TBATE-PRODIGY

Chapter 120

Aya Grephin POV

I stood around the war table in the command building, as well as Iron, Olfred, and Bairon. Bairon looked like a complete mess. His uniform was dirty, wrinkled, and was torn in some places. His face was covered in dirt, and his hair was disheveled.

Ever since the incident with Mica, he had been drowning himself in alcohol, which didn't go unnoticed by the men and severely hurt their morale. Olfred and I decided to let him take some time to recuperate, but he just kept emptying bottle after bottle.

Finally, the time came when Olfred had enough. He took Bairon out of the tavern and has been keeping watch on him ever since. Bairon had been sober for two days now, but he was still a complete wreck. After weeks of consuming alcohol nonstop, his body is going through heavy withdrawals, even for a white core.

However, we needed him. We were outnumbered and overpowered, and we needed all the help we could get. Hell, I wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for Rohan saving me from Sameer.

My thoughts drifted to the day I fought Sameer and how I thought I was going to die. The last thing I saw was Sameer throwing his spear at me. Then, all of a sudden, I woke up with my injuries healed, hidden in a safe place. The first person I saw was Rohan. He took care of me and watched over me. He was truly a gentleman, not taking advantage and showing genuine concern for me. My face felt warm at the thought, but I quickly shook the thoughts of Rohan away as I needed to focus.

"Zero, you say?" Olfred asked curiously as we all stared at a Darv map laid out on the table.

The map had markings of our defensive lines and figurines representing friendly and enemy troops. I couldn't help but notice how much of the territory was controlled by Alacryan troops and how close the defensive line was to Vildorial. It felt like we were slowly but surely losing.

"That's right." Iron nodded in confrontation, leaning against the table. "All scout parties, hell even the defensive line, had zero contact with Alacryan troops these past three days." Iron stood straight, crossed his arms, and shrugged, "Not that I'm complaining though. It's nice to have a reprieve."

"Maybe they decided that our defenses are too *burp* good. Now they're leaving Darv." Bairon said, swaying back and forth. Suddenly, he stumbled forward and slammed his hand on the table, trying to keep his balance.

I shook my head and scoffed, "Don't be an idiot."

Olfred and Iron looked at me curiously while Bairon narrowed his eyes at me with irritation thick in his gaze.

"How am I, *burp* being an idiot," Bairon said, sounding offended.

I rolled my eyes, "First off if you throw up on the table, I'm going to use you to clean it up." Bairon clicked his tongue as he stood up and wobbled a little. "Secondly, think about it. The Alacryans have been pushing us back nonstop. Plus, we have yet to defeat a retainer in battle. They're power, and magic is powerful. Hell, they even killed one of our Lances." Bairon's gaze fell as I mentioned this, with a look of regret. "They won't give up Darv."

Olfred grabbed his chin, looking at the map curiously, "Then what exactly are they doing?"

We all looked toward Iron's desk as a shimmering light caught our attention. My eyes fell on a communication scroll that was glowing, signaling someone was calling. My eyes flicked to Iron, watching him walk up to the scroll and open it.

"Hello? Ah, commander!" Iron stated.

Olfred and I shared a curious look while Bairon just grabbed his head and groaned. It was curious for the commander to be calling now, especially since we were just talking about the lack of attacks.