A Brighter Future (Kuroinu)

Though Rhodes restrained himself from letting things progress to the sexual side of things, there was undeniable physical contact between them. It’s to the point where Rhodes has a new deeper understanding of Claudia’s body condition.

When Rhodes woke up in the morning, he noticed that he’s in Claudia’s embrace, and that she was also awake, her face still flushed. Even when they were changing into their usual attire, there were traces of red on both of their faces.

Claudia acted as if nothing had happened. After changing into her usual clothes, she left the room with Rhodes.

Although their relationship didn’t progress to the final step, the atmosphere between them became much closer. Grave noticed this and was very satisfied with the result. He looked cheerful in the morning.

But unlike Grave’s happiness, Chloe wore a gloomy expression. Watching Claudia face, who is sitting right beside Rhodes, filled with happiness and satisfaction, and occasionally saying something to the man while wiping the food residue from the corner of his mouth, this romantic atmosphere not unlike what a newly wed couple would have, which belonged not to her but to these human she despised, intensified her negative emotions.

“You don’t need to keep wiping my mouth like this.”

Sensing Chloe’s state, which was similar to Claudia’s earlier darkening state, Rhodes stopped the mouth-wiping service to avoid further aggravating her and causing her to fully darken.

“General Grave, is there any new change in the situation on the front line?”

After hearing the intelligence reports yesterday, Rhodes became much more concerned about this matter, as no matter what, these things would be closely related to him in the future.

“Humph! What else can we do? Those guys can’t even defend properly, they just keep causing trouble for me!”

As soon as this matter was mentioned, Grave’s originally happy expression turned much uglier. The death of the battalion commander who constantly ordered troops to go out and ended up annihilated left his area suddenly vacant. Although the mercenaries acting as bait had managed to eliminate the black orcs and dark elves, the situation at the defense line was indeed a big problem. Currently, the dark elves had begun to take action in the vacant area, intending to open up this gap. Moreover, there was no way to mobilize many troops from other areas, as any movement would surely be noticed by the dark elves.

If they attacked the weakened defense lines, it would result in a total collapse. Therefore, the mercenaries, who were originally cannon fodder, were appointed as defenders in that area due to their achievements in eliminating the black orcs and dark elves, until new reinforcements arrived to take over.

“You are planning to let those mercenaries guard the defense line? Is that really okay?”

Rhodes, who had already sensed something was wrong with those mercenaries, felt that it would be dangerous for them to replace the regular soldiers in guarding the defense line.

“From what I gather, those mercenaries fundamentally don’t have the discipline that the soldiers have, and don’t have a strong sense of responsibility for defending the line. Which would make most of them unreliable, in dangerous situations, they might even run away directly, uncaring what would happen to those they leave behind

“Well, what you said makes sense. Those dirty scum are indeed capable of doing such things. It’s really unreliable to entrust them with guarding the defense line.”

Grave nodded in agreement. He understood what kind of people those mercenaries were. It’s unrealistic to expect them to be reliable and diligent in guarding the defense line.

“General Grave, actually, I feel that there’s something wrong with this mercenary group. Although I don’t know why, I just have a feeling that letting them guard the defense line will bring irreversible disaster.”

“Intuition?”

If it were someone else, Grave might not care much, because in his view, those mercenaries who are being used as cannon fodder couldn’t cause much trouble. At most, they would take advantage of the current emergency situation to make outrageous demands. But when it was Rhodes who said this, Grave paid more attention to it. Not only because they were now on the same side, but also because Rhodes himself had the background of being a follower of the goddess Leliantia. So, his intuition might be some kind of innate talent or a hint from the goddess Leliantia to ensure his safety.

And Grave remembered Klaus mentioning the leader of this mercenary group, Walter, was someone who enjoyed invasion and plunder. He even liked watching the flames of war spread. Having such a person guard the defense line was indeed a very unreliable thing.

Thinking about the situation that appeared after he arrived at the defense line, it made people more vigilant.

“In that case, I’ll personally lead the team there.”

After pondering for a moment, Grave made this decision, which stunned both Rhodes and Claudia. It seemed that they had never expected him to suddenly decide to lead the team to the front line.

“But what about Rhodes’s training?

Now, all the various exercises were specially customized and personally trained by Grave. If he were to leave, Claudia couldn’t think of anyone else who could handle it. But at the same time, when she thought about Grave leaving home, then it would only be her and Rhodes left at home. What about Chloe? Did she need to be concerned about her?

“For now, just train at home by yourself, or Claudia, you can accompany him in training later. After all, the current situation leaves us with no other options.”

Grave’s response made Claudia even more delighted. The anticipated life was about to become a reality.

“General, please take me to the front line!”

However, Rhodes said something unexpected that surprised everyone, even thinking that his decision was somewhat impulsive. But after the initial surprise, Grave’s expression showed more admiration.

“Are you serious about this, Rhodes?”

“Yes, although this proposal is a bit sudden, I still hope General Grave can agree. Besides, everything that I would learn is something that I would use on the battlefield, so I need to familiarize myself first with the battlefield.”