Mission No.2 Fragmented Memory (1)
“Why are you so timid, Elif?”
From noble mtl dot com
It was the first time I spoke to Elif.
But I felt sorry for her, felt sorry for her, and felt stupid to go under her desk and see her shaking like that, so I said that to her.
And Elif opened her mouth with a pillow over her head.
“I, I, I don’t know why I’m so scared.”
Rurrr!
“uuu!”
The elf, who was screaming with abdominal breathing, was showing a rich voice.
That’s why his ears are so hot.
“It’s amazing to see him wielding a sword even though he’s so scared.”
Actually it was.
But as soon as I finished speaking, Elif pushed his heartbroken face out of the pillow and covered it with a frightened expression.
I wish I could do just one.
“I-I’m cowardly, but it’s a different matter from courage.”
“Courage?”
I wondered what that cowardly lady would say.
Then, trembling at the sound of thunder, Elif let out a determined voice.
“Mu, because I’m scared, I can gather courage.”
From 『Kontinentalen Speer』, ‘Reckless coward.
And excerpted from ‘The day Elif, the most trustworthy swordsman, trembled with thunder and lightning’. The best bard on the continent. By Adele Meles.
“Elf Karossa.”
“Yes, yes, yes.”
The elf, dressed in the Imperial Army’s regular uniform, approached the desk cautiously.
“500 gelt including December bonus. Sign the recipient.”
“Go, thank you.”
After receiving the heavy bag of gold coins, Elif immediately got out of the building.
This month was a bonus month. 500 galt is a pretty good profit. Elif felt better.
‘I can send you about 300 galts from here.’
Suddenly, his hum came out.
It wouldn’t be easy to live in Rotume with 200 geltro, but you have to send this much money to support your family.
With that judgment, Elif entered the exchange office.
“Hello.”
“Ah, Mr. Karossa. You’re here again. Do you want to deposit gold coins?”
The receptionist greeted Elif with a bright smile.
Elif smiled worriedly and took out 300 gelts from the gold coin pocket he was holding and handed it to the cashier.
“I’d like to send money to the currency exchange office in Hasburg, please. The addressee is Yeni Carossa.”
“Ah, you’re sending it to the same person.”
“Yes, yes. You are my mother.”
The receptionist, who received the gold coin from Elif with a familiar hand, quickly filled out the paperwork.
“Okay, that’s all done. Yeni Karossa lives in Hasburg. 300 galts.”
“Oh, thank you.”
After greeting politely, Elif left the money changer with a lively face.
The face of the receptionist, who had been watching Elif’s back, darkened in contrast to Elif’s appearance.
“… Aren’t you supposed to tell me?”
Another receptionist spoke in a worried voice.
However, the receptionist in charge of Elif shook his head and replied in a low voice.
“There must be a story.”
***
Elif, sitting at her desk looking down at the parchment, moved her pen slowly.
“To my parents, eh eh.”
Of course, she didn’t drag out her writing, even in letters.
“I am doing well. The training is a bit difficult, but I’m holding on well. How are you all?”
With her light smile on her face, she wrote her letter with her bright expression as if she were humming her song.
“I wonder if your father’s work is going well. Still, I’m glad I can send a little money each month. It must be hard for Mom because Dad drinks a lot, but Mom knows that Dad works hard, so please comfort me a little.”
Swish.
“Still, I don’t like having a younger brother.”
Sigh.
“It looks like the war with the Kurs will be long. I heard the front lines stretched out to the east?”
Little by little, the smile began to drain from Elif’s face.
“The Kurs are advancing from the east. But the Imperial Army seems to be blocking it well. I don’t think I’ll be deployed to the front, but if I’m deployed to the front, I might stop by Hasburg and go.”
By the time that sentence was written, Elif’s laughter had all disappeared.
“Hasburg has been attacked.”
Sticky.
Elif felt a strong pain in the right side of his head.
Elif shook his head at the sudden pain that caused him to lose the pen he was holding.
“Ugh. Hasburg has been attacked.”
Elif picked up his pen again and muttered that.
But Elif couldn’t write the letter and he just mumbled.
“Hasburg has been attacked.”
The focus was slowly disappearing from Elif’s pupils.
“Hasburg is attacking…”
Elif’s hand movements stopped.
“Hasburg is destroyed…”
Elif looked at the parchment on his desk expressionlessly and didn’t even move.
Only her lips were meaninglessly repeating the same words.
“Her salary has gone up. Oh.”
A smile returned to Elif’s lips.
“Now that I’ve been promoted to Private First Class Ohh. It hasn’t changed much from when I was a private, but the salary has gone up.”
However, Elif’s pupils were unfocused.
Her pupils, completely unleashed, only moved slowly from side to side.
Still, the pen in her hand was scribbling on her parchment.
“There are seniors who are mischievous, but they all seem to be aching because they are in the rear.”
So she wrote her letter for a long time.
But she didn’t notice that the part of the parchment on which the phrase “Hasburg was attacked” Was written was hacked up with black ink.
***
“Move troops!”
The 5th Knights decided to move their base.
Although they are knights for training in the rear, they also carry out the mission of regenerating troops, so it was natural for the 5th knights to be located near the frontline, and it was rather late to move the garrison.
However, a year ago, after the Kur tribe invaded Hasburg, and after the reconstruction was completed, there was an order from Marcus Schilling, the commander-in-chief, to move the garrison, so the movement of the troops was finally done.
Elif, who belonged to the 5th Knights, also started moving with her troops.
The base to move to is Hasburg. The Knights Headquarters would be located a little further back, but it was decided that the troops to which Elif belonged would be stationed in Hasburg and its surroundings.
The destination of this march is Hasburg.
And Elif’s hometown is also Hasburg.
Maybe that’s why Elif was taking his light steps.
Although the load on her back was heavy, she wanted to hum her own song.
“Hey, Karossa.”
“Private Carrossa.”
Elif replied with a bright smile.
The soldier who called her at her appearance grinned and opened her mouth.
“Is there anything good?”
“Ah, yes. My hometown is Hasburg.”
The senior soldier nodded his head.
“It’s nice that your expression is bright, considering that your hometown has been devastated.”
“Yes, yes?”
Elif’s face was still full of laughter.
However, after checking Elif’s reaction, the veteran soldier slightly frowned.
I bet you don’t know that your hometown was attacked by the Kurs.
But if you knew, you wouldn’t react like that.
“When did you enlist?”
“It’s been exactly one year now.”
The soldier kept his mouth shut, remembering that the date of the Kurs’ attack on the Hasburgs had been almost a year earlier.
Not long after Elif enlists, she realizes that if Hasburg has been attacked, she may not even know about it.
However, since she joined the Imperial Army, there was no way she hadn’t heard about the rumors of the Kurs, and if so, she would have heard that Hasburg was attacked.
Besides, if her hometown is Hasburg, she would of course know about the invasion.
Something is strange.
The smile on her face is so annoying.
“It’s pretty good to think about seeing my parents’ faces after a long time.”
“… What?”
The soldier was confused.
“That… It seems your parents live around Hasburg, right?”
Cautiously, the soldier said that.
However, Elif asked what she was talking about and smiled brightly on her face.
“He lives in Hasburg. You’re a native there.”
The senior soldier’s face hardened.
He couldn’t understand the situation at all.
But one thing was certain.
The Hasburg they are moving to was invaded by the Kurs a year ago,
“… Is that so?”
There are no survivors.
***
As the familiar landscape appeared, Elif’s heart began to rise even more.
The hills and lakes he used to play around in his childhood.
Snowy mountains.
If you go over a few more hills, Hasburg will unfold.
It’s a fairly small city, but it has everything you need.
Hasburg.
Even though it was winter, Elif wiped his sweaty forehead with his sleeve and finally stood on a hill overlooking Hasburg.
However, there were so many soldiers walking in front of him that he couldn’t see down the hill properly.
Since the village was not running away anyway, Elif, thinking that he had to go down slowly, followed the soldier walking in front of him and silently moved his steps.
And finally. Elif saw the entrance to Hasburg.
A plaque with Hasburg’s name engraved on a bright blue arch.
Rejoicing, Elif looked up at the plaque.
“… Uh?”
But the blue plaque was not there.
The scorched plaque was welcoming the soldiers at risk.
Elif’s eyes shook at the sight of the nameplate, which was so depressing that it was even grotesque.
Elif quickly looked around him.
He was still unable to see the town at a glance as it was hidden by the soldiers, but the buildings that immediately caught Elif’s eye were,
“… Why.”
All were burnt down, leaving only the black skeleton.
From noble mtl dot com
Did I see it wrong? Elif pushed his head to the side to catch more buildings.
But none of the buildings were intact.
Elif’s expression grew pale.
This… , This is nonsense.
He did not have the Hasburgs he knew.
Elif, who staggered out of the ranks, stood where he could take in a panoramic view of the town.
“Hey there! Don’t slow down and catch up quickly!”
Leader’s call.
However, that voice did not reach Elif.
Elif’s face was filled with fear as he looked around in all directions while breathing heavily.
A town where everything collapsed.
A town where everything was burnt.
Ruins…
Elif fell to his knees.
This is impossible.
The village.
Hometown.
She cupped her head with both of her hands and curled herself up tightly.
“Karossa!”
Someone in her called her.
But instead of answering, a scream erupted from her mouth.
Her shrill, high-pitched scream spread desperately in all directions.
The soldiers marching at her screams filled with fear and astonishment each slowed down little by little.
Gossip spread among the soldiers.
However, Elif’s screams that seemed like he was about to go crazy didn’t seem to subside.
***
Strange ceiling.
Elif was staring at the ceiling of the newly built barracks.
Passing out from exhaustion from her screams, she looked as if she had lost something.
But not long after she woke up, the light returned to her pupils that had lost their vitality.
“Ah, Hasburg.”
Weird.
“Wow. You have changed like this.”
Suddenly, Elif’s attitude changed.
As if she hadn’t been at all that she had ever seen, she stood up from her seat with a lively smile.
As if she had erased all the memories of her that she did not want to recall,
“Are your parents okay?”
Her desperately intended sense of relief dominated everything in her.
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