Chapter 38.05 – Scars and the Potion (Zane)
(Zane's POV)
Back then...
I lived like a stray dog.
Eating scraps, sleeping on wet dirt, punching anyone weaker than me for a few coins.
No honor.
No future.
Just blood, grudges, and the instinct to survive.
I was nobody.
A cheap thug, selling my fists for dirty work.
Sometimes guarding illegal warehouses.
Sometimes breaking legs for debt collectors.
Sometimes... just brawling in the underground pits.
And I was fine with it.
Because I lived by one simple rule:
If I didn't hit first, I'd be the one bleeding.
Until one night... I picked the wrong target.
The worst mistake of my life.
In the back alleys near the Steel District, I was ambushed.
Three men—faster, stronger, and far crueler than me.
I fought.
I lost.
Broken ribs, half-blinded eye, dumped like trash into the gutter.
I thought that was where my life would end.
But then—he appeared.
Footsteps, light but deliberate.
No rush. No fear.
Just the soft tap of boots on wet stone.
A young man in noble garb, wearing his cloak like he couldn't care less.
Long golden hair.
Eyes like shards of blue ice.
But what struck me most... was his expression.
Cold. Detached. As if the whole world had nothing to do with him.
He looked at me.
An empty glance, like someone seeing a dead cat by the road.
Then—with a motion so casual it almost seemed careless—
He tossed something toward me.
A small bottle.
A healing potion.
No words.
No pity.
He simply turned and walked away, as if I didn't matter.
But the potion worked.
My wounds closed just enough. My breath steadied.
And that night... I lived.
After that, I couldn't stay still.
Who was he?
Why save me?
Or...
Was it even on purpose?
Maybe he just tossed a leftover potion at random.
I didn't know.
But I couldn't forget.
So I searched.
No name. No description.
Just rumors.
Until one day, I heard about him—
A wasted noble heir. A drunken disgrace. The shame of House Takumi.
It fit.
The looks, the timing... everything.
But I hesitated.
The man they spoke of was filth.
But the man who saved me... even without a hint of kindness, had preserved my life.
Still, I had to be sure.
I infiltrated.
I signed up as a garden boy in the eastern estate of House Takumi.
Just to watch.
Just to confirm.
Five months.
Before dawn, after dusk, when no one was looking—
I trained.
Flesh torn.
Hands blistered.
Legs cramping every night.
No teachers.
No guidance.
Only street-learned techniques and a stubborn will.
If I became strong enough...
maybe I could stand close enough to the truth.
And eventually—
I was called up.
Transferred to the outer guard unit.
That's when I knew—
this was only the beginning.
A few weeks later...
Hideo Takumi stood in the training ground, surrounded by three hundred newly gathered soldiers.
"Listen carefully!" he commanded.
"You have ten breaths to divide yourselves into two companies of one hundred and fifty each! Fail, and you'll run a hundred laps around the grounds!"
No hesitation.
We moved.
Rough, instinctive formation. No wasted motion.
"Good," he said calmly.
"Each company splits into five platoons of thirty. Each platoon into three squads of ten!
You have half a stick of incense to appoint your leaders. Fail, and you'll be punished according to military code!"
His instructions—sharp, clear, absolute.
No room for excuses.
I maneuvered among the forming squads.
Somehow, those around me started glancing my way.
Some nodded.
Some whispered suggestions.
Minutes later...
The companies, platoons, and squads had formed.
And from the mass of voices, one name echoed louder than the rest—
"Zane! Zane will lead!"
Me—
once a gutter rat, now standing at the head of three full squads.
Their shoulders squared.
Their gazes steady.
Not because I spoke the loudest.
But because I had bled more.
Trained harder.
Endured longer.
That evening...
When Hideo Takumi's eyes swept across the soldiers and paused briefly on me—
He gave a slight nod.
No smile.
No praise.
But I understood.
Every scar, every night of pain, every lonely hour had not been in vain.
I don't know if he remembers that night.
Maybe he doesn't.
But it doesn't matter.
Because that night, in a forgotten alley with blood staining my skin...
He didn't just throw me a potion.
He gave me something else—
A reason to keep living.
Today, if I stand here as a squad commander...
Today, if men place their trust in me—
It's all because of one fleeting moment.
A moment he himself might have forgotten.
"My lord...
Even if you don't remember...
I will never leave your side.
Because of you, I am still here."
And from the barren ground of hatred,
A seed of loyalty was born—
One that would one day become the Vanguard of Takumi.