“More fitting people. Thank you for thinking that way.”

Ariella’s wounds were grave.

She’d lost so much power that recovery wouldn’t come easily.

“Sure—you’re not wrong. If anything, you’re absolutely right.”

I’d turned over every option I could think of,

but they were all either too slow, or impossible from the start.

That was why 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

I’d even considered lunging at the doctor—

just to take its blood.

“But... just because there’s something better doesn’t mean we have to throw away what we already have, does it?”

“The more people we have to protect the Commander up close, the better.”

But now.

The situation had shifted.

“You guys... why are you here?”

The Legion’s Awakened who came here with me—

just under a hundred.

They had returned to the battlefield

in open defiance of my order.

*****

‘I definitely felt them leave... when did they—’

The ones I was sure had withdrawn

were back on this battlefield again.

“I gave a clear order.”

But.

My expression darkened as I looked at them.

“I told you to leave this battlefield!”

As I spoke,

I reached out and shielded the person behind me.

The reason I’d ordered them to withdraw was simple.

Not because I “didn’t want to see them suffer,” or any crap like that, obviously.

‘Because Ariella couldn’t be exposed.’

Her existence is classified to the unit.

So I sent them away

to make use of the vampires’ strength.

“We sincerely apologize for disobeying the order to withdraw.”

And yet.

The people who had shown such unwavering loyalty to me refused my command.

Whether I was confused or not—

“Later, throw us in the brig if you want. Do whatever you want.”

Jeong Sua and the unit members who followed her stepped forward,

and they stopped right in front of the woman I was hiding.

In front of Ariella.

“Being told to just leave the Commander behind...”

And.

While I was scrambling to figure out how to stop them—

Shhk.

“No matter how we thought about it, we couldn’t accept that order.”

They gripped the military greatswords issued to Legion members,

then lightly drew the blades across their wrists.

“What...?”

Drip.

Blood from awakened with dense mana

ran down into their shadows.

*****

To restore Ariella,

we needed high-quality blood—large amounts of it.

My blood alone wouldn’t be enough to bring her back,

and even if it could save her, I’d end up on the verge of death.

That was why Ariella refused that option.

But now—

drip.

The unit members who {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} returned.

Blood began to flow from their wrists.

For each person, it might not be much,

but with nearly a hundred people bleeding at once, the total was significant.

And—

‘Jeong Sua is a level 29 powerhouse.’

And it wasn’t only her.

‘The escort team... they’re elites—handpicked by Jeong Sua, again and again.’

The quality,

and the amount—

were enough.

“Keo... heok...”

As the blood poured out,

Ariella—stiff as if dead—suddenly started breathing hard.

“What the hell is this...”

And.

Watching that, I could only freeze.

“You guys.”

“Yes, Legion Commander.”

“Do you even know who that is?”

When I demanded it with a flustered look,

one of the soldiers—still bleeding calmly—answered.

“We do.”

“You do?”

“Yes. That’s the vampire queen from back then.”

The face of the unit member who said it was familiar.

One of the Legion’s founding members—together since the 423rd Battalion.

And since most of the people here were top-tier elites,

a lot of them had been in the Legion a long time.

And they—

“The queen who tore Uncle Seongcheol apart with her own hands.”

“......”

“And besides that—Jinhwan hyung, Heeseon noona... a lot of people died because of it and the monsters under its command.”

They were veterans of the vampire subjugation.

The assault on that bunker.

‘What bound us into one as we grew from a unit into the Legion was comradeship.’

We might get colder toward people outside the unit,

but among ourselves, we build trust and belief tighter than anything.

‘Ariella has killed those people.’

The unit’s hatred for Ariella was immense.

It wasn’t for nothing that Minjae hyung pushed back when I tried to bring it under us.

It wasn’t for nothing that I hid its existence from the unit.

If this got out,

it was a risk big enough to threaten even my position as Legion Commander.

And yet—

‘If they know all that, then why...?’

They weren’t doing this out of ignorance.

They knew exactly what Ariella was,

and still they were giving it their blood.

“Commander.”

As I stood there stunned,

Jeong Sua called me, then pointed to a woman and said,

“Do you remember her?”

“Of course. She’s one of ours. I remember everyone’s face—or their names, at the very least.”

“Then do you remember when she joined us?”

“That...”

At that,

I stared at her face and dug into my memory.

“...Huh?”

And only then

did I realize something I could barely believe.

—They said something. I’m not sure I heard it right, but they said they were going to make a ‘human ranch.’

Back then.

When we subjugated Ariella and the vampires,

there were humans she kept captive.

—They said these were set aside for that, so manage them well so they don’t die.

I remembered them later joining the unit under Jeong Sua’s guidance.

And the woman Jeong Sua was pointing at—

was—

“The one who told us about that human ranch back then—!”

“Ah... you remembered.”

Back then,

trembling, she’d explained their situation to me—her, specifically.

“It’s a great honor that you remember me, Legion Commander. My name is Shin Ahyoung.”

A unit member from the human ranch Ariella was building.

Ariella lured people in with lies,

and raised them like livestock—killing the ones she didn’t need.

A long-term blood supply.

“But if that’s true...”

“Then Ariella is your enemy.”

“Ah... yes. She is.”

A lot of her companions would have died in that place,

and if we hadn’t rescued her, she would’ve lived her whole life as livestock.

“To be honest... even now, just looking at it makes my hands and feet shake.”

She tried to sound like it didn’t matter—

but her words didn’t match her body.

The hand she was bleeding from trembled like a leaf.

“Then why...?”

Unit members who lost comrades to Ariella,

and even Shin Ahyoung, who’d suffered directly—

why were they trying to save it?

I couldn’t understand it.

“Reconnaissance Squad Leader already told us.”

“What?”

“That the more strength we have to protect the Commander, the better.”

That was it.

The reason

was almost absurdly simple.

“When the Legion Commander ordered us to withdraw...”

Shin Ahyoung spoke as if recalling something that happened minutes ago.

“We did pull back. But we couldn’t bring ourselves to just leave.”

“...”

“Our mission is to escort the Legion Commander. To leave while abandoning the person we’re assigned to protect... even if it’s that person’s direct order, that isn’t something you can do easily. So... we stayed nearby.”

At that, I clicked my tongue.

“So you were watching this place from close by.”

“Yes. We truly are sorry for disobeying the order... but yes.”

Still, I frowned.

“But I didn’t sense anyone watching.”

I’m not an idiot.

After the doctor’s treatment, my senses were sharper than before.

I was sure they’d left—so I brought out the vampires.

And I never felt the presence of anyone watching nearby.

And the reason—

“Haha. I’m sure no one doubts the Legion Commander’s greatness.”

As she lightly moved her remaining hand,

for a split second it felt like her hand vanished entirely.

“But our job is reconnaissance.”

People who have to scout without being detected by monsters.

Awakened specialized in covert work.

“Hiding our presence and observing without being noticed... that’s what we do.”

No matter how sensitive my senses got,

unless I had a search-specialized skill,

I wouldn’t find them if they decided to disappear.

“So you saw the vampires, too.”

“Yes.”

“And you were fine with it? Especially you...”

“If I said it didn’t shake me, I’d be lying. At first, I was horrified. But...”

She was shocked to see me using vampires,

but there was no time to get stuck on that.

“Then—there was a sudden flash of intense light, and the battlefield started turning strange.”

Not long after the vampires engaged,

the Sunbug’s light swallowed the battlefield.

“When the situation changed, we judged we couldn’t stay hidden anymore and ran in. But...”

“But.”

“Right before we moved, we hesitated over whether we should obey the Legion Commander’s withdrawal order. That hesitation cost us time.”

As she kept talking, her face darkened slightly.

“And then we saw that huge monster attack the Legion Commander.”

“...”

“We were too far. A distance where we couldn’t do anything.”

Like it still made her skin crawl,

her voice dropped.

“The Legion Commander was about to be hit, and we realized we couldn’t do a thing as the escort team. We... could only watch.”

Her gaze shifted—

to the monster drinking their blood.

“That monster... no. That person’s actions.”

“...”

“When we weren’t at the Legion Commander’s side... that person threw their body in and rescued the Legion Commander.”

After she said that,

she shrugged and gave a strained laugh.

“To be honest, it’s still a terrifying sight. But what can we do.”

“...”

“After seeing that... how could we just walk away?”

Her explanation ended,

but I still didn’t understand.

‘Even if it tried to protect me... that doesn’t erase Ariella’s crimes.’

Just looking at the trembling hand—

and the expressions of the others—

it was obvious their hatred and anger hadn’t disappeared.

But.

“I told you, didn’t I.”

Jeong Sua answered my doubt without wavering.

“That no matter what happens, we will not lose our trust in the man who saved us—and no matter what secret we learn, we will never leak it. I said I would form the escort team only with people who can keep that promise.”

“...”

No matter how great the enemy,

no matter what happened—

‘People who believe in me...’

Her words reminded me of something I’d heard not long ago.

—Aren’t you underestimating your subordinates too much?

—.......

—They gathered under you because they believe in you. And they want you to believe in them more, too.

When I realized just how much I was hiding from the unit,

Mirinae said that.

And just like she said—

“Can you believe it now... that it wasn’t a lie?”

“...Yeah.”

Unlike the worry I carried alone,

these people were stronger than I’d given them credit for.

“The vampire queen... the one who slaughtered our people, and countless others.”

Before I knew it,

the unit members’ bleeding was starting to slow.

“An enemy we could never forgive.”

Jeong Sua and the others pulled out cloth,

wiping the wounds on their wrists as they spoke.

“But you saved the Legion Commander. That’s a major merit. So just this once—we’ll let you live, Queen.”

“...Hmph.”

And.

At the center of them—

“Do not presume a gesture like that will earn my favor, child.”

“I never presumed anything, so don’t jump to conclusions.”

My retainer, whose body had been nearly obliterated—

Ariella—

rose to her feet in a perfectly fine state.