It was just before sunset and Nozomu Hideaki was in her tent freshening herself up after a rigorous training session. A wet rag and bowl of cold water was a far cry from any shower or bathhouse she would have enjoyed had she stayed in Hashikoshi, but when you're in the middle of nowhere, in a military camp atop Shinzan mountain (of all places), guarding precious nothing...well, you had to do with what you had.

She paused when she caught her reflection in the water and, not for the first time, sighed heavily, burying her head into her hands. In a single word, she was beautiful. Not cute or adorable or charming, but beautiful. Long silvery hair, lush lips, milky skin and unusually depp, captivating sapphire eyes. But a whole childhood of being bullied for being the "coward general's daughter", repeatedly told she was ugly and ostracized as a pariah, has left her oblivious to this fact. But that was not what was getting her down.

This entire year had been one colossal waste of time.

Technically speaking, according to Imperial law, every citizen was part of the military. If they don't voluntarily enlist they would eventually be conscripted. After which they would be sent to basic training in the local garrison. In practice, this is completely impractical and unrealistic (that law must've been brought in a different time and simply never repealed until it became tradition), which is why most citizens are simply rushed through the motions purely as a formality. In addition to basic training though, every soldier must also spend 1 year of "mandatory active service to the country" before they're placed on the "reserves" list, but this too is not strictly enforced. Some people simply get sent home - their service simply existing on paper - while others (usually those with influence) are sent to goof off somewhere safe and cushy.

Which is why, for the life of her, Nozomu couldn't phantom why they'd send her along with such a detail. The rest of the cadets were all sons of nobility from Eboracum (the capitol), while she was the daughter of the man that cost the Empire the war. And while this may not be as cushy as being sent to a garrison in a town/village near the border, it was as safe as safe could get. At the very heart of the Empire's territory, not far from the highway that ran from the mainland to its most recently acquired territory of Hashikoshi (courtesy her father's blunder). Normally mountains and other untamed land was the realm of monsters and dangerous beasts, possibly even evil intelligent humanoids like orcs, ogres, trolls and goblins, but with this close to the highway, which is often patrolled and has humming trees planted every 100 meters or so, the worst, absolute WORST thing you would find here is a bear. And bears know better than to get near a military camp housing an entire platoon.

For a while she had speculated she had been sent here in an effort to curb her career. After all, if it hadn't been for the fact that she wanted to join the army and the official stance of the army is that "Race, gender, age, creed, none of it matters. All we care about is skill and the ability to follow orders" (and the fact that Jirou existed), her immediate commanding officer would even invented some bullshit and dishonorably discharged her on day one (heaven knows he's tried everything in his power to get her to quit, not least of which is sending her, a sole girl, in a platoon with nothing but boys and no effort to accommodate her in any way, not even a single private tent).

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"Knock, knock," and speak of the devil, "Nomu, you decent? Can I come in?" a lighthearted male voice came from just outside the tent flap.

-"Heh, always the gentleman" a chuckle escaped from Nozomu and found her mood improving already. She threw on a shirt and, "Yes Jirou, come in."

A slightly taller than average, athletic, handsome boy, a young adult just like herself in appearance even if not in age yet, entered the tent. He had long blond hair tied in a warrior wolf tail that almost reached his shoulder blades, piercing blue eyes that betrayed a sharp mind behind them, chiseled jaw, but his most striking feature was how he carried himself. No one could mistake him for anything other than a noble. Because he was a noble. Jirou of house of Andertharious of Hashikoshi, her best friend, the first person (aside from her brother and grandpa Hideaki) to show her kindness and the only bright light in her childhood outside the walls of her dojo. And now that she were out here, also her roommate for the past year.

Jirou surveyed the room before settling his eyes back on Nozomu, "Packed already? Wow, you sure are in a hurry to get home. You do know we don't leave until tomorrow, right? But then again I can't say I blame ya given that Ryu's been all alone at home all this time...waiting for us...eating his own cooking for a change.

...Think he's still alive?"

-“If he's not dead, he probably found someone to cook for him by now,” the girl snorted. Jirou gave her a look. She returned the look. They held it there for a moment then simultaneously burst out laughing in a fit of incontrollable giggles.

As they passed, Nozumu became more pensive as thoughts turned to the future. "Home, eh..." she supposed she was eager to get back home, for a while at least. All joking aside, she did miss her brother. 'Home, yes… But what after that?' She didn't see herself stay there for long. Not that there was nothing to do there of course, but her goals required something else.

She thought she had a plan but the time she had spent near the Shinzan highway pass had shaken her confidence in that plan. She had expected the Imperial military to station her in dangerous zones, up against the odds, sent on "peacekeeping" campaigns to Harmonie, monster culling expedition, something, anything dangerous in hopes she'd die off and they could close that chapter in their book. What she hadn't expected was to be tucked off to waste away in obscurity.

Before she could go any further down that rabbit hole, "So...you ganna hit the sack or do you wanna accompany me on my last patrol. Come on, for ol' times sakes?" she was snapped back into the present.

While everyone else just lazed about all day for the past year and treated this "guard duty" as an extended payed vacation, those two actually trained and went on patrols. The former because they wanted to keep their skills sharp and the latter because they didn't want captain Robertus Blatta to find an excuse to kick Nozomu out of the army for dereliction of duty (hypocrisy not withstanding).

Sensing a golden opportunity, the girl squinted, appraising her best friend then gave him a mischievous grin, “Alright. But-you're-carrying-my-tent-when-we-march,” then jumped to her feet and dashed outside before Jirou could protest.