Chapter 524

In front of a short letter stating that his brothers will kill him, Heinrich remained silent. He checked the envelope again, thinking it might be a mistake. But it was not a mistake. He didn't share the contents of the strange letter with his friend, and instead returned to his quarters to contemplate its meaning. He couldn't believe that his brothers would actually try to kill him, and thought it was just a malicious joke. However, the possibility of it being true lingered in his mind. He couldn't fathom why they would want to kill him, especially during a war where their unity was crucial. He concluded that if the letter's contents were true, it would have to be dealt with after the war. Translation:

Heinrich, who does not know much about politics or his brothers, thinks that it is something that should never happen if he thinks rationally. It is not wise to make foolish choices for the next crisis after overcoming the crisis in front of him before everything is over. However, unnecessary politics and intrigue are still occurring in this situation. Heinrich knows that people are foolish. Even within this army that went to war with justice, Heinrich has seen and experienced foolish actions of those who only see one step ahead or too far ahead. But still, his brothers. His brothers would not try to kill him. It cannot be. "Yes, that can't be true...." Heinrich burned the letter that only caused unnecessary confusion in his hands. He was looking at the remnants of the letter, which turned into black ashes, with a firm expression. * * * It was a night when everyone was asleep, and Ellen, who had no night operations, was also a good time to sleep. Somehow, since he was carrying a cat that he liked, he eventually brought it to the barracks. Originally, he was going to return it to the original restaurant. "Since it's a kitten, wouldn't it be better to keep it with me? It was abandoned...." Because of Adelia's words, Ellen thought for a long time and eventually brought the cat to the barracks. The cat seemed to be struggling with something and eventually came into Ellen's barracks as if it were being dragged without being able to come down from Ellen's arms. It seemed that he had encountered a strange little creature in an unfamiliar place. Ellen was amazed that his hazy consciousness was restored by just one cat. It felt like he was under some kind of unknown magic. That's that, and now Ellen is thinking of taking a shower. Ellen looks at the cat quietly. He doesn't know where it came from or how. It must have rolled around in the dust of the base camp, although it wasn't particularly dirty. Ellen has never raised an animal before, but he felt like he should wash the cat. Dust is not good for a kitten. Ellen hugged the cat, who was sitting quietly on the carpet in the barracks. -Meow The cat cried softly as Ellen hugged it. And then, did he realize where he was being taken? -Meow! "....?" -Meow! The cat started to struggle in Ellen's arms as if he had sensed his fate. "I have to wash you." -Meow! "Oh...." As he entered the bathroom, the cat almost rebelled as if it was not allowed, and then escaped from Ellen's arms. Ellen watched the cat, who was running away with its tail between its legs, trembling and barely breathing, with its head buried in a corner of the tent. Is it cruel to force a cat to take a bath when it clearly doesn't want to? Ellen didn't want to bother the small animal. "...." Come to think of it, didn't cats dislike water? Ellen thought the rumor was true and unbuttoned his shirt. After washing up in the bathroom, Ellen picked up the kitten that was cowering in the corner and sat it on his lap. While drying his hair with a towel, the cat sat still and trembled. Was it cold? It had said something hurt. It seemed to be moving strangely, almost like it was malfunctioning, and looked stiff, unlike the agile image of a cat. After drying his hair, the cat slowly got up and started crying in front of the entrance to Ellen's tent. Ellen asked if it was going somewhere. He had heard that it was a cat abandoned by its mother. So where could it go? Or did it know how to return to its mother? Ellen couldn't tell what it was thinking, so he just stared at the cat. The black cat also stared back at him. One side was silent, and the other couldn't speak. How long had they been staring at each other without saying a word? The black cat then walked back towards Ellen and tried to jump onto his makeshift bed, but ended up hitting its head on the corner and falling off. Ellen asked if it was okay and carefully lifted the limp black cat onto his bed. A cat that couldn't even jump. The cat sat still next to Ellen and trembled. It seemed embarrassed, so Ellen couldn't help but chuckle. And Ellen was surprised that he was laughing. Was it possible to laugh at something like this? Had he not lost his sense of humor yet? While drying his hair with a towel, Ellen tickled the cat's neck, which was still trembling with embarrassment. The cat seemed to have given up on going somewhere and decided to stay in Ellen's tent. Now that the mission was over, all Ellen had to do was rest. Proper rest was important. No matter how strong Ellen was, the battlefield could take his life in an instant. If he didn't sleep well or rest properly, it would affect him the next day. The fatigue and flashes of consciousness he had been feeling lately were qualitatively different from that kind of fatigue. It was definitely not affecting his combat power. Even if his consciousness fades and his vision blurs, he must know the path he must take and strike down his enemies in the optimal way, and his body moves on its own as if someone else is using it. As his consciousness fades, he feels a strange sense of detachment as if someone else is wielding his body. Therefore, despite feeling fatigued and under pressure, his combat power does not decrease but rather rises in a strange state. In the darkness, Ellen looks at the black cat that is curled up in front of his face on his makeshift bed. The golden eyes of the black cat, and the pupils inside them, were looking at him, enlarged in the darkness. It was a very close distance. If it were a person, they could confirm each other's reflections in their pupils because they were so close. Ellen had never raised an animal before. Even in his hometown of Lijai, there were a few houses that raised dogs, but there were no houses that raised cats. In Lijai, animals were usually referred to as prey. He had never thought about raising one. However, today, Ellen reached out to this strange cat that he had never seen before. The cat licked his finger as if it knew something. A strange feeling. But that strange feeling that was oddly familiar seemed to awaken something that Ellen was losing. Before he knew it, he had brought this strange cat to his tent and was now staring at it by his bedside. The cat also kept staring at him in the darkness. Golden eyes. For some reason, those eyes seemed familiar. That's why Ellen felt like this small animal that knew nothing understood him. Ellen felt silly for thinking that way. "I think I understand why people raise animals... even though they can't speak." -... Even though they can't speak, it's not that they raise them. They raise them because they can't speak. They can project any emotion they want and judge that they are understood. Even if they don't know anything, they can delude themselves into thinking that they understand everything. At the moment when Ellen felt that he was being understood through the cat's pupils, he thought that it was a projection of his desire to be understood that was in his heart. The black cat only cautiously rubbed its head against Ellen's face. He only thought that he was deluding himself into thinking that he was being understood, but it was as if he really was being understood. Ellen only gently stroked the cat's head while placing his hand on its back. It was amazing that this small being was holding onto his fading consciousness. The feeling of fatigue, pressure, and despair seemed to have decreased somewhat. So now he was holding onto something clear in his mind. Of course, due to fatigue, Ellen's consciousness was gradually falling into a deep sleep. Today, with the help of the small presence, Ellen was able to regain his composure, but how long can this last? The small presence can only provide limited help. It will eventually disappear. "I don't want to disappear..." Ellen gradually falls asleep, looking at the cat with blurry eyes. In his hazy consciousness, Ellen somehow felt like he saw tears in the kitten's eyes. Can cats cry? Ellen thought it was ridiculous. When did tears become only for humans? Humans can cry, and humans are ultimately animals. Tears belong to all animals, not just humans. So, of course, cats can cry too. However, Ellen didn't know why the cat was crying. People should cry, but the cat is crying. "Don't cry..." In his fading consciousness, Ellen carefully wiped away the tears from the kitten's eyes. * * * If we were to compare who sleeps more or less, Ellen is a heavy sleeper. When he was in his hometown village, he was always a late riser, whether he went to bed early or late. There was no one to scold him for sleeping in. The little boy who used to wake up late became a girl who wakes up late. But Ellen learned that he was a person who was used to rules when he went to the temple. He could wake up much earlier than the standard bedtime and do morning exercises. He learned after he grew up that he could voluntarily reduce his sleep and sleep less if necessary. He voluntarily reduced his sleep at the temple, and he reduced his sleep out of necessity in the army. And that's not just Ellen's thing. It seems that everyone has to start their day early. As the days got shorter, Ellen woke up in the dark early morning to go to the command post to issue orders. After preparing properly, Ellen put on his armor. -Clang! Clang! Clang! When the armor rack was activated, Ellen's ceremonial armor, which he usually wore, stuck to his body, and the seams of the armor were automatically adjusted. The Moon God's sword was attached to his waist, and the Sun God's cloak was draped over his shoulders. There are no major missions for a while, but Ellen is responsible for constantly checking the safety of the marching route to the base camp as a vanguard and eliminating the monsters that appear. After receiving the assigned troops and mission instructions from the command post, he departs to the scene. Camping is very dangerous, so missions are usually completed on the same day, but sometimes it takes a few days. -Meow. "It must have been noisy..." Ellen, awakened by the sound of putting on armor, was silently watching the black cat yawning on the bed. The black cat was looking at Ellen, who was fully armed, with round eyes. Ellen, wearing a splendid plate armor, sat down in front of the still sleepy kitten and gently tickled its neck with his index finger. Ellen wondered if the sensation of metal from his gauntlets would harm the kitten and cautiously bit his finger. Ellen had become accustomed to talking to the kitten after just one day. The kitten came down from the bed and sat next to Ellen as if it understood what he was saying. Ellen wondered if the kitten really understood him. When Ellen unlocked the tent and opened it, he saw that others had already started their busy morning. The black cat also cried next to Ellen as if it wanted to go somewhere. Ellen told the cat to come back again and watched as it walked away carefully. Ellen walked away, thinking that if the black cat came back again, it wouldn't be a bad thing.