The Men I

-So, have you found anything yet?- asks me Qin Luo, seating I'm front of me with a steamy bowl in hand

-Are you asking me as a General or as yourself?- I rise an eyebrow due to his nonchalance and he smiles -Have I ever had any authority over you to being with?-

I chuckle with him -Well, I did ask around a bit... Dong was obviously of no help and I'm waiting for news form another suspect. Those inside our camp have no useful informations to share either... I hope we will manage to solve this quickly-

-Any promising lead from that suspect?- -Yes and no, I played a bit with Dong over some speculations of mine... He seemed not to know at first so maybe it shows I was right in believing a third party is involved? But I cannot just stay here and twist my thumbs waiting, I plan to enter a nearby enemy's camp and see what I can find-

-Mhn, we'll keep an eye on the camp here... In case we notice some weird movement once you've left- nods Zhou -Thanks, then I'll go get ready right after dinner... I don't want anyone to notice me-

...

I crouch down behind some rocks and look toward the camp's entrance, some guards are chatting nearby and a few meters behind the light of a dying fire can still be seen in the dark sky... The camp hasn't yet gone to sleep, not completely at least...

I move around the perimeter and search for a better spot to sneak in from. I notice a man walk around with shaking legs and frown "What the heck is that dude doing?" I climb on a tree and keep following him... Walking crouched down I move around the vegetation around the camp and try to remain at a decent distance.

After some time the man looks around scared and walked further inside the camp "Could it be a spy or an infiltrate...? But who would send such a scaredy cat on a mission such as this?" I get closer to the camp to follow him but some men aproach, I have to run and hide behind a tend to avoid them... Thing that makes me lose sight of the man I was tailing "Crap! I'll back to that later"

I move from one tend to another and hear movement inside almost all of those since the men are getting ready to sleep, it allows me to move faster not having to be completely silent. I look upon the tends at the center and go around to make sure which one contains peoples inside and which one is still empty...

-What do you think about it?- asks a voice inside -Does it even matter what I think? Those are orders, we must follow them- -I don't know... Everyone feels threatened by their presence- -Are we even allowed to feel emotions after all we've done? Listen, I don't give a damn about it anymore. Let's just get this over with and don't stick our nose in matters that do not concer us- -Mhn I guess you're right, it's just that after reviewing the past reports I...- -Oh Shut up and leave those papers there now-

After the two men finish talking I hear them walk out of the tend so I sneak in, I reach for the table at the center where some parchments are spread out and start searching for anything useful.

War reports are the most frequent papers seeing how those two men just finished reading some, all losses in the nearby battlefields but I already knew that... Guard shifts, letters for the families of the deceased or MIA men, just s couple of parchment with orders from their monarch... Infirmary's infos, these should be useful!

I start reading the report, it's mostly names of injured patients and a list of ingredients required to treat them... I try to search for anything amiss but there doesn't seem to be anything. Ome thing I notice tho is the enormous amount of deceased soldiers... Yet they do not seem to be loosing numbers when we face eachother... We win the battles yes but now that I think about it they end up retreating or moving away to another area, never went back to their land to get more men as it happened to us.

That honestly wouldn't be weird if one thought about it normally, because the new trouoes could simply be sent out and reach them on the battlefield later... But not even once have we outnumbered them.

As I was lost in thoughts I get taken back by some noise outside. I hear some men running around, not too close but it's still better to be cautious so I reach the wall of the tend and try to listen... Something seems to have happened -Get him! He's a spy!-

At those words I widen my eyes and find a place to hide untill the noise passes... The fast steps reach just outside the tend and come to a stop, only this thin fabric wall separates me and the enemies now -Have you seen him?- the voice is cold and emotionless -Yes, he went that way- -After him!- and they run away again... I wait just enough to make sure they're gone and leave my hiding space with a sigh of relief -Now, where was I?- I mutter while reaching the table again

Loud steps comes out of the blue from just behind me, the sound of fabric reaches my ears as someone enters the tend in a rush. I turn around unsheathing my sword, ready to fight... Yet the sight is not what I was expecting. A normal soldier bent on his knees to catch his breath, holding some papers in one hand, he takes a deep breath of relief and then straighten up but his mood quickly changes again once he faces my sword, his free hand goes for his own sword but then stops and rises both hands -Wait, wait wait wait! Don't kill me, I mean no harm!-

I rise an eyebrow and he sighs -Yeah I know, it's very weird coming from your enemy isn't it? Anyway, I'm running away from this place. Actually I was just coming to your army- I push the sword closer to his throat -Let me explain! You see these?- he rises his hand full of scrumbled papers -These are important Infos, I was collecting some here and there to give them to your General and ask for protection, I swear! I'm done with this! I don't want to kill innocent peoples, my soul is the soul of a sinner and I don't want to suffer in the underworld or get dissolved-

-Why should I trust you?- I try to ask but the sound or men running outside comes back and steal my attention -Well you could ask them for example... We should run!-

-So you're that suspicious man... Wait, you lead them here?! What kind of incompetent soldier are you?!- -No more time to talk Miss, let's go!- he grabs me by the sleeve while grabbing some papers on the table and throws us under the heavy curtains to escape, just before the men running behind him enters on the other side.

We hide behind some boxes -What kind of terrible plan is this?- I whisper to him, he looks behind the boxes to search for an opening as the camp is now under allerta thanks to him

-I... I'm sorry, it's just that the new ones are so damn good. They see and ear everything- -New ones?- he looks at me with wide eyes -You don't know? Then... No I can't tell you- -Aren't you already betraying them enough? Then do it properly-

He bites his lip and look again behind us -Let's make a deal, you take me out of here and I'll give you these papers- he says placing them into his clothes -Then, if your General approves to help me... Once I'm sure enough you won't kill me right after, I'll tell you about those men- he grins

-Deal-