After escaping from Aaron's clutches, Lubbock endured the cold sensation from his hands and ran wildly with the near-dead Bulat.
In fact, less than a minute after leaving, Lubbock realized that his opponent's choice to transform with Incursio probably wasn't to hunt him down, but to show that he 'still had the ability to hunt him down.'
Simply put, Lubbock suspected that young man had no strength left to fight, and he had forced himself to use the Teigu's power to—scare him off.
But even knowing this, Lubbock wouldn't choose to turn back and settle the score.
Setting aside the fact that he felt there was *some* truth to the man's words... okay, I can't have that thought.
Everything is for the people and for Miss Najenda!
Putting the man's words aside, Lubbock didn't think he could guarantee a win against that white-haired girl.
Although this mission was Bulat's idea, Lubbock himself had agreed to it.
In other words, Lubbock felt he also had to take responsibility for this mission's failure.
Losing the powerful Teigu [Incursio] was, without a doubt, a huge loss for Night Raid.
But Lubbock had no time to worry about that now.
Because—his important comrade, Bulat, was in a state of being physically cold, and also, in fact, about to be cold for good.
If his comrade died because he failed to take down his enemy in time—if that really happened, even if no one else said anything, Lubbock would never forgive himself.
Bulat, just hang on a little longer.
Once I find our contact, I'll send you to the secret base for treatment.
So before that...
——You better not die on me!
....................
Several hours later, in a certain forest
As he gradually regained consciousness, Aaron slowly opened his eyes.
Ah, an unfamiliar...
Oh, this is a forest. No ceiling.
"...You're finally awake."
Kiana, hearing the slight noise Aaron made as he woke up, opened her eyes slightly, looked at Aaron's body, and let out a helpless sigh.
"I used to think I was reckless enough, but I never thought you'd be even more reckless than me."
"Next time you're about to do something crazy, can you please think about the consequences? Gushing blood every time is really scary, you know."
"Even if you say that... it was the only way to win at the time."
Propping up his aching body, Aaron endured the pain and was about to take something out of his storage space.
"Alright, you just rest. I used three cans of hemostatic spray, washed your body with clean water, and applied all the medicine. If you move around again and tear your wounds open, I'm seriously not going to bother with you."
"Okay."
"And really, this time... did we really need to fight those two?"
Seeing that Aaron didn't look like anything was wrong, Kiana asked the question that had been on her mind for a long time.
"If you hadn't said those things back then, we might not have ended up fighting them, right?"
"Do you... really hate that organization's higher-ups that much?"
"That's part of the reason. After all, my hometown was once... oh, to use this world's terms, 'invaded by foreign tribes'."
"A lot of heroes emerged at that time. But a lot of trash who sold out the country's interests for their own benefit also appeared. And that trash led to even more casualties."
"Of course I despise the invaders. Their descendants still haven't shown much remorse to this day. But in the end, if those invaders didn't have people leading the way, they might not have had the chance to be so arrogant."
"This is my personal judgment, full of subjective opinions—but I think for that kind of trash, being a little subjective is fine."
After that long speech, Aaron took out some mineral water to rehydrate, then continued with a sneer.
"That organization, in my eyes, is just like that group of people who sell out their country's interests. This country is rotten, but the people in that organization aren't much better. The thought of those people righteously trying to recruit me... I just... couldn't hold back."
"Of course, I don't regret saying those things. After all, our mission is to seize Teigu, so we'll clash with those guys sooner or later. Rather than facing a stronger version of them after they've developed, it's better to just take their Teigu here and now—that was my judgment."
"Well said, but..."
Kiana gently poked Aaron's skin. Seeing him suck in a cold breath, she said in exasperation,
"This is the result. I see you being so cautious all the time. Why are you so reckless when it comes to fighting?"
"No, preparing enough items is for clearing the mission. The opportunity to clear the mission was right in front of me, so I just grabbed it. Nothing wrong with that."
"In the end, from the moment I rode a motorcycle to ram someone, my mode of operation had nothing to do with the word 'cautious'."
"It probably hasn't even been twenty-four hours since we arrived in this world, and I've already fallen unconscious three times."
"Do you think a truly cautious person would let that happen?"
...........................