After Rosa blended in with the rest of the army, general Carl-Johan, a tall, brown-haired man with blue eyes and a cured beard, walked on stage, accompanied by the king himself. The queen stayed a bit farther from them

  “Good morning, my soldiers. Today, we’ll march on Falkia. It’s not gonna be a quick journey, given our army is quite outdated, but the numbers are on our advantage. We’ll walk with 90.000 unities of infantry, The cavarly, composed by 30.000 of our men, will march thru the forest, to encircle the army in a quick and easy win. Let’s win this, and we’ll be considered heroes.” Carl-Johan stated, as the army cheered and they began to march towards Falkia. After the army, led by both the king and the general, had left, the Queen communicated tempest’s plan to Riku toward Kamome’s television

  “Got it, your majesty. Hopefully Kettei recruits Alice soon. We have two days to prepare at best” Riku commented, as he closed the call. Elsewhere, in a small island, Kettei and Alice placed themself at five steps distance, facing each other. As he turned around, Alice turned around, trying to land a punch that Kettei blocked. She then backed off

  “Not bad. You blocked my strongest punch. Now let’s fight!” Alice exclaimed, dashing at him again. Kettei quickly parried and hit her in the gut with an uppercut, who made her stumble backwards. The two traded blows for a while, with Alice slowly overwhelming Kettei in the psyhical strenght field. However, Kettei was using the ground to his advantage, sometimes throwing dust in her eyes, sometimes using said risen dust to feint an attack only for him to do another. The two weren’t using any magic spells since Kettei and Alice, on the way there, had talked about not using it during the fight. After thirthy minutes of back and forth, the two stood in front of each other, bruised and beaten, torn clothes of what was once a pirate uniform covered Alice’s chest and legs, whilst Kettei had torn shirt and pants. In one last ditch attempt, Alice dashed forward, aiming to punch Kettei square in the face. As she dashed forward, Kettei’s earpiece rang, to which he responded

  “Hello?” Kettei asked

  “Hey Kettei, it’s Riku. Look, the oxen is moving” Riku replied, concerned

  “Wait, Tempest is on the move?! Alre-“ he didn’t finish the sentence that Alice’s punch connected with his cheek, rendering him unconscious, as the pirates cheered on for their captain’s win

  “Yay, captain, ye won!” One of the crewmates exclaimed, ecstatic

  “No, I did not. I was gettin’ tired, and he looked as fresh as pie. Had he not been distracted, there’s no certainty I would’ve won” Alice stated, as she grabbed a bucket of water: “And you wake up, blond fuck!” She exclaimed, as she threw it at him, waking him up as he gasped for air

  “What’s the matter now?” Kettei asked in an angry tone

  “I’ll join your little cause, and guess what, I’ll lend you some men. Maybe I can’t lend you five thousand men, but maybe half that number?” Alice replied, kneeling beside him: “Also, I want a rematch one day. This isn’t a full win”

  “Deal. I guess we can start setting our plans in motion. But first, go get yourself dressed up” Kettei answered, as he handed her the hideout’s location: “Once you’re ready, come here”

  “Sure thing, matey… Or should I use Kettei by now? Heh, unimportant” Alice said, as she shrugged, as she and her crew hopped on their ship, whereas Kettei teleported back to the hideout. There, Riku, Sora, Martha, Fei-Yang and Manuela were waiting for him to come back

  “So, how’d it go?” Sora asked, worried by Kettei’s various bruises, as Manuela started healing him

  “She’s by our side, alongside two thousand and five hundred men” Kettei replied, smiling

  “So, ten thousand rebels, five thousand cavalry, ten thousand infantry, ten thousand fighters from the underground city… It should be around…” Riku muttered to himself, calculating their chances

  “37.500 men” Sora quietly interjected: “Against 90.000 unities of infantry and 30.000 men of cavalry, totalling up to 120.000 men. We’re outnumbered roughly three to one. Can we pull this one off?” he questioned, frightened a bit

  “Of course we can. We just need to act smart. Riku, anything else we can rely on?” Kettei asked, determined

  “Queen Victoria said the cavarly will be marching thru the silvae between Tempest and Falkia” Riku replied, looking towards Kettei: “Why are you asking?”

  “Because I have a plan. Now, see if you can follow me here. It’s 9:30 am now, the cavarly should enter the silvae in about an hour and reach the deeper silva twenty minutes from there. My idea is this: Manuela is a poison master as well as a fantastic healer. She could maybe rot the roots of the trees so much they’d be taken down with a simple kick. This should at least take down half their cavalry at worst. First though, have some breakfast” Kettei explained, as everyone went to have breakfast. During it, Riku recapped everything to the rebels in Falkian, a language mixed between german and slavic languages. Once everyone had their hearty meal, Manuela, alongside Fei-Yang and three thousand men went to the deeper forest (silva) and executed Kettei’s plan

  “Tier 2 magic, Tabes Putrefatio” Manuela whispered, as the trees in a radius of 30 meters withered enough to be kicked down, as her, Fei-Yang and the rebels hid behind said trees. Ten minutes later, the cavarly passed by there, and once in the range of their trap, Fei-Yang and Manuela, alongside the rebels, kicked down as many trees as possible, killing 20.000 men and capturing the remaining, who were badly injured, thus annihilating the Falkian cavalry in one single ambush. After the succesful ambush, the group came back to the city with the captured cavarly, bringing him to Kettei

  “Here, Kettei. Do with them as you please” Manuela stated, smiling

  “Your plan went smoothly, but what do we do with them?” Fei-Yang asked

  “Heal them, then keep them around. I wanna question them a bit” Kettei ordered, coldly: “They could be useful. You two are free to go. Maybe check how many earpieces do we have” he added, dismissing them

  “We still have like 10 earpieces, Riku can adjust them and improve them by tomorrow” Manuela said, as she and Fei-Yang walked away. Once Kettei was left alone with the cavarly men, he walked towards them, which scared the men a bit, given his intimidating height and cold glare. However, as he was close to them, he lowered to face them

  “So, tell me, how’s living under the king’s autocracy?” Kettei asked, firmly

  “It’s not great. It’s been weeks since he last paid us. I have a family, for goodness’ sake!” One of the soldiers replied, with anger and resentment in his voice: “And all he and his brother do is partying hard while…”

  “Everyone else starves, right? I’ll be on the case. My school association has a small canteen. Once Falkia repels this attack, I’ll give each of you something to eat. Plus, I’ll ask Mihailoglu to arrange a meeting with the queen to look at the treasury and see what’s going on with the state money” Kettei replied, coldly, as he looked at everyone else: “You all have families, and I don’t wish to end their paternal figure and husband. Leave, go to them. I’ll try and solve all of this, I promise. For the moment, you can stay in the kingdom, though I suggest the northern part, as the south is a bit of a mess” he added, as the soldiers knelt before him, in a gesture of respect, before standing up and leaving. After the soldiers left, Alice walked in, with a few of her men

  “Aye, Kettle. Seems you have everything under control for now” She yelled, with a surprisingly warm smile, before turning serious

  “Hey there, Lyoness… Sorry, Alice. What’s up?” Kettei replied as he walked towards her: “Here for the rematch?”

  “I wish, but no. I have to admit, what you did with those soldiers was unexpectedly nice of you. Also, what’s the plan? You took down their entire cavarly, but now… What’s your next move?” She asked, a bit agitated

  “I know their general, Carl Johan, is a bit of an hothead. Once they’ll camp, I’ll set my plan in motion according to the terrain. Leave your men here, we’ll receive information in the evening” Kettei replied, confidently, as he grabbed his walkie talkie: “Sora, any news?”

  “Not yet, Kettei. Since it’s fall, they might set camp at around 6/7 pm. I’ll let you know. Also, the king just left as he had some duties to attend” Sora replied via the walkie talkie, as he was spying in on the army. Earlier that day, when Kettei ordered Manuela and Fei-Yang to take down the cavarly, Riku ordered Sora to keep an eye on the marching tempestian infantry

  “That will work nicely for us. Let’s wait until they fall asleep, then we’ll go right ahead with the next plan. Contact me once they’re asleep. Over” Kettei told him, as he closed communications with Sora for the time being.

  “You seem overly confident you’ll win” Alice commented

  “I will. The tempestians are all: March straight at the enemy. And while it works, it costs them a lot of lives. When they meet someone that knows how to strategize, they either run away, or die. Only when my father was general did they saw major success. Nowadays they went to their old ways” Kettei explained, calmly, before adding: “Tomorrow at dawn we’ll set our plan in motion. All I need to know is, do you trust me on this?”

  “Kid, how old are ye? Because ye seem way too young to understand what yer doing” Alice asked

  Stolen novel; please report.

  “I’m 18, will be 19 by the end of next month” Kettei replied

  “Wait, yer barely legal?! Holy hell, I thought ye were like 24 or 25, not 18!” Alice exclaimed, as she started laughing, before assuming a more serious tone clearing her throat: “Anyways, yer plan so far have proven effective. Let’s see what ye have in mind”

  “Well, we must wait first. Then we’ll act. If they settle in a camp, burning their houses won’t do. They’re not idiots. However, we can send a small cavarly to provoke Carl Johan. If it all goes to plan, he’ll rush the troops to us. Said troops, starved and cold, won’t be that much of a deal. We only need to scare them, okay? I don’t wish to leave my kingdom’s families without a father figure” Kettei explained once again, as he sat down again: “I need to make a phone call. Can you wait outside?”

  “ ‘Course, mate. I’ll see ye in a bit” Alice replied, as she left the room. Once she left, Kettei made a phone call to Rob

  “Rob, it’s Kettei. How’s my sister?” he asked

  “Hey, Kettei. She’s doing alright. Although your mother did try to take her yesterday, and the queen had to intervene” Rob replied, calmly

  “Keep in mind, she’s the only person I care. Please take care of her while I’m not there” Kettei requested, with his voice shaking: “I don’t want nothing but her safety”

  “Kettei, are you… crying? There’s something more to your protectiveness, isn’t it?” Rob asked, trying to calm him, as Kettei sighed heavily

  “I’m not crying. I'm just scared something could happen to her" Kettei replied, slowly calming down

  "We'll take care of this" Rob reassured, hunging up. Not long after, Sora called via the walkie talkie

  “They’re setting camp right now” Sora addressed: “They are in the plains near the canal. They’ll set sail tomorrow with every chance”

  “They could, unless we push their buttons. Thank you Sora, I’ll catch you later” Kettei responded, as he hung up and went to look for Alice, finding her in the weapon room: “Alice, let’s go. I’ll get some cavalry and we’re ready to go. Meet us at the plains near the canal”

  “Alright. I’ll see you there” Alice responded, standing up and heading there with her men. Once there, they went on a secluded spot, as Kettei kept observing the camp

  “So, what’s the plan, matey?” one of the pirates asked, curious

  “Hmmm, reeds and dry wood” Kettei muttered, as he turned to the pirates and the archers: “Alright, here’s the plan. Tonight should be quite windy according to the weather forecast. If we light up their camp, alongside their food supply, there’s a possibility they’re gonna rush out in panic without armor and equipment. If we succeed at that, they’ll retreat almost certainly. Sora, prepare to call Riku once you see the flames. Alice, you’ll light up the food supply, who’s placed in the back. I’ll light up the camp from the side. It should spread in no time” Kettei explained, as Sora and Alice nodded

  “I hope this works” Sora commented

  “We’ll wait until they fall asleep. What hour is it now?” Kettei asked

  “6 pm” Sora replied: “I heard from Rosa the army’s curfew is usually at 9:30 pm”

  “So, we just wait 3 hours?” Alice asked, cocking an eyebrow

  “No we don’t. I’ll go get some food. Y’all better stay hidden on the trees or behind the bushes” Kettei replied, crossing his arms. He then proceeded to gather some food and set up a small camp. While Sora was laid down, half-asleep, Kettei and Alice took their time to talk

  “We didn’t have time to bond so, let’s talk a bit” Kettei started

  “Yeah. Ye know, at first I thought ye were that baron’s spy” Alice admitted, scratching her head

  “I noticed. Say, why do you hate royals? I never understood that” Kettei asked, resting his face on his hand

  “Ye see, I was an orphan, yer cousin’s family found me. However, havin’ an orphan n’ adopted kid wasn’t a good look on ‘em. Hence why they put me in an orphanage. At 14 I ran away with a friend but she got caught by a royal guard and shot dead” Alice explained, as Kettei could feel his heart ache for her: “What about ye, Kettei?”

  “Shhh sh sh, I can’t hear any more sounds coming from their camp. Let’s proceed” Kettei whispered

  “It’s been 3 hours already?” Sora asked, sleepily, having just woken up from a small nap

  “Yes. Now we better proceed” Kettei replied, calmly, handing Alice a torch: “Alice, burn the left side, and the weaponry while at it. I’ll handle the right side”

  “Can’t we use magic?” Alice asked, curious as to why they were using a numidian method

  “They can track any trace of magic, so no” Kettei replied, as the two snuck on the sides of the tempestian camp, and quickly started a small fire. Alice burned the side where the weaponry was, and Kettei burned down their food supply. From afar, Sora called Riku

  “The plan has been set in motion. Move the troops” he said, as Riku marched quickly with all their troops. Thanks to the raw materials the tempest army used, the flame spread wildly, as men died in their sleep and those who awoke quickly rushed outside unarmed, and there they were: Kettei, Alice, Sora, and three thousand men closing their only passage. Not long after, Riku and the reinforcements arrived, and he was ready to attack, but Kettei stopped him

  “Don’t forget, they’re still my fellow countrymen. So let’s get them out of there first” Kettei ordered, as they obliged and let every survivor out, being around 70.000 people, and surrounding them in a way they were packed. Once the tempestians were outside, Kettei walked to Carl-Johan, as he spoke again: “So, do you realize the position you’re in?”

  “Piss off, we still have our cavarly and advanced weaponry!” Carl-Johan exclaimed, angrily

  “Manuela Saavedra and general Fei-Yang took care of them, and the redhead over there burned your weaponry to the ground” Kettei replied, as he looked at him dead in the eyes: “What about now? Surrender?”

  “Never!” Carl-Johan exclaimed again, lunging at him. However, Kettei quickly subdued him, knocking him out cold with a kick

  “So” Riku interjected: “You’re free to go. Just one thing, do not come back for any invasion of Falkia, or there’ll be consequences. Tell your queen to come by and we’ll sign a non-belligerance pact”. Every soldier nodded. All except one. That one being Rosa Kruger. In the chaos, she leaped from the crowd and towards Riku, trying to take him down. However, as her knife was about to strike him from above, Kettei teleported in front of him, as she sliced across his eye instead. Riku noticed and responded knocking her unconscious

  "As I was saying, leave now. Kettei, we'll get you healed up" Riku continued, as the soldiers left hurriedly

  “Alright” Kettei replied as they walked to the rebel HQ. There, Manuela rushed to heal the wounded Kettei. It took her a while, but she eventually regenerated the scar and most of his eyesight

  “Lo siento, Kettei, but I could heal just as much. You’ll have 20% less eyesight from your left eye, and the scar will be visible for the time being” She said, looking down

  “Hey, it’s still more than enough, so thank you. Sora, where’s Martha?” Kettei asked

  “Oh, she’s at her home. I told her to stay there until everything had calmed down” Sora explained, as Kettei smiled

  “Wise choice, buddy. Now, what do we do?” Kettei asked, curious

  “Well, I don’t know you guys, but I wanna go shopping tomorrow” Manuela replied with a smile

  “I promise you, we’ll go there. Riku, when do you plan on holding the meeting with Tempest’s Royal family?” Kettei asked, turning towards Riku

  “In about three days. Feel free to spend time as you wish. Also, I could offer Manuela a job in the army as a nurse” Riku replied, looking at them

  “Are you sure? I don’t wanna look like a reccomended one. And although I’m 26 and finished my bachelor’s degree, I’m not sure about it” Manuela commented

  “Wait, you’re 26?! Holy shit!” Riku exclaimed, laughing: “I thought you were 21 or 22 at best”

  “No, I’m closer to my 30s than to my 20s” Manuela replied, laughing

  “Alright alright. It’s actually Fei-Yang who asked this. He thinks you can be a valuable asset” Riku replied, before walking close to her: “And he also thinks you’re cute, but shhh, not a word with him” he whispered in her ear, as she blushed a little

  “W-Well, thank him for the opportunity” She replied, as she walked away

  “Huh, wonder what he said to her” Sora questioned, as Kettei headed out to the docks. There, he threw some rocks at the placid water, seemingly out of boredom. All of a sudden, Alice sat next to him

  “Feeling bored, matey?” She asked, feeling slightly more comfortable around him

  “Hey there. Yeah, kinda. I mean, it was exciting to thwart a tyrant’s plan of conquest, but right now… Yeah” Kettei replied, yawning

  “Ye know, that scar makes ye look more piratey. Fancy joining me crew?” Alice asked, patting her back

  “No, I have to refuse. Not because I don’t want to, but because you won’t need to” Kettei replied, calmly

  “What do ye mean?” Alice asked, curiously

  “I’ll ask Riku to disband the order once he’ll be prime minister. Meaning, no more nobles and peasants. In a few days, everyone will be treated equally. Also, you should consider, you’re only 20. Pirate life eventually ends in bloodshed and betrayal. I wanna offer you a deal” Kettei explained, calmly: “I’ll ask Riku to give your men an agreed pension for their services and in exchange you’ll disband the pirate corpse. We talking about 5.000 luftees per month”

  “Sounds enticing. And yer right. I’ve seen comrades fall and die. Let me discuss it with my mates, alright?” Alice commented, as she looked down: “Can I… join yer group?”

  “What?” Kettei exclaimed, surprised by the sudden request

  “I wanna find out who I am, and I feel like Falkia isn’t my home. So I’d like to find out and given you travel the kingdoms, perhaps I can join you?” She explained, as Kettei extended an hand towards her

  “Welcome aboard, matey” Kettei replied, with a smile, as Alice shook his hand. Not long after, Riku arrived there

  “Kettei, I’ve examined the offer you proposed about the pirates receiving their pension, and while I can agree on most things, I can offer up to 3.500 luftees per month, if that’s okay” He asked, noticing Alice standing there only after: “Sorry, Lyoness, you weren’t supposed to-“

  “It’s fine, Riku. I believe my mates will be happy by receiving that paycheck and staying with their families for much longer. I accept your terms” Alice interjected, as the two shook hands. Three days later, Riku and Queen Victoria signed a pact where they swore not to attack each other for the foreseeable future, much to the king’s dismay. Riku also provided to give the pirates their pension as Alice disbanded her pirate corp.

  “I must thank you three, Sora, Kettei and Manuela, for your assistance” Queen Victoria commented, as she took them aside: “Without you, we wouldn’t have reached this peaceful agreement”

  “A lot of families lost their parental figure in those ambushes. Can you send them compensation? It makes my heart ache to think those kids will grow up without their father. And even though it won’t be enough, I can’t stand the thought of it” Kettei asked, as the queen looked at him kindly

  “Of course we can. Thank you for the suggestion” Queen Victoria replied, as he looked out of the window, sighing: “If only my husband was as kind as you are. You’d make a fantastic leader. As a matter of fact, would you consider becoming a general-in-training?”

  “A general-in-training? Me?” Kettei asked, perplexed

  “Yeah, Kettei. You have the skills, so give it a shot!” Sora exclaimed, slapping his back

  “I’ll have to say no for now. There are some other things I need to resolve first and foremost. If there’s any crisis in Bellum or Necorot, you better send Rob, Rosalba and Justin for now. I and Alice will join them in a second moment. I’m not so sure about Sora” Kettei explained, looking at Sora

  “I’ll pass. Martha wants to move to Tempest for university so I could use that to get to know her better” Sora replied, looking away

  “Someone has a crush, huh?” Kettei and Manuela playfully teased him, as they smirked. During the joking, Alice walked towards Kettei, handing him a scroll

  “Here. I found it during one of my raids. Although I don’t need it. You can keep it” she said, as the queen’s eyes widened in shock

  “That’s one of the seven scrolls! Kettei, you better keep it hidden, the king has been looking to get those for ages!” She whispered to Kettei, shocked: “I’ll explain better once we’re at tempest. I gotta go” she added, walking away

  “Okay, see you later, your majesty” Kettei replied, waving her off. In the evening, Kettei, Sora, Alice and Martha, said their goodbyes. Manuela remained in Falkia to start her nurse job. Once everyone had said goodbye, Kettei teleported them all back to Tempest. Little did they know, a familiar face would've wreaked havoc in a foreseeable future...