The battle had been triggered by the fact Gilbert's troop was moving to the next battlefield. Whether by information leakage or a true coincidence, they had bumped onto the enemy unit of earlier and suddenly broken into combat.
After leaving the torture of the war prisoners to someone else, Gilbert Bougainvillea walked in a straight line while showing his appreciation to the troopers confirming the damage each person had received. Before his field of vision was Violet, who sat on the ground holding the battle-axe and leaning against one of the military trucks with her eyes closed.
"Violet, I've brought water." He showed the tubular water bottle in his hand.
Violet opened her eyes in a flash, accepted the bottle and, after momentarily bringing it to her lips, downed the water over her own head. Blood and mud were washed off her face.
"Don't you have any injuries? Does it hurt anywhere?"
"Major, there are no issues. A bullet grazed my shoulder but the bleeding has already stopped." The bandages underneath her combat uniform were dyed black with blood. A first-aid kit lay on the ground.
Despite being the one who had contributed most in the previous battle, no one expressed gratitude towards her other than Gilbert. Everyone merely observed from afar, as if a fence had been placed around her.
"You should rest inside. I've had a car with nothing but gear be cleaned up. It will take a couple of hours to reach the supplying city. Go sleep." Gilbert pointed at the unit's largest vehicle.
Violet nodded, staggering towards it as she dragged the battle-axe along. She hopped onto the military truck with a convertible top, squatting on a spot made for a single person to sleep in. Immediately, she fell into slumber.
After confirming that Violet had entered the car, Gilbert started giving orders to the other soldiers. The entire troop left that land behind, earnestly driving away.
The sun was setting, the sky changing from orange to dark cobalt, when the unit finally arrived at its destination. The city was the base of Leidenschaftlich's army divisions. Gilbert's troops were welcomed and greeted by comrades at the dormitory. They would stay there for a few days.
Gilbert briefly told those who were uninjured to "not overstep the boundaries" as an implicit form of scolding while giving them permission to go outside. In the end, the number of Special Force members that had remained in the dormitory was small. Violet's slept in her room, which was the only private lodging instead of a shared one.
"Major. Major, you don't have to." As Gilbert headed for her room with a tray of dinner, one of the local division's members nervously called out to him. "I will carry it." the young man said while offering to take the tray, but Gilbert shook his head.
"It's been said a few times before, but since some of our personnel wound up coming back as corpses, this is my job."
"Eh, 'corpses'…? Were… they killed by that woman? Is it… Violet?"
"That's right. Well, when we asked about it, we were told it was because they were guilty of actions that would have unavoidably resulted in their deaths either way…" although his explanation was indistinct, anyone not disproportionately naïve could understand the implications in it.
"Is that why she's getting a room for herself?"
There was not much of a reaction. In the eyes of other members, it probably seemed like Violet was receiving special treatment, since she was a girl soldier. Or was it because she was the object of Gilbert's affections? There were many ways to see her in a lewd light.
Gilbert spit out a lecture he had already become accustomed to giving, "She's substantially our unit's most skilled member. In normal circumstances, she would have a suitable medal on her chest and you would be supposed to salute her. But since she's unfortunately kept a secret, she can at least be treated in accordance to her achievements. Anyhow… even though your offer was out of courtesy, I can't accept it. If there is anything I might want help with in the future, I'll count on you. Step aside."
The young man had a complex expression, but bowed and left regardless. As the sounds of his footsteps grew farther, Gilbert sighed.
——Makes me want a tattoo saying "don't ask" on my face.
A few years had passed ever since he had taken in the little Violet. No matter where he went or whom he met, he would be sought after for explanations regarding her existence. There was no helping it.
A plausible rumor ran amongst the Leidenschaftlich army: that the son of the Bougainvillea family, the country's heroes, kept a girl soldier who was celebrated as a War Goddess. It also seemed she was referred to as "Leidenschaftlich's Warrior Maiden" – a nickname someone had come up with. It was not a title given to a mere girl soldier. That was when men had started to surround her often, and people who had created a monster-like image for her began spreading by word of mouth, after meeting her in person, that she was like a witch with the face of an angel. Having an underling with a demonic beauty and natural-born outstanding prominence in battle gave him a hard time as a boss.
I've raised her to be too worthy of her name.
He opened the door after knocking. "Violet."
At the call, she raised her head from her curled up position on the mattress, wearing an oversized men's shirt.
"Let's eat." Gilbert, who had brought his own share along, put it on the table at the corner of the room and sat on the accompanying chair. He then handed her share to her on the tray. "Can you hold it… with that arm?"
"Thank you very much. The right side is unharmed." As she graciously bowed in gratitude, there was nothing in her actions that he could say to resemble the time they had met. Her body was also morphing from the one of a girl to that of a woman with the passage of the years. "Major… are you all right with not going out?"
After telling Violet to eat up as she was holding the spoon without touching the meal, Gilbert replied, "The reports have been accumulating, and there's also a meeting to decide the next battle's strategy. Playing around is other people's work. It's another story if you want to go outside, though. You would have been allowed if you had gone with someone."
"With whom?"
"Who knows? Anyone is fine."
Violet shook her head in negation. She did not speak to the comrades who worked in the same unit. It was probably due to the so-called 'one tablespoon of fear and two teaspoons of tactlessness'. Those who continuously watched her fight from up close would inevitably want to keep a distance. Gilbert was acquiescent, but that did not apply to everyone.
——This is nothing much.
Just like that, she had grown up rarely ever talking to anyone other than him.
——However, if she becomes attached to someone else, it would be a problem.
That had to do with his concerns about his 'weapon' being stolen, but lately, there were also forbidden emotional reasons involved.
"If you're lacking anything, just ask a female officer to buy it for you. Or do you want to do that yourself?"
"No, I have everything I need, so it is fine."
"Since you don't use your savings, they've piled up… you're a teenager now, so it's okay to buy an accessory or two. There might not be many opportunities to wear it, but it's good just having one."
"What is a 'teenager'?"
"Kids who look as old as you are. You appear to be… a little… mature for your age, though."
Four years had passed since the two of them had first met, without Gilbert ever finding out her actual age. Supposing she was ten at the time, she now was fourteen. Were she normal, Violet would still have cherubic face. Yet her extremely sophisticated features erased that innocence and made her look like an adult woman.
After teaching her how to speak, Gilbert had tried questioning her about her past, but she did not have memories prior to meeting Dietfriet. Before she had realized, Violet had told him, she was in an inhabited island awaiting someone's orders.
"What do teenage girls buy?"
rested behind her Lord, wrapped in a dirty cloth. Her baggage consisted of only that.
"I think there is no meaning in me having something of that sort. Just… receiving Witchcraft from Major is enough. The design is just as I had hoped for and it is fairly easy to wield."
The axe she had used in the previous battlefield was a special order-made one that Gilbert had requested for her. The name given to it by the inventor was 'Witchcraft'.
Gilbert smiled bitterly at the fact that it was very much like Violet, who had yearned for a fatal weapon, to not want things that ordinary people would. "If I… had done more for you when you were younger, I wonder if you would have interest in these things."
He had never tried to buy her dresses or dolls. During the four years after meeting Violet, the unit was constantly moving around the continent, never taking a long enough break. Such was the military life. Gilbert, who had just been promoted to Major and carried the responsibility of leading the troops, was always busy with daily affairs, and had made teaching her how to speak his utmost priority. However, it was both hers and Gilbert's achievement that she had managed to build and maintain a solid reputation in the army despite being so disparate. He had spent quite some effort to make that unique girl familiar with society. And he had been successful.
Gilbert stared at Violet. Her creamy skin never darkened, no matter how much it was exposed to the sun. Her facial traits were remarkable even without make-up.
He had once said she should become worthy of her name. She was developing as he had wished. Her beauty was slightly god-like. It would most certainly become even more elegant if she wore something other than a military uniform. Certainly, she could become a flower prettier and tenderer than any woman of nobility.
——At first, she was supposed to follow that path.
Gilbert had given her words and taught her manners. She never killed aside from when ordered and for her own protection. Rather, she was like that from the start, even before she had become able to speak. Had he cast his fears away and sent her to an appropriate caregiver organization, she might have moved on with her life without ever having contact with the battlefield. As result of being taken under Gilbert's wing, Violet had been shot, her exhausted body resting on the bed as she sipped a cold soup. It made him feel miserable.
"Violet, tomorrow… no, the day after… I will make some time, so why don't we go outside together for a bit?"
"Why?"
"You've become taller, and you haven't bought clothes for a while now, right? Let's get some."
"The ones I'm being provided with suffice."
"You're not being provided with sleepwear, are you? It's very worn-out." Gilbert pointed at her shirt's sleeve.
He always left the purchasing of her daily necessity items to female officers standing by and had never done it himself. Her sleeping garments had all become stained from killing perpetrators, therefore, he had merely lent his own to her as temporary measure.
Even though she was not attached to anything else, Violet refused, as if the items she received from Gilbert were exceptions. "But… it's something that Major gave me, so I can still wear it."
Gilbert's voice softened naturally at her lovable attitude, "I don't want you to wear… negligees like the ones you used to when you were smaller in the dorms, but there are similar things that are just as comfortable. No, it doesn't have to be sleepwear. It can be something you want to eat."
"If Major wants to go out, I will wait here. You will be at ease if I do not leave the room, right? If I lock it up, people cannot come inside either." She gestured to represent someone sneaking into her bed. "I cannot hold back when I am injured, after all."
Violet was self-conscious about killing people. It was commendable that she made use of her unstoppable defense instinct to restrain all those who attempted to violate her, but murdering comrades was going too far. She was aware that Gilbert kept her at a distance from others for the sake of protecting them.
"I… you… I want to… go outside with you. Just once in a while… would you let me act like a parent?"
It was a slightly forceful excuse, but had Gilbert had an early marriage, it would not be odd for him to have a child about as old as Violet. He had taught her everything, from language to day-by-day lifestyle. Their relationship could be described as parent and child, older brother and younger sister, teacher and student…
"Major is… not my father. I do not have any parents. It is strange to use Major as replacement for that."
…and, of course, superior and subordinate. Her delicate voice pierced Gilbert's chest.
"Even if… you think that… for me, you are…"
——You are…
He could not properly go on. What was she for him? What word defined her best? 'Weapon' might be the most appropriate. Nevertheless, it was clearly inconsistent to be protective of a mere 'weapon' out of self-awareness for her being of the opposite sex. In that case, she was either his 'daughter' or 'little sister'. Still, no matter how much he tried to copy family-like actions, she did not pay much attention to them, and did not treat him as such.
Violet herself did not think of Gilbert as her parent. Although he was of a higher status, if Violet did not see him as above of herself, once she turned her fangs at him, he would automatically be done for; moreover, the reasons why they had their current kind of relationship was that Violet sought his orders and possessed grandiose fighting attributes. An interchangeable cooperation existed between them – he gave her instructions in the battlefield and she lent him her strength for victory. Such was the immutable truth.
"I… you…"
Gilbert and Violet did not have any actual relation.
"I…"
Watching as Gilbert shut his mouth, Violet's eyes moved about in a rare display of confusion. "If Major wishes, I will go." she told him, "If Major orders me to…"
"It's not an order…"
"If… it is your desire…"
No matter what, Violet did not let him have any hopes. Yet Gilbert smiled, regardless of feeling so awful, as she attempted to comfort his dejected self. "Yeah, it is my desire, so please fulfill it."
Once the smile appeared on his face, Violet exhaled deeply as if relieved and nodded. "Yes, Major."
She was almost like a doll.