Chapter 15: To the South

The day finally came. A few weeks had passed since Hado's training on battle drills and tactics had began. They were behind schedule.

It had been a lot, but it was time to go to war. Sayomi had disappeared, probably dead with how she had starved during their time together, but Hado couldn't bring himself to care much.

"Excited?" A soldier asked, riding up next to Hado on a horse.

One thing Hado had learned, all the soldiers were strong, at least Esdeath's soldiers. According to some of them, she just didn't accept weak people in her troops.

With Najenda leaving the troops and becoming a General herself, things had become quite different. Morning formationwas more brutal, they trained until their arms and legs were heavy, and unlike everyone else, Hado had to study the empires way of battle with Esdeath until she was satisfied for the day.

He wondered why she bothered, but seeing as he couldn't reach into her mind, it was futile to try and understand.

"I heard General Liver is stirring things up for us, we'll go ahead and finish this all off once we get to the south, everyone,move out!" General Esdeath yelled, smiling as the horses started.

Hado couldn't help but notice something different about the general, she seemed... Colder.

"I see you noticed my gift recruit," Esdeath said, riding past Hado quickly, looking at him as his eyes locked on the area right above her chest.

There was now a red spiral mark there. Though he couldn't tell why, it felt dangerous...

"Hah recruit, don't even think about it," A man said, riding up next to hado, smiling mischievously as the boy immediately released a wasp inside the man.

They had been breeding even more, and with his training and concentration, he could keep them in nearly 50 people at a time without feeling tired.

'This kid looks strong...' The man thought as Hado listened in on the wasps translation.

"Think about what sir?" Hado asked, smiling his fake smile at the man.

He needed some work, but making people like you is fairly easy. A smile here and there, agreeing with what they said, it was all too simple to manipulate someone with kindness.

"Any romantic feelings you have for the general should be pushed down deep inside, a woman like that isn't looking for love... Just war."

Hado looked at the man with a confused expression, "Why would I have romantic feelings for the general? Fuck off loser," Hado rode off, chuckling to himself as the man looked at him, shocked at Hado's words.

To Hado, the man was useless, he had no new information, no battle techniques, and no ideas for him to use, he was just a shell that functioned.

"Hey! Get back here!" the man shouted after Hado who simply ignored him.

...

It was a few days before they finally reached the imperial encampment in the south. With sounds of horns blaring, General Esdeath's and General Najenda's troops rode into the encampment.

"Fucking finally, you guys ready to fight a war?" Hado asked his insects, who squirmed inside of him, clearly feeling the same pent up urge as Hado felt.

He was so close to snapping and killing the closest person to him, but he fought that urge.

"Recruit, rally up the horses and bring them to the stables!" One of the seargents shouted in his direction, causing Hado to grit his teeth.

'I'll make sure you don't make it past this war,' Hado thought to himself, quickly going to perform the task as the two Generals met up with another silver haired general.

Hado wasn't close enough to listen in, so he just used a few wasps to listen in.

"General Esdeath, Liuetenant Najenda, seems things are heating up more than I thought," The silver haired man said as he eyed Esdeath.

"It's actually General Najenda now General Liver, and yes things have gotten out of hand here..." Najenda said, looking at the man, Liver, in disgust.

"Hey! We're doing the best we can, how about you lay off!" A younger soldier yelled, pushing past General Liver before the silver haired man grabbed him by the shoulder.

"Bulat, that is highly inappropriate, forgive my lieutenant, he's just as stressed as the rest of my troops... The south has proved quite resilient in this battle..."

'Huh... Another General, wonder how many there are...' Hado thought to himself as the three generals went to a tent.

"Too risky to keep you guys out and about around here, eventually someone's going to be quite suspicious... Go ahead and rest little guys," Hado said bringing his insects back inside of him.

'Well Hado... Looks like this is gonna be quite interesting.'

***

General Liver, Najenda, and Esdeath all sat in Liver's tent, away from nosy ears and eyes.

"So... The real reason you guys have been sent here? It's only been a few weeks since I was stationed here, why did the emperor deploy you two out here as well?" General Liver asked as Esdeath smirked a bit.

"I believe this is our first time meeting General?" She asked, ignoring the question and crossing her legs.

"Nevermind that, we should discuss our next maneuver to pierce the southern army-"

"Najenda, do not cut me off," Esdeath said, smiling as the silver haired woman quieted down.

Liver let out an awkward sigh as he took another sip from his wine bottle.

"We need to start preparing your troops for the heat. If we continue fighting through summer, we'd risk losing a lot of menif they're not properly conditioned, So while you two do that, I will continue with my troops, my lieutenant Bulat, and my seargents can help train your men as well."

"I don't think that's necessary, let's just go," Esdeath said, standing up and walking to the exit of the tent. "We leave in tomorrow morning, let's end this silly little war immediately."

With that, the decision was final, The empire would charge the southern army...