Side Story: Of Endings and Beginnings
Part 3: Aul, Second-in-Command
King Lloyd had appointed me a special duty. My unit was to investigate the Darkness of Llinger, a monster-infested forest some ways from the kingdom proper where demons had been sighted. It had been one week since the king had first warned us about the appearance of demons on Llinger soil. The most recent developments were troubling. Apparently, some thirty demons had been spotted attacking monsters.
Their behavior was strange to say the least. As a result, merchants were now refusing to bring their wares to and from the kingdom. The king appointed my unit to investigate due to our battle experience when it came to demons.
“That’s the long and the short of it,” I said, once I had explained everything to the unit. “Any questions?”
At that time, we lived in a forest near Llinger Castle. The eight of us, including myself, sat in the spacious dining hall. That was where I’d gathered them to detail our new mission. I saw the fierce determination in everyone’s eyes.
“Put simply, we’re to find out what the demons are up to and, if possible, drive them away. But don’t forget that they’ll have the advantage in terms of numbers, based on the information we have at hand. Make sure you are well prepared before we depart.”
Everyone replied confidently in the affirmative. I then issued each knight their individual responsibilities to ensure we were all set in time for our departure. When I was done, Aul was the first one to speak up.
“We’ll really have to put our game faces on for this one,” she said. “Check everything twice, people. We can’t afford to be caught off guard.”
Aul was standing in front of all the others, her hand on her jaw, and was summarily kicked in the back. She let out a pitiful squeal as she fell. All I could do was sigh.
“Ow!” she cried. “Assaulting a superior?! What is the meaning of this?!”
“Like you are in any state to tell us to be ready,” said one knight.
“It’s because of you that the captain put us through a whole week of hell!”
“You messed up and we all paid the price!”
They all knew that Aul had won them a solid week of hard training. This kind of scuffle happened all the time though, so I was happy just to let it go. Aul stayed slumped on the ground, peering around for any further attacks.
“Hey, that’s not what . . . It was because . . . Aha! Yes! It was because when I looked at you, I felt like you were all slacking off! And as this unit’s second-in-command, I deemed it necessary to give you a kind of gift, in a roundabout way. Does that make sense?”
“Not a bit!” shouted all the knights.
“Captain!” cried Aul. “This is bullying! They’re all being mean! Stop them!”
“It’s got nothing to do with me.”
“Why are you so cruel?!”
While the idiots went about their rowdy scuffle, I ignored it and sat down. Now that we had our orders, I had to make sure that I was just as prepared as everyone else. To be on the safe side, this time I’d be on the frontlines myself. That was what I was thinking as I reviewed the information I’d been given. That was also when a black shape jumped up on the table.
“Kukuru,” I said.
It was my black-furred Noir Rabbit, which had become my pet when I was traveling on my own. But Kukuru wasn’t just a pet, it was my trusty sidekick. Among monsters, Noir Rabbits had especially good tracking abilities.
“Perhaps you should come along with us,” I muttered, thinking.
With Kukuru along, we would find the demons in no time, this much was true.
“No, it’s too dangerous,” I decided.
Based on our intel, the demons were hunting monsters. That meant that Kukuru might end up as a target. I gave the rabbit a pat as it cleaned itself. Then Aul came to me crying, her clothes all dirtied.
“Captain! Look at what they did to me! I’m the second-in-command here!”
“Listen up, everyone,” I said. “In this mission, I’ll be on the frontlines. That said, I may well need your back-up. Stay ready.”
“Are you ignoring me?!” exclaimed Aul.
She was devastated, but I went on to explain the strategy I’d decided on. The rest of the unit broke into smiles.
“With a monster like you fighting by our side, we’re invincible!”
“She’ll be able to heal us if anything happens!”
“Did you forget what I just said?” I sighed, exasperated.
Usually, I would have shouted something along the lines of “I said stay ready! And I meant it!” to shock everyone back to their senses. But this time I figured I could save it for later. After all, with my healing magic, I would be able to heal them. On top of that, with me on the frontlines together with my unit, we really were that much more powerful. We could work in a near-perfect formation.
Our power was one built from trust. Nobody would break us, and no matter what we faced, we were ready to take on any threat. That’s what I felt in the trust we shared. It was with that sense of comfort that Kukuru and I watched the knights get right back into yet another scuffle.
✦ ✦ ✦
We left early in the morning for the Darkness of Llinger. As the sun was beginning to rise, we arrived at our basecamp location outside the forest. We put up our tents and readied ourselves for our demon hunt the following day. That meant checking our weapons and reviewing our mission parameters. Tomorrow was another early start. We didn’t expect to find them quickly and knew we might be out in the forest for some time. We had prepared ourselves for a long search.
When I had checked over everything and made sure preparations were set, I had the unit sleep while I took the first watch at our campfire.
“We’re ready,” I muttered, looking up at the night sky. “Now, all that’s left is to track down those demons.”
I threw another branch on the fire and looked at the members of my unit, asleep. Within hours we might find ourselves facing demons in battle, and yet everyone looked fast asleep. I had to chuckle.
“You’re all so carefree,” I muttered.
But this, too, was what made them so special. They knew how important it was to look after themselves. It was one of the reasons they were all a part of my unit. If they went too far, then that same carefree nature would come back to bite them. It was my job to put their talents to their best uses.
I put another branch on the fire, and it crackled as it lit up the surrounding darkness.
“Seems like one of you can’t sleep,” I said. “Should I put you to sleep myself?”
At first, there was no response, but as I began to stand up, one person hurriedly spoke.
“H-how did you even know I was awake?”
Aul walked over to the fire, tidying her messy hair. I turned my gaze back to the flames.
“I sensed it,” I said.
“That’s terrifying,” muttered Aul.
She sat down, then wrapped her arms around her knees and pulled them to her chest. The next guard duty shift was still a while off. Aul had waited for everyone to fall asleep because there was something on her mind. Still, I was in no mood to press her about it, so a few minutes passed in silence. We listened to the flickering flames until Aul finally spoke.
“Why did you pick me for second-in-command?” she asked.
“Huh?”
The question felt very sudden. I looked at Aul through narrowed eyes.
That’s what she’s worried about?