Inside the fortress, in the keep…

The doors swing open. The demoralized soldiers sitting around the entrance turn their heads its way.

「…Who is that?」「Did the rescue forces arrive?」「Some kind of an officer?…」

They mutter amongst themselves when they look at the stranger in a coat standing next to the fortress commander.

「Everyone, set your weapons aside. I made a decision to surrender the fortress.」

The grim-faced commander says, causing the soldiers to shoot up to their feet.

「What!?」「He's the enemy!?」「We're surrendering!? They'll slaughter us!」

Clutching onto their weapons, they shout and stare at the two at the door with wary, outright nervous faces.

「Everyone calm down!… Lower your weapons. Nothing can be known for certain, but the enemy commander here gave me his word of honor that you will be unharmed. That's an order.」

The commander repeats, raising his hands. His men calm somewhat, but continue exchanging nervous and hesitant glances. After a moment, they reluctantly set their spears and swords down.

「…I hope you stay true to your word. I have nothing against you or your people. Most of us don't. We're just soldiers.」

The grim-faced man turns his gaze to Straf, who's nonchalantly standing beside him with his hands in his pockets. He meets it with bored eyes.

「You and your people have the wrong idea, I didn't come here to rip your shit up on purpose. You made me.」

Straf replies with a shrug of his shoulders, and continues inward into the keep. Briefly lagging behind as he thinks about Straf's words, the commander soon rejoins his side…

…

An hour later, well into the night, in a small room in the keep…

…Thudthudthudthud… Thudthudthudthud… Thudthudthudthud…

Sitting at a table with an empty chair across from him, stripped from his armor, the commander's fingers roll across the table as he taps upon it in a repetitive rhythm. The door swings open.

「…Alright, I'm back.」

Straf declares as he pulls the free chair out, scraping its legs against the stone floor. A single torch provides a dim, flickering light.

「I know, woe to the conquered and all, but was it really necessary to kick my men out of their beds? There's plenty of space around the keep, and my men are tired-」

The commander protests the treatment of his subordinates with gently furrowed brows as Straf sits down.

Thud!

「So are mine…」

Straf cuts the man off, slamming his boots down on the table as he leans back in his chair, precariously balancing on its rear legs.

「…Now. You're going to tell me everything you know, or I'll show you what waterboarding is. How strong is your army, overall?」

He adds, looking at the commander with his arms crossed and mouth aslant with a condescending expression on his face.

「I don't know.」

「You don't know? Bullshit. Don't even try to lie to me, I could see bullshitters on television every day if I wanted to… So I never watched it.」

The commander shrugs, and Straf scoffs at his reply. His face gains an amused smirk while piercing the man with his stare.

「Tele- Huh?」

The fortress commander shakes his head in confusion at an unfamiliar word, furrowing his brows.

「Forget it. Tell me the strength of your forces and their disposition.」

Straf throws his hands up before quickly crossing them again, then shrugs his shoulders.

「All my forces have already surrendered.」

The man casually replies. Straf clicks his tongue and lowers his legs down to the ground.

「Tsk… You're really getting on my fucking nerves. Stop being cute with me. You know what I mean.」

With his mouth heavily scrunched to the side, Straf glares at the him.

「If you mean the forces of the kingdom, again, I don't know. If you mean the forces stationed in the Gap district…」

He replies, spreading his hands with a slight shake of his head, before dropping them back down to the table. The commander looks aside at the wall towards nothing in particular as he thinks.

「…I don't know. Two-hundred, to three-hundred thousand men? I've heard a large portion were taken to Redwing Kingdom though, and that you gave them a pummeling.」

The man adds, shrugging his shoulders again.

「Yeah. I did. You're really telling me that you have quarter million men in the military, and it's not even your whole army?…」

Straf asks, and the man simply spreads his hands.

「…I call bullshit. Your whole kingdom is an arid, hilly, mountainous shithole. How do you get enough food for them all?」

「We don't, most of the time.」

「Huh?…」

The man candidly replies, without even a hint of sarcasm in his voice or on his face. Straf narrows his eye at him with an incredulous grimace.

「…I read an intelligence report on you. I know you're a shithole, but just how bad is it? No food, so manpower is food too?」

Straf asks, scoffing. On hearing his question, the commander's face twists into a face of utter ridicule, baffled by his words.

「…It's not that bad. As a new recruit, you're only allowed quarter rations… After five years, you're legally allowed to have full rations… But those are a starving diet too…」

He replies, crossing his arms as he looks down on the table, grimacing heavily while he thinks.

「…I'm only a fortress commander. I'm a bottom-feeder as far as officers go, but I think my case is representative. I command 800-odd men…」

The commander raises his head, and looks at Straf with a grim expression on his face.

「…On paper, I have 2000. Most of them are kids. One, maybe two years in the military… Some are even greener. Since I theoretically have double the men…」

He nods towards something in the general direction of the gate, then lowers his head back down, staring at the table.

「…Double the rations and nobody is the wiser, huh?」

「Exactly. If the general were to find out- Well…」

Straf lets out an amused huff, and the commander affirms with a nod. He stops to correct himself, and shrugs.

「…I suppose that's no longer an issue, but if they were to find out, I'd lose my head for misappropriation of material. You asked how we get enough food for them… That's how.」

The commander adds, then casually shrugs his shoulders as if complaining to Straf, rather than being questioned.

「But how do you physically get food? You can't possibly be sustaining yourself on some mushrooms in the mines, right?」

「We buy it. All that gold, silver, rare magic metals… There's demand for that. It's a bargain deal to farmer kingdoms like yours.」

Straf asks, and the man candidly confesses.

「…So I could have just starved your whole kingdom to death by blocking the two ways in and out? Your king didn't think of that?」

「They did. Why do you think we have a large army?」

After a brief moment of pause in disbelief, Straf asks another question, scoffing again. The commander shrugs once more, shaking his head with a slight grimace.

「So you have a large army, but you can't even feed them?」

Straf throws his hands up, shrugging his shoulders.

「We are doing the best we can with what we have. With that being said, I'm not surprised the battle was completely one-sided for you.」

The man leans in on his elbows towards Straf, then feebly spreads his hands in resignation.

「So you have a large army… But it's shit. Hey, some people think quantity is a quality. I call 'em shit-eaters, they call themselves experts… I meet them in the middle and call them tasteless pigs.」

With a grin on his face, Straf scoffs, briefly spreading his hands too before crossing them again.

「I wouldn't use that wording… But yes. This is the blood harvest that the royal family has been sowing for many years now. It's an endless, sickening loop without an end…」

The commander candidly replies, then leans back in his chair with his arms crossed with a grim face, eyes staring pensively at the table.

「…People need more money for food, so they have more children to work, which means we need more food, so we need to work for it until something breaks, and then you die…」

He continues, speaking with a completely casual tone despite his words.

「…Of course the starving dregs would pose you no resistance. There's only two ways to survive in this kingdom. One, work in the mines as a free miner, breaking your back to live another day…」

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

The man raises his hand, and shows his index finger to Straf. He looks at it with a bored expression on his face.

「…Two, join the military, starve for five years, then eventually you will be able to afford a full meal with rations and your paltry pay. That's the option most people pick. Punitive miners die quick…」

He extends his middle finger, counting up. Straf slowly, gently raises his brow, grimacing slightly while he listens.

「…And let me tell you, I don't know any old miners. To be frank, I don't know any old soldiers either, but at least one can live to a venerable age of late 40s like me. The veterans can eat.」

The commander adds, throwing his hands up with another shrug of his shoulders.

「I think I get the picture of what kind of a shithole this is, but I have but one more question…」

Straf extends an index finger himself, raising his hand.

「Yeah?」

「…Why the fuck didn't you revolt? People get killed for less. Can you believe our own citizens were up in arms over something as petty as being unable to afford stuff?」

Spreading his hands, Straf asks, staring at the man with a tight-lipped grimace on his face.

「Revolt how? Suppose I had great success in convincing my men to join me… What's a little under a thousand men going to do against three-hundred thousand?」

Confused, the commander shakes his head, spreading his arms before letting a large sigh.

「…Fair enough. I could have done it, though.」

Straf shrugs, then stands up. He places his hands in his coat's pockets, and walks out.

「Hey. Take this guy to the rest of the prisoners and keep an eye on him. Bring me one of the officers-」

「Ah, there you are!」

Straf instructs one of the guards posted outside the room, and Nona's cheerful voice calls out from behind him.

「Did you get lost? I got kind of tired of waiting and did it myself.」

He turns around, and asks with a greatly tight-lipped grimace on his face. She blinks her sleepy, half-open amber eyes blankly a few times.

「He he… Sowwy…」

With her hammer on her shoulder, Nona tilts her head with a disarming smile. Straf lets out a large sigh while watching the guard escort the fortress commander out.

「It's fine, he was cooperative… Your job is to gather intelligence. Find out everything they know about this shithole of a kingdom. Take notes. Once you're done with them, get some rest…」

「Okay!…」

While Straf turns to leave, Nona salutes on her tiptoes, though she does so with the wrong hand.

「…You'll be moving out with the army tomorrow. The marshal and the officers already know my intent. I left you a bucket of water, don't keep their head in there for too long!」

He adds, speaking over his shoulder before disappearing beyond a corner.

「…Ookaaay!」

Nona replies, waving her hand high above her head. The guard standing by the door stares at Nona with a wary face and lightly furrowed brows, then turns his gaze away when she looks at him.

「…I am an officer! I will not be treated like this by some low-rank peasants!…」

A tied prisoner shouts, his voice seeping with indignation as he's being pulled towards the open room by the guard, and another soldier holding his other arm.

「Uh-huh…」「Yes sir, sorry sir…」

Frustrated by his antics, the two sarcastically nod along with his shouts.

Thudclunk!…

They enter the room, forcefully throw him into his chair, then walk outside. The two nod at each other as the guard returns to his post by the door.

「Hellooo! Can we make this quick? It's not fun like this, and I'm kinda sleepy…」

Nona enters the room and greets the tied officer with a bright smile on her face, closing the door behind herself…

…

Five minutes later, outside the keep, within the walls' perimeter…

Straf approaches the kubelwagen and hops in. As he grabs the key, he notices Stripe in the corner of his vision.

「Hm? What, came to see me off?」

He asks with a mocking tone, smirking as she approaches the passenger side.

「Are you not going to sleep?」

Stripe asks with her arms crossed, visibly struggling to keep her golden eyes open.

「Nope… I'm going on ahead to scout, and do some sightseeing while I'm at it-」

Fwump…

Straf replies, but before can fully finish his sentence, Stripe jumps into her seat.

「I'm coming with you.」

She grumbles out while looking away with her arms crossed.

「Come on now… Even Lily is willing to call it a night. Go back and get some rest. Just because it's dry in their kingdom doesn't mean that it'll be warm-」

「I'm sleeping in the car!」

Stripe loudly proclaims, cutting Straf off again. She then wiggles herself into a more comfortable position in her seat.

「Ookay! If you say so…」

An amused huff escapes Straf's nose as he smirks, and turns his eyes to ignition again.

「…You know, you really should decide whether you're hot or cold already…」

He adds, briefly glancing at her. She doesn't reply, sitting on her side in the seat, curled up and hugging herself, partially reclining. Straf turns the key.

Vrrrrrrrmmvrmrmrrrrrtrtrtvrrrr!…

The kubelwagen shakes violently again, rocking Stripe in her seat somewhat before calming down.

「…But I suppose that'd break the cliche, huh?… And it'd be uncharacteristic of a cat. Never mind, then.」

Straf shrugs, fiddles with the gear stick, then presses on the formerly gas pedal while spinning the wheel around.

「Tsk…」

Stripe clicks her tongue, but remains completely still.

The car rolls out of the open gates, down the hill, then takes a turn towards a road flanked by steep hills leading deeper into the kingdom…

…

A few hours later, up on the Parnatau Mountains…

The sky is slowly turning blue as more and more sunlight peeks out from beyond the Eastern Ranges far in the distance. Shivering, the owl-masked man is looking down the steep mountain into Parnatau Kingdom. He notices a light flicker in the mountains' shadow, and focuses his gaze upon it.

「C-! Captain! S-! S-! Signal!…」

Stuttering, he shouts towards the circular stone barrier while his green cloak flaps wildly in the wind.

「Well!?…」

The bear-masked man shouts back, peeking his cloak-covered head out while huddled around a small, dying flame with the rest of the team.

「…T- T- They're s- s- s- starting the n- n- next ph- ph- phase!」

The owl shouts as he looks down at the light, then turns his metal face to the bear.

「Alright! And about time, too! Let's get out of here before we freeze to death!…」

He stands up, victoriously throwing his large arms up. His cloak briefly flies up, revealing his fur-padded leather armor, and the now-useless climbing harness.

「C- C- C- Captain… C- C- Can I warm myself up f- f- first?…」

The owl-masked man collapses his spyglass and asks while rubbing his arms, hunched up and trying to warm as much of himself as possible.

「Nonsense! You'll get warmer on the trail down! Let's go!」

With a large sweep of his arm above his head, the bear gestures everyone to follow as he abandons the flame, the barrier, and the catapult behind with a wide, bouncy step.

「Sh- Shit… The other o- owl has it good…」

The owl grumbles quietly under his mask while the wind howls, splashing violently on the stone barricade, whistling through the small gaps in the stacked rocks…

…

Around the same time, on the road leading to Parnatau Kingdom's capital…

「…Seventh. That's the seventh. Are you telling me bandits did that too?」

Stripe looks at a fortress crumbled to ruins as Straf drives past, pointing her clawed hand at it.

「Bandits are well-organized these days.」

Straf shrugs with a light grimace on his face.

「You know I'm not buying that!」

She exclaims, then turns around back to her side, partially lying down on her seat again.

「If you're implying someone from our kingdom did that… I cannot confirm or deny those allegations. No such unit exists.」

With a smug smirk on his face, Straf glances at her. Stripe scoffs, lightly shaking her head as she tries to return to sleep…