Turning Chapter 1001

Chapter 1001

Yuder Aile, whom they naturally thought had already returned with the Cavalry, was standing there alone.

"Ah... Yu, Yuder...?"

"Why are you still here and not back yet...?"

"I was concerned about the forged invitation."

"Then, does that mean the Commander and the others are also still...?"

"No. I'm the only one left."

His voice flowed out slowly, without any noticeable change in emotion. His seemingly indifferent expression was no different from usual, making it impossible for even Kanna, with her ability to read information, to discern his inner thoughts just by looking at his appearance.

Kanna and Gakane's gazes met briefly and quickly, yet with a sense of urgency. Why was that? Even during the extremely dangerous battle not long ago, they had never experienced this, but strangely, they could communicate and understand each other's intentions through eye contact alone, as if having a conversation.

'Did he hear the conversation just now?'

'I don't know either... But judging from his attitude, maybe he didn't hear it...'

"Since you seem curious, I'll tell you that I heard what you two said about me and the Commander."

'Ah, aaah!'

'He heard it!'

The short-lived hope they had was immediately shattered by Yuder's calm words. Yuder alternately looked at the faces of the two, who were frozen stiff and silently screaming, and let out a short sigh.

"Let's have a brief conversation somewhere else."

"N-Now?!"

Gakane's voice was turned upside down.

"I need to hear what you found out about the forged invitation anyway."

"Ah, that... Right. We should talk about that..."

Unlike Gakane, who still hadn't regained his senses, Kanna, who had already had a similar experience, relatively quickly regained her composure.

"Okay. Let's go."

"...If it's uncomfortable, we can talk later."

"No. I learned from last time. I think it's better to have a conversation right away in situations like this. Gakane would think the same as me."

"...I understand. If that's the case."

Yuder turned his back first. They took a carriage waiting in front of the Herne family's residence and got off near the branch office. There was a temporary outpost and conference room that had been prepared for quick response when facing the huge waves and monsters, and it had remained empty since then.

As they entered the place, which looked like a small private house from the outside, traces of the breathless battle still remained to greet them. Yuder silently scanned the scattered debris, such as torn maps, remaining bandages, and broken weapon fragments, and moved them aside before sitting down first.

"We should be able to talk quietly here."

"Right... I was wondering where we would have the conversation since our formal attire would stand out, but this is just perfect and nice."

The three of them sat down and looked at each other. A brief silence followed. The one who broke it and spoke first was Kanna.

"Yuder. First of all, I want to say that there was nothing for you to worry about. It's all because of me. Gakane didn't do anything, but I just read the information on my own, and we were both surprised. What I read was just... not much different from what I already knew..."

Kanna's eyes clouded for a moment at the part where she said there was no difference, but she soon pulled herself together and spoke firmly with clenched fists.

"Anyway, that's when you came while we were both surprised by it. That was really the end of it! Gakane doesn't even know how much I know."

"..."

"No, Yuder. It's because of me, not Kanna!"

Before Yuder could say anything, Gakane intervened hurriedly, shaking his head.

"I... saw you and the Commander... doing that inside the shadow barrier on the day of the hail! No, I didn't directly see it with my eyes, but anyway, I saw... This sounds strange. I mean, I saw it with my ability. You know what I mean...? Anyway, after that, both you and the Commander were injured and sick, and we were busy even after that. So I thought it would be better to pretend I didn't know and move on..."

Gakane, who had been rambling, exhaled deeply and banged his forehead on the table.

"I should have told you when I first saw it... But there's one thing you should know. I never thought it was strange then, and I never will in the future. It's you and the Commander, after all. There must have been a reason why you had to do that in that situation... I don't know what it is, but still..."

"..."

"So I never intended to tell anyone else or make you worry about it. I was just... surprised earlier because I never thought Kanna already knew that fact. I shouldn't have reacted... I'm sorry if I made you misunderstand."

Although he spoke very softly and vaguely about what he saw, it wasn't difficult to infer. Yuder silently looked at his two friends who were alternately blaming themselves. It wasn't common to see them, who were usually extremely sociable and competent, being so flustered and rambling because of someone else. And the fact that it was none other than Yuder himself made him feel even more strange.

Moreover, if he were to summarize their words, it ultimately meant that they were both surprised to learn that the other person also knew the secret they thought only they knew, and they had no intention of telling anyone and would continue to do so.

It was clear beyond doubt that it was true, even without the ability to discern truth from falsehood.

‘And as for me...’

"...This conversation wasn't meant to blame you two."

Kanna and Gakane simultaneously closed their mouths at Yuder's words.

"First, Gakane. I had roughly guessed that you might have seen something inside the shadow barrier at that time. Because I was the one who acted first there. I was planning to have a conversation with you soon since the matter was settled... If you put it that way, I'm the one who burdened you because of my actions, so I'm the most at fault."

"Ah, no. It wasn't a situation for that... How is that your fault!"

"Actually, there's something I'm more curious about. Was that all you saw at that time?"

"...Huh?"

Gakane, who was about to argue that it was absolutely not Yuder's fault, asked blankly.

"I'm asking if you only saw the kiss."

"Kiss...!"

Gakane's face turned bright red at the straightforward word that came out casually. Rubbing his face, which had become so flushed that it was almost indistinguishable from his hair color, Gakane took a few deep breaths and nodded.

"...If it's about you and the Commander, that's all! Really!"

"Ah. Not about me and the Commander. When I was fighting Nahan."

"Uh, huh?"

Gakane's eyes shook violently. Kanna was the same.

"Yuder. Did you and Nahan...? No way... It can't be..."

"Weren't you just fighting...?"

Yuder belatedly realized that they were misunderstanding something. The flow of the conversation seemed to have given room for their thoughts to momentarily veer in a strange direction.

"What happened between the Commander and me has nothing to do with Nahan. I was just trying to ask if you noticed anything unusual when Nahan attacked me inside the shadow barrier."

"Ah! So that's what it was."

The two of them simultaneously showed visible relief. Gakane laughed while brushing his chest.

"Hmm, if you're asking if I could see or feel the illusion ability Nahan used, then no. Nahan's illusions were only visible to each individual, right? I felt you fighting that bastard, but that was it. Did you see something important at that time and want to confirm it?"

'As I thought.'

Gakane could roughly feel and see what was happening inside the shadow barrier, but it seemed he couldn't see Nahan's illusions that interfered with others' minds. After all, if he had seen it, he would have mentioned it before the kiss.

'The appearance of those who may not yet exist in this world but could potentially exist. If he had seen that, it wouldn't be easy to decide to keep it a simple secret like now.'

Yuder had thought it would be like that, so he wasn't very surprised. He slowly shook his head.

"No. If you couldn't see it, that's enough. And the actions I took with the Commander at that time... There was a reason, as you thought."

"Ah, really?"

"It's difficult to explain in detail, but such contact helps the Commander's injuries."

"Oh... wow... Ah. Is that possible...?"

"Uh... So that's how it was...? Then, could it be that what I knew was also..."

Gakane and Kanna blinked their eyes rapidly at the same time. They couldn't understand how such a thing was possible, but they had a look of trying to understand since Yuder said so. And Yuder poured cold water on his friends' heads once again.

"But that's about half the reason. The other half is simply because I wanted to do it."

"..."

"Not the Commander, but me."

The empty outpost was filled with a very long silence. He couldn't tell what they were thinking, but Yuder felt a slight sense of liberation the moment he said those words.

'Yes, it was me.'