Uneasiness
The village of Maruum, the closest place on the southern border of Orlos, is inhabited by approximately three thousand people and is known for the Mana berry wine production. After five days of double march, the Judgement regiment arrived at the village.
"We will build our provisional headquarters at the village's limits. We have already received the authorization from the local mayor since our house has a good relationship with this village." Said Boltu in a commanding voice.
"Remember, we will divide our regiment into patrols. Everyone here is already acquainted with your fellow squad mates, so prepare the tent for your group and be ready to be called the next day to the command tent to receive your orders! Dismiss!"
The calm plains surrounding the village are now disturbed by the sound of hammers that work quickly to build the encampment. The commotion brought some curious villagers, many of whom were children. After two hours the entire encampment was ready to be used, each group had its tent, it was a simple provisory habitation, the sleeping bags became simple beds that were supported by a light wooden structure, and at the center of the tent there was a small campfire with an iron oval cover that would be used to heat the interior in case of a cold night, each bed have its owner with their bags serving as a storage and seven improvised stools at the end of each bed.
One by one, the groups were called to the command tent to receive their orders. After some relaxing minutes, the call sign blindfold was called.
"Blindfold, since most of your squad is composed of newcomers, the first order will be an easy mission, so I will verify your competence. If you do well, more difficult missions will be assigned, but if you don't show me promise I will let you stay at the camp most of the time doing the most easy jobs."
"Yes sir!" All seven squires answer in harmony.
"I want your squad to patrol the streets of the village for three days. As you know, this is the first village of our kingdom for those coming from the south, so a great influx of people is expected. So protect the order inside the village and punish those who are trying to bring any harm to the townsfolk, but remember, only use lethal force if you have no other option. Understood?"
"Yes, sir!"
"Right, so you are all dismissed, and I wish you good luck in your assignment."
Leaving the commander's tent, Vivelle let a disappointed sigh escape from her mouth.
"A patrol job? I know all the missions are important, but this is so boring; it will be four days of resolving simple incidents. We can't even use our weapons normally."
"The commander is right, Vivelle. We are not experienced enough to be assigned to something more dangerous, we could make a mistake and compromise the entire expedition." Caristo taps her shoulder.
"You will always stay with the commander's orders; some of us have already done more complex missions than this."
"I know, but we need to think as a squad, not just individually."
"Well, I know why we got that mission." She looked at Manila with a mocking look.
"The only thing you don't know is when you just need to be quiet and do your job." Replied Manila in her toneless standard voice.
Vivelle's cheeks turn red, the others look at Manila with a shocked expression.
"How dare you order me to be quiet! You are not my superior, you disgusting maid!"
Manila continues walking without answering the insult. Elzen approaches her while the others try to calm the situation with Vivelle.
"Manila, you can't say something like that. She is part of the team, and we need to have some level of harmony."
"She's been constantly targeting me ever since the start of this expedition, I will not be quiet about that."
"See…nobles always will work together to punish those under them."
"It's not about you being quiet when she provokes you, but you need to say things differently."
"I've never seen you talk to her when she provoked me, so why are you talking with me now?"
He stops without being able to answer the question, she continues walking to the tent alone. Traveling with other people was exhausting, and the freedom she was happy to get was slightly spoiled by Vivelle's attitude. Her mind worked at full speed, and the voice inside her head grew louder and louder.
"Did you think that you would find peace outside the walls of that mansion?"
"There is no peace while you live close to those arrogant nobles; you need to exterminate them."
"I…could just escape."
"Escape? ESCAPE?! Do you want to put your tail between your legs and run?! COWARD!"
Silent Manila looks at her backpack, lost in her internal fight. She could clean her surroundings and make it peaceful again, but different from her usual routine, there is no easy way to remove a person.
"Manila…"
Old objects, dust, leftovers, and even bathroom residues have a specific place to discard, so it's easy to prepare for a good clean up and leave everything perfect, but a human body is not that easy, if someone dies there will be people that will miss that person and will try to search for its body in case its hidden, if found there will be specialized people that will try to discover how that person died…
"Manila…"
They will discover how she died because of the way I use my weapons, they will know that the weapon was used by an unskilled person. The area is too crowded to do that anywhere; for sure someone will see me doing this and will report me to the guards…
"Manila…"
Lord Boltu would be disappointed with me. Even if he failed me in the past, he brought me to this expedition and let me see new places and have experiences that I would never have inside that horrendous mansion…
"MANILA!"
Surprised by the loud sound of her name, she instinctively grabs the pole of her Battle Axe and swings, aiming at the origin of the sound. The sound of a body falling onto the ground is the right cue for her to turn quickly and put her feet over the aggressor.
"Stop it, Manila! It's me! Argh." Said Elzen under her foot with a pained expression.
"Oh, so it's you, Elzen. Sorry." She removes her foot and offers a hand to him. " You startled me, so my instincts overwhelmed my reason. I am sorry."
"It's okay, I called you many times but you didn't answer, wow you are ready to pack a punch huh?"
"When you live as a maid in the mansion, you develop this defense mechanism, but I doubt you come here to listen to my daily life at the mansion." She said while sitting at the shabby improvised stool.
"I came here to say sorry" - He Started. "The reason why I said those things to you was because I didn't want our team to be divided."
"So if she does what she does with me is okay for the team, but if I answer with the same aggressiveness, then I am disrupting the team?"
"No, no, no, no!" Elzen shakes his head and waves his hands, trying to appease her. "That is not what I meant. I'm trying to justify my action, not to excuse my past mistake. I should have said something earlier, and I'm here to apologize."
"Oh…" - Taken by surprise, Manila's anger slowly fades, except for Boltu; no one ever said sorry to her. Taking advantage of the moment, Elzen continues.
"So, since we need to divide the squad into teams to patrol the Village, would you like to go with me?" Hope was almost palpable in Elzen's eyes. Maybe that was a way to say sorry or it was just a method to get closer to her.
She could feel that in his eyes, and that was new for her; someone was interested in staying close without being afraid of Luccio's temper. The serious face became a gentler one, and a smile appeared shyly.
"I hope you don't regret this decision to invite me." She extends her right hand, waiting for a handshake.
"On the contrary, my friend, it will be my honor." They shake hands in a friendly manner. "We can start the moment you say you are ready."
"Let's go then. I just came here to get my weapon. Before you asked me, I was thinking about going alone, so take the lead, friend."
It was close to noon when the patrol started. The streets of Maarum were filled with life and noise, and children played games and ran through the streets while the adults continued their working day. Some were taking lunch breaks, so the local taverns and restaurants were busy. Many curious children follow the pair of soldiers, some adults give more attention since they are not part of the local guard.
"Even at a busy time like this, the village exudes a peaceful aura." Manila said to Elzen while giving small waves to the children who scream and flee when they are discovered.
"Yes, that's why our presence here is important to them. The harvest festival will bring so many travelers and merchants from many places of the continent; if we are not here, the daily peaceful routine of this place would be disrupted."
"Do you expect to see more people tomorrow, or will it take time before we can notice an increase?"
"I don't know Manila, it's my first time helping with the security in such an important event, and even being so far away from the capital, the effects of the festival can be seen here. The best we can do is be prepared for anything since we can find some unlawful travelers."
"WHAT DID YOU SAY TO ME!?" A hoarse and drunken voice could be heard from a nearby tavern. "DO YOU KNOW WHO YOU TALKING TO?!"
The two apprentices run towards the tavern. When they arrive, a burly and tall man is holding the arm of a woman half of his size with peculiar mixed bright hair; the mix of green and brown indicates that she is from a mixed race. Wearing a patterned outfit and still holding a tray in her free hand indicates she is one of the waitresses or even the owner.
"What is happening here!?" Manila shouted, attracting the attention of those inside.
"YOU…NOSY BITCH, THAT'S NOT OF YOUR BUSINESS!" - There is no sign of composure in the man, his shirt is messy and his eyes are almost out of focus. Manila approaches together with Elzen, he gets irritated at how he insulted her.
"Sir, if you don't remove your hand from this lady, I will make you do it by force." He touches the guard of his sword.
"YOU CAN'T ORDER ME YOU PIECE OF SHIT! DO YOU KNO…" - Before he can finish the sentence, Manila punches his chin with all her strength, knocking out the man immediately. He falls unconscious over a table nearby.
"Can anyone please call the local guard?" One of the customers gets up and volunteers to call the guards. Manila thanks him and then turns to the woman, who is still in shock.
"You are hurt? Can you tell me what happened?" Offering a gentle hand to the woman, she smiles, trying to comfort her.
"I think…I am okay; My wrist hurts a little, but nothing severe. Now, about what happened, I work here normally at noon when there is an increase of customers, we have many regulars but I never saw this guy before. He ordered some beers, wine, and our meat stew, and he drank a lot."
"And why did he grab your arm?"
"I just served a customer when he tried to touch my butt, you know these types of drunks when I didn't let him do it and told him that if he tried again he would need to leave this tavern, he got really angry."
"Do you need any assistance now? Need a healer or something?"
"No…I am okay now, but I still need to continue my work. Thank you so much for your help." She smiles at both apprentices and returns to her work.
"Well, we will need to file a report about this." Said Elzen in a discouraged voice. "Why did you hit him so hard? We could just remove him without that, master Boltu will be angry."
"He was holding that lady's arm, if we tried to do something less aggressive he would probably hurt her, so I decided that the easiest way was to knock him out."
"You did exactly what you wanted, I'm glad you didn't use your weapon for that."
"Don't worry, If I did something like that, he would be dead, not unconscious." She smiles happily.
"I'm glad I am your friend."
The guards arrive at the tavern. Elzen and Manila explained the situation and helped them move the guy outside so he could be transferred to the Guard House nearby. They thanked both for the help and let them continue the patrol.