+++ Lieutenant Hans Hoffman +++

Principality of Armonia

August 17, 1539 CE

"Do not listen to the lies of the papacy! He is a demon wearing human skin!" A soldier shouted over the lines of refugees. "Serenus is a trap! Move westward instead!"

"You bastards can't even protect any of us!"

"How is the pope lying?! He's the pope!"

"The Empress abandoned us! Salvation is only in Serenus!"

"Non-believers! Heathens! Heretics! Have you all refused the gospel of our gods!"

Colonel Strobel grunted angrily as he turned back to Hans.

"Well, shit, we did our best," Ebert said.

"Let's just keep moving. No point in dealing with them," Hans said, sighing.

The past few days have moved on without much incident. It seemed that, according to Elisa, the enemy moved in a bunch of lesser demons to block certain paths in the mountain range and the flatlands of southern Anesi.

With well-coordinated movements however, the entire YEF managed to evade these demons. Unfortunately, they had to take routes that weren't exactly the fastest, so they were delayed a bit.

Most of all, the 1st Anti-Demon unit specifically was forced to ride into one of the cities of southern Armonia, and down here, well…

The city they were in simply didn't receive them well. To be quite frank, almost all settlements they passed through now, with Virtus nobles and clergy still in charge of them, treated them as an invading force.

There were even limited clashes with Imperial Army units still loyal to the pope, but they were mostly soundly defeated due to how disorganized they were.

Still, a major problem was brewing.

Right now, they were probably functionally in a state of civil war, with the other side simply unable to fight well simply because they didn't have the same organization, equipment, leadership, and capabilities as the YEF.

Hans and Ebert walked through the streets calmly as the angry crowd soon dispersed. Refugees in wagons and carriages completely ignored their orders, blocking and clogging the roads in and out of the city.

It was chaotic, which was why Hans and Ebert decided to send a few hundred soldiers in to take control of the situation.

But it was clear that it was impossible. Even the city's garrison hardly cooperated, doubting the idea that the pope was a demon. While at least they didn't close their gates or attack Ebert's men, there was a terrible foreboding in Hans's mind because of all this.

"We're going to have a harder time making the final leap to the Imperial Capital," Hans said, plainly. "There's also the possibility that the enemy can send a major formation of the Imperial Army to intercept us."

"And we'd be way too dispersed to react," Ebert said.

"Indeed."

The two walked into a temporary command post in the middle of the city, where convoys of dragon-drawn wagons and carriages were parked. The two boarded Ebert's command carriage, rushing out of the city, and Hans made his way back to his mech.

Rejoining Adelyn later after she finished a brief scouting tour, the two rejoined the moving battalions of the 1st Anti-Demon Unit on the march to Serenus.

Not much happened for hours, until it was eight o'clock in the evening. A stop order was issued again by the Empress, and they settled into ad-hoc defense lines at the positions they stopped in.

Briefly, Hans informed General Kohler while corresponding with the Empress about the possibility of clashes with soldiers loyal to Serenus, and he told Hans that he'd consider potential measures for it.

For now, though, they were in front of one of the infantry battalions of the 1st Anti-Demon Unit, camped on the side of a hill and hidden near the side of a road using bushes.

"I've got to see so many new sights today," Alizée happily swayed her feet as she held a bowl of soup. "...I wonder what the Imperial Capital looks like."

"Why do you want to know?" Hans asked, as he ate silently on the side of their little campfire.

"Because the Serenus Grand Academy is the best, they say!" Alizée declared. "I've talked to a lot of mages in Astelia, and they say, if I wish to learn from the best, it's the Serenus Grand Academy that'll offer that."

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

"Is that so?" Hans laughed a bit, as he turned to Adelyn. "What do you think?"

"Hmm…maybe once this is all over, we'll buy a nice place near Serenus," Adelyn smiled. "Then you can study there."

"Really, Lady Adelyn?!"

"Of course! That's the life I wish for once this is all over!"

"It sounds so wonderful then…"

Hans on the other hand remained silent on the side. Quite frankly, he didn't like thinking about what would happen once this war ended, not until Hubris was killed and this whole demon problem ended.

Still, the fact that they were talking about it now made Hans ease up a bit.

His mind had been plagued endlessly by thoughts about the upcoming battle, so that he could barely get a wink of sleep, and his mind was in a constant state of hyperawareness.

He knew it was wearing him down, but what could he do? They were charging in on a suicide mission…

But…

Now that he thought about it, the idea of living in a one-day peaceful city sounded nice. He'd get to send Alizée to a nice school, maybe even help raise her while he did something else than shooting people.

Maybe even, he'd live with Adelyn while—

"Hey," Adelyn grinned at Hans. "You're smiling."

"Shut up," Hans looked away, speeding up at eating his food.

"Sir Hans really hates talking about normal life, huh?" Alizée pouted a bit.

"I know nothing about this land to make plans for the future," Hans said. "So, if anyone's the weird one, it's the two of you."

"Hmph…this journey is so boring when it's travel mode though," Alizée whined. "I can only watch Lady Adelyn driving, so I just try thinking about the future while looking at the scenery."

"Don't worry," Adelyn gave Alizée a thumbs-up. "I'm the same. We can't really blame Hans though, he's a true model soldier, so he's always alert."

"Geez, my commanding officer is slacking in her duties in such an important mission," Hans groaned on the side. "Really makes me more confident about all this."

"Pfft, don't worry," Adelyn placed her hand on her chest. "The Angel of Justice will take care of anything when we meet the enemy, so just find them for me!"

Alizée and Adelyn laughed a bit, and while Hans didn't find anything particularly funny, just seeing the two having fun with their childish banter…well, it made him chuckle a bit too.

He looked at the night sky above them. The soft moonlight filtered down on them, and he felt his mind easing up a bit.

+++

Hans yawned in his seat.

He had been unable to sleep properly.

His nerves…well, it was still on high alert. Been that way all the time since they set out on this expedition.

Even now, when Adelyn and Alizée slept nicely in the Diligence, Hans remained on watch duty. The stop order given to them wasn't exactly long, so rotation was impossible.

In fact, it could be said that just as Elisa was a sleep-deprived lady, the rest of the Ygeian Expeditionary Force was no different. The constant shifting movements of lesser demons simply made that impossible. Each stop order was essentially only done briefly throughout the day to give them some chance to rest.

Hans couldn't rest. He had too many excuses. His mind was besieged with tracking the last positions of demons and their units on the map, and he tried his best to keep adjusting his advice to the Empress using that.

So far, incidents had been so limited, precisely because of their diligence.

But now, he was feeling like he was truly burning out. His eyes drooped and sagged, and he felt the powerful pull of sleep slowly getting to him. Maybe he should, it wasn't like they were in a risky position anyway.

They chose this precisely because it was well-hidden, yet they could see everything miles away from here.

But while his body and mind yearned for sleep, his soul rejected it.

Rest, what a truly enticing thing that was. He looked back at what they freely discussed earlier. Such a life seemed like a dream for Hans, where he could finally run away from all of this and be…at peace.

Back then, he thought once this was all over, he'd just be a wandering mercenary afterward. But now, that idea was starting to sound truly awful for him. Not that he would admit that he longed for it, but, well, raising Alizée with Adelyn was truly starting to grow on him.

Romance remained an alien concept to Hans. But, he couldn't deny that it sounded good. Way too good even.

Oh no…

He was starting to doze off.

Can't…I have…

To fight.

Always fight.

If I don't, if I'm sloppy even once…

He imagined that dream.

I might not reach it.

Yet, the fact that he imagined it more, pulled him harder into sleep. Before he knew it, his back rested neatly on his soft seat, and a smile was on his face.

While his eyebags were immense, the fact that Hans was now dreaming of something nice as he slept, made him look like he was in heaven.

Even when he was in hell.

+++

They were once again on the move. A few hours after midnight, the stop order was lifted after Hans and Adelyn finished their brief rest. Even with Alizée still dead asleep, the two drove onward on the road, without much complication.

"At the rate we're going, we might really get to Serenus just in time."

"Quite frankly, I was expecting a few battles on the way there."

"You did?"

"But, we got lucky."

Hans returned his thoughts to the battle with Cowardice. While indeed, Elisa's telephatic ability failed at identifying the true identity of that calamity demon, never once had she been wrong about the demon's position.

He was expecting actual inaccuracies, but it seemed that she truly was simply that precise that they could avoid any conflict on the way here with the demons.

It was terrifying, and it explained well how her little unit managed to march so far before they were forced into battle.

Will we be in the same position soon?

Hans shuddered at that thought a bit, even if he knew he'd eventually find out a way to win no matter what. The thing was, there was going to be no relief force here.

Not the west.

Not the Empire they were driving through.

Especially when…

"We have to stop," Hans said, his voice turning wary as he looked onward at a mass of soldiers forming a barricade on the road ahead of them. "There's loyalists ahead of us."

"No way. Don't tell me…"

He frowned as they raised their muskets at Hans' and Adelyn's speeding mechs.

The first shots of the Civil War were most likely soon to be fired.

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