In the distance, Ethan could see the town on the horizon, and they were approaching fast. What surprised him was that this trip usually should take a day, but it took them some hours, and they didn’t follow the road, so he thought it had something to do with it.

  ‘Sir, didn’t we get here way too fast?’ Samal looked at Ethan.

  ‘What would you expect from the goddess's gift?’ Ethan smiled at Samal.

  ‘That is right; don’t take her lightly, Samal.’ Asher laughed.

  ‘I don’t; I’m impressed.’ Samal looked at Asher.

  ‘He is just joking with you, brother; don’t pay attention to him.’ Oran tapped Samal's arm.

  Taking another look, Ethan noticed that they were almost in the town. Before opening the hatch, he inspected his team, and it made him happy that they all got along, which brought a smile to his face. Corporal Ethan opened the hatch and looked around for Sergeant Egor.

  ‘Sarge, we arrived at the town.’ Ethan nodded to Egor.

  ‘Come back in; we need to help unload the supplies.’ Egor got up and walked to the doors at the back of the truck.

  As the truck stopped in the middle of town, a group of soldiers approached the back of it. With the help of the Egor squad, they unloaded fast. As Ethan was helping, he noticed the truck's door open, and his friend got out of it with a smile while waving to him.

  ‘Edmund, you were the one driving it? What a surprise! What are you doing here?’ Ethan extended his hand to greet the young, white-haired man.

  ‘I’m teaching the guys to drive the truck, kind of. I teach two drives, they teach four, and so on.’ He gave Ethan a handshake.

  ‘Anyway, thank you for what you said about Rita; she is quirky but a good woman.’ He smiled, putting his hands on his hips.

  ‘If quirky means framing you sleeping with her, ok. But you see? That is why you are perfect for a woman like her; a normal guy wouldn’t let that pass.’ Edmund laugh.

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  ‘I’m normal; what are you talking about? It was a misunderstanding.’ Ethan frowned and raised his eyebrows.

  ‘I don’t know about that; if you are happy, that is what counts. As long as you know and accept what she is like, I believe there will be no problem.’ He patted Ethan’s shoulder.

  ‘Well, I think she is cute; just a little weird about Leah sometimes.’ Corporal Ethan shrugged his shoulders.

  ‘I would imagine that she is jealous of her; she might try to kill you while you sleep.’ Edmund laughed.

  ‘Sometimes you talk like an old man, Edmund; you even gave Captain Alon some tips.’ Ethan smiled.

  ‘I’m older than you guys; it's like you never interacted with a woman before, which is crazy if you ask me.’ He shook his head negatively.

  ‘You and I are the same age, you crazy fool.’ Ethan laughed.

  ‘I mean, here's where it counts; we are not.’ Edmund points at his head, using both hands.

  ‘I don’t know about that, but you are smart; I give you that much.’ The corporal gave a slight grin.

  ‘Anyway. I’m returning now; what do you think about this thing?’ Edmund put his hand on the side of the truck.

  ‘It is fantastic, fast, and it looks like we are not even moving, but it needs a fixed weapon. He points to the top of the truck.

  ‘Well, this thing is not supposed to move alone; it is not even armored, but I understand what you are saying.’ Edmund holds his chin.

  ‘It was a good talk, Edmund, but I need to go back to work and say hi to Leah for me.’ Ethan turns around and goes back to his squad.

  Edmund turns around, goes around the truck, and enters from the other side, sitting on the passenger side.

  ‘You guys will go back; just drive like I did; it is easy. Just remember, if you crash, everyone dies except for me, so no problem, relax.’ Edmund laugh.

  The two soldiers looked at one another with widening eyes and a visible fear as the driver looked back through the side mirror. Corporal Ethan gave an okay right after the small window on his back opened.

  ‘Everyone is here; take us home, brother.’ A rough voice echoed.

  The driver pressed a button on the panel that turned red and pressed the left pedal as Edmund had taught him, and the truck started to move.

  ‘Ethan, this is Lieutenant Bartel Adler.’ Egor nodded at Ethan.

  ‘Sir, I’m Corporal Ethan Aaron, in charge of Team Red." Ethan put his fist close to his mouth and nodded at the Lieutenant.

  ‘At ease, corporal, welcome to cleaning duty.’ Bartel smiled.

  'Corporal, check your team to see if they are combat-ready.’ Egor nodded to Ethan.

  ‘Sargent, because of the new toy our goddess gave us, you guys got here earlier than expected, and right now, we were going to clean the border; expect Lavan soldiers.’ He looked at Egor with a serious face.

  After checking everything, Egor’s squad united with Bartel's soldiers outside the town. They were complementing one another with handshakes and pats on the back, and the morale was high.

  ‘Alright, people, Egor’s squad is now part of this platoon; I hope everyone checks their radios. To cover a larger area, we do as usual, split into squads here and at the location I gave to the squad leaders, split into teams.’ Bartel spoke while walking among the soldiers.

  ‘Will we enter the forests, sir?’ One soldier asked.

  ‘I will leave this to squad and team leaders; there is only one order that is absolute: if a Lavan soldier sees you, kill them on sight; if civilians see you, just let them go; maybe they are running from monsters or are even from the duchy; to confirm, use the radio to check if they follow the Goddess.’ He presses the radio on his chest, making a sound.

  They were divided into three squads of ten, and Lieutenant Bartel had a team with him. As they pushed in different directions toward the border, Ethan looked around his team, checking if their gear was fine and patting them on the shoulder while walking.