2500 HOURS.

  SATURDAY, 27 AUTUMNSUS 1441.

  GLACIES, YONDEL.

  “YOU NEVER TOLD ME THAT THIS HAPPENED.”

  A smile broke the normal stoic face he masked his emotions behind. It was a quiet moment he was offered with his sister, and when they finally sat together after ten years apart, silence was that all could be held for the distance that held them. During their childhood, they never spoke to each other; and here they were, enjoying the quiet that formed their bond over a lifetime.

  They had both woken up that morning, in their dying father’s house in the middle of Texas. She had opened her window blinds; he had sat up in bed in the light that tore through his curtains. She was quick to put herself together, and he took his time ensuring every little aspect of his routine was carried out.

  “There was no way to tell anyone.”

  Her eyes shut as she pulled her younger brother by the scruff on the top of his head and with one forceful tug, she threw him into a deep hug as tears streamed down her face.

  “I’m sorry… Your big sister couldn’t be there to save you.”

  ####

  MIKE RANDALL’S FACE BROKE SURFACE TENSION.

  The sergeant did not belong here; a bathroom that spanned three rooms worth and a large pool meant for bathing all for himself. The clock had already passed Earth’s midnight, and now at 25:00, time slowly passed as he stripped himself of his mud crusted gear. For the past week ever since the evaluation was initiated, Oliver had been driving his Rangers to stay in peak physical condition while also having them attend private lessons in the castle library. He of course was doing this so that no one would be out-of-shape, or dumb enough to get killed, but the days of constant training were begging to wear on everyone, and it was only during this long stretch of night did the captain decide to give everyone extended “liberty” for the weekend.

  Mike partly felt like he was a VIP in this place. He was all alone in the large bathroom, and he was provided with luxury soaps and other types of shampoos to clean himself. Of course, he had no doubt this was done for an impression to be imprinted upon him, but at the same time he wouldn’t argue about being treated as a human rather than an expendable weapon. Naturally caveats came with such brash decisions. This, however, was something he was willing to put up with. Upon entering the room, Mike felt the warm steam coming from the magically heated pool of water. Looking around, the sergeant was easily able to determine that the Kingdom of Yondel followed lifestyles and cultures commonly found amongst the Eastern European and East Asian nations found on Earth, more specifically Germany, Poland, and Japan. This bathroom was more appropriately compared to a volcanic hot spring like as there was a collection of water basins to the right and the pool of water had warnings around it no doubt referring to cleaning one’s body before getting in the near-sauna temperature water. Even with all the luxuries provided by the kingdom, Mike was still reluctant like his fellow soldiers to stow away their weapons in their state room. He always kept his pistol with him, and now he was toting around with it as he took a seat at one of the metal basins. He placed the .45 caliber pistol on the shelf in front of him and he took his time washing the dirt that stuck to his skin. After ten minutes of scrubbing away, he felt clean enough to get into the main pool; and that he did with a gleeful smile as he sunk into the water letting it rise to his shoulders and neck.

  They had spent a total of twelve days in this world.

  Raising his finger, the sergeant traced the scar that was on his neck. It wasn’t big by any means just two and a half inches in length and no bigger than half the width of his pinky finger, the scar replayed endless memories through his mind. He had gained the scar during a friendly fire incident in Africa. Alpha Company, Third Platoon, Fourth Squadron of the 75th Rangers. He was nothing more than a newbie in the Regiment then. Just a kid out of Ranger School. How he breezed through the rank of corporal and suddenly ended up as a sergeant at twenty-five years old was still mind-boggling to Mike. Sure, he had an enlistment advancement due to his associates in electrical engineering, that’s what got him the rank of E3, and sure he was in an advance position due to his proactiveness in taking college course classes in high school shaving off nearly a year and a half, but to think that everything he went through would build up to not only when he gained the scar but also where he was now, it was hard to believe he survived in those environments.

  To be promoted to sergeant—that of an NCO—was nothing more than to fill the gaps in ranking due to combat arms casualties. At twenty-three he had seen more corpses than a morgue could ever hope to host. Some of them were those in his unit, some, weren’t. He was a bright-eyed Ranger, one that often humbled himself, but one that many said he would rise into a position of command. Now? He didn’t know. Those compliments and helping hands meant nothing in this world. And all he had left were those within the loosely held-together squadron, and a link to the outside through Princess Lecca-Maradel. How many countless nights had he spent pondering over what he should do, there was little breathing room to get more information, and now he was expected to be nothing more than what he was trained for. Could he complain? No.

  It's the same here, Mike thought. The kingdom had repeatedly sent out scouts to the Frontier in the hope of confirming the threat of the Demon Lord. Still, even with the constant search parties, the reports that came back were abnormal, varied, and unreliable. A picture was established that there indeed was an increase contact rate of monsters, but without seeing it for himself, all Mike could do was doubt the information being passed to the squadron, let alone being told to the princess who oversaw all of them. Was it sabotage that they didn’t want to share unconfirmed information? Perhaps it was more being kept out of the loop. Being kept on a need-to-know basis. Operation Silver Shield was like that. The Rangers didn’t know what they were going to be facing, let alone be doing within Task Force Spare, so why should this be any different?

  Lecca Maradel was no different than them. She was a princess that was at the mercy of her kingdom.

  Much like himself—the scar on his neck that was living proof—she had cuts that proved she could survive and escape with her life.

  “Holy Knight Randall.” A feminine voice said.

  Lunging out of the water and snatching his pistol, the sergeant fought the urge to confront the person that had just snuck up on him with hostility. It was his fault for letting his guard down. If he were still in Ranger School or RASP, the Cadre would have made him into a sugar cookie and ran him around the base until his legs were on fire. The sloshing of the water, his movements echoed around the room as Mike turned around to the person that spoke to him.

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  “Who is it?” Keeping his right hand against the wet stone underneath him, he turned his head.

  His chest felt heavy, and his eyes narrowed as he gently sunk back into the water maintaining his slowly breaking composure. Removing his hand from his pistol, he slowly snatched the large towel just out of the water’s reach and sunk it into the water. As he faced his new visitors; the princess and her attendant, he found himself becoming flustered as they both silently stared at him with unmoving gazes. What the— “Princess, sir, why are you here?” His words were heavy and uncomfortable.

  Comfortable with his towel was around his waist, Mike wasted no time getting of the water, hurrying over to the changing room where his clean uniform was and slamming the door shut.

  Lecca seemed amused by the display. The sneering smile looked abnormal on her face, but Mike supposed that even a person like her could crack an ugly smile at such an embarrassing display. The door re-opened as the sergeant revealed himself somewhat dressed in nothing but a khaki undershirt and pants. He did not want to deal with this, especially in the middle of the night. Still, he felt quite exposed, and all he could do was fold his arms over his chest and not expose himself any more than he had to. The princess’s eyes flickered around his body before it returned to his face. Different cultures? Mike dwelled on this question as he stared at the princess, yeah.

  “Your captain stands informed, but the Holy Knights have been ordered to depart for the city of Bishmark just south of the capital. The king intends to investigate a local sighting of hostile forces while the Holy Knights bolster the defense of the city. This will also be a chance to expand your knowledge of this world,” Harold explained as he slowly looked down to the water that was splashed around the pools edge. “Due to the nature of the mission, you will all be issued with additional garbs that will conceal your combat uniforms.”

  Mike understood what the older man said, but he couldn’t help feeling dumbfounded, “Wouldn’t it be better to tell us all tomorrow morning?”

  “We did tell everyone else. However, you were not present after training for the impromptu meeting,” Harold smiled kindly.

  “And our gear? Our weapons?” Mike asked, averted to the next topic.

  “They’ll be stowed away in the carriage we take to Bishmark.” Lecca cut in as she opened the exit from the dressing room, “Follow me, Mike.”

  “Yeah, give me a sec,” Mike lowered his head and looked at the clothes he was wearing, “Give me a second.” Soon enough he was decent enough after he had slipped on boots, and his pistol holster. The princess and the sergeant strolled out into the empty halls that were only illuminated by scattered torches and rays of moonlight. Passing a patrol of knights, Mike caught up to the princess in the darkened hall. Stopping near a large window, Lecca was silent as the sergeant stood next to her. He didn’t know what to say, the princess had invited him out on a walk but nothing else; he felt odd, this wasn’t something he was comfortable with. Sure, he had been on ‘walks’ with people on earth, but even those were cases where he just so happened to tag along as a third wheel. To be invited specifically was something he wasn’t used to, but he could manage. Turning to the window, the gentle moonlight shining from the clouded heavens above painted the hall in an almost ethereal aura. The only time where the sergeant could see such clear skies and shining stars was during the time he had spent deployed in Africa.

  “When are we going to do something? I know we’ve been cooped up here to learn more about this world, but if we stay here any long, I might just go stir crazy,” Mike murmured daring to break the silence. His frustration had won.

  The small smile that the princess wore faded. She did not expect this line of conversation, “The mission to Bishmark is supposed to be an evaluation,” She revealed growing uncomfortable with what the king had put her up to accomplish. “I do not agree with wasting the experience you all have, though, there is only so much I can do as your commanding officer. King Aldrich is in control of all military-related matters.”

  “He’s stonewalling us. Guess the guy doesn’t want us to leave so soon,” Mike speculated. “To be fair, I imagine he won’t trust us until we get caught up in something.”

  “To that, I agree.” Lecca smiled.

  At the end of the hall, the echoes of footsteps snatched the attention of the two. In an ironic fashion King Aldrich happened to turn the corner and upon seeing both standing by each other, his expression brightened as he swiftly walked over. Compared to everyone else, the king stood out, naturally. The velvet and red colors of his tunic and cape moved with his movements and sat still as soon as he reached the princess and Mike. “I’m surprised to find you both up this late. You’re not getting into any frisky adventures, are you?”

  His attempt at teasing both adults had failed miserably. Lecca face palmed while Mike bothered to answer, “Not exactly your majesty. We were discussing what was going to happen tomorrow.”

  “As you were,” Aldrich grew silent. “I was not aware that you were informed about the security issue in Bishmark. We have reports of nearby raiders knocking on the city’s borders, up to the size of a single legion, and I want you to cooperate with local forces to handle the situation. This is to ensure that high-value assets are not lost. And, I have a favor to repay to someone, so this is why I ordered this.”

  It can’t be… Mike took a moment to think. He needed to consider this mission in a strategic light. “Personal gain, sir? Not that I’m against it, especially if critical resources are present. However, we were summoned here to take out a Demon Lord; if that’s the case, then handing security won’t get us anywhere. Unless you suspect that some insurgents are connected to our primary target,” It was his best prediction. He had limited information, and there was little he could do with the lack of knowledge surrounding the Demon Lord and his armies.

  Aldrich opted to remain cryptic, “I’ll leave that to your imagination, holy knight.”

  “Seriously?” Mike was not impressed.

  King Aldrich folded his hands over each other and stepped back. He provided a sly smile and turned to walk away. Mike simply stared, completely dumbfounded as the man vanished behind another corner at the end of the hall. The brief interaction held between the three answered none of the questions that was brewing in the sergeant’s mind. He didn’t know what to expect anymore. The lack of information, and now being purposefully left in the dark about crucial details related to missions that could very well kill him and the other Rangers was something that enraged Mike. This wasn’t a game, yet the king and his circle were finding out the best option to get them killed in a single engagement that did nothing to change the bigger picture.

  Shaking his head, he rid himself of any unsavory feelings. “What is Bishmark like?” he asked, curious about where he and the others would end up soon. He’d much rather have an idea of the environment he would be working in rather than going completely blind.

  Lecca hummed quietly as she looked away from the moonlit sky. Mike’s eyes widened as her silver hair shimmered and her pale skin glowed angelically. He was almost distracted as she provided an answer, “Many call it the “Crown Jewel” of the kingdom. It is the nexus of trade and acts as a hub where merchants from foreign lands come to spread their goods and influence. The city has grown large enough to where foreign traders are beginning to invest their earnings into newly established companies and trading firms.”

  “Sound like New York,” Mike said with a growing smile. A small memory glazed over his eyes before dissipating.

  “New York?” Lecca asked.

  He chuckled to himself as he recalled a distant memory; one where he walked the streets of Manhattan with his family as a young teenager. “It’s like Bishmark. New York, more Manhattan, is the central nexus for everything stocks, bonds, and investments. Physical trade is a bit smaller, primarily due to that being handled by San Francisco and other major ports, but the market in the big apple is the largest as it encapsulates the entire world.”

  “I would like to visit your world. It is truly different than ours, and dare I say my curiosity has been bugging me to no end,” Lecca bashfully aid imagining the city that Mike had described. “I think it would be a worthwhile experience, and perhaps I can bring some idea back here when I get into the higher echelons of the kingdom. I hope your homeland would work with me on that.”

  “Well to bring a foreign lady such as yourself, let alone someone from another world might raise some questions, “Mike let out a hearty chuckle. “I can only imagine how the CIA would react to me escorting someone from another world through New York. I wonder how my sister would react to it.”

  Lecca could feel the waning emotions that the Ranger beside her displayed. He fell into an emotionless state. It was as if he was pulled away by a memory that he couldn’t relive. “Perhaps it would be best to continue this at a later time?” she asked softly. Mike turned to her, his complexion returned to normal, and a smile just barely showed on the edges of his lips.

  “I’ll see you tomorrow, Lecca.”

  Publicly Available Information: Investors and Merchants:

  Acting as the economic lifeblood of any nation, Merchants move goods from foreign lands and introduce new technologies and cultures to nations all over the world.

  Investors give the ability for merchants to expand their reach and hold greater wealth amongst the common people.