Khan woke up at the sound of his buzzing phone. He slept longer than usual due to his injuries, which was still short for humans. Yet, a ss seed to have happened in those hours.
Hurrying toward the phone reminded Khan about his condition. His body groaned at the sudden turn on the mattress, and the tal brace got in the way. Still, the device eventually fell into his palm, and shock followed.
Jenny, the Headmistress, and so of Khan's oldest friends were trying to contact him, but he ignored those calls to open the network. He had been in the sa situation many tis, so he knew sothing had happened, and his hunches turned out to be right.
The network didn't ntion Cegnore, but information that used Khan's na and his involvent with the Thilku had gone public, and that couldn't have co from the human scientists alone.
'Allegedly,' Khan read in one of the most popular articles, 'Captain Khan used his expertise to lead the Empire's armies into a series of successful missions.
'It's also rumored that the Captain jumped into a fight against an opponent with fourth-level battle prowess to save his companions. His noble gesture split him from the Thilku, but he returned with the enemy's corpse on his back days later!'
Khan jumped to a different article but found similar statents. His browsing continued, reaching pages that tried to co up with explanations and hypotheses. Needless to say, so were wild, but Khan didn't feel surprised, not at that, at least.
The usual theories about Khan using female aliens to pave his way toward political fa popped out. A few articles even considered treason as the reason behind those spectacular rumors. Yet, Khan didn't care about that. His main worry was about the presence of that info and how it got out in the first place.
The many calls and ssages reaching Khan's phone lacked the only person who could be behind those rumors. He didn't know if he could contact him on his own, so he answered soone else to get there.
"Captain Khan!" Jenny shouted, surprised that Khan had actually picked up. "Congratulations on your-!"
"Jenny," Khan interrupted. "I need you to put in contact with Mister Cirvags."
"Sir?" Jenny gasped. "Sir, it's my job to advise you to address the matter-."
"Jenny," Khan interrupted again, his tone immovable. "Mister Cirvags."
Jenny fell silent. She noticed sothing different in Khan's voice, and her job didn't allow her to reject that direct order, leading to a simple answer. "Imdiately, Captain Khan."
The call ended, and Khan straightened his back while crossing his legs to sit on the mattress. He closed his eyes, leaving his phone on his left knee to wait. Part of him wanted to slip into the ditative state, but his device quickly buzzed, showing the na he had requested.
"Cirvags speaking," Mister Cirvags said as soon as Khan brought his phone to his ear.
"What happened?" Khan asked without specifying the issue. There was no need to.
"Lord Exr wanted to do you a favor," Mister Cirvags explained shortly. "He offered to share more information as long as I helped you."
Khan felt surprised. He knew the Thilku wouldn't forget his efforts, but that move surpassed his expectations. Lord Exr was directly interfering with the Global Army's political environnt only to increase Khan's fa.
Of course, that was the best possible outco for Khan, and Lord Exr knew it. The Thilku had used his knowledge of the Global Army to give him exactly what he needed.
"Aren't you going to ask about Ambassador Abores?" Mister Cirvags continued. Ambassador Abores' envy was evident, and that news was bound to worsen it. His relationship with Khan wasn't even great, so he had every reason to get in his way now.
That behavior was also quite common in those fields. The Ambassadors got in the way of rising stars they didn't deem worthy of their status, and Khan was a re scout. The only valuable aspect of his background ca from Monica, but her family had rely accepted that they were together. The two weren't engaged yet.
Khan could use his fa as a shield, but Ambassadors were bound to have many influential political allies. Their unique positions also gave them special relevance inside the Global Army. If Ambassador Abores wanted to, he could cause problems for Khan.
"No," Khan declared. "He is my problem to handle."
Mister Cirvags didn't answer. That was his way of praising soone, and Khan accepted it without ignoring his actual problems. He knew climbing the political ladder would put him before bigger and scarier opponents, and it was ti he dealt with them alone.
"I'll revise the public speech according to the recent developnts," Mister Cirvags eventually continued. "et Headmistress Holwen once you feel it's appropriate."
"Thank you," Khan said. He knew Mister Cirvags was respecting his desire to rest, so he could only feel grateful.
Mister Cirvags closed the call without adding anything, and Khan briefly looked at his phone before sending Jenny a ssage. He was not to be disturbed while he rested, and the buzzing stopped in a few minutes.
The developnts' consequences were very clear in Khan's mind, but he didn't care. His political foothold wasn't frail in the least, and his strength spoke for itself. If anyone wanted to ss with him, he was ready to face it with uncompromising thods.
Khan heaved a sigh before throwing his phone away. Healing was his priority now, but he could pair sothing relatively relaxing in that break. The Thilku runes still needed his attention, and he couldn't wait to get back to them.
The peace allowed Khan to slip into a ditative state quickly, and hours passed. Each minute spent resting accelerated the healing process, focusing on his forearm before using its leftovers on the other shallow injuries.
Khan had woken up early, but the day still reached lunchti while he was busy ditating. His stomach had resud growling by then, but he ignored it to accelerate the healing process a bit longer. Yet, his phone prevented that.
The annoying but familiar buzzing noise reappeared in the bedroom, forcing Khan to open his eyes. A frown tried to appear on his face as confusion surged. Many figures could overco Jenny's authority, but only so would decide to ignore his explicit request for a break.
Khan's eyes darted across the mattress until he found his phone and crawled toward it. A sigh tried to escape his mouth when he saw the na on the screen, but stronger emotions suppressed it. He actually wanted to talk with that person.
"Anastasia," Khan said as soon as he picked up the phone.
"Captain Khan," Madam Solodrey sighed. "I see you didn't forget what I said last ti."
"Monica was happy to hear that," Khan revealed. "How could I forget?"
"I hope you are alone," Madam Solodrey stated. "I won't forgive you for making regret my decision."
"I'm serious with anything involving Monica," Khan declared. "We wouldn't be here if you didn't know that."
"Your gall only increases," Madam Solodrey snorted. "Though it's true. It's a pity you are still stuck on this soldier's business."
"Ma'am?" Khan questioned.
"Why do I expect you to understand?" Madam Solodrey cursed. "My family is elevating your position. As big as your achievents on the battlefield are, that remains soldiers' work. You should distance yourself from it."
Khan understood what Madam Solodrey ant. Actually, most soldiers worked extra hard to reach a level where they could stop fighting on battlefields and focus on safer jobs. Politics were off-limits for many of them, but a few commoners still dread of getting there.
Of course, Khan had already been put in front of that decision multiple tis. He had the chance to stop fighting and settle for what he had achieved, but his desperation always chose in his stead.
"I won't," Khan directly refused. "Also, as long as my political and social performance doesn't suffer from it, I don't see why you should worry."
"I was thinking about my dear daughter now," Madam Solodrey revealed. "She worries about you for reasons I still can't comprehend."
Madam Solodrey touched on one of Khan's weak spots, but he had already talked extensively about the topic with Monica. She knew about the nightmares. She knew he couldn't stop. Khan hated himself for making her worry, but the current compromise was the only viable solution.
"I'm surprised you care about Monica in that sense," Khan changed the topic.
"Let's not kid ourselves," Madam Solodrey snorted again. "Were you to die, you'd leave a permanent scar on my dear daughter, and she won't have it easy replacing you."
"Was that a complint, Anastasia?" Khan chuckled. Madam Solodrey was basically telling him that Monica wouldn't find anyone as good as him if he disappeared.
"The fact that you are still alive is a complint," Madam Solodrey declared. "The fact that I'm allowing you to be with my dear daughter is another praise."
Madam Solodrey fell silent but eventually added sothing else. "The fact that I'm considering influencing my husband is the highest complint I can give."
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