Sneaky

Levi went ahead with his troops sneaking out of the area to gather the cannons and any other way of firepower that could be available.

Still, he was constantly watching out for the enemy to catch them, if they did it would do a lot of damage both physically and psychologically to his force.

"Your Principles of War are really a piece of work. Can they be any more stupid?" A youth with bright skin and scarlet eyes walked beside the Captain and talked his mind about the situation.

"Huh, you are in a position criticizing our rules, if you fight in our country abide by the rules."

"I do understand that but why kill people that are coming to your side, full neutrality at night, even when the army captains are free to kill, no one moves an inch or tries to kill them."

The words were all logical and right but they had no effect and weren't meaningful to their situation. The forces were moving stealthfully at night and reached the city ruins some of which were still on fire. The ashes and dust flew around and made it difficult to see.

"Search the place for any weapons, horses, anything that will be useful tomorrow, just make sure you don't get spotted anywhere around and if you do,...."

Levi's expression said what needed to be said and the soldiers understood his body language and spread in the area.

"We will meet here in a few hours again, take everything you find."

The soldiers were dispatched to different locations and Levi himself moved to the nearby burning forest, to look for any trees that survived which could be a food source of food even for a few.

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Levi walked up to the trees and looked around but could only see burned and burning trees, he hadn't much confidence in any trees surviving the fire, and this caused his heart to feel a bit sad.

He spotted a familiar-looking man in the woods, nearby.

"Hey,.."

It was the same youth as before who talked about the military traditions his eyes and face were shining in the bright full moonlight.

"Hey, Mr... Captain..."

"It's Levi. Call me that, it's not like I care much but remember your position."

"Woah, that's a lot of self-contradiction in just one sentence, please keep your words clear, Levi~"

The youth called Levi in a mocking tune and he was genuinely annoyed at the behaviour but choose not to say anything about the matter.

"Ok enough, are there any trees that survived, for fruits or anything you see?"

He changed the topic and asked about the important things at the moment.

"No, there are none. Most of them are burned, I can see the fire spreading far east now, it's really bright there."

To the boy, the light just seemed bright but anyone who saw this at their front might just shiver down with fear and the heat.

"Ok, go back to the old location and search other places."

Levi gave the order to go back and was going to walk away to another location but was stopped as the man just started walking beside him instead of following his orders.

"Hey stop, follow the orders."

"Please, stop with all the bickering, there is no useful thing in the locality to my knowledge. It's just a waste of time. So, in the time being tell me more about your country and these rules."

"Huh, these are not the topic that should be discussed right now, they can be discussed later and how do you nothing useful is there in the area."

Levi was honestly struck by the casual tone of the soldier and his belief in his reasonings.

"I am a very good observer, cartographer and geographical chief of my squadron you know."

"I see, you are well confident in your skills, I understand your skills. What do you want to ask?"

"A quick change, I see you understand the skill aspect of the person. You have my respect there. "

"Just ask me what you want while we move."

"Ok, what is your monarchy begin-"

The two moved and talked about their interests and their conversation went along.

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Fun fact: Levi washes his underwear by himself.