"A black hair is taking the orc mission?" A noble says.
"What is he doing?" Another commoner cadet says.
"Does he not care for the face of the nobles?"
When I step in front of the fifth box, I can feel the glares of the instructors breathing down my neck.
"Are you sure you know what you are getting into?" Kaine asks me.
"Thank you for the concern, sir, but I understand my limits."
Kaine gazes into my eyes and nods. I grab one metal plate and return to my seat. Aiden stares at me astonished.
...
He lets a long sigh and slaps his face lightly. "I must be fucking crazy to even think about it but..."
He looks at me and I smile pleasantly back.
"Ugh! Fine, let's both dig our graves!" Aiden confidently proclaims and walks to the fifth box, trying to hide his trembling legs.
Without even hearing the comments of the instructors, nobles, and normal cadets, he swiftly grabs one plate and runs back to me.
"Fuck fuck I'm dead." Aiden mumbles.
"Why did you do that?" I ask.
"Don't ask me that! I'm not letting you die there!"
...
"Thanks."
"Yeah, you better be." Aiden blurts.
"Don't worry, we won't die."
"Maybe not from the orcs but from the nobles, high chance."
The both of us basically spat on the food prepared for royalties. Orcs are dangerous yet fairly easy when attacked in a group. All commoner cadets in this room can kill an orc with four other people and the missions did not specify any restrictions. Thus the difference in intensity of the missions is to raise the nobles' prestige and send a clear message to people in the room. "Don't mess with the nobles."
"Damn it...I'm worried for my parents." Aiden scratches his hair.
I place my grip on his shoulder. "Don't worry, I know how to deal with them."
The war has taught me many things. How nobles behave. How nobles fall. And how to kill nobles.
Aiden tries to wrap his head around the mysterious conviction in my voice. Somehow, my reassuring words calm him down.
================================
3 days later...
================================
Cadets were given their respective mission locations and dispatched themselves. Since Aiden and I do not have transport, we had to rent some horses with our savings. Our basic weapons and gears do not help.
The good news? Our journey is smooth with zero interruptions.
"Huff...Bloody hell. Why is our location so far?" Aiden tears a bite of the bland beef jerky as he feeds the horses water.
"No one expected commoners to take on the fifth mission. Each noble has their express horses or carriages." I reply.
"Right...remind me why you chose this mission again?" Aiden asks.
"Because I'm crazy."
"Fuck, you really are crazy! And so am I for following you!"
"Haha..."
Basked in the dappled shade of lush canopies, a campfire crackled curling smoke through the branches. The warm sunlight and gentle breeze cast a tranquil moment before our arrival at Piear City.
YOU ARE READING
A Background Character's Fate
Fantasy"In war, commoners are the victims in victory or defeat." Struck by poverty amidst a long and devastating war, an ordinary mercenary dies among the countless corpses on a snowy battlefield. Yet by a stroke of luck, he regressed to his younger self...
