Aura

  ***

  Having arrived three days ago, we finished setting up the base camp and scouted the area. Although we were assured that there would be no dangerous demons, anyone who has ever been near demons knows that they are all dangerous. Even horned rabbits are dangerous when you come across them unprepared. I’ve heard many stories about people being killed by them. The st thing that I want is for one of those dumb noble kids getting killed by them. Worryingly there were some wolf tracks, but they were old. Regardless, we need to keep an eye out for them. That being said, upon finding only small demons such as the horned rabbits and two twin-tailed squirrels, I felt relieved.

  Once we knew that it was safe, we went around catching whatever we could find. There were even some dwarf hogs. I don’t think any of those students can take one on, but let's get them just to be safe. With many demons caught, the hunting parties returned to the base camp.

  As for the base camp, because of who is staying here, it’s more luxurious than we normally make them. We have rge open spaces and even a few trees for shade. And aside from our tents, we have a rger kitchen with plenty of seating as well as individual fires and even a couple of ovens. There’s also a storage area and workshop for fixing any tools, weapons, or armor, a sparring arena, and many other things which we figured students may need. The most luxurious pce is definitely the small bathhouse. Given the magical tools it had, it was easy to use. Even before the students use it, it’s already seen plenty of use, not just from myself, but from everybody here.

  Doing contracts for The Empire is never easy. This one is especially difficult. Well, that’s not exactly true. A simple protection contract against demons. A simple and, in this area, rather safe job. However, the problem is who we are protecting. Nobles. Furthermore Noble children. Even worse than that is the kids for the Sitting Regents. Also an unexpected foreign prince. How fun. If the pay wasn’t so high, then I would have refused this job immediately. Not only that, but they offered to pay more than half upfront, so they must have been desperate.

  Oh well. Money is money. Don’t let anyone tell you that they can’t be bought. We all have our price. That’s why mercenaries exist. Anyway, having built up camp, we gathered supplies from the local area and bought what we could from the nearby town. The Empire was paying, so it made things much easier for us. Although we were given free rein to buy whatever supplies we needed, we were given specific instructions from the Academy. We aren’t really teachers, but we’ll be holding a “survival training css.” Not only that but we were given permission to, and I quote, “Treat them roughly if you need to.” What a bnk check that is…

  With that safety net, we were still on edge, though not quite as concerned for our lives should one of them get injured. Well, let’s be honest, it’s when one of them gets injured. I’ve met a lot of idiot nobles and a lot more idiot kids. Put the two of them together and accidents are bound to happen. Trying not to worry about that, I heard a call from outside.

  “They’re here.” My husband, Bke, called me.

  “Got it.” I sighed.

  Regardless of the pay, I’m still not exactly excited to take care of a bunch of kids. Luckily those of us that have kids, sent them to retives or retired friends, so none of them were around to start any fights. Standing from my desk, I exited the tent. Seeing the blue sky with scattered clouds I was gd. Given what we have pnned, this weather is perfect. No rain or mud to make things too difficult.

  “Ready?” Bke asked.

  “Yeah, I’m ready.” I nodded. “Let’s get going.”

  Heading towards the front gate, I straightened out my uniform and stood in the center of the road. With Bke and fnked by armored soldiers. Despite not having the best armor, they sure would be intimidating to kids. Just a quick hint that their stay won't be an easy one. With everyone and everything prepared, I gave the signal to open the gates.

  As the gates opened, I saw the kids and frowned. Almost every one of them carried bags that were far too big. I was told that they were going to bring only the essentials. Well, looks like that bnk check is going to get some early abuse. With some wicked thoughts on my mind, I introduced myself.

  “Greeting students of The Empire.” I firmly said. “I am Aura Bnc, Captain of the mercenary group Acadia. For the next week, we will be your instructors.”

  Seeing us, the students had a look of surprise and confusion. I guess that they didn’t expect some random mercenaries to be their teachers. After all, the children of the Regents and a foreign prince are here. I suppose we may have hurt the noble’s pride since we aren't a famous knightly order. But now’s not the time for that. Let’s get to work.

  Evelyn

  ***

  “To get things started, Everyone line up, open your bags and put them in front of you.” Aura said. “We’ll be checking to see if you brought the necessary items.”

  “Ah, we better hurry up!” Charlotte muttered.

  “I got everything and then some!” Olivia said. “I’m sure we’ll be fine!”

  As we lined up, I kept gncing at Aura. Does she know? Did she pn this? Or maybe it was the Regents who did this? Wait no, they were hired by the Academy, so it’s unlikely. Regardless of how this happened, I’m gd it did. Wait, does she even remember me? She has to, right? She saw me transform into Melody. Surely that is something she would remember, right?

  With those thoughts and many more popping up in my head, Aura started her inspection. Walking up to the first group in line, which happened to be the Twin Regent’s group, Aura looked at the bags. Now that I see them, they seem to be smaller than average. I wonder if they have a good packing system? Grabbing the biggest of them all, she picked it up and promptly turned it upside down, spilling its contents onto the floor.

  “Hey!” That Guy said.

  Picking up one thing at random, Aura sighed. “An abacus? How is this necessary?”

  “Well…” He seemed to hesitate.

  “You are here to fight demons, not teach them math.” She said, dropping it.

  Without saying anything else, she reached for the next bag and did the same thing. Looks like it’s Lloyd’s bag.

  “Two ptes and bowls?” She asked. “What for?”

  “I’m holding one for my sister.” Lloyd said.

  “How kind of you.” She said.

  Once more, she tipped over a bag, this time it was Lna’s.

  “A stuffed rabbit?” She frowned.

  “Ah- well- I…” Lna stammered, cheeks turning red.

  Looking over to the rest of us, Aura spoke up.

  “Unless you want to be made an example of, empty out your bags and sort out everything that was on the list and everything that wasn’t.” She said. “Once that is done, pick one luxury item that you want to keep with you. The rest of the junk you’re going to walk back to the carts and leave there. If you take too long, you’ll miss dinner.”

  Leaving the Twin Regent’s group, she walked to the next group. Seeing that they were not moving fast enough, she dumped out one of their bags. Getting the hint, we started unpacking. Given how little I carried, I wasn’t worried for myself, but rather for my friends. Flustered, Charlotte didn’t even try unpacking things and dumped out her own bag. Is that a hand held butter churn? Where did she pn on getting milk? Okay they really need me, let’s help them out.

  Nissia

  ***

  Much like our cssmates, we frantically sorted our belongings. Unlike the nobles however, we had far less stuff. Still given how she treated the Twin Regents and Levi, we couldn’t help but worry for ourselves.

  “Was a pte on the list?” Alice asked.

  “I think?” I said, trying to find out where I put my lighter. It was a semi expensive magic tool, so I would hate to lose it.

  As we worked on our knees, a pair of bck boots stopped in front of us. Holding our breaths, a hand reached down and picked up the lighter I was searching for. Carefully looking up, I saw her inspecting it. Turning her attention from it, she looked at me and a chill went through my body.

  “Was it expensive?” She asked.

  “Kind of…” I said in a small voice.

  “This is more of a decorative lighter for indoor use.” She said. “If you carry this around out here, it’ll break. We have spares here, so put it back if you care about it.”

  “Thank you.” I muttered.

  That salesman lied to me! He said it was heavy duty! I’m going to compin when I get back! Continuing to sort and pack, being more careful with the lighter, I tried hard to keep track of my things. Although I got many of my things with a discount, I didn’t want to damage anything or break them if I could help it.

  With Captain Aura moving to the next group, my breathing became a bit easier. Being the leader of all these tough looking people here, she was more than a little intimidating. I’m gd that we didn’t over pack like the others.

  Speaking of overpacking, I couldn’t help but look at Evelyn's group. All but Evelyn had oversized backpacks. My guess is that they shared Evelyn’s stuff between them, but that can’t be all of it. Given how big their backpacks were, they must still have overpacked. As Captain Aura moved in, Evelyn started to panic. Oh god I can’t watch!

  Watching as she stopped in front of their group, Aura paused and then looked really annoyed. She picked up a small wooden contraption and looked at them.

  “Is this a butter churn?” She asked. “Which one of you brought this?”

  Wait, they sell handheld ones now? I got to get one of those!

  “Um-” Charlotte slowly raised her hand. “That’s mine…”

  “In what world would you need this in a survival situation?” She asked.

  “Um…” Charlotte’s eyes darted around, as if looking for an answer.

  “Unless you want to make everyone’s food, put it back.” She said.

  Aura dropped it, forcing Charlotte to hurriedly catch it before it hit the floor. Turning her attention to the others, she paused in front of Evelyn, who had her head down. A bit surprised, her expression quickly turned to annoyance.

  “So, did you have your friends carry your stuff?” She asked.

  “Ah-” Evelyn hesitated, looking up at her. “N- Nope! This is all I need!”

  Oh what a troubled smile. I hope she doesn’t get yelled at. Once more, Aura paused. Wait no, not that. She completely froze. With her eyes wide open, she could only look at her with a shocked expression on her face. After a moment’s silence, Evelyn slowly stood up, with stiff shoulders and that same troubled smile.

  “Hey Aura…” Evelyn said.

  “Evelyn…?” Aura called out.

  Hearing this, Evelyn’s smile became a bit more rexed.

  “It’s been a while…” Evelyn smiled.

  “It really has…” Aura let out a gentle smile.

  Taking a moment to simply look at one another, the two smiled.

  “You sure have grown.” She said. “I almost didn’t recognize you.”

  “Yeah…” Evelyn said.

  “Looks like you’re doing well for yourself. I’m gd.” She said, ruffling her hair.

  “Yeah!” She smiled happily.

  Feeling our stares, Aura’s face turned a bit red and she cleared her throat.

  “Right, well I’d love to catch up, but I’m a bit busy right now.” She said.

  “Ah!” Evelyn noticed us watching. “Sorry, just keep doing what it is you’re doing.”

  Unable to hold herself back, Charlotte looked at Evelyn.

  “You know her?” Charlotte asked, understandably confused.

  That’s what we’re all wondering. Why does Evelyn know some random mercenary?

  “Yep!” Evelyn said excitedly. “This is Boss Lady Aura. The people here picked me up when I was in the Dark Woods!”

  “That’s an odd way to say we saved you.” Aura pointed out.

  These people saved her!?

  “If I remember correctly, I was surviving just fine.” Evelyn pouted.

  “When we found you, you were eating poisonous grass.” Aura countered.

  “I ate other things!” Evelyn argued. “You can’t survive for half a year on grass alone!”

  “You were starved.” Aura said. “You were stumbling over yourself and I could pick you up with a single hand!”

  “Hey, I never said that I was thriving, just surviving.” She said.

  “Alright little miss survival expert, just tell me when you get hungry, and try not to steal the horse's oats again.” Aura teased.

  “That was one time, and you know it.” She pouted.

  “And Mr. mou-” Aura started, giving an evil grin.

  “AH!? No no no! Let’s not talk about that!” Evelyn panicked, waving her hands.

  Just what in the world are they talking about? Also, I’ve never seen Evelyn act like this. Given the looks of our cssmates and teachers, they haven’t either. Just how close were these two? Wait, what was that about eating poisonous grass? Isn’t the grass from the Dark Woods used in executions? Maybe it was a different type of grass? Also, what was this Mr. Mou?

  Laughing, Aura pced her hand on Evelyn’s head and roughly messed up her hair. Evelyn, though she compined, seemed to be enjoying it.

  “So, are these your friends?” She asked.

  “Yep.” Evelyn nodded. “This is Charlotte, Chloe, Nicole, and Olivia. We’ve been friends for a long time.”

  “Nice to meet you. I’m Aura, that’s my husband Bke” She said, pointing out the threatening looking man with a short beard.

  “Hi Boss Man!” Evelyn enthusiastically waved.

  Seeing this, the scary man gave a joyful smile and waved back. Evelyn’s friends, being more than a bit confused and scared, gave small waves to them both.

  “If you need anything, feel free to ask us.” Aura continued. “As for Evelyn, she knows her stuff, but don’t let her convince you into eating any random pnts she finds.”

  “I would never do that.” Evelyn said.

  “You tried to convince me to eat some dandelions you found.” She pointed out.

  “What, they’re edible.” She said.

  “See what I mean?” Aura smiled.

  “They are!” Evelyn said.

  She’s not wrong. Dandelions are edible, but considering that they were from the Dark Woods, they were probably poisonous. Thinking about all of the dangers in the Dark Woods, I’m reminded how lucky Evelyn was to survive there. Wait, how long was she in there? Did she say half a year? She was by herself for half a year before they found her!? How did she survive!? She should be dead! I’m sorry past life game, but that story is so unrealistic! There is no way anyone could live out there by themselves for half a year! A day? Two days? Maybe. At most, a week. But half a year!? She must have had major plot armor! Also, let's be careful about pnts when we are on this trip.

  “Well, we really should call it for now.” Aura said.

  “Aw…” Evelyn pouted.

  “We can talk more ter.” She said. “For now help your friends sort out their stuff. We still have things to do after this, and I was being serious about missing dinner.”

  “Ah, we better hurry.” Evelyn said in a more serious voice.

  I think we should. I don’t want to miss dinner.

  Grayburne