A Distant Reverie

Chapter 49

Suisei immediately dropped her belongings. Without a moment's hesitation, she flopped onto the ground—soaking in the relief of being on flatland. The moist stank of soil irritated her nostrils. Her unladylike gesture undoubtedly drew curious eyes. But she couldn't care less. The fatigue and suffering accumulated in the past few days of the expedition had eroded her sense of shame.

"Suisei, are you okay?"

Suisei shot a glance at the giant looming beside her. Once she would have been afraid of the brutish face covered in vivid face tattoos and menacing scars. Now? He was just another man in the Houshou Legionnaires, tamed by its wild and eccentric commander.

"No, Bruno. Not particularly," she replied, surprisingly curt. Exhaustion had also worn down her mask. Pain radiated from every nerve in her body. The soles of her feet in particular were inflamed, burning with an acidic buzz—enough that Suisei wished that they had been cut off, so that she would be freed from the agonizing soreness.

Still, when she saw Bruno's face grow grim, she couldn't help but want to reward him for his sympathy.

"But the same could be said for everyone," Suisei stood up, noting the long nasty streaks of red clawed along Bruno's chest and neck. Fresh wounds, not yet fully healed from last night's ambush. The bandages the other medics placed on him must have fallen off during the day's trek.

"You should get this checked again," Suisei said, lightly brushing her hands along Bruno's body, pretending to assess his wounds. The giant flinched at her touch, before suddenly going still.

"Y-Yeah. We're lucky the commander ordered for an early end to the day," Bruno said, obviously trying to distract himself from Suisei's hands, "I don't know if I could have lasted another hour."

Suisei fought the urge to smirk. He's like an obedient puppy. Except enormous.

"Help me set up the medic tent then. I'll take a quick look for you. Go to sleep after."

"Unfortunately, I'm on first patrol. But yeah, I'll grab the tools."

Nice. She successfully pawned off the work she didn't want to do. Suisei watched as Bruno limped towards the central area of the camp where the fire pit and the well were located. Most of the legionnaires were moving about in a daze, lethargic like a zombie, as they tried to set up their sleeping arrangements for an early break to the day. Despite the village looking abandoned, Marine forbade the legionnaires from tampering with any of the village properties. In her words, if the villagers happen to return, the last thing they would want to see is their homes occupied and destroyed.

You would think that a pirate wouldn't be able to resist a good pillage.

Suisei scanned the rest of their encampment, before her eyes settled on a couple of legionnaires loitering around the farmlands to the left of the cabins. Suisei sighed, rolling her eyes.

I better stop them before Marine finds out. She rose, ready to give the loiters a stern warning. Being one of Marine's trusted companions apparently granted her a certain amount of respect amongst the legionnaires. Plus, she could always appeal to Marine's brutality if the thugs grow unruly.

"Hey you guys, what are you doing?"

The legionnaires ignored her, still facing the farmlands. Suisei was sure they heard her. Are they out of their minds? She briefly considered letting them be the subject of Marine's merciless punishments—until she remembered that she would have to be the one fixing them up afterwards.

"Hey!"

One of the legionnaires turned around this time. His boyish face was bloated with concern, "The commander needs to see this, I think there's—"