Last Gun Alchemist

Veda walked slowly toward Bale after watching the others leave, his steps quiet against the grass as though even the ground understood the mood of that place and refused to make noise.

He stopped beside him, then leaned slightly forward, his eyes moved carefully—first to Bale’s right cheek, then to the left.

Both sides were red, almost swollen, tear marks still wet.

”You are crying...”

Veda said softly as he lowered himself to sit beside him, placing his weight down slowly so he wouldn’t disturb him too much.

Bale didn’t turn or react, his gaze just remained fixed ahead. At the graves.

Veda followed his gaze.

The two brothers sat side by side, quiet.

The wind moved through the grass, brushing against their clothes, carrying a strange calm that didn’t match what Bale was feeling inside.

Time passed.

”I couldn’t do anything...” Bale’s voice finally came out dry and heavy.

”They were just... dying... one after the other... right in front of me...”

His fingers twitched, his breathing grew uneven and then the memories came of the battle flashed in his mind.

Two of his people’s heads...Gone.

A Giant Ground Ape had broken through the castle wall, its arm forcing its way in, grabbing them before they could even move, before anyone could react and bite through their heads one by one, blood spraying like a fountain, another...A girl...Screaming on top her voice, desperately calling for help as the Lesser Ground Apes swarmed her, dragging her down, pulling her into the middle of them, tearing her clothes apart as she struggled, tossing her like a rag doll to each other and violating her for everyone to see in real time.

Bale’s stomach twisted.

He remembered it, too clearly, too vividly that he almost threw up.

Four more...Crushed, flattened. Under the foot of the Colossal Ground Ape.

The screams, the cries for help, the voices calling his name.

”Sir Bale...!”

”Help me...!”

”Please...I don’t want to die!”

They echoed, again and again in his head.

Bale grabbed his hair with both hands pulling hard, his body began to shake violently like he was trying to rip the memories out of himself.

Veda watched him silently. He didn’t stop him, didn’t interrupt, just left him to let all his emotion out.

”I hate it...”

Bale’s voice cracked as he leaned forward, grabbing Veda’s shirt tightly, his fingers curling into the cloth as his face pressed into it, his saliva soaking through as his breathing became rough.

”I hate all of it...”

”I tried... I tried so much to hold it in...”

His words came out uneven.

”I wanted to be strong... like you... like Big-sis...”

His grip tightened.

”But I couldn’t...” His voice broke. ”I couldn’t do it...”

Tears flowed down his face, uncontrolled.

”The more I tried to forget by working... the more I kept hearing their screams...”

His shoulders trembled.

”I couldn’t save them...I couldn’t do anything!”

”Why... why do we have to go through all of this...?”

He slammed his hands against his face.

Once, then again.

”All of them... all of them have parents... waiting for them to return...”

His fingers dug into the grass, pulling it out of the ground.

”Every single one of them... had dreams they wanted to achieve...”

His voice rose, breaking more.

”So why... why... why?!”

His fist slammed into the ground, again and again.

”I know... I know what this trial is about...”

His teeth clenched.

”We had to kill in the first trial and people still died in the second and the fourth...”

His voice dropped.

”But this one...This one is too cruel...They just kept coming...”

His grip tightened again on Veda’s shirt.

”Those damn Ground Apes... just kept coming...”

His breathing turned rough.

”No matter how many we killed... more came...”

His voice rose again.

”How were we supposed to deal with that...?!”

”We had to fight Lesser... Larger... Giant... and even a Colossal Ground Ape...!”

His body shook harder.

”I’m not strong enough for this...!” His voice cracked completely. ”We are just children... for God’s sake...”

He broke, completely crying, shaking, breathing unevenly as tears fell without stopping.

Veda sat beside him still, listening to everything he said.

His own hands tightened slightly, he felt it too.

The anger, the unfairness.

Children who had never been trained for normal combat, not even battle were forced into a death program, forced to kill and watch others die.

Yes...From a cold perspective, the trial made sense, but...Couldn’t it have been done differently? Why risk so many children’s lives? Why push them this far?

You shitty family...

Veda thought quietly.

He exhaled slowly.

”Honestly...” He finally spoke, his voice calm. ”You have to move on.”

Bale froze and looked at him, eyes wide.

”How...?”

”I don’t really know myself.”

Veda smiled softly, looking at him.

”All I know is this... as a leader...” He paused. ”Your people need you.”

”But I’m not a real leader!”

Bale suddenly shouted, pulling away as he swung his arm in frustration, his body turning slightly.

”I never wanted to lead anyone!”

His voice trembled.

”I just didn’t want to choose between you and Big-sis... that’s why I stayed alone...”

His head lowered.

”I didn’t want to be seen as favoring one side... because I knew it would cause problems between you both...”

Veda watched him, then sighed and smiled.

He stepped closer, reached out and rubbed Bale’s hair.

”You are still a year too young to be thinking about politics between me and Vera.”

He chuckled lightly.

”And on the bright side...” He paused. ”You are alive to fight another day.”

”Huh...?”

Bale looked at him, confused. Almost offended.

How could being alive be something good when others died because of him?

That was written clearly on his face.

”Don’t tell me...” Veda tilted his head slightly. ”You think your life is worthless?”

His tone turned slightly playful.

”Because if that’s the case...”

He leaned a bit closer. ”Then the people who fought beside you... died worthless deaths.”

”No!”

Bale shouted immediately, his voice breaking as it came out, his body jerking forward as he grabbed Veda’s collar with both hands, his fingers tightening around the fabric as if he was afraid the words would slip away if he didn’t hold on.

”Their lives weren’t worthless! Why would you even say that?!”

His eyes were wide, red filled with anger.

”And they didn’t die worthless deaths either.” Veda replied, his face straight.

Bale froze, his grip remained for a moment, then his eyes widened as the anger in them faltered.

”They all chose to fight until the very end of their lives...”

Veda continued, his voice calm, steady, not loud, but each word landing clearly.

”They chose not to run away.”

Bale’s fingers loosened slightly.

”And their deaths... led to more people surviving.”

His tone deepened.

”If they didn’t stand their ground... if they didn’t hold the line...”

A short pause. ”Things could have been worse.”

Bale’s hands slowly released Veda’s collar, his arms falling to his sides.

”Even though many of them came from my side... or Vera’s...”

Veda stood up, slowly.

”They still chose to die fighting under you... as their leader.”

He looked down at him.

A small smile forming.

”Honestly...” He paused. ”Not bad... for a group of people who are still just children.”

His smile widened slightly, showing his teeth.

”So, cry... and then rejoice, my brother!” His voice rose. ”Because not only do you have strong people standing with you...”

He pointed at him.

”But you are still alive to fight another day.”

”To grow stronger for their sake and to prove...”

His gaze sharpened slightly.

”That their deaths were not meaningless.”

He raised his fist, holding it out toward Bale.

Bale stared at it.

His breathing slowed; his tears stopped falling gradually.

The memories returned, not just the deaths, but everything else.

The moment they stood together, even while afraid, the way some of them hesitated, but still stepped forward, the way they shouted when they finally killed the last Ground Ape, the way their voices overlapped...Messy and loud, but together, the way they all dropped to their knees during the Scholar’s bow. Crying, not hiding it and now, even after all that...They were still working, still moving, still preparing for the third wave.

”Hahaha...”

A weak laugh slipped out of Bale, then a stronger one followed.

”Big-sis Vera told me... that the condition of a team depends on their leader’s mental strength...”

He wiped his face roughly with his sleeve.

”I was the one pushing everyone into anxiety... without even realizing it...”

He lifted his hand, then raised his fist bumping it lightly against Veda’s.

The wind passed between them, carrying bits of loose grass into the air.

”No more crying.”

Bale said, a wide smile forming on his face, though his eyes were still slightly red.

”It’s time to focus properly... on surviving this hell hole.”

”That’s my brother.”

Veda smiled back.

Meanwhile...Inside the castle...

Ezra and the medic girl were being led around the base by Fay and the girl who had earlier guided them to Bale.

They moved through different sections of the castle, their footsteps echoing lightly against the uneven ground as Fay pointed things out one after another.

”This is where everyone’s tents are set up...”

Rows of tents stretched across the area, some neatly arranged, others clearly rushed into place.

”And over there...”

She pointed again.

”That’s where we store our weapons and ammunition.”

Stacks of supplies were piled up, though not perfectly organized, showing signs of urgency and repeated use.

”And this...” She paused slightly. ”...was our training ground.”

Ezra tilted his head slightly, even without seeing, he could tell from the uneven ground and multiple collisions of wind that only occurs when there are too many obstacles around.

Half of the area was destroyed.

”Those Ground Apes really messed this place up...”

the medic girl said softly, her voice carrying a hint of pity.

”Well... the whole castle looked worse than this before...”

the girl leading them replied.

”We’ve just managed to clean a bit... to make it look clearer.”

Ezra followed behind them, listening and also thinking within himself.

If the second wave was this bad...It’s obvious the third wave will be worse.

He thought quietly.

I couldn’t see what was at the back where Bale was...But from the atmosphere alone...People definitely died.

He let out a small breath.

”Ezra.”

Fay called.

”Yeah.”

He replied immediately, turning toward her voice.

”I don’t know how much you’ll be able to help us with the laying out of traps...”

She hesitated slightly.

”But I really appreciate you coming to help.”

Her tone was sincere.

”Yeah... with his help, your group will definitely become stronger,” the medic girl added.

”His traps were a big part of our defense. Honestly... without them, we could have been in serious trouble.”

”Really?!”

the other girl reacted, grabbing the medic girl’s hands excitedly.

”I will do my best.”

Ezra replied simply.

”Thank you.”

the girl said.

”Can you take me outside?” Ezra asked. ”I want to try mapping the entire castle area in my mind.”

”Eh?” All three girls paused, confused.

”How are you going to do that... without your sight?” Fay asked.

”Don’t worry about that...” Ezra rubbed his chin slightly.

”Although... I’ll need at least two days to map everything properly to a level I’m satisfied with.”

The three girls looked at each other, still confused, but they didn’t question further.

”Okay... I’ll just take you outside to wherever you want to go.”

Fay said.

”Alright.” Ezra nodded.

Fay led him out while the two girls stayed behind.

They walked further away from the main structure of the castle to the open area on the battlefield, which was filled with uneven ground thanks to the group apes.

Ezra stopped, then slowly bent down placing his palm against the ground.

This time he released his Cognis, flowing into his hands. Enhancing his sense of touch and enhancing his hearing.

Inside his mind, a wave formed, like wind, spreading outward slowly.

He controlled it, limiting its range. So, he wouldn’t waste too much of his Cognis.

The waves moved.

Touching and colliding, with stones, sand, grass, tree roots and as it moved, something began to form.

An image, not clear, but the shape of the ground, the position of objects, the way the land rose and fell. All of it started to draft itself inside his mind slowly, but steadily.

Like a map being drawn, one piece at a time.