The Arriving Caravan

Wheels turn on a wagon as they leave an imprint on the bloody earth beneath them.

Many provisions were stacked in this wagon, alongside other wagons carrying other types of goods, such as weapons, cloth, and other necessities that could be needed for military camps on the borders.

As the wagons rode on top of the bloody earth, a grizzled middle-aged man with a scar across his left cheek looked at the week old battlefield with a dark and solemn gaze.

He looked at the battleground with a sense of pity and resolve as he saw some dismembered arms or legs on a few parts of bloody mud.

The vultures eyed the decaying flesh with apparent glee as they circled around pieces of minced rotten meat with gazes of scavengers finding a delicious buffet in a dried-out desert.

As the scarred man watched these happenings, his frown from before deepened before he heard footsteps from behind where a young soldier came to make a report for their current location.

"Sir, this is the battlefield of the Kron border. We should be arriving at the military camp soon," The greenhorn soldier said as he looked at the rotting battlefield with anxiousness and a slight sense of disgust in his gaze.

"You are lucky you aren't on the battlefield, boy." The scarred veteran suddenly said.

"The battlefield is the representation of hell. You can see what I mean just by looking around for a few moments."

The greenhorn didn't honestly care what the scarred man said, but he also couldn't ignore the scarred man either. He also knew he couldn't interrupt the man or else he would get a bigger scolding than just standing there listening.

"The common soldier fights with monsters from the outside world and the inside world. They battle to protect what's important to them. They battle to survive. They battle to keep the demons away from our borders. They battle to keep their own virtues intact despite the atrocities they would have to face."

"You see this scar on my cheek, boy," The scarred man said as he pulled his cheek down. Showing his scar that extended from across his cheekbone to the back of his jaw where the scar ended.

"I got this while battling demons in human flesh. Demons that came from the other side of this border and scarred me with their sword as they tried to lop my head off." The man said as he pointed off to the distance on the battlefield.

He pointed to the line where the blood on the plain was the densest. The plain with the most corpses.

"Now, while all of these commoners fight in hell, trying to keep our country of Glaran safe, you spoiled brats were able to take the safe and easy path by taking caravan duty," He said as his voice gave a frustrated growl as he turned his head to the young soldier behind him. Giving him a stare while he continued talking.

"You better be happy that you fucking bastards have rich parents to help keep you safe."

"Because honestly, you don't deserve to be here. To be safe behind powerful men and friendly borders," The man said as he scoffed. Turning his gaze away from the young soldier as he looked back at the depressing scarlet ground beneath his feet.

"I shall take my leave then, Lieutenant Cleatus," The soldier said as he saluted and bowed to the lieutenant before turning around and hopping into one of the wagons travelling beside them.

As the soldier hopped into one of the wagons he suddenly heard, "Did the lieutenant chew your ear off again?" A questioning voice asked with clear amusement in his voice.

"Yeh, I got the 'you're a privileged asshole' speech again for the third time. How unlucky can I be?" The soldier groaned as he sat beside another soldier who hadn't spoken yet.

"Pfft- maybe you shouldn't suck at rock paper scissors so much, then you might've not been picked for the third time in a row!" The amused voice said as he laughed at his friend's expense.

The soldier gave a depressed sigh as he looked to the outside of the wagon so he could think about what the lieutenant told him.

"Don't worry about him, Phil. He's just trying to cheer you up. You know him," A calm voice said from beside the greenhorn soldier as he patted the man on his back.

The solder gave a dry chuckle as he heard what the calming voice said.

The calming man smiled as he looked towards the amused man and suddenly scolded him.

"You should control yourself, Andrew. You might end up hurting someone's feelings if you continue like that,"

"Oh shut up Michael! You know just as much as I do how hilarious this is," The amused voice, Andrew answered.

"And if you care so much about his feelings, then how about you go and report to the lieutenant instead?" Andrew said as he gave an eyebrow raise with a smile on his face.

The calming voice, Michael, suddenly looked away as he cleared his throat and sat up straight. Knowing he couldn't rebut Andrew and hearing about meeting the lieutenant, Michael decided to shut up as he completely gave up on trying to protect his friend.

Who would want to listen to a guy constantly scold you just for being rich and safe? It was torture!

After seeing what Michael did, Phil looked at him as if he had experienced the greatest betrayal in his entire life.

This time it was Andrew's turn to console Phil, "Look bud, we decided on the rock paper scissors thing since nobody wanted to talk to that nutjob. You just got unlucky the third time," Andrew said while trying to suppress a chuckle.

Phil looked at his best friends with a cold gaze as he uttered one word "Traitors..."

"Hey man, if I gotta betray Lucanus to avoid talking to the lieutenant, then I'm willing to be cursed with poverty to achieve that," Andrew answered while stroking his imaginary beard as if he was a sage of wisdom.

All three men stayed silent for a while.

Then, all three of them blew up into laughter as they started wheezing at Andrew's stupid joke.

They forgot their misgivings as they laughed for the rest of the trip while carefully hiding their enjoyment from the lieutenant. They didn't want another scolding about how pathetic they were to have rich parents that arranged for the three of them to be on the same mission together and have fun.

_________________________

Sarah laid down on her bed as she twirled her fingers above her head.

She was thinking back to what Laurier told her last night after she scolded him for his thoughtless actions.

"The resupply caravan will be arriving tomorrow..." Laurier said as he continued looking down after Sarah's scolding.

"Wait what!? Really!" Sarah's demeanour suddenly took a 180-degree turn after hearing the good news from Laurier.

'I can finally start the plan,' Sarah thought inwardly with glee.

"And? Do you got any more information!" Sarah asked with twinkles in her eyes as she came up close to Laurier, completely forgetting the sense of space between each other.

Laurier looked at Sarah for a moment before his sad look intensified as he knew he was going to crush the hopes of this young woman before him.

"Umm... sorry. The people I eavesdropped on didn't actually say anything else except for casually mentioning the resupply caravan between a few sentences," Laurier said as his invisible cat ears drooped in preparation for Sarah's upcoming reaction.

But luckily for Laurier, Sarah didn't have her hopes vanquished after he said that.

Instead, she was caught up on something else that Laurier said.

"Wait, did you say you eavesdropped on them?" Sarah asked as she tried to control her facial reactions to not betray how her emotions actually were.

"Yeah, why do you ask?" Laurier asked back with confusion clearly written on his face.

Sarah took a deep breath before she asked Laurier another question.

"Did you eavesdrop on the squad captains? Or the commanders?"

"I eavesdropped on all of them. Is there a problem?"

Sarah sighed as she started to realise something here.

"So you're telling me you didn't get caught even after eavesdropping on literally the strongest men in the entire camp?" Sarah asked once again.

"Of course. I'm a feline demi-human. I won't get caught by anyone unless they're a cultivator. I was taught the art of stealth by my mistress after all," Laurier said with pride as he placed his hand over his heart.

After Laurier finished, Sarah suddenly smiled like a 5 year-old kid that had discovered chocolate for the first time.

She was expecting the worst from it, but instead, she was pleasantly surprised.

"I think I might have a job for you later Laurier," Sarah said as she gave the catboy a wide smile.

Sarah gave some instructions to Laurier afterwards, then she left him alone to take her nap for the night as she waited for the sunrise, where she was now awake in the present moment thinking about the events that happened last night.

Sarah had a smile as she continued twirling her fingers in the air like playing some imaginary orchestra.

'I've just gotta wait for the caravan to arrive now,' Sarah thought when she suddenly heard a commotion outside her tent.

"Woah! Look at that. Do you see that Bill?"

"Bro, you already know I'm blind in one eye. I can't see shit!"

"Then get an eyepatch and stop bitching around you blind fuck!"

"Wait, is that a caravan?"

Sarah suddenly perked up when she heard the last comment. She quickly sat up from her bed, fixed her dress up a little to look presentable, and then walked outside her tent to have a look at what everyone was talking about.

She walked outside and saw a small crowd forming near the edge of the camp as their curiosity compelled them to go and check out this new situation in the monotonous military camp.

As Sarah shifted through the forming crowd, she saw in the distance a few horses pulling a wagon behind their backs as a few others beside them did the same thing.

For the others around her, they could only see a small dot on the horizon, but because of her cultivation, Sarah was able to see much further and much clearer than a normal person. Allowing her to make observations sooner than the others could as the caravans soon arrived.

Sarah smiled to herself as she saw the upcoming caravans getting closer and closer to her camp.

'Resupply, Seduction, is a go!'