“At the very least, we’d be leaving Rousselot today with a decent supply situation. I’m not sure yet if it would be enough though. I can already feel that there will be consequences to us charging against this ‘Calamity’ head-on with limited intel. And I’m not sure how to fully prepare for it.”

- Excerpt from Lieutenant Hans Hoffman’s Journal Entries.

+++

+++ Lieutenant Hans Hoffman +++

Rousselot City

AUG 22, 1538 CE

Hans, Adelyn, and Alizée woke up quite early today.

Well, of course, it was a big day, Hans supposed. And it wasn’t just them. The entire 4th Holy Ygeia Regiment, various mercenary specialists, and even some human priests and academic mages interested in watching and studying the upcoming fight were preparing to depart from Rousselot today.

“Okay! You’re free to check now.” He heard Adelyn call him.

Hans peeked from the side of the door after Adelyn frantically dressed Alizée in the new clothes she bought for her. There were already piles of her other clothing in Alizée’s bed that Adelyn tried out earlier, but she seemed to have kept switching to test out things to try it out.

Of course, the little girl only looked at Hans with a flushed stare. Not feeling cruel today, Hans just smiled and shrugged.

“I think it’s good enough.”

“Hmm…okay…?” Adelyn stood up and cupped her chin. “Perhaps pigtails would suit you better. What do you think, Lieutenant?”

“I’m not really into playing dress up when we’re going to…I don’t know, a big fight?”

She looked back at Hans, a bit appalled.

“Hey! Did you just forget that we’re making a pit stop in Fort Elmo? Alizée has to look presentable to the Duchess before she receives her for temporary protection,” Adelyn shook her head. “Gosh…you really don’t understand our culture. Status, Lieutenant. It’s important so the other party will respect you.”

“Um…okay,” Hans only sighed. The Duchess of Lignon had taken some interest in the daughter of the disgraced Amboise family after all, mainly because Alizée’s father was the previously appointed Imperial Viceroy of Ygeia who had…a lot of scuffles with the Imperium when the IYC was trying to consolidate control in the Principality. While her husband would be campaigning for war, she sent a letter to Countess Fresnel asking about how her Alizée was doing.

Apparently, the Duchess of Lignon was the sister of Alizée’s father. Naturally, that meant that Alizée finally had a family member who might…just might perhaps take care of her, or at least, help in deciding what to do with her, now that the Imperium had reversed calling Alizée’s family as enemies of the state (mainly, because of the actions of Hans and Adelyn) considering that she was potentially the last remaining member of House Amboise—save for those married out to other noble families.

It was all in good time, as the Duchess of Lignon took temporary refuge in Fort Elmo, mainly because it was well protected, and because it wasn’t Rignon, which could be attacked any second now. Therefore, it was a good opportunity for Hans and Adelyn to have someone to leave her to during the planned attack.

“You really are clueless,” Adelyn said.

“That I am. Frankly, I take great pride in it, Milady…” Hans even tried to bow gracefully in her presence. Adelyn naturally simply rolled her eyes as she watched Hans’ endlessly brimming sarcasm toward everything related to status and nobility. And Hans, for his part, took great pleasure in watching her exasperation.

Adelyn turned around and pulled out her notepad. Hans stopped joking around and straightened himself.

“So, are you…um, actually ready for this one, Captain?” Hans asked.

“Ready? Hmm…I’ll be honest, the last demon we fought really almost got us killed. It’s…kinda scary now, I guess.”

“Don’t you feel…kinda uneasy about all this?” Hans asked. “We’re moving out blind. Without really good…you know, proper intel, I suppose. It’s like we’re going in empty-handed to a battle.”

Adelyn sighed.

“Look, as much as I’d like to deal with doom and gloom, I doubt it’d help that much. We’ll do the standard routine by going into a sortie to recce it. Then, I think we’ll be able to come up with a concrete plan on how to fight it. There’s really not much we can do to get around that. At least for now.”

“Killing the first ‘Calamity’ will certainly be a new one for humanity,” Hans looked up at the ceiling. “It makes me wonder what we’ll learn from it. Do you think it’d be the same as the last demons we encountered? Just…normal people, usually, who turned into those things.”

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Adelyn checked something in her notepad as Hans looked back at her. She closed her eyes as she took a deep breath, folding the tiny booklet back close.

“We’ll see, Lieutenant. We’ll see.”

+++

“The battalions are ready to move out,” Captain Strobel said, as Hans, Adelyn, and Alizée followed him to the city walls. All around them, the men of the 4th Holy Ygeia Regiment were already being mustered on the streets by their respective officers, as they prepared at once to march on foot to Fort Elmo. “We’ll take our sweet time to reach that though, so it’s up to you two to charge ahead of us.”

“We understand,” Adelyn replied with a nod. “Are we to commit to an immediate scouting mission against the Calamity of Desire?”

“Depends on what the commandant of Fort Elmo instructs you to,” he looked back at Hans and Adelyn. “Look, I’m not your superior officer or anything. Again, from now on, you two report to the IYC. Not to me. The commandant of Fort Elmo is a mercenary under the direct command of the IYC. I think he’ll be the one that’ll give you orders until the Duke of Lignon arrives.”

“He’ll be our overall commander?” Hans asked.

“Most likely. He’s the one bringing in the largest amount of artillery and men into the battle after all. Though, of course, he was most likely bankrolled by the IYC. But yes, I believe that once he arrives, it’ll be him calling the shots on how the operation will go, alongside the rest of the nobles and officers going into this attack.”

That made sense to Hans. Quite frankly, this “Duke of Lignon” guy seemed to be someone serious if he had too much artillery that he ripped off from naval vessels. That meant he had quite the authority to do things. Then again, he had a Ducal title. He imagined that someone like him really was a big shot in Ygeia’s local politics.

“I wonder who that guy really is though,” Hans said. “Like, is he human, or…”

“He’s a Virtus,” Captain Strobel said, a hint of distaste in his voice. “One of the nobles from the Imperium who migrated here to take vacant titles after many of the Vanus nobility were shafted for having ties with the Republican resistance. And of course, to legitimize his claim to his title of being the Duke of Lignon, he married an Amboise.”

“What, why?” Hans asked.

Adelyn looked back down at Alizée, who seemed to be ignoring the entire conversation around her as she held Adelyn’s hand while walking.

“Simple,” Adelyn said. “House Amboise was a major family before Alizée’s father did what he did. I bet he wanted to show the people here that he was ‘integrating’. It’s definitely a political marriage.”

Captain Strobel nodded to Adelyn’s explanation.

“Indeed. That and, the Margraviate of Amboise is a massive fiefdom. It’s why he got the Viceroyalty position. Margrave Amboise may not be the most powerful Vanus considering his sickly nature, but he was a major statesman of the Republic before. He held a lot of prestige and political sway in Ygeia. And the Imperium initially wanted to present itself as a fair and just force, so they needed him as a puppet.”

“Until he realized that and supported the resistance,” Adelyn said.

“Yes. And being a rebel is one of the best ways to get your head sliced by the Imperium,” Captain Strobel laughed. “He certainly had the balls though, so there’s that. But yeah, now it’s the Virtus themselves calling the shots here, and that includes the Duke of Lignon. Bet that guy wants to prove himself to be a capable savior of the locals here to further legitimize himself.”

“That’s quite the shady thing to do,” Hans said.

“Politics,” Adelyn simply shook her head. “Not like Lotharingia was any better. Even I was supposed to be just…married off if I hadn’t joined the Army.”

There was a brief silence between the trio as Adelyn looked down with a grim smile before she turned and laughed a bit at Hans.

“Well, come on, it’s just how the nobility goes,” Adelyn said, trying her best to be cheerful. “I’m the youngest daughter, so it’s not like my family has much use for me, except for…well, political gains…mostly economic…”

“Hmm, I wonder what House Wittenstein is,” Captain Strobel asked.

Adelyn looked ahead, a bit serious.

“My family is a part of the Junker class in my homeland,” Adelyn explained. “We…own large tracts of land for our businesses. Wittenstein AG is the name of the corporation that my father manages. We…make lots of things. Medicine. Chemicals. The list can go on…”

Hans could notice a certain tinge of shame in Adelyn’s voice. He wasn’t sure why, considering how she would always present herself as someone proud of her own family name. Then again, House Wittenstein, much like all of the preeminent nobles of the Confederation, had always been…involved in less than clean corporate or political business.

“But my mother was a part of the Confederal Court,” Adelyn said. “And, and I guess I’m trying to follow her path. Fighting for the right thing. Justice. Even…even if we’re not exactly perfect.”

“That’s admirable,” Captain Strobel grinned. “Say, if I ever have a chance to get to your country, I’d appreciate a big name giving me a good recommendation. It seems like your father has a nice business for me to join in. Just a favor to a friend, eh? Hehe.”

“Grh, nepotism in broad daylight!” Adelyn almost recoiled. “You really have no shame…”

“A man’s gotta do what he’s gotta do,” Captain Strobel chuckled. “Having someone vouch for you is a nice proposition. Then again, I doubt I have much experience in alchemical matters or medicine.”

Captain Strobel sighed as they reached the gate, and the four stopped. Captain Strobel breathed out and spoke.

“So, this is it then, huh?” He said. “Have a safe travel ahead, you three. We’ll meet you in Fort Elmo.”

“Safe travels to you guys too,” Hans said. “Make sure the lads make it to the fight alive.”

“We’ll do our best. That, and…well, it’d be unfortunate to die before the actual battle. And again the same goes for the three of you. Wait for the rest of the force. Don’t act too rashly. This is a fight of Ygeia for Ygeia. It’s not just your fight. It’s our fight. So let’s fight that bastard together. Not piecemeal.”

Hans nodded.

“We understand.”

“Good luck,” Adelyn said. “We’re going off now.”