Outside Sika City, dense forest.
Thick snow blanketed the hard frozen ground, making soil already as tough as steel seem as though it had donned a layer of armor. The pine needles in the forest were like sharp little daggers; anyone who rashly pushed through them would be cut.
Every year, there were always a few unlucky fools like that among the patrols.
And because of such unlucky fools, every patrol squad went through a period of rapid growth.
Karl had been one of those unlucky fools.
When he first joined the patrol, he had refused his captain's suggestion to wear a thick burlap cloak, insisting on wearing armor instead. Then... every part of him not protected by the armor was scraped bloody by pine needles.
As for the parts protected by the armor?
They had not fared much better.
After moving around for a long time, he had sweated heavily. Not only had it made him uncomfortable, but by nightfall, his skin and lining had frozen together completely. Karl would never forget the sight of his captain and comrades boiling water to deal with him. After that, he had been bedridden with a cold for an entire week before recovering.
Then, he had once again refused his mother's proposal that he join the army as a staff officer and returned to the patrol.
He had stayed for a year.
It was dull and dangerous.
But it had also been happy.
There had been no scheming, no smiling faces concealing blades. Everyone had been comrades and brothers who entrusted their backs to one another.
As he recalled those days, Karl subconsciously began to smile.
But only then did he come back to his senses. I'm already a skeleton. Where would I get a mouth?
Karl immediately opened his jawbone.
He