The Reality of War

'I-I'm alive!?'

On the cold, splintered floor, Gen lay, face down, as if he had woken from a great dream.

"OH SHIT!!"

To his right, hands on his knees, Theo gasped for breath.

"H-Hey, did you save me?" asked Gen.

"Ah? As if I had time. I wonder how you're alive."

He looked up at the fairy.

"Thanks for the shield, Brain... gimme a screwdriver, please."

"Ok!"

With the request granted, Theo removed the nail from his chest.

"U-ugh, this hurts..."

Gen looked down at his body, analysing the situation.

First of all, his vision was back.
Second of all, there were no wounds at all. Absolutely nothing.

The nail hole, the hammer blow to the head, the knife cut on his chest...

Nothing. Not even his clothes were torn, and even his hair was in order.

'What the fuck?'

He turned back, wanting to see what he had survived.

There simply wasn't a bar anymore.

Just pieces of wood and glass scattered everywhere.

"Wow, dude," Theo raised an eyebrow. "How did you survive that?"

"I... I have no idea."

'I didn't use my power, I couldn't even if I wanted...'

With a final sigh, Theo turned back.

"Well, sorry I went too far. This wasn't necessary at all."

As soon as Theo took a step, Gen screamed.

"WAIT!"

Theo turned his gaze back.

"Could you please tell me what you want from me!? I'm so confused!" Begged Gen, almost begging.

Theo smirked.

"Don't worry, Gen Gott. We'll meet soon enough."

And Theo Moretti walked away.

Gen's hands moved over his tracksuit, feeling for holes that weren't there. He looked at his perfectly fine body, then back at the collapsed building.

'How am I alive? And who is he? What does he want from me?... Goddammit!'

He stood up, perfectly fine.

'I can even walk normally now... I'm sure I could feel the wood smashing my brain, and now I'm just fine? There is definitely something wrong... FUCK, THIS DOESN'T MAKE ANY SENSE AT ALL!...'

He had memories of feeling every bone in his body being torn apart, of a huge weight falling on him.

"DAMN IT!!"

Running to the rubble, he grabbed a small, sharp piece of wood.

With a tremor running through his arm, he brought the point to the soft skin beneath his jaw.

'I-I need to understand what's going on... I NEED!!'

"..."

"It's not like I have something to lose."

"Hey, where's the cash!?"

Shouts down the street captured his intent.

By survival instinct, the wood fell to the ground.

"What is that?" he murmured.

There, two people were arguing.

A tall, imposing man in red, a dark-blue hat on his head with an iron lion emblazoned on it. In front of him, defenseless, a poor woman.

"S-Sorry sir, I-I don't really know what I did wrong—"

"SHUT UP, WOMAN! You know very well that you have to respect the curfew, and you were late yesterday. So come with me or just 'make me forget.'"

Gen's shoulders slumped. 'Oh, a corrupt cop. Nothing out of the ordinary around here.'

The woman placed her hands over her face.

"I-I don't really have any money—"

"You..."

The police officer came closer, his lips almost touching hers, to the woman's disgust.

"C'mon..." he whispered. "Just make me forget. My mind is... foggy today."

"B-But I—"

"YOU DAMN BITCH!!"

Suddenly, a knife came out of his pocket.

"I'm a law enforcement officer... I NEED IT MORE THAN YOU!!"

From afar, Gen froze. His breath hitched in his throat.

"W-What?! He... I CAN'T LET THAT HAPPEN!"

He dashed forward.

The policeman continued to yell, swinging the knife back and forth. Helpless, the woman dissolved into sobs.

Gen arrived in the other street, right behind the woman. "YOU MOTHERFUCKER!"

But it was too late — she was stabbed, groaning in pain, right in front of Gen.

All Gen could do was watch, frozen, as the life began to drain from her eyes

"A-Are you serious?... YOU!"

He struck a powerful punch into the guard's face,

sending him hovering right in front of the woman.

"You're all the same... piece of shit!"

He watched the man on the ground direct endless insults at him.

"Talk as much as you want... You—Augh—"

He felt a drilling pain in his back.

He slowly turned his head back. The woman was smirking. A knife had pierced his back. No blood dripped from her.

"W-What? But I thought..."

He turned forward, seeing the guard, smirking as well.

"Gen Gott..."

'T-This... It was all planned from the beginning... All just to capture me—'

As he felt blood seep from his back, the same metal object pierced him in the neck — from the same woman.

Blood gushed. He fell to the ground.

Above him, the two stared at him, evil smiles dancing on their faces.

"Y-You..." the woman lowered down, knife in her hand.

"YOU SONS OF BITCHES!! IT'S ALWAYS THE SAME THING! IT'S ALWAYS THIS FUCKING COUNTRY!! I hate this country... I WILL KILL VELMARA—"

Stab*

A few years ago.

A beautiful sunny morning.

At the open stone gates stood an 9-year-old boy, facing the green of the open world, one step away from leaving the small kingdom.

The boy made a joyful sound.

"Don't worry about me, I'll be alright! After all, I have Igor!"

"We know that. We trust him too, Gen."

In front of the boy were a middle-aged woman and a man, calm smiles on their faces.

The woman said, "We will come back, Gen."

The man nodded, fixing his hat. "Be good, son."

"Yes, sir!"

And so the two began walking outside the walls.

A final scream was heard from the boy.

"DAD! ONE DAY I WILL JOIN YOU!"

The two stopped, looked back, and listened carefully.

But neither smiled nor added a word.

'I'm going to join dad, Igor, and be the best soldier in the world!'

As they walked away, Gen squared his shoulders, already picturing his own military uniform; he didn't feel like it was a goodbye but rather a "see you soon."

"IGOR!"

Without knocking, little Gen entered a house, his red shirt passing through the corridors.

It was a large two-story house with a basement, a showy garden, and impeccably clean—larger than a common peasant's house.

"Ah, hey, Gen."

A young man greeted him in the kitchen, sitting at the table. Two plates of cooked food were there.

"That plate is for you. Go on."

"Thanks!"

Gen sat down.

The man had a blonde quiff and jade-coloured eyes. His clothes were simple, perhaps because it was Saturday morning: a long white sweater and brown pants. A calm smile was always present beneath his nose.

"Igor, Dad and Mom went away. Dad was drafted into the army and Mom went with him. You know I'll have to live with you, right?"

"Of course, dummy. So that means you should call me Dad now... stepfather perhaps."

"Ah? You're not my dad! You can't even order me around!"

Igor gave a very provocative smile as he deliberately provoked Gen.

"Oh, your father is a lower rank than me, so I have the right to order you around."

"THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO!"

Both laughed.

"Hey, Igor..."

Sticking a spoon in his mouth, Gen spoke, looking at the floor.

"What is it?" asked Igor.

"I've made up my mind..."

A huge grin grew on him as his eyes shone.

"As soon as I turn 14, I'm going to join the army!"

At the time, both in Velmara and throughout the world, that was the minimum age to enlist in the army.

Igor wasn't surprised; he just gave a small smile, looking at his food.

"Are you sure, Gen? I mean, you don't have to do your mandatory military service that soon—"

"OF COURSE I AM!"

Gen stood up, his expression almost angry.

"Pa was a soldier. You are a soldier. It is my destiny! Only 1,297 days left."

"You think any of us wanted to be?"

"Ah? Then why are you? You're literally the youngest commander in the history of this country! I want to... SURPASS YOU!"

Seeing that boy's eyes, Igor knew that there was no point in talking.

"Well, I can't stop you."

He stood up and collected both plates. A small smile remained on his lips, but it didn't reach his eyes

"Tell me, Gen — you want to protect the people of this country?"

Gen shrugged.

"Ah? I don't know. I just want to grab a sword."

With his spoon he stood on the chair pretending to battle

"and be the strongest in the world! WOAH—"

He fell.

"Y-You idiot! So because of this you'll have to wash the dishes for a week!"

"A-Ah, me? B-But... BUEHHHHH!!"

"HOW DO YOU INTEND TO BE A SOLDIER WHILE BEING SUCH A CRY BABY!?"

Igor went to help him.

About four years later.

"HAHAHA, I DID IT!!"

A 14-year-old boy rode a horse.

"I gotta say, it's quite an achievement to learn to ride a horse in one month, Gen."

Beside him were about 15 men, also dressed in armor and mounted on horses.

All young and inexperienced, riding in a group outside the kingdom's walls.

"Man..." one of the soldiers sighed, "I'm so lucky to have Igor as my commander. He's so cool."

Gen grinned. "Hehe, just so you know, I'm his apprentice."

"We know. You never shut up about that," answered another soldier.

"Shut up, Gen," Igor murmured loudly.

"Y-Yes sir..."

"Alright, men!"

Stopping, Igor turned back to the entire cavalry, speaking loudly and with authority.

"We are going to pillage a battle that took place a few days ago. Be careful and stay together."

One of the soldiers whispered, "Loot? Tsk, so boring."

Gen whispered, "I wanted to face Lusitania's army right away..."

"Eh? Are you crazy? We're only 15, dude."

"...So what?"

Igor turned back and started riding forward.

"Follow me, soldiers."

A while later, they arrived at the crime scene.

Bodies, bodies everywhere.

Blood had gushed from severed arms, legs, and heads, now staining the grass a dark brown. No life, just remnants of those who once walked this planet, their lives cut short by a sword. And that same sword lay on the ground.

It was not known which nation was which; their blood colour was the same.

Everything was in a green open field, surrounded by trees and a blue river.

All the soldiers swallowed hard, seeing all this in the beautiful morning sun.

Except one.

"Why are you disgusted?" asked the commander, Igor.

"All of you, isn't this what you seek?"

Nobody knew what to say. Everyone just stared at that mess; not even the horses dared to neigh.

"Well... try to find something useful."

So the 15 boys rode forward.

"Hey, Gen..." said a knight next to him. "You think this could happen to us?"

"Not to me. God wouldn't let it," was Gen's answer.

"H-Hey... look over there," a soldier pointed up.

The soldiers' gazes followed his finger as he sent them toward a tree.

The result: bodies tied by the neck.

The hanged men, even though they were tied to a living thing, just swayed in the wind.

The soldiers froze, and sweat clearly began to run down their faces.

"What's wrong? Why do you seem so surprised?" a serious Igor asked, staring into everyone's eyes.

"I-I'm NOT AFRAID!" Gen Gott shouted, even though a fine tremor ran through his hands.

"W-We're here to loot? Then I'll loot those bodies."

With those words, Gen rode over to the tied bodies.

No one had the courage to follow, even though it was just a few steps away.

"W-Well, here I am! I just gotta check if they have some cash, right?"

The soldiers didn't say a word, even though they were very close.

"J-Just need to check their pockets and—"

As Gen tried to find the best position to search for anything of value on those bodies, something made him stop.

"D-a-d?"