The five-strong group didn’t fight back. Upon seeing them being surrounded, they dropped their weapons and collapsed on the ground. They begged for mercy. Told them about their families. They shared their dreams.

The four men and a woman let themselves be dragged to the remote, quiet room. They were a broken bunch. And without a healer, they would be soon gone. As they were thrown into a corner, they stopped sobbing and simply waited for their fate.

There was no time to do a proper interrogation. Mila considered if she should do it the rough way. She could make them feel pain and make them speak. Even if they lied to escape the agony, she would still learn the general gist of things above.

Only… Isabel was here. Mila didn’t want her girl to see such cruelty. And… It wasn’t something Mila wanted to do. It would be quick, yes. But it would leave lingering discomfort in her mind.

Would they answer if Mila asked? She met their information sources’s eyes one by one. The dagger in her hands danced between her fingers.

Each one of the captures tried to escape Mila’s scrutiny. They pushed themselves against the wall and stifled their breaths. They didn’t dare to look up.

“That’s enough, Maiden.” Viola put her hand on Mila’s shoulder. “No need to scare them more than this.”

“I wasn’t. I was just judging how to deal with these people.” Mila hid her dagger. She glanced around the packed room. Agata was outside, looking out for possible patrols or deserters. So was Virr, Raran, Verte, Mortimer and Amy.

Only Laura, Isabel, Viola, Mila and the Messenger were lingering about, filling the room to the brim. That and the five unfortunate souls. They were now saying whispering prayers.

“You are scaring them,” Laura spoke next. “More than necessary.” She leaned closer to add more under her breath. “We are not monsters. We won’t torture them.”

Mila pursed her lips. It was somewhat insulting how the woman had assumed she would resort to that. “I wasn’t going to either.” She explained but found distrust in Laura’s eyes. “Fine. You may deal with them.” Mila turned to her girl and held back the sigh. “It is probably for the best if you don’t stay here.”

“I-” Isabel’s eyes lingered on the five people. “Yeah. You are right.” She finally turned around and left.

While Isabel was brave and with a strong will, there was no need to strain it more than necessary. There would be more horror and death waiting for them below. These five would simply leave this world sooner than the rest.

Meanwhile, after pretending to leave the room, Mila sank into the darkness and walked back to stand behind Viola.

Laura was keeping a small light, barely enough to cast a shadow. She made it brighter, knowing Mila wouldn’t find it hard to keep herself hidden. “The maiden is gone.” The woman tried to calm down the five covering people. “She won’t hurt you.”

“T-thank you…” One of the men stuttered. “I-I don’t want to lose my soul.”

Now, what did that mean? Mila wasn’t some soul-munching horror. It was probably the work of more rumours.

“The maiden won’t hear us?” “She won’t return?” “Please, don’t let her return.” “I don’t want to die.”

The five found the strength to speak now that they thought Mila was gone. She wasn’t that scary. Really. Wasn’t the Messanger the more scary person here? She glanced at the figure. Perhaps they couldn’t even see him.

“That’s enough.” Laura stopped their begging. “We have a few questions. And we won’t kill you. But speak fast, or the Maiden may return. Her patience is thin.”

Mila wasn’t a boogeyman. She really didn’t like how this was proceeding. What did Laura mean by leaving them alive? It didn’t appear she was lying either. The five were already on the brink. Their fate was sealed with the injuries they had.

“W-what…” There was always a person who spoke first. It was the oldest of the men who did this time. “What do you want to know?”

“What is the situation above? Are the defenders being pushed back? Who is in charge? Where are they located? What is happening? Where are the sacrifices located?” Laura gave a string of questions.

“S-sacrifices?” A different man spoke up. “Wh-what sacrifices? M-my family is… They… They are in the shelters.”

“M-mine, too!” The woman spoke up. “What is happening?”

“Answer the questions.” Viola’s stern voice stopped the rabble.

The five injured guards shrunk back from the harsh tone. A couple of broken sentences still tried to find out what Laura had meant by the sacrifices. It appeared the common troops were unaware of the larger machinations the Nobles were spinning.

And they did. Fearing the worst, they spoke over each other, hurrying to reveal what they knew. And it wasn’t much. Or at least not what Mila wanted to know the most. They were totally oblivious to the ritual, having been called to defend this place from the merchant district.

Mila skipped over the explanation of how Nobles had portrayed the Military as the ones in the wrong - comming here to put them all on the frontlines as fleshwalls. It was all propaganda. It also showed how little these people knew if they thought a single city had a chance to rebel like this and be left standing after.

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

More interestingly, Azan Bultery - who served as the Commander for the fodder, was not in charge. Neither was the Major of Stilag or any other known noble.

“-We didn’t see his face.” The middle-aged man explained while clutching his injured thigh. “But the Nobles respected him. Even feared. They listened when he spoke. I think they called him their hope.”

How very vague. Mila wondered who that person was. She looked at Viola, who shrugged. The spy didn’t know either. Still, she felt like there was something she was missing. The Messanger didn’t help either. What was this nagging feeling?

As for the situation above…

“-Too strong… We couldn’t hold.” The woman shed tears. “T-they ordered us to move forward. To plug a hole in the wall with our bodies… W-we… We couldn’t… We had to see our families.”

“-They are pulling back.” A man sobbed. “Everyone who amounted to more than a simple guard pulled back into the tunnels. Because we ran first, we saw it. They almost killed us, too.”

Which was both good and bad. The tunnel system would be soon filled with fighters. But also could draw out hidden defences and traps.

“-bellow. We weren’t allowed to go there. We heard from Faran- A-a friend of ours,” The man hurried to explain. “T-that there are large rooms bellow. They transported a lot of food to those places. Said that it was to prepare for the war, that these tunnels were to prepare for sieges.”

The five captures soon ran out of useful information. Mila glanced at Laura, who realised the same.

“Good. Thank you. I’ll get our healer to give you a light treatment. You might just leave.” The woman turned around.

“Why?” Mila asked, confused by the decision. Her sudden question startled the five deserters. They cut off their own screams by holding their mouths and tried to fuse with the walls again.

“Why what?” Laura returned. “They need help. They are not going to fight back. Not anymore.”

“Doubtful. Dangerous. Uncertainties like these are to be deleted.” Mila felt her tongue spit out logical, if cruel, truth. In her mind, she knew her words were correct. But now that Laura claimed otherwise, she heard her own heart whisper in agreement.

“We are leaving them alive. If Miss Viola agrees, of course.” Laura looked at her employer.

Viola glanced at the bunch of trembling bodies. They didn’t dare to let out a peep in Mila’s presence. Slowly, she began to speak. “We can leave them alive, I suppose.”

Another unexpected occurrence. There was no reason for Viola to spare these lives. “Why?” Mila asked again. She didn’t understand.

“Because you are too fast to dismiss their lives.” Viola pointed out. “Ah, you don’t get it, do you? This is to make you think.” She then addressed Laura. “Call in the healer, and when he is done, knock them out.”

Mila sent a meaningful look at Viola as they left the room, demanding more explanation.

“Do you remember, back in Ocheon, at that night when we both stood at the roof?” Viola led Mila a bit further away from the group to have a private conversation.

“I do. Mostly.” Mila tried to recall. If she was honest, most of the conversation had faded from the memory.

“Remember when I told you that you resemble me in many ways?” Viola reminded.

“I do.” Mila felt like there had been such a line.

“Do you know why?”

Mila shook her head. How could she?

“It’s because I was raised as a tool,” Viola whispered. The words didn’t carry far. Only Mila could hear them. There was trembling in the woman’s voice as if touched by unseen pain. “Years upon years, I was told to not feel anything. To be a hunting dog. That’s what I was. And when I caught something, I was made to watch the resulting deaths.”

Viola seemed to grow dimmer. Her usually upbeat nature vanished and was replaced by an unfeeling beast. “Every time I succeeded, my holders explained why it was good. How my actions furthered the glory of the kingdom. It was always so logical.” She bitterly spat out.

The raw emotion in Viola’s words made Mila’s skin crawl. For a moment, she considered if she should hug the woman.

“With each success, I grew colder, and I… I hated it. Not that I understood it back then. I was shown it later. When my ‘Owner’,” Viola’s voice was full of hatred. “Died, I was finally free. But I was empty.”

Mila decided that a hug was too big of a hurdle. She reached out and patted Viola’s upper arm. It was meant to be a comforting gesture. But it felt stiff and awkward.

“Hah. To be consoled by you. You must be confusing me with Isabel.” Some of Viola’s usual cheer seemed to return.

“I am helping a friend,” Mila responded. The words came easier than expected.

Viola paused, then moved closer and hugged Mila. “Thank you. A hug works better, though.” She then hurried to push the smaller girl away. “Don’t tell Isabel we hugged. She will make my life hell. Anyway!” Viola cleared her throat. “There is more to it, but… I just wanted you to experience how it feels when you don’t take the most drastic option.”

“It was the right one.” Mila simply stated. There was no persuasiveness in her tone.

“I know, right.” Viola suddenly agreed. “But I want to keep Laura somewhat happy. That woman wouldn’t take it well if we killed them, even if she would understand. She has realised I am a spy. I can’t act against Tordgo’s people too much.”

That sounded more like Viola. “Is that the true reason, then?”

“No. It’s a bonus. I wanted to tell you what I did. It was a good chance.”

“I-” Mila met Viola’s eyes, then slightly bowed. “I thank you. I’ll keep your words of wisdom in mind.”

“You should. I am smart.” Viola stuck out her chest, which proved to be a mistake.

“What are you showing to Mila.” Isabel’s voice came from behind in a growl. “I saw the hug. Why did you hug?”

“Ah-” Viola exclaimed, then ran away.

“Mila? Why did you both hug? Why did Viola react that way.”

A reasonable question for which Mila knew the answer. “To mess with you.” She could say with confidence.

It didn’t help much. The jealousy was cute, but it wasn’t time for it. Mila began to soothe her seething girl.

Viola had helped, and Mila was thankful. She would keep her new friend's words in mind.