The Duty of the General

Chapter 22

you were slightly taken aback by his statement, giving him a surprised look. he returned your look with his usual one, except his eyes were curious, is something wrong?

rather than reply, you shook your head while dehya and candace remained silent. candace decided to break the silence, "you both are going to be sleeping in the guest house. don't worry, there's two bedrooms."

"thank you," cyno said. "i'll be going to bed now. i have some documents to drop off tomorrow at the akademiya." he looked at you, "do you want me to drop you off at tighnari's?"

"i think i'll be alright," you smiled, trying to force it on your face. "i'm not that weak."

"i insist, i can walk you-"

"cyno. i said it's alright." you turned your head away from him. "just go without me."

"...alright. i will. goodnight everyone."

dehya and candace wished him goodnight, then dehya patted your shoulder. "you okay?"

"i just didn't realize that he saw us like that," you said, holding back your tears. "it's like he was a completely different person from when we were alone... i didn't think that he could see me as someone hindering the mission."

"he didn't mean it like that," candace reasoned. "i'm sure that he wants to prioritize this mission and talk to you properly when you're both less stressed."

"yeah... i guess you're right," you mumbled.

"that doesn't mean you don't have the right to feel sad," dehya said. "shit like this hurts. just because he said this doesn't mean that he doesn't love you. it's as candace said. cyno wants the best for you, so he wants to make sure that the two of you can talk stress-free."

"i just... if something happens to either of us," you said softly, trying to keep your voice even. "i don't want to leave anything unsaid."

"then," candace pondered. "be so strong that you won't have to worry."

"i know i'm strong," you admitted. "but... shit sometimes goes wrong. what if then-"

"don't worry about that right now," dehya said. "for now, let's push him out of our minds. you see... i don't wish to be rude, but this attitude will hinder the mission. let's strategize now and focus, okay?"

you nodded, "okay." you cleared your throat, taking a deep breath and looking up as if nothing ever happened. "let's talk about strategy."

"good," candace smiled. "this is already making you stronger. now dehya, tell {name} what you wanted to tell them."

"alright. i was going to go see what the eremites are working on at khaj nisut tomorrow," dehya said.

"can i come with you," you asked her. "i don't want you going alone... that sounds too dangerous."

"are we forgetting that they're looking for you? let's not throw you head first into danger," dehya refused. "i'm an eremite, i know how this works. i won't do anything risky, so please don't worry. just get back to the forest safely, alright? i don't want you to get in trouble."

"i won't," you said. "i'm just wondering why..."

"we'll figure it out. for now, we need to prepare you well for invasion."

"considering there are so many, target the camps first," candace said. "you can reduce their numbers and prevent them from rushing into the city, however you'll be on their turf which can make combat difficult."

"i'm used to this," you assured them. "are we forgetting what my job was?"

"speaking of your ex-job, what are you going to do after the invasion is done?"

"i'm still thinking about it... my options are very limited."

"you could always come and live here in aaru village," candace smiled at you. "i would love having you here."

"or you can join me and the blazing beasts! we could always use another person. considering how strong you are, i think it'd be awesome to have you with us."

"i appreciate it! i'll keep both of your options in mind," you smiled. 

"we love to hear it," dehya said. "if you even wanted to move to a different region we'd support you. our only condition is that you write to us every week at the minimum."

"you both know i wouldn't do that," you laughed. "my home is here."

"well whatever it is, i support you," candace smiled. 

the three of you continued to chat before you left to go wash your clothing, considering you wanted to look as fresh as possible. and, you also needed to wash your undergarments because the ones that candace gave you weren't as comfortable to wear. you went back to the medical house and grabbed your clothes from the dirty hamper and went to wash them. 

after cleaning them, you placed them on a towel on the roof of the guest house to air out in the dry desert conditions, making yourself comfortable and watching the stars above you with your head clouded in thought. it was quite chilly, so you had brought a spare blanket to bundle up in as well as a few lamps to provide heat to dry your clothes. even though you knew that since it was cold your clothes wouldn't dry, you'd be out there for a while. you made sure to take care not to wake cyno up.

hmm... i remember seeing that constellation in a textbook about stars. isn't that one... ah! that one is lupus aureus! and... oh! that one looks like vultur volans! i'm surprised i can remember all of these. they're all so pretty... there is so much light in sumeru city and so many trees in gandharva ville that i can never see these.

"{name}?"