"Can you tell me that person’s name?"

Kishiar answered Yuder’s question readily and without hesitation.

"Meghna Curlieva."

Yuder’s eyebrows twitched.

"That name format… Is she a woman?"

"Yeah, that’s right. She’s thirty-seven this year, a brilliant talent from the impoverished Curlieva barony, and one of the South’s proudest figures. Why? Something strange about that?"

‘Strange… yeah, it is strange. Because the one who succeeded General Gino in my previous life was a man.’

In Yuder’s previous life, General Gino hadn’t died; he’d stepped down and then disappeared from the public eye. Which meant that up until the point his successor was chosen, he would’ve still held considerable influence.

And yet, the one who ended up taking that position wasn’t this clearly recognized protégé of his—someone even Kishiar knew about—but a completely unrelated person. Even more oddly, the fact that someone else took the position wasn’t the issue people focused on. The only thing that had sparked interest was that the new general wasn’t a Swordmaster.

Yuder carefully voiced his thoughts.

"In the previous round, I thought the general who succeeded Gino in the South would’ve been her. I’m a little surprised it wasn’t."

"Yeah? What kind of person was it?"

"A man. The fact that he wasn’t a Swordmaster caused quite a stir at the time. He wasn’t very cooperative with the Cavalry, and… I only remember that he was called General Balfos."

The name had been so unimportant and disconnected from Yuder’s own life that he’d buried it deep in his memory—but now it floated back. Kishiar, mumbling “Balfos…” seemed to recall something as well and lifted his head.

"Could it be him? Galexantr Balfos. He’s one of Gino’s students too. Not an aide, but he’s with the Southern Army. I vaguely remember his face from a mission up in the mountains… the retrieval assignment. If I had to guess, it’d be him. Does that sound right?"

That was when Yuder finally retrieved the full name from the haze of memory.

‘Right. That guy. A name twisted up enough to forget.’

"Yes. That’s him. But you’ve met him before…? When was that?"

"You probably didn’t see him. It was just a brief greeting while I was heading off for the strategy game."

During the Red Stone retrieval mission, Kishiar had briefly left to reconnect with General Gino—alone—and to play that infamous strategy game. If that had been when it happened, it made sense that Yuder and the other members never saw it.

"Ah… I see."

"But now that you mention it… it does seem a little odd."

Kishiar muttered, folding his arms.

"Odd in what way?"

"Gino may have been thinking of retirement, but he’s not the kind of man to leave things behind in a mess. He devoted more than forty years of his life to the South. He would’ve made sure everything was handled with care. And yet Galexantr Balfos was known as a problem child among Gino’s students. Not widely known, but anyone in the know is aware."

Meghna and Galexantr weren’t the only students Gino had. Technically, even Kishiar and Emperor Keillusa were considered his disciples in the broader sense.

Which meant, even if not Meghna, there were certainly others far more worthy of recommendation. So why had it ended up being Galexantr—the one with the worst reputation? That was the part that seemed to bother Kishiar.

"And yet just earlier, Gino clearly said he’d ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ bring his aide with him next time. That doesn’t sound like someone who’s lost faith in Meghna. Hm… curious, indeed."

"We should find out whether Galexantr’s here now."

"That won’t be hard. We don’t need to investigate it ourselves—there are plenty of people who’d be happy to tell us."

Kishiar grinned slyly.

Not long after, the captain of the Imperial Army’s Kakheop unit, Suns, arrived before them with a puzzled look on his face.

"You met with General Gino earlier, right?"

"Ah—yes! Thanks to your consideration, all our unit members were able to speak with the General comfortably, one-on-one. Thank you very much."

Suns visibly relaxed. He and the Kakheop unit had stayed behind to work directly with the Cavalry rather than follow Gino, even after the general arrived.

To support that cooperation, Kishiar had arranged a special meeting between the Kakheop unit and General Gino before the general’s departure.

"Good to hear. It’s only natural between partners. The General seemed quite pleased with your unit’s achievements."

"Haha… yes. He said so himself and gave us great encouragement."

Suns looked delighted, clearly still basking in the praise from his idol-like general. Kishiar took the opportunity to casually slip in a question.

"Come to think of it, the general mentioned he’d be bringing his aide next time. Are you close with them?"

"Oh—you mean Deputy Curlieva! She’s truly remarkable. Honestly, without her, it would’ve been difficult for our unit to form up as quickly as we did."

"Is that so?"

"She’s not an Awakener, but she was the first to recognize our value and potential without discrimination. When the unit was first being formed, she was also the first to support both us and the General’s decision, and she persuaded others who were opposed to it."

According to Suns, Meghna Curlieva was the one who had protected the South while General Gino was stationed near the Red Stone for a long time. After that mission ended, she was deeply moved by what Gino had told her about the Awakener soldiers and personally met with Suns and Emon to test their abilities.

Afterward, she became an unwavering supporter—helping them become a true military force within the Southern Army.

‘I didn’t know someone like that was in the Southern Army…’

"Impressive. Now I definitely want to meet Deputy Curlieva myself. And what about Galexantr Balfos? He’s also one of the General’s students, and I’d assume he shared meals with you all for a long time while stationed in the mountain range?"

"Ah… You mean Special Officer Balfos. Yes, he did come along this time, but…"

Suns’ expression turned extremely awkward. He was a good-natured guy by default, so it wasn’t like him to make a face like that. His feelings were plainly written all over his face. The difference from when he’d spoken about Meghna Curlieva was night and day.

Kishiar exchanged a subtle glance with Yuder.

‘So he did come. If we dig into this, something’s bound to come out.’

‘Let’s do it.’

In the blink of an eye, the two of them communicated everything with a single glance, unnoticed by Suns, and continued the conversation with the same calm demeanor. Yuder was the first to speak.

"Did something happen with him?"

"Well… not exactly, it’s just… He’s a higher-ranking officer, so it’s hard to speak freely about someone like that… How should I put it—it’s a little difficult. Haha. And it’s not like I know him well."

"Understandable. I get it."

"Thank you for understanding."

Suns visibly relaxed as Kishiar nodded with a look of gentle authority.

"But sometimes, it’s because you don’t know someone well that your view can be more objective. This is just between us—but it seems the General is a little concerned about the two of them."

"The General… said that?"

Suns was more shocked by the mention of the General than by the suggestion of there being anything to worry about between the two.

In other words, he wasn’t denying that there was indeed something concerning between Meghna and Galexantr.

"I don’t know much about them myself, so I’d like to hear the opinion of someone with as neutral a view as possible."

Suns’ eyes widened. He looked like he wanted to say, Me? But before he could get a word out, Yuder stepped in again.

"Suns, you’ve worked with the Cavalry for quite some time now, and as a fellow Awakener, you understand us better than anyone. Don’t you?"

"Ah… y-yes. Of course."

Yuder’s expression was blank as he used the word comrade, and Suns—uncharacteristically—seemed moved, forgetting the awkwardness of the moment.

"So naturally, I’d be curious about how someone like you sees the situation through the lens of another Awakener. And in any case, the Commander is going to be asking others the same question, so you don’t need to worry that your answer alone will sway him unfairly."

"Ugh…"

Suns scratched his head for a moment, then finally sighed deeply, having made up his mind.

"Alright. But I really don’t know much. Please consider this nothing more than the perspective of a low-ranking soldier in the Southern Army."

"Of course."

At last, Suns began to speak about Galexantr Balfos.

"It’s well known among us that Special Officer Balfos… doesn’t like Deputy Curlieva. I mean, among the guys who were stationed together in the mountain range."

"So he’s made that pretty clear, huh?"

"Yes. Anyone who spent any time in the mountains probably heard it at least once. Every time he drank, he’d grumble about how Deputy Curlieva was the General’s favorite and got to stay safe and comfortable down in the South while the rest of us were stuck up there. He often said the position of the General’s aide was supposed to be his. Whether that’s true or not, I couldn’t say."