Chapter 555: The Origins of My Wrath.

Chapter 555: The Origins of My Wrath.

“These are the finest cadets of this wave of trainees, Lady Jumi’Yal. Trained in the local forests, hill lands, and underground caverns, the cadets here are trained in scouting, assassinations, and shock operations,” the boot camp sergeant stated to Jumi, his voice firm and stoic even in the presence of a sin heir, a stark contrast to the awe some of my fellow cadets were showing to Jumi. It also didn’t help that the pink-haired woman was wearing a rather revealing outfit similar to how Saori would design Hestia’s more flirtatious clothes.

At least she had the decency not to show all her assets that day, urgh. If I hadn’t known she was a lust demonkin, I probably would have thought less of her. I wanted to see a fellow soldier, especially a superior in rank, age, and experience, act and look their station, instead of like the lust demonkin whoring themselves for a pittance in my old neighbourhood. As much as they “enjoyed” themselves, I understood there was nothing hedonistic about doing what you had to do due to the government or for survival. That was gluttony, not lust.

“Quite a few younglings. How are they?” Jumi gazed at the crowd, keeping her eyes on those considered the most capable for combat.

The general level of our most basic foot soldiers, so the majority of our forces, was around level 15—the middle of rank-F, in other words. These soldiers were barely battle-ready after a twelve-week training schedule to turn them from civilians to soldiers with a few battle-focused skills. They were practically militias and levies conscripted to fill out the ranks as fodder to keep the war going.

I was quite fortunate in this case, as instead of being trained in a boot camp closer to the frontlines and being thrown out after basic training, I was given the chance to prove myself in a specialist boot camp. Maybe it was due to my enthusiasm when I enlisted. Regardless of the reason, I was given two years' worth of training to become an actual battle-ready foot soldier.

Unlike the former soldier group, we were around level 40 to 50—rank-D. Naturally, skills and general competence that could help the soldier fight better were more valued than the numerical value on your Profile, as our army constantly sought potential officers. The more our forces grew, the more we needed capable leaders; and the longer the war continued, the more we needed to replace the deceased. This was the reason for these “specialist” camps.

These “finest” were exactly that. They showed potential, and the drill sergeant was presenting these to Jumi and her entourage, who were representatives of the army and government.

I wasn’t part of it, though. Funnily enough, all I had back then was my self-imposed discipline and the years of experience being on the streets. Yet, I was just one of many rats, and I met many similar to me here. They showed agility, resourcefulness, and survival instincts, which was why all of us were assigned to this boot camp, meant to train the types of soldiers who could fully utilize these dispositions gained from our childhood.

Years of fine-tuning the systems by spying on foreign militaries and stealing their technology led to this systematic military build-up. Yet, I always felt like I was in the wrong place, even if I was good at it. As this boot camp was meant to train up scouts and shock troopers, there were quite a lot of wrathies, lusties, and glutties here, as our demonic powers excelled for the vanguard and swift sabotages.

… Which was what I was best at nowadays. How ironic that I questioned myself back then, but maybe it was just my own paranoia speaking back then. That I wasn’t worth these two years of training, and that the basic training regimen would be better for a rat like me. That fact would soon serve as the catalyst for my current “evolution.”

“Performance reports seem adequate. Good work, Sergeant.” One of the officials replied to Jumi in the sergeant’s stead, looking at the information written down on their party bracelet. “Slightly above average officer materials. Good number of survivors, so that will lead to an acceptable amount of specialist teams to reinforce the war effort. You made your kingdom proud, Sergeant.”

“It is my honor. May God Marsven and the Edjurl gods keep me steady in my diligence.”

By survivors, he meant exactly that—the soldiers who survived the two years of torture. It honestly wasn’t as bad as I thought it was looking back at it, but my body at that time wasn’t exactly capable of sustaining me through all of it. I got lucky with the people I associated with, but many others weren’t. They died to gain levels or train up skills, and I didn’t even want to mention the rare bloody infighting that blew up to the point our sergeant himself had to appear to curse at us.

Seeing the officials speaking with our rule-abiding sergeant, Jumi let out a barely noticeable sigh. She knew her presence was all for appearance and propaganda to raise the morale of the cadets. To many of us who wanted to be part of the army, becoming a sin heir for our respective prince of sin was the dream. Some, though, even wished to replace their current prince, an idea that could lead to punishment.

The truth was harsh. A sin heir, no matter how much more powerful and influential compared to us common soldiers, was still just another apparatus in the engine of war. Yet, saying this fact out loud would weaken the soldier’s motivation, so we, sin heirs weren’t even allowed to admit it. We had to be the icons our fellow demonkin should strive for.

Leaving the work to the officials, Jumi looked into the crowd, waving and smiling at them until everybody was dismissed. We cadets had to get ready to leave for our designated posts and locations by tomorrow, after all. In my case, I barely had anything on myself outside of the possessions I earned from all the hunting. Some clothes, a backpack, a sword, and a spear made from monster materials, and the army-issued armor…

Pretty pathetic.

“Pretty pathetic.” My past self heard, prompting her to snap around, only to freeze when she saw it was Jumi who said those words. The lust demonkin smirked at her response, noticing that my expression was shifting. “Oh? Maybe you just needed a closer look at me, little wrathie? I didn’t see you interested in me at all, but now you are?”

“L-lady sin heir!” I restored my posture and activated [Emotion Surge], causing my lightning horns to appear as I saluted the demonkin way. Though in a panic, my movements were too sharp as I cut my hand on my horns and bashed my chest a bit too hard.

I twitched from the pain and embarrassment, as I could see my fellow wrathies living in the same barracks snickering a bit as they had already given their salute.

Jumi giggled, looking snarky as she raised a teasing brow. “You’ve noticed me now? How much did you get engrossed in the standard stuff the army gives you? Or, does that sword and spear really invoke such pleasant memories you didn’t even hear your fellow wrathies using [Emotion Surge]?”

“I-I—Ma-ma—” I couldn’t speak at all, too flabbergasted as the blood was running to my head. My distress was clear to see since my demonic features would grow in size the more I tried to speak.

“Ooh, woah, try not to spike too much. Don’t talk if you need to calm down. I’m not here to put you on a stand, soldier. Just looking around at our newest batch,” Jumi stated, allowing me to mostly reduce my emotions down to an acceptable state. Once she saw me lose my fluster, she nodded. “You’re quite young. Enlisted just after you made it to nine, I guess?”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

“Orphan, I guess? Good work surviving up till this point,” she said with a fake smile before she turned to the rest of my barrack, inspecting each wrathie and their belongings. Some had a bit more than others, but nothing worth mentioning. “As wraths, you guys will all join up with the frontline, fighting under Lord Wrath as you spearhead our war efforts. I hope you’re all ready.”

“Yes, Ma’am!” Every single member here shouted resolutely, whether they believed it or not.

“Ha, at least you have the enthusiasm. Some genuine naivety is pretty important to maintain morale, but that will all change once you’re thrown into the war. Your assignments are due tomorrow morning, and you will then be transported to those locations. Some of you will be separated, some will get unlucky with a dangerous mission, and some might get lucky and get a boring place to guard,” Jumi declared, causing most of us to dial down our previous mood.

Sin heirs were expected to keep up their facade, but some, like Jumi, didn’t care much about it. After all, she was a lustie. Too hedonistic to even follow one single rule, as she, as a person, disliked the whole zealousness of our race. She hated seeing wonder-filled eyes face reality after our religion and indoctrination skewed our minds for the glory of Bole’Taria.

Maybe that was why she was so interested in me on this day… I was one of the few who didn’t care much about the sin heirs. I just wanted to live, and was more anxious about not getting screwed by my assignment.

“Just something to think about before it happens, right? Remember to pick up everything you have, don’t leave anything behind, soldiers,” she stated before turning back to me. “Everybody needs to have something to find comfort with. Try it sometime, kid.”

With that said, she left the barracks, leaving all of us mostly speechless with how she acted. Still, we didn’t have much time left until we had to attend a show-match for the government officials. We would be showing off what we learned, with our finest acting as platoon leaders to lead each other to victory.

These matches kept on going until it was time for dinner. I didn’t know about everybody else, but I gorged myself with everything I was given, including the clean water, before literally falling asleep the moment I got to my bed. I was later told everybody else was enjoying themselves on this last night together at boot camp.

When the time came for our postings, my eyes widened when I saw that I wouldn’t be posted at the frontlines, but at a city—Eins’Kown. I was to return to my home city as another member of the garrison.

“Huh?” My past self went slightly pale, her mind wandering back to the orphanage I grew up in. Trepidation was one word to describe how hesitant I was to return, but I couldn’t show it when the comrades I made in this boot camp quickly came to congratulate me.

“Ahaha, I guess the kingdom is starting to be more careful with their kids,” one of them, a man in his early twenties, called me out, wrapping his arm around me with a big smile. “Keep the homefront safe, all right? I’m going right to the frontline to meet Lord Wrath! Eins’Kown isn’t the safest harbor, but it still produces a ton of food for us. Keep up the ratios!”

He always gushed about the princes of sins and how they would bring our kingdom to salvation against Folschreck.

“Good time to train up with the monster spawnings there, Vifi,” a young woman in her late adolescence comforted me, patting me on the back. “It looks like I'mma to be a raider… Whatever for the kingdom.”

She was born on Altrust, in one of the mountain villages in our territory. The Folschreckians torched everything and pillaged whatever food they could get. She joined the army because she had nowhere else to go, and she would return to Altrust to do what she experienced to others.

“It doesn’t look like any of us are gonna stay on Numerus, aside from ya, lass. Edjurl shines on yer.” A boy around my age sighed with a deep frown, trying his best to keep up a smile to cheer me on. He was the only other minor inside our barracks. “I guess all yer have to worry about is how boring it’ll be, Vifi. Garrison duty at a fief sounds mighty sheit. The soldiers there gonna sear yer back with their eyes.”

“… Some of them might even know me.” My past self frowned. “Can’t complain, though. It’s still—”

However, before she could say anything, I marched over and slammed my palm on her mouth and shoved her to the ground. While everybody there reacted to the consequences of my actions, none of them seemed to be able to see me.

I sighed. “So I can manipulate my own memories here.”

“Why did you not let yourself speak his name?” I heard the elementals speak, yet I didn’t feel that annoyed about it. I, too, wanted to hear myself say it out loud.

“There is a limit to how much you can dig things out from my memories. Some of them deserve some respect for being despoiled in this prison of mine. They aren’t as important, elementals. Let’s leave it at that.”

“I disagree,” they said.

‘I?’ Wait, when did they start using ‘I’?

“This too is part of what shaped your life, Vifi’Yok. To deny it—rejecting it because it’s painful—is another proof of the current world. It seems you understand the pain, yet you aren’t willing to let me change it? I can do it.”

I snickered, shaking my head in disbelief. “Wrong. This proves nothing for you. This just proves things more for myself and my own goals. Go, continue the damn story. Go and watch it all, elemental. Let me show you exactly why I will stay on this path of mine.”

The scene immediately switched back to Eins’Kown, only this time, instead of being covered in dirt and mud, I was wandering the street as a soldier. As a guard of the city.

From the look of it, about three months or so had passed since I was stationed here. On the day I arrived with the other cadets, we were quickly briefed by the guard captain and the personal army of the local fief lord about our duties and that we should be aware that we were reinforcements for the garrison, meaning we now serve the interests of the fief lord, not just our kingdom.

One of these duties was to patrol the streets during dawn or dusk, depending on our assignment and to keep the peace. We were also responsible for protecting the local merchants and shopkeepers, while making sure the different slums were kept in check.

Naturally, some of the guards there did recognize me as I was a known rat in Eins’Kown, but considering I never killed anybody, they didn’t really care. If I had to guess, some of them probably were former rats themselves and could sympathize, but the general decision was to ignore any former rats from Eins’Kown. Once again, solitude was my only friend as the ones I made at the boot camp were gone.

The days and weeks went by without much fanfare as I got used to my duties over time. Beating up criminals, preventing fights from happening, and serving as bodyguards for any nobles or merchants that came to the city. Whether on the road or the sea, I was being put to good use.

Living, though, was a bit different. I was born in Eins’Kown and knew every dark alleyway, secret passageway, and who was crooked, but I felt out of place here. I thought something would change after I became a soldier, but it was all the same. I was still a nobody wandering the streets, earning her keep, and paying her debts off, only that I was covered in muck now.

I guess you could say I rose in ranking as surviving was easier now, since I actually earned proper money, but it didn’t feel like that. It only got worse when I reunited with my former gang. Not accidentally, of course, as the leader already knew I had returned the day I came back.

“Stay safe, aye? Don’t forget we are family, even if you’ve changed sides,” one of the many gang members said while I was out buying groceries. They ambushed me and sent me that reminder as a threat, planning to come back one day to “repay the debt” I owe them for granting me protection.

Both when I was still a kid and now. After all, if they wanted to, they could have tried to kill me. I was never part of them, but I knew my gang did more than just steal. Yet, I didn’t look in their eyes as I returned home, already forgetting about them as I always did. I was born a rat, but I would not associate with those rats again.

Yet, it all wouldn’t just end this way.

Five months into my duty, an accident had happened. On the roads, an important merchant was ambushed by a group of bandits. As my fellow boot campers and I were far higher level than the average guards, we were first sent to the location to take the merchant under our protection while waiting for the reinforcements.

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“Finally! A damn battle!” my fellow boot campers cheered. Not all of them were fellow wrathies or lusties, but all of them were elated to finally be able to do what they were trained to do—act as shock troopers in the vanguard. “Everybody! We’ll show them pompous city guards what we Generation 17 can do!”

Generation 17… we were the 17th batch of soldiers trained at our boot camp. The 17th force of the Spearstrike Military camp, a batch of above-average soldiers with plenty of them having the potential to become platoon leaders or even lieutenants. It sounded so grandiose, and the people I fought with on that day held onto that pride… until they started to die.

It was funny. I didn’t share their enthusiasm, but I still felt alright fighting with them as it had been a long time since we properly sparred. Though I never really felt that way, as I always kept up with my training. I hadn’t leveled up since I left the boot camp, but every skill, technique, and battle sense was kept keen, as that was my sole entertainment in my days of monotony. That desire to survive—those lessons I learned from my childhood—kept me paranoid and always on my toes, so I trained.

I trained far more than my other comrades, and it showed as I was the only one to survive that day.

Yes, it was an ordinary bandit attack, and while we quickly routed them with our forces, the tides turned when we learned they were all humans—infiltrators and saboteurs. One of their groups attacked the merchant group to lure us in, while another attracted the nearby monsters to attack both the city and us.

Our reinforcements were cut off, and we were left in the open as we not only had to protect the merchant, but also his goods, as he commanded us to do so; otherwise, we would be executed. Some of us might have been rank D or C, but the number of monsters that came after us quickly overwhelmed everybody.

“Go—Arrrghkkk!” One of my last comrades shoved me out of the way, saving my life at the cost of his.

I stared in shock as the last monster, a manticore, eviscerated my comrade, devouring him as the man still screamed. “Why did he do that?” I asked myself. As if my life flashed before me, I remembered how we had talked with each other at boot camp.

He told me he was in his late twenties and joined the army to feed his wife and child, mentioning how his son should be the same age as me. As a pride demonkin, he showed so much confidence in his power and how he would strike it rich by rising through the ranks. He certainly had the skill, no question asked, and while he didn’t become one of the finest of our generation, he still made it to rank-C. He was strong, and he was still growing. His wage was decent for both his family and himself, as long as he was frugal with it.

He had a family he was still writing letters to, yet he sacrificed his life for an orphan like me. I had nobody. Nobody would grieve for me if I died one day. I would just become another piece of meat for the other rats and cockroaches. Why? Why?

Why was I blessed with so many good comrades in the boot camp? Why, God Marsven, why?

“Raaaaagahhhhhh!” I screamed like a maniac as my three emotions reached 90%. I still had enough mental strength to keep myself from going berserk, but I wanted to see the rivers of blood open!

I didn’t want my emotions to be mired down by the fact that I broke my second lesson! I wanted to unleash it all! All my rage and anger, going against everything society had taught me to do as a wrath demonkin!

I wanted to fuck things up until it all crumbled to dust!

… Yet all that anger did nothing. I avenged my comrades and saved the merchant and his prizes, earning me a strong commendation later on when the merchant spoke in my favor. He told my guard captain how he questioned why I wasn’t in the frontline. How an “invaluable” warrior like me was stuck on guard duty, instead of honoring our kingdom by slaying our enemies.

Yet, what did that commendation do for me? All I could do was let out tears as my comrades weren’t even given proper burials, as the monsters the saboteurs led to the city had broken down the gates and pieces of the wall, causing turmoil inside while I was protecting the merchant. There was no time… I couldn’t even write letters to tell my comrade’s loved ones that they were gone. I was swamped with work as the key locks in my heart started to open.

I couldn’t keep myself constantly in L.E.P. after that day, always feeling angry. “What if I had just been stronger?” That damn question tormented me day and night, making me sleep and even my mundane groceries run filled with agony. I wanted to return to those days of boredom.

“H-hey, wait, you’re—”

“Fuck off!” I shouted as I snatched away a tankard of mead from one of my fellow guards when they dragged me out after our shifts were over. They wanted me to calm down as they had noticed I was constantly agitated after the accident, but none of them must have thought that I would drink stronger alcohol instead of the fruit punch they ordered. “Blech! Fuck, this is the sheit ya adults keep downing your throats with? No wonder ya wake up with an’edache from this toilet piss.”

I didn’t stop and I was reprimanded by the guard captain the next day. Though, considering what had happened, he didn’t go hard on me despite the fact that I had broken a law. In Bole’Taria, minors were forbidden from drinking before they reached adulthood. How funny. I was allowed to join the military at nine, where I learned to kill others, but drinking was off the table. What a joke.

Yet, even the drunkenness didn’t help much as my mind kept asking myself why I didn’t train more. I was a soldier, supposed to be ready to protect my people from threats, yet when the time came, I was the one to be protected. When the hangover came to me on the next day, I intensively trained, even using my day off to go out to hunt and level up, steadily growing until another accident happened two months later.

Surely, this time, with all my preparation, I could perform better, right? Yes, that was exactly what happened, but the context was the issue. A week before the accident happened, I was on patrol duty when I noticed a young wrathie, barely old enough to speak properly, attempt to pickpocket something.

Another day in the city, another street urchin I had to reprimand.

“Scamper or I’ll take yer in,” I told the kid, scaring him off before anything happened. He didn’t break the law yet, right?

Well… kid was there again the next day, and I had to do it again. Third day, though, was when I had had enough. I grabbed the kid’s arm when he tried to steal, dragging him into an alleyway without anybody seeing it. I pulled out of my pouch and gave him the entire thing, though in his surprise, he let some of its contents spill, revealing it was filled with food.

Commendations meant a wage increase and some new gear, and my guard captain was happy to accommodate me considering he could have lost his head if the merchant had died after everything that happened to the walls. Honestly, I would have appreciated the equipment alone. Though, what was I supposed to do with all that extra money but spend it on more food so I could finally start growing? It was still fish since it was cheap as heck, but… it was fish.

So, I offloaded some of that extra fish on the kid and sent him away, but I guess there was a reason why people recommended not feeding the beggars. They would come back the next day, and the kid sure did… only that his cheek and stomach looked a bit fuller.

“Ya packed it up all good?” I asked about the stash I gave him.

“Yeah.” He nodded, causing me to smile. Every rat had to learn to be resourceful, and it certainly made me feel good that he was the same.

Sometimes I wondered if that was how the senior urchins felt when they taught us. Maybe I was overthinking it, yet I still found this little boy pleasant company. Sadly, I wouldn’t be able to meet him the next day as I was off duty and had no reason to be in that part of the city. Though I wished I had gone there, as I wouldn’t meet the boy again until I received word that a wrathie had gone berserk in the wrathie section of the city.

Hearing that never sat well with me, as I knew it would never end well for my people. I was fortunate I was never given the responsibility to handle them, but on that day, we were undermanned as some of the guards were sent to protect some merchants and farmers from monsters. As such, I was chosen to go, and I truly wished I hadn’t.

The one who went berserk was the little kid.

Yeah, without acquiring your elemental weapons, the kid wasn’t as dangerous as an adult wrathie, but he was still berserk. Like a goblin fully drugged out with various potions, the kid zoomed around with a knife, jumping on random civilians, killing them as the kid was moving too fast for them to react to. Most of the people in this part of the city barely had any levels, so even if they were adults, a wrathie kid with all three emotions at 100% was similar to an animal or monster.

To see the same kid I was befriending ending up like this… it was a constant reminder to me that we wrathies were dangerous to ourselves and others. There was a reason why all wrath demonkin had to live in these quarters unless they joined the army. I was free to live away from my origins, but why was the world like this? Why did we wrathie have to suffer like this because of our bloodline? Why did the archdemon of wrath curse us with this plight?

“He’s too damn fast! Vifi!” another soldier called me. “Put the thing down!”

I was a good soldier. I listened to orders. I followed the law of my kingdom! A wrathie who had gone berserk had to be put down if they couldn’t be calmed down.

“Tiny! Look’a me, look’a me!” I tried to call out when I noticed my emotions were going haywire, again. My yellow lightning zapped the air as I rushed over and grabbed the kid, holding him back as he tried to stab me. “‘Ome on! Stop it! Look’a me! Look’a me! Shieeee, I’m’ere. I got yer some fish bread this time, so please, stop—”

“Grak!”

Before I could get anywhere, the kid was shot down. An archer pierced through his throat as my fellow guards cheered, even celebrating how I was the one brave enough to grab him. How I

Yet, somehow, I was given a commendation again. I could understand the last time, but why this time again? What did I even do that deserved this kinda honor? Seriously, somebody had to have an answer for this crap! We killed a damn kid barely six-years-old and we’re fucking cheering for it?

“Because you get things done, Vifi. Street rat or not, you grew up how Bole’Taria wanted you to grow up, and you overcame it,” my guard captain explained when I got promoted. It hadn’t even been a year yet since I got out of training.

That was not an answer! None at all for what had happened. The answer I sought from him was that we would be investigating this matter, because everybody knew a wrathie wouldn’t go berserk knowing the penalty of going crazy! If I were to be promoted, then I would get to the bottom of this with my new authority.

… Yet, looking back at it, I wished I hadn’t as the answers were far too obvious. The kid’s stash, the food I gave him, was the reason for everything. He was found out by the gang he was working for, so he had his food taken away and he was beaten up as a lesson. Honestly, I had already seen this happen once before, so I knew to always hide my money and food stash well.

When I found this truth out, I could only ask myself why I didn’t do anything. Yes, the kid knew to hide his stash, but he was a kid; he couldn’t know better. I shouldn’t have taught him something like my fellow urchins did. Why didn’t I do anything else but give him food?

The voices got louder in my head, aggravating my anger, to the point I decided to find out which gang he belonged to and exterminate them. I was becoming the type of wrathie that I was told to never become. I wanted revenge to sate my wrath. Nothing more, nothing less. A momentary satisfaction to stop all this pain in my head and heart.

So I rushed around, questioning people here and there for answers, luring in more and more of those scum as they tried to get their way with me. As in, bribing, threatening, and even breaking into my apartment to tell me that I was just a guard. I might be stronger than the others, but I was still just one piece in this entire scheme. The answer finally came when I saw my former gang leader inside the office of my guard captain.

Both looked at me, disgruntled, and I started to understand why the gang I was part of was allowed to exist. Why were so many criminals still around even though crimes could lead to the death penalty?

“Vifi, I will have to ask you to stop your investigation,” my guard captain ordered. “Disrupting the criminals will only prevent them from doing what is needed for our lord.”

Both the guards and criminals were all part of our city’s protection. The guards kept order around us, while the syndicates made sure that every rat would commit crimes in a manner that would benefit the city. All the stealing we did against wealthy merchants was a way for the city to tax them or drain the funds of a rival city or town, due to the feud between their lord and ours.

Yes, we were told to take care of criminals as city guards, but only to teach them to be better thieves. If they couldn’t learn, then they deserved to die. Just like the kid I helped out.

“I spoke in your favor, considering what you’ve done, Vifi. Your attentiveness and strength have forced some of the gangs to find ways to avoid you entirely. We were able to retrieve some of the money a big merchant had gained from us after they left. They learned well from evading your gaze, and they got the job done,” the guard captain ended, nodding to my gang leader to step forward.

He held up a wooden slate, handing it over to me. “A peace offering. Get yer revenge and stop it cold’as catch.”

The person written on the slate was another kid, an adolescent, yes, but it was another person forced to live in this wicked manner. We urchins never had a choice in any of this matter, all while our kingdom kept spouting how we would one day rule over this world after winning the war. Would we inflict such misery on others as well?

I hated it. Anger filled my every being when I saw my revenge target laughing and cheering, mocking some woman he had stolen from. I wanted to kill him… yet I didn’t. The flames of my wrath dissipated as I understood where my place was in this world.

Even as a soldier, I was still only a rat, still serving the same thing since I was born. Nothing had changed for me, so why should I even try?

A year had passed since I first became a guard when I learned that a sin heir would arrive in the city. When the day came, I learned it from none other than Jumi, who had just returned from a campaign on Altrust. The city went into an uproar as they greeted her with streets filled with cheering yeomen and soldiers, praising her, the prince of lust, and the gods for everything they’ve done to protect us from Folschreck.

Strangely, though, when the pink-haired lustie arrived in the garrison to greet our guard captain and the commander of our lord’s army, she pointed at me. “I actually have something for that kid there. I met her at her training camp, so would you mind if I borrowed her for a moment, Captain?”

“None at all, Lady Jumi’Yal!” he stated while winking at me, almost as if he was asking me to do whatever I could to make her feel comfortable. At this point, I was pretty much part of the garrison as I just gave in to the pressure and became part of the grander scheme.

Inside a private room, Jumi smiled as we sat down. “I’ve heard quite a bit about what happened. Are you doing well, Vifi?”

“Ya still remember me?” I said in the most dispassionate voice ever, showing her I lacked any wish to be here.

Yet, she only laughed. “Of course, of course! I wouldn’t forget somebody so easily who managed to look like she was an empty shell. Even the other street urchins looked like they could believe in the word ‘hope.’ You looked like an obedient beast; like a little good cat who actually listens to her owner.”

“Did yer come here to mock me?”

“Ahh, can’t you at least try to look happy to see an old acquaintance? I heard enough about you from the reports,” she stated. Since our training camp was meant to train up specialists, I was “special” enough for my reports to go up the ladder. “Has to be lonely with everybody you know dying by your side. Honestly, I can understand that feeling. The start of my military career wasn’t any better since I almost died during my first mission. Me! A noble who was trained by various educators and trainers to hopefully become worthy to inherit the role as prince of lust, and I—”

“Yer not here to mock me, I see. Yer mind just telling me, Lady Jumi’Yal?” I interrupted her, causing her to huff and puff.

“Marsven’s shadow, let me speak a bit! I can’t talk like this with my attendant and guards with all the eyes around me. This is a safe space for me to act free!” she complained before still deciding to pull out a wooden slate from her back. Honestly, any other noble would have probably flayed me at this point. “Here. Don’t ask, just read it first.”

I didn’t need to continue seeing this part of my memory. I knew enough what this was; after all, it was the final catalyst for me to give up on life.

That tablet documents the deaths of the rest of generation 17, including the people who were part of my barrack. They… died during active duty.

“There are a few more who managed to live since they were stationed at safer places, but those people were all maimed to the point they can’t serve as soldiers any longer. They will be discharged,” she said once I was done reading. “You’re the last of generation 17 of Spearstrike. I’m sorry to say that your generation was deemed a failure.”

“… Yer r-really came here just to mock me, right?” I forced myself to say as my emotions welled up again after so many months. I couldn’t help but want to cry.

Jumi, though, didn’t even shake her head. “My entourage came here to conscript some new soldiers for the war. We managed to win it, but at great cost to our men. The battle was won, but the fight was lost, as we had to retreat. Considering your recommendations, the army had decided to send you to the frontline.”

“… Yer trying to erase us gen 17, huh?”

“Nope. Officially, you’re already part of the pile of burned documents. Your affiliation with Spearstrike military camp stops here, as the army doesn’t want to put another failed batch of ‘above average’ soldiers in the books. It makes us look weak. So much potential wasted because of one bad operation! Your entire generation was wiped out by bad luck, if I’m honest,” she yelled, looking pissed off. I would later learn that Jumi was part of the operation that led to this point, which was why she came here in the first place—out of guilt. “As such, all I can say is that—”

“I’m weak,” I interrupted, causing Jumi to tilt her head. “I’m just gonna die. Yer sending me at their blades again. That’s what this ‘hole world does to everybody!”

I slammed the desk, feeling my lightning shooting out of my body as my demonic features formed. I couldn’t keep my wrath in control any longer. I could feel the numbers rising and I couldn’t stop myself from going berserk. I just had enough of being alive.

I sighed as I saw my past self break the table, causing Jumi to jump up as I was about to give everything up. I looked up at the ceiling. “Hey, elemental. Your ideals might sound similar to what I managed to develop with how I want to save and give my race a better life, but you seem to have forgotten something. Unlike me, who only has to contend with some princes of sin, your opponents are the Origin Gods! You seem to underestimate how much stronger they’ve become over the millennia.”

At the same time, Jumi managed to surprise me by causing her arms to rip open. Her blood shot forward, forming multiple tentacles with bone spikes on them as they slammed into me, suppressing me against the wall.

“Then, how about this, you little brat? You want to learn how we demonkin can become strong enough to become sin heirs? It isn’t because of noble blood or anything, no, it’s something else!” she shouted at me as soldiers stormed the room. Yet, she kept her eyes on me. “You want to become stronger, right? Do you want me to tell you how?”

Unlike me, Jumi managed to soothe a young kid ready to lash out at the world.

My past self nodded.

“Then you'd better get ready to give up your life then! You aren’t surviving anything if you can’t put in the effort to dive into danger!”

… Yes, as much as I didn’t want to admit it. Jumi and I… did become friends. After all, if she weren’t there that day, I would have given up on all the lessons I learned. Ha, which made it extra painful when we reunited in Aureolis after I abandoned my role as a Warbringer. Our friendship had already ended, but that didn’t mean Jumi could ignore the fact that she was one of the reasons why I became so strong.

Yet, for now, all I wanted to do was sit down and watch how our friendship first came to be.

“Now watch how the Twin-Elemental Lake looks, and how I was adopted into the Yok family.”