We arrived at a forest near Fort Vozal. It was night, the big operation would be tomorrow, and I didn't have time to hatch up a pn. We're off to a great start! I had so many things on my mind. I wanted to continue training with Kimmel, I needed information for the upcoming battle, and I wanted to know the strategy we would be following. I could always go and ask, but who will I take with me this time? I didn't want to ask Kimmel again, so I scanned the party until my eyes nded on...

  "Hey, Batti!" I began, "I was thinking of asking the other soldiers about some stuff. Care to follow me?"

  "Oh, s-sure," He replied as he stood up, carrying his axe with him. Batti was great not only because of the threatening aura he emitted but also for his unique perspective on things. Despite his looks, I felt he had a knack for seeing the bigger picture and catching certain details about things even I'd miss, so I was comfortable bringing him along, but he seemed to be a bit fidgety.

  "What's wrong?" I asked him after a while. We were heading to the tent area where the other Companies in the Battalion were gathered.

  "I'm... sorry for how I treated you when we first met," He apologized with a bow. I didn't really expect this from him, so I was at a loss for words.

  "Um, I, i-it's fine," I said, but it seemed like he wanted to expin something to me.

  "I never wanted to make a living from all this mercenary, adventurer work," He began. "I have no love for fighting, and if I could choose, I'd rather live my days out peacefully with my wife and daughter, so we worked together to make this dream come true, but..." The look in his eye sharpened as he said, "Where I come from, swindlers and thieves come in different shapes and sizes." It wasn't directed at me, but the animosity I sensed at that moment sent chills down my spine.

  "W-what happened?" I managed to ask despite my fear.

  "My wife is the trusting type, and those chartans took advantage of that. She found a child who had passed out in front of our house and took him in. She took care of him, and fed him, and how did he repay her? By taking everything we had saved up with him as he left!" He bellowed in anger. "So, when you approached us and started talking about trust..."

  "You tried to push back, right?" I asked with a kind smile.

  "Yeah, I'm so sorry. I was only trying to protect the party..."

  I approached him, stood on my tippy toes, and patted his rough hair, saying, "It's okay. I forgive you." The scene would've probably looked ridiculous to anyone watching, but that didn't matter to me. I took a step back once I was satisfied and asked, "Do you want to leave the party after this war?" He widened his eyes in surprise and asked,

  "H-how did you know?"

  "I had a hunch," I replied. We stood there in silence for a few seconds before Batti answered,

  "Yes, I didn't know how to bring it up to you or Kimmel, but I'd love to put all this behind me."

  "It's fine, but you should talk to Kimmel, not me. I am only your tactician, after all."

  Once we were at the tent area, we approached one of the parties seated around a campfire, and I asked, "What do you know about the enemy?" Before he could say anything demeaning to me, one gnce from Batti had him behaving like the most well-mannered individual out there. I could probably become a mafia boss with all this intimidation, I thought as we thanked him for telling us what he knew.

  "What do you think about that tactician?" Batti asked me. The adventurer told us about a legendary tactician whose strategy the Battalion would follow.

  "I'm honestly kinda excited to meet him and hear about his pn," I answered, but Batti didn't seem convinced.

  "I think he's a fraud," He said to me quite bluntly.

  "Well, we'll see about that," I said with a shrug while skipping along happily.

  "You seem to be in a good mood," Batti commented as we got nearer and nearer to the tent.

  "I mean, who wouldn't? If this guy is worth his salt, I won't have to draw up any pns or develop tactics!" And all the burden of responsibility will fall on him, I added mentally, but my hopes would soon be shattered.

  "What is this?!" I asked as I threw his nonsensical pns up into the air. If not for my self-control, I would've ripped them to pieces.

  "Hey! That's the genius strategy that, I, Arnaud the Magnificient, developed!"

  "It's complete and utter garbage!" I spat with a fury I could hardly contain. "Don't you realize that they have the positional and numerical advantage?!"

  "I do. That's why my pn is the best way to breach their defenses." His curly blonde hair, blue eyes, and the "handsome guy" aura he emitted only pissed me off even more.

  "Batti, let's go. This is hopeless."

  "Do you have a better strategy, then?" He tried to taunt me, but I chose to ignore him as we left his tent.

  "Legendary tactician, my ass! That guy doesn't even know the basics! This Kingdom is done for if they're going to be relying on people like that!" Batti could only smile as he watched me rant. He was probably dying to say, "I told you so." Ugh... Now, I actually have to think up a strategy and fast! I thought to myself as we returned to Phildina's king-sized tent that night.