Failure

The body of a soldier wearing a helmet resembling a fish's fin was dragged into the encampment. The Commander of the Haflastus forces stared down at the corpse, one of the men taking a letter from its waist and reading it aloud. Simply put, they had spied on their encampment for a while and had discovered that they were housing an Elioud-- some unknown deep from within the Jarldom of Nade.

They were killed before arriving at the beaches for reconnaissance. Diego stood in awe at this news, hesitantly holding the cold body of Kamila in his arms. Goosebumps ran across his skin, but he couldn't care less about that as someone he knew lay dead there because of someone else's negligence. They couldn't save her; the bleeding was too immense, and it had invaded her lungs, effectively drowning her in her bodily fluids.

The ship, as they left, remained silent. Diego sat by the railings of the ship, looking out at the body of Kamila, covered by a grey blanket.

Maria hesitantly sat beside Diego, looking out at the lines of bodies before them as well. Diego noticed how close she was, giving her a grimace before shifting slightly away from her.

She glanced at him as she did this, her eyes carrying a hint of nervousness and shame. "I... It's no one's fault that Kamila... couldn't make it."

Diego looked at her for a moment. "That's wrong."

"Well, it's--"

"It's the fault of our leaders' negligence. And I'm not talking about Kae. I'm talking about our General."

Maria was surprised by what Diego had said.

"Its all horseshit... deaths happen-- people die. The predictable can become unpredictable within a second. I'm not mad about that, no... I'm mad at the circumstances... I'm mad that, what the hell do they even mean by the fact that they couldn't bring everyone back to their families? Burned a lot of them just so the ghouls wouldn't come-- that's barely a fucking courtesy. They should go back to their families, yet here we are-- only the richest amongst us are given the god damn privlege!"

Silence followed, both of them sitting there, Maria unable to say anything. A few minutes had passed, and Maria spoke up again. "At the very least... we managed to get Kamila... at the very least Kamila will..."

"At the very least..." Diego looked to Maria with a pinched face, sighing through his nose. "I guess."

At the very least... guess that's what gets people by in this country. The bare minimum. Don't know whether I'm lucky or unlucky that I don't harbor a bias. Maybe I'd be happier... Diego closed his eyes, focusing on the ocean waves crashing against the ship.

When they arrived back at the Naiad Coast, they were all set to line up by their General, the Mayor of the Coast soon arriving after. A woman walked by the portly man's side, tall, having a regal appearance about her, standing in stark contrast to the scars lined across her body, a sharp silver gaze scanning the army. Everyone could recognize her at a glance.

Many soldiers made themselves look much nicer than they typically would, even with all the dirt and grime that remained from the previous battle. Diego stood there, he wasn't observing his surroundings in full, and only noticed their approach right when they had stopped to observe their group, who had already made a name for themselves after taking down the Elioud deserter.

Diego's eyes widened slightly as she watched the tan-skinned woman observe their group. Along with being tall, she was beautiful. She had hair parted down the middle that reached her shoulders in waves. On the left side of her face was a scar that went across her nose. This was the Duchess, Cirillo. Kleio Kynigos Cirillo.

Kae took a step forward as he introduced himself. "I am Kaescan Tsimeriean. To what do I owe the pleasure, Madam Cirillo?"

Diego straightened his back a bit, observing her and the older man beside her. He looked past to see another man with dark auburn hair and a slight aftershave sharing a similarly tan skin tone. They sported the colors of the Cirillo family. Diego could only assume that man was her bodyguard of sorts, but from what he heard, it didn't seem like she needed one much.

The Witch of the Cirillo family. General Kleio.

She was a monster on the battlefield, from what Diego had heard.

Diego, however, was caught staring, gazes meeting as he looked back in front of himself, causing him to instinctively avert his gaze. "...It's an honor to finally be blessed by your presence, Madam." Kae continued, reaching a hand out.

The young woman didn't bother to shake it. "You and your team had taken down an Elioud from what I've heard?"

Kae nodded. "Yes. It was a lot of trouble, and if it weren't for the soldiers before us, I don't think I would've been able to fell such a beast all on my own."

"I?"

"Ye-"

Before Kae could continue, Diego chimed in. "If it weren't for our marksman Nikolas, as well. He was the one who finished the man off."

Kae nodded, sweating a little. "Yes, yes. Honestly, it was such a tough foe. I... we truly needed our full team to be at 100% to be able to take it down."

"One of our biggest contributors is injured at the moment, so apologies for that."

"Name?" Kleio asked the young red-headed man.

"Her name was Aspasia Kannerick."

"No... I meant your name."

"Diego... Diego Nathia Drivas."

Kae nodded in affirmation. "Y-yep, another contributor in the battle-- honestly, without my commanding prowess I'd have no--" Kae cut himself off as he watched Kleio look to the portly mayor.

"I like this squad, would you allow me to influence it from henceforth?'

"Oh?" The mayor hummed. "Hm... what sort of influence, my dear?"

"I'd like to have one of the men under my guard, Caladan." She pointed to the man clad in blue with dark brown hair. "I'd like them to head this group from henceforth-- actually, could you move Kaescan here to another unit as well?"

Kae's eyes widened in alarm. "Uh... sorry ma--"

Kleio gave him a pointed look before looking back at the Mayor. "Does it work? The new platoon leader should arrive in a week."

The Mayor nodded. "No issue on my part, do what you will with them. It's an honor that you'd find men from here in the Naiad Coast to be of use to you."

The General of the expedition. "Excuse me, Mayor Cameron. I believe that they were to be under my jurisdiction."

"And? Do you not believe it to be an honor?"

The man clad in armor looked ot the tall woman before him. They released a small sigh. "No, it would be an honor." He gave a bow before turning the other direction.

The Mayor ushered Kaescan off to another group, leaving Kleio and Diego's platoon behind. They watched silently as their previous leader was dragged off into another platoon. Kleio looked back at their group and smiled before heading out.

Nikolas was stunned. "Uh... guess we got a week off..."

***

"I'm here for my pay." A few days had passed, and Diego entered the military base closer to the docks, accosting a man behind the counter. 

"Deserters, right?"

Diego nodded, leaning on the counter with a dejected expression.

He thought back to a few days before, discussing with Nikolas, Maria, and Aspasia about what they should do with Kamila's body since, out of the group, they would be the only ones putting in the effort to bring her home.

Nikolas scratched his head. "Well... next leader is gonna be the determinant, no?"

Diego cocked a brow. "What do you mean?"

"Well... if the next guy who leads us doesn't want to go out of their way to return the poor girl's body, what then?"

"That'd be bullshit..."

"Let's just think of the possibility that we'd need to give her a proper burial here, right?"

"Here?"

Aspasia sighed. "You're overthinking it. We're overthinking it."

Nikolas groaned. "It's just... carrying a body all that way... just... Nah, I'm bein'... I dunno."

Diego's eyes widened a little as he looked at Nikolas. "We...We... we..." Diego huffed. "We need to. That's... it's bullshit if we don't, alright? And you know that. Who cares about if it's a pain or if it's worth it?"

Nikolas clicked his tongue. "I... I don't think I'm good to give input on this shit..." He left with a sigh, leaving the group be.

Back in the present, Diego has his eyes closed, waiting for his money. The older man put a bag on the counter. Diego opened his eyes, grabbed the bag, and looked inside. "There you go, now fuck off."

Diego grimaced as he counted the coins. "This isn't everything."

"Huh?"

"This is fifteen argento. I'm twenty short right now."

The man rolled their eyes. "Eh... yeah, but... ya got paid, right? So... fuck off." He waved his hand, motioning for Diego to leave. "Cloggin' the line with yer fuckin' demonic germs."

"Yeah, or maybe you fuckin' suck at countin'. Give me the rest of my money. I risked my life just like everyone else did so I deserve my pay, asshole."

The man snickered. "Little shit like you is givin' me lip? Aye... l-look... I... I could fuck you up, okay? Keep talkin' shit an' you won't get shit next time, okay?"

"Uh huh, and who's to say I will be here next time? Just give me the gods damn money instead of wasting my, and everyone else's time."

The man's gaze drifted off into the distance, slapping his stomach. "Eh... actually, I'm feelin' a bit peckish. Hear this, if you get me a kabob from one of those stands over in the marketplace, then I'll give ya the rest of yer money, how's that sound." He snickered again.

"Get it yourself, and give me my fuckin' money."

The man raised both hands in the air. "Oh~! Shit... hey... look... this... this demon here. Now, don't get too antsy or else..." He chuckled. "I might think you're threatening me...".

Goosebumps shot through Diego's body like lightning as someone shoved his shoulder. "Get a damn move on!"

"Red-heads, always causin' problems. Fuck! I'll just fuckin' kill 'em!" One yelled, taking out their sword.

Everyone's rancor was stifled the instant Aspasia dragged herself through the crowd. Her muscled body limping through the lot of them before she slams one hand onto the counter in front of her. "I'm here for my payment." Somehow, this woman with a broken leg is not walking about. Of course, it was set into a cast, but somehow she was walking, no supports or anything.

The man behind the counter cocked their brow. "Ah... Madam Kannerick. Well." He put a coin pouch on the counter.

She motioned at Diego. "And him."

The man blinked, and with a sigh, motioned for Diego's coin purse. Diego handed it over, and he was paid in full, the coin purse handed back to him begrudgingly. Diego took it and walked off with Aspasia, leaving the group of men behind, lining up for their pay. All of them hesitated upon seeing Aspasia.

Diego looked up at her as she walked ahead of both of them. "How are you walking like that with a bum leg?"

"By walking."

Diego sighed. "Thanks."

"If you see those guys come by later, just kill them."

Diego ignored the comment, trudging forward before being interrupted by someone he had seemed to recognise, and someone who recognised him in turn. A young man rushed up to Diego, grabbing him by the collar, causing Aspasia to halt. "You fuckin' lied!" Yeah, he did. Right before they had left for the deserter camp, Diego lied to this man, saying that his friend had died at the cockfighting ring.

Diego froze up, his impassive expression shattering at the sudden conflict as he gave Aspasia the side eye, pleading for her help with just his gaze alone.

"What the hell do you even get from that, huh!? Makin' a man worry about his friend and shit!?"

"I-I don't know what you're talkin' about."

"Huh!? How do you not!? You said that my friend had his fuckin' wrist cut open, and he bled out!"

Diego shook his head. "Wasn't me."

"That's bullshit! You said it!"

"A-Are you sure you haven't mistaken me for another red-haired man of the same stature?"

"W-What the hell are you--!?"

"L-Look, I'm sorry if this man lied to you in any way, but... I'm sure he didn't mean any harm by it. It's not like anything bad happened, no? From what you said, your friend is alive, yes?"

"Yeah?"

"Then... I-I'm sorry... uh... whoever lied to you deserves some sort of talking to, but in the end, what happened wasn't illegal."

"It doesn't matter if that shit was legal or not! It was a shitty thing to do!"

"And I completely agree, but..." Diego shrugged. "It wasn't me."

Aspasia watched in confusion as Diego was being jostled by the man in front of him. She then became curious as Diego's complexion became more and more pale, while, even though they were so close together, Diego was going out of his way to try and create as much distance as possible.

"I'm not believin' this shit!" The man screamed.

Aspasia stepped up, separating the two. "Calm down. Even if he was the man, causing an uproar like this will do you no good, especially when no parties were harmed in this process, right?"

Diego motioned to her as he quickly distanced himself, rubbing his collar uncomfortably, looking almost as if he were about to vomit. The man sighed. "Whatever," He looked Aspasia up and down and snorted. "Whatever!" He threw his arms up in the air and left.

Aspasia looked back at Diego and found that he was gone.