My attention was on the devastated area.

The ground was covered in small holes of bomblets’ explosions and pieces of shrapnel.

The tank was driving over the area, and all of the hatches were closed in case there are leftover explosives.

When we approached the place where the supposed enemy was, I called for a stop.

“Stop.”

I picked up the rifle and opened the commander’s hatch.

“What are you doing?” (J)

“Relax, I want to take a glance.”

I scanned the area around, and only then peeked out with the rifle at ready.

There were some bodies but I couldn’t understand what are they.

“I will take a closer look. Keep your eyes open.” I climbed on top of the turret and looked around from the top.

Even from a better position I couldn’t understand what the bodies are. They did not belong to humans, that is for sure.

After I made sure no immediate threats are present, I slid down on the hull.

Even though the bomblets must’ve self-detonated by now, I am not crazy enough to step on the ground just yet.

I checked out a body that was the closest to the tank.

It had greenish skin, like the monsters we encountered previously, but it was much smaller. It might be the size of a child. Like ‘me’.

The corpse’s clothes were primitive and so were the weapons.

If I saw the face, I would be able to say anything else. It may be the monsters’ children, or something else entirely.

Since there was nothing else to do here, I climbed inside.

“Forward.”

‘wrrRRR’

“Faster.”

Far in the distance I saw a jet. By the time we cross the plains we should have an understanding of the surroundings.

We may go slowly and clear a path for the army, or we may hit here-and-there. The plan is to strike in many places, making the enemy spread out their forces, so if the enemy finds out about the allied armies, they would not be able to stall their advance.

Several hours later we found a dirt road which is not marked on the duke’s map.

“What do you think? Should we scout there?”

“It is a nice idea. I am fine with this.” (J)

“I have nothing against it.” (O)

“Understood. Left, 30. Forward.”

The road was heading away from the main path we chose.

Soon we reached the point when the question of necessity started rising.

“Dachshund, this is Beril-Main. Can you perform a fly-by of the marked area?”

“Understood. Setting course. I will be there in ten minutes. After I do a fly-by, I will head home. Do you copy?” (D)

“Copy that. How soon can we expect you to come back?”

“Seriously…? Around 6 hours from now on, if absolutely necessary. I suggest you give me 12 hours at least.” I heard the aircraft need a lot of maintenance, maybe that is the case. Maybe the pilot’s laziness is the case too.

“You better flap your wings, because I won’t let you go unless you scout ahead.”

“No problem. Dachshund out.” (D)

‘NEOOOOW’

The howling of jet engine started dying when the aircraft disappeared behind a hill.

I glanced at Jester. He was sleeping, even though the road was bumpy.

Ten minutes later the jet returned and flew past us.

“Beril-Main, this is Dachshund. There is a village 13 kilometers away from you. I saw some fires there, you might want to investigate. Other than that I did not see anything notable.” (D)

“Understood. Be safe on your way.

Alright, Old man, you know what to do.”

The tank accelerated and in half an hour I saw the village.

It was a simple palisade with wooden houses in the middle.

As the pilot said, there were pillars of smoke in the village but the gates were shut, and there were no signs of uncontrolled fire.

“Just in case, be ready.” I pushed Jester to wake him up.

We stopped a small distance away from a gate. Old man pushed the acceleration until the diesel roared with full power. Seconds later the entire palisade wall was covered in villagers armed with everything they found.

When they understood that it is a man-made object, they lowered the weapons. After they calmed down a bit, I opened the hatch a bit, and peeked from behind the metal.

I was worried that they will attack but after seeing my childish face they completely calmed down and opened the gates.

“Don’t fire unless things go bad.”

“How bad they have to be?” (J)

“You’ll know.”

Just in case, I loaded Makarov.