Plain Girl Hero of Darkness
Strongest Chess Pieces

Three days after he was given a special mission. A special forces platoon under Olivia's command departs for Fort Lamburg which is stationed by the bandits. Their destination is the forest southwest of Fort Gallia, close to the midpoint between Fort Gallia and Kaspar castle.

Twenty young soldiers accompanied Olivia. Normally, one platoon would have a member of 50 to 100 people, so 20 was too small in number. And these 20 soldiers just enlisted 2 months ago. They are all out of breath and struggling to keep up with Olivia, and among their members is Ashton who uses his spear as a walking stick.

The survival rate of the new members who went to their first battle was one-third. However, Ashton's first fight and the company isn't that simple. The reason was that their mission had been attempted before several times, and previous efforts had all resulted in over 90% of deaths. Despite all that, there was not a single veteran who took part in this mission. Olivia is probably the only one in this platoon who has combat experience.

Ashton was deep in thought as he looked at Olivia in front of him.

(No, no, that's not possible.)

He hears the reason Olivia was appointed as the Warrant Officer of Maurice, but Ashton still does not believe it now. There was no way that slender arm had the strength to let go of the head.

Something's happening to Ashton right now. Now that he thought about it, he realized something.

(By the way, I haven't seen Maurice lately.).

Maurice's reckless smile appeared in his mind. Ashton wasn't too close to her, but he was a comrade who received a special 'instruction' with her. He's lying if he says he doesn't care.

"Hey, have you seen Maurice lately?"

Ashton asked a black-haired young man, Guile, beside him.

"Huh? Maurice ...? Now that you mention it, I haven't seen that man in a long time. "

Guile who had a deadly face raised his head and replied impatiently.

"You don't know either, Guile ... Has anyone seen him?"

Ashton turned around, and Guile followed his gaze. In front of them was a group of reeling recruits, their eyes empty.

"- Forget it, there's no way they'll know. We arrived at the fort earlier than all of them, and have never seen it at all. "

With that, Guile looked at Ashton from head to toe.

"W-What the fuck is that?"

"No, I'm just surprised that you can still put aside the effort to worry about others. I'm envious."

Guile shrugged his shoulders. When he heard that, Ashton waved his hand:

"No, no, not at all! Just thinking about it, I also had a hard time. "

"Well, whatever. Our fate is sealed. "

A group of recruits and a girl leader whose origins are dubious. They had no idea what the higher-ups were planning, but Guile's words were on target. No one said it out loud, but they all felt that the plan must have failed.

They also know that they will die along with the plan-failure

"Hey, Ashton. Ashton !! "

When she realized it, Olivia was looking at her with bulging cheeks. Ashton was surprised at how close he was, and gasped back. Olivia tilted her head in wonder. He just did it for granted, but Ashton could not hold back his charm.

"W-You don't need to be too loud, I can hear you. Or rather, don't make a sound. We don't want to attract the attention of a wild beast. "

Unlike the plains inhabited by humans with cities, there were many ferocious beasts hiding in the forest. If man is the ruler of the plains, then the beasts rule the forests and the hills. Even an armed warrior was merely the prey of a savage beast.

"Levy! Are you pretending to be a bird !? It's interesting, let me try it too! "

"I don't imitate birds!"

Ashton replied reflexively, which made Olivia laugh out loud. The recruits who heard them also sneered.

"Then, I can eat the cake from the capital. Ashton, do you know what a cake is? They are a very sweet type of dessert. "

"... You change the topic too quickly. Of course I know what a cake is. I also have some. Regardless of how I look, I live in the capital after all. "

"Oh, so you ate the cake earlier. Ashton, you are amazing! "

(- Is this girl mocking me?)

Ashton thought for a moment, but realized that it was not true when he saw Olivia's eyes. His eyes sparkled in admiration. Ashton realized that he would only get angry if he continued the conversation, so he ignored Olivia's gaze and broke through the grass. However, the insects flying out from the bushes further irritated him.

There was a path near the forest entrance, so it was still easy to pass through. But the deeper they ventured, the denser the vegetation became, blocking their path. Above it, a thick canopy blocks sunlight, so it is relatively cool. But, they could hear the creepy birds cooing from time to time, which gave him goosebumps. It was the same for the other recruits whose eyes shot everywhere.

Ashton took a deep breath and rubbed the sweat on his eyebrows. Just walking on such terrain was exhausting.

On the other hand, Olivia was strolling through the forest, and happily picked flowers from time to time and sucked their nectar.

In this forest, there are many poisonous flowers, the most famous of which is 《Bewitching Flower》. Most poisons will only cause mild numbness, but there are some with deadly toxins that cause life-threatening high fevers.

Olivia probably knew which flowers to pick, because she never touched the poisonous flowers. Ashton has knowledge of this, but a normal person would not know. It seems Olivia used to live in the woods.

(In addition, how does Olivia move with such a relaxed gait? Even if he wears heavy armor.)

Ashton and the others wore leather armor made of leather. It was a light armor with a low level of defense. But, it was heavy for the recruits.

Compared to them, Olivia wore full armor. Above the chain mail, there were armor plates covering the shoulders, arms, shins, chest, and other places. It was much heavier than leather armor, but Olivia did not even sweat.

"Warrant Officer Olivia, may I ask you something?"

"Hmm? What's the?"

"Warrant Officer Olivia, aren't you tired? Well. Your armor is much heavier than ours. "

"Ehh? I'm not tired at all. And the armor was also not heavy. "

"Huh, that's... It's nothing, excuse me."

"?"

Olivia tilted her head in confusion, but quickly lost interest and looked ahead.

(Even if he's my boss, it's too embarrassing to lose to a girl. Well, after all we are destined to be killed by bandits, so there is no point in worrying about this.)

Ashton keeps seeing Olivia's happy profile.

...****************...

...To Be Continue's...