Chapter 4: The Aftermath

"Shiit, you got shot in the arm again? I swear, that had to be some sort of omen."

"Dale, it is not a damn omen. My arm was the only thing exposed while escaping, so it's obvious I got hurt there more than my other armored parts."

"I can assure you. Karmic retribution exists."

"Yeah. To the clinically insane. I'm not going to lose a damn arm because the universe is telling me to watch out.

/~/

Sigh "Goddamnm it Dale!" Surprisingly, I woke up. I wish I had the delusion of waking up in another world, but since I'm still feeling all this pain along with the loss of function in my left arm, I feel like I went to the other place. Also, Dale was fucking right. Again.

I seemed to be in a medical room of some kind. I could tell due to all the creatures and other devices that you may see in a mad scientist's lab. Despite waking up in something akin to Dexter's lab, that wasn't the weird part. No it wasn't Fonhare who someone found his way to my head. But the child that's currently sleeping on the edge of my bed.

She had blond hair with red tips and purple eyes. She wore a pure black gothic lolita dress, a black wristband, and a black hair bands that mimicked the shape of a crow's wings. But the child being at my bed side wasn't the confusing part surprisingly. It was her wings. And I didn't mean the wings in her hair, but actual black wings on her back.

"What, how? Who are you? Why do you have wings!"

This immediately cleared my suspicion of being in the down under. At least hell made sense.

"This is just confusing on so many levels. Is she related to H'lock in some-."

I stopped myself before I continued. Getting out of bed with some pain. I put on a nearby robe and headed towards the door. All this movement ended up waking up the girl, and after some eye rubs, she ran over to me… only to trip over a very obvious piece of paper lying on the ground.

"Owww. Wait up. Mister." The child got up and ran over to me.

"You can't leave. You're still hurt."

"Kid. You're speaking to a vase."

"Eh?" The kid looked embarrassed before turning to me properly. I can't tell if she's dumb or putting on an act. But I don't have the time for this right now.

"Paper told me to look after you while father is sleeping. You will exas… exhas… experate?"

Father and sleeping? Could her father be?

"The word you're looking for is Exasperate."

"Y-yeah. That."

The girl stood in front of the doorway to prevent my escape.

"Child. Can you take me to the graveyard?"

"Hmm." The girl tilted her head to the side. "The place where people go when they die. You want to… see your friends right?"

"Yes."

"Mmmm. Fine. But you can't leave my side. Follow me!" The kid ran toward the room door and ran into it.

"Oww. I thought that door was open." She whined.

"...Yeah, definitely an idiot."

/~/

"H'lock, Guile, Mary, and Trent. Another disaster under my watch."

"Mihare?"

"Go away. I'm in the middle of my-" Mihare turned around and looked as tired as ever. Her ruffled, and her clothes dirty with several food and dirt stains.

"Flores! Thank Miguel you're awake." Mihare ran over and got in my face immediately.

"Isawyoucomeouttheforestwithoutanarmandbleeding. Thenigotscaredandranyoutopaperswhereshe-"

"Calm yourself. You're speaking to fast."

Mihare backed off immediately and dusted herself off. That was probably the most energetic I've seen of her.

"Sorry Sorry. I'm just relieved. Why are you wearing Paper's robe?"

"Don't ask." I replied, not wanting to mention my ruined clothes.

"Neila, can you go back up for a minute."

"Okay, Aunty." Neila ran to the door, this time avoiding the objects in her path. What a weird kid.

"Your niece is weird."

"Blame her parents, not me." Mihare retorted.

"So. You're here to see them too."

"Yeah. This whole graveyard are people who died under my command. It'll be inhumane to not apologize."

"… you feel guilty for their deaths. Don't you?"

"I see. So you're the same as me. Forced to not break down over the death of every person?" Mihare asked.

"It's not that I don't care. It's just."

"You've experienced them enough times to the point you can suppress the emotions about it. Knowing that if you do. You'll be too overwhelmed by your emotions to get anything done."

"Yeah. What was your moment then?"

"My mother died when I was thirteen. Two years later, the rest of my family. I then went four years without knowing whether my brother was alive or not, while simultaneously trying to run a country. You?"

"Mine was years ago, during my first assignment. I shouldn't have survived, but someone sacrificed himself to save me. Then after I grieved, another friend died in a firefight. Then another to a fire, another to a mine, and many more. This time as a hero. I had the power to save them. Instead, I just panic. And that panic is what ultimately led to the loss of my arm."

"I'm going to be honest with you Flores. Even with your buff, you lost, and Lizen had to save you. If you weren't able to fight him alone. Then how do you plan on beating him while also protecting the others."

"I-"

"Being a commander is knowing when to take a loss. They were great warriors, but they died because they ran into an unforeseen scenario, one not caused by yourself in any way. If anyone was in your position, they would have died and become a main dish. You on the other hand brought them home." Mihare came over and hugged me.

"I'm not saying ignore their death. But I'm saying don't blame yourself for them. Then, once you have time. Grieve, and live on for them. That's what they would have wanted."

The usual tire and scary aura of Mihare now felt like the warmth of a caring mother. A mother that I never had. Funnily enough, Gam Gam told me these exact words when I went through my first loss. Those words slowly went to the back of my subconscious when I had my first smoke. But since I couldn't get those here, It came rushing back.

For the first time in a while. I let tears stream down my face. The constant wellsprings of worthlessness, powerlessness, and a severe lack of self-confidence were silent as ever. I was letting all my feelings out that I couldn't hear my mind speak at all. It was just… peace. A peace that I haven't felt in a while.

"...Am I interrupting something?" A voice asked. When I looked over towards the fort's door, I saw that it was Lizen watching from afar.

"Just some small talk and a little emotional display."

"I see. Well since Flores is up, do you want to start that meeting now?"

"Right. I forgot about that." Mihare pushed me aside and walked over to the door. As I followed, Lizen gave me a stink eye, as if he was trying to melt my face off. Which like before, could be a possible thing he could do. With that in mind, I was on guard as I walked past.

"Is that papers robe?"

"Shut up."

/~/

Following Mihare into the fort, we soon reach her room where the meeting was to take place. And by Mihares room I mean the war room since she doesn't have a room, something that Lizen was completely displeased about. The room itself was quite big, housing several maps, books, and information on the surrounding kingdoms and their provinces.

There were also a ton of bottles on the ground. By the looks of them, I was able to determine that it was a potion of some kind. But other than that, I had nothing to help me guess that effect if given.

"Morning Hare. Morning Zen."

The person, or more accurately the Paper who just walked into the door was… well Paper.

"Paper, three minutes late. We just need one more person."

"Here Aunty!" The girl appeared out of the ground and flew over to hug Lizen mid-air. For one this confirms her wings are the real deal. Two, where the hell did she come from. And three, daddy?"

"What in the?"

"Hmm? Right, I don't think we've introduced her yet. Flores, this is Neila, my daughter. She's blind so don't let her antics weird you out."

That explains a lot.

"Hi, injured man!" Neila waved.

"…Lizen, who did you f-"

"Child," Lizen warned.

"Right right, new question. So Ken'bit-" I stopped myself before I could continue.

"Bitch isn't really a swear anymore. The word was changed to a holy one a while back." Lizen chimed as he handed Mihare a mug of coffee.

"…more questions for later. Well as I was saying. Ken'bitches war council is only 4 people?"

"Three and a quarter really." Paper replied.

"I'm helping!"

"You sure are sugar plum."

Lizen ruffled his daughter's hair a bit as Mihare controlled the silence of the room. Rolling a large map across the table, it fell off and continue to move until it hit the side wall. In the center of the map, was a large drawing that labeled various strategic points and locations of an area called the Forest of Zell. Everything down to various domestic monster locations, various ruins, and even a town in the center of it all.

It was by far the largest thing on the map, dwarfing all the other towns and countries that I could see on my edge. The other areas that I could pretty much see were two kingdoms called Hatyr and Fallum, both being large enough to hold at least 4 to 5 Ken'bitches. This place was a lot smaller than I imagined.

"Alright then, the first order of business. If you were at the southwest outpost, why the heck did orcs suddenly arrive? I thought you dealt with that Lizen."

"Why are you blaming me? I made sure to eradicate any camp along the main road. It's your soldiers who are supposed to patrol the area to keep anything from starting up. Speaking of which, where was any nearby patrol so I could have called for assistance?"

"Late night training! I told you that!"

"No, no you didn't!"

"You two didn't meet up with each other to organize, did you?" I asked. Mihare tried to make up an excuse, but she didn't say anything and sat back down.

"Ughhh. I left a note in his house. The. I forgot that he wasn't using that house anymore because of the missing wall. By that time it was too late."

"For fucks sake." Lizen swore as he covered his daughter's ears.

"Why is there a wall missing exactly?"

"Some noble tried to kidnap my daughter."

"So they removed your wall to get inside?"

"I never said they were responsible."

… Yeah, Lizen just got moved up in the never fight ever list… or was it his daughter who did the damage?

"Anyways. You're not out of the clear as well Lizen. You didn't check up with Mihare before you left, nor made sure the garrison was out there before you went in. Whether Mihare wanted it or not, you should have made sure everyone was in order."

"Oh. So it's my fault that she's going lone wolf on us!"

"Lone wolf! I've been doing this when you decided to you disappeared for four years after mothers de-"

"I'm annoyed with you both and I'm getting pent up. You both should sit down and learn to shut up. [Cluster Star mute]"

Paper cast a silencing spell on both of them and dragged them to their respective seats. That spell is one I desperately need to learn.

"Okay, I think it's clear that you two need to communicate more. If you can close your ears Neila.

"You two and your petty squabbling cost me an arm, so I'm not going to have any of it. This place is a shit show with very little direction and command! Mihare, hire more captains and get some damn sleep! Lizen, stop being petty and actually communicate with your commander-in-chief! Paper, I don't know what you do so good job, and Neila, keep up the good work."

"Yay!" Neila cheered as the rest of the room looked dumbfounded.

"Sorry. Just a little pent-up from before. But my point still stands." I signaled to Lizen who covered his daughter's ears once again.

"If my drill sergeant was here, he would call this place a ground of randoms fucks who have the talent of an anorexic nerd trying to bench 250lbs on a squat rack."

"The hell is that supposed to mean?" Paper asked.

"I don't know myself. But we can draw it back to the fact that Ken'bitch is all quantity and no quality. If you want to improve Ken'bitches soldiers, and actually be a place that's worth a damn, then you're going to need more than a training session and some level of grinding.

You need coordination, experience, and regulation to make sure everyone is spic and span. Stop training the mages in spear combat when you can hone their magical potential. Don't teach a fighter spells when you can have him master the spear. Each person should specialize in the field they're great at, and then be trained in important areas that need work in. Not the other way around where you're training the mage to swing a battleaxe while neglecting their magic. You got all that?"

"... all of this and you say you can't be a commander." Mihare teased.

"Medieval fantasy and modern-day tactics are nothing alike. We're the ones who bomb strategic points from the air before parachuting into a raging battlefield. You guys have to find a static in your FC just to prog UwU?"

"The hell is a UwU."

"Some some fantasy 114 shit or whatever number they're on. But that's not the point. I'm giving some suggestions on how to improve Ken'bitch. If we keep going the way we are right now, then that ambush would have been successful and I would have died. Lizen. Sending us away may have seen to be a good idea, but the forest is filled with high-class and dangerous monsters that could have done more damage if they found us first correct?"

"Well yes bu- shit you're right. Forgot about them."

"Exactly my point. You guys fail to think ahead. If you can't do that in a proper setting, then how is anyone going to survive the next battle."

The room was silent once again. I had a lot to get off my chest, but I hope I didn't overdo it.

"You bring up very great points. Guess I was foolish for thinking I can handle all of Ken'bitche's functions alone. Sorry, Flores." Mihare bowed.

Sigh. "Guess I was being a little too petty. Sorry." Lizen side-eyed Paper who only scoffed.

"I did nothing wrong. I don't know why you're looking at me."

"Haha. Daddy's in trouble."

After some mocking from Neila. Lizen and Mihare sat back down. I hope I didn't say anything too bad.

"Alright then. Let's move back to our original topic shall we."

"Right. As I said earlier, I had eradicated any orc camp along the main road. They would have had to come from somewhere else."

"If it helps, while the orc was taunting us. He said that someone told them our exact location for a meal."

The room went silent once again. I probably said something out of pocket again, since Lizen got up, picked me up effortlessly, and started to shake me.

"When were you planning on telling us this!"

"I was unconscious!"

"Right. Forgot about that too." Lizen dropped me back into my chair and sat back down himself.

"Well, this changes a lot. Lizen?"

"Don't look at me. I haven't told anyone my route"

"But you stayed near the low-leveled areas. Anyone with a brain could have figured that out. The real question is why?" Paper chimed.

"A traitor maybe?"

"Unlikely. They said they ate the dude, so we would have noticed if someone went missing."

"So someone from another country? Hatyr?"

"Too cowardly to try anything." Lizen retorted.

"Sanctuary of soul?"

"The selee hates the orcs. Not even close."

"Hmm." Mihare put her finger on her chin. "Lampton is too weak. We don't even talk to Fallum. Dang, Rinoth is doing their own thing. huh, I'm stuck."

"We'll just have to do an old fashion search. Question the guards and figure out which one is lying." Paper suggested, getting a groan from Mihare.

"Ugh. I don't wanna do old fashion interrogation."

"It's a sacrifice you need to make. For the betterment of Ken'bitch." Lizen taunted.

"Then I guess you can do the same if I ask you to go to the sanctuary of soul. Riala should have some knowledge on anything that went down in the forest."

"Fu-" Lizen cleared his throat. "Neila leave the room please."

"Okay, Daddy." Neila got out of her chair and ran towards the door. The second it closed was the second profanities started flying.

"Fuck you. I don't wanna talk to her."

"I have to stay here and reform. And we both know why Paper doesn't want to go either."

"I'm sorry, who are we talking about," I asked.

"Riala. The apostle of the train, leader of the Sanctuary of Soul. And the most dangerous creature alive. Other than Lizen of course, his breath is toxic."

"Shut up!"

"To keep things short. She's our key to knowing all this. So I need you two to meet her."

"Eh? Why me?!"

"You'll benefit from meeting a hero of her… Status. I'm sure she'll… something… probably."

"That doesn't sound reassuring in the slightest."

"She's an… interesting character. There's not much to say really."

"I still don't know what that has to do with me going to meet her!" Lizen exclaimed.

"May I remind you of the reason you aren't the chief yourself?" Mihare gestured towards the door, most likely pointing at Neila.

"...Fine then. Mihare may I ask? When was the last time you went to sleep."

"Two days, seven hours, twenty-five minutes, and 49 seconds."

"What the fuck."

"Well, you can reset that count back to zero. Courtesy of me."

"What are you going on ab- Oh you bitch." Mihare after fighting for a solid 6 minutes, finally fell victim to the drink and fell asleep on the table.

"D-did you just drug your sister."

"Obviously. She needs to sleep anyway."

Lizen picked up Mihare and carried her towards the door.

"Sleep aside. As the medic of this place, I'm sorry to say your original arm was lost and couldn't be located after the fight. That's why I'm planning on constructing a new one."

"You can do that?"

"Only out of material. I don't know how to create flesh yet."

"Well you're an alchemist right? Why not use some alchemy?"

"I'm not an alchemist, I'm a magician. And that's not how alchemy works!"

"Sounds like something an alchemist would say." I taunted. Making paper much more pent up.

"Look Paper. All I'm saying is-. Actually, what is your name?"

"What do you mean?" Paper pondered.

"Well, I've been calling you Paper 'cause I heard one of the magicians call you that. I never did actually learn your name."

"My name? It's hard to say. My memories have been on and off for so many years that it became hard to keep track. Paper was the only nickname that stuck thanks to Mihare and Lizen."

"Really?"

"Immortality is a curse. Friends die, family dies. Then finally, you're the only person who's there to witness it. I secluded myself in this tower for many many years, and I haven't heard my name spoken since the time my father died. And even that memory is starting to get hazy. To be honest. Mihare and Lizen were my only true friends for a while. They were the only ones who didn't want to use me because I was a hero."

"You've been through a lot huh? I'm sorry that you had to go through all of that."

I patted the girl on the head once again. She seemed to be embarrassed by it but didn't complain. Does affection make her turn from cold to bashful?

"I got it. How about I give you a name?"

"Give me a name?"

"Yeah. That way, I can use it. Then you'll never forget." I pondered for a bit, trying to think of a good name. It all came to me once I finally remembered a certain manga I read. "I got it. How about Yomiko."

"Yo-Miko?"

"Yeah. I took it from a book I've read before. It matches you perfectly."

"Really. Naming a person off of a book." lIzen mocked. "You must really lack creativit-" Lizen tossed Mihare onto the table as he got pinned to the wall by dozens of paper swans.

"It's better than the nickname Paper LIZEN. I for one, find it satisfactory."

"Thank you Yomiko."

"Now. GET OUT OF MY ROBE!"