[L] To Me, The One Who Love You

2

"One!" "Ho!"

"Two!" "Ha!"

"One!" "Ho!"

"Two!" "Ha!"

Dawn was just beginning, but drills had already begun in the drill grounds.

Gripping a spear, I moved with each call methodically, exerting each well-practiced blow at full strength.

I knew it clearly, these moves appeared simple, but it was the foundation for my survival.

After being in the troops for two years, I could actually be considered a veteran.

My comrades who had enlisted at the same period have either died, lived to become a troop leader, or were transferred to important divisions like the cavalry.

All except for me, who still remained as a normal, infantry soldier. A position with the highest death rate.

But I did not mind it. I was already a woman who was living in the military camp— to get promoted and hit riches would only mean more danger for me.

I just wanted to take revenge by killing a hundred and eighteen Huns. After that, I would either quit the military and find a village to live out the remainder of my life, or die in battle on this piece of land. Though, I was more inclined towards the latter.

Ever since I stepped into this military camp, I had never thought about leaving this place alive. However, I would quietly tell myself before the start of every battle that as long as that number had not been achieved yet, I must definitely, absolutely, do my best to stay alive.

The physical differences between women and men start to show gradually as we age; the young men that had enlisted in the same period have started to shoot up in height.

All except for me, who was neither growing too quickly or too slowly.

Two years of training have made me somewhat taller and stronger than average girls of the same age, but thrown among this group of soldier men, I still appeared small and skinny.

Not only that, my strength and endurance was also lower than the others. The only way to compensate for that disadvantage was to train harder than the average person without stopping.

Fortunately, no one had ever suspected my gender, which made sense: those of the commoner families who had any prospects on wealth would always want to spend a great deal of money to skip enlisting.

How could there possibly be a woman mixing in with a death wish?

Once the drill had ended, it was time to eat. The crowd headed to the tent in twos and threes, while I walked alone behind the troop.

"Buddy!" Jackson leaped out from behind me, then he looped an arm over my shoulders cheerfully.

I stepped quickly out from under his arm, but I did not go too far away from him. I nodded to him without any expression, then we walked towards the food hall together.

In regards to my coldness, Jackson had already gotten used to it. He did not mind it either. He walked right next to me, talking about some day-to-day trifles.

I was the first friend that he made when he came to the military camp. He was fourteen at that time, while I was fifteen.

His family had been a commoner for so long, but he was as small and skinny as a carrot back then.

When he was assigned to our shared tent, only the space beside me was still vacant.

Most of the soldiers in the tent had already reached the height of adult men. When they saw this little carrot walk in shyly with his bag in his arms, all of them laughed playfully as they went up to him and ruffled his hair.

All except for me, who stood outside the crowd and studied him with a cold expression. But I did not lay a hand on him.

I also saved his life multiple times on the battlefield.

After that he always called me 'Buddy', he said that it's a sign of our friendship.

I didn't mind it though, I am not here to make friends, so whatever names they would called me, it really doesn't matter.

A year after enlisting, he suddenly went through puberty. His height went up in bursts, and now he was half a head taller than me.

By the time that we arrived at the tent for meals, it was already packed full of people.

I stood where I was, far away from it, while he ran into the crowd and squeezed his way through.

A short while later, he brought out two big bowls of rice that were covered with oily green vegetables and one slice of meat.

"Buddy! Here!"

"Thank you." I said and accepted the bowl of food he held out.

He grinned, revealing a neat row of teeth, "Why say thanks with a brother? Buddy, you always say thank you to me."

I said nothing more. We went to a maroon pillar, sat down on the ground under it, then we held up our big bowls and started to eat.

"Hey, have you heard? There might be a battle coming in the next few days!"

"Oh."

"I don't have any specific information yet, but based on my observations, it definitely won't be long before a battle comes."

I stuffed another mouthful of rice in my mouth. As I chewed, I turned my head towards him and waited for him to continue speaking.

He gave a pleased smile, then he picked up the piece of meat in his bowl and said, "Based on my long-term observations, they always sneakily put thicker cuts of meat in our bowls before battles. It's normally the thickness of a pinky, but when a battle is imminent, it becomes as thick as a thumb!"

As he said that, he put the bowl aside, then he reached out the thumb of his other hand for comparison.

I peered over. Sure enough, it really was the thickness of a thumb.

"Eat!"

I continued to busy myself by stuffing food in my mouth.

Battles were no longer anything new to me. After being in the military for two years, I had already fought a total of ninety-eight battles, big and small. I remembered that number clearly.

After eating, Jackson and I went to return our bowls together.

He had wanted to run errands for me many times before, but I rejected him every time.

I simply did not want to squeeze with a crowd of men as my body was a huge secret. But other than that, I would do my tasks myself. I would absolutely not trouble others.

Once the bowls were returned, I walked out of the crowd. But unexpectedly, Jackson followed along.

I was somewhat confused, but he said with a cheeky grin before I could speak, "Buddy, there's a battle coming up in the next few days. I'll come with you for extra training, it's still better late than never after all. You can give me more pointers and such?"

"Let's go."

For the past two years, I always gave myself four extra hours of training after the daily drill, a routine unaffected by wind and rain.

Even after a battle, when everyone went to rest their exhausted bodies, I would persist through my fatigue for four hours of extra training.

I must live.

I was still shouldering the bloody debt of a hundred and eighteen lives. That was the blood oath I had taken when I kneeled before the village entrance, breathing in the stench of burning corpses, staring at the fierce flames.

But I was a woman. My endurance and strength could not compare to men, and my opponents were the Huns who were even stronger and more skilled in fighting than the men of the kingdom.

If I slacked off even so slightly, I would be dead in the battlefield.

I did not fear death. I had never thought about coming back alive in every battle I was in before, and that was why I fought the most ferociously and without reservations. However, the will to survive was a part of everyone's instincts.

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