A Star Tainted Red
Chapter 3: Alea Iacta Est
Within a dark room, a meeting was taking place. Mana crystals in the center of the room cast faint blue light onto the rough stone walls, creating a secretive atmosphere around the participants. Men dressed in ornate military uniforms sat around a large, round wood table. A thick layer of cigar smoke lingered in the air, as some of the officers looked around, nervously waiting, while others made hushed conversation with their comrades. A couple of the knights looked on in annoyance, irritated at the abysmal loss of time causare by this unscheduled meeting. None of the men knew the reason why this meeting had been called, but the fact that every senior knight and officer in the camp was present showed the gathering's importance. Large meetings were rare enough, but for one of these strategy conferences to include all of the officers at once was almost unprecedented. If the rank and file were left without leadership during an enemy attack, their soldiers would be left scrambling around like headless chickens about to be butchered.
"Well? Can we be briefed on why we're here already?" a bored captain called out, breaking the room's silence.
"Yeah, we've been waiting here for almost half an hour!" One of the numerous young sergeants used the opportunity to voice his disdain.
"I've heard rumors that the scouts managed to acquire some new intelligence about the rebels. Maybe that's why we're here?" a senior knight suggested, as he
exhaled a puff of smoke from his pipe, adding to the thick grey cloud which filled the room.
"Even if that's the case, why make us wait for this long? We all have important duties, and leaving our posts for this long is dangerous."
The sounds of useless complaints started to fill the tense air in the General Office of the barracks, which was currently serving as the war room. As captains and officers started to debate, the feud quickly intensified and the volume of the arguments became nearly unbearable. However, Sir Gildark, the primary instructor for the army's new recruits, was not bothered by the noise.
Already used to muting out the noise around him due to many years of experience dealing with rowdy cadets, the instructor ignored all the bickering, and mused on the situation in silence. "I have a bad hunch about this gathering. It's only been a few days since the fiasco t at Redonas plateau. I truly hope that our platoon won't get just thrust into battle again. Those kids just aren't ready to experience that again. Even worse, we haven't had time to adapt to their new tactics yet…"
Even though the Battle of Redonas plateau technically ended in a victory for the Royal Army, that fact belied the underlying truth of the situation. During that fateful battle at the basin, the overextended human army had been defeated by Demi-human forces and their expert use of magic. Razazc's eyes drifted to the ceiling, focusing on the cracks on the stone as more memories from that disgraceful day came forth.
Closing his eyes, the knight couldn't help but contemplate the irony of it all. "That battle would have been a loss if it hadn't also been the debut of that kid, Trias. I've heard he single-handedly cut through the Demi-humans when they were cleaning up the remains of our army."
To the instructor it all seemed like a bad joke. A 15 year old kid had to go and save the day for His Majesty's Royal Army. Trias was extremely talented, but even still, that was enough proof of their failure. The previous battle had been extremely costly for the army. The hall was now filled with a cacophony of voices as the group of young knights and officers continued their bickering. Most of them had only recently been promoted to their current positions after the unfortunate death of their predecessors. As such, he supposed, most of the room was now filled with people without the required experience; men still struggling to come to grips with their newfound duties. Their childish squabbles only betrayed their inexperience and, as the arguments increased in both pitch and volume, he couldn't help but wonder if the kingdom was truly in safe hands.
A frown settled on his face. It was disgraceful indeed to gain a victory reliant on a single soldier's genius. However, as he reflected on the events of that day, he couldn't shake off the feeling that something was amiss. The tactics employed by the rebels that day had been, to put it mildly, bizarre, completely unlike what Razaac had seen before. "They baited us with a small unit before coming in to break our formation, circumventing our forces to later annihilate us. Those scummy demi-humans are starting to behave differently than normal…"
This was an extremely concerning change. The knight could understand why the rebels would want to make use of such a cunning strategy, but the real question was: why introduce it only now? The rebels up to this point had used largely disorganized hit and run attacks, fitting their low numbers with minimal magical support—nothing like the complex and organized strategy of Redonas. What changed during those two years of civil war that made them capable of these sorts of large scale, well organized tactics? The knight was terrified of the possible implications. At that moment, a grim idea presented itself into his mind, one he hoped would not turn into a reality.
"Was that battle just a field test? What if this wasn't just a fluke, and this was how the rebels would be fighting going forward?" The mere thought made the knight shiver. "There were too many casualties in that last battle—Redonas Plateau. We were able to push back the rebels, at least, but that kind of result is inexcusable. Another such victory would undo us..." If this wasn't a one-off flash of tactical skill… if the demihumans were going to show such cunning in future engagements… the royal army would not be ready. "The tides of this war may begin to turn against us."
However, his line of thought was interrupted as someone suddenly opened the door.
"Alright, alright silence!" The one who spoke was a tall, clearcut man with light brown hair. His well-defined features, reminiscent of the higher nobility, gave an impression of masculine vitality and intelligence. The man was dressed in the standard knight's uniform, however, his demeanour and badge indicated his elevated rank. His expression gave off a sense of confidence and severity, and his voice demanded respect.
"Welcome, commander Crûmiere." Everyone present within the room rose to greet the newly arrived authority.
"Hello, Crûmiere. Happy to hear about your promotion! Always being so elegant and gallant must have its pros, right? Ha-Ha!" a knight called out with a happy and familiar tone. It was a bulky man, with short and spiky light blue hair, and equally blue and thick eyebrows. His eyes radiated a strong fighting spirit and the expression he gave off looked kind but tightly wound. The man wore the uniform indicating his position as a full member of the knights' unit.
"My greetings Captain Zellgeff, it's certainly been a long time since we last met." Crûmiere was a hardened warrior who had been fighting for the royal army since before the rebellion broke out. As such it was an unfortunate turn of events for him when he started making enemies in the court. All that political intrigue that had only served to slow his career and left him assigned to missions below his qualification throughout the last two years of war instead of serving his kingdom like he desired. However, as much as it grated him to admit it, perhaps his career setbacks had been a fortuitous stroke of fate. In fact it could be argued that the silver lining was the mere fact that he hadn't been present during the last battle. The recounts alone from the few survivors were enough to make even a veteran like him shudder in horror.
"I'm honoured to receive such a promotion and your congratulations but..." Crûmiere began, kindly. It had been years since he first entered the royal army and now, even if only out of the army's desperation for experienced command, his efforts were finally being rewarded. The commander was visibly happy about his recent turn of fortune as he concluded, "there are more pressing matters at the moment so we'll have to do the celebration on another day."
"Well, I'm sure you all want to know why you have been called here so suddenly. Thankfully, it isn't bad news." Turning towards the other men present, the commander raised his voice. "After our victory at Redonas plateau, the Demi-human rebels have been in retreat. Now that we are in the midst of enemy territory, advancing is our best option."
"Of course, that wasn't all that I wanted to suggest in this meeting.
We also have some new information. Thanks to our scouts, we have received reports which indicate that a sizable force of rebels is on our current path. Should we continue down the planned route, we'll encounter them within the next few days."
Silencing himself for a few seconds in order to let the words truly sink in, Crûmiere sighed, "Therefore, I believe that a confrontation is inevitable."
The commander finished his discourse with a frown. The information had left many of the officers within the room astonished, as soon as the commander ended his report their minds immediately started racing, trying to think of a way out of the situation they were in.
"Sizeable… that's a broad term Crûmiere, do we actually know the size and disposition of their forces?" Zellgeff asked from his seat with a raised brow. Superficially, this was a rather obvious question. On the other hand, it certainly brought up an intriguing point; why had the commander been so vague?
"Unfortunately, no. While we have been able to confirm the enemy presence within the zone, we do not have any exact numbers available. It seems that they used some form of magic to hide their forces," the commander responded immediately with a frown.
"Then how can we know that the enemy is even there?" Another officer said in confusion.
"As it seems, whatever illusory magic they used to hide their army wasn't enough. There were loud sounds in the zone as well as many traces and the occasional sighting of the lone foot soldier. They are probably regrouping after their defeat, and preparing to attack. So, I suggest proceeding with an assault as soon as we can while they are still disorganized and wounded from the last battle." Commander Crûmiere replied promptly, confident of his judgment.
Everyone else within the room sighed in annoyance. It was a war zone, after all. They all understood some of the intelligence coming in was confused. Magic was very rare in humans, and even the demihuman army had not used much previously; at least not at this scale. Therefore the scouts were not very familiar with the signs and limitations of illusion magic. As it stood, the rebels' new use of magic in their tactics was greatly hurting the royalists' intelligence efforts.
"Magic, huh? It surely would be nice if we could use it as well…" Zellgeff muttered, holding his head up with a fist under his chin.
"Sadly, magic is the Demi-Human's greatest area of expertise. As much as I would like to make them taste their own medicine, we don't have the means to do that currently," Crûmiere said with an understanding smile.
The royal army had many advantages against the rebels. They had better-trained warriors, superior numbers, and they had the resources to support the war effort to a far greater degree, but one thing it didn't have were skilled magic users. In that respect, the Demihumans had the distinct advantage. It took years and a large amount of money to train a human mage for war. After centuries of facing nothing more than minor skirmishes and civil unrest, the Royal army had cut back its number of mages to a bare handful. Demihumans, in contrast, not only had more mages in their population, but they had a far easier time learning magic as well. It was a constant frustration for Crûmiere. Over the past two years, he had seen countless comrades fall to the arts as he had endlessly hunted down small guerrilla rebel groups. The bodies were never pretty, and it never got any easier telling the families.
"It can't be avoided then. I suppose this is the natural consequence of complacency," Zellgeff admitted.
"Then, if you think that a preventive attack is the best option, how do you suggest we proceed?" another officer asked while drawing smoke from his own pipe, adding to the cloud in the room. The conversation started to derail as objections to attacking so soon began to rise, but the room quickly fell quiet as the commander responded.
"Of course, of course. The battle should take place in Castour field as soon as possible. We mustn't give them the time to prepare a counterattack. They were hurt just as much as we were in the last battle, but we are still the superior force, especially with the reinforcement I brought. With the element of surprise on our side they won't be able to effectively bring their magic to bear. If we can hit them now, in their moment of weakness, we can deal a great blow to their army. If luck is on our side, I believe we can do a great deal right now to put an end to this interminable war. The Zellgeff squadron will lead the front. We shall then use shock, numbers, and our momentum to rupture their frontlines, and then run the rest of them down as they flee. It should be decisive and quick." the commander replied sharply, imparting his plans to the rest of the room.
"Then you must also have plans to avoid another ambush, I suppose." a knight sitting across the room asked in an absent-minded way as he started mulling over the plan.
"This is supposed to be a surprise attack, gentleman. They don't know that we have their position. They won't be prepared for another battle so soon. There's not a lot of time left. If we wait longer, they will be able to reorganize and our window of opportunity will close. There may be some risk, but for the chance to deal a decisive blow in this war, I believe it to be worthwhile…" The commander spoke with all the authority he could muster.
"Hmm…" As he started pondering with his head low, silence filled the room. Every person present mulled over the commander's plan, wondering its viability. Was such a plan even feasible in the first place?
"The soldiers…" The silence broke as a knight in the edge of the room started to speak slowly, calculating every word.
"What?" The commander didn't understand.
"The soldiers, Crûmiere. They aren't ready," instructor Racaac said in a tense voice. "It's been only a few days since Redonas. They may be physically healed but you should know as well as I that morale does not recover so soon after a battle like that." The room had gone silent as the knight criticized his new commander.
"I have been out there with the troops these last few days. Those boys went into hell and barely got out. Many of their comrades didn't get out at all. Do they really have what it takes to go back to that hell so soon?" His question went unanswered, yet Razaac already had in mind several specific individuals he knew to be perfect examples of his concern. "Yes, outwardly some may seem fine now, but what happens when they actually go back into battle? A moment overcome by terror can be death in the battlefield." His eyes narrowed slightly. During his many years of service, Razaac had seen what such trauma would do to a person. He had seen their empty stares, how they would flinch or freeze at any sudden sound around them…
"Many of those soldiers were green, and are having to face the death of their comrades for the first time. It's a miracle half of them haven't deserted already…" his words started to trail off, yet no one dared to interrupt him, Razaac slumped onto his chair. A soft sigh exited his lips.
"A few days isn't enough to recover from that battle, Crûmiere… A hardened veteran would need time to recover. For those greenhorns..." Putting a hand over his forehead the instructor whispered, "Seeing someone you know, a friend, burning alive or being reduced into a fine red mist by a spell…" Razaac abjectly elaborated from his chair.
"..."
"Then what do you suggest we do, Sir Razaac?" Crûmiere asked with a raised brow.
"I don't know. That's not my decision to make, it is yours. However, it is my advice as your subordinate that we should at least wait a few more days in order to let the soldiers gather their thoughts and muster what courage they can." The instructor replied, sitting upright once more.
"You see Razaac, I do have some familiarity with that feeling, and I appreciate what those boys went through," Crûmiere responded, a pang of guilt quickly flashing through his eyes. "However, there's no time. If we wait any longer the rebels will have already reorganized themselves and when we attack we will have lost every meaningful advantage we had over them." the commander explained, trying to sound as authoritative as he could.
"Crûmiere don't you understand? I don't want my soldiers freezing in front of the enemy!" startling the whole room, Razaac got up and slammed his hands on the table, suddenly speaking his mind furiously, glaring at his commander.
"..."
"Razaac. Sit down. This is an order", Crûmire ordered the knight. He could very well understand what was going through his subordinate's mind, but he couldn't allow such insubordination.
Slowly the instructor sat down once more, his eyes narrowed towards his commander.
"It can't be done. We can't wait and that's it." Crûmiere finished, the resolution of his voice hiding the guilt Razaac's words had planted in his heart. He knew, win or lose, he was condemning many of Razaac's boys to die. However, if this attack could decisively turn the war, it was his duty to go through with it anyway. Such was the burden of command.
It was a new day within the barracks. As always, the soldiers within woke at dawn and promptly headed to the changing rooms to prepare for the inevitable hours upon hours of grueling drills and menial labor. Packed together in their modest lodgings, the soldiers found themselves in near perpetual conversation whenever possible, and non-verbal interaction when silence was required. Such an environment naturally led to a fledgling unit-wide sense of fraternity to develop, letting strong bonds form among even the most different of personalities.
It was in these barracks that, despite the disquieting events of the previous night, Grimm wore an outward facade of tranquility and composure. Perhaps that just was an unfortunate talent of his. He had always been able to put up masks to hide his feelings since he was a child. As such, the young soldier was perfectly able to look Wilhelm in the eye during chores and training as if nothing had ever happened.
Wilhelm followed suit, also acting as though he had forgotten everything from the previous night. He continued to annoy the squadron by keeping to himself. Such as, once again declining an offer to join the rest of the squad in their morning training. Saying he would rather train alone and, overall, acting entirely counter to the unit's building comradery.
In spite of what transpired during the previous night, Natsuki Subaru didn't show any kind of overt hostility towards Wilhelm, choosing instead to just ignore him. The young swordsman, in turn, responded in kind by doing the same.
Due to Wilhelm's distant nature, nobody noticed the hidden tension between the two as they performed their morning duties, which only came out in the occasional frown or glare from Subaru towards the younger boy.
"Morning Warm-Up Part Twooo! Reach high with your hands and stretch that back~~! Alright, once more, just follow my movements!" Nonetheless, In spite of these feelings Subaru wore a genuine smile on his face as he directed his comrades on a series of warm-up exercises. They were working through one of the few links to Subaru's previous life: radio calisthenics.
"And last, raise your hands to the sky. Victory!" Subaru cheered as he raised his arms in the sky, signaling the rest of the squadron to do the same.
"Victory!" the unit responded in unison, before dropping their arms and starting to laugh.
"Alright, alright, that's all for today! You guys picked up pretty fast. Your sensei is so proud of you," Subaru said, a hint of pride in his voice.
"They grow so fast…" he said, motioning to dry a fake tear.
A golden-haired young man separated from the group as he started approaching Subaru. "Yo, Subaru! That was awesome, it's the first time I've ever seen the unit so... united!" The young soldier laughed at his own joke. "What do you call those weird exercises?"
"Hey, Tholter. Wait a second, did you just call them weird!?" Subaru asked, offended at his friend's sacrilege. "They're warm-up exercises from my homeland, called radio calisthenics, passed down through the generations. Don't you do warm-ups here? You should always do them before starting strenuous exercise," he explained. Sudden movements could be dangerous after all!
"Hmm, I haven't really seen much of that, we usually do light exercise first, but nothing quite like this. It does feel better for the body than what we usually do..." Tholter noted.
"Well, even I do understand that it is dangerous to start off with the intense stuff. I've gotta admit, I feel much lighter now as well. This isn't half bad." The soldier continued as he patted his arms and stretched his muscles.
"That's what warm-ups are for, my friend. This kind of stuff works better if done early in the morning," Subaru explained with a raised finger and eyes closed mimicking a teacher.
"Hmm… I see, I see. Thank you, sir!" Tholter gave an exaggerated military salute.
The two of them were only able to hold their faces straight for a moment before Subaru burst out laughing, soon followed by Tholter himself.
After a few seconds of shared laughter, the sound of a bell resonated through the courtyard.
"Hmm, looks like it's time for the morning drills. We should hurry." Tholter uttered, quickly picking himself up and putting on a more serious facade.
"Yeah, you're right. I wonder what we'll have for lunch this time." Subaru mulled over the question with a hand on his chin as he walked towards the barracks. What they usually ate wasn't incredibly tasty but it was surprisingly varied, especially for military rations. "To be honest, I was almost expecting the bland broth that tends to appear in prison movies and such, but I guess I got lucky…" Everything was mainly made of vegetables, cooked in a way that reminded Subaru of those documentaries he saw sometimes on TV about European cuisine back on Earth. "Was it German cuisine or English… maybe French?"
As he continued to ponder lunch , the boy felt a hand placed onto his shoulder.
"You don't know?" After a few seconds of confusion the archer's eyes widened in realization. "Oh, that's right, you're new," he said as a grin started to form on his face, "Then, you're in for a surprise Subaru. Today we'll also have… ketchup," Tholter whispered the last word as though he had just revealed an unfathomable secret.
"Oh, you have sauces?" Subaru replied, never much of a ketchup man himself. Although, that brought him to a whole new, more crucial thought. "Hmm, maybe they have mayo? I should ask…" Subaru trailed off, the thought alone of the white condiment enough to make him salivate. On previous occasions, he would sometimes forgo putting the sauce on anything and just eat it by the spoonful. This obsession was one installed in him by his family, a clan of notorious mayo lovers.
"My parents..." As the memories resurfaced in his mind, Subaru was forced to face what he had left behind. The boy had avoided thinking about it until this moment but, "How will they take my disappearance? Will they think I've been kidnapped?" As more doubts surfaced, Subaru's face settled into a frown. The boy didn't like to think about those things and, at that point, there wasn't much he could do anyhow. As such, Natsuki Subaru could only hope that his parents would quickly forget him, get over the loss of the burden that was his person and enjoy their lives as they deserved. They might even have a new child, who wouldn't be such a disappointment. These hopes did little to dispel his guilt, however. Shaking his head within his hands, he tried to shake away the thought about his family, to put it in the same cursed chest where all his other failures resided.
In an attempt to focus his mind on something else, he began to think about some of the peculiarities of this new world. This world seemed to use weird names for almost everything. Oddly, they were almost always small variations of the names Subaru was used to back on Earth, and this especially applied for food. Apples, for example, were called 'appas' and potatoes, 'tatoes'.
"Mayo? What's that?" With a hand on his chin, Tholter asked.
After blinking a few times to bring his mind back to the conversation, Subaru considered his friend's words, "Maybe mayo also has a different name?"
"It is a savory sauce just like ketchup, it is white though, and it tastes like God himself had created it and gifted it to us mere mortals." Finishing his explanation, the boy closed his eyes and smiled, with the joy and anticipation of a missionary trying to find a new convert.
"Hmm… Sounds good, but I've never heard of it…" Tholter replied with his brow raised. Clearly whatever this mayo was must be very good in order to excite his friend like this, but it wasn't anything he had heard of.
"Wait, you don't have mayonnaise?!" The moment his friend's words reached his ears, Subaru's face drained of all colour and his eyes widened comically in disbelief. This couldn't be possible! "B-But you guys have ketchup! As much as I hate to admit it, ketchup and mayo always go together!" Subaru was beginning to stutter by this point. The notion of a world without mayo was torture to him. With exaggerated motions he grabbed his face with his hand, eyes wide open in shock, and struck a pose. Another reference that no one else would understand, Tholter presumed. Subaru had explained some of them to him, he said they came from his favorites 'anime and manga' whatever that meant. Subaru then cycled through other dramatic poses, each one more ridiculous than the last before stopping abruptly to look at his friend. His eyes were imploring for an affirmative response.
"I'm… sorry but, no. I haven't heard of anything like it," Tholter stated tentatively. The young man was weirded out by Subaru's exaggerated reactions. He had thought that he'd gotten used to his friend's eccentricities over the last few days, but what Tholter was witnessing right then was beyond anything he had seen before.
Realizing the bleak truth, Subaru fell to the ground in silent disbelief, mourning for his future. Truly, he had been isekaied to the worst of all possible worlds.
"Hey, hello, Tholter! Hi, Su-baru?" Grimm, who had seen the pair and had decided to approach them, was confronted with one of the strangest scenes he had ever seen. "What is he doing?" he whispered to Tholter.
"I have no idea," the archer said with a blank stare. Should he laugh? He wanted to laugh.
"A-Are you alright, Subaru?" Grimm slowly approached the boy on the ground before being stopped by Subaru's hand. "Shhh, not now. I'm grieving." The black-haired boy answered quietly from his position.
"Sure," the soldier quickly responded with a deadpan stare. "Tholter then, do you want to— Tholter?" At that moment Grimm turned towards his other friend, intending to leave Subaru to whatever he was doing, but Tholter had disappeared. He then looked down and saw that Tholter had also fallen onto the ground, holding his stomach, wheezing. It seemed that the absurdity of the situation had finally gotten to him.
"Wait a second!" Subaru suddenly exclaimed as he jumped onto his feet with a big grin.
"If I can't find it…" As the idea started to take form in his mind, his grin widened, "Then I just have to make it myself!" After all, the ingredients to prepare mayonnaise were very common, even in this world. All he needed was eggs, vinegar and oil after all. Perhaps he could even sell it eventually and become rich. Subaru wasn't going to stay a soldier forever, and the war couldn't last that long, right?
"My dreams are taking form in front of me!" It was decided. He would prepare it himself. After all, mayo was not optional for a member of the Natsuki bloodline. It was as crucial as air and water.
Watching from the sidelines, Grimm didn't quite know what to make of the situation in front of him. "Well, at least Natsuki-san seems to be adapting well..." He took some comfort in this. Ever since Grimm's eyes had been opened to the cruel realities of the world, he began to fully appreciate these sorts of peaceful moments. "Yeah, this isn't so bad." The young soldier smiled slightly before turning away from the pair of fools. He had training to do, and he certainly didn't want to be scolded for being late.
"But seriously, what kind of people did I become friends with?" Once again, Grimm Fauzen questioned his life choices.
Wilhelm Trias loved the sword. He'd been enamored with the weapon ever since he first felt the weight of a blade in his hand. His hard-earned skill was a source of great pride for him. His devotion was proved by the uncountable hours of training and immense effort it took to master swordcraft. Nothing would distract him from following the path of the blade.
Of course, this obsessive focus of his had consequences. His cold and stoic personality and single mindedness drove away his peers; not that this upset Wilhelm. To him, solitude brought peace of mind, and that was all he needed to swing his blade. Perhaps some might have considered his a sad existence, but he didn't care what others thought. As long as he had a sword, he could train. As long as he trained, he would improve. As long as he continued to improve, he would survive.
No. Not just survive, but thrive. Hard-fought battles to death gave him all the excitement he could ever want. He would never get enough of the adrenaline rush that came with combat. Each swipe, each lunge, each close encounter he had with death made him feel euphoric to a level he had never experienced up to that point.
Wilhelm Trias was not just obsessed with battle. Wilhelm lived for battle.
Nonetheless, despite his current solitude, he couldn't focus; something was nagging at his mind. A lone sword, left on the ground of his preferred training spot the night before, kept making itself present within his peripheral vision as he practiced his swings. At first, Wilhelm had decided to leave it there. It was not his sword, after all, so he had no obligation to return it to its owner. If Natsuki Subaru lost his blade, that was his problem. The fact that he had abandoned it was only a testament to his rash and impulsive nature. He would be forced to find it himself before the next battle. Going to a battlefield without a weapon was nothing short of suicide.
"..."
He should just ignore it. He should just leave it there and keep swinging his blade as he had always done. Wilhelm was well aware that he and Subaru were supposedly on bad terms after the previous night's discussion. However, it was more of a one-sided feud on Subaru's part. Wilhelm didn't care enough to hold a petty grudge. His sword started to move faster.
Of course, he should ignore it. He attempted to close his eyes or just avert his gaze, but the annoying sensation in his mind just would not disappear. Wilhelm swung his sword even faster in an attempt to distract himself.
It was not working.
As the blade sliced through the air faster and faster, the temper of the young swordsman heightened and his patience grew thin. Soon his sword was as fast as lighting, impossible to see to the naked eye, but not even such an imposing exercise could appease his mind. Suddenly ceasing his motion, Wilhelm resigned himself once again to the truth.
"And today I won't be able to focus either..."
And so, he picked up the sword.
Near midday, in the vast, empty courtyard beside the barracks, Subaru cursed his luck once again. The harsh sun beat down on him like fire, and the sandy ground dug into his skin and burned his palms.
The dry, dusty air only worsened the situation, making it hard to breathe. All in all, it was the worst possible conditions for exercise.
"Is this for real? I just arrived a few minutes late!" And here Subaru was, stuck doing a seemingly unending number of push ups.
Natsuki Subaru had always been quite the troublemaker, at least during his childhood. He could recall countless times in which he would do all sorts of dangerous stunts in an attempt to catch his peers' attention. This had gotten him into no end of trouble in his childhood. However, he thought he had finally gotten those days behind him. Still, it seemed that some habits die hard. Jokes and tricks were great for keeping the mind occupied and making friends in the unit, but that jovial attitude wasn't the best for punctuality or discipline. Which, of course, can become a major problem if one is a newly inducted soldier in a professional military.
"Arg, why!? It was just a few minutes!" Luckily for Subaru, he was not enduring such punishment alone.
"M-Mark my words, Subaru, I-I'll get my vengeance…" Tholter said, lightly heaving. Both soldiers had been reprimanded by their instructor for arriving late to training, and they were given a punishment consisting of a series of torturous exercises and a skipped lunch. Needless to say, both Subaru and Tholter felt that this was an extreme penalty for such a minor infraction. However, while Tholter was thoroughly irritated, Subaru had an easier time accepting it. Harsh punishments fit quite well with the fantasy setting he was in at the moment.
"Even so, isn't this too harsh!?" he thought as he was ordered to complete another set of push-ups. "Why can't I have an isekai protagonist's physique?" Natsuki Subaru was quite fit for his age. He trained regularly even though he was a hikikomori and his grip strength was 70kg, impressive for a man of his former lifestyle. However, even he had his limits, and this was certainly too much. His lungs felt as if they were about to explode.
"This isn't fair… that kid doesn't even have to attend training, or the drills!" Tholter shouted, pulling Subaru out of his internal whining.
"Kid… Wilhelm?" Struggling to speak due to fatigue, Subaru guessed at what the archer meant.
"Yes, him! He has it so easy! I know he's strong, but isn't this preferential treatment?!" Suddenly stopping his exercise and jumping on his feet with a jolt, Tholter bellowed his question to the winds.
"And, what do you want to do? Speak to the manager?" Subaru asked with a smile.
"The what?"
"Besides," Subaru continued, ignoring his friend's confusion. "He already trains like crazy all the time. You said it yourself! He certainly spends far more time doing it than we do. Why would he need to train with our basic drills?"
"I… I guess you're right, that kid's crazy…" finally understanding his friend's reasoning, Tholter's eyes turned downcast.
"Who's crazy?" A voice suddenly called out, taking the pair by surprise. Raising their heads, the pair locked eyes with the new arrival, not knowing how much he had heard.
"What are you doing here?" Subaru spat with narrowed eyes.
Wilhelm Trias stood in front of the pair holding a sword in both hands, one on the hilt and the other toward the end of the blade. Due to the angle of the ground, the swordsman was literally looking down on them, which served to enrage Subaru further.
The young boy indifferently extended his hands in which the sword laid. "Take it," he said.
"What?" Picking himself up from the ground, Subaru took a closer inspection at the object the young boy was holding. "Wait," Subaru glanced down to his hip only to find nothing there.
Understanding his confusion, Wilhelm elaborated further. "You forgot it yesterday on the ground. I've had to look at it for the entire morning. It irritated me."
"Wait, you came all the way here to return it to me?" Subaru could not believe his ears. Was Wilhelm Trias actually doing a favor for someone else? Had Subaru gone insane? That must be it, right?
"Subaru, I'm not the only one who heard that right? I'm not going crazy, am I?" Tholter murmured to Subaru's ear.
"I-I don't know…" Subaru replied in an equally low voice tone.
As Wilhelm stared at the unusual exchange his patience started to quickly thin. "Just so it is clear, I don't care about you at all," he decided to clarify, "However, as I've said before, having to look at this on the ground irritates me. It makes it harder for me to concentrate on my swings."
To Tholter that seemed a reasonable enough explanation, at least by Wilhelm's standards. Subaru, however, came to a shocking realization.
"Tsundere…"
"Tsun— what?" Wilhelm asked in confusion at the foreign term.
Once again, Subaru had accidentally voiced his thoughts out loud. "Again?! Man, I have to do something about this bad habit of mine!" Holding his head in shame, he berated himself in his mind.
Trying to quickly answer the young swordsman in front of him, lest he lose his temper, Subaru squeaked in a high-pitched tone, "N-Nothing!"
Seeing the distressed and embarrassed face that the black-haired boy was making, Wilhelm decided to just drop the matter. "Whatever. Just don't drop this again if you don't want to die."
As Wilhelm turned around and started to leave, Subaru was left slack-jawed. It seemed that once again he had to reconsider his perception of the young swordsman. He was a mass murderer, but maybe he also cared about his fellow soldiers? He was rude and unfriendly to those he deemed lazy, but he also seemed to be willing to help those that tried? The more Subaru tried thinking about the matter, the less sense it appeared to make. Wilhelm was a walking contradiction. "So… an emo tsundere swordsman who is also a battle maniac?"
This world had done nothing but contradict his expectations so far. "Hehe, that's some odd combination…" Internally chuckling,Subaru watched the back of the swordsman as he walked away.
"I still have a long way to go, huh…" He whispered to himself, and put his sword back in its scabbard.
Suddenly, Subaru's heart skipped a beat as the harsh crash of a silver bell sounded out, almost leaving his ears ringing. During his time at the barracks, Subaru had gotten used to the way bells ruled a soldier's life. Multiple alarms would sound at certain times to notify events to the soldiers, such as training, meals, and other regular group activities. Most sounded the same, the only thing separating them being the time at which each ring would start. However, there was one different from the rest, a much louder one which was only rung during special occasions. The ground shook as dozens upon dozens of soldiers and officers stopped what they were doing and began rushing to their assigned stations. Despite having never heard it before, even the inexperienced Natsuki Subaru knew well what the clanging meant, as it was one of the first things that was taught to him when he enrolled.
It was a call to arms. A battle was near.
The barracks was once again bustling with activity. Soldiers were rushing back and forth, preparing their weapons, armor, and hearts. The whole garrison had been ordered without any prior notice to be deployed that same day for a surprise attack against the demi-human forces present in the area. Naturally, this caused massive chaos within the ranks.
"Shit, shit, shit! Where did I put my sword!?" A young blue-haired soldier sped past Subaru, cursing almost as fast as he was running. He wasn't the only one as many fighters looked frantic as they were unprepared for such a sudden call.
"I'm lucky to not be in that guy's situation. I really must thank Wilhelm later…" He would have been in that same circumstance were it not for the young swordsman.
"So… I know that you were present last time, but this will be your first time actually participating in a battle. Are you anxious?" Tholter nudged Subaru with his elbow showing a wide grin to his friend. If Tholter was scared about the oncoming battle, he didn't show it.
"Ah? N-No! Of course not! I will be in the rear, safe from all danger, why should I be?" Subaru answered with a nervous chuckle. "Besides, you guys are in more danger than I will be, shouldn't you be scared?" he asked the archer.
"Huh? Why should I be scared about some pesky demi-humans?" Tholter asked with a somewhat confused expression on his face, "Rather, this will be my chance! With my infallible sight, I will take down more enemies than that kid for sure this time!" he declared, a confident smile on his face as he mimicked the act of drawing his bow.
"S-Sure…" Subaru was left stunned. Wasn't Tholter scared? How could he not be? They were going into a battle, returning to that hell once again. Death was a huge possibility and he was excited? Subaru himself was barely managing to stay calm and not scream in utter terror!
Initially, Subaru didn't think much about Wilhelm's words from the previous night. "He is just a kid, what does he know?" Subaru had assumed. But now, he was starting to reconsider. "Maybe these people really are drunk on glory…"
Unaware of his friend's thoughts, the young archer continued, "However, Grimm doesn't look that motivated, must I say…" Tholter then turned his wavering eyes to the purple haired soldier. Subaru followed his gaze, and found Grimm picking up his gear like the rest of the soldiers. However, his attention seemed divided, and his focus was clearly elsewhere. He leaned forward, eyes scanning the room with caution, taking in his surroundings as if on guard against some imminent attacker. His movements were slow, and even from a distance Subaru could see his limbs trembling. After nervously looking around, as if to verify no one was looking at him, Grimm Fauzen's face finally betrayed his inner fear and anxiety, the same feelings Subaru himself was hiding at that very moment.
A few meters to Grimm's left, from within the tumultuous crowd, a figure started to emerge. A young swordsman walked through the crowd, avoiding the rest of the scrambling soldiers as best as he could, his gaze fixated ahead as he advanced with single minded determination.
Finally getting to a less congested section of the hallway, his pace started to slow. He silently approached Grimm and the rest of his squadron. Wilhelm's gaze shifted as he took notice of his comrades.
Instantly, Grimm's fretting face gave way to a more guilty and scared expression, his eyes widening slightly and his mouth wavering at the sight of Wilhelm. Seeing this, Wilhelm's expression soured and his brows furrowed into a frown.
"Exactly what I thought…" Wilhelm murmured under his breath as he passed by the frightened soldier. The words were spoken softly enough that only Grimm could pick it up. The young swordsman looked almost disappointed for a moment. Grimm flinched, his eyes darting away in shame.
The swordsman's disappointment vanished as quickly as it had appeared. He picked up his pace once more moving with renewed focus, Wilhelm concentrated on the fight ahead, his steps confident and his eyes narrowed with a fierce intensity. He slipped into his leather armor. It offered little protection but he knew that it wouldn't be a problem; Wilhelm's fighting style was to outmaneuver his foes with his skill and speed, so what he needed was mobility over defense. Once he strapped his trusty sword to his side, Wilhelm Trias was ready for battle.
Subaru glared at Wilhelm with unbridled anger as the swordsman strode past them, completely ignoring their presence as per usual. Subaru had originally intended on expressing his gratitude towards the young man, but that intention had vanished when he saw Grimm's face after whatever Wilhelm had said, "That kid…"
Subaru's eyes further narrowed towards Wilhelm's departing figure, so much so that he started gaining some attention from his already agitated comrades, not like he would notice anyway as, at the moment, there was only a single thought crossing his mind, "He said something to Grimm again didn't he?"
When Wilhelm's already small figure finally disappeared in the crowd, Subaru turned back to his locker and continued to get ready for the day to come. He had made his decision. Such a person didn't deserve his gratitude.
"That little kid, ignoring us…" Tholter appeared to consider going after the younger soldier for a moment before letting out a sigh and sagging his shoulders, as if all the energy had been drained from him. "But then again, he's Wilhelm so I suppose that's just to be expected right?"
"Right…" Subaru's eyes followed towards the spot where Wilhelm's receding figure had been just moments prior. His mind wandered back to the memories of their first encounter. He saw Wilhelm, with his usual inexpressive face slaying a demi-human in the blink of an eye while standing among a sea of corpses, the smell of blood and death heavy in the air. Such an image had keptSubaru awake many times during these past few days. "We are going back to battle today," he muttered to himself, his voice heavy.
"...Will it happen again?" Lowering his head, Subaru couldn't help but notice his hands trembling. He grabbed onto the hilt of his sword on his waist; gripping it tightly to steady his hand. Taking deep breaths to calm himself, Subaru's hateful glare gradually softened into a mix of contempt and sorrow. His eyes narrowed and his mouth curled downward into a frown as sorrow etched itself onto his face. His gaze became heavy with disappointment and a sense of defeat. The memories filled him with a sense of dread, a sickening feeling in the pit of his stomach, one he had sadly grown accustomed to during the past week. "What kind of kid could do stuff like that?" he thought bitterly. "Just… what kind of world have I ended up in where that sort of massacre happens at all?"
"I really wonder…" Subaru trailed off as the swordsman's figure disappeared between a myriad of others. Despite his best efforts, he couldn't shake off that feeling that history was doomed to repeat itself. As if the world was pushing him into that same old path he thought to have already escaped. "Fate is a compelling force after all, isn't it?"
"Subaru?" Tholter nudged at his shoulder, "Come on, don't waste your time on him, we need to get ready," the archer said with an understanding smile. He reached for a nearby wooden cabinet and began selecting arrows, carefully placing them in his quiver. The Royal Army's arsenal was as varied as the soldiers that comprised it. Some soldiers preferred to use heavier arrows and a bigger bow for more power and impact despite the low range of mobility it would allow, while others chose the speed and precision of a lighter one with the corresponding lighter ammunition to go along with it. Of course the Royal Army offered standard issue weaponry to their soldiers in case they needed it but, as it wasn't an obligation to use them, many brought their own familiar weapons from home. As such, hunting bows were a very common sight.
"S-Sure!" Quickly gathering his bearings, Subaru proceeded to prepare himself as well. As he removed his tracksuit he then began putting on the pieces of leather armor that were assigned to him after his enrollment. Most other soldiers had additional pieces of armor made out of metal in order to give further protection, but those were usually paid by the soldier himself or his family.
"Besides, it's not like I'll be in any real danger, for most of the time…" Subaru remarked in a low, measured tone, his words barely above a whisper. His voice was tinged with a hint of hesitation and uncertainty and his eyes betrayed the confidence he was trying to exude just moments earlier. One of the only reasons as to why he had been managing to hold a cool head despite knowing he would be back into the battlefield was his specific role. He would be in the rear, away from most danger and safe from any stray fireball. The risk was minimal and it only would become notable if the rebels decided to attack the supply chain in the middle of a battle. He also had a few soldiers who had been ordered to volunteer to help him in his endeavors as well as protect him and the supplies. It was very unlikely that anything bad could happen to him.
"Right…", Subaru also knew that he was probably just deluding himself. Even though he had been too focused on his own survival to take note of the bigger picture, he had heard about the devastating defeat at the Redonas plateau and that the army had been basically decimated. If such an event were to happen again, even his relatively safe position in the rear would not be enough to protect him from the slaughter. Where would that bring him? Would RBD work once again? "And if it does, does that mean I will have to return to-?"
That prospect… It was certainly better than dying, but not by much. Repeating Redonas all-over again, from the start. Hoping to get lucky once more to find Wilhelm before any demi-human got to him. Being forced to see that mountain of dead bodies once more…
However, he didn't allow himself to dwell on such thoughts for too long. Instead he shook his head, taking a deep breath and pushed them aside, immersing himself fully in his preparations. If there was anything that could potentially save him in such a scenario after all, it would be his armour, his preparation. He couldn't afford to make any mistakes or cut corners when it came to putting it on, as even the slightest error could potentially put his life in danger. As such, he took his time, methodically checking and making sure every strap was fastened and everything was in working condition.
As he finished donning his armor he then slipped on his trusty tracksuit, testing his range of mobility by moving his limbs around, feeling the familiar stretch of the fabric. He took a moment to steady himself, focusing on the present by taking a few deep breaths. This was not the time for him to be dwelling on hypothetical scenarios that may or may not happen, and being paranoid would certainly not help him in any case.
"Ok… So how do I look?" Turning around Subaru switched his attention towards Tholter who stood there with a blank expression on his face. He didn't say a word, but his deadpan stare made Subaru feel like he was being judged for some odd reason.
After a few seconds of silence, Tholter asked, "Really? Don't you have anything else to put on?" He couldn't help but notice that the only clothing he had ever seen Subaru wearing was that same old tracksuit, and by now he was starting to seriously consider giving the boy a few of his own clothes.
Subaru dismissed his friend's suggestion with a casual wave of his hand. "Nope! Nada!" he exclaimed, crossing his arms in front of him to emphasize his point. "As you know, I came 'out of nowhere' so I have no other clothes," he added with a wry smile, attempting his best to sound as enigmatic as possible before shrugging his shoulders casually.
Tholter's eyes widened in sudden remembrance. "Ohh, that." he muttered, his gaze now fixed on Subaru with a hint of suspicion. "After this is over, you'll have to explain to me where you come from." he added, narrowing his eyes. Tholter Weasily had encountered his fair share of eccentric individuals in his lifetime, but even he was taken aback at times by Subaru. He was undoubtedly one of the most unusual people he had ever met. Where could such a guy have come from? A person with no family, no friends, no past and no common sense. At times, Tholter found himself intrigued by the mystery that was Natsuki Subaru.
"I already told you, man," Subaru noted with a lopsided grin, his shoulders dropping slightly. Despite his admittedly hard to believe past, Subaru himself didn't think his origins were all that exciting. He was just a mediocre person who happened to find himself in an extraordinary situation. Still, he couldn't help but to feel amused at the current conversation. It had been a long time since he last had the chance to be the center of attention.
"I'm not buying the whole 'island nation far in the east' stuff. Lugunica is the easternmost nation there is, everyone and their mother knows that," Tholter asserted, narrowing his eyes and crossing his arms towards his friend. Subaru was obviously lying. After all, everyone who ever claimed to come from beyond the waterfall were either crazy, pulling some scam to defraud the gullible, or just looking for attention.
"Sure…" Rolling his eyes, Subaru accepted that he would not convince his friend any time soon. After his failed attempt to convince Grimm of his true origins, he had turned to Tholter. As he expected, it had all proven to be futile. Not that he didn't understand their skepticism. If someone came up to him claiming to be from outer space, he probably wouldn't believe them either. Subaru slumped his shoulders as he decided to accept the fact that no one would ever acknowledge his origins.
As the two men conversed, the sound of another bell echoed through the barracks. Those who were ready quickly made their way to their designated positions, while those who were not scrambled to finish their preparations. Tholter gave a quick nod to his companion and began to move forward with the group that would be at the front, Grimm following closely behind him. Subaru, on the other hand, made his way to his designated position as he had been taught during his first days of training.
As the soldiers headed out of the changing rooms and towards their positions in the formation utter silence reigned. Tension hung thick in the air, everyone was nervous, scared and as they prepared for battle, no further words were shared.
The Battle of Castour Field was about to begin
It began at sunset in a valley lined by hills by a sparsely dense forest. On the bottom of the valley, facing towards the setting sun, a numerically superior detachment from the Lugunican Royal Army began the confrontation against a sizable yet numerically inferior unit of demi-humans.
The Royal Army's men were all armed with a variety of weaponry from knights' swords and lances to archers' bows and the infantry's axes and spears. The soldiers were as diversely armored as they were armed, with their protection ranging from chap boiled leather to the finest plate money could buy. Regardless of how they were equipped, most of the men marched forward with remarkable confidence. The command had done their best over the course of the march to ensure that every soldier knew that the enemy was a fraction of the size of their army. Moreover, unlike last time, now it would be the Royal Army that had the element of surprise. The news had boosted the already lofty confidence of the soldiers who now marched ahead with renewed determination. As they approached the enemy, soldiers on the back of the formation even started placing bets on who would kill more rebels. The laughter and casual conversations between comrades filled the air, as each soldier looked ahead with anticipation at the glory and riches ahead. This wouldn't be like the last battle. That was a fluke, only possible because of demihuman trickery. Now the shoe was on the other foot, and they would show those rebels what a true army was. Of course, most of those who held this opinion had not been at the front line in that last battle. They had been out of the main fighting or had been brought in as reinforcements with the new commander. Those who had survived the front of the last conflict however, approached the impending battle with a sense of apprehension, fully aware of the consequences in case of defeat. But even they drew strength from the unyielding camaraderie shared amongst the army. They trusted in their training, short as it may have been, and they trusted in each other As they advanced, all of them stood united - lifelong friends and people from villages all over the country, all prepared to engage in the name of the kingdom and to fight this war.
The army continued to advance towards a seemingly inconspicuous piece of land. It looked empty, but it was slightly distorted and difficult to focus on any of the details. Suddenly the patch of land began to glow a dull blue and then, in the blink of an eye, another army materialized out of thin air, the enemy had finally detected them.
"So those cowards have finally decided to reveal themselves? It was about time!"
The renowned Zellgeff Squadron directed by Captain Bordeaux Zellgef led the charge. Unlike the others, his men were much less relaxed, and were far more focused on the task at hand. Bordeaux himself, much like the common forces behind him, demonstrated nothing but complete confidence before the troops, as he carried his long halberd on his shoulder.
They then approached the rebels. They were, as expected, a small force, less than half the size of the royalist army. It was also apparent that they were much more poorly equipped than their human foes, which was no surprise to the Royalists. Some had kitchen knives, daggers and smithing hammers they had used on their workplaces, while others used hunting bows and woodworking axes. Their armour was just as cheap as their weapons, with leather and animal hides being prevalent.
Soldiers on the human side shared amused looks by the sorry state of their opponents as the demihumans panicked, trying to get into a defensive formation. Then the humans stopped on their tracks, 50 meters separated from their foe.
A few seconds of silence followed, as archers prepared their bows and soldiers readied their weapons. Bordeaux glared at the Demi-Human captain, a gigantic man covered by brown fur and carrying an axe. Then, letting out a mighty roar he began his charge, starting the battle.
With such formidable warriors on the front, the Humans slammed directly into the ill-prepared Demi-human troops, completely rupturing their frontline. Just as Crûmiere had predicted, the rebels had no time to prepare, and the Royal Army swiftly began to take advantage.
"This is what I was talking about, I can't even be angry!" Bordeaux laughed in delight at his enemy's inferiority. Only a few minutes after the start of the confrontation, the demihumans were in complete disarray. In the chaos of battle, steel met blood and meat with a sickening but addicting wet crunch. The metal of his long halberd sliced through the flesh and bones of his enemies, sending reverberations up the captain's arms and down his spine. He could see the brief red glow of sparks in his peripheral vision as metal clashed against metal all around him. Grounded in the midst of it all, hacking away at the enemy, Bordeaux found himself in a warrior's trance. It was glorious.
"I know this seems easy, but don't let the enemy wear you out!" Bordeaux barked loudly to the rest of the formation behind him, a wide grin on his face. "Let's show them our might!" At this, he raised his bloodied weapon and roared to whip his troops up into an even greater frenzy.
"Yes, Captain!"
"Right!"
"Let's send these damn mutts back to the ditch where they belong!"
"Show them hell!"
A cacophony of excited and joyous exclamations ruptured through the field as the already immense momentum that was carrying the human army became truly unstoppable. The rebels began to break as the royal army maintained its assault.
The Rebel had lost all cohesion, even as their commander desperately tried to keep them in a defensive formation. As such, it was simple for the royalists to leverage their numerical superiority to smash the demi-humans' coalition forces, successfully pushing back the front. The men assigned to the tip of the spear were swept up in their allies' joy at their success and pressed forward, cutting down one demi-human after another.
"I don't know what the problem was last time," Tholter said giddily, killing an enemy with his arrow and then drawing another one from his quiver, "But this is really easy!"
Grimm heard the enthusiastic Tholter behind him. He kept his sword and shield up, carried along by the momentum of the attack with everyone else around him. Morale was high. The retreating enemy could barely resist them. The royal army had every advantage, yet Grimm couldn't bring himself to join in the euphoric mood.
"Damn it… Then, why am I even here…?" In a voice barely audible even to himself, Grimm cursed the weakness of his own spirit. His only salvation was his friends' success; he himself had yet to kill a single enemy. All he could do was cling to his shield, desperately fending off the barrage of incoming attacks. Grimm's defense and efforts were not in vain and it was helping his comrades fight at their best but it also intensified his deep sense of shame at his inadequacy. He could do more, and he knew it, yet the fear and terror kept him paralyzed in place. The fact that he was providing some degree of useful support to his comrades by taking on some of the enemy's attention was only of cold comfort to him.
As the advance of the army continued, those assigned to the rear could only hear the clashes of battle in front of them.
"We're winning aren't we?!" Natsuki Subaru exclaimed in bewilderment, the smile on his face mirroring his perplexity. From his perch atop of a wooden cart overflowing with the provisions he was tasked to oversee, Subaru attempted to gaze at the chaotic scene playing out in the distance. Under him, short swords, daggers, broadswords, halberds, spears and shields; all kinds of weapons were stacked haphazardly one on top of the other. The packing of the weapons in the cart was far from what anyone could call efficient, but Subaru wasn't overly concerned. His orders had simply been to protect the cart, nothing more. Occasionally a soldier would run over from the front and Subaru would help him get a resupply of arrows for the archers, and then the man would run off back to the fighting within a minute. The rest of the supplies would only be used after the battle, to reequip any men who had lost or damaged their weapons. With this in mind he then started to stack boxes full of arrows and other items haphazardly, one on top of the other, creating a makeshift seat for himself. The cart was already disorganized so the additional clutter made little difference. Atop his new wooden throne he attempted to peer at the battle raging in the distance, though even his new elevated position gave little in the way of visibility. A real shame in Subaru's eyes. Nevertheless even this far from the action, the high morale and joyous shouts from the soldiers were clearly audible. He couldn't help but to share their euphoria, and get swept up in the infectious energy of the moment. Though he may not agree with the methods, he was still elated at the success of his comrades and felt a great sense of relief since his friends were also at the front. Despite his positive emotions however, those around him seemed far less enthusiastic.
"Damn it, why're we stuck back here!? Just hear them, they're having a field day over there!" a young green-haired sergeant exclaimed. The other guards around him nodded furiously in agreement. The sergeant, named Pate, and his men had not been in the last battle, only arriving at the army with the new commander. Instead of actually fighting the rebels, Pate had been ordered to guard the cart with this weird kid. He didn't understand what that black-haired boy was so smiley about. Didn't Subaru know that they were away from all the action? They were missing all the fun! At this very moment, he could be slaughtering the enemies of his beloved kingdom, earning glory and honor alongside his comrades, just as he had always dreamed. Yet here he was, stuck in the rear, fated to only hear, not even witness, the glorious deeds and fierce battles unfolding at the front of the formation.
"Damnit!" The frustrated guards groaned, each expressing their dissatisfaction with varying degrees of subtlety. Subaru looked at his sulking comrades in bewilderment. He was anxious about what was happening at the front—things sounded like they were going well at least—but, overall, he was thankful for his relatively safe position in the rear. Even though he was mostly confident that they were winning, he still would prefer to be as far as possible from any of the actual fighting.
He didn't want to see any more dead bodies.
Subaru knew that, while all that ruckus coming from the front was an indication of their success, each joyous shout by his comrades also represented a life lost in battle as well. He wasn't ready to see that kind of hell once more, much less go back into it himself.
Besides, Subaru still couldn't help but feel uneasy. From his perspective, they were already far too close to the front. At first he had thought that maybe he would be stationed by the commander's camp that held their communication metia, from which commander Crûmiere's orders were sent to his troops, a few hundred meters from the front lines on a hill. Instead, Subaru was less than a hundred meters from the fighting, so that the archers could easily resupply; far closer than he had ever anticipated.
If there was one word to describe it, the battlefield was intense. The sounds of weapons clashing could be heard clearly. All around him, he watched as soldiers raced past. They all ran towards the front without hesitation, their faces set with determination and a some sort of crazed glint.
The ground beneath was uneven, littered with rock and debris and the familiar smell of smoke and blood brought by the wind made his stomach churn.
"All of this makes me feel sick…" The raven-haired boy thought that perhaps he might have the guts to kill a few monsters, or mabeasts as they apparently called them in this world, but demi-humans? "I-If I had to…" his hands started to tremble at the mere thought of it, "I don't know if I could…".
Even disregarding the imposing fear and trauma that his first encounter with that race caused him, just the thought of having to kill someone, to take a life, to become a killer, to forever taint his soul… it weighed heavily upon his mind. Even so, death was something he was well-acquainted with. Would wanting to avoid that hellish experience be enough of a justification to kill, even if in self-defence? In any way, this was war, he was part of it now and Subaru wasn't foolish enough to believe that he could get through it without any bloodshed.
Despite his reservations, Subaru had developed a genuine sense of comradeship with his fellow soldiers. They were all in this together, even if they were fighting for different motives. He couldn't, however, help but feel apprehensive. At any moment, the tides could turn and the fighting could spill over to their position, and, of course, if things got to that point Tholter and Grimm would probably be dead.
"Maybe…" Mulling over the possibility, Subaru silently prayed to never be forced to discover the answer to that question. "Hey, private!" Sergeant Pate screamed loudly from below, his voice only barely carrying over the cacophony from the battlefield. "The front seems to be moving so get down from that cart now!"
"Hm? S-Sure!" Subaru replied with a startle, quickly scrambling down from his improvised wooden throne. It was the umpteenth time this situation had happened, and by now it felt as though he had repeated the same motion over a hundred times since the battle began.
"However, this is weird…" turning his head back towards the direction of the front. "Isn't this too… too easy?" he wondered to himself.
Certainly, he hoped for a quick and decisive victory for his allies, but according to the reports that had gotten back to them, the Royal Army wasn't just winning, they were slaughtering the rebels. Victory was near, there was nothing there to indicate otherwise and yet…
"It sure is odd…" Subaru thought to himself,becoming increasingly aware of the abnormality of the situation with each passing moment. Looking at the activity around the cart, his comrades were engaged in small talk as they gathered together the supplies, while others were leaning on their weapons in boredom. By this point in the battle, Subaru had been expecting to see injured combatants or soldiers with broken weapons returning to the rear. However, other than a few archers coming to them to replenish their quivers, he had seen surprisingly little activity.
He mused on his frustrated guard's words. "This really is just like a field day…" Something about the situation didn't sit right with him. Even if caught off guard, he could hardly believe that those monsters that caused the hell he had endured at Redonas could be so easily defeated. It should have been more difficult than this.
"Maybe I'm just overthinking it…" Choosingto cling to that hope, he began to walk, following the cart, along with the guards. They continued getting closer to the action, the front of that battle which kept advancing with near unstoppable momentum.
"Wh-what the hell?!"
In the front of the battle, cries of shock rose up from both ranks. Every soldier present, human and demi-human alike, turned to see what was going on, shocked to see a figure darting through the battlefield, dismembering every demi-human he approached, cutting off heads as quick as the wind. The whirlwind of blood and limbs kept dashing through the field unimpeded. Wherever it went, so did the sound of screaming and steel cleaving flesh.
"Ruuuuahhhhh!" The cause of all this was the figure of a young boy flying across the field like a bolt of lightning. With a swift movement he leaped into the enemy ranks, his stance low. His sword worked tirelessly, mowing down demi-humans with flashes of silver in an ever-increasing pile of corpses. Every attempt by the rebels to stop him was immediately thwarted as the figure leapt, dodged, and ran through the enemy attacks without receiving a scratch. Friend and foe alike watched him in amazement.
"Wilhelm…"
Such a sight brought fear to the hearts of everyone in the battlefield. Even their captain was frozen for a moment at such a brutal spectacle; he didn't even order his soldiers to advance behind this murderous rampage, as he should have done with the momentum of victory on their side. He was paralyzed by a feeling deep in his gut that anyone who got too close to Wilhelm would be cut to ribbons, regardless they were friend or foe.
As everyone else stood transfixed by Wilhelm's display, Tholter, the only one seemingly unfazed by the gory scene, gave an excited shout, "Captain! We've crushed them here—let's get a move on!" That quickly snapped the commander out of his stupor, and he promptly ordered an advance into the breach Wilhelm had carved. Such a precious opportunity could not be wasted.
Tholter's wild laughter could be heard, as he beamed with confidence and excitement. With that same sense of confidence, the archer separated himself from the back and began to leisurely walk towards the very front, "We might not measure up to Wilhelm, but we can do our part!" he declared loudly. This brought a great cheer from his comrades charging after Wilhelm's path of destruction.
However, despite it all, their clear advantage failed to excite Grimm. The young soldier only felt a chill running down his spine. "Doesn't this feel wrong to you?" he tentatively asked his excited comrade as Tholter came close. Something was off, and Grimm could feel it. The battle was going way too smoothly for his liking.
"Huh? How can it feel wrong? We're kicking ass!" Tholter quickly retorted with a furrowed brow, confused. Without even turning to face his friend, he loosed another arrow, killing a fox-eared demi-human rebel in the distance. "We're winning this and, if I may say so, we're doing it with style!" Tholter scanned the field, taking in once more the sight of his friends and comrades slaying their foes with ease. It was a beautiful scene, one in which he found himself exhilarated. He loosed another arrow, which struck a rebel in the throat. Tholter watched with glee as his enemy went down without a sound as he searched for another target.
"Think how they decimated us last time! Why is it so easy now?" Grimm asked, a hint of desperation in his voice. Was he the only one who was worried? "I don't know," he said finally. "It's just a feeling. Tholter please believe me, something is wrong here."
Tholter merely scoffed. "You're just being paranoid, man," he said, as he pulled another arrow from his quiver, "We're fighting for the kingdom here, and you're really just worried about a feeling?"
Grimm furrowed his brow, looking at the ground deep in thought. Was he truly being paranoid? Perhaps he was just furious at how smoothly it was all going in comparison to Redonas Plateau. "Why couldn't this be my first battle?" This was an easy confrontation, with victory all but assured. Morale was high, and there were enough rebels here so that this would be a significant victory, not just a minor skirmish. If only he had decided to leave his meager job in the capital to become a soldier only a couple of weeks later, perhaps he would be able to feel the same cheer and confidence as those around him. "Maybe, I would still be able to dream…"
Tholter shrugged, "Well, maybe it's just… how did Subaru call it? The adrenaline! Maybe it's just that, or maybe today we were just lucky, Od knows I won't complain. Who knows, maybe that other time we just got really unlucky. Or maybe our commanders last time didn't know strategy from a hole in the ground, and that's what got them killed, and now we've got someone who knows better." Tholter accompanied his casual disrespect with a continued hail of arrows onto his enemies. He still had a battle to win, and he wasn't about to let his friend's doubt get in his way. Grimm, still holding his shield at the ready, watched out of the corner of his eye. Despite his friend's words, an intense feeling of wrongness just kept gnawing at him.
A moment later, his anxious thoughts were cut short as a massive cheer rose from his comrades, the volume increasing to a deafening crescendo. Wilhelm had cut down an especially large axe wielding demi-human with the same nonchalance as he had with his every other victim; it seemed that he had finally gotten to the demihuman captain. His casual attitude towards his brutal kills never ceased to amaze his fellow soldiers. This kill would surely guarantee Wilhelm another commendation, and probably a promotion as well. He had certainly earned the awe of his comrades, based on the cheers that came up from the army. But for Grimm however, it was a different story. He knew the truth. He knew that, to the swordsman, this victory didn't matter at all. It was just another kill, just another head, another fountain of blood. The ease with which Wilhelm cut down his enemies would surely be disappointing for someone like him, a warrior whose only purpose was to test and improve his abilities.
"Way to go, Wilhelm!" Although everyone continued to keep their distance in either fear or admiration, Tholter cheered with his customary enthusiasm as he boldly approached the young man, profiting from the relative peace offered by the retreating and passive demi-human forces. Having just finished slaying the last of that group of rebels, Wilhelm began to return to the front. The swordsman, completely covered in the blood of his enemies, didn't even react to this sudden acclaim but instead suddenly looked up with narrowed eyes and declared, "…Something stinks."
"Well, yeah. You're dripping with blood!" the archer replied in a joking manner. His comrades watched with widened eyes, perplexed, as this common soldier spoke with such bravado to that devil.
Ignoring Tholter's attempt at humor, Wilhelm addressed his superior. "That's not what I'm talking , I have a bad feeling about this. They're planning something…" he trailed off, his eyes narrowing further in suspicion. The commander nearly flinched at his intensity. Wilhelm was about to continue his warning when the ground started to shake beneath their feet.
What at first had only begun as a faint tremble quickly grew in intensity until, in a matter of seconds, an earthquake of untold magnitude swept across the field. Grimm's sword fell out of his hand as he failed to keep his balance. He could feel the earth trembling beneath his feet as fruitlessly tried to keep his feet. Most of the other soldiers collapsed as the shockwave spread, rippling through their bodies and picking up momentum. Only Wilhelm and a few knights remained on their feet, frantically looking for what they knew would be the cause of this earthquake.
A collective question popped up within the minds of every soldier on the field, "What…? What just—?" however, they never got to happened. The earthquake was only the beginning, as a second after the impact, a scorching wind rushed through the valley, carrying the dry dust of the battlefield, blinding the army. The soldiers coughed and sputtered as they struggled to catch their breath. Coughing, the men began to regain their feet, only to be met by a chorus of agitated shouts from those soldiers who were in the very front.
"Fall back! Fall back! Fall baaaaack! It's a trap! Demi-human ambush!"
From his elevated position on a hill overlooking the battle Commander Crumeire could see dozens of magic circles suddenly appear glowing in the midst of his army. At the same time, he saw a demihuman force suddenly appear out of an illusion that kept them hidden. This army was larger than the royalist forces, and quickly began moving to surround the humans. From his spyglass, the commander could see the giant commander of his army's new foes; Valga Cromwell, one of the most notorious and cunning of the Demi-human Rebellion's generals.
At that moment Crumiere knew that his gamble had been lost. All the fighting heretofore had been a prelude, merely bait to draw his forces into position. The real battle for Castour field was about to begin.
Hi! It's a me, Mari- Ehem, I mean MetallicCube or Box, or whatever.
Cringy and skippable stuff ahead, read to your own risks.
So, kept you waiting huh?
A bit shorter than intended but still, I'm very very happy with the end result. We all have polished this one to a mirror finish (I mean, with the amount of time this has taken of course we did)
In any case, turning… Very few pages into almost 30 hasn't been an easy feat at all.
From the start there was a lot of room for expansion from the original LN so we had to come up with some new scenarios to fill the voids and flesh out the characters a bit. For the analisis I'll leave that to Penguin who I'm sure has a lot to say about this one (the choice to focus more on the command line side of things was his for example)
But, I'll say that I'm sorry-not sorry for ending this chapter in a cliffhanger.
Hahaha…
Now, about the slight delayof this chapter…
I'm… terribly sorry.
I have no real excuses. I could say that school has been pounding me like a punching bag and there were also the final exams or that now I'm starting to plan my university life or that I started to draw (more on that later) and I didn't have the time etc but we all know those are just excuses. I had the time, I didn't use it, and I'm sorry for that. More than half of the time between this chapter and the previous one has just been me sitting idly, minding my own business.
So, I'm sorry.
*bows deeply*
I won't say to expect the next chapter for the next month, heck, maybe not even next year? Because, let's be real here, not even I trust myself with this now. I will try to be more consistent but just… don't expect much, there are reliable people and then there's me.
There are many things going on in my life rn and this fanfic is sadly not at the top of that list let's say…
What I will say is that the next chapter (or at least its skeleton) is already done so it shouldn't take too long (if I don't get lazy, which I very well might)
So, will I abandon this? No, hell no! This is my project, my baby and I will keep at it till the day I die… or I forget about it, whatever happens first.
About drawing… yes, you've heard it right, I do that as well now, actually, it is my main focus and my new goal in life. Turns out that, while writing burns me out pretty quickly, that doesn't happen when I draw so my focus has been shifting since I picked it up about 2 years ago. About that, I do have a Twitter and Pixiv for my art so if any of you are interested just search 'MetallicCube' and I should appear, (yeah I know it is quite shameless but you gotta use any opportunity for publicity right?)
If things go very well I might do a few artworks for this fanfic, who knows, maybe I'll even do a short manga? It certainly does sound compelling…
(I mean, I already did a little something for Dragon's Candidate so it wouldn't be the first time)
What more… right. Now stuff will begin to deviate a bit more from canon, we're still not in the "breakthrough" but we're close, and it will show. I also have other fics in the works but again timing and… yeah, you get it.
Also, just in case, I want to make my point clear here.
I don't care about my "property" over this fic or anything like that. Of course Re:Zero isn't mine or anything but some certain behaviours I've seen lately make me thing that specifying this might be necessary
So, what does that mean you may ask? Well, that means that I allow (actually, I encourage) just about everything you wanna do with it. Wanna do a lazy spinoff? Go ahead. A sick fanart? Please do so. A react to it? I would be grateful. A friggin hentai? Ok, but just don't go overboard.
Actually, I find the lack of Re:Zero fanfiction surrounding the Demi-human war very amusing. It is undoubtedly one of the best scenarios to write and it offers almost unlimited creative freedom so the fact that we're basically the only ones writing it… heh
Anyways, I don't want to gatekeep anything, for example, if you think this fic is going too slowly and want to write a 'continued' version of it, go ahead! Actually, if anyone needs any help with anything of that sort just contact me and I'll gladly help.
As long as you make clear that the og fic is this one I'll allow pretty much anything, not even need to ask for permission.
Just please, nothing too gross, thanks in advance.
Heh, as if someone would do a work related to this hehehe…
I would also like to hear any questions you may have about the fic, holding a little QuA section for each chapter would be pretty fun in my opinion.
There are a thousand things I would like to say but I don't want to drag this for too long.
So now I'll give the word to my very appreciated slav- ehem, co-workers.
*passes mic*
Howdy
I have to reiterate Box's apologies for the delay of this chapter, I have my share of the blame for that as well.
My only hope is that you all enjoyed the chapter, which would at least justify the wait somewhat.
This part of the story has been interesting since we are having to cover in detail something that really only took a few pages in the actual light novel. This required a bit more explanation to cover why certain events happen. In particular, in canon we have two battles right after each other where the Royalists are ambushed. However, since we decided to show the command side of things, it was necessary to come up with a compelling reason for the army to fall into this trap. This is why all the emphasis was placed on the opportunity this attack provided. The bait the rebels used was a force large enough to make a difference in the war. Thanks to Wilhelm, the last was still a massive loss in men for the demihumans. Crumeire is not crazy to believe that this army he sees is disorganized and panicked and would fold easily to the larger royalist force. He is genuine in his belief that the inevitable sacrifices this battle will take will be worth it to put the war to a close. Of course, that isn't the only reason why he goes for this. He had just been given command of the main army after years of being in the political doghouse. Part of what he is doing is trying to actively prove that he is fit for the role. An early victory would help ensure that he is able to keep his command, and isn't just reassigned once his enemies in court get the King's ear. I don't think that this motivation is mutually exclusive with the more noble desires to put an end to the war, but it does paint his decision making. He knows that if he lets a huge opportunity to potentially mortally wound the enemy to waste, it will not only prolong a brutal civil war, but will also likely seriously damage his career. In total, this convinced him to give his orders, but as we see in the end of the chapter, things have gone very wrong for his plans.
Subaru has always been interesting to write in this story because this version of the character is very different from the arc 1-2 versions of him in canon. The biggest difference, I feel, is the fact that there is no equivalent to emilia for him to latch onto. In canon, arc one had him use his RBD to let him be a genuine hero and save the girl of his dreams. Here, it was used to let him barely survive a horrific blood stained battle. Right now, he doesn't yet have that hero complex that developed in canon. He is currently just trying to survive day to day. The main strategy he used to deal with all the emotional baggage he has built up is to just try not to think about it. He tries not to think about his parents, and he definitely does his best not to dwell on RbD. Recall that he does not know that the checkpoints move yet, so he thinks that if he dies, he goes back to that first battle. Wanting to avoid that, he pushes himself to spend time with his duties, and with his new friends. The last thing Subartu wants is to be left alone to silent contemplation on what has transpired.
Wilhelm is also a very interesting character at this point. In canon, he essentially keeps this cold, dispassionate persona of a man who only cares about the blade until he meets Theresa. However, here, Subaru is starting to get under his skin a little early. Wilhelm doesn't really know what to make of Subaru. As we saw in the last chapter, he does respect the fact that Subaru seems to genuinely put his all into his training. At the same time, he is so enthused about just how emotional Subaru can be, and he doesn't understand Subaru's gregariousness and clownishness. When combined, this leads to what Subaru would describe as a Tsundere attitude. Naturally, he is still far, far from where his character arc ends, but it will be fun to see him develop differently than how he did in canon.
Poor Grimm. That is all.
Finally, there are just a few random notes that you may find interesting. Anyone with experience with the military, whether as a member or a dependent, should be very familiar with the experience of the soldiers who were "ordered to volunteer" to help Subaru. Also, if it was not clear, Subaru was 100% Jojo posing when he was bemoaning the lack of mayonnaise in this new world. Finally, there is a Sword Art Online Abridged Reference in this chapter for you to enjoy. If you didn't get it, what are you doing here reading a fanfiction's editor's note? Go watch SAO Abridged!
I hope that we can get the next chapter to you in a shorter time frame.
As always, I appreciate you guys for reading and reviewing.
NotAPenguin
Finally, both MetallicBox and NotAPenguin would like to offer our sincerest thanks to TheColourPurple, whose editing and writing skills have been instrumental in the creation of this chapter.
Hello! Purple here. These Author's Notes have been long so I will keep my part brief.
First, if you want anyone to blame for the chapter's delay, then you can blame me. There were, of course, a variety of factors at play in regards to why it's taken so long to update, but I would say that at a few key junctures I slowed down progress considerably with my own… life stuff, and poor communication. So, I apologize for that.
Focusing back on the positive side of things, it's hard to believe this is only chapter 3! I feel that we've all grown as creatives over time, which is really cool. But also, given how long ago we laid the foundations of this project, it's also grown quite apparent to me how much old stuff we have, are, and will continue to adjust as we continue with the fic, let alone the stuff my critic brain wants to tear apart.
Rather than seeing the narrative and prose growing pains as a detriment, though, I choose to look at this all as an opportunity. There's a lot of content already written out for the next chapter of Star Tainted Red, and I'm getting myself mentally ready to shift my approach. Once we get a little time to bask in finally putting this long-awaited update out, I'm gonna get my editing second wind, and resolve to keep this fic from sitting on a cliffhanger for more than a few months… hopefully. If not, you can always blame me for delays. :-)
