Do I know you?

Kazi decided to stay outdoors and patrol the area rather than go inside. This time, there wasn't a single monster lingering in the area. Everybody could rest as they pleased. He wasn't alone though. Pauline tagged along, quiet and anxious. She was trying to make up for running away before. The hours passed and the sky began to lighten with the first hues of dawn.

"The sun is up," Kazi noted. "Let's take a break."

Pauline nodded, her relief evident. Beside one of the long tables, Kazi set-up a picnic, flattening a blanket down. Without trees and fresh green grass, it was rough. As for food, he muttered, "Open inventory," and brought out a basket full of bread and almond croissants. "A friend of mine works at a bakery and any leftover baskets she gives to me in case of an emergency," he explained. "Good, isn't it?"

Pauline ate the croissant with a nod and thank you. She stole glances at Kazi. 

"Heh, let me guess. You want to ask why an awesome, good-looking charismatic brother like me doesn't want to become the leader?"

"Sort of…"

"I like making friends," he replied, ripping apart a piece of the croissant and chewing. "Mm, and I prefer to play support. Leadership tends to create unwanted hierarchies."

Indeed, up until this point, Kazi had been suggesting and acting as an advisor. Never overstepping the line into being a leader; he was a teacher, a wiseman with a smiling attitude. To be something more, to be pointing and directing and doing everything as he saw fit was an act he refused to do. He tried to have everything course through naturally. If a gate was a river and the players were on a boat, then Kazi was at the helm pointing where they should go but never undermining its democracy. 

"Did you do business in your own life?" Pauline asked.

"As a matter of fact, I did. I ran a textile company. Well, technically, it wasn't mine, it was my..." Slave master. That would be the honest thing to call him. "...employer's. I did the heavy-lifting. Expanded his business and all that."

"So what did you do exactly? For work, I mean?"

"I mean, it depends on when you're talking about. Shortly before my death, I was an archeologist in India. Came and went from Bangladesh to India every couple weeks."

"Must have been fun."

Kazi's plastered smile lost a tinge of its authenticity. "Definitely wasn't boring."

"...we've met before, haven't we? I swear we have," Pauline insisted. 

"We meet a looooot of people in life. Don't beat yourself over it," Kazi emphasized. 

"S-so we have met?"

"Maybe, maybe not, princess."

Pauline's shoulders tensed, then dropped. "So you do know who I am…" 

"Are you a spoiled brat?"

"H-huh? Spoiled brat?"

"Yeah. Spoiled brat. There's being born with a silver spoon and there's being born with a silver spoon with a helping of obnoxiousness." 

"I…I don't think I'm obnoxious about it. Am I?"

"If you're asking, then probably not." Kazi grinned. "You're cool in my books."

Pauline Lannes de Montebello: a direct descendant of the Duke of Montebello and the Prince of Siewierz, Jean Lannes. One of the greatest militants in history in terms of genius and talent, described as daring and the best of Napoleon's marshals. 

"And by the way," Kazi said, "it's not weird expecting to want to meet him. There are historical figures that I wanted to meet too."

Pauline seemed surprised by his ability to read his mind. With his smile, however, it wasn't creepy. It was like talking to an older brother or a teacher. Opening up knowing that the older figure should know what she was feeling.

"It's not that." Pauline brought her knees to her face. "The French nobles don't exist at all here."

"Huh?"

"I'm the last," Pauline said. "I remember when I asked around, the people went quiet. So I went to the House of Wisdom and they finally told me the truth: the Kingslayer eradicated them."

The Kingslayer…? 

"Now I'm all alone," Pauline whispered. "No family and no friends. Everything is so much different than on Earth."

"Do you hate it?"

"I hate it so, so much. I want to go home."

"If only. This is our resting place, unfortunately."

They ate quietly after that. He could see the fear in her eyes and the question she wanted to ask: help me. Please, help me. She was a noble lady once upon a time. Her every need was given to her. She was born with the luckiest spoon in her mouth.

She wasn't much younger than him. He didn't have to extend a hand. Some part of him didn't want to. He hated being a leader. He hated being looked at with expectations he could not meet. But he saw the crushed dreams in Pauline's eyes. He listened to the growls of anger between Jackson and Kibiwott. He saw how uncomfortable everyone else was. He saw their injuries. At this rate, they were going to die.

Kazi wanted to give them a chance—give Pauline a chance.

"Pauline, you said you wanted to be a commander. You want to be like your great ancestry." Kazi got up and dusted himself off. "Watch and learn then."