TWELVE Ch 4

“Please leave.”

Giovanni rose from his seat, his eyes lingering on Romeo without letting the trace of a smile fade. The soldiers opened the door for him, but he did not leave immediately; instead, he stood looking down at Romeo before exiting the interrogation room with a leisurely stride, neither hesitating nor looking around, just as he had when he first entered. One soldier saluted Romeo and closed the door to escort the man out of the base.

Once the interrogation room became quiet again, Romeo raised his hand and rubbed his slightly furrowed brow.

The remaining task was to listen to Gallienus’s report and then, together with him, report the results of the interrogation to Lieutenant Colonel Clement Monte, who was in charge of Vittorio’s torture. Romeo remained looking down at the table with his hand pressed to his forehead until the sound of footsteps outside the door vanished completely, then he rose from his seat. Fumbling with his hands to pick up the documents regarding Giovanni’s criminal record and the lecture log, he walked out of the interrogation room as the soldier guarding the door opened it for him.

“You are leaving later than usual today.”

It was a rainy late night.

Gallienus was looking down at Romeo, who was stamping documents in the office of the commander of the 2nd Company, 1st Battalion, 1st Regiment within the 6th Corps base. Because there was much work to process, the hour had grown later than usual. Holding an ink pen, Romeo was hunched over so deeply that his nose nearly touched the office desk. Marking the spot to be stamped with his left hand, he moved his right hand slowly, signing his name in a jagged, uneven script.

“Enzo will be causing trouble again since it is raining like this. I am worried.”

Enzo was Romeo’s eight-year-old second younger brother. Every time it rained, he cried, saying the sound of thunder was scary, so on nights when it rained heavily, Romeo invariably stopped by home. Pietro, the eighteen-year-old eldest brother, did not care even if the young sibling was on the verge of tears.

“Go safely. It is raining hard.”

Romeo, who could not read letters unless he looked at them from a close distance, finished the stamping with his head pressed close to the documents and set the ink pen down. The sound of rain heard from beyond the window behind his back was fierce.

Sitting up straight, Romeo felt a stiffness in his nape and handed the documents to Gallienus.

“Shall I see you home? Will you be alright?”

Romeo picked up the cap of the ink bottle, closed the bottle, and lifted it right up to his eyes to check if it was closed properly.

“It is fine, do not worry.”

Gallienus, standing straight with the documents tucked between his right arm and waist, followed with his eyes as Romeo set the ink bottle down. Romeo gestured with his eyes toward the cane he had leaned against one side of the desk.

“I intend to take the cane.”

“That is the cane you used a while ago. Is it not old? Why not use a new one?”

Because Gallienus had entered the military academy late and graduated late, his rank was still low despite being twenty-five years old. Tall with soft chestnut hair and warm light green eyes, he possessed a serious personality.

Since Romeo was not a difficult superior, Gallienus did not hesitate to ask if he had a concern. Having served under Romeo ever since he was commissioned as a second lieutenant, he had known Romeo for over five years by the calendar count.

“It is still usable.”

Romeo picked up his cap from the desk and brought it before his eyes; after feeling the insignia of the Republic Army and the red embroidery in the center of the cap with his hands, he placed it properly on his head.

“It seems your eyes have become worse than before.”

“It seems they are worsening little by little without me noticing. It cannot be helped. It is not something that can be fixed.”

Gallienus’s face became somber because he remembered that, as recently as last spring, Romeo had been able to stamp documents and arrange his sleeves more easily than he did now. It was only natural to worry when his young superior’s eyesight was failing year by year.

“If stamping documents is a hassle, please leave it to me. The same goes for fastening the buttons on your sleeves. I will look after you.”

“It is alright. I can still manage, so do not worry.”

Romeo adjusted the cap on his head with his hand to ensure the insignia was positioned correctly in the center, then swept back his stray hair to neaten it. Rising from his seat with his cane in hand, he looked toward the window although he could not see. While Gallienus opened the door and waited, Romeo approached the doorway, sweeping the floor with his cane.

As the two stepped into the hallway and began to walk, the light from the lamps hanging on the walls illuminated the tips of the two officers’ well-polished boots. Walking down the hallway in silence, the two reached the end of the corridor where the stairs continued and came to a halt.

Gallienus raised his hand and saluted Romeo, who was shorter than himself.

“Get home safely, Captain.”

Romeo raised his hand toward Gallienus, whose facial outlines appeared as a blur, returned the salute, and descended the stairs. As he went down one step at a time while looking down, the cane made a thud, thud sound as it hit the steps. Behind his back, the sound of Gallienus’s footsteps going up the stairs gradually grew distant and soon could not be heard.

The central tower, where the officers’ offices and the dining hall were clustered, had a long spiral staircase stretching from the top to the first floor. The staircase, twisted in a circle like a snail shell, had nothing to lean on except a waist-high railing. Because there were no windows connecting to the outer walls, the surroundings were dark, requiring reliance on the light of candles hung on the walls; for Romeo, the stairs were an exceptionally safe place. This was because every step was of a uniform height, and there were no obstacles to trip over or block his vision.

Romeo had once thought that even if the day came when he could not see at all, he would not feel the stairs here were dangerous.

By the time he reached the first floor, the sound of rain was extremely loud. As he left the tower with his cane gripped in his hand, the rain poured down onto his military cap and shoulders. His gloves and boots were soaked through with rainwater in an instant, and his uniform clung tightly to his body.

Romeo passed through the pitch-black parade ground and went past the west tower used by the officers of the 2nd Regiment. Near the west tower were the quarters where the military doctors stayed and the stables where the officers’ horses were kept, and a little further on were the quarters for the enlisted men. The gray walls surrounding the entire base looked more desolate and bleak than usual, and only the torches lighting various spots glowed faintly in the darkness.

In the distance, the entrance of the giant iron gate was dimly visible; beneath it were soldiers standing guard and taking the rain.

The two soldiers watched Romeo walking toward them, and once he was at a distance where his face could be seen, they raised their hands in salute. They waited in that posture until Romeo was right in front of them; after Romeo raised the hand not holding the cane to return the salute and then lowered it, they lowered theirs in turn. From the guard post atop the wall installed for checking entrants, a guard verified Romeo’s face and recorded his name in the logbook.

One of the soldiers checked the entry permit Romeo handed over, gave it back, and unlatched the iron gate. As the two soldiers pushed the door with their hands together, it made a dismal creeeeak.

“Be careful.”

The soldier who had pushed the door fully open toward the outside pointed toward the ground with his palm. Knowing that Romeo was a blind captain, he watched Romeo exit through the iron gate completely before raising his hand to salute again. When Romeo nodded, they closed the iron gate, which made a heavy sound just as it had when it opened, and went back inside.

Turning his body, Romeo began to walk while counting his steps. It was not very far to Rosati Street, where his boarding house was located.

Located south of the central square where the Republic Government Building stood, Rosati Street was crowded with people even during the day, much like Salatico Street with its rows of shops or Molvena Street near the market. Because it was a place where relatively well-off people lived, students from the nearby Romaniello University—known for its expensive tuition—often lived there in boarding houses.

Romeo had moved there with his brothers a few years ago and lived as a tenant on the second floor of a boarding house run by an elderly couple. Pietro attended Romaniello University, and Enzo learned sculpting and painting at the studio of a famous sculptor.