Chapter 6: A brief lull

It was the next day, and we were on the march eastwards again. Banta cavalry, Dragoons, began to shadow us. Wherever we looked, there they were on the horizon. Every hour or so, a troop of them would come down wielding carbines and open a ragged and inaccurate volley from their saddles. They would try to linger, but our hussars always broke from the road and spurred their horses to chase them away with sabers drawn. This happened all throughout the day. Their gunfire very rarely hit anyone, but it slowly chipped away at our morale.

Rocca could not travel with me, so she moved with the rest of the civilian column. The supply wagons were there, as well as the wives of the soldiers, and their children, who were allowed to

come by lottery. Further behind were the merchants who brought in fresh food, prostitutes, and other goods. Local infantry guarded the rear columns to deter any major Banta attack that would cripple our army.

According to our maps, there was a fort ahead. The sun started to step and our column halted. The guns unlimbered as we set up camp and the Banta cavalrymen disappeared, they had enough for today.

"Hey, who were you with yesterday?" Ensign Julon, my tentmate, asked.

"Ah, you could say she's my lover," I replied truthfully.

"She's just a normal lover alright," Julon chuckled. "Certified mage as I could tell from her hat. How was she allowed inside the camp?" He asked.

"Oh, she's a royal inspector," I replied.

"R-royal inspector!? He exclaimed as he choked on his spit. I chuckled.

I saw Rocca coming through the entrance. No one bothered her as she seemed to be wearing proper identification. I waved at her. She waved back.

"Well, see you later man. I would love to play another game of chess with you." I said my goodbyes to Julon.

"Yup, have fun you two. I wonder when we can find an empty board next." The battalion only had a few boards that were graciously lent by the other officers. Fast time controls were not popular in this period, unfortunately, so if someone were playing, the board would be unavailable for the rest of the day. I ran over to Rocca.

"I'm so glad you're safe." She said.

"I could say the same," I said as I pulled her into a brief hug. It was enough to wash most of my anxiety away.

"What do you want to do today?" She asked me.

"Well, yesterday we just sat on that hill, and you fell asleep on my arm," I said as she blushed. "Want to head to the caravan and see what's there?"

"That sounds great!" She said as she beamed at me.

We left the camp and made our way down the column, past the civilian quarters. The merchants had set up their area for the day. A large makeshift brothel and many other gazebos were visible, and lines of oxen who drew the supply wagons were happily munching on grass.

"Ten dollars on that card. I'll get all of my money back. I saw it go there for sure." A soldier gestured at a card, coins in his hands. There was a makeshift game of three-card monte taking place on a wooden crate. Bystanders cheered him on. The card flipped over; it wasn't the money card. Well, of course, it wouldn't be, it was a con game.

Rocca looked interested so we stepped in to watch. The operator placed the money card on the table and moved the cards around in a seemingly easy-to-track manner. Bets were made. They have been fooled yet again.

"Hey Eric, how is he doing that? I only think a few mages could pull that kind of teleportation off. He doesn't look like a mage either." Rocca asked curiously.

"Ah, he's using something called sleight of hand. It is just a trick. He isn't using any magic whatsoever." I whispered back.

I didn't want to be heckled to spend any money, so we left the small crowd. Rocca pointed to a makeshift stall that was selling fresh food. We were given rations that were supplied by the same merchants, but there were luxury goods as well.

"May I ask what this is?" I pointed at a small yellow ball-shaped fruit that reminded me of a ripened pear. I've never had it before, so it would be nice to try out with Rocca.

"Langash. In season and a good pick. A dollar each." It was expensive, but hey, what can you expect from merchants willing to be in a warzone.

"I'll take two." I slid the coins over and he handed over the fruits.

We sat down a distance away from the hustle of the market. I peeled the Langash open. On the inside what greeted me was a translucent orb. I bit into it. It was sweet and reminded me of grapefruit. Overall it was a great pick. Rocca's eyes shone as she ate. We then sat and admired the landscape for a while, as we have always done.

"Hey, Eric? I want to show you something. Can you take a rock and throw it as hard as you can?" Rocca asked me.

"Sure, why not?" I replied. I took a small rock from the ground and threw it as hard as I could. It whizzed through the air until it came to a jarring halt and then fell to the floor.

"I call this spell momentum arrest. If I concentrate on an object, I can remove most of its momentum in a split second. It takes more mana to arrest an object with more momentum." She explained to me.

"Wow, that's amazing!" I complimented her. She smiled bashfully.

"I'm trying to combine this with something I'm developing right now so that I can stop bullets. I want to be more useful to you, Eric." She said.

"What? I can't let you risk your life on the battlefield." I said sternly. I was sure as hell that I wouldn't let her step in that bloody mess. I couldn't even protect myself, not to mention someone else, especially as precious as her.

"I could say the same to you." She said as she started sobbing. I took her hand and held it tightly.