High School Soldier
Misses

For the 12th Team of the Reconnaissance and Battle Corps, there were no worse words to describe today. They want to rest after not getting a proper rest period, even though they are the most productive units of the Peace Forces (Guild).

‘Productive’ means they have been heavily involved in almost the entire battle the Guild faced, even the units larger than them did not get important tasks during their assignment in this world.

There were certainly no words fitting to explain the state of feeling of the twenty 12th Team members after they had been on patrol duty, with additional Edera and hevaz members. In fact, even though they had split into two groups and split up, they would not return to Girinhi Fortress before finding something like important and valuable information to report.

Although Queen Sigiz suddenly sent in additional troops to defend Girinhi Fortress and the surrounding region, it only caused great confusion. Why were they sent after a young officer from the TNI realized the greatest weakness of the Arevelk Kingdom's defense facilities? In essence, the kingdom's military was too late to realize that Girinhi Fortress was the weakest point on the border line. If the additional troops come, there will be a dizzying rearrangement. At least, in the additional army there are a thousand military magicians who will strengthen Girinhi Fortress which was previously maintained in the absence of witches at all.

On the other hand, the addition of troops in Girinhi Fortress provides additional strength for Arevelk and is expected to make the enemy undo their intention to attack the military facility. Meanwhile, there has been no movement from the rebel forces, so the soldiers get time to prepare for the worst possible battle of friends. If that happens, then the 002nd Aid Company and the 12th Team will face the rebels so that the morale of the troops can be maintained and not collapse.

At least, the news of the existence of the Peace Forces unit in Girinhi Fortress is classified information. If the Alliance and the rebels attack simultaneously, then the 002 Assistance Company will fight them with medium and heavy machine guns, automatic cannons, mortars, MBT-destroyed weapons, and fire throwers. They were an impure infantry company, and were almost equivalent to the strength of half an armored battalion.

Meanwhile, the 12th Team was split into two groups, and made them quite weak if faced in battle. Their job is not to fight, but to do defensive battles. The forest terrain where their duties are carried out is an advantage, and they are ready to ambush enemies who are seen to be approaching from body heat-emitting devices in their respective helmets.

It was troublesome if the dozens of people detected through the body heat transmitter the entire 12th Team member and the A Company Assistance Squad 002 were enemy soldiers, he said, even more so if they were Alliance troops that had rifles. Although they are trained in modern combat, they do not know the enemy's skills in combat using rifles or other long-range weapons.

“Are they really enemies, Hevaz?”

Through the helmet he was wearing, Nio could only see dozens of people with body heat detected through infrared radiation receivers in his helmet constantly moving closer to the group he was leading.

Ever since Hevaz sensed the hordes of people moving towards them, Nio kept ordering his group 1 members to stay alert with the rifles in ready-to-fire mode. Nio did not advise his subordinates to shoot in full automatic mode, or their consumption of ammunition would be very wasteful, most wasteful than the other Reconnaissance and Battle Corps teams.

“It seems not, Sir. They have absolutely no intention of fighting" Hevaz said.

“Do you have the ability to read someone's intentions just by feeling their aura?” Nio only saw that the body heat kept approaching, and stopped a while later which made Nio take aim.

“Actually they are civilians of Luan Empire. You better take off that weird head covering in order to see the truth.”

“Eh?” Nio said in a funny stupid tone.

Because the military doesn't want to lose their best soldiers just because they wear helmets that don't cover the entire head, so the individual safety system is now equipped with a helmet that covers all parts of the head and some other supporting components. To increase the range of vision, the helmet is equipped with a special device in the form of a regular camera that can be tuned into an infrared radiation receiving camera. Because TRIP is only an infantry unit, they are not equipped with exoskeletons such as artillery battalion personnel or cavalry battalions.

Nio ordered his group 1 members to restore the mode on the camera that was originally in night vision mode to normal vision. He did not order them to take off the helm, so only Nio took off his helmet to make sure what Hevaz said was true.

“Are they really civilians of the Luan Empire? Why did they enter the territory of the Kingdom of Arevelk secretly?” ask Hendra.

Since the arrival of the TNI for the first time in the Andzrev Continent, the countries that stand on the continent now know a system called ‘citizenship’, which is, even for non-human residents, they are still identified as animals such as the Demihuman race and half-monster humans. Before that, they were citizens of a country that had absolutely no allegiance to the country in which they lived.

When war, then the phenomenon of ‘refugee’ because of war or conflict in a country, either war between countries or civil war, is commonplace. Even so, in this world do not know the term refugees due to war or similar conflicts. If they had arrived in the Arevelk Kingdom before Team 12, it was certain that they would have been considered as nomads fleeing the country to avoid an incident.

Even Nio looked at the people affected by the war before his own eyes, again. And the feeling of seeing events such as the state of a group of other citizens who are struggling to get out of the country of origin to get an unpromising future in the country of people is a feeling that makes the heart uncomfortable.

However, unlike refugees due to war in the Middle East as well as countries hit by civil or inter-ethnic wars in African countries, they might not be accepted with open arms by the Kingdom of Arevelk given that the country is still at war with the Luan Empire.

“I think I have a special feeling if they arrive in town if they are really refugees.”

Nio thought that the Kingdom of Arevelk would impose certain conditions on the civilians of the Luan Empire, just as the developed countries treated strict conditions to refugees who wanted to seek refuge in their country. Or perhaps worse, they were considered to be Alliance soldiers tasked with infiltrating the territory of a Guild member state, so they were treated like enemy soldiers.

“Edera? Is that you?”

Nio raised his left palm to prevent his men from doing anything harmful to the girl who called Edera's name. However, the girl wearing the hood looked so frightened that she trembled and heard crying from him.

“Hayo, he is nagis tuh..” Nio said with a childish mocking tone which of course was coldly responded by his subordinates.

“Barista to the Undead, did something happen there?”

A radio communication device attached to Nio's helmet is connected to his deputy radio, Hassan. He took a radio device shaped like a handsfree, then plugged it into his right ear.

“Here Undead, we only found a group of civilians of Luan Empire. Group 2 please continue patrol, this matter leave it to us.”

“Siap, run. Please be careful, Dead Bodies. We saw a mysterious movement.”

“Ready!”

Hassan ended the communication after answering Nio's direction in an excited tone. Nio took off his radio, then looked back at a girl who was still crying after having previously been held up by a rifle by some of his subordinates. Some women tried to calm the girl while looking at Nio and his subordinates with fear, while some old men and women seemed to hold both palms and say some words of some kind of prayer. Among the dozens of civilians of Luan Empire, there were some children who stared innocently at the other ‘worldly warrior’ like members of group 1 of Team 12.

The innocent gaze of the little boy who did not know if another ‘world warrior’ like himself and the Peace Army was a powerful force that had killed so many Alliance soldiers was very much afraid of Nio than the resistance put up by a group of people if that happens.

Nio felt that the children were lucky enough to meet his unit, at least because his subordinates displayed a threat that was only limited to aiming even though the rifle was in single-round mode. He could not have imagined that they would meet an army that killed anyone encountered along the way, such as the Crusaders while traveling to an area targeted by an attack, or worse they met a group of slave traders who needed new merchandise.

“Eh? Oy, Edera! … Edera!” Nio was slightly surprised when the cat girl walked towards the dozens of citizens of the Luan Empire. The low-pitched call he made was completely ignored by Edera.

Edera walked with a sad look and no fear at all, while Nio walked behind her without holding a gun and slid his rifle behind his back to avoid the more severe fear of the refugees. With an anxious face, Nio watched over Edera's every move who looked impatient to approach someone who called out her name.

The girl who called Edera's name earlier raised her head back with eyes that were still wet by tears and the area around the eyes that were slightly reddened. He looked at Edera with hope, and they both looked like they had a bond that made them seem to know each other.

“Kakak... I finally met you again.”

In the end, Edera also cried like the girl who called her name. However, Edera who called the girl with the designation ‘kakak’ enough to make Nio surprised. He did not care about his subordinates who were completely clueless about what Edera said, it was because they were too lazy to learn the local language and chose to rely on him. That was why he let the members of group 1 bewildered while standing around not knowing the real situation.

Meanwhile, one by one the refugees lowered the hood that covered the head to part of their face, as well as the girl Edera called ‘kakak’.

“They are all... race Demihuman?”

It is very easy to distinguish the type and origin of the human race Demihuman race, namely just by looking at the ears of cats, raccoons, and rabbits and others that become their main identity. The girl Edera referred to as ‘kakak’ also had cat ears, which Nio said they both did have a certain relationship that Nio did not want to guess carelessly.

Suddenly Edera cried loudly and was not held back while lunging at the body of the girl who called her name. The girl also cried while hugging Edera very tightly as hard as she could. The heartwarming sight in front of him made Nio feel like he had to step away, and decided to take a few steps back.

Although they were formidable warriors, Ro Ga-Eun, Zefanya, and Ika were still women who had hearts like ordinary teenage girls. They can feel sad until they unconsciously shed tears when they see the incident that touches the heart, and it is happening in front of themselves. Meanwhile, Ratna of course tried to become a half-grown girl, although she still shed tears when she saw the sad scenery. However, Hevaz kept a calm expression and took the opportunity to hug Nio's warm left hand and put his head on the man's upper arm.

When the unnamed girl and Edera hugged each other to let go after a long time without meeting, the rest of the Empire's citizens put on an expression like they had found hope and surrounded the two of them.

“It looks like Edera does have a relationship with them,” Nio hates second-guessing if she ends up missing her guess. So, she waited until this heartwarming sight ended by taking some photos with the camera.

Meanwhile, Edera and her brother let go of each other's longing and cried loosely. Then, the people who fared not as lucky as Edera finally managed to find someone they were looking for after the Luan Empire with several countries decided to ignite a much bigger war and make their separation grow longer.

Edera cried until she sobbed and her shoulders seemed to tremble, as did her brother. In addition to being happy after reuniting with his brother, Edera is happy if people who used to be the same fate as him finally manage to escape, and by chance they are found by a unit led by his master.

Yes, the people who numbered about thirty were slaves who had the same duties as Edera, namely as assassins and forced laborers. They come from a diverse race of Demihumans, eared cats, raccoons, and rabbits, their numbers are balanced.

“Kita... how to respond? Did you guys find a suitable way?”

“Lieutenant, there is no way we respond to this heartwarming reunion by crying like the girls.”

“But Ardi, I think you fit in with the female role. That's why I gave you the code name ‘Crossdresser’.”

“Don't make me look like a crazy guy who cosplays a lot as a pretty girl, Lieutenant.”

“Or maybe I should change your name code to ‘beautiful guy’?”

A moment later, Sigit connected the conversation between Nio and Ardi, “Crossdresser and cosplay, what is it?”

Ardi quickly preceded Nio who wanted to answer Sigit's plain question, “The less you know, it will get better.”

"It seems I've heard the phrase," said Herman.

Then, Yogi muttered softly after knowing the meaning of the term Sigit asked, “Basic wibu!”

**

The condition of the body is not supportive, so I wrote this episode as well as possible even though it has not covered the entire contents for this episode.