Became a tyrant of defense games - Episode 251
◈ 251. [Side Story] Jupiter Junior (3)
Crossroads Downtown, Temple.
Wearing a conical hat, Junior stood hesitantly in front of Raina's hospital room..
I had just come to visit after hearing that Raina had just regained consciousness..
But for some reason I didn't have the courage to go in..
At that time, the door to the hospital room burst open and the priest, Margerita, came out making a hissing sound..
“Ouch! That's Okay! What a thank you, thank you! Just stay calm and get out as soon as you're healed.!”
“No, what's so scary about offering to buy me a meal as a thank you for taking care of me? Don’t do that, saint, saint! Oh, that's right…….”
Raina licked her lips bitterly as she watched Marherita run away down the hallway..
Then he turned his head and grinned at Junior..
“What is it, little wizard? He came to visit me in the hospital.?”
“that… … That's it. You look fine.?”
“Thanks to the anesthesia. There's a hole in your stomach, will you be okay? They say it healed somewhat with magic, but they say it's absolutely stable..”
Reina turned into the hospital room, talking incredibly energetic for someone who had just woken up..
Reina stumbled and hit the bed with her hands..
“Don't stay there like that and come in! Please tell me what happened while I was passed out..”
Since he had come with that intention, Junior tried to move into the hospital room..
but.
Stand tall.
My feet stopped on the threshold of the hospital room..
“……?”
I felt Raina's puzzled gaze. But Junior kept her mouth shut and lowered her head..
- She is a magic bombing survivor from Camilla Kingdom. Why are you protecting that woman??
The question Camus asked at the time of the attack could not escape my mind..
15The sound of the thunderbolt and storm a year ago was pleasant to my ears. Junior couldn't get closer to Raina anymore..
“……okay. Is that so?.”
Seeing Junior's condition, Raina, who easily realized the situation, smiled bitterly..
“Maybe this is the right distance for us. Jupiter's daughter. It's like a miracle that we've gotten closer so far.”
“…….”
“No matter how hard you try, there are some gaps that cannot be filled. I've been ignoring that goal for a while, but I guess I'm at my limit now..”
Junior clenched his fists. It was a healthy right hand and a left hand that had been burned by magic bombing..
“I want to ask you one thing… … . Do you regret what happened that day??”
“……What exactly are you talking about? I've done a lot of things.”
“Destroying my country and burning my village.”
Junior's face, with his head down, was hidden by the brim of his conical hat. Junior asked in a suppressed voice..
“I regret it.?”
Raina responded immediately..
“no.”
“……!”
“I have never regretted anything I did as a soldier..”
Raina's voice was cold and functional..
“If I regret it, what happens to my subordinates who carried out my orders??”
“…….”
“I am the commander of the magic corps. By my orders, I killed people, burned villages, trampled on the country, and there are subordinates who died in the process. If I regret and repent comfortably, then what happens to the sacrifices of my subordinates??”
“…….”
“I am a soldier, Junior. If it's an order from superiors, I'll do even worse than what I did to your village. And I won't regret it until my last breath, and I shouldn't regret it.”
Junior, clenching his molars, stuttered and asked..
“So, if you are ordered to kill me. Are you going to perform?”
“……No such orders are given.”
“What if it comes down??”
“…….”
Reina let out a long sigh and,
“okay.”
answered.
“If that's an order, then so be it..”
“……!”
Raina coldly spat to Junior, whose complexion was turning white..
“I am different from your mother. If it were Jupiter, he would ignore that order, disobey it, protest, and then run away with you in his arms. Actually it did. but i can't.”
During the decades they served together, Reyna was fond of Jupiter. She wanted to live like Jupiter.
Because I am a human being who cannot live like that..
“I'm being honest. Junior, I can't live like your mom..”
“Then why on earth!”
Junior's voice became more intense..
“why… … Have you been nice to me? I don't regret what happened that day, and I don't want to apologize either.!”
“…….”
“Why did you try to become close to me, and why did you treat my body? why?”
Reina, who was silent, lowered her eyes..
“I'm tired. To break or destroy something. I thought I could make a difference if I protect and save something like your mother..”
Junior and Raina both thought of Jupiter's face at the same time..
The white-haired thunderbolt that laughed cheerfully…….
Raina's head slowly turned downward..
“But, yeah… … Now I understand. That it can't be done. I, who can neither regret nor apologize, can never become like Jupiter..”
“…….”
“That the distance between us can't be narrowed any further..”
Junior was still standing at the entrance to the hospital room and could not come in, and Raina, sitting on the bed, looked at Junior with a bitter gaze..
Junior muttered in a watery voice..
“I wanted to forgive you.”
Reina laughed in a dry voice haha.
“……I wanted to be your stepmom if possible. Or something similar.”
Junior looked like he was about to cry. Reina slowly turned her head.
“But I guess it couldn't have happened.”
***
Crossroads downtown. prison.
“…….”
Junior stood blankly in front of Camus' prison cell..
I received permission to visit from Ash. But really having a one-on-one conversation with Camus was burdensome..
Above all, I didn't know what to talk about..
Empire. Camilla Kingdom. plural. Forgiveness…….
There were many topics that came to mind, but they were not combined into sentences..
Junior didn't know what to say as his first greeting to Camus..
You came here because you wanted to hear some kind of answer... … I couldn't figure it out.
“hey.”
At that time, a hoarse voice came from inside the prison cell..
“How long are you going to just stand still??”
“Wow!”
A startled Junior looked ahead and saw Camus standing near the bars of the prison cell..
Although his face was swollen from all the beatings, his cold and gloomy eyes were shining as ever..
“It keeps happening, so I'm getting worried too. Do you have anything to see me??”
“Sorry, sorry... … do. I just…….”
Camus' tone of voice softened as he recognized Junior's hesitation..
“That wizard back then. He was said to be from the Kingdom of Camilla…….”
“…….”
Camus watched Junior lick his lips, then slowly sat down on the floor next to the bars..
“Looks like you have something to talk about. I will listen, so tell me.”
“yes?”
“As you said back then, we live in the same city..”
Camus shrugged his shoulders..
“He has a worried face, but he speaks comfortably..”
Junior was dazed for a moment and then began to talk incoherently..
The magic bombardment he suffered when he was seven years old. Lost family. Jupiter, who took him away. 15 years of life.
What happened after joining the front line here. Jupiter's death. Meeting with Raina. The story of becoming closer to Raina…….
And after Camus stabbed Raina, everything became unknown..
Are you a citizen of the Empire or the Kingdom of Camilla? Should you forgive Raina or take revenge? … That I didn't know.
Camus, who had been quietly listening to Junior's outpouring of stories, slowly asked:.
“How old are you now??”
“Twenty-two... … are you.”
“You're young. If my second son were alive, he would be around your age..”
Camus chuckled..
“I am fifty and three years old. There's a gap of over 30 years between you and me.”
“30year…….”
“I was 38 years old when I lost my country, my wife, and my children. Until then, everything I had worked on all my life was in ashes. My hatred is as deep as the weight of the thirty-eight years I lost..”
Camus' eyes became faint for a moment..
Are you even thinking about the family you lost? Junior didn't know.
“I spent the next 15 years fighting and failing to find my country, so in effect, my entire life was taken over by the empire..”
Camus gestured to Junior..
“But you are different. You lived as a citizen of the Kingdom of Camilla for 7 years and as a citizen of the Empire for 15 years..”
“…….”
“I have already lived as an imperial citizen for twice as long. We have lived in different times, and the depth of hatred is different. No wonder you feel closer to the Empire than to the Kingdom of Camilla..”
Junior clenched his fists. She Camus continued:.
“I have no intention of criticizing you for assimilating into the empire. Don't feel guilty about yourself or yourself for living as an imperial citizen..”
“…….”
“Likewise, even though 15 years have passed since the country collapsed, I still haven't forgotten my revenge... … Please don't criticize me too much for swinging a sword to avenge blood with blood. Because there is a chasm in the human heart that cannot be filled..”
Camus was talking about the same thing as Reina..
Junior muttered softly..
unbridgeable goal…….
“We just survived, right? In our own way, inevitably.”
“…….”
I had no choice but to survive, la..
That expression was so painful and accurate that it made Junior feel sick..
“What should I do next?……?”
Camus thought deeply and opened his mouth..
“To forgive, forgive. If you want revenge, take revenge. If you can't choose between the two, that's okay. Keep thinking about it. Until one day you find the answer you want.”
“…….”
“Just don't forget. everything you've been through.”
Camus's scarred hands gripped the iron bars. He growled lowly..
“That there were men like me.”
“…….”
“Don't forget Camilla's kingdom. That is the burden that we who survive must bear..”
Camus released his grip on the iron bars, got up and scurried back inside the prison..
“I will be executed soon. I guess it's better not to hang out too much with bad criminals..”
Junior watched from afar as his back disappeared into the darkness..
***
When we got out of the prison, Ash was waiting for us..
“junior.”
“His Royal Highness.”
Ash smiled at Junior, who seemed to be greeting him awkwardly, and gestured towards his mansion..
“There's a defensive operations meeting this evening..”
“ah…….”
“It's a call-up. Jupiter Junior. to return to the main party.”
Junior, clutching his cane tightly, nodded willingly..
“yes.”
“How are you feeling??”
“The injuries have almost fully recovered. You don't have to worry.”
Ash glanced inside the prison and smiled bitterly..
“It looks like the troubles in your heart haven't been completely resolved.?”
“……yes.”
Junior shook his head, slapped his own cheek with his fingertips, and then looked straight at Ash..
“But the monsters aren't coming to listen to my concerns. I will put aside my worries for a moment and return to the front lines..”
Ash, who was looking at Junior with surprised eyes, was about to say something, but eventually closed his mouth..
And then he gestured towards the carriage waiting next to him..
“You know that I cook delicious food every time we have a defense meeting, right? let's go. When I'm in a low mood, I go to the meat front..”
I didn't quite understand what the pun was, but I felt Ash's heart for him..
Junior thought as he got into the carriage..
I don't know what kind of life I will live in the future..
Whether to forgive Raina or forget Camus, the future is unknown..
But he is a wizard hired by the monster front here..
In order to continue these worries, you must first defeat the monsters that are in front of you..
“majesty.”
“huh?”
“After quickly blowing away the monsters,…….”
Junior smiled at Ash..
“We share our worries all night long.”
“…….”
“I also want to hear your concerns..”
Ash nodded happily..
“okay. However much.”
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