It was fascinating. Wyliame, a fortunate soul who was blessed with the opportunity of being reincarnated into this world, was now being escorted to the Kingdom of Sapphire along with the rest of his comrades. They’ve all been captured by Zilnus. Perhaps this rebirth was more of a curse than a blessing.

I don’t get it… I was summoned into this world young, weak, and with the task of slaying Cervos, but everything’s falling to shit already. There has to be a reason why all of this is happening, right? There has to be a reason… Wyliame wondered.

Was it fate? Destiny? Or was it perhaps divine providence?

Wyliame was a firm believer in all those things, even in his previous life. For that reason, he still has hope that, by sudden occurrence, maybe somebody would stumble along the path and rescue him.

…

But it has already been half an hour since they began marching toward Zilnus’ Kingdom. A few of Rayder’s men had even started to become sluggish in their steps.

“Hey, keep a move on y’all! We’re not even halfway there!”

Zilnus, who had returned to his original form, was the one who walked behind everybody, menacingly slouching his hammer against his shoulder to make sure that nobody would dare to challenge him. They were all marching in one straight path- Rayder’s men in front, Rose, Jil, and Wyliame in the center, and Rayder in the back, taking his strides directly in front of Zilnus.

“Damn it… how did it come to this?

That was Jil, who marched along Wyliame’s left. For the first time, his helmet was off- revealing his luscious purple hair and bright blue eyes to the world. Rose walked along on Wyliame’s right, but she had yet to say a single word since they’d been captured. 

What if we all use our magic to get away? Rayder thought. He pondered for about a minute, then quickly gave up. No, that wouldn’t work. My men are tired and deprived of mana. Nobody even has their weapons or horses right now either…

Not only did they lose their battle, but their dignity had also been shattered.

The entire group, a group of dozens and dozens of soldiers as well as two commanders, had lost to a single giant.

“I honestly can’t believe it… I actually captured two commanders at the same time! King Ausar will be absolutely delighted to hear about this! What d'ya think, Rayder?” the giant teased.

“Yeah, I’m sure he would be proud. You’re really strong, Zilnus”

The giant blushed and rubbed the back of his head with his free hand. “Bahaha! I live for a good battle!”

Rayder clenched his teeth and curled his fist. A good battle? It was completely one-sided…

Soon, another half an hour had passed. They slowly trudged through the snow at a snail’s pace, trying to conserve as much energy as possible while ensuring that they didn’t do anything to irritate Zilnus.

Suddenly, one of the men in front collapsed into the ground from pure exhaustion. The men beside him looked down at his quivering body, but quickly broke eye contact and simply continued marching down the path.

“S…somebody… help… Rayder… D-don’t leave me…”

The man cried and cried, but even Rayder himself didn’t say a single word. They all continued with their strides, leaving the man to rot in the snow all by himself. Wyliame was the only boy who had stopped to acknowledge him, but he too, out of fear of irritating Zilnus, was forced to keep moving forward. Dying alone was a regretful way to go, but they were left with no choice.

Jil pat Wyliame’s head, looking down at him with eyes of worry. “You okay, buddy?”

“Yeah… I’m just a little anxious…”

“Oh, you’re scared? That’s good.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“The battlefield. It was devastating, wasn’t it? The bloodshed was horrid.”

“Yeah.”

“I’m just glad that even a tiny part of you acts like a kid. You’re pretty mature for your age, Wyliame. Any other kid would be really traumatized right now.”

Jil was right to be suspicious. Wyliame, an eight-year-old, had just witnessed dozens of soldiers bleeding to their deaths, losing their limbs, and splattering into pieces. Yet, he only seemed slightly disturbed at the sight of the battle.

“Hah, I get that a lot. My parents raised me well. I was forced to grow up even though I was still a kid.” Wyliame lied with a straight face. It only made sense for him to hide the truth that he was reincarnated into this world from elsewhere.

Jil chuckled. What an interesting boy.

“Hey, what’re you guys talking about down there?” Zilnus called out. “Hopefully not to escape, right?”

After that, no more words were exchanged between Jil and Wyliame.

About another twenty minutes passed, and Rayder’s men eventually noticed that the trees were beginning to thin out. To them, this meant that they were nearing the Guerre Teleporter- a gateway that, when stepped through, allows the traveler to instantly arrive on the other side. 

“Hey, um…” Rose mumbled to Wyliame. Those were the first words she had spoken since they’d been held captive by Zilnus.

“Yeah?”

“Do you think your dad is fine right now?”

Dad? Wyliame thought.

…

 Oh, right. I told her that Onas was my dad.

“Well, actually he’s not my dad. I was just following along since he called me his son, haha…”  

Jil and Rose both raised their eyebrows, showing their surprised expressions.

“He adopted me yesterday. His wife, Lorelia, found my body laying in the snow and I was fortunate enough to be saved by them. They said they’d let me stay for as long as I wanted.” Wyliame continued.

“You were laying in the snow? What happened?” Jil asked worryingly.

Once again, Wyliame was forced to tell a lie. He couldn’t possibly tell them about Goddess Emma.

“My family abandoned me. I had nowhere else to go, so I walked as far as I could before collapsing.”

…

“I… I’m sorry to hear that…”

“No, don’t worry about-”

Suddenly, Wyliame stopped talking.

“Wyliame? What’s wrong?” Rose asked.

A wave of confusing thoughts had abruptly rushed into Wyliame’s head at once.

Wait… why was I reborn as an eight-year-old? Shouldn’t my body be one of a newborn? 

…

Did my body belong to another soul…? 

…

“Um… I wanted to thank you for earlier, Wyliame. Back when you told me to use my spell to kill those archers, I mean.” Rose began.

Wyliame shook his thoughts away and tried to focus on the present, letting out a smile toward Rose. “Hah… I just said whatever came to my mind.”

Rose stared down at the snow beneath her. “I’m a disgrace, aren’t I? Even a kid is more suited than me for battle. Hah… I’m really sorry.”

Jil reached over and gently laid his hands on Rose’s shoulder, his arm hovering over Wyliame.

“Commander… Please don’t say that. You’re-”

“I was so, so scared. After all of these years, I’ve finally found Zilnus again, the man who murdered my father… but I cowered at the sight of him.”

Wyliame’s eyes widened. He looked over at Jil and noticed that he too, was shocked. 

“He died fifty years ago during the Great Cervos War. I didn’t even know that he was dead until the next day when a young boy ran up to me to deliver the message that my father had been slain by a giant…”

As much as Rose wanted to weep then and there, she knew that it was pointless. What was already dead would never come back- and her tears wouldn’t solve a thing.

The march continued as Rose fell silent. Eventually, another one of Rayder’s men collapsed onto the floor, but just as before, not a single person batted an eye. The collapsed man didn’t let out a shout or cry either. He simply lay still in the snow, accepting the fact that the end of his life was approaching.

May you rest in peace, Wyliame prayed as he walked past the man. Rayder, who was at the end of the line with Zilnus, looked at the collapsed man with regretful eyes. He had failed his duty as chief commander to protect his warriors.

“Alright, guys! We’re finally here!” Zilnus shouted out, pointing toward the gateway in front of them. 

Huh? What’s that? Wyliame thought. 

To Wyliame, the Guerre Teleporter merely seemed like an odd gateway placed in the middle of nowhere in the snowy forest. But to the rest of the warriors, they knew exactly just how horrid the sight of the portal was. It was a teleporter of bloodshed- a teleporter used only in times of war. 

“So who’s gonna do it?” Zilnus asked.

Everybody stopped their marching and turned to the Giant, who simply stared back with a smile.

Rayder’s men turned and glanced at each other, whispering loudly. Quickly, the whispers broke out into yells and screams.

“You do it! You’re way weaker than me!”

“I’ve been in the army for longer than you’ve been! You sacrifice yourself!”

“If you don’t go, then I’ll fucking kill you!” one of the men threatened.

What the hell is going on? Why’s everybody panicking? Wyliame thought.

“QUIET!”

In an instant, the yelling had stopped. Zilnus began walking to the front, holding out his hammer and repeatedly tapping it against his other hand.

“One sacrifice. Just one. That’s how much is needed for the portal to open. Make up your mind in three minutes or else I’ll kill somebody myself.”

…

“No… I don’t wanna die…”

“Fuck! You do it, you useless bastard.”

“Shit.. shit… shit!”

Everybody went back into a panic, punching and shoving one another as Wyliame, Rose, and Jil stepped aside to avoid getting hit in the crossfire. Zilnus chuckled at himself, finding it rather entertaining that the warriors were fighting amongst themselves.

“Everybody, stop!” Rayder yelled. “Is this how we treat each other? We’re comrades!”

…

Thankfully, the violence stopped at the sound of Rayder’s voice.

Suddenly, one of the men stepped forth and took off his helmet. “Really now, Commander Rayder?”

He clenched his teeth, curled his fists, and gave a death stare toward Rayder. “That’s easy for you to say, isn’t it? Haha… It’s because you’re the commander! Obviously! You know damn well that you’re not gonna die! But what about me? What about the rest of us? You don’t fucking know how we feel, do you?!”

Rayder remained silent. The man was right. Out of anybody else, the only person who was guaranteed to be safe was Rayder.

“My daughter… her name’s Jayne. I told her I’d be home soon. I told my wife the same too…” he continued, his voice quivering. “How do you think they would react when they find out that I’m dead? I haven’t even said my goodbyes, damn it!”

Another man in the crowd walked forth, standing beside the first man. “I… I have brothers at home… I don’t wanna die either…”

…

Truly a tragedy, this was. In the face of death, the brave warriors, who had all signed their lives away the moment that they joined the army, had finally begun to realize the dangers of becoming a fighter.

“I’ll do it.” Rose stepped forth. “I’ll sacrifice myself.”

…

“R-really?” one of the men said.

Jil’s eyes widened as he realized what she said. “Rose…?”

“I’ve failed as a commander, and as a warrior. If I could do anything at all, at least let me do this much…”

Zilnus grinned, amused at the sudden act of bravery that Rose had shown. 

Suddenly, Rayder stepped forth, shaking his head. “No. You’re not gonna die,” he began. “Everybody, wake up. We are the commanders because we’re the most powerful in the army. We are the ones that lead our kingdom. You guys should be ashamed of yourselves for not dedicating your lives to us.”

…

“Well…” one of the men started. “If we’re going to consider status, then what about that kid right there?”

As he pointed toward Wyliame, everybody turned in his direction.

“What?!” Rose yelled out. “Don’t be ridiculous! He’s just a kid!”

“What the hell are you saying?” Jil screamed.

Wyliame stood there, not saying a single word.

“Well, it’s because he’s a kid that I’m saying this. He’s weak. He doesn’t have children or a wife to come home to, and he’ll only get in our way. He’s well-suited to be a sacrifice for us.”

Everybody began chattering with one another, surprised by the sudden suggestion.

Rose shook her head with a frown. “But-”

“They’re right,” Rayder stated. “If we were to be smart about this, then we wouldn’t sacrifice any of our actual warriors.”

Jil began walking up to Rayder, shaking his head at him. “Commander Rayder, with all due respect-”

But he didn’t finish his sentence. The look in Rayder’s eyes was a stare of imminent pressure, a stare that cannot be disobeyed under any circumstances. Jil had no choice but to stay silent and bow down to him. After all, Rayder was the chief commander. 

“Choose somebody in fifteen seconds… or else I’ll start to kill!” Zilnus teased.

…

The people’s stares remained locked onto Wyliame. A disgusting turn of events, this was.

Suddenly, a message appeared in front of the boy’s eyes. 

<Sacrifice yourself for the Guerre Teleporter>

…

“Okay… I’ll do it.” 

Rose opened her mouth, but not a word came out. Jil simply stared down at the ground in disbelief. There was no saving Wyliame. Rayder and his men were fully set on murdering the little boy.

Zilnus walked over with a smile. “Wow… who would’ve thought that the youngest would be the most courageous!”