“Distrust is one hell of a drug.”

- Excerpt from Lieutenant Hans Hoffman’s Journal Entries.

+++

+++ Lieutenant Hans Hoffman +++

Rousselot City

The city was, very strangely, quite active even in the night.

“Welcome to Rousselot, ladies and gents,” Father Olbrich said, as he guided Hans, Adelyn, and Alizée inside the city. Merchants, workers, stores, and stalls, all of it was still operating animatedly. Due to the fact that they left their vehicles outside of the city under Captain Strobel’s temporary custody (though, Hans lied that they shouldn’t tamper inside due to stored explosives, which, surprisingly, was something Captain Strobel understood, perhaps since he was adept to explosives), both of them carried their full firearms.

Adelyn had her rifle slung on her, and so did Hans with his SMG. Quite frankly, the two weren’t taking things to chance, even if Father Olbrich was acting all friendly to them.

“It seems…nice?” Hans said. “Though, this city also seems…”

“Ah,” the priest turned a bit less jolly as they continued on through the streets. “The city of Rousselot has not been the best since the Great Siege of Rousselot a decade ago. This city was one of the last bastions of the dying Republic before it surrendered. After two years of siege, this city stood. And the Empire’s soldiers weren't kind when they entered.”

“Ah…I guess that makes sense,” Hans said, looking around. Many homes were definitely fixed, and the streets themselves seemed alright, but he could see certain buildings that still held some damage. “Two years of siege, huh? Were you here back then, Father Olbrich?”

“Ah, I was not,” he laughed a bit. “I’m actually a missionary from the Principality of Asfaleia. I went here five years ago, looking to spread the teachings of Asfaleia’s patron goddess, the Goddess of Prudence in this land. But more than that, I’m really just searching for meaning. I suppose aiding the most devastated lands of our former Republic sounded like my calling.”

“I’ve been hearing a lot about this, ‘Republic’ and ‘Empire’. Could you perhaps…fill me in on that?”

He laughed. “You two really must be quite from a distant land to not know that, huh? Alright. In this continent, said to be the last bastion of humanity, only one nation rules. The Holy Empire of Virtus. On the far east lies the lands of monsters. Here, is the land of civilization. This is the westernmost part of the continent, once ruled by the Republic of Vanus.”

“Ah…I see…and I assume the Holy Empire wiped out the Republic?”

“A decade ago,” they looked at one of the buildings around. It was a massive one, with signs that said, “Imperial Ygeia Company”. “The Republic ruled three Principalities of the seven Principalities of this continent. Ygeia, Nomos, and Asfaleia. But, we were soundly defeated by the Holy Empire from the east. Now, they rule all of mankind. At least, out here.”

“Is that why people like Alizée aren’t…under the best terms?”

The priest nodded. “Look, the Republic of Vanus was named that way because they ruled these lands. The Holy Empire of Virtus is named that way because we are ruled by her kind,” he looked behind to Adelyn. “We humans, the majority of mankind, are, of course, nothing but fodder to them. But now, with the defeat of the Vanus, they’re probably in a worse position than us.”

He seems to be assuming I’m human. That’s good.

Fake it till he made it, that was his only plan now.

“Still, some Vanus nobles still rule this land. Though, I seriously doubt that any of them are anything but blackmailed puppets,” the priest laughed. “It is a great shame. The children of the gods are always in an eternal war with each other, all to step upon each other for some insane goal of reaching something above.”

“I guess that’s just how it is,” Hans muttered, and the priest looked back.

“I assume the same is in your lands?”

Hans looked back at the constant wars on Terra. Or, the one ongoing right now. He nodded. “I suppose…”

“See,” the priest shook his head. “In a way, it makes you lose hope. But faith, son. Faith. It’ll be better one day. Absolutely.”

“I hope so,” Hans said. “Though, I’m not really of the religious kind…”

“I can see it in you,” he said. “Your superior seems quite close, though she seems undecided on the matter…”

“Well…I can’t exactly prove if they exist or not, can I?” Adelyn suddenly awkwardly said. “Better just follow what they teach. I mean, there’s nothing bad about the scriptures. It’s all about being good, no?”

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

“That’s up to your mind to decide for, Captain Wittenstein,” he looked back at Hans. “Though, your friend over here seems to have decided for himself.”

Hans crossed his arms. “Unless I see it face to face, I assume the most direct answer to the question of god or gods existing. They don’t.”

“As I’ve said,” the priest laughed. “It's up to you to decide. I’m not really up to the task of preaching to unwilling nonbelievers, but…I believe in her because it’s nicer. Don’t you think so?”

“Perhaps…”

They stopped right in front of what appeared to be a cathedral. It was, well, quite standard to the old cathedrals that Hans remembered in Lotharingia. He supposed that those things really were centuries old. The striking resemblance of this world to old Terra certainly gave him the chills, but…he reminded himself that this was a world where things called “demonic entities” existed.

This was still no Terra.

“Welcome to the St. Heka church,” he said. “This is where you’ll stay for the duration of the deal. I hope it will be accommodating to you.”

+++

The meal was quite simple today.

Quite frankly, most of the church’s staff didn’t really bother them when they entered. It seemed that Father Olbrich had quite the authority inside the church, even if he wasn’t actually the main priest inside. Still, they managed to acquire lodging in two guest rooms. Alizée was supposed to go to the orphanages temporarily, but the girl was too scared to detach herself from Adelyn for some reason, and his Captain dragged her to her own guest room. Adelyn didn’t want Alizée too far away from them.

Hans sighed. Adelyn sure was getting extremely attached to that girl. And so was Alizée to Adelyn. He certainly didn’t expect that. Then again, the two had always been in one mech. He supposed Adelyn was just acting all motherly to the kid, which he wouldn’t blame her for. Alizée was pretty cute to care for.

His room was…well, it was pretty barebones. A bed, some lamps, and other things. That was what was inside. Luckily, he carried his bag and thus, his personal belongings, so Hans merely sat down on the bed after placing his weapons and bag on the table. He sighed to himself.

Finally…

He was now alone.

Alone to ponder where he would go forward from now on. He already talked to Adelyn about it, especially the mission. Of course, Adelyn didn’t know much better about the demon threat. All she knew was that she managed to kill that…wolf thing back in those towns with one magical MPAT round. Hearing how many people those things were apparently killing made Adelyn go all, “duty and responsibility”, as they were the only ones with “effective anti-demon technology” lying around.

Of course, Hans believed the same. It was…in a way, their duty and responsibility now that they were wielding these weapons in a land where such weapons simply didn’t exist. Hell, he imagined, if Lotharingia was at peace and saw these things, they’d be going in a frenzy to intervene for “humanitarian reasons” to wipe out the demonic threat (though, that’d most likely just be a mere cloak to their true intentions of research and gaining concessions, as usual), but…

Well, those things were a genuine threat to him and Adelyn. He wasn’t one to underestimate his enemies, especially when he already literally died three times to just one of the damned things. What if the next one was worse? What if it was stronger?

But then…the deal. This was, quite frankly, the only way they’d survive long-term. Running around with their vehicle on the loose without connection to the authorities would only result in them being boned eventually. Hans imagined that if he made actual enemies high above, and had this entire Empire chasing him down, he’d be dead regardless of how much he revived himself back in time. And he absolutely didn’t want to go down that path.

Then, there was the fact that they needed money. Supplies. Shelter, and most importantly, friends in this world. Technology alone wouldn’t win you your survival, as Adelyn said. They needed allies. And what better way to gain allies in this land than to use what they had to stop the demonic threat? Father Olbrich already seemed cordial with Adelyn after all. What more after they start killing demons left and right?

Of course…the problem was that Hans would be the one taking the big hit should things go very wrong. He would not allow Adelyn to be on the chopping block, as he’d always be the tip of her spear against these things. And if things go bad…well, he’d be dead again.

He buried his head in his hands. Death. Death. It already happened way too many times to him, and each one of them was still seared in his mind. He didn’t want to die again. He didn’t want to feel that…that sheer pain of dying. It stormed his mind. It ate his guts. It made his hair rise uncontrollably.

He feared death.

But…he was the only one who could go face to face with these demons, and figure out how to kill them. He was an ace pilot, skilled at using his Wanderfalke, and he had a magical Wanderfalke, most importantly, if even that failed…he’d return back to life to face what killed him anyway. In other words…a thousand soldiers could die to these demons, but they would not be coming back to fight them again, live again, or finally stop them.

He could.

But the cost to himself…

He stood up and began removing his Kevlar armor, leaving his basic uniform only. He should probably get some decent sleep. The answer to that dilemma, he didn’t know yet. He wondered if he could even find an answer to it. To run away from all this would be shameful, and he’d rather kill himself than choose that.

But to charge forward…

In the battlefields of the Southern Front, when he was new, he had always run away. He had always hesitated. He always found himself as that stupid greenie who would endanger the whole team. And in many ways, he did. He watched as platoon after platoon was wiped out…leaving all but him alone.

Until he got better. Until he stopped running from the fight. Until he chose to charge forward, instead of running away with his tail on his back.

But now…

He felt stuck back on those days.

When he would freeze up in fear…unable to fight…and only able to flee…

He silently plopped down on the bed and hugged one of the pillows on it as he closed his eyes.

Soft…

He wanted nothing more than something soft as he drifted to sleep.

Without answers in his mind.