To the Third Frontline

The next day, a rooster's crow startled the light-sleeping Durandal awake. She lay there for a couple of seconds, her eyes wide, before bolting upright in bed.

Wait, there are chickens in the camp?!

Amazed by this, Durandal opened the door and immediately saw two soldiers in the open area chasing several delightfully plump chickens.

These big white chickens were as round as balls, so much so that they'd roll twice for every two steps they ran. Yet, the tuft of red feathers on their heads was incredibly conspicuous.

But while these chickens were fat, they were anything but sluggish. The two soldiers were being run ragged by the plump fowls.

Then, to Durandal's astonishment, one of the fat chickens suddenly spread its short wings and, flapping furiously, charged right at Durandal, who was standing in the doorway.

Thwump—

Durandal caught the fat chicken with one hand.

"Sorry, Lady Durandal!" one of the soldiers said, running up to Durandal breathlessly. He took the fat chicken from her, cradled it in his arms, and apologized profusely.

"These chickens are..." Durandal waved a hand dismissively, asking with some confusion.

"These chickens were found near the first frontline. We're very short on poultry at the base right now, so we're just keeping them here temporarily. They'll be transported back to the base to start breeding when we return...

"It's just that when we were feeding them this morning, these usually lazy chickens suddenly went wild and started running everywhere. We weren't paying enough attention and let them get out. We're really sorry..."

Durandal nodded, looking at the chickens scurrying about. "Do you need my help?"

"No, no, we don't!" the soldier quickly shook his head. "You're heading to the third frontline. You shouldn't waste your precious energy on things like this!"

Durandal felt a bit awkward. She wanted to say that just catching chickens wouldn't take much energy at all...

"I was about to go for my morning run anyway. Why don't I use this as a chance to warm up?" Durandal said with a smile, then darted off, leaving the soldier staring in bewilderment.

The plump chickens were no match for Durandal. In about ten minutes, she had stuffed all the escapees back into their cage.

Looking at the fat chickens still struggling in the cage, Durandal dusted off her hands and proudly put them on her hips for a moment.

"That was amazing!" The two chicken-wrangling soldiers' eyes were sparkling. The smaller one, a girl, was still holding the fat chicken Durandal had handed her. "If it were just us, it would've taken a whole hour!"

"It wasn't that impressive..." Durandal said, a little embarrassed.

"A magnificent performance, Lady Durandal." Rita's voice came from the side. Durandal turned in surprise, nearly bumping right into Rita, who was standing just inches away.

"Whoa, you're so close!" Durandal quickly took a step back. When had Rita gotten so close? How had she not noticed her at all?

Rita was pinching a white feather between her fingers. Judging by the position of her hand, it must have been on Durandal's forehead.

Tossing the chicken feather aside, Rita gave Durandal a slight bow. "Lady Durandal, breakfast is ready. We will be departing right after we eat. Please prepare yourself to enter the zombie horde."

"Alright. Thank you, Maid." Durandal nodded seriously and quickly ran past Rita toward her room to change into her battlesuit.

Rita watched Durandal go, then couldn't help but glance back at the captured chickens.

We were supposed to build up her confidence in the zombie horde, but it seems catching a few chickens has already done the trick... And she hasn't even noticed it herself...

Oh well. It's a good thing, after all.

Rita gave the two soldiers a small bow and turned to leave, leaving behind the starstruck pair and the restless, fat chickens.

Breakfast was simple: pickled vegetables, steamed buns, and rice porridge. Not much variety, but plenty to fill you up.

Durandal quickly finished her breakfast. By the time a fully armed soldier came to tell them it was time to leave, she still had half a steamed bun in her mouth.

"Let's go. We have to cross through the zombie horde to reach the third frontline," Theresa instructed the group again. "The horde is massive, but we should have no problem protecting ourselves."

"Lu Renjia, the supply transport is up to you."

"I guarantee I'll complete the mission!" Lu Renjia saluted again, full of excitement.

The supplies for transport were already loaded onto a vehicle, which would cross the zombie horde under the protection of Theresa and her team.

After some brief preparations, the group left the camp under the watchful eyes of the other soldiers and set off for the third frontline.

---||---

Meanwhile, on the third frontline.

"Himeko, there you are." Kallen climbed onto the roof and sat down beside her, offering a large armful of steamed buns she was carrying. "Want one?"

Himeko glanced at them and chuckled. "I doubt that's even enough for you alone, is it?"

"If it's not enough, I can just go get more. It's not like I'm going to eat them all in one go..." Kallen retorted. Himeko smiled, took a bun from Kallen's hands, and took a bite.

"Theresa and the others will be here soon..." Himeko said suddenly after they sat in silence for a while.

Kallen nodded, her mouth full of steamed bun. "The operation is about to start, then."

"Yeah. We've been held up here for a while. Once Theresa arrives, we can start pushing forward again."

"...You seem a little nervous," Kallen said after a moment of silence, suddenly turning to look at Himeko. "You're not usually like this."

"How could I not be?" Himeko gave a weary smile. She knew she couldn't hide it from Kallen.

"We're talking about dozens of lives, after all... And every single one of them is putting their faith in us..."

"We'll definitely get them all out safely. Didn't you guys revise the plan so many times just to make sure it's foolproof?"

"Foolproof? How is that even possible?" Himeko shook her head. While Kallen was still stunned, she reached out, grabbed another steamed bun, and added.

"There's only so much we can do. If Shu were here, we wouldn't have to worry about a thing. He could kill all these Honkai Beasts by himself and get those people out safely."

"But we have to worry about the self-destructing Catapult-class beasts, and whether the larger Honkai Beasts will break away from the battlefield and charge the school..."

"And when I think about how everyone in the world who follows the (Fire) MOTH is watching what we do now, I can't help but get nervous."

Himeko let out a long sigh, then quickly polished off the bun she'd swiped.

Kallen stared at Himeko's hand as it reached for a third bun. After a long moment, she looked up, pouting reproachfully at Himeko.

"Can you be honest? I think you were just trying to swipe my steamed buns all along..."

Himeko: "Whoops, you found me out.

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Fried Phoenix Chicken.PNG (add, I quite lazy)