+++ Lieutenant Hans Hoffman +++

  Near La Veridad City

  December 18, 1538 CE

  “Three, two, one—open fire!” Hans shouted.

  At once, the entire volley of F Company from the 4th Holy Ygeia Regiment fired their newly procured ammunition. Each shot was now tailored by their supplier with the express purpose of defeating the Calamity of Recklessness. All bullets flew rapidly and with force at a massive wooden wall.

  It was around eight hundred meters from them. The sheer unnatural range of F Company’s musketry range was only out of the enchantments placed on their musket balls. To Hans’ binoculars, each bullet seemed to even crack and cause larger-than-normal holes in the thick wooden wall. Best of all, the fire ate through the wood rapidly.

  It was intense. Powerful. And goddess-damned expensive.

  It feels like we’re burning thousands of Imperial Marks for nothing. Hans winced a bit. But it was a necessary test to wargame the capabilities of their new supplies. Thank the heavens for the IYC. They are good at footing the bill.

  He reset his watch’s counter. Then, he turned to Captain Strobel, who was standing beside him.

  “Alright. Use standard munitions now that we’ve confirmed the new ones work fine. Let’s move on to the final firing drills,” Hans ordered. Captain Strobel calmly nodded and turned to the drummers and signal bearers beside them. When Hans heard the collective shouts of “reload” from the sergeants in charge, he began his countdown.

  The first massed volley took them twenty-two seconds to perform.

  Hans found that insufficient. He called for another volley.

  The second massed volley took them twenty seconds to perform.

  He still shook his head. Not enough. And Captain Strobel ordered the drills to continue.

  On and on they went. Volley after volley. Hundreds of paper cartridges were expended, as the walls they targeted burned brightly in the afternoon sky. To La Veridad, it had been a constant reality ever since the 1st Anti-Demon Unit was stationed here. Endless drills. Endless wargames. Endless cracks of gunfire and artillery.

  “This is going to be the last attempt, Lieutenant,” Captain Strobel warned. “It’ll be the tenth volley. Most likely, a thousand cartridges must have been expended already.”

  “Do it. Remember. Each shot is another shot that these boys learn how to reload, aim, and fire,” Hans grinned. “It’s always worth it.”

  Captain Strobel nodded curtly. Soon, the order was given, and Hans waited until the firing process was completed. He stopped his watch right when the sergeants shouted “fire”, and the muskets of F Company collectively opened fire one last time.

  Sixteen seconds. Hans felt satisfied. Very good.

  “The 18th Infantry Battalion seems to have passed completely then,” Captain Strobel said as he looked at Hans’ watch. “Should we proceed to the 20th Infantry?”

  Hans nodded.

  “Yeah. Start with G Company. Then we’ll do final drills with H Company as a finale tonight. Then tomorrow, early morning, we’ll do I Company before conducting battalion-wide wargames,” Hans sighed. “How’s C Battery doing by the way? I remember that they received the new cannons last morning.”

  “They already finished the drills last night with their eight Improved Falconets. They are all six-pounder guns. And the barrels themselves are lighter than normal. Two horses can carry them well on the battlefield. I believe these guys will be very mobile,” Captain Strobel nodded eagerly.

  “Lighter? You mean, the metals used are…less reinforced?”

  “Less reinforced in materials. But they are reinforced magically. That means it should perform the same way as a standard falconet should without complications, all while remaining lighter. Technically, we tested it and it seems that four horses can carry them as fast as six horses do with the normal falconets, but each gun will still be carried by six horses. Makes them move faster.”

  “Well, that’s very good then,” Hans nodded. “You think we should just send C Battery’s new cannons to A Battery’s veteran force? Then we’ll give the newbies at C Batteries the older ones. That might help at making sure the best guys have the best weapons.”

  “I’ll look into it.”

  Hans nodded, then he took a deep breath. There was still a lot of work to be done. Reorganization, improved squad-based doctrines, testing, and training with superior munitions…on and on they went. But, when he looked at the marching troops of F Company, he felt his fatigue wiped out.

  “Alright. Let’s keep going,” he confidently said to Captain Strobel. “We’ll become the best damned demon-hunting force there is in this continent. This will all pay off eventually.”

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  +++

  “Ray of Light!” Adelyn shouted with her full voice after she fully charged her skill. A golden magical circle immediately appeared in front of her gloved palm. And just as quickly, a pulse of golden light flew toward the direction of the Viceroy. She immediately raised her shield with her staff—yet somehow, Adelyn’s attack nearly pierced it.

  While it was deflected, the Viceroy’s shield completely shattered as if it was nothing.

  Hans immediately ran toward the field as both women collapsed. Hans only briefly checked the Viceroy. She still seemed to be on her knees on the grassy fields. Adelyn meanwhile completely collapsed facefirst. Hans rushed straight to Adelyn, almost completely discounting the Viceroy after he saw that she wasn’t turned into smithereens.

  “Adelyn?!” Hans shouted as he kneeled to her, checking her panickedly. “Adelyn, are you alright?”

  “I feel…” she seemed like she’d vomit. “I feel like shit, Lieutenant.”

  “W-what?” Hans checked her neck. Specifically, her temperature. She was warm. Almost feverish. Though the heat from her was rapidly dissipating.

  “That attack took all of my AP,” Adelyn choked out. “...Is this what AP exhaustion feels like?”

  “Okay, okay. Tell me where it hurts. Can you breathe? You can breathe fine, right?”

  “Of course, I’m breathing…” Adelyn breathed in harder. Then, she smiled at Hans. “I’m fine. I just…want to sleep so bad…damn…I feel like all my bones are broken…this is weird…”

  “Your bones are what now—?”

  “You two look cute over there,” a tired laugh came behind Hans. It was the Viceroy. She seemed like she was barely holding herself together. “Captain Wittenstein…I haven’t seen such a powerful skill attack like that yet. And it’s only on the first tier? Gods…it must be the power of an angel.”

  “I didn’t have a chance to try it yet because it had a warning on it,” Adelyn mumbled. “It said that it would always drain most of my available AP…and…and the more AP I have available, the more damaging it is. But, if I do that…this happens…”

  “You are not using that crap again!” Hans shouted. “I am not having you collapse to a damned stroke or whatever out of nowhere!”

  “Lieutenant,” Adelyn tiredly laughed as well. “You’re always so protective. Besides…what chance do I have to use most things I have learned from the Viceroy? I pilot a mech…that’s where I’ll fight with you. Don’t worry anymore. Now...while I do want to sleep, I do believe I have a lot of meetings with the staff of the 1st—”

  “You are going to bed,” Hans chastised. “You are sleeping and you are not waking up until you recover.”

  “What?”

  “I said what I said. You’ve been straining yourself for weeks on end on these things. Now, you look so pale. I bet you’re dying. And I’m not having my commanding officer dying on my watch!”

  “I said I’m not dying.”

  “Yeah, and I’m not convinced!”

  “You should rest, Captain Wittenstein,” the Viceroy suggested from behind them. The two stopped their back-and-forth as they turned back to her. “You did well enough. I wasn’t able to raise your levels beyond Tier III, but…now, you learned a lot. You can control your magic better. You can use your skills better. You regenerate AP better. Your attributes have been improved. I think…you did well now.”

  “Will it be enough though…?” Adelyn asked. “I’m the Angel of Justice. I feel like…if I do not do enough…I’ll fail this world.”

  “Oh shut that mopey ass crap,” Hans snapped. “I’m working my ass off at getting the 1st Anti-Demon Unit in shape. And I reached Tier III too like you. You have a partner here. And an entire military unit helping you out. It’s not just the leader who executes and takes responsibility for a grand mission. It is you, and I, and the rest of the unit.”

  “Hans…” Adelyn smiled a bit more again. Then, she turned her eyes straight into the night sky instead, almost admiring the stars above them. “Alright…I’ll go rest then. You’re right. I did a lot of work already…”

  In the far distance, the cracks of artillery from the drills conducted by the 4th Holy Ygeia Regiment picked up again. The overused fields on the horizon we're lit up again. The trio briefly turned their attention to it.

  “And you’re all doing a lot of work too,” Adelyn said. “Everyone is. We weren’t even defeated, yet the fact that we struggled a bit prompted us to do all of this. We’re…trying our best. I guess I should feel a bit relieved then…”

  “Were you afraid?” Hans asked.

  “Yeah…” Adelyn admitted. “I watched you get close to death too many times already. And I…I’m starting to hate that. I wish that I can one day, be so strong that I can just…take a single shot and kill a demon. I don’t want the worst to happen one day…Lieutenant.”

  “It won’t happen, dumbass,” Hans said. “I won’t let it happen.”

  “And thus, you should rest, as I’ve said,” the Viceroy said. “I understand your drive to be as good as me, but you’re already close there. In fact, I’m afraid that I’ve taught you most that I can teach in short order already. It’s now up to you to just absorb it.”

  “Yeah, you heard her,” Hans said. “Can you stand?”

  Adelyn seemed like she wanted to stand back up. But it seemed like her muscles weren’t responding. Hans sighed. With a swift motion, he picked her up as if she were a sack of potatoes. He managed to place Adelyn on his back quite easily, as she was utterly limp.

  “Hey! Lieutenant Hoffman! How dare you pick me up like this? I can still stand! Just give me a minute!” Adelyn shouted, her face utterly red.

  “No, you won’t. You’ve overexerted yourself, dumbass. You won’t be moving properly for hours. Lady Viviani, please tell Captain Strobel that I’ll come back later. I’ll just get this woman to her room,” Hans said as he carried her away.

  “I shall be on it, Lieutenant Hoffman,” the Viceroy replied.

  “Emilia! You’re not leaving me like this. This is humiliating—”

  Suddenly, a spell struck Adelyn. It was from the courtesy of the Viceroy. It seemed to be a silencing spell, considering that she couldn’t speak anymore. Hans sighed, boredly tightening his hold on her hands as he continued. She indeed was pretty light.

  But damn did she work hard at times.

  I still have a lot of work to do before resting today in comparison. Hans however simply smiled. Ah, whatever. Once it’s done, I can hit the sack nicely in my room too like her.

  And then, soon, they would be finished with this charade.

  They’d ride out to defeat the Calamity of Recklessness once and for all after that. And Hans was confident about it this time.

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