Chapter 157: The Captain’s Terrifying Mood
Because!
Recently, their Captain Dominic looked very scary!
He became terrifying beyond anything they had ever experienced!
On the way back from Dalmasca Kingdom, his mood had been good the entire journey.
Even after returning to the capital, the first two days were still tolerable.
But after that, day by day, the captain’s temper becoming worse and worse.
Now, it had gone past freezing; it felt as if standing within five meters of him would be enough for his icy aura to encase them in ice and crushing them into pieces.
Even when he stepping into his office was frightening.
Louis tried as much as possible to avoid it, but inevitably there were times when duty demanded his presence. And of course, those times were always now—when the captain’s temper was at its peak.
He knocked the door lightly while trembling, "I... I’ll come in..."
He stepped inside quietly feeling terrified, only to have Captain Dominic’ gaze slice into him like steel sharper than ice.
His sensitive heart froze on the spot under that piercing glare.
The shattered pieces of his heart screamed in pain.
"What is it?"
"I... I have business, sir!" Louis thought, trying to keep his tears from falling while dodging the energy beam of fear shooting from the captain’s eyes.
Fortunately, he managed to make it to Shiao Yi who is only a few steps away from him though it felt impossibly far.
When Shiao Yi noticed him and looked up, Louis tried to hand him a stack of documents, but the captain’s low, ominous voice cut through the room, "Don’t burden Shiao Yi with any more work. Just show it to me."
"Yikes!"
Louis’ body almost jumped on its own.
He forced himself to turn slowly toward the captain. His movements were stiff, like a wind-up toy running out of oil.
The captain who is full of bad mood held out his hand over the desk and silently commanding him to give the papers over.
Louis felt like crying. He could cry, right?
With a trembling body, he handed the documents to the captain.
His hands shook uncontrollably.
"This is... quite a lot, isn’t it?"
The voice was deep, low, like it had crawled up from the bottom of hell.
Louis had brought documents collected from other squad members who had been too scared to enter the office themselves.
That made the pile even bigger.
"They’re applications and reports I collected... please, sir," Louis said nervously.
His fear betrayed him.
The moment the papers touched the captain’s hand, they collapsed and scattered across the desk.
"Oh no! I-I’m sorry!"
That was it. Louis had reached his limit.
Pretending he had delivered the documents, he turned around and fled from the office as fast as he could.
Louis panted heavily, his back pressed against the door he had just slammed shut.
From the corners of the hallway, the other squad members were watching him. If you feel sorry, then bring it yourself! he thought. I swear, my lifespan just dropped by ten years!
Was Shiao Yi who is inside that room completely fine? A true hero, he thought.
Even during training, the captain was fully present.
When Louis shouted orders and led the sword training with his rough, commanding voice, a tense hush suddenly swept in from the corridor side.
He didn’t even need to turn around to know—it was him approaching.
With every step he took, the training hall, which had been filled with sweat and the lively energy of soldiers practicing, grew cold and stiff.
It was the kind of cold that made it feel like you could hear a single needle drop.
Reluctantly, Louis shifted his gaze and saw the captain moving through the frozen soldiers without expression.
"Taking a break?"
"Resume the sparring!"
Louis forced his almost-hoarse voice to shout the command.
"Y-yes..."
The soldiers managed to squeeze out responses and awkwardly restarted their training.
Their arms and legs moved like disconnected puppets, all out of sync.
Clash!
Clatter!
Thud!
Swords that should never be dropped fell one by one, shields toppled over, and soldiers fell on their butts.
"Whoa, someone fell over the railing on the corridor side. Impressive balance, I guess..."
Why did you have to fall into the horse’s water bucket?
It was a parade of mistakes no knight squad should make.
Even the newest soldiers wouldn’t be this clumsy.
Louis felt tears rising.
I’m going to cry... I really am...
The temperature around the captain dropped even further.
The diamond dust sparkled in the freezing air.
Before the captain could speak, Louis shouted frantically: "Everyone, immediately run ten laps outside! Start now!"
No one hesitated. The swords were thrown aside and everyone bolted out without looking back. Don’t come back until the captain leaves, he thought.
Later, Louis and the others gathered for an emergency meeting. Of course, Captain Dominic was kept in the dark.
"I can’t take this anymore! I feel like my stomach is going to cave in!"
"I even see the captain’s face in my dreams! I wake up screaming in terror so many times!"
"I got the royal healer to give me sedatives to stay sane."
Louis was at his limit.
His appetite had disappeared completely.
Where he used to go for five second servings, he now barely managed two.
The complaints spilled out, but not a single member wanted to quit the knight squad.
Although they were scared of the captain, they all admired and respected him deeply.
"The captain’s bad mood? Honestly! It’s all Shiao Yi’s fault, isn’t it!"
Lyon raised his index finger and declared it confidently.
He was a man whose talents as an administrator outshone his skill as a knight.
If he were a bit braver, he might even be recommended as the captain’s assistant.
But he was terrified of the captain.
His calm personality worked perfectly with Misija, who, despite looking like a giant gray bear had a kind nature.
"Shiao Yi? Did he do something that make the captain angry?"