The Encampment

Location: The Northwest of the Crimson-Walls Duchy; the land connecting The Eastern and The Middle Continent, also known as the Strife Zone between The Crimson Castle Kingdom and The Vice Kingdom.

Date: The year 2110 of the Magic Era according to the Archivist's book, also referred to as The Crimson Year 440 inside The Crimson Castle Kingdom.

Inside the Military Camp of the Crimson Castle Kingdom's Army, a red-haired man holding multiple envelopes in his hand was walking with quickened steps ...

After walking briefly, the man stopped in front of a specific tent ...

The tent was more on the bigger side; it was bigger than the average tent but noticeably smaller than the Commandant's tent.

Inside the Encampment, the size of the tent was an indicator of the occupant's position in the Army's hierarchy ...

Soldiers didn't get the privilege of having their own tents, they slept grouped in medium-sized barracks. Knights, on the other hand, had their own small tents.

Meanwhile, Elite Knights had medium-sized, comfortable tents.

The Commandant had the biggest tent, however; it was not only used as a residence for the Commandant but also as an office and a location to hold strategic meetings.

The Commandant's tent also had two Knights standing in front of it all the time. However, they didn't serve as guards but as lackeys.

The red-haired man stood directly in front of a medium-sized tent and called loudly

"Elite Knight Blaze Inferno, a letter has arrived for you"

After a couple of minutes, Blaze came out of his tent and looked at the man's face for a few seconds

"Oh? Danny? You're the one delivering the letters this time? Where is Logan?"

Danny replied curtly

"He died"

Blaze replied nonchalantly while taking the letter from Danny's hand

"Unfortunate"

Then he went back inside his tent.

Blaze walked inside and sat on the bed

'I hope it is good news ...'

He opened the letter and started reading it ...

(Blaze! I have good news)

His eyes sparkled for a moment, and he quickly continued

(Remedy said that I no longer needed treatment. Please come home soon.

Everyone is missing you and a lot has changed in the last 10 months; Leus and Amethyst began studying and Leus' hair started to grow! Its color is so unique!)

A smile appeared on his face

'Now that's lovely, isn't it ...'

(Come soon to see it. We're all waiting for you.

From: Your loving wife)

After Blaze was done reading, he started grinning uncontrollably

'Viro is cured ...'

He was so elated he almost couldn't believe it ...

'Quite literally the best news I've got since Leus' birth'

With a grin on his face, he read the letter again and again. However, something didn't make sense ...

'Leus joined Amethyst in studying? That's strange'

After a couple of seconds, Blaze realized what happened

'She was so excited while writing the letter that she wrote Leus instead of Merlin, silly Viro'

With the grin still on his face, he put the letter in his pocket and exited the tent.

Blaze walked toward the middle of the camp, directly to the biggest tent, the Commandant's.

As always, two Knights were standing in front of it. When they saw Blaze approaching, they saluted him. Then one of them shouted

"Commander, Elite Knight Blaze wants to meet you"

An authoritative voice replied from inside

"He may enter"

Blaze politely nodded to the Knights then entered the tent ...

The tent had a dark blue theme, and its furniture was more on the lavish side ...

'The Commandant got a special taste in furniture'

'He got the best bed in the Encampment' Blaze thought while side-glancing at the left side.

Sadly, the Commandant's enormous bed was covered by curtains, so Blaze couldn't get a good look at it.

He turned and looked at the right side

'He even got a window ... I wonder how they made it'

Facing the entrance, at the other end of the tent, the Commandant was sitting behind a desk.

The desk was somewhat average, but the surrounding chairs were more than comfortable.

The Commandant was a middle-aged man with bright red hair and red eyes. Naturally, he was the strongest and the most experienced Elite Knight in the camp.

When Blaze got a bit closer, the Commandant spoke without removing his eyes from the papers on his desk ...

It's not that he was disrespecting Blaze, he was simply too busy

"Hello, Blaze. What brings you here today?"

Blaze decided to cut to the chase

"Cyrus, I'm done. I want to go home now"

Cyrus didn't expect to hear that, so he removed his eyes from the papers and looked at Blaze

"Now? Why so suddenly?"

"I do not need to overwork anymore; whatever I wanted is achieved"

Cyrus sighed and spoke in a slightly annoyed tone

"If that's the case, then you should've given me a heads-up a couple of weeks earlier. You told me that you'll stay for a year, two months are still left"

To Blaze, all of that was irrelevant

"Doesn't matter. I just got the news as well. Now, when can I leave?"

With a vexed look on his face, Cyrus ran a couple of calculations in his head and then decided

"Alright, I'll make sure you can leave within the next month, probably at the end of it. That's the best I can do."

Blaze didn't find that so convenient, but it wasn't so bad. He was in a pretty good mood today, so he didn't mind compromising

"Fine, works for me"

After Blaze said that, he got up and left the tent.

Blaze spent the next couple of days training or playing cards with his comrades, trying to pass the time.

He wanted to spend the remaining month in peace, but sadly, things didn't go the way he wished ...

Two weeks after Blaze's conversation with the Commandant, a Knight came to Blaze's tent and called from outside

"Elite Knight Blaze, you're requested on the field. Head to the Commandant's tent to hear the details"

When Blaze heard that, he became irritated, but he knew that talking to this Knight was pointless

'He is only a lackey'

So Blaze directly walked to the Commandant's tent ...

He entered the tent and spoke in an annoyed tone

"What does this mean, Cyrus? I have already told you that I want to leave"

Cyrus didn't remove his eyes from the papers on his desk and replied neutrally

"It can't be helped. We need someone to hold back Whirlwind"

Hearing that bothered Blaze even more

"I'm not interested in fighting anymore, especially not that bastard called Whirlwind. All my fights were against him"

He added coldly

"Find someone else, Cyrus"

Cyrus sighed

'Why does everyone complain about everything?'

He looked into Blaze's eyes and replied in an easy-going tone; he didn't want to anger one of his Elites

'They're quite valuable ... can't risk him quitting and going to freelance at the Guild or something'

"No one else is available, Blaze. There's nothing I can do."

Then he added in a slightly stern tone

"And what do you mean by (especially not Whirlwind)? Should I go to the Vice's Encampment and tell them to send a more entertaining opponent?"

He looked back at the papers and continued

"Send him back and this will be your last fight, do this one for me."

Blaze was annoyed, but if this was the last, then so be it

"Fine"

Blaze walked out of the Commandant's tent and went to the training ground near the southern edge of the camp ...

Directly, Blaze went to the Elite Knight supervising the Knights' training and spoke to him

"I need 15 Knights"

"Any specifics?"

"No, any 15"

"Understood. I'll send a unit of 15 Knight to your tent. When are you planning to go?"

"Now"

The Elite looked at the Knights in front of him and contemplated something for a moment, then he nodded

"Rojer that"

After the Elite accepted his request, Blaze walked back to his tent and prepared himself for the last fight of the year ...