"

The black-haired boy wakes up lying down. The sky is still blue, but less clear. His back rocks rhythmically, his head repeatedly hitting the ground.

'A-A... dream?'

He lifts his head and looks around. Small brown pieces lay around him: wood, which made him move back and forth. In front of him, a man held the reins of two brown horses.

He was in a wagon.

Again, his clothes were intact. No injuries on his body.

'I-I survived again? I can really... not die?'

For a moment he stood there, just absorbing what was happening. Then he felt something soft on his side.

"W-What the..."

Bodies. Human bodies. Lifeless, bloodless, rotting.

A smell that would be unbearable to anyone else reached his nose as he realized he was sitting on a lifeless body.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS—"

His whole body trembled, including his hands. Soon, he noticed that iron handcuffs were holding his hands.

"Ah, you're alive?" Asked the driver, a bearded man, giving a slight glance back.

"Well, whatever." The driver looked ahead at the path. "So instead of being buried, you'll be thrown out of the country."

Again, Gen didn't react for a moment—until he asked:

"What are you talking about?"

"We've arrived."

Abruptly, the horses stopped.

"Hey, actually one of them survived," the driver said calmly.

In front of him, two guards in red approached without saying a word. Each grabbed one of Gen's arms.

"Hey, what's going—"

Gen finally realized what had been in front of him all along:

The walls of the kingdom.

Huge stone walls. Ramparts and towers rose high above.

"W-Wait—"

The guards simply began walking forward, toward the edge.

The wagon sped off again, leaving Gen alone with the two guards. The distance was short, and each step made the landscape outside the city more visible:

A flat, open terrain, the ground completely green, surrounded by an endless forest.

The guards reached the edge, carrying Gen with them.

The drop to the plain was enormous; the entrance gate was barely visible below.

And as if he were nothing, they threw him from the tower.

'W-What?'

Gen could barely think. As he fell, he turned back to where he had come from.

But there was no one there anymore.

'B-But I... This...'

His hand reached up, and a small tear leaked from his eye.

'It's not fair...'

*Crash*

A moment passed, and Gen woke up there on the ground. Once again, he had woken up at the same moment he had fallen asleep.

'Ah, I got it. I died and—AUGH!'

His leg was broken. His knee was dislocated, like an upside-down toy.

"AUGHHHH!! SHIT!"

He grunted in pain. He tried to place one hand on the ground, but...

All his fingers were broken.

But before he could scream, another pain struck, piercing his chest.

All his ribs had been broken. A lung had been punctured, his stomach had been torn open, his intestines displaced, and all his bones shattered.

As he realized it, the accumulated pain of it all came rushing back. All his organs, bones, and muscles ached.

The only thing Gen could do was scream.

"A-AHHHHHH!!! G-GODAMMIT! I SURVIVED THE FALL?! WHY AM I ALIVE?!"

He tried to scream louder and louder, but his vocal cords were torn. He tried to take a deep breath, but his lungs were barely functioning. He writhed on the ground instinctively, which only made him feel more of the pain in every part of his body that touched the ground.

The only thing he could do without getting worse was cry.

"A-AH... I-I need... I need to die..."

It was only a matter of time. But unfortunately his body naturally did everything possible to avoid it, which only delayed it further and further.

"N-No, c'mon... S-Stop resisting, I-I can come back... Just day—"

In the background, voices were heard.

A small group of men on horseback pointed at him.

"Looks like one survivor," one of them said—the same as before.

"Oh, that's rare. Let's go!"

So the men rode toward Gen.

As they approached, Gen noticed something about them: a similarity that terrified him—they were all dressed in red.

He straightened up.

'A-Ah, nice... Someone to kill me.'

The guards stopped in front of him.

Gen only cried.

"I'll take care of him, there's something I want to test."

A man dismounted from a chestnut horse. This man was different.

Appearing to be in his early twenties, he wore a purple beanie covering his long blond hair, a long-sleeved button-down shirt of the same colour with a high collar, and dark maroon trousers. A smirk rested on his face.

His outfit was the only one of that colour, and he was smaller than the others.

He approached Gen, stopping a few feet away. Eye to eye.

'W-What will he do—'

"BLACK FORCE!!!"

The man punched Gen in the face.

It wasn't a normal punch; he continued to force Gen's head toward the ground.

And Gen's head began to sink in.

Finally, Gen's head imploded, and a crater appeared in the ground right where his face had been.

'At least, I'll heal.'

Once again, Gen Gott died.

His neck hung loose, blood gushing into a hole.

Seeing this, the man was silent for a moment. Then, with a grand smile, he raised his hand upward.

A cheer erupted from the other men, their hands raising their weapons in the air.

"LONG LIVE GENERAL ELIAS!!!"