“Hup!” I ducked and swerved around Edward’s right hook, “Not good, not good! You’re wide open!”

Using the situation to my advantage, I quickly moved in close to land an uppercut. That being said, he had all but predicted the attack, so he stepped back before pointing to my right.

“Hm?” I tilted my head, only to get knocked on my back the very next moment.

“Hah!” He chuckled, “Why’d you look away? Did you seriously fall for the oldest trick in the book?”

“That was dirty, Edward!”

“Hey, war has no rules, right? If your opponent was a Carmen soldier, you’d already be dead by now. Heh, guess it just proves I’m still the better brawler.”

“That’s not true at all! You cheated by using Analyze to predict my movements!”

“That’s a bit hypocritical, isn’t it?” He gave me a bland, annoyed stare, “After all, you were Going Solipsistic the entire fight. Did you really think I didn’t notice?”

“A-Ah…”

Right, where do I start? Basically, Edward and I are currently doing some hand-to-hand combat training, as per the General’s orders. Everyone’s opinions on us are rather bad, so we’re basically the only two people left training. Heck, even the General told us it’s best we fight alone in the corner so as to not start any more problems with the others.

That being said, Edward’s a really sly opponent! He uses his Iro Ability to its fullest potential, barely ever even letting me get a hit in. This isn’t to say that he should just go easy on me, but at this point I’m wondering if I should ask the General to swap him in for someone else. Be it reading my mind to predict my movements, call upon his animal friends to trip me up, or even feinting me like he just did by pretending to predict a move I wasn’t even planning on making. Y’know, back when we were just starting out, he told me the only battle experience he had was the little bit of training he did as a child with Lune and his father, but nothing more. Now I’m wondering who the hell his father is, to be able to make such fine soldiers out of two little runts…

“Hey, you two!” Some guys wearing army attire approached us, “Still trying to show off to the General, are you?”

“And you are?” Edward glared back.

“We’re the guys…” He cracked his knuckles, “Who’re gonna make you wish you never enlisted here.”

Ah, now I get it. They must be the other rookies in the boot camp. I understand now, so basically they’re the guys Pierre’s been warning us about lately. Odd, they looked a lot skinnier than I had expected. I wonder…

“Hey guys, quick question.” I asked, “How many hours a day do you train to get those bodies?”

“Oh, jealous?” One of them started flexing his twig-like biceps, “That’s what happens when you train for an entire hour without rest, boy!”

“…You’re a failure.” Edward said flat out.

“Hey now, Edward! Even though it’s true, isn’t that rather rude to say?”

“Bullying is only rude if in two scenarios, Meil – if it’s untrue, or if it’s undeserved. Remember what I say, if I tell a fat person that they’re fat, then I’m just stating facts to hopefully get them motivated to lose some folds.”

“Is that how it works?” I figured, “So it wouldn’t be rude of me to state facts in saying these guys here are disgracing the army?”

“What the hell did you just say?!” The rookie soldiers started getting louder and louder.

“Well, that’s kind of a gray area, Meil.” Edward continued our conversation while ignoring the rookies, “Since they can’t help but be weak, it’s really not alright to mock them in this case. That being said, just because they don’t have the body for war doesn’t mean they can’t prove useful. Like, doing oddjobs around the base could be their calling or something.”

“That’s it!” The guys ran up to us, punching me in the face, “Hah! How’s that?!”

“In all honesty?” I cracked my neck, “Barely felt it.”

In the very next moment, I had knocked him out without even putting my hips into the equation. It just didn’t feel worth it to put in so much effort against such a weak opponent. I believe in the eye for an eye philosophy, so I should only return the damage that has been dealt to me if I see that I’m not in any apparent danger.

“Aw, you knocked your guy out too quickly.” Edward clicked his tongue, “And to think I wanted to get some more realistic practice in before the day ends. What a shame.”

“Don’t get cocky, city boy!” One of the shorter guys turned his weakness into a strength as he punched Edward in the groin.

“Yeow!” He yelped, “Not my boys! They’ve still got a duty to fulfill!”

Kicking away the shortie with an alarming amount of strength behind it, his Eyes went Gray for just a short moment as he engaged in a flurry of attacks, knocking the third guy out. The entire scene was both cool and comedic all at the same time, and even I couldn’t help but feel a sense of reverence for Edward. He really is talented, but he’s really bad at strategizing. Oddly enough, he feels like a Vanguard first and foremost, despite his rather insecure nature.

“…Ow.” He looked around for a bit before falling to the ground holding his scrotum, “Ow! Ow ow ow! Damn midget, why the hell did he have to go for the most sensitive parts!? That’s dirty!”

“Didn’t you say that war doesn’t have dirty tactics?”

“Screw that! Dude went straight for the nuts!”

Writhing in pain for a bit more, I offered to take him to the infirmary to put some ice on it, but he backed out quickly, stating he’d rather do it alone. Right, outside of prison, it’s really not that normal for a guy to show his thing off to another guy, so I imagine he must be a bit weirded out by my suggestion. Honestly, what an odd thing I picked up from my time in slavery…

***

After we mopped the floor with those guys, we were reported by some other onlooker rookies (onlookies?) and were told to visit the General’s office. Expecting to get chewed out, Edward told me to remain calm and to try my best not to say anything that’ll get us into even more trouble. He immediately lost all of his confidence the moment Pierre was brought into the situation, which I guess shows how much he respects his elders. Thankfully though, it seems the General really didn’t care about those “weaklings” as he put it, and only joked a bit about how Edward needs more training so that what the short guy did doesn’t happen again. That being said, we went to sleep and pretended like it never happened. Now, at the morning rollcall, the General has yet another big announcement to make.

“Today, rookies, you will be making one of the most important choices of your measly lives!” The General said with a tear in his eye, “Seeing as you’ve trained enough in hand-to-hand combat, I think it’s about time you picked out what weapon class you’ll be in from here on.”

Weapon class? Is there even such a thing? Surely, why not just give everyone a gun and teach us to shoot? At least, that’s what I believe the enemy is going to be using, so we really shouldn’t be put in such a disadvantageous situation, no? Eh, the General said he’s been in countless wars his entire life, so I trust him to make the right call.

“Permission to speak, Sir!” Edward raised his hand as the other rookies rolled their eyes.

“Permission granted.”

“Why not just give everyone guns?”

“Right, we can’t really do that because…” Pierre stammered a bit in embarrassment, “Because we don’t… have the funds for it.”

“Ah.” Edward gave him a sympathetic gaze, “Sorry about that.”

With the momentum now coming to a full stop, everyone glanced around awkwardly before the General cleared his throat to continue with his speech. Sheesh, glad I didn’t ask, otherwise I would’ve been responsible for ruining the mood. I think I’m getting better at reading the room.

“In any case, what we do have the funds for are the Spear class and the Bow class. Each of you will be choosing for yourself what class you wish to be put in, and will be training with one of the most top-notch warriors this world has to offer.”

Wow, that’s incredible. I wonder who they are?

“Of course, that means the person teaching you the ways of the Bow shall be none other than moi. Pardon my Simpletonian.”

Collectively groaning at his high self-esteem and ego, it seems the entire battalion could understand each other in this one short moment. The General got a bit fussy after that and ordered for all of us to drop and give him 50, but after that was done…

“Oh, by the way, Sir.” I addressed him with the adequate amount of respect, “If you’re training the Bow, who’s training the Spear?”

“Oh, right!” He recalled, “Aaron, get in here!”

“Huh?!” Edward gasped as he saw the General’s subordinate enter the courtyard, “Aaron, you’re gonna be the Spear mentor?!”

“Hm? Ooh, would you look at that!” He patted Edward strongly on the back, “Haha! Of all the people to show up here, to think it’d be you!”

“You two know each other?” Pierre tilted his head.

“Of course we do!” Aaron chuckled, “He’s your brother’s boss, goddamn it!”

At this, everyone in the crowd, including even Pierre and Ed’s jaws dropped. Turning over to him, he couldn’t handle the pressure, so he had an anxiety attack and froze up. A lot of questions started popping up before Aaron suddenly yelled for everyone to shut up.

“Alright, alright!” He shouted, “Seriously, Pierre, the kid didn’t mention that he’s the General of ARA?”

“No, why would he?!” Pierre was at a loss for words, “Seriously, why is every kid I meet suddenly the General of ARA?”

“Nah, it’s just him Lune and Cecily.” Aaron replied.

Okay, it seems everyone’s gotten on the same page finally. Now we can finally proceed with… WAIT!

“You’ve met Lune and Cecily?!” Both Edward and I pointed at Pierre.

“Phahaha!” He burst out laughing, “What a funny situation we’ve found ourselves in! Well, we’ll have to talk about this at a later date, but for now let’s just get everyone in the right weapon class!”

Just like that, Aaron moved to one side of the courtyard, while Pierre stood on the opposite side. We were told to go towards the mentor whose weapon class we wanted to enroll in. Now, this begs the question – which do I choose? Certainly, the Bow is the closest thing we have to an actual gun, but it just doesn’t have the speed to fire off before the gun. I’ll most definitely get shot before I kill my opponent, not to mention I’d be super vulnerable if someone closed in on me. On the other hand, a Spear will be provided a Shield that they’ll carry on them at all times. Their fighting style is heavily focused on keeping your distance from the enemy, but you’re not out of the game yet if they close in on you thanks to your shield. Yep, it’s obvious from a logical standpoint, the most optimal Weapon class is, without a doubt…!

“A Bow!” Edward proudly announced.

“Eh?” I tilted my head at him, “Wait, don’t you mean the Spear?”

“What? Hell no! I’d rather shoot from the back than charge on the battlefield!” Edward defended his choice, “Plus, have you seen Pierre’s accuracy? He just doesn’t miss!”

Pierre heard the accidental compliment from Edward and puffed out his chest with a smugness previously unparalleled, all the while Aaron rolled his eyes with a chuckle. Hold on, that reminds me!

“But what about Aaron?” I asked, “Don’t you wish to have someone you know teach you?”

“That…” He looked down for a second, “I promised to get out of the war alive, and that just isn’t gonna be as easy with such a short range weapon. Oh, no offense to you, Aaron!”

“None taken!” Aaron smiled and waved from the far side of the courtyard, “When this is over, tell Anna I said hi!”

“Tell her yourself, dork!” Edward smiled back.

And so, as we were all separated into our own Weapon classes, the lone princess sitting on the bench all this time sighed as she looked on at the entire situation unfurling.

“Yet another friend joins the fray… Hooray.”