Casper was hiding in an alley, looking to the streets intently. Steps could be heard among the continuous battle noises in the background.
He was sure that those footsteps belonged to someone walking very near to him. Hopefully, the person in question did not see him yet, but he could not afford himself to be careless.
Although he had treated his wounds, rested a few minutes, and even eaten a little bit of food, Casper still would be worthless if he got himself caught in another brawl.
Also, strike opponents at night when they are on top of a building, without any cover and nowhere to run, was way easier than do it in a street full of obstacles.
However, Casper had the feeling that stays where he was seemed not to be the best option.
He quietly looked back and forth, covering all the extension of that street. He gave special attention to the inside of the buildings.
As it seemed, nobody was there. He was not sure, but he could only trust his instincts and perception, even if it was tricky to have a good image of things in that pitch dark place.
"That's the safest bet I can do for now… I think I should have had played more Poker when I had the chance…" He smiled nervously, trying to hide how anxious he was.
Casper put his finger in the hunting rifle's trigger, pressing it very slightly while positioning his hands in a firm grip.
He did not know if he could bear the rifle's recoil, but, in that situation, it was a must. If he could not handle this much, he was a dead man…
That was the worst thing about war. You never had time to recover fully. You rarely had the opportunity to regain your breath. You could not find rest anywhere.
Your only option was to fight. Your only duty was to kill. And the main goal was to not lose the grip on your life.
"After a whole year or so serving the Yanke Forces, I thought I could finally get some rest but … Things turned out like this. I didn't know that anime protagonists have it so tough, I feel pity for them…
"Well… Those bastards have at least one overpowered ability, while I have nothing to brag about, so I don't feel too pity like this!"
Casper stopped to think about stupid things. That was a way to calm himself, but if he afforded his mind to go further, he would stay rambling around for hours.
He carefully stepped outside the alley. The footsteps he was hearing were lower now, and he needed to focus a bit more to be able to hear them clearly.
Following the sidewalk, covering himself with the vehicles badly parked and scrap piles (that were very common all over the city), he kept walking hastily in the direction of his current goal: the Energy Tower.
"The night is getting colder and colder. I am not with proper clothes to the winter… I am fearing to have hypothermia here."
Suddenly, shoots could be heard, and those were more close than the others that were in the background.
Casper crouched on the ground, startled, and retracting the abdomen to stop his uncontrolled breathing.
The exchange of shots kept for more time, until it stopped after a scream of pain.
"It seems that the Ridire and guards finally could be able to get some weapons that don't need the Energy of the tower. Still, which side is winning? I can't say at all. It's been a long period that I lost sight of the main part of the battlefield.
"Maybe because of their continuous mistakes, the Ridire are having a pretty bad time…"
Casper was sitting on the floor, reflecting and distracting his mind to cool himself again. Unfortunately, it was a miscalculated measure. He should not have lost his attention from the streets.
When he realized, someone was right next to him. As he was seated, he could just take a glimpse of the person's legs.
He rolled to the side, feeling a lot of places in his body sink in an abnormal pain. He needed to bite his tongue to don't let out a scream.
"Don't let the enemy know that you are so weak! Shut your mouth and aim this freaking gun, Casper!" He finished his roll crouching in a kneeling position.
He put the hunting rifle lined with his right eye, closing the left, and aiming at the person's head. Just then he realized who it was.
"N-Nach?" Casper was truly surprised, but he controlled himself to just mumble her name. People were shooting near there, so he could not afford himself to say something out loud.
Sionnach pulled him behind a scrap pile since Casper rolled to the middle of the street.
"Someone. Eastside. He killed a Ridire. Let's go." She murmured in his ear.
Casper nodded.
Still crouched, they walked to a house far away from there, where they settled down.
Sionnach made sure to close all the windows to block the noises from inside and to prevent being spotted by someone outside.
Casper found a heavy writing desk, which he and Nach carried without drag it on the ground, blocking the door.
When the preparations finally ended, Nach looked around the last time, just to be assured. After this, she seemed to lost the strength in her legs and sat on a sofa, leaning her back and resting with her eyes closed.
Casper, who was as wounded as her, did the same.
He took a deep breath, and closed his eyes as well, relaxing his muscles and losing the tension on his shoulders.
"Since I got here, I couldn't afford myself to have such a time to rest a bit. It's being, what? 3 or 4 hours I am here? But it's like one month had passed…" He mumbled, talking more to himself than to Nach.
Anyway, she answered him.
"I feel the same about today. It's like the minutes turned into hours, and the hours in whole days… I never had such troublesome time, I guess…"
"Really?"
"Nah… It's just hyperbole. I had a difficult battle today, but it was not the worst."
"Which was the worst?"
"I fought a guy who ripped off my leg."
"Oh sh*t, really!?"
"Yeah. Fortunately, they could retrieve my leg for me and do a surgical operation to get the nerves together again and fix everything else."
"What a hell of a guy, right? A tough enemy."
"Yeah, but he was my general, an Aesir, not my enemy, though…"
"Wow, what a jerk… And what's an Aesir?"
"A military hierarchical title. There are seven Aesirs currently, and that's the maximum number as well. If you keep alive and end up talking with the Princess, you will know them."
For some reason, the name Aesir sent chills down Casper's spine.
"What position you are now in the hierarchy?"
"I am just an ordinary Ridire until I get the title of General. After this, Aesir is the next goal. It's not a very large hierarchy, but it's hard to achieve the requirements to receive a title, even the Ridire one."
They fell into silence for some seconds, keeping quiet while resting a bit more. Sionnach started to make a check-up on her body, trying to spot the most dangerous wounds and treat them. However, it was clear that the worst ones were the wounds on her fists.
The left was broken, and the right had the wrist cut deeply.
"Should we rest like this by now? Why we don't rush to activate the tower again?"
"We would be useless walking on the streets like this. A lot of people are dying indeed, but if the same fate befell one of us, everything will end. The thing is that the Princess is still at the castle with the Aesirs, so everything will be ok for now."
"They are planning to do a surprise attack…" Casper let it slip out.
"Yeah. I could understand this much when we were talking for the first time. I am more clever than you expect. Besides, they will not attack until the Princess finally takes an impulsive movement and get out of the castle, since inside there is a dangerous place to invade. The guy I was fighting before said to me that everything would start when they met the Princess, after all, so they can't act for now."
"Oh… Then… we have time right now…"
"No. We don't. What they predicted will happen in no time. The Princess is a stubborn one. But we still can't keep slacking like this."
Casper took a look at his wounds, after closing his eyes again. He focused on his breath because he needed to gain energy and disposition as fast as he could.
Sionnach gave him half of a snack she was going to eat. It was a biscuit rich in calories, carbohydrates, and proteins. It had a sweet flavor.
Sionnach raised the mask slightly, just enough to be able to eat. Casper noticed it and wondered why she did not take the mask off since she could do it.
"They are well advanced in nutrition as well… We have something like this on earth, but that's amazing, the results are nearly immediate as if it not just fill my body with nutrients, but also helps with their absorption.
"How can a so advanced society be so broken economically? I need to investigate afterward."
Casper felt like converse a bit more.
"Hmm, Nach, do you have a family?"
"… I have. What's the matter?"
"Nothing at all. I just was curious if you have someone to fight for. It's hard to find people out there who put themselves into dangerous situations just for the country's sake."
"District's sake, you mean?" Casper nodded.
"Yeah, you got it. Although I vowed to offer my heart and soul to Odin and the Jarls, and give up my life if it was necessary, my main motivation is my little brother." Sionnach had her voice filled with joy and fondness when she talked about her brother, and she smiled slightly.
Casper could not see her expression, nor her smile, but he could notice that fact, and it surprised him to see that side of Nach.
"He is training to become a warrior as well, but in a different region than mine. A warrior can just take action on the most important parts of the district if he became a Ridire."
"And your parents?"
"I don't remember of them. Since my seven years old, I lived on the streets with my brother. We both agreed to enter the Guard to survive because it's tough to live from thefts every day."
"I see… What do you like to do?"
"Hmm? Do you want to interview me or something?"
"C'mon, that's the easiest way to converse with someone you don't know anything about. Stop being stubborn and answer."
"Oh… How rude… You deserve a punch right on your face."
"If your hand wasn't broken, I think you would be able to do it, but in this state…"
"Pffft, you are right…"
The two of them started to laugh hard, and every time they thought they would stop, the laughs started again.
Both did not even realize the time of peace they were having. They were occupied trying to enjoy it to the fullest.
"I think I like this woman, after all…" Casper thought.
"I think I don't hate this guy, after all…" Sionnach also had changed her mind.
Then, they continued to converse while resting. Living that relaxing moment, until the next ordeal came.