Vance stood in stunned silence, hand gripped tightly around a goblet of wine. After being knighted and given the rank of brigadier general, he had been in automatic, his mind too far lost in thought as he looked into the red liquid swirling around in the cup. Everything was moving faster than anticipated, and he was already standing taller within the society that had once shun someone from his station. While it was true, he owed much of his blessings to Julia and her pantheon for the gifts they had bestowed upon, there was still a great deal more to give to his own skills—or so that’s how Richard and Estrid worded it. Standing in the grand ballroom of the Anceburg castle, Vance looked every bit the noble knight in his ceremonial dress uniform, which was very much like his dress uniform, with only the added addition of a red sash around his waist, with a gold cord wrapped around the right side in a tasteful fashion of Kendirewen’s military style. He barely registered his own state of dress or those of the other regiments that chatted merrily as they enjoyed the festivities of the evening ball.

Looking into the crowd for a moment, he swallowed, feeling a tad uncomfortable in such finely dressed company, as ministers, lords, and ladies from all across the kingdom were in attendance. Turning away, the blond looked down through the massive gothic windows that looked out into the city below. Straining his eyes to see into the dark, he peered down into the streets below; he could scarcely believe how lively they were only hours ago. How jubilant the people were as the Southern Army marched through the cobbled road.

“Was there really no other grand victories?” Vance found himself asking in a whisper.

“No. There wasn’t, sadly,” answered a familiar voice.

Looking over his shoulder, Vance spotted the friendly Colonel from the thirteenth of foot, Jonathan Horne, “Horne!” Vance turned and offered his hand to shake his.

Out of all the officers not associated with his regiment, Horne was one of the few that left a positive impact on him, and the two had in the march back formed something of a friendship.

“Good to see you, how’ve you been? I heard the King honoured you as well for your part in plugging the hole in the centre.” Vance noted.

Horne smiled, returning the gesture in kind, “Mhm! The feeling is mutual my dear Wolfram, and yes. He had. I’ve been given the same mentioned in dispatch medal as you, and knighted too it would seem.” He replied with the same noble civility and pride one would expect from high nobility.

Vance nodded, “Well, if there’s anyone who deserves it, you’re certainly it.”

Horne nodded, taking a sip from his glass, “Hardly, but, you have my thanks.”

Waving the thanks away, Vance believed the man before him was one who actually had the right to call themselves a noble, “No, I’m serious. Not many would’ve done what you had.” Vance pointed out.

The Colonel shook his head as he looked into the glass, “Well, to be fair, it was your riders that paved the way for us to push the enemy boars back.” He said.

“True, but all they did was weaken them enough for you to muster forward your regiment. From what I hear, you charged ahead of your soldiers, even managing to take down the lead rider.” Vance noted.

Horne shrugged, “Mhm… truthfully, I was just trying to keep my regiment from losing face.” He paused, gently resting the now empty glass on a nearby table, “What with how we expected to hold the centre should the first line crumble.”

“As it did,” Vance pointed out with a tip of his goblet.

“Indeed it did. Indeed it did.” Horne’s voice trailed, his eyes now focusing on the stone flooring, “But, enough about me, what about you? How are you fairing with all the new responsibilities being thrust upon you?” He asked, visibly changing in mood as he changed the subject.

Vance squinted and raised a brow at the sudden shift in the mood but relented, “Exhausted.” He answered back simply, “I’m still in my teens and yet I’m somehow being given the same honours and responsibilities of someone three times my age.”

At that, Horne laughed, nodding in agreement, “Ha! Very true, my dear Wolfram, very true indeed!”

Vance smiled, but he couldn’t quite bring himself to laugh.

“Well, if anyone deserves it, it’s you.” Horne quickly added, noting Vance’s own reluctance to laugh.

“Thanks. I’m just feeling a little nervous, is all.” Vance admitted, with some worry laced within his voice.

Horne gently rested a hand on the younger man’s shoulder, giving it a squeeze, “Come now! No need to dwell on what if’s or such petty little things. For now, just bask in the moment, and enjoy the night! For tomorrow we’re likely to be deployed once more.” He said.

He was right too. As there was little doubt that Askal would sit idle in letting their first campaign hold them back. Rumours were already spreading across the city that the Emirs were desperately mustering together what people they could for a new offensive campaign. But, the other side of the rumour was that they were actually preparing for a defensive war, believing that Kendirewen would take advantage of their loss to invade. Such rumours swirled around the halls of the ballroom and the streets of Anceburg. No one could know for sure, and even Vance found himself slightly intrigued by the prospect of an offensive campaign. Still, such thoughts wouldn’t do for this night, and so, stepping up beside Horne, the two officers made their way into the crowd to enjoy the night of freedom before war called again. Thankfully, Estrid, Richard, William, Lara, and Xen were all easy to spot in the throng of brightly coloured uniforms and dresses, as the Dragon Marine uniform was by far the most unique and easily stood out amongst the crowd.

Upon regrouping with his friends and officers, Vance did his best to forget his troubles and just worked to enjoy the night.

--

Walking through the busy streets, Vance strode through confidently, left hand resting languidly on the hilt of his sabre, while his eyes darted around, looking at each storefront and stall that came into view. He had a few short hours to spend on himself, and he was going to take advantage of it by doing a small tour of the market street. The reason for his visit was to try and gauge how much there was for him to change and bring into this world. With how things were appearing regarding warfare, he wondered if the civilian sector was as harsh.

Thinking back to his time as a farmhand, there was no real negativity or struggle beyond the usual gripe about finance or how dry the land was. Most times, there were healers nearby at the churches or chapels that were free to provide their services to those who were injuried or sick as well, and from what Vance saw, healers were fairly good at taking care of most non-major illnesses, diseases, and wounds. Yet, it was the missing limbs and other such things that required a more delicate touch that was far behind.

Things like prosthetics were non-existent, with most having to walk on peglegs if they lost a leg, and should they have lost an arm—there was no hope for them to find employment. To fix this dilemma, he had commissioned Lara to begin drawing up designs and prototype prosthetics. She had taken to it with the same glee and excitement she had when given the task to develop the Luna Rifles.

“Vance! Vance!” A voice called out, demanding his attention.

Glancing over his shoulder, he spotted Lara waving towards him, flanked by Xen, who gave off his usual cool demeanour. “Lara, Xen.” Vance greeted them as they came up.

“Sir,” Answered Xen, who stood at attention, only for Vance to wave him down.

“Relax, Xen. We’re off duty; you don’t have to keep saluting me.”

“With respect, sir, I’m always on duty.” He answered.

That took him by surprise, blinking a little unsure how to answer, before he glanced over to Lara, who just shrugged, “Uh—right, uh, How about you? How’re you holding up, Lara? I thought you weren’t a fan of crowds?” He asked with a cough.

“Good… I’m getting past my weakness, but….” Looking down, she paused, fingers fidgeting around the handholds of her bag.

“But?”

“But, she’s too scared to admit she’s happy to see you well. Sir.” Answered Xen with a silent annoyed twitch at the corner of his eye.

“Oh.” Looking down at Lara, he smiled, “of course I’d be fine, why wouldn’t I be?” He asked.

Lara exhaled, mustering up her courage to look Vance in the eyes, “Because! You did something stupid again!”

Another surprise that caught him off guard, “Stupid? What did do you mean? You know I have a job to do, and I’m always facing danger wh—”

Suddenly Lara cut him off with a glare, “Y-you know what I mean! Ms Demoulin told me what you did! Challenging that man to a single combat. W-what would you have done had you been wounded… or worse, killed?!” He exclaimed, her voice laden with concern.

Vance nodded, “I know, and I’m sorry. But, I had to make a call. Estrid and Richard both knew I had to make that choice.” He began to explain, pausing to let his words sink in, “Besides, you know me. I’m a gambler.” He smiled.

“A bad habit to have.” Xen commented with a side-long glance.

Vance shot him a glare while Lara seemed to pout, not happy with his answer at all, “Okay! Alright, I’ll—try not to make such gambles again.” He said, waving his hands up in defense.

Xen seemed to turn away, a small smirk tugging at the edge of his lips, prompting Vance to shot him another pointed glare.

“Captain Xen, I do believe you have paperwork to do,” Vance noted, taking on a demanding tone; if he wanted to act as though he was on duty, Vance would oblige him.

Xen paused, mouth open to try and find some excuse, “Captain.” Vance repeated himself; this time, Xen bowed his head in acknowledgement.

“Yes—sir.” Snapping off a stiff salute as he rolled his eyes, Vance couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Lara, you go with him. I need those prosthetic designs on my desk by the end of the week, and you’re the only one who I can trust with this task.” He said.

Lara sighed, a little distraught how her day off was coming to a close, but she wasn’t one to complain, and she was happy to do the job she was given as well. It beat fighting on the frontlines, after all. As the two officers turned to leave, Vance was alone once more, he watched them a few moments more, ensuring they were safe. He wasn’t sure why he did so.

'Habit, I guess?' Vance reasoned to himself.

Twisting about on the heel of his boot, he continued on his way, this time with nothing to distract him from his observations—or so he thought.

“Well, look who I just so happened to walk into?” Observed a voice.

“Ami. I see they’re letting you walk around freely now?” Vance turned to greet the brightly dressed Japanese man.

This time, Ami wore a slim fitting Yukata, with the blue haori drapped over his shoulders like a cape. No longer armed or armoured like a samurai, he still gave off the air of one. Standing with the swagger of a master swordsman, and he knew it.

“A little,” He replied with a shrug “Still don’t trust me with a weapon, and the company is nice to have.” He answered, looking back over his shoulder towards four Grenadiers standing nearby, “What about you? Enjoying your day off?”

Vance shrugged in response, “I was, but I suppose that’s coming to an end soon.”

“Oh? How so?”

“Have to head home soon to Luna. The Dragon Marines need to muster there and prepare for a new campaign,” he started, looking out towards the direction of the mountains, “I’m sure you’ve heard the rumours.”

Nodding, “Yeah. Talk of how you guys are going to invade or something?” He answered nonchalantly.

“And that doesn’t bother you? I thought you’d be more upset by such rumours?”

“Why should I be?”

“Because you looked like a broken man after your army turned on you?” Vance pointed out.

Ami shrugged again, turning to look at some cloth hanging off in display in front of a stall, “I was, but, for obvious reasons, I feel fine.”

Vance tilted his head, “Why?”

“You.” He answered simply.

“Me?”

“You.”

“Okay? And you’re not going to explain why?”

Sighing, he glanced over his shoulder towards Vance, “Really? You still haven’t figured it out yet?”

“Figured what out?”

“Your aura. You emit a calming aura or… feeling? I’m not sure how to explain it, but whenever I or others like me stand near you, we feel calmer, warmer— safer.”

“That… makes sense.” Vance looked down the road, his thoughts trailing to how the others had reacted around him.

Pushing the thought aside for now, he turned to Ami once again, “Well, if possible, I’d like it if you’d come with me to Luna.” Vance asked.

“Well, you’ve taken me this far, and it seems that you have something you want to show me, so… sure? I’ll be honest, the only reason I’m willing to trust you, is because you’re someone from Earth, and that alone makes you more trustworthy than anyone else in this world.” Ami replied.

Letting out a breath, Vance nodded, “In that case, meet me at Kendirewen square in a few hours. We’ll be heading out soon.”

At that, Ami looked surprised, “So soon?”

“Mhm, the faster the better.”

“Eh~ alright? But what about my friends here?” Ami pointed to the grenadiers, almost sarcastically.

Vance smirked, “Don’t worry, you’ll make new friends.” Vance retorted.

“Oh good, here’s hoping they're more exciting than this lot!”