Around 30 men and I march toward our inevitable demise.

“Touma!~ can I have some of your water? I ran out….” A young blonde guy next to me bugs me for my canteen.

“Sure, drink your fill.” I hand him my canteen, and he promptly takes a few swigs.”

 “We should arrive soon–”

“All troops halt!” A man’s voice booms through the entire 30-troop army.

“We have reached the watering hole. All troops set camp! We shall leave at sunrise!”

Takeru and I sit around a campfire after refilling our canteens and setting up our tents. Takeru was the one who asked for my canteen. We’re both from the slums, and we joined the army to raise our social standing.

“Alright, let’s see what today’s rations are!” Takeru says excitedly, reaching into his bag.

He pulls out a leather-wrapped thing of horse jerky.

“And horse jerky again.” He says.

“Dude. Those are the only rations we have.”

“I know… But I wanna excite things up a bit or something; I don’t know.”

“Well, I don’t blame you. I wish we had something other than horse jerky to eat.”

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“No chance, buddy. Only those higher up get such privileges. To them, we’re just cannon fodder.” Takeru says, scarfing down his jerky.

“At least chew….” I get some water out on standby.

“Nuh-uh, the less I chew, the less I taste.” He finishes wolfing down the jerky.

“Glad to see you haven’t lost your pep Takeru.” One of our troop members heads over to our fire.

“Hiroshi!” I say

“Doing the best to keep my mind off tomorrow,” Takeru says.

“Don’t blame you. I don’t think we’ll make it out alive this time….”

“Stop being so pessimistic!” I say, nudging Hiroshi.

“Can’t help it. You know who we’re up against, right?”

“Yeah, I do. Senrith Dukeman the oneshot wonder.” Takeru says with a grimmer expression.

“They say she never misses,” Hiroshi adds.

“Who that?” I ask.

“You seriously haven’t heard? We’ve been talking about her all morning!” Takeru says.

“That’s because, unlike someone, I was maintaining my gear.” I rebuttal.

“Haha, got us there, Touma!” Hiroshi laughs.

“She’s the sole lineage of the Dukeman royal family. Apparently, it’s because she killed the rest of her family to gain the title of princess.” Hiroshi says.

“Also, the princess of the nation we’re warring against,” Takeru adds.

“Not only that, but they have an 800-strong army,” Hiroshi says.

“If I recall correctly… Once we rejoin the main army, we’d only be a mere 300 hundred strong….” I add.

We are going to intercept an invasion force. The plan is to split up so we can move faster and not have to all share resources and watering holes. Then we’ll rejoin the leading group once we’re near the enemy.

“So you still feel optimistic now, Takeru?” I say.

“Ugh, shut up. With your blessing, I’m sure you’ll be fine!” Takeru says.

“My blessing, huh….”

You can receive a blessing once you become ten years old; very few have them. And those who do usually get relatively weak and mundane blessings. They can range from making simple sparks to making a sea of flames with a swipe of the wrist.

“Commander has one, too, right?” Hiroshi asks.

“Mhm, it’s called Iron Fortress. It makes him as strong as steel, with the caveat of losing all his mobility.” I answer.

“Truly a coward’s blessing. All he does is shout orders while activating his blessing.” Takeru says, getting comfortable.

“Sounds like someone’s jealous.” I retort.

“Careful, you’ll be whipped if he hears you!” Hiroshi warns us.

“Dont–”

“All troops, it is lights out! All those still up within 3 minutes will receive ten lashings! Get to bed!” The commander shouts.

Everyone obeys, immediately heading to bed out of fear of being punished.