Chapter 120: The Sunset Forest

“Yan, I did not expect this.”

“To think you’re living with such a beautiful girl! Is she your sister or your lover?” Leo laughed as Yan and Tan Suzi stared at each other.

“Neither,” Yan replied firmly.

Leo scratched his neck, stepped forward, and patted Yan on the back.

“Old guy, don’t misunderstand. We are nothing like that,” Tan Suzi said sharply before Leo could say anything more.

“I understand.” Leo turned toward her and smiled mischievously.

“Don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone your little secret,” Leo added.

“There is no secret,” Yan interrupted.

Leo glanced back at him. “Calm down, calm down. I didn’t mean anything serious. I was just teasing.”

Then Leo turned toward Tan Suzi. “Girl, aren’t you going to welcome your guests?”

“Nope, I’m not,” Tan Suzi replied immediately.

“You…” Leo opened his mouth but couldn’t find the words.

“You are not my guest. He is.” She pointed at Yan. “He will serve you.”

“Mr. Rock, take your guest inside and serve him well.”

She kicked the half-open door fully open and walked inside.

Leo turned toward Yan, his eyes moistening. “I understand now.”

Yan and Leo then entered the house.

Inside, Yan noticed a certificate lying on the table. Leo noticed it as well.

Leo walked over to the table and picked it up.

It concerned Tan Suzi’s reassignment to the military logistics team overseeing the Shin war.

“She is one of us,” Leo remarked.

“But how dare she…” Leo swallowed the rest of his words when he heard footsteps. He looked up and saw Tan Suzi approaching.

“To treat a commander with such disrespect?” Leo murmured.

“That’s mine. Give it back,” Tan Suzi said as she approached the table, meeting Leo’s gaze.

“Well, take it. Also, I am a commander.” Leo handed her the certificate, straightened his back, and looked at her expectantly, waiting for an apology and a show of respect.

He waited.

“That’s good. Either way, a commander should not freeload on other people. That would be a sign of a bad commander. I believe you’re not one.”

“Could you help me out? I’m tired and going back to sleep. Lady Hasna, a neighbor of mine, will come looking for milk soon. Shoo her away if she comes.”

She took the certificate back.

Leo glared at her, but Tan Suzi walked away without paying any attention to his glare.

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Yan, who had been standing beside Leo the whole time, patted him on the back.

Some time later, Leo heard a knock at the door. He opened it and found an old lady standing outside.

She held a steel container in both hands and extended it toward Leo until it touched him.

“Milk,” she said.

“There is no milk today. Please leave,” Leo replied.

“Milk.”

She pressed the container against him.

“No milk. Please go away.”

“Milk.”

“No milk.”

She glared at Leo. Even as she walked away, she kept staring at him.

After she left, Leo closed the door and sighed.

Where the heck have I ended up? Leo thought.

About two hours later, Leo and Yan stood in the courtyard. They wore plain civilian clothes but carried their swords.

“Let’s go to the city prison. Officer Luna provided the information about General Hecta’s whereabouts.”

Leo mounted his horse, and Yan climbed onto it behind him.

After making their way through the familiar city streets, Yan noticed Officer Luna standing outside the prison, looking in every direction.

When she spotted them, she raised her right hand and hurried forward.

“Greetings, Commander!” Officer Luna exclaimed, bowing as soon as she reached them.

Leo nodded.

“You know why I’m here, right?”

“Yes, Commander. The arrangements have been made. We can depart immediately,” Officer Luna replied, though her eyes remained on Yan.

“Good,” Leo said.

“Commander, why is he here?” Luna asked, pointing at Yan.

“Do you know him?” Leo asked.

“A bit. Some things happened between us previously,” Luna replied.

Leo gave Yan a strange look before turning back to Luna.

“He is Yan, my student. And thanks to him, we won the recent battle.”

Luna’s eyes widened as she looked at Yan. “How?”

“Well, you’ll find out soon enough. His story is about to circulate. By evening, the Royal Palace might have received the news of our victory.” Leo puffed out his chest proudly.

“Oh!” Luna opened her mouth, then closed it again.

Just then, a guard came out of the prison. He looked at Luna, then at Yan, and bowed to Yan.

Leo noticed the gesture and glanced at Yan again.

Luna turned toward the guard. “Humu, call everyone. We will depart with Commander Leo for the Sunset Forest.”

“Yes, Officer Luna,” Humu replied before going back inside.

After a few more guards arrived, Luna gestured for them to follow her and led the way to the stable used by the city guards.

Yan selected a horse from the stable, as did the other guards.

Luna, Leo, Yan, and her team of thirty guards then set off toward the Sunset Forest.

Leo and Luna rode side by side on their way to the forest.

“General Hecta stopped in Sunset City and had a drink on her way to Golden Eagle City. But when we learned that she had never arrived there…”

“We sent our guards to search the nearby area. Along the way, our guards encountered two hundred troops from the Capital. When they learned of her disappearance, both groups decided to search for the General together.”

“When they arrived near the Sunset Forest, they saw…”

Her words trailed off. The forest before them no longer looked like a forest. Burnt trees stood among uprooted plants, and several trunks had been cleanly cut in half.

Before them stood the Noir soldiers and the guards who had previously been sent to investigate the forest.

“Commander Leo!” A man stepped forward from the troops and bowed to Leo.

“Officer Luna!” A guard emerged from the group and greeted Luna, pulling her out of her thoughts.

“Did you find anything?” Commander Leo asked the soldier.

“We found a strange symbol. It’s in a cave hidden behind the waterfall,” the soldier replied.

“Did you try touching it?” Leo asked.

The soldiers pushed for a second, "Abouth that.."

“We did, but nothing happened,” the soldier answered.

“Take us there,” Leo ordered.

They proceeded deeper into the devastated forest.

After a while, the sound of water hitting the ground continuously greeted then first. Then they arrived at the waterfall. The water continued to flow over a sword embedded in the rock behind it, splitting into two streams as it struck the blade.

“That’s…” Leo murmured as soon as he saw the sword.

“What happened, Commander?” Luna asked.

“It’s General Hecta’s sword,” Leo replied.

He then noticed the cave hidden behind the falling water, its entrance faintly visible through the cascading stream.

As the water reached the ground, it formed a small river. On the riverbed, a goat was chewing grass, seemingly unconcerned by the people who had arrived.

Leo dismounted, and Yan and Luna did the same.

They entered the cave. It was small, and after walking fifteen steps, they stopped.

Yan noticed a symbol drawn on the ground in ink. It consisted of a complex combination of Space Letter engraved many times.

Leo noticed it as well. He approached the symbol and crouched down to examine it.

Everyone else waited in silence.

Then Leo extended his finger and touched it.

The symbol shone with black light. Before he could pull his hand away, he vanished as though he had never been there.

“Commander!” Luna shouted.

Yan straightened up as he stared at the symbol.

The others stared wide-eyed at the spot where Leo had stood.