I Became the Golden Sun That Steals the Academy’s Aircraft

86. Revealing the map

“Hey, why did Mr. Gilbert suddenly join? Mr. Fermo too.”

“Do you understand it’s me? No, you joined the search party because of some kind of wind… I’m dying of anxiety.”

Wild-haired Johnson and messy-haired Roel whispered as they looked at Gilbert and Fermo, who were looking around in the middle of the line.

These two weren’t the only ones whispering like this. Most of the rangers who participated in the search party were dying to be joined by high-ranking people.

They were puzzled by the departure of the search party, which was about 30 minutes later than scheduled, but became very nervous when the commander-in-chief and his deputy suddenly appeared.

Even though it is a special Ranger unit, aren’t they just regular soldiers in the end?

I couldn’t help but feel nervous when suddenly the highest commanding authorities voluntarily joined the search party. It was no joke that if even a book was caught, he would be dishonorably discharged that day.

Fortunately, I was just quietly observing the search to see if they had come out to audit the unit, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something, considering the number of searchers had doubled.

“While these bastards are talking, take a look around! No matter who comes to the search party, we just have to do our job.”

Leyla, who was the commander of the Ranger unit and the leader of this search party, struck Johnson and Roel on the back of the head one by one.

The two of them got hit on the back of the head for no reason and could barely suppress the cries that were about to burst out.

This crazy captain even his hands are spicy, damn it! Damn.

The two of them babbled even quieter so that Layla couldn’t hear them, but even if they were looking at the other person the wrong way, it was a mistake for a long time.

“I’ll go back and show you what a crazy captain is.”

“Such nonsense… I’m so fed up! This.”

When Johnson, who had a loud mouth, swore, Raila’s eyes turned even colder. Realizing that this was an ultimatum, Roel elbowed Johnson in the side and covered his mouth.

“I’m sorry, Captain!”

“Shut up and search.”

“Yep!”

Leila sighed as she watched the two of them going inside through the forest grass. The two’s skills were among the best among the Rangers, but that guy’s personality was the problem.

Of course, he knew that his personality wasn’t that good, but those two were a famous duo in the unit.

There were more than one occasion where we had trouble getting into trouble by going around to check if we were a good fit.

The good news is that it doesn’t go beyond a certain limit?

Leila shook her head as if to shake the inhumane duo out of her mind, then cast her gaze at Gilbert, who had been appointed as commander-in-chief this time.

He had already heard rumors that Gilbert, who was famous in the public for being an asshole, had changed, but seeing him in person gave him a strange feeling.

The residents of Wiesbark were still on guard, fearing that the damn thing might explode at any moment. Considering that they had suffered from Gilbert for quite some time, it was not impossible to understand their reaction.

It was common for women to be scolded for being obtrusive, or for pretty-looking women to be harassed. Since the period exceeded the time for the river and mountain to change, it was like a kind of conditioned reflex.

But there were always exceptions.

There were people who benefited from what could be said to be Gilbert’s whims, and Leila fell into that category.

Born into an ordinary commoner family, Leila was the child of a well-known hunter in Wiesbark. As usual, with her blunt father and nagging mother, she lived a normal life with her younger brother some distance from Wiesbark.

A very ordinary life, complaining to her mother about waking up early in the morning, and being rude to her father when he went hunting.

There was a time when I felt that such an ordinary life was boring, but was satisfied with a stable daily life.

At that time, Leila’s immediate goal was to follow her hunter father and become the best hunter in the Lithuanian territory.

Of course, that was not the end.

As she was a young girl, her dream was to become a hunter who would make a name for herself even outside of Lithuania.

Fortunately, her talent was exceptional, perhaps because she inherited the blood of her father, a hunter who was famous in the Lithuanian territory, which was quite large in the empire.

Her bow skills, as well as her ability to track down her prey, were incomparable to those of children her age. If time had passed, it would not have been unreasonable for her to have become the best hunter in the Infractus Empire, just as she had dreamed.

But did anyone do that?

Misfortune had a way of coming quietly.

On the day of her misfortune, Leila left her home alone to practice the hunting skills her father had taught her. She secretly left the house because she wanted to quickly hone her hunting skills.

She was so immersed in hunting that she lost track of time and returned to her house around sunset. She didn’t see her mother, who normally would have to wait until the end of the day to scold Leila for not returning.

At that moment, Layla had an ominous feeling. She rushed home and had to face red blood leaking out of her door.

Leila opened the door to her house with her trembling hands and sat down. There were traces of scratches with her sharp claws all over her house, and the corpses of her family members, half of whose bodies had been torn off, appeared before my eyes.

As she was devastated by the sight, she was able to recall the story her father had told her not long ago about a huge beast. The saying that they are chasing a monster that has been transformed under the influence of mana.

If she caught that monster, she would be treated better than she was now, and the image of her father, burning with his fighting spirit, flashed before her eyes.

She intuitively realized right then and there that it was the monster her father had mentioned that had caused this tragedy.

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After that, things literally proceeded like water. She was still young, but without shedding a single tear, she went to her security guard and revealed the progress of the incident. The investigation team that was immediately formed concluded that she was the work of a beast that had evolved to the level of a monster.

But it was very difficult to find the hidden beast. This was because it was not the security’s decision to deal with an incident that occurred some distance away, not even in the center of the territory.

The guards were already overwhelmed with work just dealing with what was happening in the territory, so it was difficult to deal with the monster right away.

It was devastating news for Leila, who was burning with her revenge.

But at that moment, there was a spiral, and that was Gilbert.

Gilbert, who was famous as a madman instead of a wealthy knight like he is now, gave an order to catch the monster that attacked Leila’s family as a top priority.

Although it was a mess, the work was done quickly, probably because the heir of the Count Hart family gave instructions directly. I didn’t even know if it was because it was a reasonable order and not a stupid thing to do for the first time in a long time.

Whatever the reason, the knight dispatched from the Hart family led the territory guards and set out to subdue the monster that attacked Leila’s family.

How much time has passed since they left?

The monster suppression team that went outside the territory eventually returned after subduing the monster.

She was psychologically driven by the thought that she might not be able to avenge her family, but at that moment, her tension melted away and she cried loudly as her world left her.

Her father, mother, and younger brother seemed to be resting comfortably, so she poured out her whole heart on the spot.

She cried for a long time until her tear ducts dried up, and at some point she stopped crying.

After burying my family in my heart, I had something to do.

Leila wiped away her tears and, with swollen eyes, immediately submitted an application for admission to the Ranger Academy. Her tuition was quite expensive, but she was able to somehow pay for it with her parents’ inheritance.

After all of her years of arduous training, she graduated from the Ranger Academy at the top of her class and immediately committed herself to the Hart family. She did it because she thought that was the only way she could repay Gilbert for taking her revenge on her behalf.

She may have been a bastard’s whim, but if she hadn’t been ordered to deal with a beast that had become a monster, Leila might not have been able to avenge her family.

Leila still couldn’t forget the sight of a monster the size of her house being loaded onto her cart and passing through her front door.

Yes, it was like that back then.

Leila, who was tracing her memories from her distant past, smiled faintly so that it could not be seen even by the crew around her. Unlike her usual expression, she looked relaxed.

Leila pretended to look around her and cast a glance at Gilbert and Fermo.

No, she was specifically looking at Gilbert.

Layla has been watching Gilbert ever since, from the count’s greatest asshole to being called the rising divinity of the empire.

At first she just wanted to return the favor for avenging her family.

After losing her family and being left alone in her world, she needed a goal to continue her life, and that was to repay her favor.

I also endured the arduous Ranger Academy.

She devoted herself to the Countess of Hart at a young age.

It was all for that reason. She may have created a reason to live by force, but at that time, even a forceful reason was needed.

As time passed and precious people began to appear one by one, she gradually found her stability. In order to hide her anxious mind, she became relaxed in her daily life where she was looking for something to do as if she was being chased by someone.

But still, she was looking at Gilbert.

It was none other than him who helped her live again.

It didn’t matter that others would call her a fool and that he wouldn’t remember her.

All of this was her self-satisfaction.

She once had a conversation with her unit members. The captain asked why she didn’t even meet men. She dismissed it at the time, saying she had no intention of meeting a man, but when she was left alone, she began to seriously reflect on herself.

As she told her unit members, she had no intention of meeting a man.

Until now, she had been living with the obsessive thought of repaying Gilbert’s favor, so she did not have the heart to turn her eyes to a man now.

Then, will she live alone for the rest of her life like this?

She thought so while laughing.

But she suddenly realized something. There was only one man I had looked at for almost half my life.

She shook her head to shake the thought away as soon as it occurred to her, of course. She was not looking at it as a member of the opposite s*x, but to find a goal in her life.

But is it because we are aware of that fact?

It became an opportunity for her to look into her own mind more.

As time passed, Layla finally admitted.

It seemed as if she had caught up with Gilbert in her heart.

Of course, no matter how crazy she was, considering the difference in social status, she was a stranger.

He was the heir to the great Count Hart family, and Leila was merely the captain in charge of the Count Hart family’s ranger unit.

She was deeply aware of the difference in the status she was born into.

Is that all?

Up to now, he was an imperial divinity who was awarded a knighthood as an academy cadet.

The difference not only in the status of birth but also in the reputation accumulated throughout life has become so wide that it is impossible to keep up.

But I guess that was a good thing. She was the one who had vowed not to reveal this feeling of hers anyway.

Just watching from afar like this was enough for Leila.

I truly thought so.

Until he calls.

“Commander Layla.”

“Yep!”

Layla was pulled out of her thoughts by Gilbert’s sudden call and hurriedly ran to him. It seemed like he discovered something while talking to Fermo.

“Did you call me?”

“If I remember correctly, Vice Commander Leila had a father who was a famous hunter, right?”

“Well, how did you do that…?”

Rail’s voice trembled slightly at Gilbert’s unexpected words.

“I just remember the incident a long time ago when a wild beast grew to the level of a monster.”

“Ah…!”

Do you remember that?

Leila’s heart began to beat faster little by little.

I felt like the sound of my pounding heart was ringing in my ears.

“So, there’s something I’d like to ask Captain Leila. If Captain Leila, he must have inherited some hunting skills from his father, right?”

“Yes, that’s right!”

Layla answered in a louder voice than usual, trying not to make her heart beat loudly. It was contrary to how she told Johnson and Roel to be quiet earlier, but she didn’t notice.

I was just happy that he remembered me.

“I understand. Then, I would like you to look at the traces on this side.”

“I’ll do my best!”

“Hmm…”

Leila turned this overwhelming, indescribable feeling into a sense of mission and looked at the place that Gilbert had pointed out.

Perhaps today would be remembered as one of the most unforgettable days in her life.