"I can't remember the last time you ever had to change routes for the drills." Daniel remarked to Mikhail.
The latter nodded as he took the map from the old man, confirming today's routes.
"There's no helping it. It was my fault."
Daniel's eyes narrowed with concern and his voice dropped to a whisper.
"Is everything alright with you? You seem off."
Mikhail's expression didn't change as he shook his head.
"Everything's fine. My habit just tracked off today."
The old man's gaze narrowed ever further but he didn't pry.
"I forget that you are a human sometimes." He ended the topic with a laugh.
"I'll take that as a form of praise." The black haired boy replied as he closed his map.
Giving a departing salute, Mikhail returned back to his squadron.
"Ready to leave?" He asked everyone and they nodded.
A faint whisper of fear crept into his heart as he gazed at them.
The routes were different and that image of previous life still couldn't leave his mind.
'Tsk'
He opened the map once again.
"Since we are changing routes, I'll go over this once again. Three routes."
He looked at them and ensured his voice went clear into their ears.
"Two of the routes will be taken in the form of pairs of Modric-Raviel and Icarus-Amariel. The third will be taken by me alone."
Mikhail saw them all look a little skeptically at him.
It didn't surprise him. He would never revise his orders, not once.
Even if they ever changed routes.
So it was surprising for them to hear him do it for the first time.
He saw Modric look at him with concern the most.
"You alright?"
Mikhail didn't give them any chance to address the issue though as he simply nodded.
"I am. As always, only go till the point the route extends. There's no need to be patriotic and brave and try to go further."
He closed the map and handed it back to Modric.
"Let's hurry up. We started late but we can finish the quickest."
Following the mandatory orders, the two pairs gave him a final salute and headed towards the stables.
'Finally, they are gone.'
With only 3 routes available, Mikhail had chosen the furthest right one for himself.
It was best that he went alone on the most dangerous route.
From the map, he knew that the squadron assigned to the nearby route was Squadron 47.
There were 11 people in that squadron so it was fairly weak.
And seeing the area near those routes, he could partly see the reason why they had died.
Right next to a mana source.
A mana source were areas or objects that contained large amounts of mana.
Oftentimes, these sources were the reason for a wormhole appearance.
Any form of disruption or damage to these sources ended up connecting the two realities for monsters to break through.
And unfortunate enough for Squadron 47, they had picked a route right next to a source.
Magnolia Lake.
It wasn't a large lake by any means but it was definitely a bigger than normal mana source.
There were definitely signs of trouble.
Checking everything was strapped in, Mikhail headed towards the stables.
Most of the people had already left so there wasn't much rush.
Greeting a free stablehand there, he quickly proceeded towards his stall.
His abyssal-black horse was quietly standing in the shade but as if by instinct, it's head snapped towards Mikhail.
The latter rubbed his hand affectionately on his fur. It had been his horse since the starting days of his academy.
Though many didn't have much of a bond with their horses, it was different for Mikhail.
That's why he had even given it a name.
Sora.
It meant sky, or so he had heard from somewhere.
He named it this because Amariel said its fur looks like the clear night sky.
"I'll be leaving now." He told the stallhand, climbing onto Sora after petting it for a minute.
Pulling the reins, he rushed to the nearest gate from where most of the people were leaving.
When leaving the academy, it was necessary to check in at the gates.
They put you on the record for when you left and when you arrived.
The earlier you were done with the work, the more rewards you'd receive.
Moreover, a tag was attached to the person's leg.
It was a tracker to make it unable for a person to escape the vicinity of the drills.
Not like anyone tried to, as the punishment for it was already hefty enough.
As Mikhail reached the guards, he noticed that the usual guards weren't here today.
Usually, there would at least be 8 to 6 guards stationed at the gate alone, taking out the wall outposts.
However today, a whole new batch was there.
It was normal for one or two to get replaced but not all of them altogether.
Moreover, Mikhail found himself not recognizing any of them.
It was definitely strange as he had been in this academy for years now.
People's faces and names were etched into his mind.
"Hmm, I don't recognize you people." He narrowed his eyes slightly.
A slim man at the front that was approaching to apply the tracker to him, looked up.
He had a light brown moustache and was completely bald from the top.
"We were just stationed here last night by the Empire, it's the first day." He replied with a welcoming smile.
For some reason, Mikhail felt the ick looking at it but it didn't show on his face as always.
"Temporary Replacement or Mandatory Service?" He asked.
"Mandatory Service."
"Then where are the other-"
"Oi! Hurry up or get aside! You have already cost us so much time today." He heard a voice from behind.
Turning, he saw a squadron of 8 staring at him with irritated expressions.
The one who had shouted, seemingly their leader as he stood at the forefront, gritted his teeth.
"Yeah we don't have all day fucker!" Another one yelled.
Mikhail's expression didn't change as he looked at them before opening his mouth.
"Useless waste of time with all that yelling." He said softly, sighing.
He saw the leader about to yell again but then he saw a girl quickly hold him back.
'At least she's smart enough to not let them waste even more time.'
Ignoring their faces, he turned back to the group of men.
"You are ready to go." The bald man said, giving him an eerie smile again.
Mikhail's cold blue eyes bore deep into him.
"What's your name?"
"Rubert. Just Rubert."
Mikhail raised an eyebrow.
"No last name?"
The bald man shook his head, looking straight into his eyes without breaking his smile.
A few seconds of silence passed between them before Mikhail turned to move.
"Alright, thanks."
"No problem. Have a safe ride."
With that, the gates opened and Mikhail pulled his reins, running off outside the academy.
***
Mikhail climbed off his horse, binding it to the safestall.
There were several of those installed around the vicinity of the map where a person could tie their horse.
It didn't provide heavy protection but it was still enough.
Though he didn't have the map, Mikhail still remembered each and every bit.
Tightening his bandages, he swiftly started running around.
On this route, if there were to be any monsters, they were probably at the Magnolia Lake.
Because mana sources also acted as a healing source for the monsters.
'It should be somewhere close to h-'
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!"
Suddenly, an ear-piercing scream resounded straight into Mikhail's ears, making his body perk up instantly.
Automatically, from years of practice, he took the guns into his hand.
Without a moment of waste, he already started moving in the direction of the scream, from tree to tree.
'Yeah, this definitely leads to Magnolia Lake.'
But the moment he advanced to the next step, his senses instantly screamed, making him dive to the side.
BOOM!
The sound of a gunshot pierced through the trees meters away from him.
Mikhail was completely calm, his senses alert as he pressed himself to the back of a tree.
Focusing his ears, Mikhail heard the gunshot connect perfectly with the target's flesh.
At the same moment, the target's whimpers registered in his ears as they crashed into the ground.
They were near.
Awfully near.
Mikhail immediately readied himself for a confrontation with the pursuers, tightening his grip over his guns.
Spells would take longer to cast so it was a no-go.
But to his surprise, instead of coming closer, the chasing footsteps started fading away.
'What?'
Nonetheless, he didn't let his guard down just yet.
There was a chance they had seen him and it was an illusion spell.
It was only after a couple of minutes that he moved, being assured that they had truly gone away.
However, as soon as Mikhail turned behind the tree, he felt a cold blade touch his neck.
Click.
"Move and you are dead." He heard a whisper right behind his ear.
____________