Chapter Thirty Three
Sunlight streamed into my eyes causing me to wince as I brought my hand up to my face. My eyes adjusted to the morning light flooding into the room and slowly brought my hand down from my face to find it was already morning. Strange, it felt like I had been asleep for far longer. It was dead quiet with the exception of the chirps that came from outside, and I sat up straight in bed. Proceeding to look around the room I found that I was the only one here. Scathach had already gotten dressed and left without so much as a word, that woman I swear.
Quickly getting dressed, I stood up and slid into my boots where upon tying my shoelaces, I proceeded to grab my holster from my nightstand and pulled it over my shoulders. Upon securing my holster around my arms I grabbed my vest, which was still leaning against my nightstand, and pulled it over my head where I fastened the straps on the sides. With my shoulder holster and vest secure I walked over to the end of the bed and lifted my jacket from the headpost. I slid my arms into my jacket and buttoned up my jacket before making my way over towards the door. On my way to the door I stopped at the chair across from my bed where my rifle was still sitting, grabbing it I checked to make sure it was safe, and slung it over my back. Dressed and with everything in hand I proceeded over to the door where I grabbed the door handle and swung it wide open before slamming it shut behind me as I went to go look for Scathach and the others.
One of the first places I went to search was the girl's bedrooms, and I stopped outside of Mashu's bedroom. I knocked several times and announced my entry before I grasped the door handle and peeked inside. Mashu wasn't in her room with no sign of Four either, and checking Jeanne's room yielded the same results. The next place I headed to was the dining area, but when I checked inside there was no one to be found and closed the door. There was only one other place I could think of to look, and I headed there right away, and it was a brief walk before I reached the doors of Nero's "throne" room. On arrival I found guards per usual flanking the doors outside the room and spotted me. One of them grabbed the door for me and opened it where I gave a curt nod in response before heading inside. Inside the room I found Scathach along with the others gathered around Nero's war table. At the head of the table was Nero herself who was pointing at something on the map, and saying something to one of her many soldiers who was also gathered around the table. Upon entry everyone in the room looked in my direction and seeing me Nero joyously called out to me.
"Good morning Chris, we've been waiting for you to get started!" Nero waved me over.
"Yes good morning your Highness." I said as I walked up to the table. "My apologies, I would have been here sooner, but someone didn't wake me." I said, narrowing my eyes at Scathach. Scathach ignored my angry gaze and averted her eyes elsewhere with no words in response.
"Your apology is accepted." Nero said. "While we were waiting, we've briefly discussed what our plan is, but now that you're here we can go more in depth." Nero said and I nodded my head. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the Director and Doctor Roman's holograms appear. Neither one of them said a word, and instead just stood there listening in. I wasn't really sure why they needed to appear if they could hear everything being said even without appearing, but I guess they had their reasons. I heard someone clearing their throat and directed my attention towards the person, and found it was Nero. "Ahem, now then. Let's go over the plan." Nero said and proceeded to point to a spot on the map. "We will depart from Rome and head North to meet up with our forces holding the United Roman forces off in the Alps. Once we get there, our job will be to reinforce them and then make a breakout into the Gaulish lands." Nero tapped on France.
"I have a question, if I may." I said, raising my hand. Multiple eyes landed on me with disapproving glares and for a moment I thought I had made a grave error.
"Umu, I will allow it." Nero said, nodding her head.
"Well I was just kinda curious how we plan on making a breakout into the United Roman Empire's Lands, since you've been on the defensive for so long?" I asked.
"I was going to get to that." Nero replied. "I'm hoping that your team can punch a hole through their defenses that will allow us to break out into their lands and encircle their forces at the choke point or force them into retreat." Nero said. "Our forces have been holding off nonstop attacks for months at the borders. If we can force them into retreat we can give my men a much needed break, while our expedition will pursue the United Roman Empire Forces back into Gaulish lands and retake our lost land." Nero explained further while I scratched my cheek.
"While It's true we could act as an assault force..." I murmured. "We would best be utilized as a strike force behind enemy lines, given our small team size. If we were to try and take an entire army by ourselves, we might find ourselves surrounded, and I'm not quite as durable as my partners are." I explained. Nero took a few moments to process what I had said before speaking up.
"That could also work in our favor, so what do you suggest your team do?" Nero asked.
"What do we know about the situation on the Gaulish border?" I asked in response.
"From my reports most of the Gaulish forces are gathered there and are being led by one of the false "Emperors"." Nero said. "As I said they attack day and night, and it almost seems like their numbers are infinite. We have several armies gathered there as well to man the defenses, and have been holding them off for now. Several of my Generals are there, in charge of overseeing the defense." Nero explained.
"What's the geography like?" I asked.
"It's mountainous, and mostly untraversable. The United Roman Empire's forces are forced to attack us through one of the valleys, but as I've said we've set up several defenses and walls in the valley with a huge base camp." Nero replied. "The major concern is attacks by water, but a separate army watches the coast line for any enemy armies that might try to flank around." Nero added.
"That leaves us with really only two options, we can try to traverse the terrain and flank them, attack them from behind or we can take a more frontal approach and try to break through one one their flanks." I said cupping my chin. I turned my attention to Scathach who stood there with her arms crossed. "What do you suggest, Lancer?" I asked.
"After their last defeat, I have a feeling the enemy might expect an attack from behind, but if we could traverse the mountains and get around them they might not expect anyone to do that. Or they could have people watching the mountains for any of Empress Nero's forces. I would be surprised if they did not, but if they don't it gives us the element of surprise." Scathach said. "However it would take us some time to traverse over the mountains and someone would need to stay behind to inform Nero that we were beginning our attack." Scathach added.
"I could do that." Jeanne suggested.
"Alright then, what about the frontal assault option." I said.
"I think the three of us could break through one of their flanks, but like you said we could get surrounded or overwhelmed." Scathach said. "I'm also not sure if we'd be able to go after their flanks unnoticed, given the terrain we would have to leave through the corridor along with Nero's army." Scathach said.
"That is the downside of a chokepoint, our armies will have to funnel through to get out to face their army." Nero said.
"Do we have any exact numbers of enemies there are?" Scathach asked.
"Our reports suggest they have several thousand troops waiting outside of the chokepoint." Nero answered.
"I don't think it should be too much of a problem for me and Mashu, and so long as Christopher stays back he should be fine." Scathach said.
"You said one of the false "Emperors" is leading them. Are they on the frontlines? If they were, we could possibly take them out and cause the United Roman Empire forces to fall into disarray." I inquired and Nero shook her head.
"No, I'm afraid not." Nero replied. "From our reports, they haven't been spotted. So we have to assume they're leading their forces from the Gaulish capital." Nero said.
"Bummer." I said.
"So what should be our approach?" Mashu asked me and I stood there for several moments thinking about which strategy was best. After thinking it over in my head for a while, I finally gave my answer.
"... Lancer, Mashu, and I will traverse the mountains and attack their forces from behind. Given our small numbers, we should be able to go unnoticed by the enemy." I announced my decision. "Saber will stay behind and inform you of when we attack. Hopefully we will be able to provide enough of a distraction that Empress Nero's forces will be able to get your forces through the corridor and launch a frontal assault." I explained and the others nodded their heads. "Assuming it has your approval, Empress Nero?" I asked.
"It is a bold strategy, and has its risks, but I like it." Nero nodded her head. "I approve of this plan. We will wait for your signal and launch our attack as soon as Saber gives us the word. I will have one of my generals lead their forces to attack their left flank and try and break through, and with luck we'll be able to encircle their forces. I will lead our other forces in a frontal assault to try and pin down the enemy. " Nero announced.
"Well with Empress Nero's blessing all we have to do is set this plan in motion." I said. "I do have another question, if our plan is successful, what next?" I asked.
"If things go according to plan, we will push east and then proceed to push North towards the Gaulish capital." Nero said. "It is there we should find the false emperor leading Gaul's forces and with his defeat and capture of the capital, Gaul will once again be under my control." Nero said, placing her hand on her chest.
"Hopefully we can find some useful information on the United Roman Empire there, or maybe this False Emperor will be a bit more forthcoming." I said and Nero nodded her head.
"Umu. Any information on our enemy would be ideal, since like I said before none of the scouts we've sent into the United Roman Empire's lands has returned alive. We need information, Like where their capital is or who is leading them for example." Nero said.
"Or maybe where the Holy Grail is being kept?" Mashu suggested and I nodded my head.
"Yeah, or maybe any information about the mage working for the United Roman Empire." I said. The others at the table all nodded their heads, it seemed like were all in agreement of the plan and knew what to do.
"With that matter settled, all that is left to do is to make preparations and get underway. With good weather we should reach them in a few days and meet up with our forces." Nero said and we all nodded our heads in agreement. Nero adjourned the meeting and it was followed by a quick breakfast in the dining room. By the time we got outside we had horses waiting for us, and we mounted up. Nero's army was waiting outside the temple of Mars, and it was there that we stopped and Nero prayed to the War God Mars for victory along with her officers and soldiers. Mashu, Jeanne, Scathach, and I choose to silently observe in the background or at least give the pretense that we were praying to the God Mars. Once the prays had been finished and sacrifices offered, we mounted up once more and set out. Nero's army was met with cheers by onlookers as we marched out of the city, with much of the cheers directed at Nero. I watched as Nero basked in the praise she received, smiling and waving at her adoring citizens, while the four of us abstained from the spotlight mostly trailing behind Nero. It was nonstop cheering up until we left the gates of Rome behind us and had set out on our expedition to the North.
We had already been riding for several days now through the Roman countryside, following the stone roads north. We ended up passing through Florence on the way, and Nero allowed us to rest for a while and allowed us to take some time to look around the city. Doctor Da Vinci pestered me nonstop to try and find the location of his future workshop, and after a coordinated effort we discovered its location. In its place we found a building that was tucked away in a square not far off from the center of the city. The building itself was nothing remarkable, being a two story building made up out of bricks with several windows on the second floor. There was an empty plot of land next to it, and there were various other brick homes surrounding the property. I snapped a few pictures of the house using my phone, and using Nero's Imperial privilege we were allowed to go inside. There was a man living there by himself and had made the building his home, and going inside it was mostly what one might expect to find in an ancient roman home. Being that there was only one person living there, it was mostly empty space with crates and boxes filling most of the space. I snapped a few more pictures for the annoying Doctor and prepared to be on our way out.
"Ah it's just like I remember it, more or less." Da Vinci's voice mused.
"Are you happy now? Can we go?" I asked.
"Absolutely not, you must go to where I was born!" Da Vinci exclaimed.
"This isn't a sightseeing tour!" I protested.
"Come on Chris, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity!" Da Vinci exclaimed. "This is the only chance I'll ever get to see how my workshop and my birthplace looked in Ancient Rome!" Da Vinci begged.
"Where is the Director at? Surely she doesn't approve of this little detour we're making." I pointed out.
"The Director is currently away in her office in a meeting, so she won't be bothering us for a while." Da Vinci said, and I could hear the smugness in her tone.
"Well where the hell is Roman?" I asked.
"He stepped out for a bit." Da Vinci answered.
"How convenient..." I murmured.
"So are you going to go or not?" Da Vinci asked.
"I am sure the Empress would like to be on her way." I said.
"I do not mind, in fact I myself am interested in seeing the home of the invisible voice. A fellow Roman from the future who lived here sounds interesting!" Nero chimed. I ruffled my eyebrows and bit my tongue before telling her Da Vinci was an Italian, not a Roman, but to Nero it might as well be the same thing.
"Alright fine, let's go." I said throwing up my hands. "Tell us where we're going Doctor Da Vinci." I said.
"You'll have to head outside the city, to the west." Da Vinci instructed us. Letting out a begrudging groan we headed out of the city and to the west as Da Vinci had instructed. We then proceeded for twenty miles before reaching the small village of Vinci and following the directions of the Doctor, we eventually came upon rolling hills filled with nothing but vineyards. The five of us stood atop one of the hills taking in the scenery of the surrounding area. Mashu, Nero, and Jeanne took in the scenery more than Scathach and I. I looked around for any sign of a building like Da Vinci had mentioned while Scathach looked like she was preparing for the enemy to leap out and attack at any moment.
"There's nothing here." I said.
"It looks like the farmhouse where I was born hasn't been constructed yet." Da Vinci said with a sigh. "Yet the landscape itself brings back fond memories, even if I did not spend much time here." Da Vinci admitted.
"That's great Doctor, may we go now?" I asked.
"Can you snap some pictures before you go!?" Da Vinci begged.
"Sure." I said, just wanting to get it over with. I withdrew my phone from my pocket and turned it on before navigating to the camera. I snapped several photos of the surrounding area and the spot where the farmhouse would be built before returning the phone to its pocket. "Alright I've taken the pictures you asked for, are you happy now?" I asked as I turned around.
"Yes you've proven quite reliable Chris thus far. I'll be expecting those pictures on your return." Da Vinci reminded me.
"Yeah, Yeah." I said, waving my hand. "We're heading out now, we still have to reach Nero's forces in the north." I said.
"Awe, but I was enjoying the grapes." Nero said. I turned around just as Nero plopped a grape into her mouth, her lips already purple from the amount of grapes she must have eaten by now. I could do nothing but look away and bring my hand up to my face before letting out a deep sigh.
"Actually since you're near Vinci could you stop by my Grandfather's residence...?" Da Vinci pleaded.
"No!"
"Chris, I am surprised by your skill with a horse. Is horseback riding commonplace in your era?" Nero asked out of the blue and I turned to face her. Nero was located in the center of our group with Mashu on her other side, Jeanne up front, and Scathach taking up the rear.
"Eh, not really. I just so happen to have experience riding horses due to recreational activities." I answered. In truth I only knew how to ride horses due to those times we would go horseback riding on family vacations. "Even if I didn't know how to ride horses, I'd figure it out. There's no way I'd walk to Gaul. What kind of idiot would do that?" I added.
"Umu, I can't imagine it would be comfortable walking all the way." Nero replied.
"Yeah we had to walk everywhere in the last few missions, and that was just around a city and small portion of a country." I said. "My feet are still sore just from all the walking we had to do back then, so I'd rather not walk if we can help it." I said, and Nero chuckled in response before turning her attention to Mashu.
"What about you Mashu?" Nero asked and Mashu snapped to attention.
"Oh? Me? I have a riding skill that allows me to ride horses." Mashu replied. "Or at least I think that's why. I'm still not really sure." Mashu said as she closed her eyes with a look of uncertainty.
"Or perhaps Mashu has always been that skilled." I joked and Mashu's eyes opened wide in surprise, before vigorously shaking her head.
"No, I've never been an outdoors person." Mashu said. "Are you the outdoorsy type, Senpai?" Mashu asked in response.
"Ha, not really. My sister and I would go skiing and hiking, alongside hunting, but I don't know if we could have ever been considered outdoorsy people." I said and Mashu began to chuckle.
"Well it's a good thing you did opt to go by horseback, there's no way you could ever match a servant, let alone a demi servant's stamina." Roman's voice buzzed my ear.
"No shit Roman, I'm all too aware of a servant's insane stamina. I had to try and run away from several on multiple occasions in case you forgot." I said with a frown.
"Yeah I remember, it was funny to watch on the large screen." Roman chuckled and I furrowed my eyebrows. I'm glad you enjoyed it Roman, it wasn't very enjoyable for me.
"Doctor, please try not to tease Senpai too much." Mashu said with a frown.
"Hahaha. Well it's no fun just providing intel support." Roman laughed. "Speaking of providing intel, it looks like you should be coming up on the Mediolanum soon, Nero's forces are located to the east of Mediolanum." Roman said.
"Hmm, Hmm." Nero mused. "The invisible mage is quite convenient, faster than my scouts in fact." Nero pointed out. "If you would, please consider becoming my Court Mage." Nero proposed. I heard Roman gulp, and I could almost imagine his reaction as if I was there.
"Royal Service? A Promotion?" Roman fantasized.
"...Doctor!" Mashu exclaimed.
"Don't even answer that, it's not happening Doctor." Olga interjected and I heard a prompt omph.
"Ow!" Roman exclaimed. "Stop it! I was just kidding, Director! How could I ever accept royal service?" Roman said.
"Uh huh." Olga murmured.
"Ahem anyway, you should be arriving at your destination soon." Roman said after clearing his throat. "Keep an eye out for any enemies, it's possible some smaller parties might have slipped on past the choke point." Roman warned us.
"That's impossible..." Nero said, and just as she did there was an arrow that whizzed by her head and a horse cried out. Looking to my side I saw a Roman soldier with arrows sticking out from his chest and his body slumped off his horse. There were cries heard and looking to my left and right I saw figures charging towards from both sides.
"It's an ambush!" Scathach exclaimed. An arrow whizzed past my head, and I think my life flashed before my eyes for a moment. Off to my side another soldier was struck by arrows causing him to fall off his horse right in front of mine. My own horse became spooked, and I tried to get control over him. As I was in the process of doing so, I saw out of the corner of my eye the enemy soldiers close in on us. I counted at least fifteen or more soldiers with eight archers in the back, on our other side it was more or less the same, but I couldn't tell how many archers were hiding in the tree line. The enemy made contact with our own soldiers and sparks began to fly as the two forces clashed. With my horse finally under control I reached for my rifle from my back and unslung it. I shouldered my rifle and thumbed the safety off.
"Mashu dismount and support our left flank!" I ordered from atop my horse. Mashu looked back at me and nodded her head before getting off her horse. Mashu pulled her shield off her back and rushed off to support Nero's troops who were engaged with the enemy troops. "Lancer, Saber, defend our right flank! Lancer focus on taking out the archers in the tree lines." I barked orders to them, and the both of them nodded their heads in acknowledgement as they dismounted from their horses and withdrew their weapons. Jeanne joined the fighting on our right flank and rallied the men around her, meeting the charging URE soldiers head on. Scathach dashed in between of the URE soldiers and made a beeline for the tree lines where screams were heard shortly after she entered and the number of arrows coming from that way diminished. With my orders given I turned my attention back to our left flank just in time to see a URE soldier flung like a ragdoll through the air. However, Mashu's attempts to go on the offensive were being thwarted by the enemy archers in the back as anytime she'd poke her head out from her shield from any extended period of time, arrows would fly her way, and there were too many soldiers in between her and the archers. I raised my rifle and pressed down on one of the buttons on the EOtech bringing up the holographic sight and proceeded to take aim at one of the enemy archers. Resting my finger on the trigger I lined my sights up on one of the archers in the back row and gently squeezed on the trigger. There was a cackle followed by two more as I squeezed the trigger twice more and saw my impacts strike his body. I acquired my next target and squeezed off several more rounds, watching as the bullets struck their mark and the archer slumped over dead or wounded. This process continued until the bolt locked back indicating it was empty, and I swapped magazines before continuing the process all over again. By the time I was through with my second magazine, most if not all of the archers on our left flank were either dead or wounded and since no more arrows were flying at us from our right flank I'm guessing Scathach had hunted down and killed all the archers hiding in the woods.
Turning my attention back to our left flank I saw all of the United Roman Empire soldiers had reached the defensive line, but were being held off by Mashu and Nero's soldiers. Now that the archers were out of the picture, Mashu was free to go on the offense. Mashu swung her shield at one of the URE soldiers and sent him flying before turning to face another soldier as they brought their sword down on her shield. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a soldier coming at Mashu from her flank and I brought my rifle up to bear taking aim at him before I fired off several rapid shots at, two out of the three struck their mark and he crashed down at Mashu's feet. Mashu looked at the body at her feet somewhat in surprise before looking back at me with a nod of her head. Mashu pushed back at the man with her shield causing him to stumble off balance and she swung her shield at him, slicing straight through the chest. The soldier's body fell back, hitting the mud with a loud splash, and Mashu swung her shield over her head and brought it down on top of a man who was attacking her from her left, crushing him beneath her shield. I turned my attention to the other soldiers fighting, taking aim at the URE soldiers fighting the Roman soldiers and I started taking shots at them. The air was soon filled with the smell of gunpowder and brass casings plopped down into the mud with each squeeze of the trigger as I thinned out what was left of the enemy soldiers attacking our left flank. Nero's men were stricken with surprise as the soldiers they were fighting with suddenly crumbled at their feet, and I think some might have even been mortified when there was a hole put through their foes face. Not that I was able to land many headshots atop of my horse on top of the fact I had to try and avoid hitting our own forces, but there were a few lucky shots I managed to pull off. There weren't many of the enemy soldiers left and I carried on picking them off one by one. As I was in the process of doing so however I felt someone grab me. I immediately looked over to my side to see one of the enemy URE soldiers had broken through our flank and had snuck up behind me and was now holding onto me.
"Hey buddy no hitchhikers, so take a hike." I said as I kicked at him in the chest, but the damn bastard wouldn't let go of me. Finally, having had enough of him, I brought my rifle up and thrusted the butt of my stock straight into his face. This caused his helmet to go flying off and he staggered backwards a few steps, but wasn't enough to dissuade him as he went after me again and this time grabbed onto the entire leg and began pulling me down. I attempted to retain my grip on my horse, but it was to no avail. I was pulled down from my horse. "You son of a bitch!" I cried out on my descent before hitting the mud with a loud splash accompanied by the URE soldier. Mud was now seeping into my clothes and had turned them wet and soggy. My face hadn't escaped the mud either as it was now covered in mud, and I hurried to wipe it out from my eyes so I could see again. I had no time to recover however as the URE soldier was on top of me with his sword drawn this time. I brought my rifle up from my chest and used it to block the soldier's sword as he swung down at me. His sword struck my rifle and surprisingly it didn't cut straight through the rifle instead leaving a nice sized cut in my upper. Angered by this the soldier began to push down on my gun and I pushed back against him using my rifle with my arms shaking and teeth gritting. We were stuck in a deadlock with neither one of us able to empower the other, and my mind was racing for a solution on how to get out of this. A lightbulb figuratively went off over my head as I thought back to a few moments ago and I reached off to the side. With only one hand pushing up on the rifle the soldier was able to push down against me bringing the sword mear centimeters away from my face, but I grabbed a handful of mud and threw it straight into his eyes. The URE soldier was blinded momentarily as his hand went up to his face to try and clear the mud blocking his vision and using this time I swung my rifle up and struck him in the side of the head. The blunt force of getting hit in the side of the head was enough to get him off me as he fell off to the side gripping the side of his head. I wasted no time in getting up and proceeded to push the soldier down into the mud, turning the tables on him. I placed one hand on his face pushing his head down into the mud and he reached up grabbing onto my face as he tried to gouge my eyes out. With my free hand I quickly reached under my jacket and gripped the handle of my combat knife on my belt and unsheathed it. From beneath my hands I could see terror in the young soldiers face and before he could do anything I thrusted my knife into his throat and twisted it. The soldier's hand grabbed onto my arm and tried to stop me, but I pushed up with my knife and his hands went limp after that. Blood was now pouring out from the cut in his throat and his eyes fluttered for a moment before his head turned on its side and the rest of his body went limp. I yanked my knife out of his throat and returned it to its sheath, and sat there on top of him breathing in and out heavily for several moments...
After I had gotten control of my ragged breathing, I grabbed a hold of my knees and pushed myself up onto my feet where I proceeded to shake my hands and arms vigorously. I was covered from head to toe in mud and I don't think even a trip to the dry cleaner would be able to get all the mud out from this suit. I brushed my arms and legs off, trying to get the mud off the best I could. When I finally felt like I had gotten most of the mud off me, I looked around for my rifle for a few minutes before finding the pistol grip sticking out of the mud, and reached down and pulled it out from beneath the mud. The rifle itself was completely coated in mud and I shook the rifle causing the mud to go flying off in every direction. After several swift shakes, quite a bit of the mud had seemingly come off, but there was still mud in several small spaces and hard to reach areas. I ejected the magazine out of the gun, holding my hand over the ejection port as I pulled the charging handle back and caught the bullet that ejected out. I pulled the charging handle back multiple times, making sure it was clear, and checking that it was still functional. I was more concerned about the cut left in the upper from that guy's sword, and I was going to need to test the rifle later to see if it was still usable or I would have to swap the uppers out. I pushed the ejected bullet back into the magazine before shoving the magazine back into the lower and locking it into place.
"Are you okay, Senpai?" Mashu asked, rushing over to me.
"I'm fine." I reassured her.
"That's a relief..." Mashu said with a sigh. "When I saw that soldier pull you off your horse, I began to panic. He didn't hurt you, did he, there's no scratches or cuts?" Mashu inquired, sounding more like a worrying mother than a teenage girl.
"... Physically I'm fine, mentally not so much." I joked. Mashu let out a slight chuckle and before I could say anything else there was an interruption.
"When have you ever been mentally fine?" Scathach's voice asked from behind and turning around I saw her walking up to me with Jeanne following in tow.
"Before you entered my life." I retorted and Scathach narrowed her eyes in response with a frown. I don't know what she expected my response to be after that comment of hers. Before she could even say anything however, Jeanne cut her off.
"I'm glad you're okay Chris, I was a little worried myself." Jeanne said, placing her hand on her chest. "But it looks like you managed just fine without our help." Jeanne added.
"Yeah I'm fine." I nodded my head. "Most of my help came from a little mud and the butt end of my rifle." I said turning the rifle over and inspecting the damage to the stock after hitting the soldier multiple times. It seemed to be fine for the most part with just a little wear and chipping.
"You could almost say your gun is like a sword in a way." Jeanne joked.
"I guess you could say that, a blunt force sword." I said. "But now I've got mud everywhere on me, and I'm soaked down to my underpants." I complained.
"I thought the mud was a good look for you." Scathach mocked, getting her revenge from earlier. Before I could even respond to that I was cut off by someone else.
"You four handled those veterans like they were nobodies. With such small numbers too." Nero commented, riding over to us atop her horse. "Was this due to Mashu's efforts, Saber's swordplay, Lancer's swiftness, or was it due to Chris's leadership? Either way, you're even more intriguing than when we first met." Nero said.
"Thank you Empress, but we're just doing our job." I said dismissively.
"Listen... Rather than being a guest Praetor, why not rather serve me in a more permanent capacity?" Nero asked out of the blue. "You'll get to savor all of the glory of this world by my side. After we've defeated the United Roman Empire, of course that is." Nero added. The four of us glanced at one another and fell silent for a few moments, and this caused Nero to frown. "Did I say something wrong? It's not a bad deal, is it?" Nero asked. Before I could even respond I felt someone's shoulder digging into my side and looked over to see Scathach glaring at me angrily.
"Uh No Empress, you said nothing wrong." I said, shaking my head. "It's just that I'll have to think your generous offer over before coming to a decision." I answered. In truth there was no way I would ever accept that offer even if I wanted to, our time here was temporary, but the Empress need not know that.
"Can't answer right away even though you want to? How modest! Very well, I'll let you think it over." Nero smiled. "If you were to join me after we have defeated the United Empire, I could even grant you Britannia, let alone Gaul. You know of my generosity." Nero added.
"Let's just focus on defeating the United Roman Empire for now, your highness." I said.
"Fair enough." Nero said. "But do consider my offer, even my soldiers will tell you of my splendor, were it not for the language barrier." Nero said, and out of the corner of my eye I saw Mashu looking a little distraught and lifted my hand and patted her on the head.
"We'll think about it, as we said." I remained firm in my answer as I rubbed Mashu's head.
"Well it looks like the battle is over, and we've sustained minimal casualties from the looks of it." Nero said, surveying the battle from atop her horse. "But the enemy has managed to delay us, and I worry they might be planning something before we can make our move. Let us not waste any more time, we should only be a few days out from our frontline camps." Nero proclaimed.
"The Empress is right, you're not far now. Just try to endure for a little bit longer." Roman reaffirmed Nero's assertions.
"Umu of course I am!" Nero said. "Now let's make haste, once we arrive at camp we can get a good long rest and reorganize before we make our move." Nero announced as she turned her horse around and galped off, her Roman Praetorian Guards following after her. The four of us were left standing in the middle of the road as the Roman soldiers gathered their things and started following after the Empress, either by foot or by horse.
"You must be exhausted, Senpai." Mashu said and I turned to face her.
"No not really, just covered in mud." I replied and continued to rub Mashu's head. "You however did great work holding off their attack." I said and Mashu shook her head in response.
"No, that's not true." Mashu said. "That one soldier slipped past me who then pulled you off your horse and attacked you. It's my fault that happened." Mashu said.
"That wasn't your fault Mashu, you can't stop them all." I said.
"Chris is right Mashu, don't beat yourself up over it." Jeanne said as she patted Mashu on the shoulder affectionately. "You did a great job holding the line and keeping the enemy soldiers at bay. Without you, our left flank surely would have been broken." Jeanne praised Mashu's efforts.
"R-Right... Thank you very much, Saber." Mashu nodded her head.
"You did a good job holding our right flank as well, Saber." I said, patting Jeanne on the shoulder. Jeanne nodded her head in acknowledgement of my thanks.
"Thank you Christopher, but I was just following your orders." I said. Everyone in this group was so hesitant to just accept thanks when it was given, myself included I guess. I guess I'd have to try and work on myself before trying to work on the others, oh well.
"Well then everyone let's mount up, and get moving." I ordered and they nodded their heads in agreement. "We wouldn't want to let the Empress get too far ahead of us, she might walk into another ambush." I said as I slung my rifle over my shoulder and made my way over to my horse with the others following suit. Once the four of us had mounted our horses we proceeded to catch up with the Empress, not wanting to be left behind...
Hello again, no Im not dead and neither is Fated Destiny, however the beginning of the year was busy and I only recently was able to return to writing. I want to apologize once again for the very long delay. If you want to know when the newest chapters come out, make sure you follow Fated Destiny on Fanfiction to know when its updated and hop on over to my Discord. Anyway, Thank you for reading and for your continued support! If you enjoyed the chapter, please consider leaving a favorite/like. Feel free to leave feedback and reviews in the comments below or tell me what you think I need to improve on. Just a reminder that new chapters of Book Three release every two weeks on Friday or Saturday, assuming nothing happens or holds me up. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed and look forward to seeing you next time.
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