Twelve

After four days of wandering, the rebel soldiers fighting in Jax Bay finally reached the outskirts of Weiz.

Not the beautiful scenery, but what caught their eye was what was left of the war: no corpses, no blood, no noise of weapons, but its fierce traces remained: the trees. The large and tall old tree was bitten by bullets and explosives. , and the black color of the burnt wood was ugly. The ground was filled with explosions and bullet holes from large to small. From time to time there are some dead balloons lying on the side of the road, air balloons drying on the ground or glued to the tops of trees like giant rags.

Rachel Weisz looked outside, eyes stunned at the scene. A short stretch of road had more than seven dead wolves - What the three Coalition countries considered the military strength of the entire bloc. As the vehicle spun, the traces that appeared on the road were even more terrifying. Soldiers from Jax also began to peek out of the carriage.

Did they fight in the scary place? - Everyone has the same opinion. After all, the five airships in Jax were worthless compared to the dozens that attacked the capital. What the rookie team experienced was only a small part of this battle.

Reports sent to the governments of other countries said that it was considered an all -out war in the Hai Duong Empire, and that the Allied forces would have almost won if not for a major incident in the battle.war.

Taking advantage of the storm, Storm Empire insurgents and Marris ’main army carried out large-scale attacks on Confederate airship concentration sites as they landed on the land after the storm, when he won a massive victory. Until now both the rebels and Marris viewed their victory as a miracle bestowed on them by the gods when they were on the brink of defeat, the Confederate airship just a few miles from Weiz. This victory helped them better understand the enemy and have more time to prepare for future wars in case it happens.

However, the price to be paid is not small.

***

“Dear Levis

I hear the Northern Front is having a hard time right? Damn real. Here the sea water began to stink like sewage. We do not know how long we will last. Today it is just a warship, but maybe in the future, we will all die.

This time I write a report about Weiz, I will also send a letter to you. I heard that your team is very good in the game, right? So many Coalition attacks have been stopped that even Marris Sea veterans have to admire. I'm so proud of you, I was right in the past to save and teach that torn blanket to Mena.

I feel bad in the Jax area. If we win on the main front, come back right away, don't forget to bring us some wine, I haven't been able to drink good wine for two months, like horse urine. I can handle that, but I can't, I really want to ..

If I can live, and you can live too, I have a lot to say. We found three interesting rookies, Skylar, Lennox and Stand, you’ll probably need them.

Gray Tobimous. "

"So this is what you're going to tell me, old man?"

Levis whispered.

The young man sat next to the ruins of a barracks towards Weiz. Levis opened the letter Gray had sent him and read it again. Fortis stepped aside, began to lie down and take a nap.

It’s been four months since Levis received Gray’s letter. Levis remembers that day — the day he was sent to Jax to defend himself. It must have been him, but Gray disagreed. The old general said he was too young, too inexperienced to lead the novices. Also, for a young man like him, will the rookies follow despite Levis ’good fighting experience? He reluctantly accepted Gray's request and remained at the forefront in the Zayn region, where he had previously fought.

If he doesn't go, and you're the commander in Jax, will Gray still survive? And if he goes to Jax, will he die rather than Gray? - Levis put his hand on his forehead and wiped it because of the confusion of his heart.

But no, Levis is a “survivor,” he will surely live, even if his comrades die. This is the ironic fate of the “survivor kid”.

That person's memories suddenly come back ...

Chapter 2: A story of the past.

"Hey Gray, do you see the lizard there?"

A soldier spoke. Gray's group of soldiers looked in the direction of the soldier's finger: the storm lizard ran toward the group just to stop. It was about a hundred steps away from the caravan and began to watch as its long neck playfully bounced back and forth.

Next, the animal shakes its neck, making a very loud growl as if it wants to attract attention.

"What does this imply?"

The storm lizard is a relatively intelligent animal in the reptile family that lives on the continent, so when they saw its reaction, the scouts became curious.

Suddenly the lizard turned to run away, but its stance was more like walking than running. While walking it just turns its back, continuing to "puff" on the ups and downs of the nose.

"He wants us to follow him, maybe."

The troop commander, Gray said.

"Shall we go, sir?"

"I'm curious too, let's see."

The group chased the lizard which started to speed up but enough for the people to keep up. It ran into a rocky valley where shrubs and some trees grew in the middle of the arid desert. The lizard stopped under the largest tree, lowering its head as if stabbing or knocking on something lying on the ground.

Some people were embarrassed, and some people were curious and let the lizards approach the area.

"Wait."

Gray spoke and held out his hand to stop.

"You two, let's go and see what's up."

The curious stopped. Two scouts standing next to him were dispatched. Everyone was nervous as the two scouts slowly moved to the tree where the lizard was standing.

When the two scouts arrived it was as if they saw something very surprised so they quickly jumped on the back of the lizard and ran to where someone was lying, knelt down to look at it. A few seconds later someone stood up and turned to the crowd and waved.

Troop commander Gray nodded in agreement, and the group began to act.

"I can't believe it survived so far."

"Is it" Remnant "?"

"Look, you're badly wounded!"

“Give me healing water, bandages and a knife. Oh, if anyone brings wine, bring it here. "

“Is there a scar on the back of the face? Two legs, one leg broken, one leg as if marked by an animal's tooth. "

“Maybe the lizard bit its foot to pull in the shade, sandblasted its face. True, this beast is intelligent. "

The members of the group murmured when they saw a young man who had long been emaciated with a sand dune and a broken arrow in his rib. But somehow, it was still breathing weakly, but it was not completely dead.

"You set up here!"

Gray commanded when he saw that the surroundings were quite beautiful with piles high enough so that the sand would not invade too much and some scattered trees for shade.

“And the scouts continued their work. This place is not far from Veronica. "

He continued.

Gradually the field camp was built. The scout group observes the direction and path to prepare for reconnaissance, a group climbs to the top of the rocky mountain to set up camp, observing the whole area in case there are uninvited visitors.

Soon the camp was formed. Eventually, the boy lying in the desert was cured in time, and is now unconscious in the tent.

***

"Something big is happening to Veronica, Commander."

"Is what?"

"I heard that there was a" remnant "kid who killed two people of the Alchemy Kingdom and almost killed a general from the Alchemy Kingdom and fled to Mena, now there's a lot of noise there."

"Come on, is that so?"

Gray didn't want to say anything even though the news was hot for Veronica. When he heard the term “a child”, he couldn’t help but doubt what he had found in the desert.

"Have when ..."

"All right, take a break, I'll take care of it."

He interrupts the scout and drives him away by telling him to take a vacation. As soon as the soldier's figure disappeared, the old general began to show a feverish expression on his face.

Hastening to the medical tent, Gray lit an oil lamp to illuminate the dark tent after he entered. The boy was still in a coma, and had a fever, but his face seemed to improve when he was found. Its belongings are nothing but body clothes and a pendant around its neck.

Gray was curious about the necklace. He picked it up and looked under the lamp. In fact, it is a very well -made and beautiful pendant. The moonstone attached to it under the light of the lamp began to emit a magical silver gleam. Surprised by that beauty, he immediately squeezed it into his chest.

Two days ago, the child still did not wake up. Gray is eager to ask the child about the incident with Veronica if he has anything to do with it, and also to prove that what the fortune teller told him before was not a lie for money.

Gray came out slowly. Either way, it shouldn’t wake up a poor wounded man. - he thought. The child needs a good rest before he can ask her questions.

***

"How far are you investigating?"

“Commander, the Veronica mine is under the patronage of the Alchemist empire, so it has a very strong defense system and a strong army of the New Storm Empire and the Alchemy Kingdom. To get to the ore mines, we have to go through the fortified city of Veronica before we can get there. ”

Another group of scouts returned the next day. This group assumed the responsibility of redrawing the entire Veronica area long ago, now hearing that General Gray had drawn troops to check the truth, they immediately reported. The little boy with short hair and combed to the side stood reporting to the general, sweat seeping through the hood of his head.

"Damn the Morbius, in a very short time they built a fort for the Maetas like that, what a shame that they were called" Sons of the Mountain "?"

Gray let out a long sigh.

“Therefore, in my opinion, we should give up on attacking Veronica, sir. We need more time. ”

"Maybe that's true, tch ..."

Gray bit his tongue.

The scout soldier came out when he finished his work, he did not forget to leave a drawing depicting Veronica's place for the commander.

Gray scratched his head. The fact that the opposition is still struggling to be rebellious is remarkable. It is not yet time to recover what is lost. Impatience only ruins work. It will take at least a few more years for the rebels to do so.

Camped for three days, Gray finally decided to return based on what he had seen and heard. But there was one more thing he had to do before he left the camp: the child regained consciousness after three days of paralysis. It’s best to take advantage of the time you haven’t yet moved to ask questions.

Gray took a grenade from the fruit basket and went out. Surprisingly, the child came out of the tent and sat under the tree where he had collapsed that day.

He approached the boy, stopped beside him. As if feeling the presence of others, it slowly faced him and looked up. It was still very dirty: trembling body, heavy breathing and tired eyes. However, if he gets here, then it proves that this boy is fine.

"What's up? You look better, don't you? "

Gray began in a soft and gentle friendly voice, but the child remained silent, his neck moving only slightly when he heard it speak.

"Come, tell me, what happened to you?"

Gray smashed the grenade and gave half to the boy. He took it slowly and nodded as if grateful, but his mouth was still closed as if there was a rag covering his mouth. The boy stared at half a grenade, he hadn't eaten yet, but was thinking something.

"Eat it, it's not toxic."

Gray then picked up a handful of pomegranate seeds from the other half of the fruit, put it in his mouth, chewed it, swallowed the whole seed, and then gave a refreshing sound. "This pomegranate is delicious!" -He ran his fingers over the pomegranate juice to the side and hesitantly sucked it.

The boy gently peeled a pomegranate seed and put it in his mouth, then the second, third ... he slowly put it in his mouth like a newlywed daughter.

“Why, it's delicious to eat, at least I know your jaw will chew. Where did you came from?"

Gray asked.

"Veronica!"

Sparing child's answer, mouth full of bones.

"Oh, I see. So do you know anything about what happened these days to Veronica? About the murder where the people killed were from the Alchemy Kingdom?"

As if with a very bad and horrible memory, the boy held his head bowed, his legs shrunk to his chest, the half grenade slipped from his hand and rolled in the sand. Her whole body was shaking and she seemed to be crying. There were faint moans, and Gray could see the tears forming in his eyes now.

“Fione, Fione”

It moans in a choked sob.

"Hey, don't waste food!"

Gray picked up half a grenade, cutting off the grains of sand that clung to it. As if unwilling to hold the child, she placed half of the fruit in the small bag around her waist. Definitely uncomfortable that day.

"If you don't want to talk now, okay. We're leaving camp, will you come?"

The child raised his hands to wipe his eyes, coughed for a few hours, and then slowly stood up while his hands were on the trunk. Gray walked slowly so that it could follow him limply. So it's next to you then.

Everyone in the camp turned to the child. It still quietly followed Gray who seemed to not care about the surroundings. The scene is a strange sight.

Gray suddenly saw a handsome round-faced chef, packing firewood in the trunk of the truck, so he slowed down speaking a few words. Gray suddenly reached for his butt, causing him to startle and drop the bundle of firewood into the sand. Ashamed of being molested, he slapped the molester, then hurriedly picked up the fallen trees and put them in the car. As he did, he just caressed the slap on the cheek, laughing disgustingly with relish. Gray's playful gesture caused the child behind him to frown in an unfriendly way.

Ending that disgusting smile, the general returned to where the boy was and asked what he had forgotten earlier:

"Do you have a name, son?"

"Levis."

Frugal answer of the child who seemed to want to swallow the questioner.

"Oh, I thought you lost your mind and you can no longer remember your name. I am Gray, Gray Tobimous, the leader of this group."

Gray talked about the army of rebels, why these people are here, why Levis was saved, and much more. Ultimately it is the indifferent that Levis just looks at in response to what he said.

Disgusted at the rude boy's behavior, Gray began to get angry:

"I've already talked about me and the rebels, and at least you should open up and introduce yourself, okay?"

"Name: Levis. Age: thirteen," remnant "to Veronica. Running for murder."

Levis ended his introduction with just a few short words and a tired shrug as if he was about to pass out.

"Um, so you're the one who caused that mess to Veronica?"

Levis jumped. He touched her biceps with both hands, then sat on the ground with his face white as if there were no drops of blood and nodded slightly.

"Incredible, how can you beat two big boys?"

Levis didn't bother to answer. He stared straight at Gray as he looked up. Eyes hit for a long time, Gray finally gave up because of the cold silver gray color.

"Okay, let's just assume you're telling the truth."

Gray was fed up. He ran his hand through her hair and then opened his chest from the heat: partly because of the weather in Mena, partly because he got burned while talking to Levis.

"Ito"

Levis spoke before Gray could turn around. He stood up straight and pointed to the chest of his shirt that had just been opened:

"That's mine."

He only wore credence with the clothes, like a replacement for the broken pendant, but in the sense that Margaretha mentioned, Levis didn’t want the necklace to fall into the hands of others. .

"Is this it? Think of it as the cost of saving your life. I'll keep it, it seems so important. "

"COME BACK TO ME!"

Levis began to change the tone of his voice from indifferent to angry. The child still seemed to faint at the words coming out of his mouth, but that shout startled everyone standing around.

"You have to learn to respect the elders, brat, especially the person who saved your life."

Disgusted answer of the general.

"That thing is so important ..."

“If you think you are enough to take it back from me, please. But with a very bad body, I don't know if you can even touch one of my hairs. "

Gray became provocative. He seems to enjoy teasing hot -headed children. He twisted his hand and moved his index finger in Levis's direction which made the boy even angrier.

"Come here, poor brat."

The wind around began to have a strange signal, it was felt by everyone standing nearby. The wind swirled around Levis and began to grow stronger.

“PAY… IT… HERE!”