“To that end, hiding the truth is quite a difficult task for me. It’s a strange thing. I tell myself that I trust her. Yet I cannot bear myself to speak. I wonder then…will she find out? If you’re reading this. I’m sorry, Captain.”

- Excerpt from Lieutenant Hans Hoffman’s Journal Entries.

+++

+++ Lieutenant Hans Hoffman +++

Rousselot City

AUG 20, 1538 CE

A military parade.

It was a somber day for all of Rousselot, as the city garrison and the men of the 4th Holy Ygeia Regiment played their drums and fifes in front of the destitute civilian onlookers. Homes. Businesses. Lives. The city itself. So many things were lost. So many grieved. And so many suffered and would suffer onward.

Weeks after that fateful day, the city however had some semblance of recovery. The rubble was being cleared. Laborers left and right tore down destroyed buildings or began patching up those that could be repaired. Priests and nuns left and right treated countless injuries for free, as best as they could. The rich and the nobility even opened up their coffers and grain stocks for the city’s emergency relief efforts.

Many had crappy food, yes…but the Countess’ kitchens distributed large amounts of it. So far, not many would starve. Even those in the slums wouldn’t.

As such, Hans found it…quite nice, he supposed. The nobility of this time period, according to history books, were usually vile people, usually. And that certainly seemed the case. Many were greedy. Uncaring. Indeed, vile. But in front of him, he could see that everyone was trying to recover. Hell, the most hard-hit district was the wealthy central district.

The merchants and nobles of the city certainly had their fortunes destroyed by those strikes. It wasn’t like every noble/merchant was filthy rich folks who could simply lose their estates without it being an extremely significant setback. That was for the high nobility, like the Countess. But even she took a significant hit. All in all, all of Rousselot was mostly coming together to recover in the wake of the attack.

And that, to Hans, was the symbol of this parade. A symbol of strength for the city. That humanity, and its forces, were standing. It was why he told the Countess that it was a good idea. It was why he told Captain Strobel the same. It was why they organized it. This was war, Hans knew. And while he was but a lowly Lieutenant who had only experienced the frontlines, he had a grasp of strategy.

National morale was important for any war effort. So was national unity, which the Holy Empire sorely lacked. While this wouldn’t make a dent in those problems, he still hoped that this parade would be a start. Victory…victory must be possible. That was the message that Hans wanted for the people of Rousselot, even if it was a tall order that might not turn true.

To achieve victory against the demonic threat, mankind must believe that if it rallied behind the flag of their forces—victory would be possible.

He felt Alizée grip his hand tightly as they watched the parade. He looked down at the girl. She seemed to be keeping herself very close to Hans. Certainly, soldiers with muskets didn’t seem to be the thing that the girl enjoyed seeing. It was…sad, Hans thought. Their family sure screwed up that the kid now had the trauma of seeing soldiers that looked like the same ones who raided the Amboise family.

He leaned down in her direction.

“Hey,” he called to her. She looked up at him. “You alright?”

“Yes, Sir Hans,” she said with a forced smile. “I’m fine.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m…scared.”

“Scared?”

She nodded and held Hans’ hand tighter, almost making herself look even smaller in the presence of the marching soldiers. She frowned a bit as she watched them.

“They kill…” she muttered.

“I do so too,” Hans said bluntly. “And just like them, I kill monsters too. Or, well, help with that.”

“But you’re good.”

Hans laughed and ruffled her hair.

“Alright, alright. Do you want to leave now? Eat? Anything? Hmm?”

“Maybe.”

“Maybe?” He couldn’t help but laugh again. Was this kid serious? She wasn’t sure about her answer. Come on…don’t tell me she’s at that phase already. Soon, the kid would be a damned teenage girl. Which meant…pain. Hans wanted to facepalm at his decision. Where would they be within two years in this setup? “Come on, kiddo, just answer. Wanna eat, or something else.”

“I want books.”

“Books?”

“Mhm. About magic.”

“Why?”

“So I can fight them if they do bad things,” she said. “Like…like shoot you!”

“Whoah, gee. That’s…well, I mean, I’m flattered you’re interested in protecting an adult, but…hey, that’s not really your job, okay? Just do what you do, and stuff. Keep learning the language. You’re a fast learner after all. Maybe in a month or two, you’ll be a good speaker of our language. Then again…children are fast learners when it comes to this stuff…”

Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

She looked up at him and tilted her head.

Hans sighed. One of the problems with Alizée was that while she was picking up simple phrases and questions (and responding to them) after nearly two months of delirious studying, she still really had a long way to go. She probably barely understood him with his last tirade.

He kneeled down to her level.

“Alright, look. All I want to say is that you are a child, okay?” He pointed his finger at her.

She nodded.

“And me,” he pointed at himself. “I’m an adult. Which means, you…a child is not supposed to protect me. Because I’m an adult.”

She frowned.

“I’m supposed to do that to you, so you can live happily. Get that?”

“I want to be strong!”

“Maybe when you’re eighteen or something. Like, a big girl!”

“Too far!”

“Eh, you’re supposed to enjoy being a kid.”

“I’m not enjoying it.”

“We’re trying to change that, okay?”

Hans smiled at her and gave her head a good pat.

“Hey, look, I’ll try to buy you some extra magical stuff from…some guy…I hope he’s still doing alright, and…well, let you in on some of that good stuff to ‘make you strong’.”

She remained silent.

“Yeah, exactly, yeah. But, listen to this. You just study, okay? Study, study, study. No fighting. That’s what I want for you. As much as possible, no fighting.”

“Sir Hans,” Alizée shook her head. “I can fight. I…I want to fight. Those monsters.”

“You can’t.”

“I did.”

Hans paused, remembering that entire…thing that happened. Yeah…he supposed. She could. She did, after all, fire something that nearly sliced the ‘Tentacled Eel’ in half. But regardless, it was unintended for Hans. He didn’t place her in that danger so she would fight. He simply recognized that she was the target and that the only way for him to win and save her…was to let her be captured in a manner he could control.

Ultimately, he lost control regardless. The plan went less than perfect. But she did save it, perhaps in its last moment. That shot from her “knightly” form—whatever equipment she had summoned during that day, stopped the demon in its tracks and allowed Hans and Adelyn to place the final shots to kill it.

But still. He never intended for that.

He would not be able to stomach using a girl for the fight.

“Alizée…so you remember what happened?”

She nodded.

“You…did that on your own volition.”

“It tried to kill me…and other people!” Alizée said. “So…I wanted to kill it.”

“Listen. No. Not happening again,” Hans said. “Not under my control. Not unless I fail so badly. You’re a kid. Okay? I vowed to be your guardian. I am not letting you fight. Don’t think that way. Please.”

She shook her head.

“If someone hurts Lady Adelyn or Sir Hans, I will,” she defiantly replied. “I have my powers. I will use it.”

“You can summon it again?”

This time, her eyes widened, and she looked down. He waited for a while for her answer, as his ears focused away from the parade’s sounds, to her. But no words came, she merely looked down. Hans sighed. He wouldn’t push further.

He really needed to keep a closer eye on her.

+++

“Well…” Captain Weibel passed a piece of paper to Hans and Adelyn. Adelyn slowly read it for a while, before she gave it to Hans. It was a call to arms by the IYC to their forces to gather for the suppression mission—and the planned liquidation of the Calamity of Desire. “They expect us within six days on the gathering site. The Calamity of Desire is moving forward. Nobles, merchants, the rich…they’re all fleeing Rignon. Folks in the countryside are moving inside of the city’s walls. Powder is being stocked. Men are being pressed into service. It’s an incoming catastrophe, and they’re preparing for it like it’s a goddamned siege.”

Hans read the paper and shook his head.

“It’s us that’ll really be standing between the city and that thing, no?” Hans asked.

“If it entered the city, it’d end up like Rousselot,” Adelyn said. “But without proper anti-demon forces. Just…dudes with muskets and what else. It’ll be a bloodbath. Like the last cities that the demon destroyed.”

“We’ll grind and figure out resupply tomorrow,” Hans said. “Then we move out the next day. The rest of you guys will force march. We’ll drive ahead of the pack, and use our mobility.”

“Maybe even scout out the threat,” Adelyn added. “There’s nearly six thousand mercenaries and soldiers that would be involved in this. We can’t squander that by having incomplete information. Where is the gathering site?”

“Fort Elmo is our staging ground,” Captain Weibel answered. “Other units will be in different areas, they want to disperse their forces until the last moment. In fact, we’re being joined by another raised army by the Duke of Lignon. Eight thousand strong. They’re not bringing a lot of men, but they’re bringing a lot of horse artillery. Forty-eight pieces last I heard.”

“That much?” Hans asked.

“The way you two fought has been analyzed by local military commanders and the IYC,” Captain Weibel explained. “There is a general understanding that cavalry and musketmen act best as blocking forces. Just pawns to be used to distract a demon. But what’s really needed is mobile artillery that can pack a punch. Hence…they’re now focusing on mobility. It is…grievously expensive though, and the Duke of Lignon apparently stripped a dozen naval frigates of their artillery just to get what he’s packing. That and, I think they’re not even bringing in many foot soldiers. They’re mostly light cavalry. That man must be planning for something.”

“How long would it take to reach Rignon?”

“It can take a week…maybe eight to nine days,” Captain Weibel said. “They don’t exactly have the ability to move as fast as you do. That, and, we have fears that the demons in Ygeia might ambush them. Who knows. Really, right now, we’re ignoring other demons in favor of ending the Calamity of Desire. If we fail in that…the IYC will abandon Ygeia fully, and it’ll be every man for himself.”

“What of Rousselot?”

Captain Weibel merely smiled.

“Look. No one’s telling anyone that there’s going to be an organized evacuation for everyone in the Principality. No one in charge, the elites, would say anything about it. Of course, if we’re defeated, the remnants will think they can still hold on, but the rest of the important fucks, the Vanus, the Virtus, the merchants, nobles you name it. They’ll all fully flee like the rats they are.”

“So it’s just your theory,” Hans asked.

“Speculation or not, this is obviously going to be Ygeia’s last organized effort to remove the demonic threat in this Principality. If we’re defeated, all that will be left is the few disbanding garrisons of the Holy Empire. I’m just making it clear. This isn’t just about the bounty anymore. This is about all of Ygeia. And you two…will be a central piece in the upcoming, most likely, decisive battle to decide the fate of this Principality.”