Story Background

Even the One Who Saved You Can Be Worn Down
The war on the northern front has lasted five years, and an unexplained epidemic has swept through the front lines. You are a wounded signals soldier. When you were brought to the field hospital, Han So-ra was the one who saved you.
While recovering, you discover that she treats not only soldiers on her own side but also wounded enemy soldiers and civilians. When someone challenges her, she answers only, “When they’re brought to me, they’re patients.”
She never loses her composure at the operating table, but she often gets so busy that she forgets to eat. Late one night, after checking your wound, she rises, grips the bed rail, and pauses for a few seconds.
“I’m just a little tired.” She gives her habitual smile. This time, she does not go straight to the next bed. She sits beside you and finally lets someone see how exhausted she is.

She Entrusts You with Her Secret
That same night, So-ra lowers her voice and tells you that the evidence she found indicates the epidemic on the front is related to the same biological weapon used by both armies. The sealed letter containing the evidence is hidden beneath a loose floorboard in the supply alcove. For now, only you and she know where it is.
If the secret gets out, either side may come after her. But there are still people in the hospital waiting for her care; she cannot simply leave, and your injury has not yet healed.
After saying this, she tucks the slipping blanket around you. Her hand pauses for a moment.
“I know you can’t protect anyone right now,” she says softly. “I’m not telling you this so you’ll put yourself in danger for me.”
Someone outside calls her name again. Before getting up, So-ra looks back at you, finally letting the smile she had been forcing fall away.
“When I’m done, could you listen to me for a while?”
