January 1731 City of Ber, Province of Ciresia, Osterian Empire.
"Hey... Hey... Heeeey.".
"WHAT!" shouts Meyer.
Schneider sits back down to his bed, "C'mon man. Let's go to the city."
Meyer glares, "Shut up, I'm still injured."
"No, you're not. You're already awake, right? That means you're good to go!"
Meyer holds his head in pain, "Schneider, that's not how this works. We're both still in pain."
"Cmon! It totally does. You can just shrug it off. Pain is merely weakness leaving the body"
Meyer watches him in confusion before shaking his head, "Fuck off."
He widens his eyes in recognition, "Oh yeah! Lets do that! We can totally go there! I heard the brothels here are top notch."
"Just stop."
"Cmon!" He stands up with an excited grin as he pulled Meyer off of his bed, "Dont you also want to drown out the screams? This is a totally valid way to do it!"
Meyer grips his hand from his words. He locked eye with his friend, who inadvertently spille out his true thoughts, the expressions of shock and horror passing through their faces.
Schneider gives a sad, sorrowful smile as he slump from the sheer weight of the souls he allowed to die, souls that died under his command.
Meyer sighs, "Fine. But you better pay for it."
"I gotchu my man." Schneider forces a grin.
"Gotchu?"
His eyes brighten, "See, there's this thing Ive been thinking of lately."
"I don't want to know."
"Cmon!"
Meyer holds his head from the pounding headache that resulted from the utter murder of the Vritian language. A fact that his friend made quick work of.
"Hey! I heard that!"
"Good."
Schneider rolls his eyes as they walked through the city streets, the pain ebbing away every minute that passed.
He then locks eyes unto a restaurant, the meal displayed leaving him hungry. "Those look tasty!"
Meyer looks to where he was pointing and nods, "Yeah, they do look pretty good."
It took a minute before the two men found themselves neck deep in meals. Devouring the ridiculous amount while replenishing their exhausted bodies.
Schneider groans in satisfaction as he holds a chicken bone. "This really hits the spot."
"Yeah." says Meyer as he lowers the bowl, looking at his friend in worry. "You sure you can afford this? I can pay."
"It's fine." He waves in dismissal before boasting to him with a smile, "I may not look like it, but I'm pretty fucking rich."
"Suree"
The two then return to another half an hour of gorging upon the tasteful bounty the restaurant has to offer, only to stop once Schneider widens his eyes in recognition.
"Hey, isn't that the colonel?"
Meyer widens his eyes to peek through the window, only to see Forst and the colonel following and chatting with a man, wearing flamboyant clothing as he bore a respectful smile.
"What happened to him?" asks Meyer in confusion, the strange view of the timid colonel following behind Forst leaves the two men in confusion.
"Nevermind that, where the fuck are they going?" asks Schneider as the three of them enter a building, one filled with flamboyant decorations and beautiful women each one enjoying the companionship of men.
"I think that might be a-"
"A BROTHEL!" shouts Schneider.
He chokes, slamming his hand on his chest before reddening and cackling in utter delight at the realization of what he witnessed. The surrounding customers look to him in annoyance and bafflement.
Meyer reddens in embarrassment as he pulls his friend down unto his seat, unamused by his impolite laughter.
"Sit down, man. You're embarrassing us."
Schneider sits down, his laughter subdued as he hides his face unto his arms.
With a fit of laughter, Schneider spoke, "It's just that, it's so hilarious."
"I don't see what so funny about it?"
"Dont you get it?" He then does some obscene gestures with his hands, "The little colonel that took down a hundred men with a flourish of a hand is about to get his cherry popped."
Meyer reddens in embarrassment, his eyes roaming the surrounding as they look at him in irritation and a bit of curiosity.
"Shut the fuck up."
He rolls his eyes. "Fine, though you gotta admit, it's pretty hilarious to think about."
Meyer shakes his head. "It would be, if it was true."
"What do you mean? Why else would he look so timid? He's clearly out of his comfort zone there."
"You mean the same colonel that changed his icy demeanor and domineering presence into an awe-inspiring leading, leaving men in battle?"
Forst freezes at his words, his mind turning back to his own memories. He can't help but clench his fist at the sight of glory he subjected to, the urge for battle burning within him at the mere thought.
He shakes his head. "No, that's different."
"How is that different? If he could act into a terrifying general, what's stopping him from acting as a timid boy?"
"Ok, fine then! Then what could be the reason for him to do something so unnecessary?"
"I dont know, but neither do you. Because I'm pretty sure you just assumed that was a brothel."
He shakes his head, "Ah, Meyer. Trust me, I've been to enough places to know."
"Sure, whatever you say."
Schneider twitches in irritation at the dismissive attitude. He then raises his hand, asking for the waitress to come to their table.
"Uh yes, sir?"
"Can you tell me anything about that establishment and that man over there?"
Meyer looks at him as he takes another bite. "What are you doing?"
"Proving you wrong." Schneider smirks in triumph.
It took half an hour of explanation before she revealed everything she knew to the two men. Her face crinkling in disgust as she spoke, leaving the two men gagging on their food, their appetite gone.
"Well, that was certainly enlightening."
"Enlightening? That was absolutely horrific. How the fuck do you guys live with a guy like that?"
The girl only shrugs. "There's really not much we could do. The few men that tried to stand up against him disappeared and those that didn't just stopped."
She looks down, fidgeting, "So, we just tried to live with it."
"That is so fucked up."
"It is, but why would the colonel connect himself to such a piece of shit?"
"I dont know man, may-"
Meyer interrupts him by slamming a piece of bread into his mouth as he stood up in a hurry, dragging the confused Schneider behind him as he threw a gold coin over the table.
The girl only looks to them in confusion, "What was that abou-"
Before she could even finish such a thought, an explosion rips through the streets, shaking the ground forcing her down on her knees as she looks to a building in flames.