12.

“Ah…”

Now that she thought about it, she couldn’t remember when she had bought that milk, and the fruit cans were ones she had grabbed when they were close to expiring—looks like they were already past their expiration dates.

Erable felt a bit embarrassed, like she had exposed a personal flaw.

“I can see why your physical condition is lacking.”

‘Well, I was born this way’

She thought, but didn’t dare say it out loud. She was too scared.

“I know it’s natural for you, but eating properly will at least stop it from getting worse, right?”

…Wait, did I just say that out loud?

“Your thoughts are written all over your face.”

His sharp perception was uncanny—was he telling her to manage her expressions if she wanted to survive?

Erable forced a smile.

“I’ll be more careful.”

“Good. Even a healthy person would ruin their body eating like this. If your health is already poor, you should be even more cautious.”

It was something she had heard often—Count Gale’s frequent nagging. Why was the commander saying it now? Was it because of the blood draws?

“Commander, sorry to ask, but how often will the blood draws happen?”

“Don’t worry, you won’t be heading out for work in the middle of the night again.”

“I’m sorry. If you could let me know the schedule, I’ll manage my health accordingly.”

“There’s no schedule. If you want to manage your health and give blood, you should donate.”

‘I suppose that makes sense.’

But if that’s the case, why was ‘he’ drinking beer…? Erable glanced longingly at the beer can Dezeb was holding.

‘Why am I, in my own home, after work, unable to enjoy even one beer without worrying about my superior’s approval?’

Then again, she figured watching him carefully was still better than dying, so she decided to keep her head down.

“Excuse me for a moment.”

Erable got up abruptly, grabbed her training clothes from the laundry drying rack, and headed to the bathroom.

Surely, he wouldn’t mind if she washed up, right? She practically fled into the bathroom, only to be greeted by an unexpected discovery.

‘Men’s underwear… size 2 XL….’

On the bathroom shelf, there was an open box of men’s underwear. One was missing—probably worn by the owner, she assumed.

With a growing sense of dread, Erable peeked into the laundry basket.

And quietly closed the lid again. Inside were neatly folded pieces of Dezeb Avganis’s laundry.

She raised her eyes to see a new toothbrush in the cup—pink.

＊ ＊ ＊

“You’ve got a stomach ulcer.”

The next morning, Erable was lying on a bed in the infirmary, clutching her stomach, while Camellia, the army medic, diagnosed her with a stress-induced ulcer.

“What on earth have you been up to lately? Yesterday it was gastritis, and today it’s an ulcer. Are you leveling up or something?”

“Is death the final level?”

“At this rate, yes.”

Erable groaned in pain, clutching her stomach.

Last night, it had taken a miracle to fall asleep. She had to endure the extreme situation of trying to sleep next to the commander ‘without alcohol’ to dull her nerves.

In the end, she had stayed up all night, and as a result, her stomach lining had practically dissolved.

“…It’s like I’m in a conflict zone.”

“Huh?”

Camellia gave her a puzzled look, annoyed by the seemingly random comment.

“That’s the only explanation. Maybe a lab experiment, but my body’s in such bad shape, I’m not worth much. So, it must be the conflict zone.”

“Did you sign a body forfeiture agreement behind my back? Are you in debt?”

“…Just give me some painkillers.”

Erable clammed up.

Camellia sighed as she watched her.

‘What in the world is she involved in that’s got the higher-ups…?’

She was curious but also didn’t want to know. Whatever it was, it was bound to be—

She shook her head slightly, cutting off the unpleasant thought.

“Forget the painkillers. You need to go to the clinic. Your noise levels are getting worse. You know all these breakdowns in your body are because of it, so why are you being so stubborn?”

“No, this is all because of stress.”

“Stress? What stress!”

“Well, you ‘did’ say it was a stress-induced ulcer, didn’t you? Or was that a lie? Wow, the doctor’s scamming their patient now?”

“I mean the stress is coming from the ‘noise’! That’s the point!”

Camellia shouted, her frustration showing, but she quickly tried to calm down, letting out a long sigh. ‘She’s a patient,’ she reminded herself. ‘Smacking her would only give me more work.’

“Come on, just try it once, will you? There’s a new guy at the clinic—super handsome. He’s level 4, you know. All you need to do is lie back, close your eyes, and he’ll take care of everything. As a first-timer, I’ll even pay for you! What do you say?”

“I think the painkillers are wearing off a bit. How about giving me another dose?”

“Does this look like a bar? What do you mean ‘another dose’?”

“Ow!”

Camellia couldn’t help herself and gave Erable a firm smack on the forehead, a serious expression on her face.

“You’re going to kill yourself like this! You’re already dehydrated from those tranquilizers!”

“Well, I’m getting IV fluids for that.”

“Do you think meds solve everything? Do they?!”

“Yeah, most of the time…”

Camellia was momentarily speechless at Erable’s look of genuine confusion, as if asking ‘Why wouldn’t they?’

“You might as well give me more meds while we’re at it. A set of stimulants, some painkillers, and maybe muscle relaxants too.”

Camellia couldn’t respond because part of this mess was her fault. She was one of the people who had supplied Erable with these meds for so long.

“…Didn’t you just take some recently?”

“I guess I’m building a tolerance.”

Still, Erable was the type who would have found a way to get them anyway. Sighing again, Camellia watched her list off restricted drugs like a shopping list, not caring about the side effects.

“You’re not going to live long at this rate.”

“I will. I plan on living until I’m old enough to paint the walls with… well, you know.”

“Sure…”

“I’ll even come over and paint your walls too, Lieutenant.”

“……”

‘Should I hit her again?’ Camellia seriously considered it.

＊ ＊ ＊

“What’s with this report from the infirmary…?”

While on an external mission, Ol muttered as he skimmed the tablet, prompting Dezeb to glance away from the man whose neck he was stepping on.

“Oh, give that here.”

“Did you request it?”

“Yeah.”

With a snap, Dezeb kicked the corpse aside and took the tablet. Just as he began to read, a splash of blood spattered onto the screen.

“……”

Dezeb clicked his tongue and gave Birgo a cold stare.

“That… wasn’t intentional,” Birgo said awkwardly, trying to laugh it off.

Dezeb shook the tablet to flick off the blood before grabbing a knife from Ol’s pants leg.

“Ahhhh!!”

Birgo screamed, clutching his wrist as Dezeb dealt with him. As Aries gleefully kicked the writhing Birgo around like a soccer ball, Dezeb finished wiping the blood from the screen and resumed reading.

A report from the infirmary appeared on the tablet. As he read, Dezeb’s expression shifted to one of mild amusement.

“Stomach ulcer?”

Now it’s an ulcer? Yesterday it was gastritis.

“What did you feed her?”

Healthy oatmeal, Dezeb thought dryly as Ol inquired. He grumbled internally, ‘I went through all the trouble to make sure she ate well, and this is what I get?’

Just then, Birgo appeared again, sneaking up and offering a suggestion.

“Planning to poison her? If so, I can—”

Dezeb responded by twisting the knife in Birgo’s wrist a little more.

“Aaaack!!”

As Aries gleefully kicked the downed Birgo again, Dezeb continued reading the report.

It was clear that his efforts to not scare her too much weren’t exactly paying off.

“But Dezeb, are you really not going to go through with it with the lieutenant?”

Dezeb raised an eyebrow and glanced at Ol.

“Why? Did she test compatible?”

“Yes.”

“Really? Seriously? Wow, Erable really has the worst luck—”

Dezeb sighed, giving Birgo a sharp look that immediately silenced him. The sweating Birgo was spared by Ol’s further explanation.

“We’ve run six tests, and all came back as highly compatible. The compatibility rate is 97.4%, which is pretty significant.”

“Is that so?”

Dezeb’s interest piqued again.

“Yes, so why haven’t you done it yet?”

Ol asked the question everyone was curious about.

If she’s compatible, there’s no reason not to go ahead with it. ‘When has Dezeb ever cared about such things?’ The fact that he hadn’t acted yet was odd, even if his interest in her was bizarre to begin with. ‘Sometimes things happen, even if they don’t make sense,’ Ol mused.

But Dezeb holding back? That was truly strange.

“She’s too scared of me.”

Dezeb lit a cigarette, mixing the acrid scent of burning blood with tobacco smoke. It was the first mission in a while where he had taken an active role.

Normally, this kind of task didn’t require their direct involvement, but Dezeb had wanted to move his body a little today—likely due to several days of restraint.

Everyone was wondering the same thing: what exactly was he waiting for?

“If she faints halfway through, it’ll be no fun.”

“There’s a prototype stimulant we just finished refining. A few injections and she won’t faint, no matter what you do.”

“Besides, she’s obedient and good at her job. There’s no reason to break her.”

‘It’s only a matter of time anyway,’ the others thought, still puzzled.