Chester had been strange lately.
Well, Chester had always been strange, but lately, he was becoming strange in a lot of different directions.
“Field work wasn’t easy today. Good job, everyone.”
As Ruite was returning to headquarters after finishing a mission, a dark silhouette sprinted toward him from afar.
It was none other than Chester, who immediately began inspecting Ruite’s body from head to toe.
“Are you hurt anywhere?”
“How do you even know my field schedule?”
“Any injuries?”
Ruite felt embarrassed under the gaze of the surrounding knights, but he dutifully answered that he was fine.
He had learned that the only way to stop Chester’s fussing was to give a firm, clear answer.
Lately, whenever Ruite returned from a mission, Chester appeared with alarming frequency to check on him.
To be honest, given their history, Ruite could let this slide.
They’d had a close call with an evolved monster recently, and since they’d even had a childish argument about the danger back then, he could understand Chester’s unnecessary panic.
The problem was his other behaviors.
Chester would drop by the Research Department office at all hours to find Ruite.
He explained to those around him that he was just killing time during his breaks, but honestly, who would believe that?
As the frequency increased day by day, it was obvious that curiosity was growing among the other members, including Dane.
Once, while everyone was resting, a knight asked point-blank: “Ruite, you must be really close with Captain Chester. Is there a specific reason he keeps coming to our office?”
Ruite managed to dodge that question, but there was one moment that truly startled him.
It was when he had stepped out of the office to organize some documents in the archives.
He ran into Chester outside the door and assumed he was using his break as an excuse again.
But the problem was Chester’s appearance.
He had clearly just returned from combat; his uniform was stained with dirt, and he was covered in small cuts and bruises.
When Ruite asked in shock why he hadn’t gone to the infirmary first, Chester let out a low hum as if he were only just realizing it.
“Ah, right. I guess so.”
Furthermore, if Ruite was seen talking even slightly warmly with other knights or walking with them, Chester would inevitably visit his room that night to ask:
‘Who was that person you were talking to? Are you two close?’
When Ruite would explain that it was only natural to be friendly with coworkers, Chester would scowl deeply.
‘They looked like an Alpha. Be careful. You have a tendency to show your true self to others too quickly. Don’t get closer than necessary to people.’
He even tried to block Ruite from eating with his new meal buddy, Dane, until Ruite finally managed to persuade him.
He pointed out that since he ate lunch with Dane and dinner with Chester, things were fair, which finally quieted the man down.
Checking for injuries was one thing, but forgetting to go to the infirmary or obsessively monitoring Ruite’s social life was definitely weird.
“That’s obviously jealousy, isn’t it?”
Ruite, who was resting in the lounge, flinched.
The words that caught his ear came from a group of knights huddled at another table.
They looked like Combat Department members, engaged in a heated discussion.
“He hates seeing you with other people. So he tries to keep them away by telling you not to get close. It’s classic gatekeeping.”
“Oh, whatever. You’re just saying that to brag, aren’t you?”
Ruite scratched his head as he watched the noisy group. He stood up quietly and left the lounge.
‘Jealousy.’
So, the constant visits and the warnings about other knights… was that all because Chester was jealous?
“…”
His steady pace came to a sudden halt. He bit his lip, staring blankly out the window.
“Ah, how annoying.”
However, Ruite’s face didn’t look angry at all.
Instead, it was contorted as if he were fighting a losing battle against a grin, and his face was flushed bright red.
After finally managing to calm down, he started walking again.
But that alone didn’t clear his doubts.
Lately, he’d also sensed a strange flick of anxiety coming from Chester.
Ruite’s head was filled with thoughts of Chester today.
By now, thinking about that guy had become as natural as breathing.
Just then, he saw a familiar back.
As the saying goes, speak of the devil and he shall appear.
Ruite’s face brightened the moment he realized it was Chester.
“Hey, Chester—”
But his voice didn’t reach him.
Chester wasn’t alone; Ciel was standing right beside him.
“This part is definitely worth noting.”
“You think so too, right?”
The two seemed to be discussing work.
Ruite stood still, staring at the backs of Ruite and Ciel.
Specifically, he stared at how close they were standing—their shoulders were almost touching.
Chester said something while looking at a document Ciel was holding, and Ciel met his eyes and nodded in agreement each time.
It didn’t even look like a strictly professional atmosphere.
Because Ciel said something that made Chester let out a small, genuine laugh.
‘He laughed.’
That prickly, rude guy.
You know how it is—when someone who is mean a hundred times acts kind just once, the impact is massive.
That was Chester.
Seeing a man who was fierce to everyone else laugh like that made the shock feel much greater.
Ruite knew why they were close because of what Ciel had told him before.
Ciel must have been a great mentor to Chester when he first became a Captain.
In fact, Ciel was always kind, never once raising his voice at Ruite or any other knight.
No one could possibly dislike a person like that.
Yes, he understood.
But regardless of whether he understood or not, weren’t they standing too close?
The question sprouted in his mind and grew uncontrollably, eventually weighing down his heart.
He was angry.
It was absurd that Chester, who scrutinized every person Ruite talked to and told him not to get close to anyone, was standing right there acting like that with Ciel.
“Thanks for the input.”
The conversation seemed to end, and Ciel naturally reached out and patted Chester’s hair.
It was a very casual, familiar touch.
“I’ll be going now.”
“Yes, sir.”
Ciel walked away.
As Chester turned around to leave, he spotted Ruite standing behind him.
“Ruite.”
His face lit up instantly, like a puppy finding its owner.
However, Ruite was usually too blunt to notice such subtle changes—and currently, he wasn’t in a state to notice them even if he were looking for them.
“What are you doing here?”
Ruite stared at Chester.
His gaze was intense.
Feeling embarrassed, Chester habitually cleared his throat and covered his mouth.
“You’re quite close with Captain Ciel, aren’t you?”
“Well, rather than ‘close,’ he’s just a reliable person. There are things I respect about him.”
“Ah—I see.”
“By the way, where are you going? I have some time before training starts, so let’s—”
“Chester.”
Ruite cut him off with a bright, airy smile.
At the sight of that vivid grin, Chester’s earlobes turned helplessly red.
“Starting today, I don’t want to have dinner with you anymore.”
“…What?”
But the blush didn’t last long.
Faced with a statement that felt like a bolt from the blue, Chester froze on the spot.
“And it makes the other members of the Research Department uncomfortable, so even if it’s your break, don’t come by anymore.”
“Hey, wait, why all of a sudden—”
“I’m going now.”
Ruite walked away coolly.
Only Chester remained, looking like he had been turned to ash by the shock of Ruite’s words.
Thump—!
The monster’s carcass slammed into the ground, sending a massive tremor through the area.
The Combat Department knights who had been fighting stared in awe at the man standing atop the monster’s corpse.
Chester pulled his sword from the monster’s head and gave it a light flick.
The blade shattered into shards of light and was absorbed back into his body.
Chester leapt down and landed lightly on the ground.
“Report the subjugation to the situation room.”
“Yes! Understood!”
At Chester’s command, everyone began to move in unison.
Some injured knights received treatment, while others contacted the situation room.
Some helped the Research Department members who had begun the post-battle processing.
“Hey, doesn’t Captain Chester seem in a really bad mood lately?”
“He’s been incredibly sensitive. Did you see him fighting that monster just now? The murderous intent in his eyes was…”
“Move your hands, not your mouths.”
They were whispering, but Chester had heard them like a ghost.
At his sharp command, the knights stiffened and moved faster.
Chester sighed and rubbed his forehead.
Lately, he’d been getting sensitive and angry over the smallest things.
He had something weighing on his mind.
A few days ago, Ruite had declared that he shouldn’t visit anymore and that they wouldn’t eat dinner together.
Since then, he’d run into Ruite at headquarters or in the dorms—since their rooms were close.
Each time, Ruite’s reaction was technically the same as always, but something was subtly different.
It felt like a cold wind was blowing.
Because of the declaration, he felt the change even more sharply.
Back in their Academy days, Ruite used to avoid him.
Seeing the current situation overlap with those memories made Chester’s anxiety grow by the day.
The problem was that this was clearly different from when Ruite was just avoiding him.
Now, Ruite wasn’t exactly avoiding him; he was just treating him coldly.
Even after returning to headquarters, Chester couldn’t stop sighing.
“Hey, Chester!”
Varen, who had no idea what was going on, ran up with a cheerful laugh.
“How’s your evening looking?”
“Why.”
“Vice-Commander Elka gave me some good liquor. She told me to enjoy it with the squad. You’re not on duty today, right? Let’s drink! I’m going to invite the others too.”
If Vilter was the Vice-Commander of Research, Elka was the Vice-Commander of Combat. These two were the second-in-command at headquarters, just below Hale.
“Count me out. I don’t really like those things.”
“Aw, come on. You really won’t come?”
“No.”
“Ruite said he was coming, though. Well, if you don’t want to, I guess I can’t help it.”
At the mention of Ruite’s name, Chester’s head snapped around.
