「West Gate – Day 28th Month of Dark」

As Brenna is in the middle of leading her Warg, and by extension our squad as a whole, toward the road leading to the West Gate, a sudden meeting puts our march on hold. Blocking the road are two bulky Orc men, one of them has a weapon on his hand, but he shows no animosity toward us. They are unarmored and go only by simple dirtied trousers, leaving their upper half bare and vulnerable to what I presume coal smoke mixed with sweat. Yep, that’s right, these people look like the blacksmiths working in this castle’s forge.

“Certainly took you people long enough.”

Brenna mutters as she lets go of her Warg’s rein and approaches the blacksmiths.

“We don’t normally take on unreasonable requests like yours.”

The blacksmith holding the weapon hands it over to Brenna. It’s a polearm, though I don’t know what exactly that is. It looks like a glaive, but at the same time has similarities to a halberd or poleaxe. If I remember correctly, the correct term is a Bardiche. The Bardiche on Brenna’s hand is fully clad in white steel from top to the bottom, yet the woman handles such a weapon like it’s simply a wooden stick. Her swordsmanship is already master level, yet the mere thought of her actual weapon mastery is not sword but polearm instead scares me to death.

“It feels lighter than what I remember.”

Brenna comments.

“What did you expect from your absurd request? You just threw a pile of scrap steel at us and told us to rebuild your weapon the way you want it down to the tiniest detail. As I told you before, with the amount of money you paid us, it’s better to just buy a new weapon for yourself instead of going leagues for just a normal bardiche.”

A faint smile appears on the woman’s lips as she replies.

“Sentimental value. It’s my family’s heirloom, after all.”

Brenna straps the huge Bardiche to the back of her armor. The transaction seemingly comes to an end until the blacksmiths bring out two more items. One is Brenna’s helmet, which shaped like a raven’s beak. The hole on her helmet has vanished, repaired by the blacksmiths as per her request. The last item is a sheathed broadsword. There isn’t anything noteworthy to say about it, as it is an ordinary sword you can find in any weapon shop, but what’s strange about it is Brenna already has her own sword strapped by her waist, buying another one makes zero sense.

“That’s everything then. Pleasure doing business with you, and let’s hope you’ll never have a need to come to us again.”

The blacksmiths quickly bid Brenna farewell. With her new equipments in hand, Brenna returns to us, her students, as we hold tight the rein of our Wargs. On some strange whim, Brenna suddenly throws her newly acquired broadsword toward me, which I barely manage to catch. As I look at her in confusion, the woman says:

“That one is for you. It’s a cheap sword, but still a lot better than the toothpick they called “Dagger” the supply officer gave you.”

I look back at the the standard issue dagger in the holster by my waist. It’s the only armanent to be issued to an Alchemist for free. Of course it’s understandable, since nobody expects us Alchemists to be an active combatant together with the warriors. I do have my own guns to help me hold my own, but having only a dagger as side arm does make me feel anxious.

“Thank you, Instructor. I will take good care of it.”

I put the sword onto my luggage bag, as I don’t have enough space on my body to equip it right now.

“D-Don’t make such a big deal out of it. I just don’t want the efforts I spent teaching you swordplays to go to waste!”

In classic tsundere fashion, Brenna shyly turns away as she resumes leading her students.

“Teacher’s pet! Teacher’s pet!”

Out of nowhere, Caelan enthusiastically yells like a jealous twelve years old angered from not getting the same toy as the neighbor’s kid, which earns him a knock right at his forehead from Brenna for his trouble. The charade puts a smile on Iola who’s trailing behind him together with her Warg. She has been pretty tense ever since we departed from the stable.

Understandably, it’s only natural to be a nervous wreck before our first mission as a squad.

Our group soon reach the West Gate. Seeing our arrival, the guards quickly operate the mechanism behind the gate and open it for us. A cold breeze flies inside as the bridge toward the Western part of the Demon Realm slowly reveals itself behind the giant gate. Brenna takes a deep breath before taking a mount on her personnal Wrag. The rest of us quickly follow suit, leaving me as the only one who have yet to do the same.

“Easy there, easy there…”

I put my hand on the black fur of my Warg, the same ferocious Wrag that attacked me when I tried to tame it. My wounds have healed the day after, though what I was afraid of is how to tame such a beast in the little time I had. Strangely, this black Warg had mellowed out a lot by the time of my second attempt. It’s not exactly “tamed”, more like it became more understanding of my plight, and merely “allowed” me to be its rider. I too had my doubt on whether or not this one would make a suitable mount for me, but time isn’t exactly on my side, I had to make do with that I got.

“Let’s do our best to survive, Wolfy.”

Yes, what other name more perfect for a wild, ferocious and rebellious black giant wolf other Wolfy?

I succesfully climb and seat my butt on the saddle. My first few tries ended with some terrible fall, half of them thanks to Wolfy’s pride and stubbornness, but I always prevail! The feeling of riding on a living being feels absolutely magical, as if I have grown wings on my back. Yet my first time feeling the wonder of riding inside the castle yard completely pales before my current feeling. The chill I feel as my hands hold the rein, the wind blowing straight at my face trying their best to push me down, the sense of riding on the back of a mighty beast awating to move at moment’s notice. In this brief moment, I feel like I am a warrior, a warrior of the Demon Realm.

“Are all you ready?”

Says Brenna. She’s facing toward us, her students. For our first mission, Brenna will be both our teacher and leader. She’s already putting on her raven helmet, but Brenna has yet to close her visor. The woman throws a look at all of us, her students, waiting for someone to get the cold feet. But all of us are ready, keeping ourselves tall on the back of our mount. Me, Caelan, Iola and Koros, none of us have any intention to go back to the comfy and warm castle behind us. With a smile on her face, Brenna pulls down her helmet’s visor and turns back toward the bridge as she yells.

“Well then! Melas Expeditionary Force’s 145th Squad, time to depart!”

-----------------------

In a part of a rural area far outside of Melas castle, down the snowy bank near a flowing stream, there lies an animal taking some sip of water by its lonesome. Calling it an animal is a bit far-fetched though, as this deer-like creature actually have two seperate heads connecting to its torso. Seeing it drinking simultaneously with two of his heads does freak me out for a bit.

But no matter how freaky it is, it’s the only living thing around that we can hunt and make dinner from.

“That’s one delicious looking Bicorn!”

And yes, by we, I mean me and Caelan. Both of us, for some reason, were charged with hunting duty for today’s dinner. We are hiding away in a bush far from our prey, but with how loud Caelan has been talking, it’s only a matter of time before the Bicorn catches glimpse of our presence.

“It will be dark soon. Leave this one to me, I’ll make it quick.”

I tell my enthusiastic comrade as I reach to my secret weapon I kept wrapped in a white cloth. The training with Brenna and the Ward riding training gave me zero time to test this baby out, but now is the perfect time to test my recently built experimental rifle. It’s a rifle model I saw once in a war museum, the type soldiers used in World War II, meaning it’s not too complicated to recreate using basic materials from this world as long as I have the knowledge. Of course, I don’t have such knowledge, but using analytical magics I learned from the start of my journey to this world, I can make the groundwork before creating the final product.

However, before I can even start my experiment, Caelan suddenly jumps out of the bush with his spear in hand. The Bicorn is startled from the sudden movement nearby, but Caelan grins as he pays the frightened beast no heed.

“Take this!”

With the posture of a Greek athlete, Caelan throws his spear like a javelin toward the Bicorn. The spear’s sheer force combined with speed pierce through both of its heads at once, killing it instantly. Caelan looks back at his impressive display of skill before commenting on his own.

“Not too shabby!”

“Hey! Didn’t I tell you to leave this to me?”

I yell at the guy. I haven’t got any chance to shine lately, and when the perfect chance arise, the dude just straight up stole it from me.

“Everytime you try to do something, things always get noisy, Akuma. Brenna would hate it if you attract some human soldiers after our asses, ahahaha!”

For such a loud guy, he sure has a point...The noise from my gun would attract more than animals, beasts or worse, human soldiers. I can’t believe I let my own enthusiasm blind me from the fact.

“Geez...let’s get this over with. I’m hungry.”

“So am I!”

We come get what we came for. Caelan takes back his spear from the Bicorn’s heads and ties its legs onto his spear, turning it into a pole to help us carry it back to the camp. With Caelan at the head and me as the bottom, I truly feel like we are a pair of tribesmen from some ancient past.

The sun is already setting, but luckily for us we manage to arrive safely at the camp before night falls. Brenna chose a pretty clean and empty ground in the middle of this dead forest as our campsite, completely different from the snowfilled landscape from the start of our journey since departing Melas Castle. The fire is already lit, with a pile of woods nearby thanks to the hard work of Koros. The cooking tools are next to the fire, Brenna’s personal cooking tools to be precise.

Yes, Brenna said she would be the one making dinner today, as celebration for “Making it to the first night without anyone dying.” - quoting exactly word to word. Forget the grim reminder of our fragile mortality aside, I’m not sure what to think about Brenna’s cooking. No one among us actually know anything about her feminine talents. We might have yet to die by the blades of the human soldiers, but only the Gods know if we can make it through the bowls filled with Brenna’s food.

“We have successfully returned!”

Caelan cheerfully announces our arrival.

“Took you chumps long enough. Get it here quickly!”

Following Brenna’s order, we take out the Bicorn and hand it over to our instructor-turned-chef. When our job is done, Brenna tell us to take a break as the woman starts preparing the meat by herself. Without any outside input, Iola suddenly approaches Brenna and observe the woman’s work, either waiting to help Brenna, or simply for curiosity’s sake.

Using the dagger on her waist, Brenna rips open the Bicorn stomach after preparing a bowl. Blood and entrails flow out of the Bicorn’s body like a stream, and the fresh stench of blood starts to make me feel sick. Strangely, Iola isn’t too affected by this, she’s completely normal in front of the sight of blood and gore which is horrible enough to make me turn away.

“Tch...can’t believe I’m acting like a rich pampered boy right now of all time…”

I silently mutter to myself. Before I can completely turn away however, Brenna does something weird enough to attract my attention.

“Hey Badb! Catch!”

Without even looking back, Brenna throws a chunk of bloody meat behind her back. Before the meat can touch the ground and end up dirtied, a huge Warg sweeps by and chomps on the meat in one fell swoop. Brenna’s Warg happily licks clean its mouth and wags its tail after a tasty and fresh meal before returning to rest together with our Wargs nearby.

“Take these to the others to feed their Wargs. The rest is enough to get us by for tonight.”

Brenna hands over the fresh bowl full of raw meat, guts and entrails to Iola. Leaving the woman behind to prepare the food, Iola passes on her words to me, Caelan and Koros - who is silently watching over the Wargs by himself. My teammates have no problem picking on the meat raw to feed their Wargs. Even when I can put aside the fact that my hand is bloodied from holding a freshly gutted piece of meat, the problem still lies at my prideful and stubborn Warg, Wofly.

“H-Hey! Would you be so kind to go to my place and gently take your dinner away from me, Wolfy? Preferably not along with my left hand?”

The resting Wolfy throws me a glimpse before resuming to its sleep. It doesn’t even bother to express disappointment toward its master…This is why canines are such a hassle to deal with...

Feeling hopeless, I casually approach Wolfy and put the meat just centimeters outside of its mouth. When the scent of fresh meat reaches closly to its nose, Wolfy chomps away the meat from my left hand, and thankfully, not together with my left hand. Unlike the nearby Wargs who quickly chow down on their meal, Wolfy really knows how to take it time to slowly enjoy a feast, almost like a furry gourmet. And of course, the Warg pays no attention to me as it is feasting.

“We really need a lot of bonding time after this mission is over…”

…

By the time the moon reveals itself on the black sky above, Brenna’s steaming pot of stew is also almost ready. Brenna stirs the boiling pot with a laddle as she hums some kind of folk song. All members of our squad quietly sit around the bonfire, waiting for dinner to be served. When she’s done, Brenna pours the stew into bowls and hands them to her students.

“And it’s done! Brenna’s super secret meat stew passed down through my mother’s line! It’s my pride and joy! Consider yourself lucky to get a taste of it!”

The woman proudly declares after her successful work. How successful this food is, however, is still up to debate. The stew looks...normal, a bit brownish, almost like a soup. I can smell some herbs from the aroma. It seems normal enough. My squadmates quickly put aside their hesitation and obey the desire of their rumbling stomach, and I am no exception. This can’t be worse than what they served at the cafeteria.

“Hmm! This stuff is good!”

A sense of delight fills my tongue after I put a spoon of hot stew inside my mouth. It’s really good, in a non-ironic way. Not just edible, but also pleasant for the tongue. The spice Brenna used mixed really well with this strange kind of meat. It tastes like chicken despite being made from a mammal-type beast, but it’s the right kind of wrong, enough for me to put aside the contrast as I fill my stomach with the rest of the bowl.

“A second serving, please!”

Caelan is the first to ask for another bowl.

“Me too! Your cooking is really good, Instructor!”

Even the normally tame Iola is as enthusiastic as Caelan, as if she’s afraid Caelan will eat up the rest of the pot before any of us can get a second bowl...which is an actual possibility not too far away from the truth, and thus I join in with her to ask for a second serving, with Koros silently follows suit.

“Slow down slow down! At least try to savour the taste! After tonight, it’s back to field ration to all of you!”

The rest of our dinner is filled with laughters, mostly from Caelan who keeps telling random jokes he learned from his classmates. We look less like a group of soldiers on duty, and more like a teacher and a bunch of kids camping on some kind of far away field trip. In the end, Brenna herself is the one who ate the least out of all of us, but I have the feeling the sastifaction of her smile is enough to fill the rest for her to last the night.

“Still, I didn’t think you can actually cook, Instructor. Truly we can’t judge a book by its cover.”

“Somehow I feel a bit insulted by your “compliment”, Miss Moreau...But since I’m in a good mood, I’ll let it slide for now.”

Iola meekly returns to her seat after being freaked out by Brenna’s reply. The girl has just finished with the dish cleaning thanks to her useful Water magic. Now that dinner is done, all that’s left is the briefing for our first mission.

Yes, we headed out into the battle zone without a single clue of what our mission is. From an objective look, that sounds pretty crazy. The four of us only did so because we trust Brenna would not lead us straight away into an empty and meaningless death the moment we ride through the castle gate. And now, all of us are waiting to see whether that trust will pay off.

“Before we start, please give me a short moment.”

Suddenly, the silent Koros announces something unexpected. Then, he extends his big hand toward Caelan sitting in his opposite.

“Caelan, pay up.”

All of our attention turn to Caelan as his pale face starts sweating in the middle of a Winter night. The guy is reduced to a nervous wreck as he tries not to make eye contact with anyone. Eventually, the constant stares make him give in, and he takes out a gold coin and toss it toward a very appreciated Koros.

“Care to explain what’s this all about?”

Understandbly, Brenna asks what’s been on our mind.

“We made a simple bet before dinner. The content of the bet was our take on how would the Instructor’s food turn out.”

“Hoh? Interesting.”

“By the way, Caelan betted your food would suck.”

A sense of blood lust fills the air as Brenna stares at Caelan with the aura of a hungry wild beast. Like an automatic response, Brenna lunges toward a horrified Caelan and pulls wrestling moves on the poor guy. Moments like this make me truly believe Brenna is actually Bjarni “Beat students’ head with brick” Lodbrok’s daughter, As Caelan yells in vain for help, Iola quietly approaches the smirking Orc and slips a gold coin to his palm.

“You too?”

Iola does not reply to me and simply makes a silent gesture. Of course, nobody wants to be subjected to the same punishment Brenna is dishing out on Caelan. His life is already forfeited. All we can do is to give him a silent prayer.

Still, that sounds like a really fun bet, and it came from a silent person like Koros of all people. That is certainly unexpected. However, there’s still something that keeps lingering in my mind.

Why am I not included in this?

…

“Is he okay…?”

I ask Brenna after Caelan’s punishment is done.

“I went easy on him. He’ll live.”

I’m doubting that, though. The young man is already out cold, and people can easily misunderstand the blanket on his body as a pretty grim sign.

“Well, we wasted enough time already. Let us start the mission briefing.”

“Is it okay to leave Caelan out of this?”

I reply to Brenna’s declaration.

“I’ll explain it to Caelan tomorrow...in terms he can understand.”

Iola interjects in with her proposal, with me silently nod as it’s the best course of action we can do to help Caelan. Soon, it will begin, the long awaited mission briefing in the middle of nowhere.

“Normally we do the briefing back at the castle, right?”

“Normally, yes. But then you first timers would have a chance to get cold feet and run away.”

Brenna bluntly replies to my question as she takes something out of her luggage and lays it bare for all of us minus Caelan to see. It’s a map of a whole Western side of the Demon Realm. To be more precise, the Western part beyond Melas castle - the battlefield currently in struggle between the Demon army and the Alliance’s invasion force. There’s a bright, burning dot on the map. It’s located at the southwestern part of Melas castle.

“This is where we currently are.”

Brenna points to the bright dot on the map. So that’s a tracker of the map’s current location, like a GPS, but magical.

“Thanks to the presence of our port in the south, the bulk of the fighting lies focused in the central and northern part within the West region of Melas castle. We should be safe at this location, though it doesn’t mean we should not be vigilant.”

The southern part ends at the sea, with east of it lies the rest of the Demon Realm’s territories. The existence of a port and the possiblity of reinforcement by ships are enough to put the Alliance’s conquest from heading South on hold. Though from the information I collected, even they don’t have enough resources to invade the Southern region of Melas castle. The breakthrough of the war is just as much as a surprise to them as it is to the Demon Realm’s army, creating a deadlock where both sides try to gain as much advantage as they can with whatever resources they have before the inevitable final showdown.

And that’s where us, the members of Melas Expeditionary Force come in.

“After careful consideration, it has been decided that the 145th Squad’s first mission will be sabotage. According to Intelligence, three days from now a series of supply convoys will arrive by ships from the Kingdom of Metallum. They will split out and use different routes to reach the Alliance’s home base at the Asphodel Meadows. Our job is simple: intercept, eliminate one of the supply convoy and safely escape. The other convoys will be handled by other squads from the Expeditionary Force.”

Sounds nice and simple, we just need to burn the supplies and retreat before making further bloodshed. While I have prepared myself mentally to fight against my fellow humans, it would be better not to make my hands more bloodied than needed. That being said, the problem is…

“We’ll have to go deep inside the enemy’s territories?”

“Of course, how else can we complete the mission?”

Brenna makes it sound easy.

“What? You’re getting cold feet already?”

“I would be lying if I say I don’t…”

I nervously reply to Brenna. The risk is too high, if we get caught, we’ll be swarmed by the enemies until our hope gets crushed. There will be no allies to come and save us when we are that far away from the home base.

“We have to do what is expected of us, regardless of the danger.”

The Orc Koros mutters.

“Exactly! This is what you kids signed up for when you became a Melas student. You are here to do jobs the main army can’t do. You are trained to operate and perform missions without having to deal with the chain of command and the requirement of a supply source. That being said, I would never choose a mission beyond your abilities, and I wouldn’t shut my mouth if the headquarter forces those kind of missions upon you kids! Everything will be fine as long as all of you do your best with what you’ve learned, put your trust in your squadmate and fulfill your role as a member of the 145th Squad.”

Brenna’s reassurance puts my mind at peace, yet I can’t make the worries inside my heart disappear. Perhaps this is only a sign of my inexperience and lack of faith in my comrades. All of them are stronger than me, and we will surive and fulfill our task as long as we cooperate and combine our strength together.

“So what is the mission detail, Instructor?”

Following Iola’s cue, Brenna points toward a point on the far West on the map.

“Our next destination will be the Forgotten Valley. The intel said after departing from their base near the Floating Sea, our target will approach the Asphodel Meadows through a route in Forgotten Valley. The estimated time from their arrival to passing through the mission area is one day. We have about three days in our time reserve. The travel will take two days if we move fast and don’t get into trouble, that will leave us one day to survey the terrain, form up a battle plan and make preparations. On the fourth day, the second day of the new month of Sun, we’ll commence the mission.”

Forgotten Valley...that names sounds dangerous, like some kind of dangerous dungeon for high level adventurers. Well, this is still demons’ lands, having a dangerous place or two is to be expected.

“Is this Forgotten Valley have anything special about it? That name sounds ominous.”

“I’m afraid to dissapoint you, Akuma, but that place is hardly a special place. It has no natural resources, and its difficult terrain makes it hard to build a settlement or even travel through. It’s called Forgotten Valley because no one want anything to do with it, and it’s already been abandoned even before the Alliance’s occupation of our Western territories.”

What a bummer...but then, I understand why they would use such a route from Brenna’s explanation. They will split the convoys to many different routes, the more obvious ones will certainly become a target from our attacks. In any case, they still need some convoys to make it and resupply the Alliance’s forces. But we will put an end to that, we’ll starve them enough to make them consider abandoning their occupation of the demons’ lands and go home...hopefully.

The briefing quickly ends when no one ask the instructor any question. What we have to do is simple enough, if we don’t mind the “go deep inside enemy territory by ourselves” part. Brenna’s confidence probably rubbed off on us enough for no one to complain about this mission. And thus, we end the night, though not without some hassle.

“Koros, Akuma. Both of you take the first watch. Wake me and Caelan up in two hours.”

Just as ordered, the two of us sit by the edge of our camp while the rest of our squad are soundly sleeping near the bonfire. We weren’t issued any proper sleeping gear as part of standard equipment for students. And thus, our teammates use their standard issue white cloak as blankets and their luggage bag as pillows instead. These cloaks have a seal inside them to regulate the temperature to a standard degree, making it easier for the wearer to travel through any common weather. I think Brenna’s armor does have the same enhancement, if not, she wouldn’t be so brazen enough to sleep like a log without any blanket in a Winter night.

As for me, though being far away from a warm bonfire does allow some freezing night air to hit my face, the rest of my body is covered by my cloak which is warm enough to make it bearable. Our cloak is white in color despite Melas’s flag color is black, though I guess it’s more because of practical reason, since wearing black gear on convert mission in Winter is just asking to get an arrow shot in the ass. My standard issue alchemist cloak is a bit more different than the other, as it has slots to stack potions inside and has some shock resistant ability, though unlike Kardia’s gift it’s not strong enough to use as a shield against blunt force. That means I have no free get out of jail card this time…

And of all places, it has to be right deep inside enemy territory...Why can’t our first mission be much simpler? Like gathering twenty herbs or defeat ten wolves and collect their paws?

I sigh to let out my worries. Indifferent to my whining, my watchmate is sitting silently not far nearby. He’s writing something down on his notebook. Despite the late night, the moon high on the black sky gives him enough light to continue whatever he’s working on. Occasionally, Koros gives a watch around before returning to his work. I guess I should leave him be and do some work on my own. It’ll be a waste to sit around doing nothing in a long night watch.

I take out a portable synthesis cauldron from the equipment belt on my body. Despite being called a cauldron, this thing is only bigger than a rubic cube, and shares the shame cube shape as well. I take out the folded legs from the cube and place it on the ground. I draw a circle beneath them, pour some water from my field canteen into the cauldron, and mix the water with a bit of liquidfied soul energy from one of my material tubes.

“That should do it.”

Thanks to the seal beneath, the mixed liquid is starting to boil. This is only the preparation step, however, the liquid is only used as the medium to perform synthesization. The real materials I’m about to use are the herbs I put in my pockets, which I picked off during my hunt for meat with Caelan during the evening. There weren’t many of them, and I also didn’t have the time to search for more, but this should be enough to make a few painkillers for reserve.

Yes, I need more medical supplies more than ever. I did take along with me a plenty enough stock for emergency situations, but I certainly didn’t expect our mission would bring us deep behind enemy lines. Even a little more will help. I may not be able to fight as well as my comrades, but if they are wounded on the field, it’s my job to help them make it back home. This is why I’m here, this is why I endured all those trainings and studies.

When the medium reaches the perfect temperature, I put the materials inside and start synthesizing. There’s another seal on the ground nearby in which I placed an empty tube into it earlier. After the process is done, the medical liquid is transfered directly into the tube. I repeat this process until I run out of materials, and by that time, the medium liquid is also vanished from being used up.

“I guess that’s it for today.”

I yawn after cleaning up my mess. This work goes better than expected, though that should be normal for me by now, after being forced to make medicines with this method during my time at Melas castle. I’m confident enough I can do this with my eyes closed...probably.

“Hmm?”

I glance at my watchmate Koros, who’s still not done with his writings. After all the noises I made from my potion work, yet the Orc still remains silent. This is both strange...and annoying. I get that he is the silent type, but if he keeps this up, people may think he is actually mute.

“Eh...lovely night, right? Koros?”

Of course, talking about the weather is the oldest method in the book to start a conversation.

“Yeah.”

Koros replies with a bored tone, not even trying to put in any effort.

“W-What are you doing there? Writing poetry?”

“Personal work.”

I bet it translates to: Not your business. Of course I have no business to pry into his business, but him being so quiet makes me feel uneasy, especially now that we are members of the same squad.

I stand up, stretch my arms and pretend I’m simply doing some physical excersise to escape from the sleepiness. But that’s just a front, I’m using it to slowly walk my way around his back to peak at whatever he’s working on. And the moonlight helps me shed light on Koros’s work on his notebook.

It is neither poetry or novel, it’s a drawing. A landscape drawing. I see a forest of dead trees, and a roadway filled with snow. The drawing is so lively it’s hard to believe he drawn it with only a pencil. I recognize the place in the drawing.

“Isn’t this the road we traveled through this morning? Right outside of Melas castle?”

I remember it pretty well, considering it’s the path Nilrem led me through to reach Deborah during her rampage. Koros does not answer, but he’s not annoyed by me enough to stop his hand from continuing to draw. Considering he’s drawing a scenic art purely from memory, the man is a very impressive artist despite his hulking frame gives no hints about his drawing ability.

“Your work is really good. Though isn’t it a bit lonely with just the landscape alone? If there are some people in it, everyone in our squad for example, it might become more lively.”

Koros’s pencil suddenly stops as I’m done commenting on his work. I can hear a faint sigh before Koros closes his notebook and puts it away. Is he angry with me? Did I say something offensive?

“...I don’t like drawing people. Scenery are easy, they are what they are. People are more complicated. It’s impossible to draw someone as they truly are.”

I don’t really understand. Is that his artistic philosophy? Before I have a chance to ask, the green Orc suddenly turns to me and says something unexpected.

“Akuma, you are a human, right? Not the mixed kind like Iola, or a lookalike vessel like Caelan’s race. You are a pure blood human.”

I don’t know how to react. I’m too shocked to react. The fact that everyone took me as a familiar for granted went so smoothly it makes me unprepared to face someone who’s not buying my bullshit. A drop of sweat flows down my cheek despite the chilling temperature.

“Ehh...it’s technically not true. I may look human and have human characteristic, but I’m actually a familiar summoned to this world!”

“I know a human when I see one, which world you came from is irrelevant.”

I guess there’s no use to try and convince him.

“If I’m actually a human then what are you going to do about it? Hand me over to the authorities?”

I don't think that's the case. If he already knew I’m a human then he wouldn't wait until our first mission to turn me in. I’m still trying to figure out what is this artistic Orc trying to achieve.

Koros suddenly turns his gaze away from me and looks at the sleeping Brenna.

“Miss Brenna is a good instructor, but not necessarily a good teacher. Once someone earned her trust, she forgets how to doubt that person again. In the end, she’s really Bjarni’s daughter.”

A faint smile appears on Koros’s lips. His tusks still make any mouth expression he does look scary, but his gentle blue eyes say the opposite. I feel no hostility from him, but there exists a layer of doubt in the way he’s talking to me.

“The first time we met, you told me you don't hold it against me for Bjarni’s death. Is that...a lie?”

“No...unlike humans, most Orcs don't practice lies and trickery. If we want someone dead, there wouldn't be any need to hide and wait.”

I find myself instinctively make a step back. His honesty really makes him hard to deal with.

“But perhaps, if no one told me the circumstance around my teacher’s death, I might have struck you down the moment you showed yourself in the training ground. Still, the fact remains that Bjarni died so that you can live, and as a student, I respect my former teacher’s decision.”

“And…?”

“...the fact he died for a human still remains. I might tolerate your presence as a comrade, but I choose who to trust from my own judgement. As Brenna said earlier, this mission can only succeed when our squad fulfill our role and put our trust in one another. But to be honest I can't completely trust a human, even if you have joined our ranks. There's no guarantee you won't sell us out to the enemy when your life is threatened. A mission in human land is the perfect opportunity for a human to stab us in the back.”

I stay silent, knowing everything he said have a valid reason. Even if I have decided to fight among the demons for the sake of protecting the people I care about, the possibility that I may betray them still exist, even not by choice. After all, in a moment of weakness, I almost sold out the demons to the invasion force during the siege. There's no guarantee I may not do the same if I’m captured by the humans in their territory.

“There's nothing I can say to make you trust me, right?”

“Understanding that is a start. Actions always speak louder than honeyed words.”

And of course, I always speak louder than anything I do, that's an undeniable fact...Perhaps there’s nothing else I can say to him, and Koros himself isn't full of words for someone who has yet to earn his trust. In the end, it's still up to me to prove myself, not just to my teammates, but to the Demon Realm that I am one among them.

I return to my previous position. The doubts and hopes in my thoughts are enough to keep me awake until our watch ends, and I quickly get some sleep before the second day of our first mission starts.