A week passed and Mystlin Festival is right around the corner. Everyone around the Mue's mansion is busy: the maids are working hard on cleaning the house thoroughly while the soldiers are working on the parade. Mystlin Festival is a spectacle that happens right before the New Year Celebration.

For what Mrs. Dae taught me it all started decades ago on a dreadful winter. One day a thick mist overcame the Empire, no matter where you'd go, you'd be blinded by it. It lasted for weeks and people grew weaker by the day until the Emperor decided to sacrifice ten thousand commoners per land to appease the so-called Gods. Weirdly, the mist went away the next day and so, every year we honor the sacrifice of their souls while we praise the greatness of the Emperor from that age, alongside all the ones who followed.

Nowadays the celebration consists of observing a big parade made by the ruling noble's soldiers until they arrive at the graveyard of the land. Then a gift must be delivered to the dead so that the wandering souls of the past year can move forward. Afterward, there is a big party and an even bigger banquet where everyone drinks until they fall flat on the floor.

"You're all dismissed" Mrs. Dae states as she sits down on her large wooden chair.

"Mrs. Dae, what about me?" how come she didn't assign me to any tasks?

"Actually, I wanted to talk to you about your tasks for the Mystlin Festival, sit for a bit" I follow her commands and sit in front of her as her tired eyes focus on mine. "I want you to be the supervisor in the town and guide the soldiers in the decorations" her serious voice tone made me realize that this was no simple matter.

"I wouldn't dare to defy your decision or even question it Mrs. Dae but are you sure?" it made no sense, at least inside my head. I'm too young to be given such an important position and besides, I'm still considered a new maid.

"The place will be filled with soldiers and I don't want to lose any more maids until the end of the year. You will be fine Ling" she kindly smiles as she stretches her hand.

'I really don't want to send such a young girl right into the lion's den but she is the one who lasted longer on the training area so she should be fine' Mrs. Dae thought as I placed my hand on top of hers. I smile kindly and then bow down right after getting up.

After a long and detailed explanation of my upcoming chores, I realized why she decided to send me. I would be in charge of helping the soldiers as they decorated the streets, which means I will be very close to them. No matter what, the soldiers had to obey my orders, and I had to obey Cales. The maids create the decorations inside the mansion and I just have to make sure they are being placed in their rightful areas. Quite an easy task but if some other girl was here in my stead, it would become troublesome.

As I walked on the large streets I could see the exaggerated happiness flowing, it looked extremely fake. The ladies were hiding their fear behind their smiles.

"Are you alright?" I wake up from my daydream with Cales's voice.

"Where are the men stationed?" a cold smile emerges as I dodge the question politely. To be fair, I didn't want to be on cold terms with him but at the same time, I don't want to create some sort of attachment.

"Up ahead" he points towards one of the main crossings in town where the soldiers were all relaxing while talking loudly. Around them were a lot of people trying to avoid their attention while gossiping about their absurd behavior. As I browse around I could notice the majority of the soldiers were new recruits.

"Miss Ling!" they yell once they spot me.

"Good morning" I smile politely as they decide to begin conversating with me casually.

Ever since the incident with Roge, the recruits have taken a liking to me. They talk to me every day and are especially attentive towards me, almost as if they were taking care of a little sister or a friend.

"Wouldn't you fuckers shut the fuck up for a second?" a drunken man leaves a small drinking establishment alongside several armed men.

'Mercenaries' I thought as I quietly observed their clothing. I look around but Cales was nowhere to be seen.

"I'm sorry for any disturbance we might have caused mister. We will lower our voices." I slightly bow down my head as the rookies keep murmuring things behind me.

"You fuckers still dare? I will break your skulls." his threatening tone was getting severe and once one of the recruits laughs his patience snaps. His large body walks forward, unsteadily and I block his way. "Move bitch" his hand grabs my head and pushes me strongly onto the floor.

This was a complete disaster, the recruits were trembling while holding their swords as the mercenaries were thirsty for their heads. It would become a massacre. Besides, they are new soldiers, they will die from this, I can't let that happen.

"Wait, mister!" I yell with all my lungs as I get up from the ground and regain my balance. "What about you fight me instead?" a smirk appears on my lips as they all laugh in unison.

"I don't beat little kids" he states as his focus goes back to the recruits.

"Why don't you? Are you that scared of losing to a little girl?" the man trembles in rage as I hurt his pride deeply.

"If you want to die so early then I will do you a favor" he heads towards me with his large ax as the recruits yell for me to back down. He passes towards me I dodge him swiftly and he falls onto the floor, letting go of his weapon midway.

"You can't even control your balance, yet you want to kill me? Pitiful" I state as I quickly step on his hand. With his heavy body and with the amount of alcohol in his system, naturally, his reflexes will be poor. "If you have any brains left in that bald head of yours then leave this town, unless you never want to fight with this hand again" I keep pressing my foot harder and harder as he moaned from the pain.

"Thank you so much for understanding our side mister." I smile coldly as he gets up and leaves with the rest of the mercenaries mumbling cursing words at me. As my eyes follow them I notice that Cales had arrived with a group of recruits, each one carrying two heavy boxes.

"You're so cool Ling! How did you move that fast?" the recruits surround me asking endless questions.

"We've got work to do. Keep your voices down, it's disrespectful if you don't" I state as they begin throwing me with several apologies. "It's not me you have to apologize" at first they were confused but then they understood what I meant and apologized to all the merchants and small businesses in that area.

They are still young kids, so I can't blame them. In a way, they remind me of Nai and her lack of common sense.

"You do have a lot of courage, a normal girl would've just stayed put," Cales says once he reaches my side and I ignore his remark. "Weren't you scared?" he places the big box on the floor as a couple of minutes of awkward silence passes.

"Mister Cales, anyone would be scared in that situation" I smile politely as I start sorting out the fabrics inside the boxes.

'But you weren't Ling' he thinks as his expression turns dark.

Ignoring his presence, I start ordering the recruits around as they placed all the ornaments and big sewed fabrics around the town.

"I'm so tired" I mumble as I sit down against a big oak three slightly far from the main town. The sun would be setting soon and we had all been dismissed. Some soldiers went back to the mansion, others ended up having dinner in a tavern but truthfully I just wanted some silence after all that noise. The calm breeze was flowing onto my face and the bright sun was slowly disappearing. I can barely sleep at night and my body already embraces the exhaustion as if it was a necessary drug to survive. My head started to feel light but my eyes were becoming heavier by the minute as slowly my conscience faded away.

'It's warm and comfortable,' I thought as I slowly open my eyes just to see the last rays of sun greet the land. Then my eyes roam and I notice that I had a cape on top of me while two large arms were embracing me from behind.

"Good morning!" I look up just to see Jin's cheeky smile.

"Jin! What are you doing here?!" startled I get up hurriedly and move away from him. How long has he been here? Was he behind me all this time?

"Appreciating the view, Miss Ling," he laughs and I noticed I had screwed up. I could feel my soul leaving my body. 'Shit, shit, shit, why didn't I restrain myself?' I kept on repeating in my head, blaming my impatience for such a simple mistake.

"Stop blaming yourself, I knew it from the moment I saw you" his dark eyes look into mine and I couldn't feel any type of judgment coming from his person. "Have you considered my suggestion, little maid?" Jin gets up and walks towards me with a smirk on his lips as he patted the dirt away from his clothes.

"Why do you want to teach me? What's in it for you?" I still cannot understand why would he waste his time like this unless he had something to gain from it.

"You helped my family and I wish to repay you. The bruises on your hands are from wielding a wooden sword right? I used to have them too when I started" his grin disappears and somehow my suspicion cooled down. I don't trust him in the slightest, however, I am well aware that I need help. A person can only learn to a certain extent.

"I get it. Then, in that case, please teach me." I bow down my head and he chuckles. He must've thought that it was amusing, seeing me in this type of situation.

"Meet me here by the same time tomorrow, I won't go easy on you m'lady" his sarcastic words make me frown and he leaves as his hand is casually waved in the air.

The next day arrives swiftly and after a long morning working, it is finally lunch break. I stretch my arms up in the air and I head towards a small bench close to a couple of small shops. The sky looked threatening as the clouds got closer together. 'It's going to rain' I thought as the light from the sun grew further and further away.

"Can I eat with you?" the young recruit I had saved before appears and sits by my side, holding a sandwich in his hand. His ginger hair was curlier than usual due to the humidity in the air. "Have you thought about what I asked you before Ling?" he grabs a bite while looking at me.

I've been observing him every day. This boy is very weak compared to the rest of the older soldiers however he is fast and persistent, making him a potential diamond in the rough. For some time I considered making him my ears inside the army however I feel like his loyalty could easily be swayed depending on the circumstances. Truthfully, I may be overreacting but I cannot trust anyone that easily.

"What's your name?" I question him as I slowly get up.

"Dan" he softly smiles.

"Be my sparring partner. I want to learn the bow and the sword, teach me" his eyes widen as I state this unusual request.

"Why would a young maiden want to learn such things?" his eyebrows were frowning and I could understand that his suspicions of me had grown.

"I'm assuming you already know this but I am a traveler. I lost my parents recently and I have no money, that is why I am working at Lord Mue but I don't intend to stay there for long. I need to be able to protect myself when I leave." I start explaining everything and his expression softens. It looks like he understood what I meant and accepted it as a reasonable excuse.

"If that is the case I will gladly help you!" his bright smile appears as I feel a small raindrop touch my nose. I quickly grab him by his wrist and head to the first open business to hide from the rain. The sky was crying heavily and everyone outside was in a rush to reach their destinations. "So unlucky, this rain will delay everything" Dan states as he looks outside. "I'll go grab something from the General, stay here in the meantime!" he yells, and right before I manage to say anything, he leaves.

'The General?' I think as I keep on wondering who might this unknown man be.

To put it simply I've recently learned the system of rankings in the army since Mrs. Dae took the time to teach me. The new soldiers are called recruits but, at the end of the day, they are still mere soldiers. Afterward, you have the Commanders, which are nothing but soldiers that had a great contribution to the war. Each Commander usually is in charge of a large group of soldiers. Then we have the Generals which are men with extraordinary strength and abilities, some people even say they are abnormally inhuman. They usually rule over battalions in the army during the war and everyone below them must obey their orders. There are around thirty Generals in the Empire. Last but not least you have Knights, the highest-ranking class you can achieve in the Army. They are the "Monsters" of the Empire, a small group of elite soldiers that have achieved the impossible in war, they are inhuman, just like Lu Feng, "The Ice Knight", that freezes anything with his glare.

There is also one extra ranking however they belong to the Imperial Family. "The Knights of Honor", five elite knights that only follow the order of the Emperor, can even murder nobles or aristocrats if they are commanded to do so. They are killing machines, ready to strike at any moment.

"Hello, miss" a deep and rough voice calls for me as I turn around abruptly. "Would you like to buy anything?"

I look around and notice that, unconsciously, we had entered a shop filled with weapons. From swords to bows, he had almost everything. The store itself was dark and the owner had a hood so I couldn't see his face properly. There was dust everywhere and the wooden floor cracked with each step I would take.

"I don't have any money with me, I'm sorry" I state as I bow. Of course, he would be disappointed since he thought I was a customer.

A couple of minutes of silence pass until he continues the conversation.

"Are you working in the mansion?" his voice harbored painful feelings behind it.

"Yes, I'm a maid there" I smile politely as he kneels and starts rummaging through some old boxes.

"My daughter worked there" he stated as he slowly approached me. "She disappeared, I don't know where she is or what happened to her" the man removes his hood just to show the deadliest weapon in the world: age. Several wrinkles were hanging on his eyes and cheeks while his hair had long lost its will to live. There was a big scar on the left side of his face, starting at his eyebrow and ending a little bit below his dark brown eyes. "Take this little girl, protect yourself" his eyes looked sorrowful and filled with regret from sending his daughter to that mansion as he held a small but sharp dagger and a piece of leather in his rough hands.

"What was your daughter's name?" I question him after thanking him for the offer.

"Malu" as these words fill my ears I shudder and he noticed how my expression changed since his eyes became clouded by fear.

"Mister, I will come back and tell you what I know but I can't right now" I state as I start hearing someone's footsteps in the rain. He nods and I quickly place the dagger inside the leather, leaving its handle on the outside so I could easily grab it, as I tie it to my tight, underneath my undergarments.

"I came to pick you up Ling, we can't do anything with this rain so we're going back" Cales appears on the door with a sneaky smile while holding a dark-colored umbrella. I bow down to the kind man and I leave.

"Where you looking for a weapon?" he asks me playfully however I could perfectly understand the hidden meaning behind that question: "Did you buy a weapon?" was what he meant.

"Mister Cales, please understand that it was raining and I had nothing to stop it, should I have stayed outside and caught a cold?" I frown my eyebrows and he chuckles. Of course, he wouldn't insist on inquiring me about this matter however, he wouldn't let it drop so easily either.

As we reunited with the soldiers in the big gates of the house I realized I had left the papers for Mrs. Dae on one of the boxes.

"I need to go back, I forgot some papers" I stated as I grabbed the umbrella. Cales frowned but before he could say anything I was already headed towards the center of town.