Morning…
After a night’s worth of drizzling, silence finally descended on surroundings of Molten Steel, south of Burning Mountain.
Yet in the eyes of Sinistra, the company leader of the 9th Company of the 1st Regiment of Molten Steel, the more peaceful the scene was, the more dangers lurked within.
Sinistra turned thirty as of this year and this year also marked the tenth year she had been in the army. Within those ten years, she took part in three large scale wars with this being the third.
From the first day she entered the army, no one dared to treat her as a woman. Neither did have any reason to. With short hair combed to the side in a pristine fashion akin to a man’s, she would often make her rounds in a non-compliant sleeveless shirt that showed off her lean, muscled build.
With no backing or connections to speak of, Sinistra relied on her own abilities to become a company leader in charge of nearly a thousand troops.
This year, their opponent was, as always, their neighbours from across the Burning River, the country of Cold Iron.
Although the brass might have declared this year’s incursion a large scale one, Sinistra knew full well that the two countries would never engage in a full-on war with each other.
Neither side had the strength to completely swallow up the other, plus the foreign investments and support in these wars had long reached an impossibly large and complicated scale.
If they were to truly duke it out to the last man, the most likely result would be that those foreign powers would interfere in the war and install a puppet government.
In a sense, that outcome would be even more tragic than them losing to Cold Iron. Naturally, the top brass of Molten Steel weren’t foolish enough to allow such an outcome and neither were those of Cold Iron.
Thus the plan this year was to dispatch multiple smaller companies to ambush, harass and poke at the other side. By continually engaging in such guerilla tactics, they would slowly push their country’s zone of control over the Burning River.
Sinistra so happened to specialize in such combat and had spent the majority of her last ten years in the military fighting such battles.
Whether it was the plains, the mountains, or the forest, as long as their intelligence reports didn’t fail them, her enemies were guaranteed a fast trip to Westrealm’s side.
Soon after the military brass decided to deploy the troops en masse, Sinistra’s company was dispatched to the most northwestern corner south of the Burning Mountain.
While Sinistra might not be too familiar with this region, she knew very well how important this region was to their strategy.
The Burning Mountain was a forbidden ground for both sides. Neither side neither dared to casually cross its lands so no defenses were needed there.
Further west were the unexplored regions. Should the army of Cold Iron try to circle around the Burning Mountain by crossing those lands, the dangers they would face while doing so would be even worse than that of their own.
Thus, the crux of their offense and defense needed to only focus on the eastern front where the Burning River flowed from.
The crucial border separating them from the no man’s land was an unending fog of heat that spewed forth from the areas around the Burning River.
Other than completing missions in that region, she had one more important task to complete: make contact with the neutral city of Crossroads.
For now however, the focus of her work centered around handling the invaders who crossed their national borders.
According to her scouts, there had been sightings of enemy scouts around the vicinity of the Burning Mountain already. From the analysis of their movements, it was determined that they would most likely attack the nearby city in the coming days.
It was a tried and true tactic employed by the enemy to gauge the strength of their opponents. Sinistra herself had employed that same tactic multiple times to the point of being proficient in it.
What displeased her however was that until today, her men hadn’t found any traces of the enemy’s main contingent. Because of that, she had no way of knowing whether or not their position was exposed or not.
All she could do for now was set up a counter ambush at the town pegged as being a likely target, and hope for the best.
Sinistra: The enemies around here seem a lot craftier than those fools swimming about in the Burning River right now…
Sinistra: …more achievements for me then.
She confidently tossed aside the intelligence report in her hands before standing up to open the doors of her office. Even before opening up the doors, she already heard the incoming footsteps of her soldiers.
Molten Steel Soldier: Ah, Commander.
Sinistra: A new report?
Molten Steel Soldier: That’s right, we’ve brought back three suspicious persons.
Sinistra: Oh? Soldiers from Cold Iron?
Molten Steel Soldier: We’ve confirmed that the woman is a person of Cold Iron. Of the two men, one of them is on the List while the other is of an unknown background.
Sinistra:…
The List. That was a record circulated within the military, detailing the information of dangerous individuals.
On it were the intelligence reports of enemies to take special note of. Some examples included notable generals or particularly powerful soldiers of Cold Iron.
Should a person on the List be sighted, he was to be disposed of with the utmost secrecy and caution.
Sinistra: Haha–well done! To think you guys even captured them directly before reporting in to me, how did you all accomplish that?
Molten Steel Soldier: About that…
While she might have been laughing and patting him on the back, the soldier was visibly shaken by the way she did so. Was she happy or was she angry? The frightened soldier had no way of knowing and could only answer as ordered.
Molten Steel Soldier: According to the reports, that person on the List specialized in close range assassinations and high speed combat so we brought a squad of heavy infantry to surround him…
Molten Steel Soldier: Initially, he seemed absolutely eager to fight back but the moment his subordinate appeared and made contact with him, he just gave up.
Sinistra: Gave up?
Logically speaking, the first thing such a subordinate would normally consider upon rushing to the scene would be how to break through their encirclement…
Molten Steel Soldier: That’s right, we have no idea why they did that, perhaps they have some kind of plan in mind.
Molten Steel: Other than that, there’s something weird about that woman as well.
Sinistra: How so?
Molten Steel Soldier: That woman has a slave collar on her.
Sinistra: …huh? Cold Iron are enslaving their own women and bringing them into the army now? When did those fools from across the lake become so depraved?
Molten Steel Soldier: No no, that woman doesn’t belong to the wanted person from the List, she’s a slave of that unknown teen instead.
Molten Steel Soldier: Furthermore, she listens to everything he says, willingly even.
Sinistra :……
Sinistra: What kind of rubbish combination is that?! In all my years of being a soldier, I’ve never heard of such an odd team.
Sinistra: —-bring them to me, I’ll interrogate them myself!
Molten Steel Soldier: …understood!
……
……
Within the interrogation room of the 9th Company’s base, the long-awaited trio were finally brought before Sinistra.
The door opened and the first of the trio to step in was the long haired man. His eyes briefly swept over the room and upon noticing Sinistra, went wide after which he exclaimed—
??: She has the ability to detect lies!!
Sinistra: Sh*t—
*bang*
She slammed her fist against the table before her, startling her subordinates in the process.
Sinistra: What are you morons doing?? Why isn’t he gagged?!
Molten Steel Soldier: Ye…yes! We’ll get right on–
Sinistra: It’s too late for that!!
Sinistra: Did you guys search them thoroughly? Every, nook, and, cranny.
Molten Steel Solder: …yes, Mam! We stripped the men clean!
Sinistra: Tie them to the chair!
Molten Steel Soldier: Yes!!
The soldiers held the three down against the chairs and frantically tied them, making sure to give each and every one of them a final knot for good measure.
Sinistra stood up and strode towards them, evaluating them with each step she took.
The long-haired man was roughly the same age as herself. His expression was cold, his body lean –that was the man on the List, there was no doubt about that…
As for the short-haired youth, he seemed nothing like a soldier at all, whether it was his bearing or his body. However, that unconcerned look on his face was truly an eyesore.
The long-haired girl on the other hand, she was clearly a person of Cold Iron, from the region of Ironcast most likely. Her skin was fair but her facial features were a little…
Ironcast. That was the clan name of the people living in the land of Black Ironcast. Normally, the people living there weren’t as warlike as the morons of the Blutgerinn or Iceflux clans so what was she doing here?
Sinistra: Their names?
Molten Steel Soldier: Nine Heaven; Di Qi Ju; Lotus Ironcast.
Sinistra: Nine Heaven…I’ve heard of that name before.
Sinistra: You’re one of the squad leaders from Cold Iron; outstanding abilities and ruthless tactics, or so I heard.
*bam*–Sinistra stomped on hard on that tiny sliver of space between Nine Heaven’s legs as if she was trying to cripple a certain organ.
Naturally, she wasn’t really going to do that. It was merely an opening show of force.
Sinistra: Since you know about me, then things will be a lot simpler.
Sinistra: Who is your boss? What are your plans?
Nine Heaven:…
Nine Heaven: I’m no longer a mercenary under Cold Iron, I’m just an ordinary citizen of Numbers now.
Nine Heaven: Since I have no boss, I have no plans as well.
Sinistra: Hey hey hey–did you forget about my ability already? Lying isn’t good, don’t you know?
Sinistra: Half of what you said just now was false, I wonder which half it is? Hmmm??
Nine Heaven:……
The man seated before her wasn’t fazed in the least bit by her words. Rather, it would be more accurate to say that he had on a look of utter arrogance and contempt right now.
Nine Heaven: You rely too much on that wish ability of yours, how about trying it out on these words then?
Nine Heaven: –right now, I can easily escape from these bindings, quarter your heart and leave without a scratch.
Nine Heaven: Well then? Was I lying?
Sinistra: …
He wasn’t a wanted man from that infamous List for nothing; such tactics weren’t going to work on him.
Had it been any other interrogation officer right now, they would have most likely lost it and resorted to torture, but not Sinistra –she wasn’t that incompetent.
A mere moment ago, Nine Heaven purposely yelled out that sentence despite not having to. That in itself was valuable information for her–
–He was trying to inform his companion who wasn’t aware of that fact!
If Nine Heaven was the in charge of this operation, would he even make such an error?
The answer was no, a big fat no. That meant there were two only possibilities.
One was that he was afraid his companion would be foolish enough to reveal key information. However, such a person would never qualify as a subordinate of a person on that List.
The other possibility was that his status was lower than that of his companions. He was merely reminding his boss to watch his words.
The woman or the youth, who was his superior?
Clearly it couldn’t be that woman wearing a slave collar, right…
Sinistra: You there, Di Qi Ju?
Di Qi Ju:……
Di Qi Ju: That’s right.
Sinistra:…..
She refrained from posing a question immediately as there were still holes in the conclusion she came to.
If her deduction was really true, that meant Nine Heaven was no longer a mercenary of Cold Iron.
But that also meant that his superior was that unremarkable looking youth…then there was still the issue of their plans.
Could it be…did Cold Iron really collude with the southern countries to launch an invasion from the south?
But that didn’t make sense either…her country wasn’t on bad terms with any neighbouring countries in the south…exactly what was going on here?
Sinistra: …speak then, what are your plans?
Di Qi Ju: My plans…
Di Qi Ju: They are to kill a person in Cold Iron.
Nine Heaven:……
Sinistra:……
The kid wasn’t lying.
Sinistra: (An unknown brat like you actually plans on killing someone in Cold Iron while dragging along a former mercenary of Cold Iron and an Ironcast girl? During such a sensitive period?)
Sinistra: (I bet you won’t even make it to their lands before being murdered by countless soldiers who couldn’t be bothered to listen to your story.”
As her body heated up slightly, she revealed a dumbstruck look on her face.
Sinistra: You, kid…where are you from?
Di Qi Ju: From the Country of Faith.
Sinistra: (That far south, huh. Plus if he’s from Faith, then there’s no need for my wish ability at all.)
Sinistra: Why are you trying to kill a person from Cold Iron.
Di Qi Ju: For revenge.
Sinistra: While bringing along a woman?
Di Qi Ju: We happened to pick her up along the way, now’s not the time to abandon her yet.
Lotus: Master…
Sinistra:…
The woman was desperately trying to struggle free and lean in on the master she mentioned.
Sinistra:(Oh, looks like she’s been trained well, but his tastes though…)
Sinistra: (The only one who might confess under torture is that woman but I doubt she knows anything of value to begin with…hmm…)
Sinistra: (Expecting them to talk voluntarily is impossible so what kind of questions should I ask to get the information I want?)
Sinistra: (Sigh…sometimes I really just want to give up on thinking and just get this over and done with like those sloppy fools…)
Sinistra: (Either way, the war is never going to end…that same tragedy which befell my parents would be repeated countless times over on others as well…)
Sinistra: …
Sinistra:……
Sinistra: Kid, you have anything to ask?
Di Qi Ju:…
Di Qi Ju: You mean I can actually ask questions?
Sinistra: Huh, so you don’t want to then? I still have a ton of toys here you can have ‘fun’ with, if that’s more your thing.
Di Qi Ju:…
Di Qi Ju: If you don’t mind me asking, what’s your name?
Sinistra: …just that?
Di Qi Ju: Yup.
Sinistra:……
Sinistra: (That wanted person knows who I am anyway, it’s only a matter of time before he finds out. If I’m going to kill him, telling him won’t make a difference anyway.)
Sinistra: My name is Sinistra Estrange.
Di Qi Ju: Sinistra…Estrange?
Sinistra: –you have something against that?
Di Qi Ju: No, no.
Sinistra:……
Sinistra: I’ve a question for you, Di Qi Ju.
Di Qi Ju: Hm?
Sinistra: –why allow yourself to be caught?
Nine Heaven:…..
Di Qi Ju:……
Sinistra: Don’t think for a second you’ve fooled me. Nine Heaven said he could extricate himself easily. In that case, your abilities had to be higher than his.
Di Qi Ju:…fine.
Di Qi Ju: We’re looking to change this bit of trouble into a free pass.
Sinistra: …what do you mean by that?
Di Qi Ju: Aren’t our goals aligned with each other right now? The goal of defeating someone from Cold Iron.
Di Qi Ju: I’d rather not encounter this kind of trouble again while travelling. To accomplish that, we would need more than an enslaved girl to prove that we are at odds with Cold Iron.
Sinistra: Is that so…no wonder you have her by your side.
Sinistra: Still, aren’t you being a little too optimistic here, kid?
Di Qi Ju: I never said I wanted it for free.
Sinistra: Is that so? I think I finally understand then…
Sinistra: In that case, what can you do for us specifically?
Sinistra: To me, the only role you can fulfill is that of cannon fodder!
Di Qi Ju:……
*boom*–!!
Di Qi Ju:!?
Sinistra: What?!
A loud explosion later, the entire room seemed to shake from its foundations up.
The tell tale flash of an explosion zipped across the window after which came its thunderous payload.
Molten Steel Soldier: –we’re under attack! Cold Iron is here!
Sinistra: What?? Has our information been leaked?
Molten Steel Soldier: Commander! Do we strike back or retreat!?
Sinistra:……
Sinistra immediately entered a combative mode.
She knew extremely well how much combat strength they had on hand right now. Judging by the direction of that explosion, the enemy probably employed some kind of alchemical explosive to blow up their weapons storage.
With such weapons at their disposal, the enemy’s troops weren’t going to a pushover either.
Sinistra: You careless morons!! All we can do now is retr—
Di Qi Ju: —let’s strike back,
Nine Heaven: I agree.
Sinistra: …huh? What are you talking about??
Sinistra: You dare to mouth off in my territory??
Di Qi Ju: Didn’t you just ask me what can I do for you?
Di Qi Ju: Well then, how about I show you right now.
Sinistra:……
With a resounding snap, the ropes on her prisoner came undone right before her shocked eyes, and instantly exploded into shreds.
Sinistra: (Impossible…even after tying him down that much?)
Sinistra: (How did this unassuming youth do that?)
Sinistra: (So that unconcerned look on his face wasn’t a facade after all??)
Di Qi Ju: After all, we’re just here to ask for a travel pass, there’s no need at all to suspect us of being spies, right?
Di Qi Ju: A victory for a travel pass, how does that sound, Commander?
