The Restaurant and the Two Armies

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As I advance with my four-man party, we hide conspicuously below the green bushes and the trees within this Grand Forest. Our footwear is crushing the dead stalks and branches on the ground. Linton is just within our sights.

"Do you see the light?" I hear Jeral whispering. I see what he's talking about as it's seeping through the forest like some kind of sunlight. How can there be such a prominent light source without them being close by? What are those weird claws that are tearing down the stone wall?

"Yes, keep on moving," I murmur. I don't want to die here.

We step closer towards the edge of the dark forest as the trees slowly reveal the mysterious buildings with light and the roaring sounds over the heavens.

"What in god's is that?" Oswyn utters.

"It's some kind of technology that we don't understand? Torches don't radiate that brilliantly." I mention.

"Lukius, are you sure that we are dealing with the fucking Northerners? Those don't look like torches." Oswyn talks back.

"Possibly, they may have some new ally."

"There's no way. Look at those beasts. There are no horses! Some weird monsters make some ominous sounds! They don't even look like dragons! This damn town has an opening as they're destroying the wall that is protecting them!" Nyer blurts.

"Shut up. We're here to gather the counts on enemies and the important details. Collect some knowledge on the green soldiers as they seem to don't have any plate armor." I drawl.

"As long as we get out of here alive." Jeral joked.

We huddle up for a plan, "Just as what we've done, we will pose as travelers at the front gate. But with different identities this time. Once we make it through the entrance as travelers, we go, scout, this town top and bottom and gather our findings outside." I state the plan.

"Wait, shouldn't we go in by morning?" Nyer questions.

"The whole town is open clean for an invasion. There are also some commoners outside of the lockdown, so it's safe to say that we can blend in with them. The secondary objective is to find out who are the leaders of this army." I shared my thoughts.

"Alright. Sounds good. No fights?" Oswyn asks.

"You may use your wands if our cover is blown," I confirm.

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"AaaAAaaAaaAaAAAaaAaAa." I hum while Satomi is shaking me as she is grabbing on my green uniform. In the 3rd BCT Headquarters, some are staring at the two of us.

"Why. Did. You, send. Me. On. These. Boring. Assignments?" She cries. On second thoughts, I should change her consciousness again.

I lay my hands on her shoulders, "Someday, you will learn."

"What does that mean!" She whines as she continues to rock me.

"When you get older..."

"What..." I see Satomi putting her head on me.

"But...you're same as me?" She mouths in a more delicate voice.

"Oh...I guess so." Yeah. These appearances of both Satomi and I are awfully taking a toll on my mental mind. It's so unusual. I can't pinpoint what it is, exactly.

If I were to insert some information about military tactics and everything into her, is it possible to make her an actual assistant that can actually do things? Hm...

"How about this, I will make you the second in command?"

"Why?" She looks at me.

"I won't have to bother you anymore with boring responsibilities."

"Deal." She willingly accepts.

"That's fast. Alright, I will inform the divisional headquarters of this."

"Mhm!" She nods.

"Yeah...I will be doing something."

"Mhm."

I pull out my glass tablet and inserted many things of military know-how, both on the strategic and the operational level. Gosh. I wish the academy was this easy.

"Satomi, what's FDC?"

"Um...Fire Direction Control." She replies.

"Alright. It works." She has a puzzled look.

After learning some things from Satomi, I informed the high command of what's happening.

"Do you mind if we take a walk?" I ask Satomi.

"Nope." She grabs her HK416C.

The two of us stepped out of the green tent and onto the grass, lit up by the newly built streetlights.

"So much work is done. I can barely tell if this was a grassy area." Satomi remarks on the environment around us.

In front of us is the newly paved roads leading into the town, from Joint Base Central. It's still in the drying phase.

"C'mon, let's go," I say to Satomi.

We walk into the town once again, and I'm in awe of how lively it is, even when it's like midnight. However, there aren't as many people shouting for their wares compared in the afternoon. The buildings here are being demolished in place for a new one. I don't even know the layout of the town. But it definitely looks like things are being moved around here in this town. Entire districts are demolished to make room.

There are soldiers that I see on some occasions, much less than the evening. They, of course, stood at attention as we walk past them. We apparently walk into some market of this town. The stalls are mostly empty, with just some open for the night in the lightened-up area.

"During my assignments, I heard that one of the establishments has managed to pass our certifications for cooking things. Can we try it?" Satomi pleads to me.

"Sounds good."

I see her smiling, "It should be around the estates somewhere!"

She skips ahead of me, "Wait!" I shout to her.

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"This is it!" Satomi exclaims.

We ran through some alleyways and into this construction area.

I slow down, and I look in front of this glamorous building, which is the only one completed in this barren area filled with construction vehicles and the workers from the engineer battalion. Finally, it's something that isn't medieval outside of Joint Base Central. There's a glass front with visible marble flooring at the front of the restaurant. The sign reads, "Elian's Restaurant."

Self-explanatory sign.

"That's what you're talking about?" I say to her with a breathy noise.

"Yeah!" She grabs me by my hand and proceeds to walk us through the automatic doors of this establishment.

"Welcome! I'm Aryn." Some lady cheerfully greets us.

"A table for two!" She says to the hostess.

"Wait..." I tell Satomi, still haven't caught up on my oxygen.

"You can sit over there!" I see her pointing at a small table for four people at the windowpane.

Satomi drags me towards the table and scoots me into the inner seat. She sits right beside me.

I finally caught up with what's happening, and I can now feel the comfortable air conditioning. Ah. I think I'm the one who created this building out of thin air because I was hungry...

"Sayuri, there's a lot of good choices on here!" She passes over the menu.

I look at it, and I was astounded by the low prices. The pictures of the food are amazing, and the portions are wonderous. I would eat there all the time! Though, I can't really eat all of it. I look around over the modern seats, and there are a couple of residents and soldiers eating here. But, no soldiers and civilians are eating together. That's concerning.

I hear the automatic doors sliding open and the construction vehicles outside. Followed by footsteps.

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"What kind of cold air is this?" Oswyn questions.

"Welcome! I'm Aryn." She greets the four of us. Aryn looks kind of nice.

"So this is the only eatery open in this area?" I speak to the stunning female.

"Yes, as of right now. Do you need a table for the four of you?"

"Yeah-" I stopped Jeral from trying to do some lines on her.

"Ahem...yes," I say it in a fruity way.

As she leads us towards the place we're going to eat, I found out that there are also green men eating here...shit. What kind of place did you guys pick?

"It's right here." She states.

"Thank you," I reply back to Aryn.

"No problem!"

The four of us sat down, "What yall think of her?" Not even a second before we have some time to relax, Jeral!

"Some fine, decent knockers, slim body, and an average-sized ass." Jeral blurts.

"Shush it, Jeral. We're here for food and the mission. Not the gals."

"I'd have to agree, Oswyn." Nyer approves.

"But...look at that food." Jeral ferociously stares at the painted pictures of food. What kind of painting is that? Heck, there's even one for each of us! There's no way that a magician is commissioned to do these things just for a restaurant!

"If you think about it, just look at how properly built it is here. It rivals even our capital!" I chuckle.

"How dare you question your loyalty, Lukius!" Nyer snickers at me.

"Shush. We're here to eat."

"Pfft. Alright. I will remember that."

"So this is the Unified Dollar? The food is so inexpensive here! Hey, can we live here now?" Jeral giggles.

"You too!?" Nyer criticizes Jeral.

"C'mon, it's just a joke." Jeral grumbles.

"Are you ready to order things?" Aryn asks us.

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The meal arrived. Look at that. It's impressive. Aristocratic dining, just for this price. The crispy texture...the tenderness of the meat. Great love is given to this meal for the commoners of us. No country in this world can beat this...just what the heck are the Unified States?

"Hey, can you ask the two ladies behind you about the northerners?" Jeral urges me.

I look up from the table and see the two females looking straight back at me. I immediately look back at my men. From what I could observe in that short observation, they're dressed in the same uniform that these green men are wearing. Do the Unified States force children in their ranks? Heck, the two blondes look the same!

"What? It would compromise us." I reply back.

"Don't worry. Just act natural!" He insists.

I give in to the peer pressure, "Fine, you pay the damn meal." I laugh.

"Got it, boss."

I stood up from the finely crafted chair, and I walk over towards the two girls. I see their blue crystal eyes.

The one near the window looks at me.

Seeing an opportunity, "Hey, do you know anything about-"

"Northerners? Have no clue. But your group is really loud over here. Heh." She speaks in a soft voice to me.

"Yeah..." The other one talks.

Now that I have a closer look at the two of them, their facial features are striking. Looks like they're from the nobility.

"So...you don't know?" I question them.

"Yep, do you mind telling us what they are?" I look back at my men, and they're focused on their meals. Wow.

"So. Who exactly are you guys?" I can't tell which girl is saying it.

I look back at the two girls, and one of them is pointing some weird black tube at me that I've seen with the other green men at the entrance to the town.

I swelter, "Just some travelers. We go through Hillford and many other towns. But, this one is unique." Is this enough to convince them? They're children anyways.

"Hillford? Tell me more about it..." The one at the end of the seat says it in a criticizing way.

"Hey, Lukius, you doing alright there?" Oswyn communicates to me just in time.

"I'm doing alright!" I reply back.

I see him nodding, and they went back to their food after hearing my response.

"You don't have to tell me." I see her smiling. It's...scary.

"A-Alright...is that all..?" I shrug.

"Yeah. You can go back to your friends." She grins.

"Thank you."

I silently walk back to my table, and I sit down. I feel sick. Why am I the one being told to go back? Something inside of her...it's unsettling. Not just her, but the other one feels more unsettling. Are they magicians of trained nobility? I can feel a difference in our experiences. But they don't know who the northerners are?

"Hey, are you okay?" The voice of Nyer expresses with concern.

"I'm fucking okay."

"Woah. Don't have to be that mad. You didn't manage the two to admire you, eh?" Nyer mocks me.

"Okay, you know what, let's get out of here."

"But I'm not finished with this menu?" Jeral grieves.

"Put the bill and the 'stone' down. We're LEAVING." I hiss at my men.

The four of us hurriedly packed up our gear, and we walk out of these magical doors that slide open when anyone is near it. The cool breeze of this mysterious town is refreshing once I step out of this luxury business. The weird yellow things with claws are in this area...I don't know what the heck is going on with this town?!

"We need to report back south to Count Craith about this stunning discovery," I inform my men.

"I don't think we have information on who's leading this town?" Oswyn addresses.

"Of course, it's thy Lord, Lysander. Actually, we'll go to him first."

"Our mission is to scout the town, not meeting with the Lord!" He addresses.

"I'm the one leading this group." I bleat. "Men, prepare. We are going to the castle."

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My soldiers at this restaurant were having some concern about me and are ready to strike them at any time. But I talk them down as I'm fine.

"S-Sayuri, are you sure that you're going to let them go?" Satomi ponders.

"Yeah, they look fine. Plus, it also gave us some insight into the outside world."

"W-What? You're going to let them go?" She contemplates.

I bite down on the Sashimi. It tastes so good.

"I've said it earlier, yes."

"I hope you're right..." Satomi murmurs.

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"Jeral, you got our crystallites?" I ask him.

"Everything we need is all in here." He presents us his bag full of crystallites. It's necessary for us to actually fight these green soldiers with tubes if the need arises.

I look around in this alleyway, and there are none of them to be found. Only the wandering civilians that I can find here.

"Let's move," I say.

"This will make us detectable from enemy magicians. Are you sure about that?" Nyer cautions.

"Better to do this quick."

"Whatever you say."

We each grab the crystallites of each purpose and stuff them in our pockets.

I insert the crystallite into my wand.

As I focus my thoughts on it, I'm supposedly invisible now to the naked eye outside of my group.

The four of us give checks to see if we're invisible to others, and we are ready.

I climb on top of the wooden houses, with the three following behind.

"The view is splendid up here," Oswyn says.

"Shush." I chuckle.

My group jumped over the houses with gallantry through the cool air of this town. The only exception to our invisibility is that noises cannot be masked as of now. That's a bummer. I laugh as we run straight over the green men of this town.

Shortly after making a dash over the roofs of the deprecated houses, we made it to the inner walls of the town. The four of us slipped past through the drawbridge and into the castle itself. I give hand communications to each of my men to scout and to report at the main hall. Two minutes. Mark.

I walk forth without my group as we split up. Through the hallways lit up by these bulb-shaped lights. There are no candles that I can see at all. It's like they brought the sun down here!

I walk past a room, and I hear chatter coming from the door in front of me. Good thing, I see that the door isn't closed shut all the way. I take a peek inside, and I see the Lord himself in his purple-dyed clothes. There's some nobility with him, too. This is quite problematic.

I report back at the designated time and found the rest of my men at the main hall.

After giving some signs about what I've found to my group, they all followed me.

I ready my wand as a sign, and I see that my men are ready. I hope that they got the clues. The Lord isn't supposed to be shocked.

I nod, and we barge in.

I channel the energy from the crystallite to the wand as it bursts energy full of light at the nobles.

PZZZT.

THUD.

The nobles drop down on the ground, paralyzed.

"W-Wha. What's happening!" Lysander freaks out.

"Sweet dreams, my Lord." I use the wand with another crystallite and put the Lord to sleep. Utilizing another crystallite to merge him with our invisibility. I carry him, and he's kind of heavy, not bad for a muscular Lord.

I signal my men that we're moving out.

We run straight towards the top of the castle, dropping down onto the inner stone walls of the town. I avoid every lookout from the green men that are stationed on top of it. It's tough. It's stressful. I feel like we can die at any moment if they found out what we're doing here. Their capabilities are...unmatched. I have to give them some compliments.

We run across the grassy fields, around Linton that still has a gate standing, somehow, and into the trees of the Grand Forest.

As we rush through the edge of the forest away from Linton, "Lukius, are you fucking insane? Kidnapping a local Lord? Planting a bomb on where we sat? What the heck is that gonna do for us?" Jeral explodes on me.

"Enemy intelligence. It's laughable. The Unified States? Their soldiers are quite intimidating with their uncanny carriages, but I would take chances against them in a war. Heck, they even allowed for our wands and the crystallite to be brought in without some certifications." I rant.

"But, we won't ever eat back there...they apparently can prepare seafood..." Oswyn complains.

"Disguise is another thing. But, we will eat back there when our army down south subjugates this town fully under our control. No need for disguise. Unfortunately, we won't be eating at the same eatery. All thanks to Count Craith."

"Hell yeah, Count Craith!" Nyer exclaims.

"Shut up, this is the Grand Forest. Anything can lurk in here." I hiss at my men.

"Jeral, blow it up," I order him.

"Yes, sire."

Jeral casts a spell with his wand.

BOOM. The blast roars over the crickets and the darkness.

The orange blaze blares through the edge of the Grand Forest. Looking behind at Linton, there's a big explosion right behind the broken down stone walls. Shouts and cries are faint, considering the distance.

"Let's move," I tell my men.

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The crickets of the night ring out in the dreaded tent, lit up by candles. This army is getting closer and closer to Linton. Surprisingly, all in just one day.

A courier barges into my tent, "Sire, we've detected crystallite readings that are not from ours!

"Hoh? Where did it come from?" I ask him.

"It came from the town of Linton!"

"Tsk, so it's not some foreign nation? It would've made this journey more interesting. Instead, it's the fuckers again."

"S-Sir, it's just crystallite readings. That's all."

"You can go." The courier steps out of my tent.

Gosh darn. We can't negotiate with Lord Lysander. This is what happens when you stay neutral, Lysander Camden. It's safe to tell that it's definitely the southerners. No other nation would use their precious magicians in a foreign country.

I sit down on the wooden chair, and I drink from my tea.

Mm. The sweet fragrance and the warm milk.

So, I don't know what's going to happen. Negotiating with the Lord is out of the question. The southerners probably did some dirty tricks to take over Linton. Fuckers! Shit. I have to consult with the other armies at the converging point. Ahh. Another bloody siege. This is just too much. I'll have to see for tomorrow.

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Sitting on this excellent chair, I'm closely examining the reports coming from the 3rd BCT. Things are going quite well in Linton! The Civil Affairs specialists are doing their job. Too well.

I look at the other document, it seems like our Commander really likes to speed up the progress in developing Linton with our engineers. On the bottom, it's signed by the CO's of the 1st and the 2nd BCT. Alright.

I pick up my pen, and I lay the ball on the paper.

"The 8th BEB and the 21st BEB can now be fully utilized for Linton operations."

I hear the door to my office opening, "Rodriquez, you have to see this."

"Formalities now."

"Sorry, sir. Are you in for some coffee?"

Colonel Albert Becker drops another report onto my desk. "Yeah. I would like to have some. The typical."

I look at him, and I open the folder.

"On it, sir." He replies.

"Thanks." I look down to read the report.

"At 2311 hrs, an explosion of unknown nature has occurred within the development area of Linton. Precisely within the new restaurant. EOD's are still trying to determine the cause of the explosion. The explosion is measured to be around fifty meters. Rescue teams found Fifty-two civilians, twenty-two military personnel. Two of the twenty-one are the Commander and her assistant. All of which are in the blast radius. The state of those affected ranges from minor scratches to critical conditions, nine of them are critical, including the Commander and the assistant. They're currently being airlifted via helicopter to Joint Base Central for further treatment. The rest are being treated in the Linton field hospital."

Shit...

I read further again,

"Fires from the blast have been contained. Lookouts reported no unusual activity happening around Linton during the time of the explosion. Nothing else as of 2330 hrs."

Good god.

I flip through the page,

"At 2312 hrs, following the explosion in the development area of Linton, Echo Five of the 6-9th Cavalry Regiment is ordered to protect the Linton administration and has found the town council to be paralyzed. But without the mayor. Lysander has been kidnapped during a meeting supposedly by 'magicians' according to the town council. Some are being treated for minor injuries in our field hospital caused by electric shocks similar to a taser."

I groan. What the heck is going on? We haven't really encountered any true magicians until now. When we come across a real one, they kidnap the mayor undetected. We'll have to do something about this. These magicians are a potential threat to this base and for the operations in Linton. To be able to sneak behind our lookouts...

I read further again,

"Satellite feed identifies two unknown mass of forces both on South and the North of Joint Base Central. As of 0123 hrs, their direction of advancement leads towards the town of Linton."

I look at the attached picture of the northern formation. It consists of thousands of men. Tons of carriages that are horse-driven. That's a long line of logistics. The image that is taken at 0123 hrs shows encampment and campfires.

Looking at the other picture, it depicts the southern army. It seems to be that most soldiers are marching all on foot, aside from the medieval cavalry. Looking at the other picture, which was taken at 0123 hrs, there is also an encampment. Something's way different from the northern formation. They look feeble.

Just one fire mission from our artillery can obliterate each one of them...

These pictures show a lot as there are also aerial pictures of them. Today, the 3rd Wing already shot down a damn dragon! Two of them! I mean, yesterday! Now, there's this? Curse me. Don't tell me...this is in retaliation for the dragons that we've shot down? Random explosions, magicians, movements of armies?

I hear the door opening again, with the breeze of the scent of coffee that I can inhale in my tired body.

"Here you go." Colonel Becker places the cup of coffee on my desk.

"Thanks, it seems like our commander might make it."

"I hope so. You should be sleeping more often," Becker chuckles.

"Says you. Inform division command to gather at the headquarters tomorrow at 0800."

"Alright, is that everything?"

"Yes, could you please kindly get out?" I jokingly answer.

"Sure do." He laughs and exits out of my room.

I take a sip of the coffee, and I feel comfortable already. But my mind isn't feeling the same as my body.

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