High School Soldier
122. Bullshit

Nio was seen laughing with the refugee children, who numbered 20 in total. He and several teaching volunteers as well as several soldiers distributed snacks and packaged milk to children and early teens. This activity is only a time that Nio does when he is not included in the mission that the Squad leads. Seeing the refugee children scrambling snacks from him and some volunteers, Nio re-played the footage of his past when he was a child.

When he was 6 years old, Nio often fought with other children for some snacks that activist students shared. At that time, she only lived with her father, and her father was not married to her sister's mother.

His father, who worked as a factory worker, rarely gave him pocket money. Instead, Nio's father often told him to hold back when there was no food at home. Almost every day he and his father consumed cheap instant noodles, which is what led Nio ‘ to the addiction of’ to the food.

With a warm smile, Nio gave some packets of chocolate and candy to the children who swarmed over him. For people who rarely see Nio, they assume that Nio is a fairly assertive teenage warrior, but they now see Nio's smile that is so warm. Perhaps it was because these children made the young man recall old memories that upset him himself while remembering them.

Refugee children had previously been difficult to get close to Expeditionary Force soldiers who often helped with their security affairs. Then, when the volunteer teachers had their free time, they bought some snacks at the minimarket with their own money, and distributed them to the children with the help of language from Nio.

This is enough to attract the attention of children and teenagers to study with volunteer teachers, of course after they finished teaching the soldiers who ‘break school’.

Yes, that is the real task of Lisa and Arunika as well as 28 other volunteer teachers. They were paid with the Expeditionary Force's budget money, and without government assistance. The general of this army wants his teenage soldiers to continue the school that was stopped in the middle of the road due to the war two years ago.

Teenage soldiers who are interested in this are of course very happy, and with a spirit of learning after training or carrying out missions. This job is also an unforgettable experience for teachers, because they can see the atmosphere of military life, and do not forget the atmosphere of another world that they think is no different from Indonesia.

**

As the daylight pierced through the clouds, in an empty place near the language school and the warrior school, eight boys and girls gathered, staring at Nio with bright eyes. Nio was no stranger to the children in front of him, he quite often met with them for the matter of distributing snacks.

Holding back his hunger, Nio stood glued to the wasteland in the area of the Expeditionary Force's special region. He stared one by one at the faces of these otherworldly children, to make sure that none of them had any ill intentions.

“So, basically you guys want me to be your teacher?”

“Betul...!!!” said the children in an excited tone.

“We also want to learn like your friends, Mr. Nio..!”

Nio who seemed confused, looked at her brother and two friends who looked happy by themselves while standing next to her.

“Sister, I want these kids to just play, so what should I do?” whispered Nio with her brother.

“Ah, don't be like that, you can teach them a little. Of course, you definitely can't teach them to count,” replied Arunika who made her friends laugh and made a frown symbol on Nio's forehead.

Nio who could only sigh. It seemed, this all started when some children spread the word in their play environment in the refugee camp regarding Nio a genius and a martial expert. Normally, daylight time was when Nio ate lunch in the cafeteria and did the work of a Squad commander.

“Ijin ask!” one of the Demihuman cubs cat raised a hand.

“Yes! What do you want to ask?” Nio answered him with enthusiasm as well and forgot if teaching the children was a hard task.

“Can you beat a minotaur to death just by looking at it?” responding to the boy's question Nio could only hold back a laugh.

He said in his heart while laughing, “Who made that rumor..?”.

“Ijin asked, did you really beat Commander Ragh to death?”

“Ya... yes. But I made sure he wasn't dying.”

Then the other boy asked Nio again, “Ijin asked, is it true that you defeated the fire dragon king alone.”

Then Nio answered him, “Not, but almost all of this army united to defeat the creature you call the king of the fire dragon.”

Nio wanted to sigh again, but one of Arunika's friends said, “Male is not good if you often sigh..”.

Then, when Nio's eyes with her brother met, Arunika gave him a thumbs up and a sincere look full of confidence to her and said, “This brother of mine, he can do anything!”

Nio scratched the back of his head instead of sighing. Everyone must have gone through a phase where they idolize a favorite cartoon character or superhero. First impressions matter at times like these, after all they are just kids, so Nio doesn't mind it.

“Alright, thank you for volunteering as my student. I am the great Nio Candramawa!”

Then after that there was only the sound of fighting vehicle engines, and the troops who were training, in other words everyone around Nio was silent.

“Um... well.. I can only make a simple silat movement anyway. Then I combined all those simple movements into one, and became my own self-made martial artist. Sorry, but I'm still a beginner and can't teach you guys much.”

“We don't care. Teach us your mainstay!”

Confused by the children's request, Nio said in his heart, “Sial, it seems like I have no choice.” Then he stood in front of a dry tree. He bent his legs, and did the stance of the base horses, then took a deep breath. He exhaled quickly and punched the tree trunk in front of him. His fist hit the tree trunk quickly, and it shook strongly and nearly broke. Nio exhaled softly and returned to his position. Then he faced the children again and said, “How about that?” with a confident face.

“What? It was too fast, I couldn't see what was happening.”

“That's just a regular hit!”

“It looks very weak...”.

“Make that tree trunk fall!”

“I want my money back!”

“Unfortunately you guys paid me what...!?” answer Nio for the last question.

Nio was out of his mind, he felt like hitting the cute kids in front of him.

“Y-well, that was just a warm-up. I actually have a secret style, one of my silat secret moves. I named this style ‘Kick First Style: twisting kick.”

Then the children began to look seriously at the technique that Nio would show.

They said, “That seems cool.”

Then Nio replied, “It's just a name!”

Nio turned to the tree trunk, then jumped up with vigor and made a rounding kick.

Suddenly Nio's gaze turned to the eight military vehicles passing through the streets, and entered the gate of the fortress. It was the transport of the cruiser Squad 1, and it was also seen that several large transport and attack helicopters landed on the runway.

“He can't even kill insects with that weak kick.”.

“I want to go home. Come home and play doll.”

Arunika and her friends tried to prevent the children from leaving ‘leson’ while saying, “H-hey, wait for you...” But it was in vain, and one by one the children left Nio who wanted to immediately approach the members of his Squad.

**

Corpse bag?

Liben and three members of the male squad were seen carrying body bags, and walking down from the transport helicopter with all the passengers. Some people ran to watch them return from a dangerous mission.

Sucipto, who was sipping instant black coffee brewed on paper cups, had been waiting for the return of a unit rumored to be doing battle with enemy forces, and that unit was the 1st cruiser Squad and some of the warriors of the 5th and 6th Combat Groups. The general rushed out of his study to congratulate the newly returned unit.

Several cruiser squads were sent to carry out missions on the borders of the Yekirnovo State and the Luan Empire, as well as carrying out missions to the Empire's territory to obtain the city that would be used as a frontline defense base again. However, all units sent were given two to three days, and now is the last day of the mission. Almost all of the soldiers came home with happy and calm faces, except for Squad 1 explorer.

Sucipto, who was trying to walk while overcoming his distended stomach, felt the tension that emerged from the transport helicopter used by Team 1. Even the tension felt like after suffering the defeat of war, or seeing a friend killed on the battlefield.

Sucipto himself is a three-star general who has gone through many war missions abroad as part of the United Nations Peace Forces. So, he could sense that the air was not wearing this as a sign that one soldier had fallen.

On the other hand, the 48-year-old man saw Nio staring at his colleagues who were carrying a corpse. Nio's eyes glazed over, and the area around his eyes reddened, he did hold back a cry as he looked at the body bag that Liben and his three subordinates were carrying.

The body bags carried are a sign that modern technology can still be defeated with troops with medieval weapons.

“No...”

It was a weak word from Nio's trembling mouth, like a child who was about to cry.

“I don't want my friends to die...”.

Nio's body trembled as he looked at his female subordinates walking while crying after getting off the large transport helicopter. The other male subordinates were partially shown to be holding back tears by biting their lips, and covering their faces with their combat helmets. Then, General Sucipto held onto Nio's shoulder while slightly squeezing it. Of course it surprised him, and made him unconsciously shed a few tears.

“Don't cry, Nio. I know the tears you shed were for your fallen friend. But, make it a motivation for others not to underestimate the enemy who looks weak!”

“Damn it!”

Nio closed his eyes with his right elbow and his shoulders trembled, and Sucipto remained silent as he watched the body bag containing Sergeant Chandra's body be loaded into the medical vehicle.

Sucipto realized that if Nio was still a teenager who happened to be a soldier, he did not forbid Nio to cry for his friend named Chandra was killed. As soldiers, they knew very well that they had to suppress grief until the battle was over. Otherwise, they just joined their friends as corpses. Their experience allows them to control their emotions and defend themselves in survival. It was a human consciousness that had adapted to the madness of the battlefield, and served as a living weapon to protect the people.

The members of Team 1 explorers grieved in their own way.

Then, Nio saw three journalists who were seen in shock as they descended from the cabin of a large transport helicopter. The three journalists walked up to Nio who stood staring at them with eyes reddened by crying.

“Ma-forgive us. The soldier named Chandra was killed for protecting us..”.

The cold gaze Nio gave the senior journalist made them goosebumps.

“You're sorry!?”

Nio replied after the statement of the senior journalist who said it so calmly, as if it was only a moment of regret and then returned to having fun above the suffering of others.

“You're apologizing!? Stop saying that nonsense with your meek voice!”

It took a while for the three journalists to process what they had just heard.

Nio's face turned frightening, and made the three journalists strongly depressed. Then, Nio said in a pretty loud tone:

“Of course, I'm sure you're not too sorry about this situation, because you think it's the duty of the soldiers to protect the populace like you are, right!?. You can say that you have never spread bad news about us, never praised us while fighting for our lives in this world of nowhere! That means, we are only considered as money-carrying pigs in your opinion! He must have fallen for following your stupid ego! One of my friends just passed me wrapped in a body bag. I don't have time to listen to your bullshit right now. You guys have to take responsibility, you fucking shit, you son of a bitch!”

“What-what are you saying? We jerks?” replied the senior journalist trying to escape Nio's accusation.

“Then what? Do you think I don't care when my friend dies? Oh, right, for you, Student Soldiers are just Student Soldiers. We are working pigs that cannot be compared to noble humans like you, right!?”

Bombarded with unimaginable accusations from Nio, the minds of the three journalists were completely blank.

No soldiers tried to calm Nio down, they saw that the young man was already overwhelmed by anger and sadness. He could have attacked the three journalists and injured them. Nio's expression was truly frightening now, his eyes glaring at the three journalists until the knees of the three of them were limp. Nio's heavy breathing made the air around the young man terrifying.

Someone who knew that Arunika was Nio's older sister, was looking for the girl so that Nio would calm down a bit. Although they had to go around the entire corner of the fortress to look for Arunika, but this was for the safety of the three journalists who were caught in a rundown problem.

In the end, Arunika got off the tactical vehicle and ran towards Nio who looked instead of Nio. Yes, the Nio that Arunika knew remained calm in even the toughest of matters. But, now Nio had really changed since joining the military.

“Kakak?”

Nio's tone of voice was cold, but it didn't make Arunika tremble at all. Arunika did not back down when she saw Nio's scary expression that she had just seen for the first time, she did not blame Nio for this matter. Arunika realizes that Nio is talking to someone who will not listen to him, whatever Nio says and does.

“You've calmed down?”

The gentle words from her brother, turned Nio's anger into a sincere cry, and it was aimed at Chandra who was resting in peace, and for a very long time.

Nio could not help but embrace Arunika despite being witnessed by many people. This was all he could do to ease the anger that had once controlled his heart. Of course, people's gazes were fixed on First Lieutenant Maid Nio.

Arunika always thought that Nio was too good for this war, let alone his sister's main goal of being a soldier to protect him.

On the other hand, Sucipto had known Nio for six months, ever since the Otherworldly Expeditionary Force was formed. During that time, he served as the general of this army, which meant that he had always been number one. Even so, the teenage warrior who was crying on his brother's shoulder was a warrior with mysterious talents on the battlefield.

Sucipto in the heart muttered, “Seperitnya only this girl can tame Nio.”

The fate of those who become soldiers is to die in the darkest place on the battlefield, discarded like tools that have been used, stripped of their rights and dignity as human beings, and rested quietly in the graves with gravestones engraved their fallen names.