Chapter 91: Summer Vacation Isn’t So Bad After All

The recruits then started moving and followed their sergeants toward the other instructors waiting a little farther away. Since there were slightly more recruits than the personnel assigned to supervise them, some instructors had to take responsibility for two recruits, while others would only have one.

This didn't cause any real problem, however: there were still enough instructors present for every participant to be closely supervised throughout the exercise.

But before assigning them permanently, several instructors took turns speaking so that everyone would receive exactly the same explanations. The training therefore didn't begin immediately.

A long portion of the session was first devoted to safety rules, the general operation of grenades, and the exact procedure for the exercises ahead. They also emphasized how the recruits were expected to react in the event of an incident. Every recruit needed to know what to do and, above all, be capable of obeying immediately if something didn't go according to plan. Once real explosives were placed in their hands, no mistakes would be tolerated.

Only after all those explanations could the training finally begin. Or rather… the first part of the training. Accompanied by their respective instructors, the recruits moved through the area before each being led into a small, square enclosure built out of bricks, almost completely closed off except for its entrance.

They were then handed a grenade, but contrary to what some of them might have assumed when it was placed in their hands, it was completely inert. For the time being, no real explosives would be used.

These grenades were only meant to allow them to practice, repeat the necessary movements, and understand exactly how they would need to act when the real moment came.

On paper, the objective seemed extremely simple: throw a grenade. But the recruits quickly discovered that the exercise was nothing like simply throwing a ball as far as possible, as if they were tossing an ordinary rock.

Their stance, their preparation, the way their body followed through with the movement, and even what they were supposed to do immediately after the throw all mattered. Once the grenade had been thrown, they also had to duck down and properly take cover rather than remain unnecessarily exposed.

The complexity surprised several of them. Many had never imagined that a movement that seemed so basic could require so much precision. And from the very first attempts, that impression was confirmed.

Some recruits adopted the wrong stance, others struggled to properly coordinate the movement of their body with their throwing arm, while several still forgot certain steps after releasing the grenade. With every mistake, the instructors immediately intervened, corrected their position, and made them repeat the exercise until the movement had been properly learned.

And to make sure those movements became natural enough, the training continued like this for hours. Again and again, the recruits repeated the same motions with their inert grenades under the constant supervision of their instructors.

What had seemed complicated during their first attempts gradually became smoother. Their hesitation faded, their stances improved, and eventually everyone understood exactly what they needed to do before, during, and after the throw.

Then finally came the moment many of them had been waiting for since the beginning of the day.

After all those hours of training, and only once the instructors were convinced that every recruit had properly learned the required movements, they were allowed to perform a throw with a real grenade.

But this time, there was obviously no question of having everyone participate simultaneously. The exercise would be carried out one recruit at a time so that every single throw could be monitored as closely as possible.

The first recruit was called forward. They stepped up, performed the movements they had practiced for hours, and executed their throw perfectly while following every instruction. Then came the second. Then the third. And so on, the long line gradually shrinking as the recruits took their turns one after another.

Flash and Amadeus, meanwhile, were standing at the very end of the line. Their turn was still a long way off and, taking advantage of this rare moment of calm in the middle of an especially serious day, they began quietly talking to each other.

— "Just one more week and I'll finally be able to get the hell out of this stupid place. Finally!" Amadeus said.

— "Don't tell me you didn't enjoy all the time we spent here. It was kinda fun, wasn't it?"

Amadeus froze for a moment. Her expression went almost completely blank as she slowly turned her head toward Flash and stared at him, as though she were trying to figure out whether he had seriously just asked her that question.

— "I don't know why you're here, but I didn't come here by choice. I was forced to."

She accompanied her words with a sigh that, all by itself, perfectly summed up what she thought of the past ten weeks. Flash immediately understood the situation.

Even though he had ultimately come to appreciate these two months, he hadn't exactly chosen to spend his summer at a military camp either. Instead, he had seen it as an opportunity in light of his new resolutions and motivations.

Assuming they had both been sent here for similar reasons, he couldn't help but let out a small chuckle.

— "Your parents, huh? I get it."

But unlike Flash, Amadeus showed no amusement. Her expression hardened slightly, and her answer came with far more seriousness than he had expected.

— "Nah… it was my big sister. My parents died when I was younger."

Flash's small smile immediately disappeared. The sudden revelation made his heart ache slightly. It wasn't really embarrassment that he felt, but rather a deep sadness at learning something so painful about the girl who had become his friend. He lowered his eyes slightly, almost instantly regretting having made that assumption.

— "I… I'm sorry."

This time, it was Amadeus who let out a small chuckle, as if to keep the conversation from sinking into an atmosphere that was far too depressing for her liking. She gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder.

— "Don't apologize. It's not your fault."

A brief silence fell between them. For several long seconds, neither of them spoke. Flash simply turned his attention back ahead, watching the other recruits continue moving through the line and taking their turns one after another.

Then Amadeus finally broke the silence.

— "What about you, then? Were your parents the ones who sent you here?"

— "My dad, mostly."

— "Why?"

That simple question was enough to bring Flash back to a far less glorious part of his life. For a few moments, he thought about his behavior, all the stupid things he had done, and all the times he had been needlessly cruel to others. Of course, everyone made mistakes.

He knew that. But some of his had gone far beyond the kind of simple mistake that could be forgotten with a few apologies. Some had hurt people, and even if those people eventually managed to forgive him one day, he wasn't sure he would be able to forgive himself quite so easily.

— "Let's just say… I'm not exactly the best son someone could have. I made some mistakes, I behaved badly, and he thought sending me here might do me some good. That it might change me."

— "And the results are positive…?"

Flash hesitated. It would have been easy to immediately say yes, to pretend that these ten weeks had been enough to erase everything he had once been. But he knew it wasn't that simple. After a few seconds of thought, a small, sincere smile finally appeared on his face.

— "…I'd say I'm on the right track, at least."

Amadeus remained silent as she watched him. Ever since they first met, from that very first day when he had decided to carry her on his back rather than leave her alone under the criticism of the other recruits, she had understood that Flash was different from many boys their age she might have imagined him to be when she first saw him.

She still didn't know him well enough to understand everything he had been through or to know exactly what mistakes he had just been referring to.

Yet she didn't need to be a genius to see one thing: Flash carried regrets with him that he still hadn't completely moved past, along with a sincere desire to become a better person.

Why did that desire seem so important to him? What had he actually done before coming here? Amadeus still had no answers to those questions. For now, that remained a mystery to her. But she didn't need to know everything to respect the effort she had watched him make for more than two months now.

Her gaze remained on him for a few more moments, carrying a subtle mixture of admiration and respect. Since the beginning of what had felt like an absolute nightmare to her, Flash's presence had made her time here much more bearable.

Simpler. And, even though she would probably rather die than admit it so easily in front of him, sometimes even genuinely fun.

But there was absolutely no way she was about to get sentimental.

So Amadeus quickly returned to that proud, confident, and slightly arrogant expression that suited her so much better before lifting her chin slightly.

— "Anyway, as long as the great Amadeus Cho has your back, I think you'll be fine."

TO BE CONTINUED.