In the Midst of Night

"It's over.. I killed him!! You can come out now!" Adolph yelled. Yet his eyes remained intact, watching with a stern glare to the grimace fog.

Hanz and Gunther heads raised hearing the great news, feeling relieved as their saddened eyes and weary body suddenly fueled with energy.

"You heard him, let's go! I can't stand here anymore knowing at any moment we can get ourselves killed!" Gunther complained, patting Hanz's shoulder as he slowly pulled his body up.

"I agree," Hanz grunted, trying to stand up as well.

The two of them peaked their heads up, looking side to side, checking if they were exposed, but what greeted them was nothing more but silence. the two looked at each other and nodded, assured as they took a step into the field of no man's land, swift and agile they went, avoiding the pools of mud.

They soon saw Kazuto lying to the ground where they last left him, with hands shivering as if they were cold as he held his helmet tightly, while his eyes firmly closed, trembling in horror.

"Hey, stand up. It's over," Hanz uttered, eyebrows raised and furrowed, with lips pressed together.

Kazuto gradually opened his eyes, slithering them as he saw Gunther and Hanz standing right in front of him with foreheads damped in sweat. Kazuto felt relieved seeing them alive, but left perplexed knowing someone was still missing.

With a soft and gentle push, Kazuto gets himself up. "Where's the short guy?" Kazuto asked timidly, looking away as he could feel a strong pain in his chest.

"You mean Adolph? He's probably gonna meet us here," Hanz replied, skeptical of his own answer.

A figure soon approached them on their right, as a boy wearing the same uniform as theirs holds a rifle like it was about to break, with an expression full of solemnity.

"Adolph? what took so long?" Gunther asked with a curious grin, crossing his hands.

Adolph didn't even bother to reply to Gunther's question. Rather he just kept on walking, even passing Gunther like he was a statue carved in stone.

His eyes were just fueled in flames, walking further as he glared towards Kazuto. When he finally reached the right distance, he raised the butt of his rifle and thrusts it towards Kazuto's skull.

Kazuto didn't even have time to react. He just stood there, no resistance or will to fight. With just a single strike, Kazuto fell back to the pool of mud, unconscious.

Both Hanz and Gunther watched in shock as the bruised face became even worse. Blood started to course down in Kazuto's forehead as the terrifying realization became clear.

"Why did you knock him out!?" Gunther yelled as he gripped Adolph's shoulder.

"It's either to deal with more of his idiocy or knock him out cold!" Adolph muttered, bitter as he clenched his teeth. He then glared back towards Gunther, yelling, "And I don't want to spend another minute with someone with the potential to lead us all to our deaths!"

Hanz and Gunther looked at him in disgust and fear, with their fists clenching ready to fight if it ever come to that. But Adolph sighed, blowing off all of the anger in his shoulders as he gazed back towards them with a more collected manner.

"Look, He's not dead," Adolph assured them with a calm tone, as the three of them found their eyes laid gazing towards Kazuto's unconscious body.

"You can clearly see him still breathing. Let's just carry him back to the trench and do our duties," Adolph suggested, crouching down as he grabbed Kazuto's hands next to his chest as he slowly carried him up behind back.

Hanz and Gunther were left unspoken, still weary, but Adolph just gaze at them in the eye and walked away as if nothing ever happened. The two later followed in his footsteps, as the battlefield was left in silence, with not a single glimmer of life being left behind.

***

Kazuto gradually opened his eyes, obscured by the pale soothing skies of the domain, with the breeze so still and atmosphere so peaceful like a nurtured garden.

He could also hear a gentle sensation of a harp being played as it's melody almost comparable to a benevolent voice of an angel, as his eyes gazed above the white clouds strolling by.

'What is this calm feeling? Am I dead... again?' Kazuto thought with hesitation.

He then rubbed both of his eyes using his hands, as the soothing domain turned dark.

What he was actually gazing at was just the ceiling made out of wood and thickened dirt, as a small lamp illuminates on his left. But it was rather dim, nothing comparable to the open and wide area of the domain.

And the soothing song of the harp he was hearing was just a vivid of his imagination, as everything he heard and thought were nothing but lies.

'My... head... hurts,' Kazuto thought to himself, with his throat so coarse and dry that even the slightest sip could probably satisfy him.

He then decided to sit down away from the wooden bed, but as he gradually raised his back he could feel it aching. He had never felt such sensation before compared to waking up to his original bed.

His old bed after all had a mattress. It wasn't as soft and large as those of the rich, nor is it as hard as the one he slept in. It was just right, fitting for him, but knowing this is now his life he has no right to complain.

Nonetheless, as his feet lay dormant on the floor he could almost feel every part of his body being sore and bruised. Especially on his face, as he could feel his head wrapped tightly by bandages.

"So you're finally awake. Took you long enough," a man said with a warm tone, sitting on a wooden chair not facing towards him.

His face wasn't visible rather only his back, as his hair was dark like chocolate, as he seemed occupied writing some sort of book on the table in front of him.

He doesn't seem to be as buff as Gunther, nor as short as Adolph. Rather he seemed average in height with a physique of an average person.

"Who are you?" Kazuto asked.

"Me? I'm Corporal Muller, part of the 16th infantry division," The man said as his pen stopped, and his eyes looking to the ceiling walls.

"I'm... Kazuto," Kazuto hesitated.

"Kazuto, ey? So I guess you prefer being called by your real name.. huh, Walter," Muller replied, scoffing as he shook his head.

He then stood up and turned his chair towards Kazuto, with a somewhat friendly expression on his face as he sat back down. He slowly raised his hand open, as he continued.

"In that case, you can call me Corporal Otto Muller, or since you prefer being called by your first name why not make it fair. You can call me Otto.. for short."

Kazuto nervously nodded once, as he slowly reached Otto's hand. A small handshake was then performed, As Otto watches the handshake with a grim expression written on his face.

Otto then stood up in haste like a child wanting to play, pushing the chair away from him as he slowly grabbed something from the table.

Kazuto quickly raised his neck, trying to get a glimpse of what was on the table. His eyes soon saw a small metal tag written in words that he couldn't understand. A metal tag that he could only conclude as nametags.

A flash of memories reminisce his head, as he remembered the first person he met in this world killed right before his eyes.

"Winston..." he whispered.

Kazuto took a deep breath, calming himself as he gazed back towards Otto,who was still searching for something on the table.

"So... what happened to Winston?" Kazuto asked timidly, looking down as he could feel a reap of guilt.

"You mean Winston Heinrich?" Otto asked, looking back at him.

Kazuto remained silent, his eyes barely could even look him in the eye, but it was already clear that he was referring to him.

"Oh... he's dead. The bullet pierced his head clean, there was no way a person could survive that clean of a cut.." Otto said, grabbing his small journal from the table and into his pocket.

"His body, with hundreds of others are being deported from the battlefield a few hours ago as we speak."

Kazuto bit his lip hearing those words. His fists tremble, clenching ever tightly. His mind began to be consumed by death, breaking his soul with guilt as he couldn't help but blame himself for his death.

"It's fine, You are forgiven. In battle many of our comrades die, it's only natural. No one is blame." Otto said with a solemn tone, his voice being as sharp as a knife.

Kazuto's head tilted up, his thoughts being brought back to the light as he could see Otto's hazel eyes as clear as the dreaming sky.

"You're right.." He uttered softly, lips quivered.

Otto gave a small smile, throwing something towards Kazuto as Kazuto's hand moved swiftly, catching whatever was being thrown towards him.

In his hands it felt adhesive, but at the same time it was hard as clay. Its smell felt fresh, almost as if it was made of mint. He then looked at the item, seeing something oval and pale.

"Huh, soap?" Kazuto muttered, looking at it confused and the same time insulted.

"That's right. Soap. Use to clean yourself. You stench with mud, sweat, blood and possibly.. rat feces," Otto said, gazing away as he covered his nose with his arm.

"I feel violated," Kazuto said in shame.

'But where would I even take a bath, there's not even a single source of clean water anywhere on the battlefield.' Kazuto pondered as he just watched the bar of soap in his hands.

"If you're wondering about water, there's a small Elven village only a few meters away, there are also other soldiers patrolling the village. We'll just have to ask the locals for you to find a place to bathe," Otto suggested, his hand on his chin.

"We? Wait, you're escorting me?" Kazuto asked.

"Well from the looks of your expression alone, you know nothing about this place, nor what's going on. Not only that but most of your body is filled with wounds, especially your face," Otto informed him, pointing his finger to every bruise and cut on Kazuto's face.

Kazuto sighed in frustration. However, he couldn't really reject the offer, as most of it were true.

"Fine, Let's go," Kazuto replied, slowly standing up.

Otto nodded, grabbing his rifle from the side of the room and carrying it behind his back. He later took the lamp on the table as well on his left hand.

They then started walking out of the room, but before they could even leave they saw Hanz and Gunther passing by them, together with the sergeant. Their expressions were cold and full of solemnity, as they didn't even bother to gaze anywhere other than forward.

Kazuto saw this as an opportunity to apologize as he tried to approach them, but before he could move any further Otto held his shoulder, stopping him.

"The two of them must be going to bring information to the Major General, it's best if we don't disturb them," Otto said, watching them walking away.

He then released his hand from Kazuto's shoulder and walked forward to the opposite direction, as he slowly gazes back towards Kazuto.

"Come on, time is still valuable, we can't just stand here all night."

Kazuto nodded and followed Otto, but as they were walking through the complex routes of tunnels, Kazuto's hands stayed firm, even often looking back at them as he could feel the sense of guilt scarring him.

A few minutes have passed by, and they are now back to the trenches. It was as dark as the tunnels, as the night was ragged by clouds with barely even any lamps illuminating the defenses.

Kazuto eyes wanderer to the fields of no man's land, as infantrymen on all sides used the dark night as their shield to build and repair almost anything that was necessary.

All the barbwire that were placed were almost getting repaired, and men who were a few meters away were digging up another line trench and holes to use as protection in case of another upcoming invasion.

"It's really busy tonight, huh?" Kazuto said.

"It's always a busy night. Well if we don't build more defenses, soon the enemies would come out knocking on our doorstep and wiping us all out with just a broom," Otto scoffed.

"Hey, you! What are you doing!? Stop slacking off and help the other! make the job quite faster don't you think!?" An infantryman yelled, glaring at them in anger.

He then dropped back to the trench and walked towards Otto and Kazuto, as Kazuto could feel a strong horrifying aura behind the man.

"Sorry Corporal Wilbur, but we're on the 3rd Platoon. The major general extended our rest time if you don't know," Otto informed him with a solemn expression.

"Huh!? I never heard the Major General extending your Platoon's rest time, where's your evidence!?" Corporal Wilbur demanded, his expression filled with annoyance.

Otto chuckled softly, as he slowly grabbed something from his pocket. It was a folded piece of paper, and without hesitation, he gave it to corporal Wilbur.

Corporal Wilbur took it from Otto's hands as swift as it was taken from Otto's pocket, quickly opening it and reading whatever was written.

"If you look at the bottom, you can see the General's signature," Otto said with a smug look on his face.

He then looked back towards Kazuto who was behind and nodded, as they continued walking.

"Uh... Wait! What about the piece of paper!" Kazuto worries.

"There's no need to retrieve it. The corporal would just either keep it or return it back to the Major general," Otto informed him, still having the smug look on his face. "That's the way he is, always trying to be on the officer's good side."

Kazuto gazes back at the man, as the man's eyes remained intact reading the letter's every single word with great detail as if he was mining for gold.

The two of them continued walking, as they soon climb up the ladder and left the battlefield for tonight.