Embers of Sun and Flame: The Vows We Made (Fuegoleon Vermillion x OC)

Chapter 4: "I'm sorry"

Protect the civilians...

It was his stead.

The fierce older sister was roaring behind him in the front lines, when he was reaching left and right. Just trying to get... everywhere... all places, at once. Because everyone mattered. They were all citizens of the kingdom. They were all his people. And it was his duty, his wish, to keep them all safe. For they all had families. They all had people to miss them. Lives to still live.

And he... he was a soldier.

Mereoleona might have been a warrior, but he would have described himself more as a soldier.

Is there really a difference? He thought while continuing forward.

Salamander's flames burned around him. Burned through the enemy. But with each threat he took down, it seemed like there were ten to counter.

We're already one Captain down...

And the ten that took one's place... They rose a question into one's mind:

How does one kill that which is dead?

Though perhaps that was what one should have been asking during the attack on the capitol where he lost his arm. But that was flesh. That was something that could be burned. And perhaps this could be burned too. Mereoleona seemed to be making some headway, but she was doing so far too slowly.

And the men, his men, were getting tired. Running out on mana.

Several knights short...

His eyes turned to look at the Lions, along with Mereo, fighting against that... thing that was barely a man. The one who was flaunting about a doom's day.

"This we can do!" His men called out with more bravery than they should have.

With willingness he... he wasn't sure he should have... condoned.

So willingly they go and give their lives... with brave hearts and passionate minds...

There was a burden in the thought; the heavy thought that crossed his tired mind. Exhausted mind.

A mind... that hadn't quite given up. Only that it had.

It had given up on going home. It had given up on living a happy life from there on. But it hadn't given up on the fight, quite simply because at least he wanted to die as a man.

Even when the scent, the smell of burning flesh and fabric reached him, he thought about how he should make them proud. How he should make sure that their sacrifice wasn't in vain, even if it...

No. I can't think that their sacrifice would be in vain. I can't. They mattered. Every single one of them. To live or die, isn't the question, it's what one lives, or dies, for. And they died for the most noble cause. Which they fulfilled-, more than fulfilled with all their hearts.

There was a memory that flashed through his mind. Of a day that seemed to be so far in the distance now.

---

'The sun was shining. The birds were singing. And the horrors of Spade had been left in the dust. Even if there was still much to process, so many things to take care of and consider. But today was a happy day.

They had set up long tables in the garden to have dinner there. A kind of a barbeque. A social gathering for the Lions, along with games and drinks. Perhaps even a bit of friendly betting that was not to be mentioned. But given how Ruben called out 'Hey Ben! I bet I can beat you in a wrestling match!', and people gathered around, it was to be expected that some friendly bets would be placed. Something for which people would look the other way. After all, there was no real harm done.