District 42-Chapter 330: Retirement

Casper spent a lot of time telling Vick about his past. His mind was distant as he remembered again everything that happened back in his world.

It had been a while since he didn’t think about his past life. He had cut ties with his other world completely when he decided to act inside District 42.

He felt like he left a lot of important things behind, also as a part of himself. However, it was needed. If he wanted to stay in that new world, it was necessary to let some things go.

Casper knew deep inside that he gained some new things in exchange for what he lost, but even so, it didn’t seem enough to replace all his sacrifices.

For many times, he wondered if all that struggle was worth it.

He wasn’t doing all of that because of the Aesirs, the Frelsis, Vick, or anything like this. His motivation came from the sense of duty that he had since he entered the Yanke Forces. After all, he learned to evaluate human beings’ lives.

He was aware that someone had just one chance to keep going, one chance to live their lives and love important people. Getting this chance stolen from someone was just cruel. He couldn’t take it. He swore to himself that he wouldn’t let anyone take the rights of other people.

Nonetheless, he broke this promise that he made to himself once he took all his soldiers and led them to death.

While he was rambling, Vick was holding tightly his hand. She was thinking about Casper’s past, absorbing his story.

The princess found his past to be a tough one. He was just someone who was fighting for what he thought was right, but in the end, he didn’t have enough strength to match his intentions. He was too weak for what he wanted to do.

If Vick knew something about war, it was that people died all the time, and not even god seemed to be capable to save all of them. It was like this in District 42 and any other part of the world.

No one has such power, enough to protect anything and anyone all the time. Casper was smart and skillful, but he was too distant from this kind of power.

"What happened afterward? What happened after you came back from Black Widow alone?"

The soldier sighed, remembering the last part of his story. It was both nostalgic and sad. It was always like this.

He felt like he could still feel the same feelings that arose that day when he got at the Yanke Forces.

It wasn’t that long ago, after all.

...

After Casper got to the Headquarters of the Yanke Forces, he was treated and fed. He lasted a whole week to get there and needed to steal a car from a near city to drive to that point. The place wasn’t of easy access, so he needed to pass for harsh times when trying to get there.

The atmosphere inside the Yanke Forces was just as heavy and uncomfortable as when he went to the mission.

Everyone was sure that Casper’s special troops were all dead, including him, so they couldn’t believe it when they found out that he was lying in front of the entrance of their base.

They kind of wanted that he died there. It was the minimum for taking responsibility for such a terrible mission. In the end, everyone died because of him. He was the encharged of those people. He was at fault for the entire troop to die.

While Casper crossed those familiar corridors, he could feel the disgusted looks of his friends and co-workers. His head was getting heavier at each step. He felt like the worst scum in the world.

Even after all his efforts, he wasn’t recognized by them.

The colonel never wanted fame. Recognition for him wasn’t better than the success of a mission. However, he needed to swallow his pride that time and admit that, if he ever wanted recognition in his life, that time was one when he wished it the most.

Feel that now he was the cruelest person in the Headquarters was killing him.

He wanted to spill the beans and tell them all the truth about the superiors, but he couldn’t do that. If he wanted to change something, then he needed to raise his position, even if it meant that he would need to be a villain.

Nonetheless, even this wasn’t possible for Casper anymore.

Not when the superiors themselves were trying to pull the rug under his feet.

After being healed and getting enough treatment, Casper needed to attend the last reunion where he would tell them his report about the mission. He gave other reports before, but they were lacking detail. Also, he was too aloof and weak at that time, so he wouldn’t be able to tell them everything even if he wanted to.

"Hey, Casper... What do you think about retirement?" The Marshal asked him after that long reunion.

Every superior of the Yanke Forces were still there and nodded their heads to each other once he suggested it.

"I don’t think I should leave my duties by now, sir." He replied with a grim expression.

"Really? Can you still be the same person after so many traumas during the mission? You lost everyone that you considered as friends. The ones that aren’t dead hate you now. What will you do if they attempt something for your life?" The Marshal’s face darkened in the last question.

Casper knew what it meant. He basically said, "Get out of my way, or else I will kill you".

’I see... that’s how it is. They had schemed since the start. Hahaha... haha... ha...’ Tears began to run down his face.

"I think that our meeting came to an end." The Marshal said, with a sympathetic face. "And, as decided, Casper will retire. We deal with papers and bureaucracy afterward. You can leave right now, colonel."