Seraph of the End - Demons Lulluby

The Reaper

Waylon POV

I stood attention as Kureto Hiragi walked into the room, his sharp eyes glaring at me as he put the badges on my chest. I'm not happy to be promoted over the simple task of surviving.

But as soon as I arrived and told them what happened (partly), they said they'd give me a promotion, totally blowing off the deaths of my comrades.

I felt used, like they were only using us to kill the Lord's of Cerberus, to get a thorn out of their side. It was said to be a suicide mission anyway, that deep in enemy territory.

Kureto looked down at me, with his large height he made me look small. He gave me a salute, as I returned it.

"I nearby grant the military title of Lance Corporal to you, Waylon Kojima. Carry those badges proudly." He said with his deep voice, booming through the room.

The only ones here were some soldier body guards of his and himself. If my comrades were here, I wouldn't have gotten such a high rank quickly. Being that I killed three nobles by myself, and they fled my advance, the military thinks highly of me now; not that I want that.

I give him a sharp "sir!", and watch him and his guards exit the room. After their gone, the man in the corner that had been quiet for some time came out and handed me a box.

I knew what they were going to make me do. And I almost wasn't ready for it, but I had to deal with it. Inside the boxes were the dog tags I had collected from over twenty soldiers that had died in the mission.

I was to inform the families of their lost ones.

. . .

After all the ones that didn't matter, the ones that I brushed off, the ones I didn't know, I finally made it to the one that would hurt the most.

I stood in front of a house, the family name plastered on the plaque in front of the mailbox. I read it aloud as if to remind myself of my old friend.

"Jimon..." I mumbled.

Jimon Tatsuka. My biggest friend I've ever had, albeit the first friend I ever had. He was the first person I connected with in the squad. The first one that ended up being so close to me.

Yet it had been only a month since I first met him, he still felt unbearably close. I slowly raised my hand to the doorbell and rang it, a loud zzzzzt played out inside.

I waited patiently, until the door opened to a young looking woman, maybe in her early thirties. She smiled at me as she laid eyes on my face, but when she looked at my uniform, her smile disappeared.

"Ms. Jimon?" I said formerly, straightening myself, beginning to speak.

She didn't answer at first, but looked me in the eyes. "How did it happen?" She asked.

It was my turn to stay quiet for a period of time. Should I tell her the truth? Or should I tell partly the truth? I look at this woman and tell myself something.

If I truly was Tatsuka's friend, then I'll tell the truth.

"Your son died from being sucked dry from a vampire..." I said, mumbling part of my words.

She didn't even flinch, but asked me another question. "Was the mission successful?" She asked.

"Partly... I defeated the Lord's... but everyone else died." I said, I felt as if I was telling my sins to a priest.

Miss Jimon processed this in her mind, then bit her lip. "Where were you when my son died? Who were you to him? Just a comrade?"

"I was Tatsuka's friend... and I was separated from the group... when I found them everyone was already dead." I explained.