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LOS 74
Luise Gottlieb was a cheerful girl who feared nothing. Born with a naturally optimistic and aggressive personality, she tended to act without hesitation once she set her mind on something.
Because of this temperament, she received many minor disciplinary actions during her cadet days. Regardless, Luise was that kind of girl, and while everyone called her a little troublemaker, they all held a fondness for her.
Even such a girl as Luise had one weakness.
As a child, while playing on the beach on a night when even the moonlight was faint, Luise had been swept away by the waves. According to her, she had a near-death experience. She claimed that if her older brother hadn't managed to rescue her by throwing her a piece of discarded ship tubing, she truly might have died.
After that day, Luise became afraid of the dark. Whenever she was trapped in a pitch-black darkness where not a single sliver of light was visible, she would recall the time she struggled in the seawater as a child, unable to breathe, facing the brink of death.
The trauma, which left an unhealed scar deep within her mind, did not let her go even after she had fully grown.
Long ago, it was a day when she had stayed late in the library to study. She intended to hold on to her books and persevere until the lights went out, at which point she would have no choice but to return.
Giles was by her side. Giles Hessen. A strange fellow who, despite being a rich young master, had volunteered to enter the military academy to become a soldier. Everyone asked him why on earth he had crawled into a place like this, but almost no one ever received a proper answer.
Perhaps that was why? Giles was actually able to become good friends with Luise. Maybe it was because they each possessed a peculiar side of their own. The fact that they studied together until late at night was by no means a coincidence.
They were part of a group that flocked together regardless of what they did, and within that group, they were particularly close.
Of course, they were close as friends.
“When are you going back?”
Giles, who had been reading a book, asked. Luise looked down at her wristwatch and answered in a low voice.
“I should probably go in twenty minutes.”
“Let’s hurry this time. Last time, we barely made it back by lights-out. If we get caught again, it won't end with just a reprimand.”
“I know, I know. I’m almost done, so just wait a little longer.”
“We're leaving in fifteen minutes.”
“......Fine.”
With that, the two fell back into silence. Since there were hardly any other people left in the library, even the sound of pages turning felt loud.
After a few minutes, just as Luise felt she had finished and was about to close her book, the lights suddenly went out. It was a power outage. Giles, startled by the darkness that suddenly engulfed them, stood up from his seat. There was nothing around them that could serve as an emergency light.
“What happened? It’s not lights-out yet. Luise, I think it’s a blackout. It’s better if we just head back now.”
However, Luise did not answer. To be precise, she had fallen into a state where she could not answer. It took a moment for Giles, unable to see clearly, to assess the situation.
He sensed the danger because of the sounds Luise was making. She was coughing shallowly, gasping as if her airway were blocked. Soon after, the loud sound of a chair collapsing echoed through the library.
“Luise!”
Giles groped toward the sound and found the fallen Luise. The problem was that this was the first time Luise had actually collapsed, so even he didn't know what to do.
She was on the verge of losing consciousness due to respiratory distress. Knowing he had to do something, Giles pulled Luise into his arms and whispered urgently.
“It’s okay, it’s just a power outage. That’s all. Luise, I’m here. Wake up and follow me. Take a deep breath...... and breathe out. Again, breathe in. That’s it. Just like that. You’re doing great. You’re okay. You’ll be fine. We’re in a library, not under the sea.”
It was a time when one minute felt like an hour. There was no way to know exactly how many minutes the blackout lasted. However, after Giles struggled to hold onto Luise, the lights suddenly came back on brightly.
At that moment, Giles saw Luise's face, a mess of tears. As soon as the lights returned, she burst into sorrowful sobs.
“I, I can’t do it...... I can’t. I’m not a soldier....... How can I possibly be a soldier when I act like a fucking idiot just because it got dark? I want to give up. I don’t think I can do this.”
“Luise Gottlieb.”
Luise and Giles's eyes met. Giles looked at her for a moment as if scolding her, then patted her shoulder.
“Get up. It’s time to go to sleep.”
He helped Luise to her feet and packed her things for her. Watching him, Luise shouted in a voice that still hadn't lost its tearful edge.
“Do you think I have a chance?”
“Luise.”
“If I get commissioned, and if a war breaks out after I’m commissioned, it’s obvious I’ll be the first to die. Didn't you see? Didn't you see me collapse just because it got dark?”
“You’re forgetting one fact. A soldier does not fight alone. Don’t forget that. Everyone has at least one weakness. That’s why we have comrades.”
He grinned as he handed the bag to the speechless Luise.
“Let’s really go now. We’ll get scolded for being late.”
Looking at his face, Luise could not say anything more and only nodded.
There were days like that. A very long time ago.
“Luise. Luise Gottlieb!”
Giles called her name, but there was no answer. He stood there, conflicted for a moment. He could have attempted to flee, leaving Luise behind. He didn't have much time to deliberate. He didn't know when the lights would come back on, and Luise was in a state where she could lose consciousness at any moment.
There was no one around.
If there was an opportunity, it was probably now.
In the end, Giles moved. He was not heading toward the exit, but toward Luise. Relying on his senses, Giles circled around the table to the opposite side and checked Luise's condition. Her hands were cold.
He let Luise lean on him and gave calm instructions.
Just as he had done before.
“Breathe. Wake up. Inhale. I said inhale. Now exhale. Again. Wake up, Gottlieb. The lights will be back on soon. Until then, don't lose consciousness and keep breathing.”
After much effort, her breathing began to stabilize. Luise was now clinging to Giles on her own. When her symptoms flared up, what Luise needed most was something to hold onto. Whether it was an object or a person, clinging to something made it more bearable. Strangely, Giles was the first to realize that.
Before long, the room brightened again. Giles looked down at Luise. Before he could properly check her condition, he was pushed by a strong force and fell to the floor.
“Fuck, get away from me!”
Luise, her face flushed red, had stood up and was pointing a gun at Giles. Her hand holding the gun trembled violently, as she had not yet regained control of her breathing.
Giles did not resist and looked up at Luise from that position. He didn't think she would actually fire. It was likely that the fact that she had been helped by a murderous prisoner had wounded her pride.
He decided to wait until Luise calmed herself down.
“You, you probably think you’re smart enough. That’s why you’re trying to deceive me by doing this kind of shit. Or do you think I’m such a dim-witted moron that I’d be fooled by you? Don’t try anything! I know you’ve changed! You are, you are a traitor and also.......”
“Yes. I killed people. I let my friends, and even my only sister, die. It would have been unimaginable in the past.”
“You know it well. Then stop the acting and show your true self. This can't be your true self. The Giles Hessen I knew is gone.”
“I’m not acting.”
“Cut the bullshit!”
“Luise, calm down. You’re very agitated right now.”
At that moment, Luise realized that the Giles from her cadet days was overlapping with his current image. He was not the same as before, but conversely, he was exactly the Giles Hessen she had known in the past. He hadn't changed.
Unable to bear it any longer, Luise struck Giles's face with the muzzle of the pistol. She couldn't stand to watch. She couldn't accept that the Giles she knew was here.
That 'the' Giles Hessen—not some legendary demon the society tried so hard to promote—had committed such horrific acts. A reality that was impossible to accept with a sane mind was right before her eyes. What was the emotion she was feeling now? Betrayal? Despair? One thing was certain: the friend from the past that Luise had wanted to protect so much was not flawless.
When pushed into a corner, people can do anything, and Giles was simply no different.
“I didn't want to remember you like this.”
With her eyes reddened, she glared at Giles, whose forehead was torn and bleeding, then put away the pistol and turned away abruptly. A subordinate who had returned seemed to ask something, but Luise walked right past him.
Giles, with both hands bound, balanced himself and stood up.
In his hand, he now held a stolen portable lighter.
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