Frontline (11)

That night, the camp was quiet, and the night breeze gently stirred the tent curtains.

Ang had just finished organizing his potion notes and was about to rest for a while when he heard faint footsteps approaching.

He looked up and saw Janice entering with another female warrior—Maya Rudolph.

Maya wore a neat, practical combat cloak, her hair tied up again. She looked far more energetic than she had a few days ago.

She stepped lightly into the tent. In the firelight, her eyes carried a hint of probing mischief.

Ang was slightly taken aback. Though he quickly regained his composure, the brief change in his gaze when it fell on Maya was still keenly noticed by her.

"Viscount Ange, are you surprised to see me?" Maya raised a brow, her tone light and slightly playful.

"That's just how Maya is. She can be a little mischievous," Janice hurriedly added, sounding somewhat helpless.

Ang smiled and waved it off. "It's fine. I just didn't expect you to come along."

The three of them sat down. Maya eagerly looked around Ang's tent, while Janice quickly brought the conversation back to business.

She took out a hand-drawn map from her small military pouch and roughly outlined their movements along the way.

As her account went on, Ang's furrowed brow gradually relaxed.

"So, you were conducting field training at the time? You weren't transferred to the front line?"

"Yes, my lord." Janice nodded. "We were stationed on the eastern edge of the Litchfield Plains at the time. That area had originally been cleared out, with hardly any Lizardmen in sight, so we arranged a field tactical exercise."

"We never expected the Lizardmen to infiltrate the area again so suddenly," Maya added. "We received no warning at all. We could only fight while retreating,