Chapter 38
The Gates of Hell
“...What did you say was in front of our camp?”
Lucas asked again, looking as though he couldn’t understand what he had just heard.
The two cadets who had gone scouting immediately began talking over each other.
“We were about to head out on reconnaissance when we saw something in front of our camp.”
“At first, we thought it was a small mound of snow...”
“But then it started moving!”
“When we looked closer, it was a child tied up with rope, struggling on the ground.”
“I seriously couldn’t believe my eyes.”
“So you’re saying it looked like Lord Haydam?”
Lucas raised a hand to stop their excited rambling, and the two quickly nodded.
“Lord Haydam is the only child inside the training grounds.”
“But... why would Lord Haydam be lying in front of our camp like that?”
“I think... he was abandoned.”
“Abandoned?”
Lucas frowned, and another cadet spoke up.
“Shouldn’t we go check?”
“Hmm...”
It reeked of a trap.
But after hearing that Haydam had been tied up and abandoned in front of their camp, they couldn’t simply ignore it.
If it was a trap, Team A would probably be lying in ambush nearby. In that case, Team B could circle around, strike the ambushers from behind, and wipe them all out at once.
And besides...
Lucas wanted to see it for himself.
Honestly, he thought the scouts had simply mistaken something else for Haydam.
Until he saw it with his own eyes.
“...It’s real?”
The cadets of Team B stared in shock at the sight of a small child bound and lying in the snow.
“What is that?”
“They really tied him up and left him here?”
“How could they do that...?”
“Even for a trap, this is going too far.”
Lucas was stunned for a moment like the others, but he soon came to his senses and issued orders.
“There may be an ambush nearby. Search the surrounding area. The rest of you, cover me.”
“Yes!”
Leaving his teammates to protect him, Lucas hurried toward Haydam.
Up close, he saw that not only Haydam’s body, but also his eyes and mouth, had been covered with cloth.
‘What the hell is this...?’
Lucas had warned the others that it might be a trap.
But now his expression turned pale.
‘Was it really necessary to go this far?’
This was only a training simulation.
Haydam had already proven his abilities during his previous exercise against those cadets. Even if he won this time, the most he would gain was the restoration of his teammates’ honor.
Would the Commander’s sole heir truly sacrifice himself to this extent merely for the sake of cadets who had lost to him?
Moreover...
‘The exercise ends if even one member of Lord Haydam’s team dies.’
If Team B found the defenseless Haydam and decided to kill him, the game would immediately end.
‘This isn’t a trap.’
Having reached that conclusion, Lucas quickly lifted Haydam up and removed the blindfold and gag.
“Lord Haydam! Are you all right?”
Without even managing to open his eyes, Haydam answered in a weak voice.
“C-Cold...”
“Damn it.”
Lucas picked Haydam up in his arms and rose to his feet.
The cadets who had gone to search the surroundings soon returned and gathered around him.
“There’s nothing nearby. I don’t think it’s a trap.”
“Then what the hell is this? Don’t tell me those bastards from Team A...”
“He looks freezing. Let’s take him back to our camp first.”
“What are you talking about?”
One of the teammates objected to bringing him back.
“Lord Haydam is still a member of Team A. Does it make sense to take him into our camp?”
“It should be fine if we bring him in as a prisoner. I haven’t untied him completely, just in case.”
“What?”
They had all been looking only at Haydam in Lucas’s arms, so they seemed to realize only now that his restraints had not yet been fully removed.
“Can we really do that...?”
“You’re not going to untie him?”
“But it would be strange to release him too.”
Even while they spoke, Haydam continued trembling violently.
Lucas let out a quiet sigh.
“Let’s take him back for now.”
***
After returning to camp, Haydam regained some warmth with the help of blankets and a campfire.
The story he finally managed to tell was more than enough to shock the cadets of Team B.
“They tied you up as soon as the exercise began?”
“Yes... It’s embarrassing, but...”
Haydam spoke in a barely audible voice without raising his head.
“They said they never agreed to the rule that they would lose if one person died... They said that if I wanted to lose so badly, they would offer me as a sacrifice and told me to go die... They also said Team B wouldn’t be able to boast about winning after killing a child first...”
The cadets of Team B stared with their mouths hanging open.
“Wow... What kind of bastards do something like that?”
“No wonder. I thought it was strange that cowards like them had actually shown up at the training grounds.”
“They knew they couldn’t win anyway, so they came just to get revenge on Lord Haydam.”
“But how long are we going to keep him tied up? Let’s untie him now.”
When one cadet, feeling sorry for Haydam after hearing his story, said that, the others exchanged conflicted looks.
“I feel bad for him too... but we still can’t release him.”
“It’s pitiful, but this is an exercise. We can’t let an enemy roam freely in the middle of our camp.”
“What? Didn’t you hear what Lord Haydam just said? He probably doesn’t want those bastards to win either. Don’t tell me you still suspect him. Do you seriously think this is a trap?”
When one particularly emotional cadet began losing his temper, Lucas tried to calm him.
“We’re not trying to accuse Lord Haydam of anything. Regardless, training must be treated like a real battle. Caution is the correct choice.”
“That may be true, but...”
When several cadets openly showed their discomfort, the cadet who had opposed bringing Haydam to camp in the first place spoke bluntly, as though wondering why they were even debating it.
“If you want to release him that badly, why don’t we just kill him here and end the exercise?”
Every other cadet immediately objected.
“Then we’d be doing exactly what Team A wants!”
“Bones, could you seriously go around telling everyone you won by killing Lord Haydam?”
“Why couldn’t I? Judging by your intelligence, you’re all about on Lord Haydam’s level anyway.”
“Bones!”
“Enough.”
Unable to watch any longer, Lucas stopped them.
“Are you really going to cause infighting over this? We’ll simply keep him restrained. Lord Haydam must have been prepared for at least that much.”
“Senior, are you serious? We are proud cadets of this academy. Are you saying we should keep a child like Lord Haydam tied up because we’re afraid of him?”
“So much for proud cadets. If a child begs for mercy on a battlefield, are you going to spare every single one?”
“What did you say?!”
Even after Lucas warned them not to start fighting among themselves, the team continued arguing for quite some time over whether to remove Haydam’s restraints.
When the signs of division became obvious, even the cadets who had stayed out of the argument began to feel uneasy and turned to Lucas.
“Senior... I think this situation is getting out of hand.”
“Lucas, do something.”
Lucas frowned.
The cadets who had been arguing also turned toward him.
“That’s right! Let’s just follow Senior Lucas’s decision!”
The cadet who wanted Haydam released looked at him pleadingly.
“You’ll untie him, right? Please, Senior Lucas?”
“We can’t let him go. We should kill him instead!”
“Are you seriously some kind of psychopath?!”
Just as their voices were about to rise again, a young voice cut through them.
“Kill me.”
Since the person who said it was Haydam, the cadets of Team B stared at him in shock.
Haydam wore a look of resignation.
“Kill me and end the exercise.”
“Lord Haydam, are you serious?”
“I was too careless. I got arrogant after a single successful experience, so I have no right to complain about ending up like this. So... just kill me and finish the exercise.”
The cadets looked at one another in confusion.
“But... we don’t want such a dishonorable victory. Shooting a prisoner who isn’t resisting...”
“I’ll explain to the other cadets what happened in here. I’m deeply ashamed that things turned out this way.”
“Lord Haydam...”
Even Haydam himself was telling them to kill him.
He had also promised to explain everything after the exercise ended, yet none of the cadets readily volunteered to do it.
Even the cadet who had been insisting that they kill him fell silent with a complicated expression.
“Lucas... What are you going to do?”
At someone’s question, Lucas let out a quiet sigh and drew the military sword at his waist.
Several cadets flinched when they saw him unsheathe it.
“Lucas!”
“Y-You’re not actually going to kill him and end the exercise, are you?”
Even the cadets who had opposed releasing Haydam looked uncomfortable at the thought of killing a bound child to secure victory.
They understood logically that they shouldn’t free him.
But that didn’t mean they wanted to win this way.
“Lucas!”
At last, the cadet who had argued for killing Haydam spoke up.
“I think I was wrong. Let’s not kill him. We can untie him and assign guards to watch him. Someone needs to stay behind and defend the flag anyway.”
“Y-Yes, Senior Lucas!”
“Cohen and I will stay.”
“Right. We can trust Harry and Cohen.”
As the group began agreeing that they should release Haydam and place him under guard, Lucas stared silently at him with an unreadable expression.
“Lord Haydam.”
“Yes...?”
“Training is not a game. I trust you understand that now.”
As Lucas spoke and adjusted his grip on the military sword, the cadets cried out in alarm.
“Lucas...!”
“Hey!”
Thinking Lucas was about to stab Haydam, they rushed to stop him.
At the final moment, however, Lucas sheathed his sword again and used it to cut through Haydam’s ropes.
The cadets sighed in relief.
Haydam stared blankly at Lucas as he freed him.
“Why... didn’t you simply kill me?”
“I am releasing you from your restraints, but you will still be kept under guard.”
“Are you sure? I’m still a member of the enemy team...”
“That is not something a member of the enemy team needs to worry about.”
After answering Haydam firmly, Lucas turned toward his teammates.
“Harry, Cohen. You two stay here. If anything happens, fire a signal flare. If Lord Haydam makes even the slightest suspicious move, do not hesitate to kill him.”
“Y-Yeah. Of course.”
Haydam looked ashamed.
“I truly don’t know what to say. Because I caused this unnecessary mess, all of you are suffering too...”
“It’s nothing. Bastards like them need to be taught a harsh lesson before they understand their place.”
“Rest here, Lord Haydam. We’ll defeat those cowards from Team A with our own strength.”
“Yes... Thank you, everyone.”
The cadets looked slightly embarrassed after Haydam thanked them and began gathering their equipment.
“Everyone except Harry and Cohen will head for Team A’s camp. Let’s end this quickly.”
And with that...
The gates of hell opened for Team B.