"M-M-m-MARSHALL RON!?"
The young girl asked while stuttering, a bewildered look on her face.
For recruits like her, who were supervised by Corporal ranked individuals and only occasionally getting training lessons from commander ranked Ascendants, it was already extremely rare for them to encounter Generals, the Chiefs-in charge of strongholds.
They only came out to address recruits like her when there was an emergency or they needed to 'check' upon them.
And yet, here she was face to face with the most respected and powerful figure in the human society, their leader and the only person to ever reach The Marshall rank, Ron Williams.
Although she and most other people have never seen him in public, there's not a single person who has not heard of his heroic tales.
About how he once repelled a small scale invasion of monsters single handedly, how his skill and control over mana were unmatched even when he was still of General rank and about how all other Generals respect and obey his words despite him being the youngest of the lot.
Stories of both his and his family achievements have been spread throughout the land.
'That arc of light which killed the monster..... Was it mana? But how is it possible? From what I know, even General Rank will have to use projectile weapons to stabilize tlhe mana in order for it to not dissipate right away when using it in long range battles!'
The girl thought as she finally regained her ability to think.
'Is it his command over mana that has reached such an absurd level or perhaps it has something to do with his rank?'
'Whatever of the two it is, it's still frightening!'
The girl thought, with a nervous yet exciting expression, wondering if she too would be able to wield such power someday.
'I will ask brother about it....he should know about it more than me....But what is he doing here?'
/Step/
"Ah.... "
The girl was finally brought out of her pensive state as she heard a light footstep from her right.
She looked towards the source of the noise, the dust was finally fully cleared up as she saw the figure of Ron walking towards her.
The girl just stared ahead blankly. After a moment of silence, she heard a low and calm voice.
"Who are you? And what are you doing here?"
Ron asked. His voice was calm but it had an weird compulsion to it as if it was not a question but an order.
"Uh.... M-my name is Zilya. It's a-an honor to be in y-your presence, Lord Ron!"
The girl said hurriedly while kowtowing. She didn't dare to be disrespectful in front of such a mighty figure. She already had a secret she didn't wish for others to know, let alone someone like Ron and other Generals.
"Thank you very much for saving for me. I am extremely grateful for your h-help."
The girl spoke again, trying to be as respectful as possible while thanking him.
Ron, who didn't have a single change in his expression since the beginning, started speaking again.
"It seems you didn't hear my question. I also asked you what you were you doing here, didn't I?"
This time his voice was colder than before.
The girl felt a shiver run down her spine as she bowed her head and spoke again.
"I-I am s-sorry. The r-reason I am out here is to search for f-food."
The girl, Zilya, admitted. Trying to search for food to fill one's stomach could be said to be something natural but the girl was oddly nervous when telling about it, as well as a bit scared.
"Food? For whom exactly?"
Ron asked, trying to confirm something.
"F-for myself and also m-my elder brother."
Zilya replied again.
"Which stronghold do you belong to?"
"I-I came from the New Flussufer stronghold, which is under the command of G-General Wright."
"General Wright..... You are under Kenny?"
"Y-yes!"
Zilya's body was trembling at this point of time, thinking about her future if all of this news were to reach the General in-charge of her stronghold.
Ron was silent for a bit, then started speaking again.
"Kenny isn't the type to engage in unfair racketeering. You must have gotten your own portion of supplies. What happened to it?"
Zilya suddenly felt a little guilty. She hesitated for a bit but after seeing Ron's stern gaze started speaking again.
"Yes, General is an very honest man and does everything fairly. Both me and my brother were provided with our own provision of supplies, but monsters have been behaving a bit different than usual for some time now. They would only be spotted in groups and would also not deviate too far away from their hideout, making things harder for us as it will be easier for monsters reinforcements to arrive on time and surround our patrol team."
"And because of this, there has been a shortage of food for some time now. Quantity of each portion had been decreasing day by day and currently, it's not even one-tenth of what it was some months back."
"M-my elder brother, who is 13 years old, is currently of Corporal rank, and very close to Ascending to the Commander Rank."
"Lack of enough food.... And there by an undernourished and weak body.... Both of these factors would have been detrimental to his rank up.....
"I d-didnt want anything to get in the way of my brother's advancement, so I have been giving him some of m-my own share but it wasn't anywhere nearly enough for both of us."
"Now, the situation has turned dire and both of us are on verge of starvation. So I had to take the risk to search for food and leave the stronghold. I-I said that I was going out for mana training so the guards easily complied with my request and let me out. I was planning to return within a few hours so as to not act suspicious.... "
Zilya said it all under one breath as she took deep breaths. Ron studied the girl for a moment and said after some thought.
"Does your brother know about this little trip of yours?"
"No."
Zilya replied, with her tears on the verge of falling down.
"Do you had any plan in mind when you just decided to walk out of stronghold? A plan on how to search for monsters, on how to hunt them, defeat them, or how to mask your presence from them?"
Ron said while directly looking at the girls eyes.
"I-I was very careful on m-"
"Do you not know that some monsters with keen sense of smell and with higher intelligence compared to the rest could have used you to track down the location of the New Flussufer stronghold? Did you considered that possibility before willfully trying to leave the stronghold and search for food?'
"Th-thats... "
Ron reprimanded the girl's careless actions. Yes, each and every word coming out of Ron's mouth was true and a single mistake on Zilya's end could have resulted in the stronghold safety getting jeopardize.The girl Zilya wasn't able to think this far ahead as she was still only a recruit and her understanding of monsters and their abilities was still at the basic level. She wasn't experienced enough to be able to consider these scenarios.
"Do you think me myself and the other Generals aren't trying to tackle the issue mentioned by you?"
"Ah.... "
Suddenly, zilya broke into tears as she tightly clutched her tattered clothes and gritted her teeth, realizing how selfish her actions has been.
She lowered her head again with tears still dripping down her cheeks and muttered in an barely audible voice.
"I-I a-am s-s-sorry.... '
She was barely able to get the words out of her mouth. Thinking about how she could have caused the death of people of an entire stronghold terrified and scared her.
Ron just stood there intently watching the girl for a moment. Zilya still had her head hung low, sobbing continuously.
Ron, after looking at his surroundings for one more time, started speaking again.
"That backpack."
"Huh?"
The crying Zilya looked up at Ron, confused by the meaning behind his words.
"It was the presence of that backpack that gave you away. The monster strength is still in it's eary stages and same goes for his senses. The inside of the building was dark, and the smell of blood is everywhere. You were quiet enough with your footsteps, so it must be your backpack which is half as big as you, who gave away your location due to it's size and sound."
Ron explained his own analysis of the situation. It was as if he has watched the whole ordeal with his own eyes.
"O-oh, so that's how it is.... "
Zilya said in realization of her mistake.
'As expected of leader!'
She exclaimed internally while praising their leader's insight, completely ignoring how Ron knew so much about the situation.
Marshall Rank might be very strong people but they don't have powers of prophets, nor clairvoyance. It's weird that Ron knew so much about the situation with only a cursory investigation.
A small frown appeared on Ron's face as he watched Zilya genuinely praising him from the bottom of her heart.
He closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them again after a few seconds.
"You said your brother was 13, right?"
"Yes."
"And you are at most 10."
"I am 9 years old."
Zilya admitted, she was a bit more lively than before. The liveliness came from the sense of safety she was feeling while in Ron's presence... It was like being inside an impregnable fortress.
"That means both of you were born after the 'third change'."
Suddenly, the liveliness she was feeling completely disappeared. She know what their leader was trying to ask her. She didn't say anything and stayed silent, believing Ron would understand the meaning of her silence.
"Come with me."
"Ah... I-is it okay if I collect some of the meat from both the monsters first?"
Zilya was startled a bit at the sudden command but quickly replied. This time her tone was even more respectful than before, and neither was it forced.
"Both of them are poisonous."
At this point, Ron has started moving away.
Zilya's eyes widened a bit then she looked at the monsters one more time.
Her lively expression which has already turned somber, now morphed into one of utter despair.
"Y-You're r-right...."
Although she didn't know much about monsters, identifying if a monster corpse was edible or not was one of the basic skill taught to everyone. Just one look at the monster innards was enough to give them the answer they needed.
Her shoulders slumped down, her knees lost their strength as she nearly stumbled and her eyes turned lifeless at the realization.
Ron didn't say anything and started moving again, gesturing for Zilya to follow him, who has lost all will.
Both of them once again started moving through the dark and eerie streets, the only remaining proof of a one's flourishing civilization.
Ron was at the front while Zilya was a few steps behind her. Ron slowed his pace to match that of Zilya, but it was still hard for the little girl to keep up with him. Soon, they reached the boundaries of the ruins.
Just as they were only a few metres away from exit, a familiar stench assaulted their nostrils.
'Smell of blood'
Suddenly, the dispirited Zilya raised her head once more. And once again, her eyes widened in extreme shock.
A few metres away from them, there was corpse of another monster, this time much bigger than the ones they encountered in the building.
The monstrous creature towered at nearly 4 and a half metres high.
4-metre class! General Rank!
The monster lies grotesquely sprawled on the ground. Its once formidable form now a grisly spectacle, the head and limbs have been severed with brutal precision. The body, cleaved cleanly in two, rests in a sprawling pool of dark, viscous blood, staining the earth beneath it.
But amogst the macabre of a scene, one odd phenomenon stood out.
Despite it's warped deformation, the edible parts of the creature's flesh which were palatable even in death, remain untouched, hinting at some sinister utility.