Earlier, after the sunrise, on a field nearby a fortress overlooking a highway…

Mustached officers dressed in thick winter uniforms are idly circling around the pairs of soldiers practicing melee combat with wooden swords. Due to an insufficient number of experienced soldiers, some levymen are simply paired against other entirely green levymen recruits. Some of the new cycle recruits are unlucky enough to be paired with contract veterans, eager to take their anger and sadistic impulses out on the clueless soldier as a painful and sanctioned lesson.

Thwack-thwack…

「…Keep your guard up. If you lower your sword like that, I can just knock it out of your hands.」

「Ah, sorry…」

Julius gives the green recruit's sword a strong tap from the side with his own. The young man's wrist flies aside, barely maintaining his grip onto it despite the very obviously light amount of force used. He nods, muttering out an apology as he readjusts his stance and grip on the sword.

Unlike most, the fresh recruit is lucky to be paired with a patient, experienced, and most importantly, an easygoing combat veteran. Instead of being battered like the unfortunate ones, Julius aborts most of his swings before they connect, lightly tapping his young sparring partner just hard enough to be remembered, causing him to wince instead of howling in pain. Every now and then, a junior officer stops by to watch them like a hawk.

「You. Are you sparring properly?」

One of the officers asks on his next round, staring at Julius with a serious, mustached face. The two pause their session.

「Ah, yes sir. He's still learning, but… I think he's grasping the basics now-」

Julius nods, replying to the officer as he points out the recruit with his wooden sword.

「What the fuck are you two idiots doing!?…」「Eh?」

A shout from across the field cuts Julius off. He, the recruit, and the officer standing by them turn their eyes to the commotion.

「…What is this!? You call this sparring!? Give me that!」

「Yes sir!…」

An angry officer screams in the faces of two recruits some distance away, then angrily snatches the training weapon from one of them.

「Is this how you go for vitals!? Is this how you attack!?…」

The officer asks, mocking the two levymen with an absolutely abysmal swing of the wooden sword lacking, any form or technique, and looking like a child playing with a toy.

「…Is this how you'll fight the fucking enemy!?」

The mustached man screams, stomping angrily around the snow while lazily wagging the wooden sword forward.

「N- No sir…」 「No sir!…」

The two recruits reply with tight-lipped grimaces while staring down at the ground. All of the Redwing Kingdom natives are staring at them while the officers screams at the two.

「You! Defend yourself!」

The officer points his wooden sword at the other recruit, who is still holding onto his. He stomps over to him in rapid steps, while the confused man blinks at the officer.

Thwack!

「Ough! Ow ow!…」

The recruit yelps out in pain when the mustached officer mercilessly smashes the sword-shaped wooden club into the man's arm, abusing the first opening he can see. The levyman quickly tries to correct his error of not heeding the officer's initial warning, and brings his guard up while clenching his teeth in pain.

Thunk-thwack!

「Ouch!」

The pathetic attempt at blocking the officer's swing only elicits snide chuckling from the veterans watching. The levyman's sword is thrown aside, and the follow-up blow painfully strikes him in his arm. The man nearly drops his weapon, stumbling sideways in the snow.

Thwack!

「Agh!…」

Thumpkrrkkk.

Still heaving from the blow, the levyman only catches a glimpse of the wooden sword bearing down upon him before it descends onto his shoulder. He trips, falling into the snow.

「…Aughh… Owww…」

「You're dead! Sir Vinis and the marshal thank you for your service to the empire!…」

The officer shouts with mocking disdain in his voice, and scoops the recruit's wooden sword up out of the snow. He then turns his gaze towards the other recruit, and throws him his sword back.

「…You! Defend yourself! Strike me!」

Tapping his chest with the sword, like a rabid dog seeking another victim to attack, the officer begins stomping towards the other levyman while he's still fumbling with his weapon.

Seeing his battered partner whimpering and writhing in the snow, a form of self-preservation instinct kicks within the recruit's mind. The swords are wooden, blunt, and rather flimsy. The recruits are very intentionally trained in a safe and controlled environment without staring death in its face. Instead of fear of death, the nervous man is simply experiencing intense aversion to pain, and is desperate to avoid ending up like his stranger of a partner.

「…Aaaargh!」

The recruit raises his sword with a ferocious, but audibly terrified shout, more akin to a scared barking dog than a war cry. It gives the mustached officer a momentary pause, however. He aborts his next step, and tracks the sword with his hawk-like gaze while the recruit charges at him.

Thwakkrrrk-thump!

「Oof!…」

The mustached officer easily deflects the levyman's inept swing, guiding his sword away with his. The officer then steps in, and delivers a forceful blow to the man's chest with his weapon.

The recruit stumbles backwards, desperately attempting to keep his guard up and retain his balance. The officer doesn't permit even as much, and by the time he recovers just a little, the mustached man is already well in the middle of his swing. The officer's instincts briefly take over as he guides his sword for a vicious blow to the recruit's weapon wrist, glaring at his target.

Thwack.

「Ow!」

The wooden sword slips completely past the recruit's guard, striking him lightly in his forearm. Recoiling and wincing, the man remains unaware that the officer redirected his blow at the last second, sparing him a potentially crippling and unintentional injury. The man does his best to gain some distance from the officer and regain the initiative.

The mustached man simply casually walks forward, and lifts his sword high above his head. The levyman's eyes widen at this opportunity to block the obvious blow.

Fwoop…

「…Eh?」

With his guard up and ready to take the officer's blow, the recruit blinks in deep confusion when the mustached man swings his sword down right in front of it without making even the slightest contact. The weapon carves noisily through the cold winter air, and a sudden realization dawns on the levyman, but it's already far too late to react.

THWACK!

「Hurrrkkkk!…」

A frog-like croak escapes the recruit's mouth when the blunt sword tip slams into his torso, right beneath his ribs. The veterans watching on begin cackling, grinning from the man's misfortune. He collapses on all fours, gasping for air and struggling to breathe. The officer looks down at him with a disdainful gaze, then brings his sword up again.

Thwack!

「…Hauuuurghkhkk!」

Thump…

With another blow delivered to his back, the recruit plummets into the snow. His hands claw at the cold white powder in pain. The officer scoffs, shaking his head.

「Pathetic… You're dead! Your parents can now be proud of you!…」

Thwump.

The officer loudly proclaims and throws the sword back to the other recruit, who's still groaning in pain on the snow. He towers over the two battered, defeated levymen.

「…Congratulations!… You get to correct your errors! Think about what lead to your untimely demise, and learn from it before it's steel next time!… Am. I. Clear!?」

He shouts down at the two men, giving them absolutely no time to rest or recover from their beating.

「Y- Yes… Sir…」

The first recruit replies with some effort, while the other one simply returns a silent nod while clutching onto his solar plexus.

「…Does anyone else need training aid from me!?」

The officer asks with his mustache raised high, his hands held behind his back, and his feet apart. The green recruits look on with terror on their faces, then turn their eyes to each other with a knowing, resigned look. As if telepathically delivered, one uniform thought fills all of the levy recruits' minds in an instant.

It's simply a better choice to clumsily try to hurt each other, rather than let someone experienced do it instead.

As expected, with nobody interested in taking up his offer, the officer carries on his patrol around the training grounds as the sparring resumes. The young man turns his terrified face back to Julius in a jittery motion, staring at him with a tight-lipped grimace, becoming significantly more appreciative of his gentle, supportive, and nurturing attitude. The two glance at the officer standing beside them, who deems it unnecessary to say anything more, and simply continues onward to watch the rest of the troops.

The recruits from Parnatau are still ferociously throwing swings at each other, to the point where the junior officers have to frequently step in and break their mock duels up, constantly reminding them that they are, in fact, not fighting to the death. The scrawny foreigners are continuously relieved to re-learn over and over that the price of admission to money, food, and shelter, are simply bruises…

…

An hour later, in a fortress overlooking a highway, in the troop barracks…

In the noisy barracks, Julius is lying in his bed, watching the troops rest and talk after a boring training session. Most beds' occupants have been replaced by unfamiliar, still uneasy faces of new levymen. One of them looks at Julius from a few beds away and quickly averts his gaze, mistakenly taking his bored expression as angry, or even hostile. Julius lets out a wistful sigh, and looks at William's empty bed, unoccupied for days now.

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「Hey.」

A man calls out a casual greeting to Julius.

「…Hey-」

Julius replies on a reflex, nodding as he turns his eyes to the man.

「…Huh!? William!?」

Blinking in utter disbelief at William standing at his bed's foot end, Julius shoots up to sitting.

「Yeah. How're you doin'?」

William nonchalantly shrugs his shoulders with a little grimace on his face as he swings a large sack off his back, lazily throws it between their beds, then sits down on his own.

「I thought you left!? The levy cycle ended, didn't it!?」

Julius asks with his eyes wide open, staring at Julius, who is simply smirking back.

「Yeah, it did.」

William shrugs again, and briefly looks at the new faces around the barracks.

「Then… Why are you here? Did they actually scam you out of leaving on a technicality!?」

Confused, Julius sits down on his bedside across from William, greatly furrowing his brows.

「Nah, relax… I just signed up.」

William lets out an amused huff, then lies down on his back in his bed, as he usually would.

「Wha-? You signed up?…」

The young man's head perks up, blinking at William, who shrugs his hands.

「Yeaaah… You're still stuck here for half a year or so, right? I figured, it's winter right now, so what the fuck am I going to do back home? Menial work for scraps?…」

He nods in response, glancing at Julius as he explains.

「…So I thought I might as well keep you company. At least now I'll get paid… They sent me right back when I told 'em I'm in the Rat Hunters.」

He adds with another shrug, grinning. An officer passes by their beds, and stops when he notices William. The two exchange silent nods, and the mustached man moves on.

「It's good to see you back, but… Just for me?」

Julius asks, furrowing his brows.

「Nope, I obviously wouldn't do this shit if not for the money… But rotting here alone is miserable, right?… Kinda feels like we're good at our job too, doesn't it?…」

「Yeah…」

William shakes his head, then asks. Julius reluctantly nods with a troubled face.

「Yeah, but army life is not a life for me. I'm outta here as soon as I'm able. Truth to be told, I kind of missed this place, but a soldier's life is fucked up…」

With another shrug of his shoulders, William nods along and explains himself in a casual tone.

「…Who knows when we'll have to gut someone again. Might not live to use my money, too. That's why I'm thinking… Go to Parnatau and open a business there.」

He adds, and glances at Julius.

「Parnatau Kingdom? Why there? Isn't it dirt poor?…」

Julius tilts his head, furrowing his brows.

Snap.

「Exactly, Julius! It's dirt poor! People there will work for nothing! Throw them something, and they'll love you!…」

William snaps his fingers and wags it towards Julius, grinning ear to ear as he explains.

「…So I figured, why not go there, hire the people there to make stuff, then sell it back home? If it were a foreign kingdom, there would be a transport risk, but it's our land now…」

「Right…」

He continues explaining, and Julius tries to follow along, nodding.

「…No duties on goods, and the people there ought to be good for something, right? Make stuff for Parnatau prices, but sell them for ours. I just need the starter money, Julius!」

William adds, spreading his hands.

「It's a little too complicated for me, William. If I could grasp that kind of stuff, I wouldn't accidentally sign a contract.」

Julius replies, and lies back down on his bed.

「Meh. They got me once too… Heard I missed a sparring session, and some of the greens got pummeled. Which 'stache did it? Raufer? Currer? Novius?… Probably Raufer.」

William shrugs, then asks with an amused smirk on his face.

「Ahhh… I don't want to point fingers… It was because the new guys were going too easy on each other…」

With an awkward grin, Julius turns his gaze aside as he begins telling the tale of the last sparring session…

…

Around the same time, in the Redwing Palace, in the royal bedchamber…

Crrrreakkkk…

Lily pushes the large doors open with her back, and carries Cycelia in. Their eyes quickly turn to Straf, who is asleep in the enormous bed. Lily furrows her brows at the sight.

「You can let me down now, Lily. It's fine…」

Cycelia says as Lily approaches the bed with her in her arms. She hesitates for a few moments, then lowers Cycelia down to her feet.

Hopping over on one foot to Straf's bed, Cycelia sits down on its side. Lily approaches closer, watching Straf's serene, handsome face with sullen crimson eyes.

Krkkk…

Cycelia slides the bedside chair over a little closer to Lily.

「Here, Lily… Have a seat.」

Patpat.

She says, and gives the seat two quick pats with her dainty hand, smiling warmly at her. Lily looks at the chair for a moment, then reluctantly sits down.

「Straf… Guess who finally came to visit?」

Cycelia leans over to Straf, practically lying down next to him, speaking in a soft tone with a light smile on her face. She turns her emerald eyes to Lily, and tilts her chestnut head with a warm smile directed at her. Lily stares at Straf's face with a pensive gaze, then reaches her pale, clawed hand towards him. Just before she can make contact, her hand stops, and she pulls it away.

「Straf… Can you even hear me?…」

Lily asks with a gloomy expression on her face, more than usually so.

「…Probably not, right?… It's nonsense. You have mana exhaustion, so…」

She shrugs, scrunching her frowning mouth to the side, lowering her gaze.

「…But maybe you can, and I don't want you to be bored. I know very well what it's like to be bored-」

「I think everyone does, Lily…」

Cycelia chimes with a soft giggle and a tilted head, smiling.

「R- Right… Maybe so, but…」

Lily raises her brows as her scarlet eyes briefly look at her, before crossing her arms and turning her pouting face away.

「…Good grief. What even lead to this!? Just how many gems did he try to charge!? Did he not feel sick and weak at some point!?」

She exclaims in a frustrated tone, and glares at Straf's serene face with an angry pout. After a moment of staring, her crimson eyes turn to Cycelia's emerald ones.

「Ahh, uhm… You know how Straf is… He overworks himself all the time…」

Cycelia breaks the eye contact, turning her gaze aside while covertly clutching at something beneath her shirt with her fingers. Lily lets out a frustrated huff from her nose.

「Good grief!… I very well know how he is! Whenever he's bored, he just puts more work onto his back! This isn't the way to go, Straf! You better be listening!」

With her arms still crossed, Lily exclaims angrily as she leans forward a little.

「I'm sure he is… Why don't you tell Straf about what you were up to lately? I'd like to hear it as well.」

Cycelia nods, replying softly. She then turns her lightly smiling face to Straf, lowering her hand back down to her lap.

「Very well… You are a good talker, but you're a poor listener, Straf! You talk too much without allowing others to speak! It's rude! This is your punishment for overworking yourself!…」

Lily nods her golden head in agreement, then immediately begins throwing accusations at Straf. She extends her clawed finger towards his face, pointing at him as she speaks…