***
--- Fort Alnus, 75th Ranger Headquarters ---
September 8th, 2025
At the Ranger office, Sharpe stands by the HUMVEE he has checked out for the day. He wanted to spend the day with Lelei and ask some questions.
During the fight at the fortress and seeing that Dark Elf blocking him somehow, he realized how little he knows about this world. NATO forces have been given many details information from 'experts'. While exploring this world, they have found that much of the fantasy stories have seen matches their stories. However, textbook information does not equal real-life experience, a lesson he knows but did not fully apply here.
Rescuing the High Elf's only succeeded because of last-minute luck and he does not consider that acceptable(1). Spending a little time with Tuka Luna Marceau has made him realize how little he understood this world. The fact NATO has been decisively winning this war has not pushed for them to need to truly learn and understand what is special about this world. Many see it as an exotic thing than a real need.
He wants to get more serious about learning what this world has to offer. That is why he wants to talk with his walking textbook Lelei La Lalen.
Sharpe enjoys having conversations about random topics. When he was in his Delta unit, he talked about space, science, politics, culture, beer, and any other random topic. He missed doing that but has found that Lelei to be a great substitute.
With Selina and Rory Mercury, talking with them keeps the problems of this world alive in his mind. With Lelei, he has found it he can relax more and just enjoy a conversation about whatever, without feeling like the weight of two worlds on his shoulders.
They set a time to meet up today, a time away for him to figure some things out. However, she is thirty-five minutes late and has not responded.
As he leans against the HUMVEE, his foot is tapping as he gets unease, looking out at the military buildings in the distant. He is wondering if something has happened, he heard stories from his team when they went to Italica. How they found some kidnapped kids from both there and here. Since then, they have established some checkpoints on the highways.
He grabs his phone and texts Rory, again. When she does not respond again, he begins to wonder why they are ignoring her. There is no way anyone could have kidnapped Rory, maybe they are angry with him? He thought their relaxing movie day went very well and that they liked it. They deserve to have a good fun day. Maybe he did something wrong or crossed some line.
"Ahh shit…, did I do something wrong? Is this what they call the silent treatment?" He mumbles to himself, trying to rationalize why Lelei is late.
"I am here! I am sorry. I forgot." Lelei said panting, coming around the HUMVEE.
He looks towards her and sees that she is catching her breath.
He smiles, happy nothing bad has happened and that he didn't cross them in some way.
He then reaches into his pocket. "Lelei, catch."
Sharpe then tosses a pair of keys. She looks and catches the keys that he tossed.
"Do you want me to drive?" She asked, slightly confused.
He nods his head and stands fully up now, heading to the passenger seat. "Yes, we are heading out."
"Ahh… ok." She said. She then looks to the Ranger headquarters and then back to the HUMVEE. She then heads to the driver seat and gets inside.
He watches as she adjusts the seat. She then looks at everything, like she is going off some mental checklist. Soon enough they are off.
"Are we leaving the base?" She asked. Her head just barely above the dashboard.
"Just for a bit but we can go anywhere. The destination isn't that important. Just stay away from the Gate, they are bringing in some heavy equipment so it will be busy." He responds.
"I thought you wanted to talk to me about this world." She asked.
He looks at her, still seeing that she is confused about what is happening. "Yup, but I don't want to do it in the office. I hate it in there."
She looks at him. "Is everything ok? Are you hiding something?"
"Nothing at all. I don't know if you haven't noticed but I don't really like offices. I feel cramp and unproductive just sitting there. And I thought this would be a good chance for you to practice driving. Can't do that on the frontlines so here." He responds.
"Ah, yes you are. So, you just want to be out and about, not feeling constraint. I understand the feeling." She said back to him and drives off.
"Really? What do you mean by that?" He asked.
"As you know I am a nomad. We travel from place to place, never having strong roots. Living in Alnus has been the deepest place I have established myself in." She said.
Hearing that reminds him of the old wild west for some reason. The old Native American tribes moving place to place. Their society is based around relocating to new lands. He wonders what kind of life that was, most likely the most extreme version of living free.
"I can't even imagine living like that. Moving place to place, brave bas… brave people they must have been." He said out loud.
"You can swear in front of me, Major Sharpe. It does not bother me." She said.
"I know but I shouldn't. It is not proper, especially in front of a lady." He looks over to her, giving her a wink when she looks at him. "I need to watch what I say because Selina will mimic me."
She blushes slightly and looks away quickly. "I am not one of those fancy well dress ladies that just prop themselves up in some high-class building."
"Well… that was a mouthful. Couldn't agree more." He said chuckling. "Besides that, is not the point. Lelei in life you need to hold people to a standard. If you let a man go without check they can be undisciplined, rough, and lazy. That is fine when guys are just hanging out but, the reason we say you should never swear in front of a lady is because it lays out a standard to be held."
"I understand Major. My master Cato El Altestan likes to play these perverted games. I always must hit him on the head. He means well though." She said in a casual tone.
"So Major, what do you want to know?" She asked.
"Lelei, you don't always have to call me Major, or just… Sharpe." He explains. He has noticed that Lelei only calls him one of those two things. Rory has started this large push to normalizes his first name, which has annoyed him. He understands what she is doing is and her heart is in the right place. It is just there is a lot of baggage that comes with him that he does not want to face.
"I know you don't like being called that. You have been nice to us, so I don't want to be a bother." She said and then glances over. "Besides, I like the sound of your last name. It fits you very well."
He smirks and then looks out the front window. "Eyes on road please."
Her eyes suddenly get wide, and she looks back to the front window. The vehicle does a short correction and is stable again.
He cannot help himself from enjoying the sight.
"I saw you were taking a lot of notes. What did you think?" He asked her, referencing last night's movie day.
She thinks about the question, processing her thoughts. "Well, it was very entertaining. I notice a lot of your pro-west. Aragorn reminded me of you a lot."
He looks over to her confused. "Really? That's a first."
"Well… yes. A lost man that is running from a past. Runs into a group of people and helps them. Going through a journey in fighting evil, helping people who need it along the way. In the end, he faced his past and took control of his destiny." Lelei said in a very well thought out manner.
He just looks at her, baffled by what she said. He then looks forward. "You think too highly of me Lelei. You and the others. I am just a man trying to do his duty."
"If you think so." She responds, not believing or accepting what he said.
After a short silence, he takes a breath. "What else did you like?"
"I was impressed that most of the things I watched were close to our world. You got the relationship between elves and dwarves correct. The orcs were close, representing a time when they ruled these lands tens of thousands of years ago. The goblins though, while they look closely, they did not act like goblins. Where was the kidnapping, raping, and eating of man flesh, like the film said they do?"
"It's a PG -13 film Lelei. Kids watch it. Can't have stuff like that on-screen and besides, it would take away from the film." He said, struggling to have a response.
He then thinks about it some more. He thought about the last part about the goblins. Having spent so much time with Lelei, Rory, and Selina, he sometimes forgets that they come from a whole different world and life experience. What is normal to them is not what is normal back in the States.
"Anyway, what else did you take notes on?" He asked, wanting to keep the conversation moving.
"Is it wrong that I like your version of elves better. They seem very disciplined, well-mannered, and intelligent. They made me wonder what it might have been when the elves were the ones in power." She said.
He chuckles at that. "Yeah, they are pretty cool. It is ok Lelei, I won't tell Tuka. What about Gandalf?"
She looks at him for a second but then looks back out the window. "I liked him, but he is no mage. When he did do magic, he was all over the place. He is a beast talked, summon flare abilities, foresight, just all of it was all over the place. All he did was pretend that he did magic. I still do not understand how he controlled flare. I am beginning to think that it was not magic… I see how you are having a hard time how magic works."
"That was a mouthful." He replied with a chuckle. "Now, was the film anything in this world? Your magic and races. Now you have a good idea of how we see this world, I like you to help fill in the blanks."
"Ok, where you like to start sir." She asked as she takes a turn.
"Steady on the turns, go slow if you need." He comments on her driving. "So Tuka can do magic to and, there is Myuute. Now that I think about it, for a world with magic, I have only seen a handful of magic users so far. How common is it and why don't we run into more magic-user? Is it hard to learn?"
"Well… the short answer is this. It depends. Many other races can use magic since birth. Elves and Sirens like Myuute know magic just like how we know how to breathe. Humans, on the other hand have to learn it. I have never read that a Hunan is born with that ability. I have always thought that was strange."
Hearing her say that, he also finds it interesting. He thinks about a new baby dear, already knowing how to walk and swim minutes after birth.
"Why are Humans excluded? Are other races excluded as well? That doesn't seem fair."
"I do not know why. My master Cato El Altestan believes that maybe that blessing happened before Man arrived in this world from Earth." She answered. "Also, Dwarves are not known to use magic, but they can make magical materials like weapons and doors. I know don't know much of the dark races. Goblins don't need to be able to use magic at birth."
He places his arm on the armrest thinking. "Interesting. I wonder if it is some evolutionary path that we Humans missed. Probably because we mastered our world before we needed it. That's just a guess." He said, brainstorming out loud.
"What is evolution? I think I read that word somewhere in one of your books on your Internet computer." She asked confused by what the word means.
He looks to her confused but then remembers that western science is still new to her. "That is a big topic, but evolution basically means that people, animals, plants, all living things change slowly over time. Adapting to their change's environments. Learning new ways to survive. Nature way of survival of the fittest."
She sits there driving, thinking on what he just said. "That is… what you say interesting. If true, then a lot of people at the academy will be upset."
"Well remember, our knowledge is just for you and who we approve. We didn't come here to rewrite everything." He tells her.
"I know sir. As you said, knowledge needs to be earned. I just don't understand how you decide what knowledge to share." She said, speaking freely. "Anyway, elves like Tuka use spirit magic. High Elves, Dark Elves, Wood Elves, all of them, just each one has different levels of understanding based on where they live."
"Spirit magic, it is someone able to summon ghosts and talk to the dead?" He asked.
Lelei chuckles at that and shakes her head. "No sir, not even close. You are thinking about Phantom magic. Where you can connect to the realm of the souls, ghosts as you said. You can, for the lack of a better word of phases in and out of our realm and into another one. Your body is still here but at the same time, you are in the other realm. It is exceedingly rare and strange magic, long believed to have been lost."
"Now with Spirit magic. Elves can manipulate wind, water, fire and can put people asleep. They can do that at birth however it still takes years to master it. They cannot just make it themselves. For example, if an elf is by a river or a puddle, they can control it to a limited degree." She explains.
"Hmm… interesting. I will have to rethink some tactics." He mumbles.
"And then there is sky magic, like what I faced in Sadera. That is a powerful set of spells that take decades to master. Sky magic forms all different types of clouds, depending on what you need. It can create weather and rain. Be able to summon what you call lightning and other types of energy. I was surprised that I was facing a Human, they usually die from old age before getting that good."
"Ok, this is turning into a far larger conversation to remember. How do you know all these things? I don't just mean this conversation but everything. It is related to your god Elange correct?" He asked her.
"Yes, Elange is the god of Knowledge. He allows me to retain information and understand it far easier. While others are blessed with this ability, Cato El Altestan because of my ability to grasp new things, he believes I will become the youngest Master at the academy." She explains.
“Is that how you know how to use telekinesis?” He asked. “I have always been impressed by that, using your mind to control things.”
“I know.” She said with a small cheeky voice.
He glances over to her and laughs. “You’re not supposed to respond to that. Lelei, making a joke.”
“Before I left Rondel, they help teach me how to use telekinesis. As you said, I can grasp and understand things far easier. Because of that, I understand how things around me work. I can focus my mind and summon the energy around me to connect with the object. That is the best way I can describe it It is not an easy spell to use or master. That was one of the reasons why we left Rondel, so I could safely practice it in the wild.
He looks over to her and nods in agreement. “One of these days you will need to take me to the academy.”
“That would be great. Unlike what you have seen in Falmart, Rondel is far more civilized by your people’s standards. I think you will like it.” She said with a big smile.
“That would be great. Now tell me about…” He begins to say before being interrupted by the radio.
“Vanguard-Lead, this is Alnus Security F2B-6. We are requesting your assistance.” A Danish soldier said.
With a sign, he reaches for the handle and answers it. "I'm busy, contact base defenses or Alnus Police if its riot control."
"Roger but be advised, they directly ask for you. They call themselves Rose Order Knights or something. I can contact base…"
"Delay that, I am on my way." He said in an annoyed tone.
He then roughly places the radio back on the dashboard and grabs his pistol. He takes a quick glance at it and then clocks it. "Lelei, mind taking me to the main gate? I Have a promise to keep."
***
--- Fort Alnus Outer Gate ---
September 8th, 2025
As Princess Piña Co Lada stands there, looking at the strange think metal gate with all these holes in it again. She finds it strange how Sadera, Valtris, Italica and other towns have tall and thick walls to keep out invaders. These Other Worlders are so much more powerful and yet uses these weak walls and could not stop anything.
She looks forward and sees all these soldiers standing there. Some of those strange-looking fortifications just like last time. She believes these soldiers call them bunkers.
Looking over to the right she sees what the soldiers call an Armored Personnel Carrier. They seem to be armor wagons that carry infantry into battle. She sees three of them right there, their weapons aimed at her Rose Knights.
"Well, this looks familiar." Beefeater E Caty comments, standing by her side.
"They haven't fired yet, so I guess that is a good start." Bozes Co Palesti states, crossing her arm.
She turns around to see her two fellow Knights. She finds it funny how natural they seem. Last time they all, including her were scared to death seeing all these NATO weapons of war. It really showed how weak the Empire is.
Now, after everything they been through and have gotten used to seeing what these Other Worlders have, it feels more natural. Except for Panache Fure Kalgi and her knights.
"By the gods… is this really what we have been fighting? What are these things…" Panache asked, amazed by the NATO vehicles.
"You haven't seen anything yet. I doubt we have seen anything yet and we have been here." Bozes comments in a sarcastic teasing tone as she wraps her arm around Panache.
Panache looks to Bozes and then to one of the soldiers. "So, you are these Americans?"
The soldier looks at Panache. "I am not an American, I am from Portugal. "
"Port…gual…?" How many vassals are there on your world?" Panache asked, struggling to understand how many nations that came through the Gate.
Pina looks away from Panache to see the soldier's reaction. He did not respond which she figured. She has found that these people are very reserved on sharing information. "More than we would like Panache. You should see what is inside, this is nothing. I am surprised they didn't let us in like last time."
"Because they don't trust is." Hamilton points out. "It makes me wonder why they haven't shot us yet."
She takes a step back, seeing more of their smaller vehicles driving up. The symbol on their vehicle shows that they are from a different country.
More she thinks about Panache's question, the more she begins to wonder how politics is like on the other world. It seems that these countries are very loyal to the dominant power, which she assumes are the Americans she has ran into.
The Empire maintains its control over its territories and vassals through fear and economics. It is far better to just submit to the throne than to fight it, that is wat the nobles say in Sadera. History has shown that most tribes and kingdoms prefer to resist though, which all have failed, until now.
The Imperial Army must garrison large forces throughout its territories and many of the questionable vassals. The use of force, making it clear that there is no way anyone could successfully challenge the throne might. She wonders how the Americans maintain control of their world and how that will spill over to this world.
She turns around and walks back to her knights. "I wonder what is taking so long for him to arrive."
"You cannot expect him to drop everything just for you," Grey said, standing there all casually.
She looks at him and shrugs it off. She is so used to everyone serving her, coming to her when asked. Now, she must learn that the world does not stop just because she wants it to.
"Grey, why are you so calm around these people?" Beefeater asked.
He looks up. "Because they are not the enemy."
"What does that even mean? We all know you had a hand in all this." Boze comments.
"It doesn't matter. Let just deliver them the prisoners." She said.
She looks back to the Other Worlder soldiers and wonders what will happen. She knows she was threatened that if she came back Sharpe would personally kill her. She just hopes that he did not mean it or at least will allow her Knights to go. Either way, she feels happy what she did and has no regrets about it.
She did not want them to follow her to the Gate, fearing it was too risky. However, they refused to leave her side. This quest is going around and finding as many of the Other Worlder slaves as they could. It was her own personal mission that her Knights just tagged along. By the end, the quest became a unified quest for them all, a team effort.
She suddenly sees the gate open. That is when she sees this man walking through it. Right behind him is that blue hair mage girl. That only means it had to be Sharpe.
She stands there, her relaxed manner quickly went away as she watches him walk closer to her. Any confidence and good feelings of accomplishments she had just vanished without a trace.
That is when she notices that he is holding this small metal bows. While small, she understands that it is still very deadly.
Sharpe walks right up to her, only an arm's length is between them. "What is it?"
She takes a deep breath and forces a smile. "Well, isn't this familiar." She said as she tries to lighten the mood with a joke.
As she looks at him, all she can see is this seriousness's in his eyes. He stands there like a stone, unmoved by her joke.
"I said what is it." He asked again, in a darker tone this time.
That tone sets the tone for her, realizing that he does not like her at all.
"Look, I know you told me not to come back and that you are angry with me. When we traveled to Sadera, I genuinely wanted peace between our two people. But I wanted it for all the wrong reasons, and I used you to empower myself. For that I am sorry, I really am. I just didn't understand what you meant or stand for."
There is a short silence between the two as she waits for a response.
"Look, when I came here last time, I started off by saying you betrayed me. I was very made because I convinced myself that was true. I was lying to myself, so I didn't have to take responsibility for what happened." She said, speaking quickly and nervously.
She is trying to speak properly however she is struggling to. Half of the reason she did everything she did was just to try and regain this man's respect. Everything she has been through has shown her that all her friends, connections, her royalty, and states in Sadera meant nothing to her. All that matters now is his approval, because unlike her family he has standards and values. A bar to meet and she wants to meet that bar, for the first time in her life.
"You came all the way back here just to tell me what? Your highness, I don't give a damn. You better have a damn good reason why I shouldn't kill you now." Sharpe said, wanting to get to the point.
His threat scares her a lot. She takes a breath and decides to continue why she came here. She made a commitment and fully intends to follow through it.
"You told me about your world wars and how many people died. That I do not understand the value of life. The reason why the treaty failed was that I didn't value people and respect your values. I should have told you about that girl and about the other ones we took. So, I did what I should have done in the first place." She said.
She points to one of the wagons. Three of her knights remove this large blanket that is over the wagon, showing the American prisoners.
"What? What is going on Pina? You better have an explanation for this Pina!" Sharpe said in a shock and confused voice as he looks to the wagon.
"Since our last conversation, we have been going around the region. After our failed invasion of your world, the throne gave many American prisoners to the other kingdoms who helped us as gifts. We went to them all and got them back. Most of them." She explains.
She then looks back at him. She can see that he is conflicted. That stone-hard manner he was, in the beginning, is gone now.
"They are your people. They are free to go." She said as she looks to the wagon.
She then looks back at him. "You asked me if I could sell Hamilton and I couldn't answer the question. Truth is no, I could never sell or trade her or anyone. And because I couldn't do with someone close to me doesn't give me the right to someone I didn't know."
Sharpe looks to her and places his hand on his chin, baffled on what he is seeing. "What do you want for them."
"Nothing Major. They are free to go." She said. "But… Not all of them are alive."
He looks down at her, his eyes demand an answer to what she just said.
"When we went around, we discovered another group that was rounding up your people. We fought them twice. The first time we saved a couple of your people as the cost of one of my mines. Then we fought this other group which we believe are the same people, but we were too late."
Pina stops and takes a breath. She understands what she is about to say will probably make him angry and these people off. "We found three of your people chopped up into pieces. I don't know or understand why they did this, but we were too late. We brought the pieces back so you can do what you wish. We didn't know what else to do."
She then turns around and waves to one of her knights. She then looks back at him. "But we did capture one of them who did this to your people. He is also yours to do as you wish."
These two knights drag over this small green skin looking pig beast. He is struggling however his body seems to be all bruised up, as the knights did beat him up on the trip back to Alnus.
Sharpe looks to him. A few of the soldiers aim their rifles at the pig, alarmed at what it is. "What is that?"
"We... I am sorry but we do not know." She responds.
"What do you mean you don't know? What species is that?" He asked again, not believing her.
"We don't know. None of us have ever seen his people before." She responds.
She decided to throw it all out there and see how he reacts. She can see his facial reaction and that he was not happy to hear that. Who would be happy after hearing that your people were brutally chopped up like cattle.
To her surprise she watches him turn around and walks away, heading to the blue hair girl.
"Wait…?" She said, confused about what is going on now.
---
Lelei stands there, looking up at Sharpe. She can see that he is conflicted. That is not a sight she is accustomed to but is not surprised by it.
"What is happening? This seems more civil than last time." She said, happy about that.
"I... I don't know. All I know is I don't know what I should do." He responds, trying to process what just happened.
She heard the full conversation. She was their last time these two had this conversation and understands why he is conflicted.
She knows that he knows what he should do. She can see on his facial reaction is that he is struggling to separate their history from the current situation.
From what she heard, besides going back to the Empire, Pina and her Rose Knights travel around the region and tried to save as many as they could. Then they came back here to return them. They had some battles and then some deaths while trying to save as many Americans as they could.
She listens as he repeats the situation and a very sum up way.
"Well, sir. What do you want to?" She asked, already knowing his answer.
"I want to punch her lights out." He responds and then turns to his side, looking at the Rose Knights.
Hearing that upsets her a little. That is not the attitude she is used to seeing from him.
Lelei thinks back when all this started, their first trip together to Italica. Helping them even though they were the enemy. It showed to her that he valued character above all else.
"Sharpe, I know you are personally angry at her. Remember Italica, they were your enemy, but you separated what you felt for what you knew was right."
He crosses his arms and looks.
"You always talk about the character of a man, above all else."
"Now, what are you going to do?" She asked him again.
"Thanks, Lelei. Always reliable when I need you to be."
He places a hand on her shoulder and pats her.
"Anytime sir. I know you will do the right thing." She said with a smile.
---
Pina stands there as Sharpe walks back to her. She wonders what they were talked about. Based on her past conversations with the mage girl, she is not friendly with the Empire. That could not know means bad news for her and hew knights.
When he arrives, she decides to hold out her hand. Last time she held out her hand he rejected it. She understands stands people who are friends and trust each other on their world shake hands.
He looks down at her hands and then looks back up to her. "Pina, you screwed up big time. Personally, I am still pissed at you. I take things like that very personal. Always been a vice of mine. But none of this is about me."
"Back in my world, people are shamed when they screw up. But I expected you to just walk home back to that place you call home. I never expected to ever see you again. Back on my world, when someone decides to make things right. Now, that is something respectable."
"Do I trust you, no. But…" He said and then looks to the other Knights, then the American prisoners and then to the other soldiers. He then looks at her. "but this is a hell of a start."
She then sees him take her hand and shake it. Taking a relief breath, her body feels relax now. "I am sorry that we couldn't help those."
Even though they shook hands; she can see that he is still conflicted. But she got what she wanted.
"Never should have happened but I guess this is the best next option," Sharpe said as he waves to the soldiers to help their people in the wagon.
She watches as these soldiers walk past them, heading to the wagon.
She then looks back at him. "Now what? I honestly didn't think to pass this point."
"Well, your ahead of me. You said you had wounded?" He asked her.
"Well… yes." She responds.
"For now, you are welcome to stay until your Knights are rested and patched up. With restrictions and under a guard of course." He said.
She could only just nod her head.
"Don't fuck this one up, your highness." He said and turned around, heading back through the security gate.
Hearing that she smiles. "Thank you, Major."
Reference:
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(1)Chapter 73
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