Chances to Another Life

15. The Youngster in the Cottage

Here's the recap of my comrades' battles: Willem lost, Frans also lost, Dean tied, Ben won, Liam tied, and I won.

Now we were sitting on our respective beds with bandages here and there. I slept on the middle bed, below me was Willem, and above me was Frans.

After the fight, which took until late afternoon, we no longer had the energy to do anything. All five of my companions had miserable faces with the sound of rumbling stomachs that were already loud.

We were waiting for dinner time which felt like an eternity. Since almost all of the cadets were seriously injured, it was the military officials who prepared the dinner, which was probably why it took longer because they were reluctant.

"I almost died! Damn it," Dean babbled. His eyes stared blankly, the result of his series score was that he was now wearing a neck cast. His opponent was a cadet who had hulk-like punching power, which caused the field to crack and a small earthquake.

"But you did well to draw against him," I said honestly.

Dean then threw me a sharp glare for a moment, presumably because I misspoke. "If it wasn't for the Rasen Supreme, I would've been crushed," he continued in a flat tone.

I knew very well that no one liked the outcome of this battle, whether it was a win, draw or loss. Especially me, after knowing that Rey had the power of teleportation, I was always worried if he was suddenly here without my knowledge.

"Never mind, this is not the last battle. After this, we will definitely go through a tougher one," Willem said.

"Since rebellions happen more often, I think the current batch of cadets will be trained more than the previous batch," Liam added.

I poked my head out from under my bed. "Is there going to be a war?" I asked.

If I really had to go to war, I don't know what would happen. I'd rather be the cupid of love for Adellia and Cedric, nothing less and nothing more.

Speaking of that guy, I haven't seen Cedric anywhere all day. I thought the Military Commander would give a speech to the cadets or at least look at me! Wouldn't he want to get closer to Adellia?!

"Ah, I don't want to expect that. The rebel groups are difficult for even the Military Commander to exterminate. I hope the Prime Minister can solve this problem, I don't want to die on the battlefield," Ben said as he searched for the remains of bread in the desk drawer.

"Have you met them?" I asked curiously. They shook their heads in unison.

"I've met Commander Cedric, but only once when he paraded at the king's birthday last year. But, Prime Minister Elliot, I've only heard of him," Willem replied.

Now I realized how special my position was, but I wouldn't reveal it to them.

"About Prime Minister Elliot, have you heard the rumors?" Frans suddenly jumped into the conversation. He had the air of a gossip.

Instantly we leaned towards him with curious faces. His swollen eyes from being punched didn't take away from his credible source of gossip. Maybe this is what it's all about: quiet person, knows more.

"Oh, that one?" said Liam.

Frans nodded. "Rumor has it that Lord Elliot and Princess Adellia are lovers!" he exclaimed under his breath.

"But, Mr. Elliot is married," Ben interjected with a confused expression.

The other boys looked at him as if to say, that's the case!

"It's just a rumor, the king wouldn't allow it if it were true," said Willem.

That's right, Will. I'm the one who was told by the king to find a solution, that's why I'm here with my stomach in a knot!

Frans then shrugged his shoulders as if to imply that it was up to us to believe or not. "Just so you know, that rumor is an open secret in my town. The elders in my town have even asked Mr. Elliot directly," he whispered more quietly.

I really wanted to know what Adellia and Elliot were doing to make this rumor grow. Were they deliberately walking hand-in-hand in the city? I was even sick of seeing them when I first came into this world.

We were still gossiping about the royal family which I didn't join in for fear of getting caught, when the cottage door was opened unceremoniously.

In the doorway stood officer Rasen in full military dress. I almost assumed he had overheard us and was going to punish us, when instead he walked in and sat next to Willem.

We hobbled up to salute, Frans almost falling off his bed on top of me.

"No need, you guys are hurting," he said firmly. We shuffled back to our original positions.

"How are your wounds?" Rasen asked Willem, he then held the young man's right leg without mercy, which made Willem squeal in pain.

"Brother! What are you doing!" he screeched as he roughly swatted Rasen's hand away.

I blinked to make sure my hearing wasn't wrong. Big brother?

Rasen was acting casual about being treated like that, confirming that they were indeed family. Rasen's eyes, black as the night sky, softened as he rubbed his brother's shoulder.

"Poor thing," he commented in a teasing tone. Actually, it was because he had also chosen Max as Willem's opponent.

"Dinner is ready. Herbs and a few healing spells will make you feel better soon. Prospective military officers should not stay in bed for too long," Rasen said. He wanted to help his younger brother up, but was quickly pushed away.

Spells? Does this world also have witch doctors?

I decided not to think about it and followed Rasen, who repeatedly wanted to help his brother walk. However, Willem was afraid he would be considered a 'spoiled brat' because he had a brother in the military.

I guess no one knew this because they were physically very different. Willem is as bright as the sun, and Rasen is the opposite.

I looked at Ben who was walking next to me, we stared at each other for a while, and I concluded that he too had just found out about this.

I became even more curious about the backgrounds of my comrades. I had an instinct that they weren't just any kids from ordinary families.

We arrived at the dining room, which was super spacious with tables stretching from end to end.

"Please take the food," said a man dressed as a chef.

I took the food tray and queued up like waiting for my turn to be given food. The food I got was; two slices of bread, a bowl of yellow-colored soup that I guessed was the result of the spell because it didn't look appetizing, then a piece of roasted turkey thigh.

I was just about to return to the table when something nudged me hard, causing me to almost spill my soup. Good thing my reflexes were good!

I suddenly looked at the person, and I laughed dryly to myself.

"Oops, sorry about the accident," Max said. The sentence I hated the most, the one where he threw me off the 50th floor.

"Oh." I just answered simply, because I didn't want to make a scene. I was already too tired and starving. I had to replace the nutrients lost from my blood that splattered on the ground.

"You have 15 minutes to eat, after that you will be sentenced to wash the dishes."

I quickly gobbled up the food like a glutton. Looking at the number of cadets that overcrowded the room plus the officers, I was sure the dishwashing job would be excruciating.

In the midst of that, Willem still had time to talk to me with his mouth full, he glanced at his brother first, who had returned to the ranks of the officers. "Do you have a problem with Max?" he whispered.

"I don't think I've ever upset him, but he seems to hold a grudge against me," I said, finishing the last of the soup. It tasted like corn soup.

"He keeps looking over here, and so does Rey. I'm afraid they're up to something," Willem continued.

I stole a glance at the other table, and he was right. The two boys were from different cadet groups, but it seemed like they had an invisible psychopathic line of communication to carry out their actions.

Just then, the stop bell rang. All the cadets simultaneously put their cutlery on the table with their mouths still chewing, and I could even hear the sound of vomiting.

An officer combed his eyes over everything as if inspecting. I sat up straight as I looked down at the dirty tray. At least the food was good.

"I'll show you some leniency since it's your first day, but starting tomorrow, I won't be lenient!" he said.

"Even if your performance is terrible, you are expected to do your best in tomorrow's activities."

My eyes rounded perfectly. Were we going to duel again?

Instead, the man paced around the table as if trying to intimidate.

"Tomorrow is a tradition for the cadets. You will hunt wild Pegasus in the forest! And this time, if you don't cooperate with the team, no one will know if you're left behind or not," he continued with a familiar grin.

I looked at the panicked and grim expressions on my colleagues' faces. The Pegasus is a beautiful animal, isn't it? At least that's how it's portrayed in my world.

"Now go back to your cottages. If anyone is caught sneaking around at night, the punishment will be worse than you think," he concluded.

We hurried back to the cottage. Dean was pacing up and down, Willem was groaning because his leg was bumped by me getting on the bed, and Frans almost stepped on my head. Liam was already curled up in his blanket, then Ben took out the leftover turkey he had managed to hide somewhere.

"Wild Pegasus are stupid. We really could have been killed," he said, not looking serious as he gnawed on a turkey bone.

"I don't have the power to tame animals," Liam said with his eyes closed.

I was suddenly horrified as they looked at me together. "We have a hunter, you must have tamed a Pegasus," Willem said.

I wanted to shake my head in disbelief. I'd never even seen one. But after saying that, they looked relieved and got ready for bed.

Then I said with resignation. "Let's leave it for tomorrow. Hopefully there won't be anything difficult."

But it wasn't even midnight when I noticed a flicker of movement in our hut.

Before I was fully awake, a hand was gripping my neck.

"Damn bastard, don't expect to find peace."