Endurance, med bay.
Now.
.
Vokes sat quietly in his seat, watching Apothecary Leo tend to his wounds.
As though he had done this many times before, Vokes automatically raised his arms or turned around to make it easier for Leo to apply the medicine.
Compared to the quiet, somewhat weak-looking Vokes, Hades beside him was practically shining with excitement.
Sensing Hades's gaze, Vokes gave him an apologetic smile and softly spoke in Barbarus dialect.
"Hello, Senior Hades. I'm Vokes, a Death Guard from southern Barbarus. You may not know me."
"No, no, Vokes, the rising star from the south—I've heard Mortarion praise you."
At Hades's words, Vokes's eyes lit up for a moment before instantly returning to that deadened expression.
Unlike Hades, who had only just begun training, Vokes had already endured several months of hellish training. The spirit and excitement he had felt upon joining the legion had long since been worn away.
All that remained was the silence of gritting his teeth and enduring hardship.
Vokes gave a bitter smile.
"Did you just join Seventh Company, Senior? I haven't seen you before."
"Hey, no need to be formal. We're the same rank in the legion now, so just call me Hades."
"I only arrived a couple of days ago, though. I was injured before, so I rested a while longer."
Apothecary Leo stood and gestured to Vokes, indicating that his injuries had been treated.
[Thank you.]
Vokes nodded at the Apothecary in response.
Hades raised an eyebrow.
"Vokes, what did you just say?"
"It was High Gothic. It means thank you."
So that was it!
Hades looked at the Apothecary and copied Vokes, offering his own thanks.
Apothecary Leo showed little reaction. He nodded, gathered his tools, and headed into the room beside the med bay, leaving the two men from Barbarus space to talk.
"Vokes, are we the only two recruits in Seventh Company right now? Or did I just not see anyone else because it's my first day?"
"As far as I know, Seventh Company only seems to have requested two recruit slots."
"Why?"
Vokes could not stop himself from wanting to smile bitterly again. Could he say that he did not know either?
Clearly, Lord Mortarion had found his blood relatives, Barbarus had received the Imperium's aid, and the Death Guard resistance could now join the legion.
So why was he the one with such rotten luck?
Vokes looked at Hades across from him. No, he was not the only unlucky one.
After undergoing the augmentation surgery, Vokes had been assigned to Seventh Company. At first, he had been puzzled as to why he seemed to be the only one heading toward Seventh Company's position.
Then he arrived at Seventh Company and discovered that he really was the only recruit?!
At first, Vokes wondered whether he had been assigned to the wrong place, but Blanca, who came to receive him, looked directly at him and told Vokes with his eyes—yes, you brat. Stop hesitating.
Then Vokes began wondering whether he had offended someone and been assigned to Seventh Company alone.
In truth, Vokes had indeed offended someone on Barbarus.
As a newcomer who had fought his way out of an obscure little village in the south, Vokes relied on extraordinary tenacity to survive several infamous meat-grinder battles in the south, earning considerable military merit.
But that also angered the leader of the southern Death Guard—Calas Typhon. In some battles, Vokes's reputation had eclipsed Calas's.
Calas believed those victories had come from his own advance planning and strategy, not because of "some particularly valiant warrior."
Vokes knew he was partly in the wrong, but he also knew Calas was simply venting his anger without reason. So he deliberately kept a low profile and did not compete with him.
Could Calas Typhon have been behind this?
After all, Calas Typhon was currently in First Company, and he had a good relationship with Lord Mortarion. Could he have arranged this?
But later, Vokes abandoned that ridiculous and childish thought.
This legion from the Imperium had its own tightly interlocking rules. How could a commander from some insignificant planet alter those rules?
Which meant Vokes had been selected by Seventh Company.
As he got to know more afterward, Vokes learned that Seventh Company was renowned throughout the legion for its high combat capability.
Compared with other Companies, Seventh Company's methods for training recruits were simpler and more brutal.
While other Companies were still teaching firearm use, weapon maintenance, or basic movements, Blanca, who oversaw Seventh Company's recruit training, simply threw Vokes into the training cage and had him begin live combat training immediately.
Whenever he spent a week barely managing to defeat a Combat Servitor, an even tougher opponent would await him.
Blanca also forbade Vokes from wearing his Power Armor helmet. That meant Vokes, unable to speak the language, could not communicate with Blanca. The helmet translators were currently one-way only and could not translate what others said.
Although the newly joined Barbarus natives had all been asked to study High Gothic, no mandatory order had yet been issued. Most recruits therefore muddled through by relying on their helmet translators.
Some Barbarus natives with greater foresight, hoping to earn a position in the legion, had already begun teaching themselves High Gothic.
Vokes, meanwhile, had been forced into it. If he did not learn, he would have to suffer losses in training without even being able to voice his grievances.
After mastering some basic conversation, Vokes tried communicating with Blanca. It was clear that Blanca was quite pleased that Vokes had taught himself High Gothic.
Blanca now taught Vokes some combat strategies as well, telling him that once he defeated the Combat Servitor's alpha-3 maximum lethality mode, he could move on to the next stage of training—marksmanship and the like.
In short, compared to his earlier self-doubt and despair, Vokes had instead come to accept things during their daily, unceasing sparring.
Perhaps this was what the warriors here had experienced in past wars: no exhilarating slaughter, only bitter persistence in desperate situations.
If you held on, you won.
Just as Vokes had done before—hold on, remain standing when the enemy fell, and then claim victory.
As long as you held on.
Thinking of this, and of his own past experiences, Vokes could not help feeling a little sympathy for Senior Hades, who had just arrived.
Perhaps Senior Hades had only just begun fighting the Combat Servitor's intermediate mode.
Looking at the energetic Hades across from him, along with that question of "Why?"
Vokes thought for a moment before finally speaking slowly.
"Maybe it's because we met some of Seventh Company's standards for recruit training."
"And most likely, only the two of us met those standards."
In fact, if he looked at it that way, being assigned to train in the same company as the man known as "the Ghost of Barbarus" meant, in a sense, that Vokes had also been recognized by this company.
Vokes had seen the miserable state of the Alien Lord Hades had slain alone.
Hearing Vokes's answer, Hades across from him was clearly even more curious about the Seventh Company they were in, eager to ask a whole string of questions.
Senior Hades was completely unlike the silent, mature ghostly figure Vokes had imagined.
Happy reading ()
I'm having one of my episodes again. I just saw my genderbent Mortarion wallpaper while writing.
Aaaahhh, ahhh, give me genderbent Mortarion!! I want cuddles!!! Stoic, white-haired, tsundere, slender, and tough—aaaahhh!!!
I want to transmigrate and become Grandfather Nurgle directly, so I can toy with Mortarion!!!
Before you continue