The Black Cask was loud tonight.

  The disposable assets were welcoming the newcomers. Wooden mugs clattered against the tables, spilling cheap ale onto the sticky floorboards. In the center of the room, Oren plucked a fast, lively rhythm on his lute. Several new faces mingled in the crowd, fresh meat sent to replace the dead.

  Sera sat alone at the counter. She stared into her untouched drink. Her usual boundless energy is nowhere to be seen.

  Elira sat in the dark corner, puffing on her new cigar. The thick smoke curled around her face.

  A young man with bright red hair stumbled out of the crowd. He reeked of alcohol. The surrounding soldiers cheered him on, but they also took a deliberate step back.

  "Hey lady," the redhead slurred, leaning against Elira's table. "Why don't you join the fun?"

  Elira raised a single eyebrow.

  The guy took her silence as encouragement. "Let me show you a trick." He reached down and grabbed his belt buckle. "Have you ever seen a pair of metal balls?"

  CRUNCH.

  The sound of heavy boot leather meeting soft tissue echoed over the music. The red-haired man froze mid-motion. His hands remained locked on his belt. His eyes bulged out of his skull, perfectly round and utterly devoid of thought.

  Garrick slowly lowered his leg.

  Elira raised a hand in a lazy greeting. "Yo. Done with the briefing?"

  "Yeah," Garrick grunted. "You’re next."

  Garrick sat down on the wooden bench next to her. He signaled the bartender for a beer. Behind him, the red-haired man collapsed to the floorboards. He curled into a tight fetal position, clutching his crotch with both hands. The surrounding crowd burst into laughter.

  A short, blonde girl rushed out from the jeering circle. She dropped to her knees beside the groaning man.

  "Are you okay? I told you it was a stupid idea!"

  She pressed her hands against his groin. A soft green glow pulsed from her palms. The agony on the man's red face slowly softened into a whimper.

  "T-thanks, Katya," he wheezed.

  Elira took a long drag of her cigar, watching the display. She exhaled a cloud of gray smoke, stood up, and walked out the door.

  The room was thick with smoke.

  Viktor and Elira sat opposite each other across the wooden desk. Both held lit cigars. The haze did not bother Viktor, and Elira simply did not care.

  "Tell me about the mission," Viktor ordered. He exhaled. The smoke blurred his stern, scarred face.

  "You already know what happened."

  "Tell it from your perspective."

  Elira sighed. "Fine."

  She recounted the slaughter at the Northern Bastion. Viktor asked for specific details here and there. He asked about her mental state during the breach. She gave him nothing but dry facts.

  "Now, about your magic outburst," Viktor said, leaning forward. "Do you remember anything?"

  "Not much. It felt like a dream."

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  Viktor frowned. "A nightmare?"

  "No," Elira replied softly. "Just a dream."

  "Tell me about it."

  Elira stepped back into the noisy bar.

  She walked over to her squad's table. Nyx sat next to Garrick, kicking her small legs back and forth. Oren stood behind the assassin, gently using a rag to dry her wet hair. Mira was absent. The chimera girl hated crowded places. Judging by her size, she probably could not even sit straight in her tiny bed right now.

  Elira pulled up a stool and sat down. Apparently, Nyx was actively trying to act as a wingman for Garrick.

  "Look at her," Nyx whispered loudly, pointing a finger at Sera. "She is totally depressed. She didn't even join the party or do her stupid dances. She needs good sex to get her mood up."

  Garrick did not budge. He kept his eyes locked straight ahead. He lifted his massive wooden mug and drained the beer in one massive gulp. The cup was nearly the size of Nyx's entire head.

  "What do you even know about romance?"

  Oren tossed the damp rag onto the table and picked up his lute, strumming an overly sweet chord.

  "Love is in the air~. Love is everywhere~."

  Nyx wiggled her fingers with an incredibly smug expression. "You do not understand. A strategist never goes to the battlefield, but they are essential to winning the war."

  Pfft.

  Garrick choked, spraying mist across the wooden table.

  Elira puffed her cigar. She enjoyed the conversation while having zero intention of actually participating in it.

  "Yeah boy! Whip it out!"

  "Show us your metal balls!"

  Loud, raucous cheers suddenly erupted from the center of the bar, completely drowning out Oren's music.

  Nyx turned around to see the commotion. The red-haired man stood on a table. His voice echoed over the noise.

  "Are you ready to see my metal balls!"

  He yanked his pants down. From the way his hips moved, it was obvious what he was trying to prove.The entire crowd burst into tears of laughter and loud whistling. From her seat in the corner, Elira could only see the man's bare back.

  "I wonder what his face would look like if I cut his little metal sausage off," Nyx giggled at the ridiculous sight.

  Elira turned to Oren. "What is his business anyway?"

  "Oh, him?" Oren pointed at the red-haired exhibitionist. "He uses advanced transformation magic. He can turn his entire body into solid metal. His name is Ivan. He came here with Katya, the healer girl. She is his childhood friend. Some noble brat tried to assault her. Ivan beat the kid half to death. The magistrate sent them both here as punishment."

  Nyx leaned forward, suddenly highly interested. "What was the noble's name?"

  "House Valerius," Oren replied, setting his lute down to take a sip of his own drink. "A wealthy family out in the west."

  Elira took a slow smoke. "What can you even do? Run away from the frontlines and chop up their whole house?"

  Nyx shrugged casually. "If I got the chance."

  Elira tapped her cigar against the wooden table, dropping a chunk of ash onto the floorboards. She took a long glance at the redhead.

  "It is your turn for the briefing, by the way," Elira added flatly. "And judging by the time, you are late."

  Nyx jumped up from her stool, her eyes wide. "What? You didn't say shit!"

  Elira shrugged back. "Sorry. Got distracted."

  Nyx scurried out of the bar. "You fucking bitch," she grumbled under her breath.

  In the center, the blonde girl, Katya, pulled Ivan by his ear. Her face burned from the relentless teasing of the crowd. Elira kept her eyes glued on the couple until they were out of sight.

  "Can’t sleep?"

  Mira didn’t respond to Elira's words. Her voice was hoarse. There was no smell of smoke in the air. Mira walked toward Elira and sat down next to her. This was the place they had first met, and tonight was the same. A starless night.

  "Is everything okay?" Mira asked softly.

  Elira hugged her knees. "No. Just some bad memories."

  "..."

  Mira let the silence take over. She didn’t know how to comfort Elira. Bad memories haunted her too. After thirty minutes, or perhaps an hour, she decided to speak up.

  "Do you want to hear about mine?"

  Elira didn’t respond.

  "I had the strongest regenerative ability of all my brothers and sisters, so my father often dissected me to study my body. Especially my eyes. They always grew back, but it was so painful. I kept begging him to stop, but he never listened"

  "That jerk deserved to die." Elira didn’t raise her head.

  Mira shrugged. "I did kill him when I escaped his lab."

  "..."

  "So," Mira continued hesitantly. "Do you mind telling me about yours?"

  Elira took a long, exhausted sigh.

  "It all started with this bitch named Marcelline."