Soldier Final Chapter: Soldier X713

Soldier Final Chapter

Soldier X713

The Lost Children.

These are the title given to the children that were abandoned by a criminal organization named Lupus Lab.

Lupus Lab conducted human experiments, mostly to kids, in different continents, but their main base is at Veronia.

Many labs have already been raided by both the human country and the demon country, but it is unsure if they have purged them all.

In the purged labs, the kids were saved… But the kids that Lupus Lab released because they were deemed a “failure” weren’t found.

These released children were failed experiments. They were released by the Lupus lab into towns with absolutely nothing. On the outside, they look like normal street children but they have been altered.

The lifespan of these children was said to be reduced down to 30% because of the experiments. Meaning they would die on their 20’s or 30’s.

I am one of those children.

I remember being on the lab and being injected by unknown things. I was considered a failure. When I was 12 years old, I was considered a “failed” experiment.

I roamed the streets for a year, doing nothing but go into the garbage cans and finding food. Sometimes, I would eat grass or leave just to fill my stomach.

One day, when I was dying, I saw a girl holding a book and reading it. She looks like 3 years older than me. While she is reading, I read the title of the book on the cover page.

“Magic for dummies?”

The girl noticed me reading the book cover. She extended her hand to me.

“You can read?”

“Yes…”

“Do you need a place to stay in?”

“…”

“Okay, I’ll take care of you. But don’t expect too much okay? I just need some muscle!”

The girl’s name was Leia. Her parents were adventurers and had died 5 years ago.

She had to live on a tent on the side of the road. But because she was an adventurer, she was able to live in going on quests.

I remember the first quest we took together…

The reward wasn’t even enough for a single meal. She split it up with me even though I haven’t done anything.

I remember the first time she got a class level up. The whole guild celebrated with her. We started to gain fame because of her.

After that, I didn’t know why, but I got famous. We entered some parties and my name became famous as someone who can find ways to defeat any enemy.

♦

A few years after, we were invited to join the army. Which we did, and we were included in a unit formed with unique people.

Akasha, who was the daughter of a fallen noble. Kyle and Mark, just your ordinary soldier. Lastly, Evans, who was one of the top students of the magic school.

We were a unit that achieved a lot in just a span of a year.

I remember that time with Akasha…

It was after the of a celebration of a coming of age of one of Akasha’s friend when she was still a noble. We were hired as guards for the event.

I was standing on the lawn. On the balcony on the moonlit night, Akasha is standing tall and looking towards the moon.

I couldn’t help but stare at her figure that isn’t hidden by armor.

While I was looking, Akasha noticed me.

“Oh, Soldier… I didn’t know you were still awake.”

“I was doing a last patrol… maybe some drunk soldiers are loitering around. It would be bad if hey harass a noble. They’ll complain annoyingly and our jobs might be considered a failure.”

“…Hey, can we talk? Can you come up here?”

“…”

She looked like she was serious.

I went up the stairs and stood with her on the balcony.

“Say, have you ever wondered who your parents were?”

“Doesn’t really matter… I never really knew what a parent is, so I don’t really feel that something was lacking in my life. I think I’m leading a fairly good life.”

“I wish I was like you…”

“…?”

“…The Naquof family fell because of my father. He had an affair with a commoner. Because my father is only a mere baron who had married into my mother’s family which was a count, he received severe punishment. They divorced and my whole family was removed from nobility…”

She looked up the sky.

“When I think of the happy times me, my father, my mother, and my sister sat on one table, I can’t help but feel lonely… I wished those times would last forever.”

“…Do you hate your father for what he’s done?”

“Yes… after that incident, I really hated him… but as I grew up, I understood. I realized that he was only forced into marriage with my mother and he had always loved the commoner. We are all just humans. We would commit mistakes from time to time. We might say that he’s married and should care for his family other than his feelings of love, but we weren’t really put into his situation. How we see things and how he saw things were different. I understand that now…”

She looked at me.

“I understood it because of you…”

“Huh?”

“…”

She jumped towards me and hugged me.

“I already know you and Leia are already an official couple… and yet… I have this feeling of wanting to be with you… even though I have good relationships with Leia, I could not help but keep myself from throwing myself at you… Even though I know that the consequences are severe, I could not help but follow my heart…”

She looked up to my eyes.

“So—”

“Sorry, I don’t want things to be complicated. I don’t want to take advantage of your feelings. If I have to avoid you, I will avoid you with all my might. I’m sorry, I know I will hurt you, but I don’t want to change the peace we have right now. You and me might now have a superficial relationship from now on, but I still want to keep this peace. I’m really sorry…”

“…Hahaha, as expected of you… you don’t even want to hear my words.”

“I’m sorry. I will act like a jerk just to keep this peace.”

She started to tear up…

“Ahhh… I can’t believe my romance is over just like that… after all this time of holding back… what….a….waste…..”

She rested her eyes on her arms that are placed on the balcony railing and started crying softly.

All I could do was look at the moon upwards and accompany her.

♦

I remember those times with Kyle and Mark before me and Leia became a couple...

“What did you two call me here for?”

“Your alone, right?” Kyle asked me with a serious face.

“Yeah.”

“Okay, here’s the plan. We would go to the public bath and you would share your sneaking ability with us then we would enter the girl’s—”

“I’m out.”

“Waaaait! Aren’t you interested?”

“Hahaha! Soldier, don’t be a girl!”

“If not going to jail would make me a girl, I would gladly do it.”

“It’s only a night at jail! The risks are low!”

“Hey, Soldier. Do you really love Leia? Don’t you want to see her naked?” Mark asked with a serious face.

“Well, I have seen her body accidentally because I lived with her…”

““Dieee!!!!””

“Hey, stop! What are you doing!”

…After a few minutes of dodging arrows and punches.

“Okay Soldier, what about Akasha? Don’t you want to see her bombshell body?”

“Nope.”

Kyle thought deeply then bumped his palm with a fist.

“Aren’t you interested? I mean, looking at her muscle build would prove beneficial to you. You will know her strengths if you know what muscles she uses the most and you can incorporate that with a strategy.”

“Okay, I understand. Let’s go.”

Yes, this is all for strategy…

…All for strategy.

Before we even entered the bath, we were caught by the bath owner and were all sent to jail for the night.

It seems that the reason of looking at the muscles of your teammates to know their strengths for the sake of battle isn’t accepted by the police.

We almost lost our position in the army, good thing Akasha saved us.

♦

I could never forget Evans.

“I love Leia.”

“I do not care.”

Evans had feelings for Leia. In fact, I only realized my feelings for her when Evans had started making a move on her.

Good thing Leia was dense… Evans had always had his own ways of getting to the heart of girls, but Leia’s defenses were absolute.

Because of this challenge, Evans became more active in making his moves. But still, Leia is dense.

Even though I realized my feelings for Leia, I still felt sorry for Evans’ futile effort.

He gave up when Leia and me became a couple.

♦

I cannot forget that night.

It was a night after we finished a mission.

We are sitting next to each other on her bed.

The reason I was there was due to me being worried about her. She seemed down after the mission.

The mission was the same quest that was given to Leia’s parent’s before she died. We were able to finish that mission with a little challenge.

But it came to clear that the reason why her parents died was because the difficulty level of the quest was wrong when her parents took it up.

It should’ve been a high difficulty mission but it was classified as a low difficulty mission.

“…To think that my parents died because of such reasons…”

“It was understandable. Not all quest and missions have accurate difficulty levels. Most high difficulty ones are only accurately assessed after a few deaths have happened.”

“…And my parents died just for that mission to be assessed properly?”

“…”

“Hahaha, this is just like you… you don’t defend me, but defend the facts… you always didn’t care about the feelings of others…”

“But it’s the truth…”

“I know… but you didn’t have to be so direct about it…”

Did… I hurt her feelings? All I did was say something right. There was nothing wrong with what I said…

“…Sorry.”

“No, it’s okay… I understand you…”

“…Hey are you angry?”

“Of course not…”

“You are angry…”

“I’m not!”

“Yes, you are. If I think about it, you are very angry at the army or the adventurer’s guild right now. If only the guild had a proper way of assessing difficulties, your parents would be alive right now. If only there was a proper system, it shouldn’t have resulted like that. Isn’t that right?”

She started crying and put her head on my chest.

“If you knew, you shouldn’t have asked… idiot…”

“…”

But…

“Because it happened, I met you.”

“*Hic*…What are you trying to say?”

“I’m saying that I am only with you because something was taken away from you. If you think about it that way. Maybe I needed a place to go, so it was decided that your parents were only fated to die for me to have a place to stay in.”

I subconsciously made a lonely smile.

“…I may have been a curse.”

“A curse? I have never thought of you that way!”

“I want to compensate for the death of your parents.”

“What?”

“Leia, let’s become a family.”

“Huh?”

“Let’s get married.”

“!?!?!?!”

Leia suddenly turned red and looked at me in the face. She was just crying, so her eyes are glistening.

“W-W-What are you saying!? You skipped to marriage already!?”

“What? is there any need for more?”

“B-B-But, we need to be a couple first… and… and…”

“What are you talking about? That’s just a useless waste of time.”

“Wait…”

She looked at me with blank eyes.

“Do you just want to be in a family with me to replace my parents or something? Don’t you feel anything at all?”

“What are you talking about? I love you, you are my everything, and I would kill myself if you die.”

“Aaaarghh!”

She suddenly punched me on the chest.

“That hurt…”

“W-W-Why would you suddenly say something like that!? That’s very scary!”

“That’s scary…?”

“When did you start thinking like this!?”

“I can’t remember… maybe for a long time now?”

“W-Waahh… I can’t believe this…”

She held both of her hand on her chest and kept quiet.

“…So, we’re getting married?”

“Can you stop with the marriage stuff!?”

“Then what is it that you want?”

“C-Can we start with being a couple with marriage in mind?”

“…Isn’t that just the same?”

“It’s different!”

“…”

Sigh…

“Fine, let’s go with that.”

“T-Then, we’re not going to get married yet!”

“But there’s only one thing I will do, even if we’re not married.”

“Eh?”

I pinned her down on the bed.

“W-What? what?”

“I’ve been holding back for a long time. Your soft lips… your long eyelashes… your smooth skin…”

“Wait, Soldier? Soldier! W-What’s that look in your eyes!?”

“I’m sorry, but I really can’t take it anymore. My chest is about to burst.”

“E-Eh? This is just too fast! Too fast I tell you!”

That first night was the most unforgettable one.

…When morning came, she woke up with a refreshed smile while I almost died of dehydration.

To think it was that dangerous…

♦

—Hahaha, those times were really fun…

Thinking about it, didn’t we meet the same fate as her parents?

Receiving a mission with a wrong assessment?

Hahaha, can’t believe that it’s all over now…

Everyone is dead… Leia died with me not being able to do anything about it…

I now understand how Leia felt… it’s all their fault…

I can’t blame them for it, but it’s all their fault…

I looked at the black limbless monster in front of me.

This monster might be death itself…

I’ll do everything for Leia even after death…

So please…

With all my strength… even if my body feels being pulled to the ground and I feel like I’ve started to disappear… even if my brain is starting to sink down to my skull…

I need to at least convey my feelings…

Even if this is just a futile attempt to speak to death…

Please… get…

“Avenge… Leia…”

………

……

…

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