“Mmm…” I droned as Yna and I stood in the dark silence of the night.

“Don’t worry yourself too much. I heard you loud and clear.”

I nodded and we began our trip back to Coh where we spent the entire night helping those who needed it.

According to Han, ninety people had been confirmed dead.

Ninety people out of Coh's total of around one thousand.

The numbers are not exact because people would regularly move from Coh, to the Eimvals to the Oasis.

It was ultimately decided by everyone that the bodies of the deceased be cremated and so we all gathered at a spot to the east of Coh.

I noticed that almost all Rendaro preferred Cremation.

Maybe this had something to do with their old religion.

The Faith of the Black Flame. That from which all was born and to which all shall return as ash.

All ninety bodies sat atop dark pedestals and next to them were heat magicians who were dressed in ceremonial robes.

No speeches were given and we all watched as the bodies were engulfed in flame.

The families silently mourned all while the soldiers watched with expressions that varied to greatly for me to remember.

One feeling was constant among most of us, however.

Regret.

We should’ve considered the possibility of aerial attacks and we should have planned accordingly.

I… should have planned accordingly-

“Sir, Aevana would like to speak to you.”

A black blade said as I stood next to Yna.

“Really?” I asked with a yawn.

The sun was slowly crawling up the horizon and this cast the world in a deep dark grey.

“Alright, lead the way.” I said as we eventually returned to the cell that was Aevana’s office and home.

It was a cosy little place that was littered with books and documents.

She looked at Yna and I with widened, possibly excited eyes.

“Sir, I just received the reports on the attack and I think I found a way for us to prevent or at least mitigate the damage of future attacks.” She said hastily.

“Oh?” I sounded.

“Yes. The ninth squad is full of talented space magicians, right? What if we have them create a gigantic barrier above Coh? Now I know it’d be near impossible for them to create a single barrier above all of Coh, but your old idea of dividing the Expanse into a grid gave me an idea. Why don’t we have them create a grid of warped space above Coh with each of the grid’s tiles being individually strong?” Aevana asked.

“Mmm… that’s possible, but creating a barrier strong enough attacks from silver or even golden knights would be taxing. That being said… it’s better than nothing. Brilliant idea, Aevana! Why don’t you and Yna take it to Han so that he can make the appropriate preparations?” I asked.

“What will you do?” Yna asked.

“I’ll help whoever else I can.” I said.

Yna nodded before taking Aevana and I to lower Coh where she left me.

I stood in the now emptier and quieter street before looking around at the dark buildings of Coh.

As expected, they had taken very little damage from the attack.

I turned my attention to the people.

Gone were the carefree smiles.

Gone was the air of victory.

We had failed.

I had failed.

Aevana’s idea would definitely help. Not all was lost.

I took a deep breath before making my way to upper Coh while helping anyone who called for me.

I created tools for those who needed them and repaired the few buildings which had gotten damaged.

It’s here, while I was pouring darkness into one of the buildings by the plateau's edge, that I realized that all Rendaro were peacefully working together.

The Ia, the Foph… we even had some Ash Wraiths.

This led to me unconsciously smiling.

It was also the last straw.

I ran to my heart, fell to my knees and clutched a handful of dried grass.

Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

I then sat there listlessly as the sun hung high in the sky.

I let out a deep, rage infused breath before squeezing my small fists.

“Kenos… do you think we could destroy the kingdom of Lanceberg by launching a really big sword at it?” I asked softly.

[No. Caligo and his overpowered knights would destroy it before it touched the ground. We could cause more damage my creating an endless amount of small dark swords and launching them at every square centimetre of Lanceberg but even though this would kill many humans, those smaller swords definitely wouldn’t have an effect on the knights and I don’t even want to imagine how angry that would make Caligo. He’d probably come here and vaporize us, haha!]

“I see… forget I said anything then.”

[Hey! What’s with this air? What happened to the Katsíki who was willing to stand against the kingdom even though the possibility of winning was laughably low?]

“I…”

[Katsíki… we were probably never going to win this war, but that wasn’t the point. The point was to try our hardest even if it ended up being for nothing. Do what you want over here and take us back to Cohval. Trust me, I have a feeling that we’re a lot stronger than you think.]

“Where did this optimism come from?” I asked with a smile.

My frown had disappeared and I felt a strange warmth in my chest.

[What the fuck is optimism? I just want to punch Caligo in the face, even if it’s just once, but I can’t do that if you go all emo and start acting reckless. Continue as you have and defend Coh. I’ll prepare our body for the latter part of our journey.]

The warmth in my chest died a little as I rolled my eyes.

I then stood up and made my way to Han’s office for find him, Yna and Aevana hard at work.

I didn’t wanna disturb them and so I simply watched as they discussed their plan to increase Coh’s defences.

“Err… sir.”

Someone called from outside Han’s office.

It was a black blade and they had a rather sombre experience.

“Yes?”

“Reports are coming in and they say that a few people are leaving their Coh residences or preparing to leave.”

My heart fell.

Those people were entirely justified in their actions.

Coh was ground zero for this war and returning to Eimval or the Oasis was a smart thing to do.

That doesn’t mean it didn’t sting a little.

“Alright. Make sure to give their houses to those on the waiting list.” I sighed.

The Black blade nodded before promptly leaving.

I then turned to Han and company who had just finished their conversation.

“Alright, we’ll begin testing things tomorrow.” Han said.

“Alright.” Yna said, but Han seemingly remembered something as she picked me up.

“Err… Katsíki. Our scouts say that a band of what appears to be mercenaries have settled in Startton. They must be here to capitalize on the war. What should we do?” Han asked.

“Mmm… Kill them. Mercenaries are an unlawful sort and will most likely use underhanded tactics against us. I want them gone before irreparable damage is done.” I said flatly and Han nodded.

“Good.”

Yna then took me back to the heart.

She had grabbed a few things from the cabin before placing them next to me.

“You’ve changed.” She said as we got undressed.

“Mmm? How so?” I asked while removing my dark bodysuit.

“When Han brought up the mercenaries you ordered their execution without hesitation. The old you would have struggled deciding what exactly to do.” Yna said as she lowered herself into the stream’s cool waters.

“Oh… mmm… I guess I’ve just decided to stop hesitating. Certain things will have to be done to protect Coh and I will not flinch or falter.” I said while joining Yna in the stream.

She nodded before grabbing my small shoulders.

I was then subjugated to a rigorous bath.

I tried getting back at Yna by washing her roughly, but there’s only so much my small hands could do to a golden knight.

We eventually finished bathing and after changing into our nightgowns, we made our way back to the cabin.

We got into bed and Yna gently covered us both in a blanket.

“Kenos will be back tomorrow. Send him to Cohval. Oh and make sure someone takes Aevana to see her dad.” I said with a yawn.

“Alright.” Yna said while gently rubbing my now short hair.

I closed my eyes and allowed myself to fall into a deep sleep.

.

..

“Ow!” I cried as my body suddenly hit the floor.

I opened my eyes to find Yna glaring at me.

“Will we do this this every time?” I asked while getting up.

I then lowered my eyes and saw that the blood red gown Yna was wearing accentuated her breasts somewhat.

If she wasn’t such an asshole to me I’d have appreciated that.

“Get changed.” She instructed.

“Yeah, yeah.” I sighed before changing into a certain old vest.

Yna then suddenly grabbed me by the neck and before I knew it, we were in the Expanse.

We then teleported to Cohval and Yna dropped me off by the building where the seventy seventh squad’s beds were.

It was still pretty early. So early that it was dark and so Yna teleported away and after dusting myself off, I entered the building to find the seventy sevenths fixing up their beds.

My poor excuse of a bed was untouched and so I stood next to it while standing attentively.

No one spoke as they got their things in order and it wasn’t long until a certain man entered the building.

“Well, well. Look who has returned to grace us with his presence.” Aymon said without expression.

He slowly walked up to me before looking me over.

“Your peers worked extremely hard yesterday and to my surprise, they performed all tasks exceptionally. I expect the standard they set to be maintained. Is that understood?”

“Yes, Sir!” I said.

“Good.” Aymon said before walking from bed to bed.

He inspected everything before returning to the doorway.

“Line up outside.”

We all did as instructed and thus began our day of training and unfortunately for me and the squad… I was still tired from all the training I had done that time and I got us punished many, many times.

Although Aymon called it a reward for our immaculate laziness.

The training eventually ended and we entered the showers and like before Lheel and I shared a spot.

“Oi! What’s your fucking problem?”

I turned around to find a certain short and muscular Rendaro glaring at me.

“Let it go, my heart.” Lheel pleaded, but the musclebound idiot shoved me backwards with his rough hands.

“No! I’ve had enough of his shit. It’s like the instructors sent him here just so that we could be punished.” Müel said.

“Tell me, little man. Where are you from?” I asked with narrowed eyes.

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“Just tell me.” I said with my back pressed against the smooth wall.

“The Oasis.” Müel hissed.

“Hoh? So you’re a Foph… what are you training to join an Ia squad instead of a mighty Foph Troop?” I asked.

Müel lowered his head.

“That doesn’t matter. All that matters is that I’m here trying help-“

“It’s not because you were too weak or meek to be accepted into the Foph Troops? Mmm?” I asked with a grin, but this was the last straw for the idiot and so he punched me in the face.

Lheel did his best to keep the idiot from hitting me any further as I stood up.

“Hoh? Pardon my previous assumption. I can clearly see now that you were rejected because of that temper of yours-“

“That’s enough!”

The Rendaro I remembered as Nolat said.

“Of course, captain. Forgive me for the trouble I’ve caused.” I said with a grin.

Nolat frowned a little before ordering that we all get dried up.

We then made our way to the study hall.

I had missed this part the last time I was in Cohval.

We were all seated in one of the many rooms which had Sixteen chairs.

Aymon then returned and he taught us various things about military tactics and the military history of the Rendaro.

Fortunately for me, Katsíki knew most of everything Aymon spoke of and so the classes were more like revision for me.

We eventually finished studying and were sent back to our barracks where we all laid down to sleep.

I closed my eyes and smiled.

This day was rather fruitful and I cherished every minute of it.

I also planned on teasing Müel some more and so I drifted into unconsciousness with joyful thoughts.