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Before F.R.O.N.D.E.R: Epilogue
C212: Prepare For The Next Day

C212: Prepare For The Next Day

Chapter 212: Prepare For The Next Day

Major General Sarah Hatano's perspective

(Real Rank: Private First Class)

Krieg 2 - 1 Fireteam unit

US Army - US Marine Corps joint operation

December 12, 1173 - 3:03 PM

Veta - Warsaw Kingdom

After reuniting with my sis at Stansa - Nalta border, we allowed a group of 8 Adventurers to join us back to Veta. Though the time for us from Stansa back to Veta only takes 40 - 50 minutes on foot or by horse, this time it took us nearly an hour to come.

"Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap!". - All of sudden, my head was tapped a few times by someone

I felt it was curious so I opened my eyes to see who did that. Turned out that was my sis, she tapped me as if she wanted to notify me about something on the road ahead. Just woke up so my eyes were still refreshing, I gazed at the things forward with my sleepy vision, shortly realized we were about to reach Veta.

"Ehhhh...". - I tried to get up from my sleep, later managed to do that but I felt so lazy, 'cause my sis's back was very warm, I love to press my face on it to sleep more!

"Sarah... remember what I'm about to say...". "The more you play and rest... the more chances civilians die... the door is near... no exception".

"Ahhh!". - I was startled when my big sister said that, somehow I couldn't feel sleepy anymore so I woke up right away

After seeing me wake up, my sis smiled lightly but shortly returned to her emotionless face as usual. Our horse - Kanna was doing her best by carrying us to the border of Veta, which was now in our sight from afar, very near. Aside from looking at my sis, I also turned my face behind to see the adventurer group following us. They decided to risk their lives to fight for us, just because of money like mercenaries - poor these low society statuses people.

"Spotted anything yet, SA?".

"Still on the way, General". "Found nothing suspicious, just spotted a blue dot and many green dots at Veta's border gate". "That's John and others, they must have stayed there for a while to wait for us, we're very near".

"Ok... how long until we are there?".

"ETA 2 minutes (estimated time of arrival), over". - Okay

"It's strange, sis". "Why he doesn't contact us? What's wrong with John?".

"He's alright... remember to stay away from me... when we get there...".

"Why, sis?". - My older sister behaved quite strangely now, why do I have to stay away from her when we reach Veta?

"Just do it... don't ask me...".

"If you say so... okay, sis". - Maybe our Commander was mad when my sis fled to save me instead of staying alongside him to save Veta from being overrun by the enemy

"Hey". - I intended to chat with my sis for a little longer but someone suddenly asked us on the left side

I turned in that direction and realized that was Starka - the Adventurer's group leader. For some reason, he rode his horse alongside ours while speaking to us. Hearing his voice, I nodded to him, attempting to learn what he was about to speak to us.

"You two are some sort of a relationship or something?".

"Ahhh, yes... we're sisters".

"Sisters...?". "But doesn't look like sisters to me, same pa but different ma, eh?".

"No... act-".

(Shut up, Sarah...). - Ehhhh... I was about to speak to him but my sis used English to ask me to stop speaking with Starka

"Ummm... sorry, my family's secret, hehe".

"Alright... sorry for asking too much, Lord". - Instead of going behind us, this guy kept moving his horse alongside us

"What's that kind of outfit?". "It looks weird, and also looks hot... she doesn't feel hot while wearing it?". - The woman adventurer behind Starka asked me, she seemed to be curious about my sis's sniper ghillie suit

"Ummm... it's a kind of military... ehhh, outfit".

"For what?".

"Ummm... hiding, I guess". - Why my sis didn't feel "military intel leaked" when I spoke to these people?

"What are those odd things you wear in your body, Lord?". "They look like monster weapons...".

"Ummm...". "Sorry, I cannot tell y'all about these things". - They wanted to know about our guns, their curiosity was too far from what I could really imagine

"We've come, Sarah...". - All of sudden, my SA notified me that I had reached Veta

I stopped talking with those adventurers and looked at the things forward to me. That was the border gate, it was highly barricaded when many lines of fences were surrounding the border gate's entrance. From my sight looking inside, Commander and Shera, Reimi and other WCA soldiers and Green Marines (must be the Special Forces Swift Predators unit) could be seen standing on the ground, waiting for us.

Above us from the twin watchtower of the border gate, dozens of WCA soldiers could be seen pointing their crossbows below. They seemed to be targeting the adventurer group, not us. Thinking there must be a misunderstanding, I waved my hand to the soldiers above. I should say to them these adventurers were our newfound allies from Nalta.

"Identify yourselves, you people below!". - Those soldiers yelled at the adventurer group

"Wait wait wait wait wait". "They're ours, soldiers! They're ours, they're mercenaries, fighting for us". - I yelled out to let them know, preventing the dangers which could have happened if I didn't notify them

Hearing my yell, those WCA soldiers kept pointing their crossbows at the adventurers, while one of them could be seen rushing down the tower for a reason. Maybe to report back to my Commander. Waiting for the next situation, I looked back to see the adventurers and they greeted me with noddies. Maybe they were telling me that they could be patient to wait till everything was finished judging in peace, I think so.

"People on the nearest horse are clear to get in". "The remaining ones stay in your position, do not do anything stupid till we have the next order to let you in, proceed!".

After hearing the order, WCA soldiers inside the border gate immediately ran out to approach the adventurers with their crossbows in their hands to fight. While we were allowed to move inside the border gate, I think these people were judged unjustly. But seeing them nodding to me without any complaints, maybe I should get in there quickly. Must let these people in for sure, I must be quick now.

"Let's go, sis". - Hearing my voice, my sis slowly nodded and moved the horse forward to head inside the border gate

Our horse Kanna was still moving forward while my sis turned her sitting position to be opposite me. Seeing she had just behaved strangely while gazing at me with her deep look, I felt a bit curious so I tilted my head to the right, trying to figure it out.

"Sarah...".

"Yes, sis?".

"I hope you won't be mad if I do this... is that okay?".

"Nod...". - But what did she mean to say that?

"Hugs!". - All of sudden, my sis hugged me tightly while sitting on the horse, her hug was so tight and it made me feel so happy

"Remember to do what John says, alright...?". - She kept hugging me but kept her distance while looking at me straightly

"Okay, sis".

"Is your pain still there...?".

"You meant my back...?". "Well... it's not as hurt as before, I'm feeling better, hehe...". - Maybe I should have treatment when I reach Veta castle, my hurt back was just slightly treated by an adventurer, I think I should rest more to recover fully

"Is that normal... if I kiss you?". - Sis, what you were thinking about?!

"Ummm... okay, sis". - Please give back my previous big sis, please! Now she was another person, not her that I used to know anymore, ahhhhhh!

"Kiss...!". - My sis slowly kissed me, her kiss was so sweet alongside her hug, somehow kissing my own older sister made me feel so happy... hmmm...

"I wish... I could... do more things with you... if you feel ok... can we... next time?". - We should stop at kissing to be our highest limitation, sis!

"Shakes! Shakes! Shakes!".

"Alright... understood...". - After asking me, begging me to fulfill her wish and unsuccessful, she sadly looked forward to her since we were about to go inside the border

After getting inside the border gate of Veta, I waved at everyone, trying to make them have a mood. The evac time in Stansa back then was like hell to me, but I managed to survive that, I was so lucky. After that evacuation, my mind and my body were all tired. I felt depressed when could not save the civilians as much as I wanted... even though, I never want to see anyone be sad, just want to see them all smiling, happy.

After waving at the people around, I started realizing something was wrong with all of them. They didn't smile or even greet us back, the military personnel kept standing still while John gazed at my sis as if glaring. Before I could do anything, my sis dismounted from her horse and approached John with her casual walk. Seeing that was suspicious, I also intended to dismount but she raised her palm to me, asking me not to do anything... why?

"Commander...". ".................". - My sis slowly removed the ghillie hood which was covering her head, while John approached her with his M4A1 with an ACOG scope

"Smash!". "Urrghhhh...!". - Unreasonably, John hit my sis by using his rifle butt, she was hurt and fell to the ground, but didn't fight back, even trying to lower her painful moan

"You motherfucker!". "I should have killed you a long fucking time ago! Speak, speak up, why didn't do that!". "Kicks! Kicks! Kicks! Kicks!". - Seeing John kicking my sis who was lying on the ground, could not stand it so I dismounted while rushing to save her

"You fucking stand right there, do not move!". "She must hasn't told you about it, right?!". "Then stand! Right! Fucking! There!". "Sarah!". - Before I could reach my sis, John pointed at me and swore, as if my sis had done something serious

"What do you mean, Joh-".

"Shut the fuck off!". - I was too scared of him, turned out I wasn't brave enough to protect my older sister

"He's right...". "Cough! Cough! Cough!". "John is... right...". "Hear him, Sarah...". "Cough! Cough! Cough!". "Hear him...". - Instead of fighting back, my sis kept protecting John, I could see she was now wounded quite bad

"Cough! Cough! Cough!". "Sarge... the first time I've ever... seen you use your violence... rightly". "Cough! Cough!". "C'mon, Sarge...". "C'mon, c'mon... get her-". "Arrrrrggghhhhhhhhh!". - Instead of shutting her mouth, my sis kept talking, the result she took was a powerful crush on her belly

"Stand right fucking there!". - I was about to after her to stop John but he yelled loudly, making me scared of defending my older sister

"Cough! Cough! Cough!". "Cough! Cough! Cough!".

"Stop fucking coughing, it's too fake...". "C'mon... tell me, why did you let it happen...?". - What did he mean?

"...". "Shit happened, that's all...". "Cough! Cough! Cough!". "Even though... we're standing on the same line, Commander...".

"Bullshit!". "Smash!". - This time he kicked my sis stronger than usual, she rolled right to me, seemed to be breathing very weak right now

"John John John John... she has had it enough, let off her today is alright". - Before John could reach her, his wife and Reimi from behind hugged him, telling him to stop

"Hmmmm...". - John didn't say anything but gazed at me as if intending to do something

"Follow me, Sarah". "We need to talk, quick and short...". - Later he raised his hand to call out the Spec Ops Swift Predators Marines to come out

"Jail her in the basement...". "Let's move out... to the castle, we don't have much time left". - After giving the orders, John walked away with others while the SOSP Marines approached my sis - who was now fainted, later picked her up and followed John

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"Sis, are y-".

"Sir, we'll be sure she's gonna be fine, don't worry about her". - Those SOSP Marines didn't let me contact my sis but led her to a carriage to the right side and stuffed her in there

"Sarah, c'mon!". - John yelled out to call me, he and others were waiting for me to head inside the carriage on the left side

I slowly approached John and he looked away, nodding to the WCA soldier behind him to open the carriage's door. Taking the order, the man soldier opened the door for me to get in. I kept approaching John till I reached him, later he and others got in the carriage.

"Get in, Private...". - He also pointed to the seat where I should be sitting on, also guided me to the space under my seat to stuff my Alrotz military backpack

I got in with my confusion, but still stayed calm to stuff my Alrotz bag down the seat and had a seat. Now he and I were sitting oppositely, he was between his wife and Reimi, showing his anger. Driver soldiers were chatting with each other as I could see by glancing at them. They must be chatting about the adventurers who followed us to Veta, poor those people.

"Sir, what do we do with those people?". - The WCA soldier from outside asked John, he didn't look like a bodyguard in the carriage at all

"Sarah...". - John gazed at me, asking me

"They followed us 'cause we accepted, Commander". "They said they wanted to join as mercenaries... can they?". - After hearing my words, John looked outside the carriage and stayed silent for a few seconds, as if to decide

"Secure their weapons first". "Interrogate them to find if they're the spies... if they resist, pop 'em, got it?". - John spoke to the man soldier

"Roger".

"If they're not suspicious, I'll consider letting them join". "Tell the Predators to get ready for the worst scenario, meet me at 12".

"Yes Sir".

After finishing the orders given to the WCA soldier, Commander raised his hand, ordering the drivers to start the carriage. Hearing his order, our carriage alongside the one which was carrying my sis, started rolling their wheels on the road ahead.

As our carriage started moving, I was curious when seeing the road ahead had many smokes popping up. Coming closer, turned out the living soldiers were burning the dead. Burned houses and broken houses could be seen quite much in this area, which meant the attack in this region was far more terrible than the one in Stansa, I was lucky.

I kept looking around and spotted many wounded soldiers were either lying or sitting on the walls. They were all taking treatment from the medic soldiers, strangely that I hadn't seen any civilians till this time. Until a short moment later, the carriage was crossing a right-side sidewalk, the scene over there was terrible. Many corpses of civilians could be seen lying massively on the road, as if they were executed, not... killed... wait!

"Rather kill wrong instead of letting out... your sis's guys did this, Sarah". "Now stop looking... we need to talk". - John asked me to look at him so I stopped looking outside the carriage, later stared at him

"Yes, Commander?".

"How was Stansa?".

"It's fine... we evacuated all the civilians to Nalta... even the dead...".

"Why no one went with you but those people?".

"I ordered the troops to stay with civilians". "My sis got to my place since when so I followed her... later encountered those people".

"So...?".

"They wanted to head to the Capital 'cause Nalta doesn't have a guild, but the entry progress took them quite long". "My sis later asked them if they could join to fight for us, she hired them...". "They accepted to fight as merces... that's all I can tell, Commander".

"Alright...". "We need more men to prepare for the seize and you dumped them all... at least use your brain for once, Sarah". "But forget it... now I want to say about Hatano...". - Shortly, John gazed at me

"You know why I had to beat her?".

"No, Commander... what's the matter?".

"There's no way her intel can be that failure! She must have intended to let it happen!".

"But wa-".

"I trusted her, have given her many second chances!". "Right now, many families lost their families because of her!". "She reported back to me daily, detailedly, not even had a fucking problem!". "And now... many people died... she intentionally caused it, I can sense that".

"John, please don't be mad". "It's not good for your health, calm down". "...". "Say something to him, Sarah...". - His wife later hugged John to calm him down from saying loudly earlier, she later asked me to say something

"Ummmm... Commander". "There must be a very big misunderstanding here...". "Sometimes things cannot be predicted precisely in the war... even if we... already predicted it". "Maybe that was truly her failure, her fault was the failure of stopping it". "But that doesn't mean you have the right to suspect my sis and beat her". "I don't know if she... no, she's innocent". "Nod". "You're wrong... from your behavior, Commander". "We could've been calmer to speak with each other...".

"Then why she fled to your place instead of sniping in the castle?". "She was scared, huh?! Or what?!". "She was scared she couldn't be able to see her little sister again or something if I found out she was the culprit, tell me...!".

"Ummmmm...".

"Tap! Tap! Tap!". - I was trying to think, and Princess tapped John as if she wanted to speak with him, so he looked at her

"What're you gonna do with her...?". - Finished saying, Princess glanced at me for a second, later looked away

"Jail her in the basement... later interrogate her for intel, that's all I can think of".

"By the way... you do the part, Sarah... give me back the report". "Even if she sighs a word, or just an unintelligible sound... use your fucking SA to let me know what she says". "She'll be silent with me, only you can lure her out... we don't have much time so do it quick tonight".

"Ummm... and if she...?". - I asked John for other info

"Keep jailing her and starving her... use every way to open her mouth". "I care only about your results, do it well".

"Those adventurers will be under your command if they get released". "Put them in the frontline, we won't give them anything, use them till they're useless, got it?".

"But bu-".

"Promise 'em about the bounties they can receive... but give nothing to them...". "If they cannot wait till the end of the war... drop 'em".

"Ummm... rog, Commander". - I should inform these adventurers as soon as they got released, maybe telling them to leave the mercenary part to return to the Capital was a good idea

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General John Rigen's perspective

(Real Rank: Sergeant)

Krieg 2 - 1 Fireteam unit

US Army - US Marine Corps joint operation

December 12, 1173 - 8:46 PM

Veta - Warsaw Kingdom

This time was late now. As I was informed by Sarah, Hatano had been fed earlier, now I just need to wait till her little sister comes to interrogate her for the intel I wanted. Advisor had now been turned off to save his battery. This device uses solar energy, without the sun, he couldn't be charged so I had to save his battery as much as I could.

Currently, the evac progress had been stopped but at least we had evacuated half of Veta's population to the Capital safely. But still, a few civilians were still trapped in here, they were now resting in the Servants' zone, mostly women and children, some grands...

While adult people and boys who newly reached 15 were taking the fast training in the castle's backyard. Since the military service in Veta was mandatory, every citizen (except women, children and the old under 55), most people would be kept to fight in the war.

The wounded WCA soldiers and WS (Warsaw Sharpshooter) gunners were taking the treatment, they would have to fight in the seizure. While the Swift Predators unit would be deployed to another mission, to the other locations tonight. This time was quite silent since this was the time the people in this world were sleeping. Their biological sleep was different from ours, since their time didn't have technology things to distract their sleepiness duration.

Although... I think some people were still awake, especially the civilians who lost their relatives during the evac. Even the deployed soldiers in this castle too, since they were mostly recruited from the southern regions of the Kingdom. Forgetting what was happening outside, I kept sitting in my private room to work. In front of me were the maps of Warsaw Kingdom and No Man Zone map, I must analyze the routes the enemies would attack Veta.

The enemy needs troops and supply teams to provide them with rations and other things, must find a way to neutralize their supply routes first. When the enemy has no supplies when their supply teams have been eliminated, they'll slowly die even without the attacks from us. The Beastmen Army would take care of the southeast of the Tod forest front, while we would take care of the southwest front. Elves and Spec Ops Head Hunters unit would take care of the entire No Man Zone front, that was how we and our allies deployed our troops.

Not yet, the Capital Army would also join us too though their appearance was quite long by now. Still now I was wondering why the letters I sent to His Majesty hadn't been replied to yet, he must've sent troops and some other Lords on the way to Veta by now. But I heard nothing yet. The way from the Capital to Veta takes only an hour to be the longest. But I'd sent the letters from the morning and now hadn't had a reply...

Maybe I should not be too worried, Hoster must be gathering a very large army to join us. That might be the reason why I hadn't had a reply till this time, I think so. Instead of worrying, I returned to gaze at the maps while analyzing how should we deploy our troops in the open battles in plains and high hills. The warfare in this fantasy medieval world was very different from the modern warfare I used to know, I'd say this was my first time fighting in such a war like this... hmmm.

"Knock! Knock! Knock!". "General... may I come in?". - While analyzing the map, I realized Reimi was the one knocking on the door, asking me to let her in

"Get in". - I dropped my pen to a wooden round cup on the table, away from the map and gazed at the door

"I'm sorry for coming here this late, Lor-". - Suddenly she stopped talking and glanced around the hallway as if to make sure my wife wasn't around

"Ummm, I came here to report, John". "Here...". - Later she handed me an envelope, I received it and realized it was sent from Keris - Capital city, it was His Majesty's reply

I was relieved to see his reply, I opened the envelope and read the letter he sent me immediately. Moments later, only my disappointment toward this shitty letter. Instead of having a positive reply, Hoster informed me that the troop gathering would be long. It took a week.

"We'll be dead before he comes here". "We can't even predict the secret attack, if the enemy makes another one, all of us will be doomed". - This time I could only trust the intel from the Beastmen Army, Hatano and her men were not trustworthy to me

"Anything else, Reimi?".

"Ummm... at the end of the letter... His Majesty asked you to meet him tonight".

"Fuck this shit". - I scrolled the letter and later put it on the desk, didn't care to look at

"You can go now". "By the way... what is Shera doing?". - I could get jealous without a reason, my wife wasn't with me this time so I was suspecting and also jealous, thinking she was doing something wrong

"She's visiting the refugees, asking them i-".

"Call her back, call her back now". "Do it immediately...".

Before the war, this castle only had women from servants to soldiers. Now it had refugees and newly deployed military personnel. Of course, there were men among those groups, I was scared that my wife would be attracted to them... hmmmm. At all costs, I'll kill anyone who dares to attract my wife, I'll kill them all. Hmmm... my wife should not be going around, especially when there were men in the castle... they could attract her attention, not good at all... I must do something.

"Uhhh... my Highness...?". - All of sudden, when I was deepening my mind into thoughts and jealousy, Reimi's voice could be heard sounding as if she was scared

I stopped thinking and glanced at Reimi, later spotted my wife standing beside her. Reimi didn't say anything, just bowed before Shera and shortly got out of her sight. When she got away, my wife smiled lightly and got in, my wife closed the door, slowly approached me and smiled.

"What a cunning pest... only waits for the right time to be with you... are you lonely, John?". "She's lucky... I should've fired her... but decided to keep her since she's my loyal servant".

"Where have you been, Shera?". - I asked my wife with my jealousy showing, while she grabbed a chair nearby to sit beside me

"Many kids asked me when they could see their fathers and brothers". "Poor them, John... their relatives are about to be in the frontline, but their kids are still waiting for them to come back...". - After explaining, my wife cuddled my face and pressed her face to my chest

"Sniff... sniff... sniff... sniff...". "John... please don't go to the frontline, let the soldiers do it instead". "As a Commander, your words will do the job...". - She later sniffed my odor, shortly hugged me tightly

"Hey, Shera...".

"Hmmmm...". "Haaahhhh...". - She hugged me while gasping

"You need anything, John...?".

"Shakes head...". - Actually, the way my wife was doing made me feel distracted from my work, must have a grip now

"..........". - Both of us kept silent while inside the room which only had both of us

"Kiss...!". - Needless to say, everyone needs love, even in wartime... maybe having a break for a few minutes with my wife would not waste my time, must get some mood!

"Kiss...!". "Ahhh... ahhh...". - My wife grabbed my nape while kissing me, I also grabbed her waist, deepening our kiss without caring about things around us, so happy

"Hmmm... that's enough now". - Kissing for a short moment, seeing that was enough so I asked my wife to stop doing that

After I stopped kissing her, my eyes didn't dare to look at my wife directly. Since we had just stopped making love, our emotions and ecstatic for love were still there, still burning. Glancing at my wife could turn me on so I looked away while grabbing a random map on the desk to look at. Using this way, I could distract myself from dirty things in my mind right now, now I must take care of this war.

"John...". - Oh shit!

"May I help you?".

"Yeah, yeah...". "Give me another letter, Shera".

"Ummm... what?".

"He said he needs a week to prepare for the Capital troops". "I want him to do it sooner, 3 days to be the least".

"Okay, understood". - Hearing my order, Shera lowered her body to head to the cabinet which stuffed with fur papers

My right eye was glancing at the map while my left eye was trying to glance at my wife. Taking a fur paper out, Shera reached her hand to the round cup to take a pen, later dipped it into a nearby ink box. After having the ink on the pen's pointy tip, Shera started writing the letter, purposing to send His Majesty, my brother-in-law.

"By the way... John...". - Instead of writing, my wife leaned her face to my ears, as if to whisper

"We can savor it... this late... if you want to...". "Giggles...". - After whispering to me, Shera giggled and shortly returned to writing the letter

I later stopped thinking dirty and returned to analyzing the map. Thinking of as many tactics as possible and jotting them down on a small note on the desk, I hope it would work. Maybe I should turn on my Advisor by now, because he could help me a lot with this tactical stuff. After analyzing, I must wait till the Predators come to give them a special mission which I believed to be important to end this war in the worst scenario.

"Knock! Knock! Knock!". "Mole 1 reporting, over!". - All of sudden, the floor we were in suddenly had knocks coming down from below

"Wait, w-".

"That's our ally, Shera...". "Come in, Mole 1". - I got out of my chair and approached the plate which was covering a hidden tunnel in my room

The intel soldier who was speaking to us earlier was a mole soldier from Beastmen Army - named Muralis. He had the codename Mole 1, this guy dug the soil around the castle and found this route to search for me, how convenient. Later I opened the plate and it showed me the hidden tunnel below, Muralis could be seen down there, his hand gave me an intel envelope.

"Intel received, Mole 1". - I received the envelope and nodded to thank him

"How the he-". - Maybe she was curious how a tunnel like this was inside our room

"Keep silent, Shera...". - Anyway, I cannot say to her that the tunnel was made by Hatano... purposing to lure me in there to... fuck her...

"Intel brief for you". "Enemy approaching from both sides, southeast and southwest of Tod forest". "Could be a battalion of the enemy supply team from the southwest... while the southeast has at least a fighting regiment". "Stopped many possible hostile ships moving out from Attenta and its vassal states". "Now they're heading somewhere, we'll keep up reporting when we see anything suspicious".

"Roger, Mole 1". "We'll take care of them from the southwest, later will join you guys from the southeast".

"Sweet dreams, General...". - Saying goodbye, the Muralis nodded to me and returned crawling out of where he used to go in

After receiving the intel, I put the plate on that side to cover the tunnel route. Shortly after that, I returned to my wife while she was still surprised.

"When did we have that hidden route, John?".

"A long time ago, don't mind it, Shera... return to our work". "C'mon, take a seat". - While I returned to my seat, my wife was still very curious about the tunnel

"Where does it lead us to?".

"It's an emergency route, my wife...". - That was a lie

"Okay...". - Shera shortly returned to sit beside me and started rewriting the letter, though she was still curious about the tunnel

I later closed the maps and opened the envelope I received earlier to read the letter. Seeing things that were described in more detail in the letter, I focused on reading while trying to mark the important details in my mind.

"Tap... tap...". - While reading the intel letter, my wife suddenly tapped my shoulder so I returned to looking at her

"John... I recently noticed... something is odd".

"Say it".

"Well... my uncle was in Stansa when the attack happened". "But Sarah when came here didn't say anything about my uncle".

"Maybe she didn't meet him among the refugees... who knows". "Your uncle must be in Nalta by now, he'll return to us soon, don't worry".

"But why he didn't follow Sarah...?".

"Ummm...". "Should we ask her right now?".

"Ummm".

"Alright, follow me". - Both of us shortly stopped our current work and headed out to see Sarah