In mid-August, several days after the King Killing incident.
South of Shalin, Grey Rock Territory, inside a military camp.
"Tap tap tap..."
"Neigh..."
Soldiers ran back and forth, horses were led around, and plenty of shouting mixed in.
"You there, hurry up and bring those crates over."
"You damned dead wood, don't stand there like a damned log. Get over here and help clean this up."
"All survivors of First Battalion, Third Squad, assemble..."
The camp was a complete mess, dust flying everywhere and chaos erupting on all sides, enough to make anyone frown deeply.
Frank Dice sat on a crate in a corner of the camp, watching it all. Amid the chaos, he could smell something unsettling—the smell of war.
War was coming.
Yes, war was coming—he had received word in advance. Not only was there going to be a war, it was going to be a big one.
When it came to war, though, he was not afraid.
Really, he was not afraid.
After all, he was an experienced veteran who had seen plenty of major battles and narrowly escaped death time and again. He suspected there might not even be anyone in the entire Silver Cross Mixed Regiment as tenacious as he was.
At the very beginning, when the Sika Kingdom and the Soma Alliance had suddenly clashed in the border city of Newburg, he had been there.
Later, after Newburg had calmed down and his discharge date was drawing near, he had been transferred to an outpost near Reef Rock Fortress, eager to return home and marry as soon as possible. That place could be considered the most heavily defended and safest location along the entire border.
He had thought he would be discharged without incident, return home to marry the beautiful Nosa, have a few