Passing through Yord was a bigger hassle than I thought it would be. The city guards held us outside the gates for close to an hour while having a lengthy discussion with Zeph. As we passed through the city I took a more careful look at the people and couldn't help noticing the streets were unusually crowded for a city this size. A great many of them also looked like they could barely afford to feed themselves.

Walking next to Arim, I ask, "You've been here before, right? Do the people who live here usually look like they're going through hard times?"

"I suspect many of these people are refugees from the village that was razed recently. This city tends to benefit from high trade tariffs and its unique geopolitical position."

"Does that position come with an explanation?"

"Only if you stop being a smartass." He takes a moment to think on his next words, "I should first let you know that the war being waged here is one that's been going on for a long, long time. I believe it began nearly 50 years ago. In truth, neither side has the official backing of their nation's government. The rulers simply choose to overlook the conflict so long as it doesn't disturb their national interests. So it's less of a war between Maulia and Wald, and more of a petty conflict between minor nobility desperate for glory and land."

He sighs, "This border has shifted back and forth numerous times in those past 50 years, but it almost always settles back here, on Yord. Eventually, the people of Yord got sick of it and declared the city and surrounding lands to be a demilitarized zone. They appealed to the royalty of both nations and managed to have their pleas for relative peace accepted."

"So Yord went from being ground zero to being a city that can thrive even when it's surrounded by constant feuding. Yet the outlying villages aren't safe, thus why one was razed."

"Mm. It's strange though. Ever since Yord was deemed a demilitarized zone, the conflict moved away from civilian areas. Most of the people living here have come to terms with the border constantly shifting, and are willing to accept being on either side of it. Because of the attitude of the population and the increased scrutiny of those on high, it's become extremely unusual for a village to become targeted like that. Coupling that with the fact Zeph wasn't able to get a real answer out of either of the lords as to why the village was razed makes the situation increasingly mysterious."

"Are we going to do anything to try and figure out what happened?"

Arim shrugs, "It doesn't really concern us. Unless we get paid to care, we have no real reason to go out of our way to stick our noses into anything. We're hired blades, not keepers of the peace."

Thankfully the guards on the eastern side of Yord aren't as stiff as the western, and we leave Yord without incident. Since I can't think of anything else to talk about with Arim I wander off. I'm glad that my training phase is considered completed so I don't have to continue doing daily endurance sprints.

As I wander among our small convoy I see Redina off walking alone. The first step to forming bonds was communication, and this seems like a good chance to walk over and strike up a conversation.

Okay, how do I go about this? Why did this seem so much easier when I struck up conversations only to trick people into giving me their money? Well, nothing to lose I guess.

Walking over next to her I nonchalantly say, "Hey."

Redina looks at me like I've lost my mind. "Uh… Hey. Did you… need something?"

I shrug, "Just thought I'd strike up a conversation. Something wrong with that?"

She looks around, like she doesn't quite believe somebody isn't pulling her leg, "Okay, what is this? You spend the last three months treating pretty much everybody like they don't exist, now suddenly on what is essentially the eve of our first battle you want to talk?"

"That's a bit harsh, isn't it?" She eyed me. "Look, just because I don't usually go out of my way to talk to people doesn't mean I consider them beneath me, like Vurt seems to think."

"Ah, I see Vurt finally got the balls to actually say something to you. You know I don't think he ever liked you, right from the beginning you set yourself apart from the rest of us, but after we came back from those ruins he's been really itching for a fight."

"Yeah, he seemed to want to talk with his fists more than his words last night. Too bad for him I got the last say in that little 'discussion.'"

"I saw he had a busted nose, guess that was you, huh? Pretty impressive. He's at the top of our rankings."

"There are rankings?"

"You really don't talk to anybody, do you? We have, had I guess, nightly sparring sessions. Wins are tallied and we rank ourselves. Vurt's been on top nine times out of ten, and the only one who ever takes the other one is Morvin. What is it with dwarves and reinforcement? All the ones we have around here are crazy talented with it."

"Huh. Where do you rank in that?"

"Usually somewhere around seventh. Not great, not terrible." She sighs, then looks away. "Honestly though, I think you were right before. Back when we burned that nest."

"About Holeria? Vurt seems pretty adamant I pegged her wrong, that she's more capable than I gave her credit for. Where did she rank?"

Redina is silent for a moment before she says, "The very bottom. Almost always. She's not bad with a blade, she's pretty good really. The problem is she doesn't have the aggression to put up a good fight. I'm sure even you've noticed how those two are an item, and Vurt is determined to see strength in her that I'm just not sure is really there. She just seems like she… I don't know."

"Isn't in the right place?"

"Yeah. That works. I don't know why a girl that kindhearted thought she would fit in a place where blood is measured in gold."

"What about you? Why'd you join up with this lot?"

She scoffed, "Why does anybody? My worthless dad's a drunk and my mom loses her shit any time I try to tell her to leave him. I reached a point where I couldn't be bothered to deal with their shit anymore. Zeph offered a job with good coin and I decided to take the chance to leave them to themselves." She gave a lengthy sigh.

"You miss 'em?"

She kicked a stone out of the road and was silent for a while, "Yeah. I guess I do. Alright, your turn, why're you here?"

"Lost my memories a month before joining, had to look after my younger sister on the streets. We got targeted by some gang. I killed one and Zeph got us out of that situation. Since he provided a way for my sister to be safe and a way to skip town I took his offer."

"Damn, okay. That's hardcore. Alright, well now that you've stopped being off in your own little world, you need to participate in the next ranking battle. I want so badly to see somebody put Vurt on his ass."

I laugh, "Alright, you got it."

Redina and I talk and walk together for the rest of the day. At some point in the evening we're stopped by a scout, who speaks to Zeph then begins leading us down an old beaten path.

After about an hour we reach a large encampment, a congregated mess of tents, campfires, and hastily assembled workstations. Many of the faces we pass by seem too tired to even bother being curious about our group.

Zeph gives a word of caution to the group, "Stay alert. Just because we're here as allies today doesn't mean they've forgotten the scars of yesterday. Some of these men may have had friends we cut down last we were here. Stay cautious, don't wander off. I'm going to talk to Gen to get a better idea of what exactly his plan is. Albatos, Stein, with me."

Wait, what?

Albatos gives me an incredulous look before shifting his gaze and giving the same look to Zeph. Zeph shoots back a look that says 'Don't even start.' Despite having absolutely no idea why he's called me out to accompany him, I fall in line with Albatos and follow behind Zeph as he makes his way towards what looks like the command tent.

Zeph pushes his way into the tent, Albatos right on his heels. I sigh before following in myself.

Inside is a solid wooden table covered with maps and documents, surrounded by what seem to be grizzled and scarred commanders. A weathered dwarf with braids in his beard at the end of the table says, "Ah, one-eye. Good, you made it." His gaze passes over Albatos and stops on me. Frowning, he says, "What's with the kid?"

Yeah, what exactly am I doing here?

"Don't mind him. What's the situation, Gen?"

"We'll be assaulting that bastard Irving's company tomorrow. They'll be passing through an area that'll leave them open."

"An ambush?"

"Nah, he's not dumb enough to walk in there without expecting one. We'll meet him in the open field."

"You really think he's going to just go for such open provocation?"

Gen gave a wicked grin and leans forward over the table, "I've been making that bastard's life a living hell for the past week. He'll know if he doesn't face me tomorrow I'll just continue wearing his company down until a knife in the back is a bigger concern than open confrontation."

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

"The morale of his troops?"

Gen frowns and sits down in his chair, "Annoyingly high. Despite the fact that he's clearly responsible for razing Vilhar, he's managed to convince his men that I'm the one who did it. I'm not sure if he thinks he's clever or if he's lost his damn mind. He's whipped his men up into a frenzy sure, but since there's no village at his back to buy supplies from, his army is starting to starve."

"It won't matter that they're weakened if they fight like rabid wolves."

Gen nods, "I know, but I want to crush his force before he decides this little gambit is no longer worth it and pulls out. This is the perfect chance. No more mind games, insignificant skirmishes, or useless wars of attrition. I want a fight."

"And the morale of your own troops?"

"It's not what I would consider very high, but I don't think it'll be a problem. Some of these men had family in Vilhar. Believe me when I say they won't be letting go of that grudge without blood."

I thought back to the faces I had seen as we walked into this encampment. I had taken the uncaring look on their faces as one of weary fatigue, but thinking back on those expressions I could understand that they might have simply not cared about us. If I had looked a bit harder I bet I would have seen a fire in their eyes, a hunger for battle they didn't show to anybody else. A hunger that was uniquely theirs.

"Alright, what do you need? I'm willing to dedicate a few of my troops to the front, but you know I prefer more specialized positions."

"You have horses, yes? I am desperately lacking in cavalry. I also need good, reliable eyes on the field. I trust in your abundance of mages you have some skilled at long range communication."

"That we do. In that case I'll dedicate 15 cavalry, four scout squads, then split the rest between infantry and artillery."

"Good."

One of the advisors off to Gen's left speaks up, "Excuse me, sir. I'm a bit confused. How is a mere 15 cavalry supposed to help us? Scout squads will be helpful, but I just feel like the impact of these freelancers will be negligible. Wouldn't it be better to consolidate them into the infantry than spread them unnecessarily thin? 15 cavalry? They'll get turned to mincemeat when the enemy artillery so much as glances at them."

"Prince Garlan, you only arrived last month, so I'll forgive you for your ignorance in this matter." Gen said, "Half a year ago this man and his tiny little company single handedly turned the tide of a major battle against me. His little troop of less than 50 slaughtered an entire platoon of close to 200 men, acting entirely independently of Irving's forces. Believe me when I say, this man knows what he's doing."

The ignorant princling who had spoken turned pale, casting a nervous glance toward Zeph. Gen continued, speaking to everybody in the tent, "Now, it's also a little concerning that Irving would willingly let me hire one-eye's service. If we take that and the fact that he's made such a brazen push into my territory to begin with, we can assume he's got a card or two of his own up his sleeve."

Gen looks over his map, "I think that's all. One-eye, send your men who will be in the infantry and artillery to my field marshal." He gestured to a man on his right, who nodded at Zeph.

"Very well. If you need anything else, general, send for me. I'll be preparing my men." Zeph motioned to me and Albatos, then left the tent. I follow behind, feeling more than one pair of curious eyes on my back.

As we walked through the camp Albatos asks, "So why, exactly, was the brat in there with us? I thought we wanted to maintain a professional appearance, Zeph."

"The kid did good on their dungeon run. We're fostering new talent, Albatos. We've got to give the promising ones chances to learn how things work, so they work better for us."

"That may be, but couldn't you have taken the other one, Vurt, then? He's also doing well, and he at least has some hair on his chest."

Zeph stops and puts a hand on Albatos' shoulder, "Friend. Trust that I know what I'm doing."

Albatos sighed, "Fine. I'm going to talk with our scouts." He shoots me one last glare before heading off on his own.

Zeph looks after him and says to me, "You know he's going to be even more mad when I tell him you're going on one of those scout squads. The only reason he let the matter drop is because he thinks there's a good chance of you dying in the infantry tomorrow."

"Why are you doing this?" I ask.

"Well, y'know. I just gotta uh… return the favor." He pats his satchel and I hear the clink of coins. He shoots me a sheepish smile before walking off.

What the hell?

I hadn't thought Zeph was capable of behaving that awkwardly. The unnecessary reassurance, quickly thought up excuse, and that God awful attempt at a smile. I don't know what exactly he hopes to achieve by trying to make me warm up to him, but it's incredibly suspicious.

Trying to put it out of my mind, I wander around the encampment for a while, looking at what other types of warriors are present. Seeing a new sight like this, I can't help but smile at the thought that I really am in a fantasy world.

After about half an hour of wandering I'm about to head back over to my own camp when I see someone unexpected. Just outside of camp, sitting against a tree and writing in some kind of journal is Holeria. It's one of the first times I've seen her without Vurt or someone else with her. Curious, I walk up to her.

"Mind if I ask what you're writing?" I ask.

"Eep!" My words startle her, and the charcoal pencil she had been using flies out of her hand. It lands at my feet, so I pick it up and lean forward to hand it back to her, "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you." She flinches away as I reach my hand toward her, fear in her eyes.

Damn it! It's those eyes again! Stop looking at me like that, like I'm some sort of monster!

Cringing, I say in a small voice, "Sorry." And I place the pencil on the ground before turning away.

"Wait," I hear behind me. Timidly, I turn back to look at her. "I'm the one who should be sorry. You were only trying to help…" She reaches down and picks up her pencil. "You asked what I was doing? I'm drawing."

"Drawing?"

"Yeah. It's something of a hobby I picked up. Here want to see?" Despite her words, I can tell she's still tense. Still, the fear has left her eyes, so that's good enough for me.

"Sure," I crouch down next to her, looking at the page she was working on.

She points out a man standing alone, clad in studded leather armor, swinging a sword in practice. Looking down at the page I see she has more or less captured the image of him. Now, being entirely honest, she's no Picasso. Still, for being drawn with a piece of charcoal tied to a stick, it's pretty good.

"What made you pick him?"

"The armor," She says, putting her pencil back to the page to make small additions to detail. "As far as I know none of us wear it, so I thought it was interesting."

"Yeah. I mean there's not much point in us wearing armor when reinforcement is usually a better option. It'd just weigh us down."

She smiles, "Except for Annora."

"You and I both know she's an exception. Annora is more of a walking fortress than a person."

The conversation lapses as Holeria keeps adding small details to her drawing. I try and think of a new conversation topic but can't come up with anything. Just when I'm about to get up and leave her to her drawing she speaks.

"You know, I heard you and Redina talking earlier. About me, I mean."

Unsure how to respond to that, I stay silent.

"I know nobody thinks I'm suited to this line of work. Even Zeph, after training and feeding me for the past three months, asked if I would rather stay in Yord than continue on. He didn't even ask for anything in return for everything he's done, he was fine with just letting me break away."

She takes a deep breath before continuing, "I know that nobody here besides Vurt believes in me. It was the same back in Hornhaven. Nobody really thought I could do anything, and even though they never hated me for it, I felt the weight of that disappointment. So I left, I ran away from their pitying gazes. So if I give up here, before I even get a chance, I feel like I'll never be able to move forward. I'll be stuck like this, always running away before I even get a chance. And I'll be letting down the only person who actually believes in me."

Her words reminded me of something someone else had said to me, a long, long time ago. I had heard their feelings and I had been the one to support them. I had told them they could do it, that they could count on me to have their back. This may be a different world, but I was sure one thing hadn't changed. War doesn't give a shit about your feelings.

"If you had wandered into any other profession I would have said, 'great for you! go for it!' But if you go out there tomorrow and you fail you'll never have another chance at anything, period."

"I won't let the person who believes in me down. I will go out there tomorrow and I will succeed!"

"You don't want to let him down? A little disappointment is leagues better than the grief he'll feel as he cries over your body if you fail!"

"I won't fail! I'm stronger than you think!

"You don't-"

"HEY!"

We both turn and look toward the camp, where Vurt is standing, murder in his eyes. Looking around I realize that as our conversation had devolved into a shouting match we had gotten the attention of every soldier in the immediate vicinity.

I heard hushed voices, "Are they breaking up? What's happening?" "No, I think he's trying to harass her, and her boyfriend just showed up." "Oh boy, we're gonna get to see a fight." I could tell Vurt also heard the crowd, and the veins on his forehead bulged bigger and bigger as the crowd kept wildly speculating.

Holeria rubbed her temples, "Stein, just go. I know you mean well but I don't think we'll ever see eye to eye. Please leave before Vurt loses it."

"Yeah, I think I'll do just that," I say, before I start walking off.

"Hey, I didn't say you could-" Vurt starts to say before Holeria cuts him off.

"Vurt! It's fine, let him go. There's no point starting a fight. Let's save our energy for tomorrow."

"But he-"

"It's fine. We'll show him we're stronger than he thinks."

I stop and say, "I hope you're right," before I continue walking off through a crowd filled with disappointed murmuring.

As I walk back into our own little camp I see Zeph arguing with Albatos. Evidently I walked in at the end of their debate because Albatos throws his hands up in defeat before stalking off out of the camp, seething. Considering the earlier conversation, I'm pretty sure I know what that was about. But still, I'm surprised Albatos hates me that much. I hadn't really thought he would do anything till now, but now I'm thinking I better keep one eye open when I sleep. The man seriously has it out for me.

I spend the rest of the evening hanging around the mess area. Redina joins me and asks, "So how was the war council, O mighty warrior?"

"Please. I have no idea why I was even there."

"So Zeph could pick on you maybe? He likes doing that to people sometimes."

"Really?"

"No, I'm fucking with you. Am I going to have to teach you about every person in this camp because you never bothered to open your mouth these last three months?"

"Hey now, I talked to some people!"

"Uh-huh. And who would that be?"

"I talked to Black one time."

"Yeah? You learn what her actual name is?"

"No."

"I'll admit that's something not a lot of people have the balls to do, but the fact you didn't even learn what her real name is makes your credibility sketchy at best. And the fact that you only talked to her once says something far more sad about your social skills than not talking to her at all."

"How's this, I'll go talk to her again tonight. And if I can get her to tell me her name you'll have to admit that I have at least basic social skills."

I feel a cold hand creep onto my shoulder. "It's so nice to know that people are only trying to talk to me to prove a point, so why don't I use you to prove a point as well?" Black jabs a pressure point in my lower back, and I fall off my seat backward as pain spreads up my spine.

Black walks off as Redina stares straight ahead, a neutral expression frozen on her face like she's desperately trying to convince herself she's anywhere other than here.

Eventually, the pain recedes and I climb back up into my seat. Rubbing the aching point where she jabbed me, I say, "Why is it both of my conversations with you so far have been almost entirely overheard by the person we talked about? I blame you entirely for what just happened."

Redina gives me a sheepish smile and clasps her hands together, "Usually I would disagree, but I think you're right. My bad, sorry."