Hikari opened her eyes. It was morning.
She could hear the sound of rain hitting against the surface of her tent.
"Can't cook breakfast with this rain. Just have to rest now."
She felt a furry body on her stomach.
"Lady Camilia."
The beast kin's ears twitched. She opened her eyes, uncurled herself, her claws coming out of her paws.
"Morning Hikari! Meow! How ya doing! Did ya sleep well?"
Hikari's outfit that she had been wearing for almost a week was starting to feel slimy and itchy.
"I smell."
"Ya, ya. Me too. Brrr. But it's really warm here."
Hikari laid back down and closed her eyes. Her stomach growled.
The supplies hadn't arrived.
"Ya, Meow is hungry too. The offies say that the columns were attacked by wyverns."
Hikari continued her meditation.
"I miss home now. When I reach dat hooded man's place, I give them a piece of Meow mind."
The rain stopped.
She pinched Camilia's scruff and lifted her off of her, receiving a growl in return.
She assembled her boots and left her tent.
The camp was little more than mud, the soaked greyish surface of tents, stones around doused campfires, a wooden palisade in the background.
The soldiers came out of their tents, standing around idly. Their uniforms muddy and soaked.
"Ugh… meow… looks like food carts still not here yet."
Hikari's stomach growled.
"Let's eat that."
"Meow.. again? That stuff makes me feel sick."
"Hehehehe…..! We are eating that again? " A creepy laugh came from behind Hikari's boot.
"Eeekk…! Zark! Since when were you standing there meow! I didn't even see you!"
"Hehehe! I'm glad Hikari loves my concoctions, hehehehe….!"
"Oh well. Meow. I'm glad Zark is showing some energy. Good for ya Zark!"
Hikari drew her claymore, dusting it off with a telekinetic blast before placing it onto a pair of stone supports.
Rotbenmore men in their black robes and silver masks gathered around along with several wind ranger beastkin in their coats of fur and Razenheir scouts in their hooded coats.
They shoved piles of sticks and leaves stored in their tents which kept them dry from the rain.
Hikari ignited the foliage.
The men queued up with sacks of grey tentacles, spreading them out on the broad face of Hikari's sword.
"Hehehe… that's it… let it shimmer… "
"Get on with it meow…"
The robed men sprinkled a glowing green dust over the sizzling tentacles.
"Now… if you will… hehehe… hikari… hehehe…"
Hikari grabbed the sword handle and channeled her mana. The claymore glowed red with her flames, causing a reaction in the dust, creating a brief but brilliant green flame.
Zark leaned forward, examining the tentacles.
"Good… Good! Hehehe…"
"Ya, ya meow, we can see it's cooked. Add the mushrooms."
Camilia dragged the zombie boy to one side.
As the searing heat on the claymore dissipated, the beastkin and RazenHeir scouts emptied their harvest sacks of mushrooms onto the hot steel.
A sprinkle of salt and pepper.
The RazenHeir scouts used their swords to flip the grill.
It was done.
The knights of the houses queued to collect their breakfast and going back to their tents.
Hikari used her ladle to scrap the remainder off the claymore. The tentacles were cooked through, quite chewy and had a strange off flavor due to some residue poison. The crispy skin and seasoning somewhat made up for it.
Five mouthfuls. That was her meal.
"Good morning Hikari"
"Scout master"
The man removed his hood revealing his unshaven face.
"I must apologize that the caravan hasn't arrived. Anyways, I have a mission for you. There's a golem blocking the supply route on our left wing."
"Really? A golem, meow! Where is it? Shall we go?"
Camilia popped out of Hikari's tent, prancing around her boots.
Hikari assembled her armour and lept off.
"Eh! Wait! Lemme come with ya! Meow…"
"Don't be so disheartened. Lady Camilia. This is how she is to us scouts."
"Eh? Oh you're that bounty man. Why? Meow? We're all of the same pack out here."
"She had been on the frontlines since before you manifested your mana form. Too many had come and went before her eyes."
The beastkin's ears drooped.
The scout master paused.
"Why don't you join us?
"Meow? Okie."
She followed the scout master to a small clearing where several men from the three houses were gathered in a semi-circular arc.
In the middle was a stone table, three RazenHeir swords, a wind ranger talisman and a Rotbenmore mask.
"This is… "
"A moment of silence."
The men closed their eyes and prayed. A gust of wind blew past.
After about ten minutes, the men returned to their tents.
The scout master turned to Camilla.
"So! you could have died to that flesh hound a few days ago if Hikari hadn't been there."
"I see… meow… "
"Be mindful, you're the heir to the wind ranger house."
Camilia's ears drooped.
"I have a mission for you."
Camilia's ears sprung up.
The scout master held up a piece of cloth to Camilia's nose which twitched at the smell.
"This is… Sniff* Sniff* It's Hikari's sock! Hey! Ya some kind of pervert or something!? "
"Well, I would say I have held out much better than most men. Track down the thieves and recover the socks."
"Okie bounty man. Meow." She pounced off.
Hikari returned to the camp and found several men gathered around her tent.
A fat man in a theater outfit stood by her tent.
"Ah! The maestro Hikari. The brightest rose in the territory and the lands beyond. An immovable shield like the obelisks at Igar. A sword dancer, flowing like the rivers of Herdial. Her ladyship Ria has good taste to commission me to do a poster. Oh, and we were warned to take some Hortifern herbs so that we can focus."
A dozen painters started setting up their canvases around Hikari.
Another man in plain brown clothing too fine for the frontlines approached Hikari.
"Her ladyship Ria is much more concerned that her words reach the maestro. This humble scribe is honored to present a letter from her ladyship."
He said in an annoyed tone as he opened a letter and held it up with both hands for Hikari to read. It was in invisible ink coated in RazenHeir mana.
To Hikari,
Word has reached me that the campaign is near its close. I hope you and the boys will be home soon. I understand the deprivations you face and have arranged additional shipments of provisions and clothing. Your feats were nothing short of legendary. I have already found good buyers for the golem cores. Look forward to a feast when you are back.
"Ria's handwriting. Meticulous to a fault. Hmm… but the next paragraph isn't as perfect."
I have been adhering to your training every single day in my room. It's quite effective actually, I can feel my arms building muscle. It's just rather unsightly to do this in the drill hall. When you're back I hope to receive more of your teachings. By the way, you might run into a group of painters soon. I had hoped to capture some moments for recruitment posters and for myself. Please don't give them too much trouble. P.S. there's a new pair of wyvern skin boots, do send back the current one for repairs. I have arranged heavy escorts to make sure it doesn't go missing.
Hikari turned her gaze at the scribe, causing him to flinch.
"Umm.. do think of a response in the mean time" The scribe folded the letter and stuffed it into the flames under the boiling cauldron.
Hikari places one finger on her lip. Several annoyed groans from the painters were heard.
"I'm fine. I'll be back soon."
"Few words as usual Hikari. Since there's enough space on the paper, I'll write it in bold face then. Helps to convey the force of your voice."
The scribe mounted a writing board on his body and made some broad strokes with his quill.
As he wrote, Camilia walked up to her with a bundle of cloth pieces strapped to her back.
There were several visible shot marks on her fur. She stopped and plucked out a musket ball from her fur.
"Meow! Can't believe they shot at me. Here ya go Hikari, I found ya missing sock pieces."
"Thanks."
Hikari bent down to collect the cloth bundle. Then she pressed her finger onto Camilia's chest and cast a healing spell.
"Oh meow! Did know ya could do that! Meow! "
The sound of the cauldron bubbling out of its lid.