As soon as the day dawned, I was already awake. After a little preparation, a horse was readied for me at the entrance of the castle. A soldier would guide me to the designated location of Solaris' troops. As soon as I mounted the horse's back, I bid farewell to Ammy and Rebecca.

I had already said my goodbyes to the royalty yesterday before going to sleep, which saved me a considerable amount of time that I would have spent talking to everyone. After finishing my farewells, I tapped the rider who would lead the horse, and the horse started to run. We left the castle's entrance and headed toward the battlefield.

Probably an hour had passed since we left the castle. We continued to follow the road until we reached an open field, much like Solaris and surrounded by mountains. We had to make many turns to get here. A large green plain stretched out before me. The cold wind beating against my face as we moved quickly on the horse woke up my senses. Even though it is technically summer, the snow-covered mountains surrounding Solaris make this country relatively cold even in summer.

"We can see it now"

The soldier's voice brought me back from my thoughts. As I looked ahead, I could see several tents set up. Several soldiers were positioned in various places, while others walked around. It was quite apparent that the weather was not good at all. As we approached the two guards guarding the door, the guard leading our horse started talking to them.

Meanwhile, I started looking around. Several soldiers were wearing armor and carrying swords or spears. Some were training with bows and arrows a little further away. Seconds later, the two guards cleared our passage, and we were soon inside.

"Here we are. Please go to the commander's tent. His tent is that bigger one over there"

Said the guard, pointing to a tent that was clearly larger than the others.

"Alright, thank you"

I said with a soft smile on my face.

"Thank you, Mr. Ren. Thanks to you, this may not be another lost war"

Said the soldier. After that, the soldier went off somewhere, leaving me alone. Looking at the commander's tent, I began walking towards it while looking around. As I glanced around, I saw an unrecognizable orange headdress.

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"Eric?"

I asked, confused. Hearing my voice, the soldier who looked about my age turned around. As soon as I saw his face, my suspicion was confirmed.

"Ren? What are you doing here?"

Eric asked, a confused look on his face.

"I could ask you the same question"

I said, trying to understand the situation.

(Did he enlist or something?)

I thought as I looked at him. Before I could ask anything else, a male voice echoed from behind me.

"Excuse me, would you be Mister Ren?"

As I turned around, I saw a bespectacled man wearing a uniform without armor. He was looking at me while carrying a notebook in his hand. Both his hair and eyes were black.

"That's me"

I said, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, I finally found you"

The man said.

"The commander told me to come get you in case you got lost"

Said the man, turning around.

"Please follow me"

After that, he started walking towards the biggest tent.

"I have to go now; I'll talk to you later"

I said. As soon as I turned to Eric, he just nodded, and soon I started to follow the man from before. As we walked, I tried to initiate a conversation with the man.

"Umm... it's a pleasure. I think you already know, but my name is Ren"

I said as friendly as possible.

"Oh, I'm sorry for the late introduction. My name is Glen"

Said the man, introducing himself with a gentle smile.

"It's a pleasure"

I replied with another smile. After that, the two of us made our way to the tent where the army commander would be. As soon as he opened the tent, a huge table in the center caught my attention. Looking up from the table, I saw that there was a map, probably of the place we were in. There were a few men sitting at the table, and they all stopped the conversation they were having as soon as Glen and I entered.

"Commander, I brought Mr. Ren"

Glen said. Hearing Glen's words, a man who was in the center stood up with a smile on his face. With his blond hair and black eyes, he had a very handsome appearance. He was quite muscular, indicating that he trained regularly. On his cheek, there was a cut giving him the look of a veteran soldier. After standing up, the man walked over to me and asked for a handshake.

"It's a pleasure, boy. My name is John. I am the commander of the Knights of the Solaris Kingdom"

Said the man with a welcoming smile. For some reason, the feeling of going to war left my body completely, and my tension suddenly eased, making me more comfortable. Although I found this strange, I decided to ignore it for now.

"It's a pleasure, sir. My name is Ren"

I said in a polite manner as I shook his hand. But contrary to all my thoughts, he grabbed my arm and started to quickly swing it up and down, leaving me bewildered for a moment.

"Hahaha, why all this formality, boy? No one here is good with that. Besides, you must be my daughter's age. Just call me John"

Said the man with a smile. Although I didn't fully understand the situation, I understood that this man was quite friendly, which made me even more at ease.

"Understood, John"

I said with a smile on my face.

"Hahaha, now that's better"

John said, turning to the other people who were looking at our interaction at the table.

"Alright, now that everyone is here, let's start the meeting"

Said John with a serious expression on his face.