About two weeks had gone by since we "recaptured" Fort Vozal. I mean, it was one gust away from colpsing, but that counted in the grand scheme of things, right? After Kimmel and the others captured all the remaining soldiers, retrieving some items with them, we buried our dead first, paying respects to the brave soldiers who fell in battle. Of course, Arnaud, the "tactician" who created that garbage pn was responsible for all of this. Still, that muscle-brained commander took all the responsibility, ciming that he was the one who approved it and that we should spare his life before dying from his wounds a few days ter. I could still remember his words.

  "Please, spare him. I know... he has potential." I honestly felt like talking back then and there, but the look in his eyes stopped me from doing so. "I know... he has what it takes... to become a great General,"

  "Sir, please don't talk anymore. Your wounds will only—"

  "Promise me," He said, his eyes dead serious, so I did but now...

  "Daphne." It was Kimmel's voice. Already knowing the drill, I grabbed my sword and proceeded to train with him that evening. We had already covered some of the basics, so now, we stuck to sparring matches that left my arms feeling like lead afterward. This time though, I couldn't concentrate, and Kimmel came up to me after the lesson, saying,

  "You've been thinking a lot these past few days," He sat down next to me under one of the trees and asked, "May I know what's on your mind?"

  "Um, well, I don't know what to do about Arnaud," I began. "I feel like the commander entrusted him to me, and I want to honor the promise I made to him, but at the same time, I'm not seeing what he sees and it's frustrating!" I compined as Kimmel listened on quietly. "Hasn't it ever happened to you, Kimmel? That feeling you get when accepting or rejecting a new party member?" At this, he cupped his chin and started thinking for a while before answering,

  "Well, yes, in a way. You feel like that person is going to be an asset to the team, so you go out of your way to get them to join. That's how it was with Hertz," He said with a slightly nostalgic smile.

  "Yes, I'm gd that you get it, Kimmel! You feel the potential of a member. Even if they seem weak, you train them up because you believe in that potential, and they make you proud at the end of the day. Lucia is a prime example of this, but I just don't feel the same when I look at Arnaud. Plus, he's been avoiding me all these days, so I honestly don't know what to do." Kimmel smiled at this and asked,

  "Would you like to hear my opinion?"

  "Yeah," I answered, curious to hear what he'd say.

  "While I do believe you have an incredible eye for talent, you can't let his failure cloud your judgment." But I'm not! I wanted to protest, but maybe he had a point. "We fail to be impartial judges more than we realize, and even if that were not the case, you haven't spent enough time with him. Perhaps there's a side to him the commander saw that managed to convince him so strongly? You can never really tell with people..."

  "Yeah, you're right. I don't know what I was thinking," I admitted.

  "It's okay. We all make such mistakes. As for your second point, he'll come to you in his own time, so don't worry too much about it," He said as he got up from the grass. I started to get up too when he asked, "Is that all or is there more?"

  "Well, I'm also worried about the Kingdom. We've not heard from them in two weeks. I'm starting to wonder what's going on."

  "It's fine, isn't it? We get to train, talk, and enjoy these peaceful times!" True enough, I thought. I enjoyed the peace, but my worry only grew as the radio silence persisted. We were losing precious time, and who knew how the Kingdom was really doing? I knew that a bleak future was all that awaited us in the event of the Empire's victory, so I made up my mind then and there, thinking, Something has to be done, and I think I know what to do.