“She’s, well, she’s probably just some newbie out of officer school. I don’t have much of a high opinion of her kind, nobles. But, unlike Captain Victoria, she seemed to be taking things seriously. She vowed to us earlier that she would try her best so all of us would go home. Quite naive, but beats having a speech about us deserving our current position, you know?”
- Excerpt from Lieutenant Hans Hoffman’s Journals.
+++
+++ Lieutenant Hans Hoffman +++
Unknown
Captain Adelyn von Wittenstein…seemed different from what Hans had expected. Right now, she was ranting on and on about the fact that each of her communication systems seemed down, that she had been driving for a while around the area in vain, and that they seemed to be in a very different place.
She continued on, blaming it on the Flandrians, then on herself (how could incompetence lead to this situation? Hans struggled to know), while Hans stared at the new addition to his Captain. Above her head (and while he would not stare for too long at her), he could see a floating yellow halo of sorts.
As if she was an angel.
It seemed that like him, his Captain didn’t understand what was happening, and nor did she notice anything different to her. Hans knew that he was now…a different race, for some reason, so it would not be too surprising to know that whatever must have transported both of them here would change hers. But a halo?
If he was a demon of some sort, then was she an angel of some sort?
That was ridiculous. Even in a new life, he would be screwed over by divine providence! Truly, Hans wondered when his misfortunes would end. But at the same time, he felt relieved of that. If his Captain, who…well, probably had a kinder character than some blood-lusted psychopath like him (perhaps that was why he was given this role, was this the purgatory?) was an angel, then, he hoped that she would find herself in a better position to the locals.
Little Alizée might be better off under her, than him. In fact, Hans feared his demon type. He didn’t want to turn into whatever that thing was. Not in front of Alizée and his Captain.
“Captain,” Hans interrupted. “Could I perhaps ask…how did you get here, and when?”
Adelyn immediately stopped her confused tirade, before sighing. “Just hours ago. I woke up here after a tense skirmish. I made the mistake of driving my mech too aggressively, and…”
For a few seconds, Hans noticed Adelyn’s green eyes dilate a bit, as she breathed a little bit deeper than normal. A forced smile took over her face instead.
“Nothing…just…well, something happened, and well, what would you know? I woke up in this, whatever place this is.”
“Hmm…you sure it was nothing?”
“Absolutely, Lieutenant,” Adelyn cleared her throat. “Anyhow, fix yourself up. As my sole remaining officer at the present moment—”
“Mhm…”
“Don’t interrupt me. As I was saying, we have a duty to the Confederacy,” Adelyn said. “Thus, you and I, our first mission right now…would be to find a way back. We have our own mechs in pristine condition, with full fuel, so I’m sure that we would find a way, Lieutenant.”
Hans nodded. It seemed that Adelyn was still operating under the assumption that they were in Terra and that it was possible to come back to where they were supposed to be. And also, he imagined, this noblewoman had an actually positive home for herself, unlike him. And so, Hans held off for now from shattering her ideal bubble.
He wasn’t the cruel type of a man to a woman. Not to mention, he had always been careful at speaking to noblewomen. After all, in the Confederacy…the thought of even crossing their words would not result in fun times…as he learned the hard way.
Not that Captain is that type of a woman.
He then tried something on her.
Target Status Check.
+++
Status: Healthy (No Special Health Effects)
Name: Adelyn von Wittenstein
Age: 24
Race: Virtus
Type: ???
General Tier: I
LVL: 5
Class: Mech Pilot (Finisher)
Passive Skills: ???
Active Skills: ???
Available Arcane Points: ???
+++
A Virtus? Hmm…so I’m a Vanus, and she’s a Virtus. I assume then that she’s of the “Angel” race, and I’m…whatever the hell I am. Alizée is also Vanus like me, but she does not have the demon classification, even if she has horns…a long knife-like ear, and I’ve noticed sharp fangs. Perhaps Vanus is a lower form of demons? Wait, her type is ‘uncorrupted’...so does that mean I’m…?
Of course, that ignored the fact that she was somehow starting out at level five while Hans started out at level one. Whoever summoned them must be quite the biased one! Regardless, Hans was confused about this whole ordeal. And why the hell was he able to understand whatever the hell that “status” screen was, but not the writings of this land?
I can’t even understand Alizée yet. All I know is her name. If only I could ask her. He really hoped the kid was at least educated. If she was of a noble or merchant background, then surely, she’d have been schooled. Not that Hans expected any sort of advanced knowledge from her, but he didn’t have any locals to talk to right? He’d take anything.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
Goddess…learning their language would take too long if I need to. This is a pain.
“Captain, I have something to tell though,” Hans said, and Adelyn immediately nodded.
“What is it?”
“You see…I found one of the locals,” Hans said. “Convoy of carriages—”
“Not the time for jokes, Lieutenant.”
“They were ambushed by these big glowing wolf-like things—”
“I understand you’re of the creative kind, but Lieutenant, don’t suggest nonsense.”
“And I saved a young girl from that convoy. She’s the sole survivor. Her name is Alizée. Wanna see her?”
Adelyn nodded. “Sure.”
The two of them then went to the Peacemaker, which was parked side by side with Adelyn’s Wanderadler Mech, named the Diligence. Not exactly as cool as Hans’ name for his mech, but Hans chalked it up to Adelyn’s personality. The two of them climbed up on Hans’ mech, and Hans opened his hatch, just as Alizée opened her eyes and yawned.
Adelyn could merely look at the girl with muted shock as the girl spoke.
“A…a Virtus?”
+++
“I want to know, did you even feed her last day? She seemed really hungry earlier when I fed her.”
“Of course I did, Captain,” Hans replied. They were back on the road once more, with Hans’ Wanderfalke leading the charge, almost forty meters ahead of Adelyn’s mech to scout out a way for her. After all, when attacks happened, the first one down was always the lead vehicle, not the one behind.
Earlier, when Adelyn laid her eyes on Alizée, she immediately checked the girl for everything, from injuries to signs of deprivation, as she questioned Hans about everything that had happened. Of course, Hans at last informed Adelyn of the situation, what happened, and how he retrieved her.
Adelyn…as Hans expected, immediately acted protectively of Alizée. Due to the fact that the Diligence was better protected than Hans’ rustbucket, the two of them decided that Alizée would be under Adelyn’s care until further notice. The girl seemed amicable with his Captain, luckily, as she even briefly played with the girl in the hopes of cheering her up before they continued on.
“I fed her last night, 1600 hours to be specific,” Hans said. “Gave her my MRE rations.”
“Rations aren’t good for children, Captain,” Adelyn said. “We need to find a place to get proper food for her.”
Hans felt his stomach rumble a bit. Indeed, he was a tad bit hungry himself. “That’s the plan. Find a place to resupply, and get in contact with the locals. Maybe even tell them what happened, and maybe even return her.”
“That sounds good,” Adelyn said. “She looks so cute…”
“Yeah…” Hans smiled a bit. “That she is, isn’t she?”
“And her horns…and ears. She looks like she’s out of a fantasy book.”
Hans laughed. “You’re growing fond of her quick, huh, Captain?”
“I handled children sometimes at our family’s orphanage,” Adelyn said. “They’re pure creatures. I’m sure she is too.”
Hans fell silent for a while. “Hey, Captain.”
“Hmm?”
“Did…did you and E Company…escape?”
“Escape?”
“From…Haubliz?”
She seemed to have fallen silent. “What do you mean? Of course, we did. You pulled off that rearguard action so masterfully, after all. Know what, you should really help our Company mates with those techniques of yours.”
But…but I failed and died?
Did she perhaps…
Hans tried to consider his theories. She didn’t seem to think that he died. That was strange. Then again…considering that he got here through wacky black magic or whatever the hell caused it…perhaps she was…not from the same timeline where he met his end?
That was certainly a plausible explanation.
“Oh…okay, I see then.”
“Was something wrong, Lieutenant?”
“Err, ahem, nothing…just. Just remembering something, is all.”
There was another silence from her end of the line. “I understand, Lieutenant. You went through so much.”
“...Thank you, Captain.”
“It’s nothing,” she laughed. “Anyhow, we just need to find our way back, as I’ve said, and it’ll be all fine.”
“Sure, Captain. It’s why you’re in charge, after all.”
“Are you jesting?”
Hans laughed.
“Nothing, nothing.”
Hans heard a frustrated huff from the other line.
“You’re one of my most difficult platoon leaders.”
“Whatever you say, Captain.”
+++
It was already afternoon when they stopped. Their progress had been significantly slowed down by Hans’ insistence on caution. Rarely would they drive too fast in order to check if the environment was safe. Again, Hans didn’t know what kind of dangers lay ahead, so he had used his mech as a recce unit of sorts. Adelyn would stop in a secure area, while he would move forward to check the road ahead.
Rinse and repeat, until this point.
“Hey, Lieutenant. I think we should make a stop. Alizée seems hungry.”
Hans stopped his mech, just as they found another town ahead. “Found something.”
“What?”
“Abandoned settlement, again,” Hans said, as Adelyn’s Wanderadler stopped behind him. He checked his thermals for any contacts inside of the town, but he found nothing. With a sigh, he spoke to the comms. “That’s the second one this time around.”
“I see…I really have bad feelings about this, Lieutenant.”
“Captain, I volunteer to once again recce that town,” Hans said. “You and Alizée stay here. Maybe heat her up a meal over there and wait till I come back. I’ll drive there, check if it's safe, maybe go on foot for closer inspection of anything that might help us, and I’ll return here to report.”
“Are you sure of that, Lieutenant?” Adelyn asked. “Look, you can count on me to come with you.”
“No,” Hans said. “Take care of Alizée. You’re with her. There’s no reason to take her to a risky situation.”
“Just report back if you see anything then,” Adelyn said. “I’ll rush there if any trouble arises.”
“I know,” Hans said. “I’m going then.”
“Be careful, Lieutenant. That’s all. Out.”