*Ahh*

A groan escaped his mouth as soon he opened his eyes. What greeted him wasn’t the sky but the ceiling of the tent. The tent was different and bigger than the one his squad members had set up.

*Sigh*

That was all he could do while thinking about the things he had experienced. He looked around to find his vision had shortened. Without moving his neck he couldn't see the things on the right.

He moved his hand to find the right side of his face was wrapped in a cloth bandage. Kinoya groaned in pain.

"It wasn't a dream after all."

The fatigue had stripped off his strength and along with the wounds it was hard for him to move. He looked down to find some places on his body that were still wrapped. He tried to sit back up but failed. Nausea hit him as his body slumped on the bed again.

“They have died, just like that. I am weak.” When their faces appeared in front of his face again, he couldn’t control his emotion any more, “Still too weak. Weak, that is why I have to listen to that idiot leader.”

More he thought about it, the angrier he got. “Careless, overconfidence and underestimating the enemy shouldn’t be the quality of a leader, but…” Kinoya knew very well it wasn’t just the General of the West who had underestimated the enemy but he did it too.

Thinking about his error for long enough did help him to gain back some of his strengths as he moved again. He put on the armour that was at his side. One of the short scimitars was still there but he lacked the pair of it and also the shield.

Each of his movements was sending a jolt of shocks to his brain. It was painful but it was also the reason he could stay awake. When he came out of the tent, the sun was about to kiss the horizon. The sky was turning red with blood.

"Where are you going?" The guard outside the tent asked in a stern voice.

‘They might have someone whom they had known still they have to do their work. They might have grown numb to the deaths.’

“Hey are you okay?” the other guard shook his hand in front of his face to get Kinoya’s attention who was lost in thought.

Kinoya sighed and bowed. “Thank you for your hard work.”

They were caught off guard by his reaction, still, they asked, “Where are you going? The General asked us to let you rest until you have recovered.”

"I am going to find my squadmates." Kinoya’s voice was weak, the emotion was unstable but the resolution was strong, ‘Even if they have no chance of surviving, I have to find their body and give them a proper burial.’

The guards wanted to say something but didn't. Their hesitation made his heart sore but Kinoya bowed and moved towards the plane.

Many people were already moving in the field, recovering usable arrows, armours, even the bodies of their friends. It was hard for them to recover the bodies of all the fallen one. So these fallen bodies become the steps to victory. That was the fate of a soldier.

Kinoya moved towards the centre where the battle had taken place. The place was closer to the enemy camp than of his own. He just stood there looking over the sea of dead bodies. Those incidents started to flood his mind.

Though he already knew about the place, it was still hard. He had to drag his body quite long before he could find three of them. They were quite close to each other, but others were nowhere to be seen.

“Why do I have to leave the formation? If…” Even if he was staring at the dark sky, tears were streaming from his left eyes while the other one started throbbing again.

“Boy, are they your squad member?” The man didn’t have any armour on, his hand was dirty and had a basket full of weapons at the back. “Don’t cry, boy. They have gone to a better place, a place with no war. They are happy.”

‘Do you think I am just a child?’ Those lines didn’t appear in his mind. Rather he wanted to believe those empty words.

“This is what war is. Either you will kill others or you will be killed. No matter how many die the sun will rise again tomorrow, the wind will blow and…” The voice turned melancholic, “Those people, who are living in the comfort of the city wall, will never understand the pain of death, their useless bicker will continue…”

“WHHYYYY? Whyyyy? why?” His sudden scream startled the dirty man, as Kinoya slumped on the uneven ground. The resistance that was stopping him from crying went away, and he cried like no tomorrow.

The dirty man put down the basket behind him and came to pat Kinoya’s back but it didn’t have any good effect on him. He cried without any awareness of the world. When his conscious return he could see the dirty man sitting beside him.

“Are you okay?” The worried voice asked, but all Kinoya could do was nod as he stood up. He tried to pull out the bodies.

“Let me help you.”With the dirty man’s help, it went a lot quicker, “Do you want to bury them? I can help.”

Kinoya was having a hard time deciding what to do with the body. After hesitating for a while he asked, “Can you burn them?”

“Absolutely. But…”

“I will pay.”

Hearing about the pay a bright smile appeared on his face, as he whistled loudly. Soon three more people arrived with a basket full of weapons on their backs.

“One gold coin.” After consulting others the dirty man said with hesitation. Kinoya didn’t have much but he took out three gold coins and gave him.

“It was one…”

“Just do the ceremony properly.”

With a bright smile, they had started to arrange the thing, while one of them had left to bring woods.

Kinoya just stood there looking at the bright light burning at the enemy camp. 'There is someone who was able to our strategy to the last detail and used it against us.’

‘The adaptability of the person was not something to laugh at.' But what surprised Kinoya more was the ruthlessness. He sent 50,000 just as bait if the plan was to fail; they would have lost 50,000 more, after losing more than a hundred thousand after the first day. ‘But the term like 'if' has no use in reality.'

All the ‘if’ and ‘but’ continued to run through his mind looking for possible solutions. ‘No matter what it is, I am too weak to make it a reality. I am just another pawn on the board. And the game is played by an idiot.’

No matter what he couldn’t stop cursing the commander-in-chief. He had no attachment to the empire, to begin with, his only aim was to survive and move up on the ladder. But...

Kinoya steeled his resolve as the sheet of darkness soon enveloped the world. Kinoya continued to scavenge for a shield he could use. Soon enough he found one but his other scimitar was nowhere to be found.

“Is there any weapon you want?” A childish voice asked. It was one who was with the dirty man. The owner, of the same age group as him, was staring at him with curious eyes.

“Do you have a short scimitar?” Hearing the request he was quick to look inside the basket and took out one scimitar and gave it to Kinoya.

“It is too big.”

“You want the small one? Wait a minute, I think my father has found one.” The child went running.

‘There are people who will do this type of work too.’ Kinoya looked inside to find all kinds of weapons, it was not just weapons, there was armour too, both of Kingdom and empire. And something clicked inside him.

“Will this do?” The child had returned with one. It was short because it was broken. But at this moment Kinoya wasn’t worried about it.

“Do you have any more armour of the Kingdom?” Kinoya asked as he pulled out one from the basket.

“Yes, we have a lot. How many do you want?”

“As much as possible.”Hearing the answer the child’s smile brightened up, but he stopped, “Aren’t you a soldier of the Empire? Why are you looking for Kingdom’s?”

“I just need it.” Kinoya’s brain went on overdrive thinking of a plane of infiltration. He was so deep in it that he had almost missed but he shouted, “What did you say?”

Startled by the sudden outbreak, he looked towards Kinoya with fearful eyes. He wanted to go back to his father but Kinoya grabbed him. With a weak body, the boy had no chance to escape Kinoya’s clutch.

So he recited, “Aren’t you a soldier of the Empire? Why are you looking for Kingdom’s?”

“No. No. After that.” More impatient Kinoya got, the more fearful the child had become.

“That is peculiar.” The child was trying his hardest to recite every word he had said, “Those soldiers were also asking the same questions…”

************

Kinoya closed in on the Akai's tent and was greeted with a concerned shout from Akai.

"Listen general I have some important information to give you. Please listen to me first." Kinoya's serious voice took them by surprise. They followed him inside the tent.

"They are aiming to raid our camp. Our food supply station is one of their aim" Kinoya's words fall like thunder but Kinoya continued, "Right now they are scavenging the dead bodies of our army and using the armour they will get into the camp."

"You are joking. You were unconscious some time ago. How could you know? General, this boy is bluffing." It was the acting general of Kinoya, who spoke.

Kinoya didn't know why his Acting General had some kind of prejudice against him. But it was not like he cared, he looked at Akai without hesitation.

“How do you know?”It was the question he had expected, so he explained, “From the scavengers…”

“Scavengers?” Under the curious gaze, he explained the event up to last detail.

“How can we believe the words of those lowly bastards?” The acting general was staring dagger at Kinoya, “After all, he is a low-born himself. What a fitting co-operation.”

On the other hand, Akai was in the thought but soon left the spot "Let's see the commander-in-chief."

Kinoya nodded and said, "But before that, General, we need to put some guard at the supply station."

"Korai, do it." Akai was more concerned about the impending attack, so he left with Kinoya.