Ethel welcomed an entire week of leave.
Sunblaze City already had one Concept User working themselves to exhaustion. Naturally, no one intended to let the same thing happen again.
As usual, he continued training with the Third Squad. The only difference was that he was no longer on standby duty. In fact, to give him even more time to recover, their coordination training had even been reduced to once every two days. Everyone was worried that using his Concept for prolonged periods would place too much strain on his body.
Other than that, his daily routine remained exactly the same.
Or so he thought.
The Force Users of the Third Squad greeted him with an enthusiasm unlike ever before, all thanks to the successful subjugation a few days earlier.
To be fair, Ethel hadn't dealt the finishing blow, nor had he been the most eye-catching person on the battlefield.
But he had been the most indispensable.
Many openly admitted that they would have suffered serious injuries if it hadn't been for him. As those stories spread—and became increasingly exaggerated through rumor—Ethel quickly became something of a hero within the Third Squad. Even members of the other squads were looking forward to fighting under his guidance one day.
Despite the cheerful atmosphere, three members submitted their retirement requests two days later.
To fill the vacancies, the Third Squad reorganized its four squads into three.
Even so, many still longed for another chance to fight, already looking forward to the next Standby Day.
Although officially on leave, Ethel still participated in the morning physical training sessions. Physical conditioning wasn't something that could afford a week's neglect.
If there wasn't coordination training in the afternoon, however, he usually had nothing to do.
After spending several days watching everyone else train, he decided to wander around the headquarters today.
He took the elevator to the nineteenth floor.
This week's reception duty had returned to Quent's trio.
The elevator doors opened just in time for him to see them arm wrestling across a table.
"Well, if it isn't Ethel."
Tyr greeted him while effortlessly slamming Michael's hand onto the tabletop.
"What brings you here?"
"Just wandering around."
"Right. You're on leave, after all."
"The last subjugation went back to the old routine without you."
"Though honestly, it wasn't that different."
"Since you're here, why don't you join us?"
Tyr rested his elbow on the table and challenged him.
Looking at the man's arm—which seemed at least one and a half times thicker than his own—Ethel couldn't imagine having any chance of winning.
Still, he placed his hand on the table.
"Force is allowed."
"I'll count."
"One... Two... Three!"
Even after pouring a tremendous amount of Force into his right arm, Tyr still surpassed him in every aspect.
Less than a second later, Ethel's hand was pinned to the table.
"You guys aren't training today?"
Ethel rubbed his sore arm while Tyr immediately began another fierce match against Quent.
"It's Standby Week."
"No training."
"You forgot already?"
"Oh... right."
The First Squad's standby period lasted an entire week.
During that time, they deliberately avoided exhausting themselves.
"Unless it's the day after a subjugation."
"That day Standby status is lifted, and the Second Squad takes over instead."
"Any progress convincing Captain Tia?"
"Who knows?"
"You'd have to ask Oenone."
"If you ask me, the old Tia was much cuter than she is now."
"Nowadays she's just one incredibly stubborn rock."
Even Michael, normally the most gentle among them, described her that way.
Apparently, everyone agreed just how stubborn she had become.
"You've known her for a long time?"
"A long time?"
"We practically watched her grow up."
"Back when she was still a Force User, she fought alongside us."
"Then she became a Complete One..."
"...and ended up becoming our boss."
"What was she like back then?"
"A quiet battle maniac."
"Then somehow she became our team's mascot."
"...That's a huge change."
"Not nearly as huge as the person she's become now."
Michael sighed.
They had once been comrades who fought shoulder to shoulder, knowing each other better than anyone else.
Now they had become strangers who merely happened to know each other's past.
Behind them came Tyr's triumphant cheer, followed by Quent's frustrated groan.
Apparently Tyr had won again.
Since none of them had anything better to do, they pulled Ethel into their conversation.
The three veterans told him many stories about the past.
Each of them had served for over twenty years, having lived through three different Captains.
"Leon was an incredibly charismatic leader."
"His style was simple."
"He'd rather be injured himself than let one of us get hurt."
"That's why he was always the first one charging into battle."
"It drove Seifer absolutely crazy."
"Why?"
"Isn't a Captain who fights alongside everyone a good thing?"
"That brings us to the prevailing mindset among the cities."
"Concept Users—especially Complete Ones—are considered invaluable assets."
"They'd rather sacrifice several Force Users than lose even one Complete One."
"...That's..."
"...Cruel."
The three Force Users merely shrugged.
"It's not like anyone's sending us out to die on purpose."
"People die in battle."
"We chose this path ourselves."
"We have no one else to blame."
"And it's simply true."
"We could never burn a demon to ashes in three seconds the way Tia can."
"Anyway..."
"Cypher argued with Leon countless times about those suicidal habits."
"Leon always just smiled and brushed it aside."
"There was a time when Seifer was furious with him."
Michael couldn't hide the smile on his face as he recalled those memories.
Back then, they had all been young.
The First Squad had been filled with laughter.
No one thought there was anything wrong with their Captain always charging ahead.
"He was strong."
"Incredibly strong."
"We all believed he'd lead us forever."
"What was his Concept?"
Ethel already knew Leon possessed Concept: Hero.
Like Yinbing's Concept, however, its actual abilities weren't obvious from the name alone.
"In simple terms..."
"He becomes a hero."
"A hero?"
"A hero inspires those who follow him."
"His very existence becomes hope itself."
"As long as a hero leads the way..."
"...the team becomes unbreakable."
"And at the decisive moment..."
"...the hero gathers everyone's strength into one final blow..."
"...and destroys the enemy."
Ethel didn't fully understand.
Still, he had gained a rough idea of Leon's ability.
"No wonder he always charged first."
"Haha."
"That's part of the reason."
"But definitely not the biggest one."
"Anyway..."
"He defied conventional thinking and fought alongside us."
"And he achieved remarkable results."
"In every sense of the word..."
"...he truly became a hero."
"...Until five years ago."
Even after five years, it still felt like yesterday.
Even someone like Ethel, who had never paid much attention to current events, knew what had happened.
Leon had fallen.
The government never revealed the details.
All they announced was that the First Squad had encountered an extraordinarily powerful demon, and Leon had lost his life during the battle.
The news exploded across the city like a bomb.
Panic spread throughout Sunblaze City.
"And then Oenone took over."
The three naturally skipped past the subject.
Even now, it remained a wound they couldn't bear to reopen.
As members of the First Squad, they would never forget that day.
"She always insists she was only an acting Captain."
"Yeah."
"Even now she refuses to acknowledge that she was once the Captain of the First Squad."
"In her heart..."
"...that position was never meant to belong to her."
"She isn't suited to leading from the front."
"She's much better supporting everyone from the second line..."
"...doing what she should..."
"...instead of standing in the spotlight as the leader."
"But she still fought with everything she had."
"Not just the public..."
"...even she herself knew..."
"...she could never become the kind of hero Leon had been."
"The whole city was drowning in despair back then."
"You probably remember some of it."
Ethel nodded, though no memories surfaced in his mind.
"It became so bad..."
"...that even the former former Captain had to return..."
"...because we simply didn't have enough people."
"So many people died that year."
"Our comrades fell one after another..."
"...until only the six of us remained."
Even Tyr spoke with unusual heaviness.
Those days had been both the city's darkest hour and the deepest scar in their hearts.
"Did you ever resent Oenone because of that?"
"What?"
"Of course not!"
"If she hadn't been there..."
"...none of the six of us would still be alive."
"But she's always carried that guilt."
"She still doesn't really know how to face us."
"So we just kept moving forward."
"Even when we couldn't see any future..."
"...we endured."
"And then..."
"...she came back."
"She came back?"
"Tia."
"She retired for an entire year."
"During that time..."
"...she completely vanished."
"But one year later..."
"...she returned with a Concept."
"It took her less than six months to prove herself."
"She had already been an outstanding Force User."
"Once she obtained a Concept..."
"...she became unstoppable."
"Her overwhelming strength carried her all the way to becoming Captain."
"Her return gave the city hope again."
"Just like her Concept: Sun..."
"...she became the sun that illuminated Sunblaze City."
"But you already know what happened afterward."
"Her way of fighting became increasingly extreme."
"And there was nothing any of us could do."
"Putting that aside..."
"Tia was clearly walking the same road Leon once had."
"She made herself into the city's new hero."
"The pillar that everyone relied on."
"And when the city's name became Sunblaze City..."
"...the darkness hanging over it finally disappeared."
"...At the cost of burning herself away."
Ethel spoke quietly.
The three veterans said nothing.
Their silence was all the confirmation he needed.
At that moment, the elevator doors slid open.48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJMja4ojQka
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Oenone stepped out.
"Ethel, there you are. I've been looking everywhere for you."
She walked straight toward him.
After everything he had just heard, Ethel noticed that although Oenone appeared to be looking at Quent and the others, her eyes were actually fixed on the wall behind them. She couldn't bring herself to meet their gaze.
"Is something wrong?"
"This Friday is the Second Squad's Standby Day. If there's a subjugation mission, Captain Tia wants you to deploy with them."
"The Second Squad?"
"That's right. You'll be doing coordination training with them over the next few days. They only have one team, unlike us."
"I'm going there... by myself?"
Although Ethel had previously admitted that he thought Soth was a good person, just thinking about the man's razor-sharp tongue made him reluctant to get anywhere near him.
"Yes... Hmm..."
"I'll have Yinbing go with you."
"Sorry to trouble you."
"Alright. I understand."
"Oenone."
"How did the discussion go?"
Quent asked.
Oenone answered without ever actually looking at him.
"Not yet."
"She said one successful battle doesn't prove anything."
"But at least I managed to secure another opportunity."
"I see."
"Thanks for trying."
"It's nothing."
"It's what I should be doing."
After saying that, she hurried away.
"What were you talking about?"
"Bargaining with Tia."
Since he had been facing away from the elevator, Ethel hadn't noticed that Oenone had come down from the twentieth floor.
"Hmm..."
"So it's almost the thirteenth already."
Tyr glanced up at the calendar.
Today was Monday, March 9th.
The thirteenth was indeed this Friday.
"What's special about the thirteenth?"
"It's Tia's scheduled day off."
"She actually gets a day off?"
Ethel had always assumed Tia worked every single day of the year.
"Surprised?"
"There is one thing that's more important to her than reducing casualties."
"What is it?"
"Going home."
Michael answered briefly before giving Ethel a subtle look that clearly meant:
Don't ask any further.
Tyr, however, either failed to notice or simply ignored it.
"So you're heading over to the Second Squad?"
"Good luck."
"The entire Second Squad can't all be like Soth... right?"
"Of course not."
"He rarely joins their regular training."
"He's incredibly good at adapting on the fly, so it doesn't really matter."
"So..."
"But he still participates in coordination training."
"...Oh."
There went Ethel's hope.
His shoulders visibly slumped.
"That guy's got issues."
"Honestly, all three Complete Ones in Sunblaze City are a little strange."
Tyr said without the slightest hesitation.
"What's wrong with him?"
Ethel tried to gather a little more information, but even Quent's group didn't seem to know much.
"He doesn't seem to like being around people."
"I've noticed."
"I don't mean that."
"I mean... something deeper."
"I don't really know the details myself."
"It's getting late."
"We still have some work to take care of."
"Let's call it a day."
"Thanks."
"You've told me a lot."
"It's nothing."
"We'll chat again sometime."
"See you."
After the three veterans left, Ethel returned to the Third Squad's floor.
He had learned a great deal about the past today.
Although Quent and the others had spoken as if everything were ordinary memories, it was obvious they had deliberately skipped over something.
Combining their words with what Tia had once told him, Ethel began forming his own theory about what had happened back then.
If his guess was correct...
...it was no wonder Tia had become the person she was today.
"Ethel!"
"Wanna grab dinner with us?"
The members of the Third Squad had just finished training and were walking out of the training room.
"Sure."
Ethel answered with a smile.
Dwelling on the past wouldn't change anything.
It was better to focus on the life before him.
Putting those speculations aside, he headed toward the cafeteria together with the rest of the Third Squad.
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