Nana’s wail was like a douse of cold water. His eyes sharpened and his face settled into its normal stony demeanor. “Okay. Tell me what happened.”

  “He—He said something about the forest, and that he might have a chance or—or something! I dunno!” Nana’s face was streaked with tears as she babbled to him. “I think he went back to the forest! But—but it’s not okay there right now! Dad said so! And all those scary looking people are in there right now!”

  “The soldiers?” Lee asked.

  She shook her head. “No! The soldiers are awesome! But I told dad I saw some weird people before, and he told me I was seeing things! They looked scary and awful! I bet those soldiers are here for them!”

  Lee had a bad feeling about this. “Can you… tell me what they looked like?”

  “Um,” the little girl hesitated. “One of them looked like he was wearing a bathrobe, and um… Sorry, I can’t remember it very well. But! But! They were wearing black! All of them were! And they had this scary red mask!” She shuddered. “I bet they’re monsters!”

  A scary red mask…? No… but, how could they be here? “Are you sure that’s what you saw?”

  “Yes! And they went into the forest! But no one believed me!” She looked up at him pleadingly. “Please, can’t you save big bro this time too? With everything in there, I don’t think even his thick skull will help him out!”

  “Okay, okay,” Lee took a deep breath to try and center himself. “Okay. First, tell me, where exactly did he go? Second, when did he go?”

  “I—I don’t know where he went, exactly! He said that he was just going to look for the Hands’ stuff,” she shook her head. “And he left like—five minutes ago.”

  Great. A whole forest to comb. Unless I get creative. “Don’t worry,” he tries to reassure her. It might have come out flatter than he intended it to be, considering the circumstance. He quickly stood up and picked up his spear. “I’ll try and get him. Watch my backpack for me, will you?”

  “Okay!”

  Lee didn’t waste any more time as he left the room and ran out the house into the streets.

  Red masks and black clothes. Anyone who fought in the war would know what that signified. The barbarian’s answer to the Emperor’s Hands: the barbarian’s Blades.

  A rapid deployment unit that was used heavily during the war he had lived before. They hit hard and fast. A regular infantry soldier like him would normally never meet them—their targets were normally high-value. Unfortunately for him, a barracks sometimes counted as a high-value target. Thankfully, he never came across them directly in his previous lives. It’s just such a shame he had to meet them face to face now.

  His plan to leave immediately after breakfast was pretty much shot now. While he didn’t much like Luis and his impulsivity, he also couldn’t leave him in the forest alone. There was the off chance that Nana was simply seeing things or lying, of course, but she seemed far too genuine and distraught for that to be the case.

  He could also go to the Emperor’s Hands vehicles and see if there was someone left there to guard it all. Normal protocol would dictate that there would be some guards left behind to communicate with headquarters and make sure their equipment wasn’t stolen overnight, but the chances of the Blades being common knowledge among the civilian populace, of which he was a part of at the moment, was very low, and would just make him suspicious to them.

  He didn’t want that at all. Getting put on a list with the war on the horizon is a surefire way to get executed as a spy, even if he wasn’t one.

  That meant that it was left to him to pull out an impulsive kid from within the forest. An impulsive kid he only had a sliver of an idea on how to find.

  Great. But he at least had a general idea. Considering the rush that the kid left the house at, assuming he went directly to the forest, he would have had to enter the forest from the village. He could then figure out where he entered through the forest and see if there were any unusual tracks he could follow there.

  He could rule out a few possibilities—one was where the convoy was parked. There was no way Luis would have been able to sneak past that. Neither could he, for that matter. It doesn’t look like they were patrolling to stop people from going in, but common sense would dictate the soldiers would at least attempt to stop people from getting in over their heads, especially if they were conducting ‘training exercises’ inside said forest.

  Another—or a set of ‘others’—would be anything that bordered a house. Unless the boy could walk through walls, he wouldn’t be going through those. That left a few places that he could check. He just hoped he found it quickly.

  With the search area narrowed down by a marginal amount, it took ten minutes to find the disturbance, and then five more to check all the other spots out. The disturbance, that being a boot imprint on the ground, was remarkably solid despite it possibly only showing up a few minutes ago, but seeing as he had already wasted too much time, he dove into the forest.

  Once again, he was somewhat mourning his choice of weaponry. He was marking trees as he moved through them, keeping his eye out for any suspicious activity. Either those of Luis, the Hands, or the possible Blades. It was a bit much of him to expect himself to be able to find a Hand or a Blade that didn’t want to be found, but what else can he do? Just lay over and accept it?

  Unlike the last time he went into the forest, there were no silly sounding screams to listen to. Instead, he had to rely on half-formed investigative skills of ‘looking for boot prints’ and ‘looking for any broken off twigs’. He couldn’t be quite so sure that he was following Luis’ trails, but it matched the idea of someone who was rushing, right?

  It was his only lead. And Lee was desperate. He didn’t want to stay in this forest any more than he had to, not with it most likely about to become a hot zone.

  Really… what an impulsive kid. No—perhaps brat would suffice more. After that showing from his parents last night too. Lee himself couldn’t fathom disrespecting his parents like that, or just throwing away the affection they had shown him. Perhaps the difference lied in the fact that his parents had been dead for lifetimes for him.

  It’s said that one would not know what they are missing until it is gone, after all, Lee mused as he trudged past another bush. His ears pricked as he heard the chirps of the birds around him doing their morning rituals. Though perhaps I should not be thinking philosophy like this in the middle of a forest where I could be killed at any moment. Distractions were for when he was safe, and he was most certainly not that right now.

  However, as he kept following the trail, he kept coming up with nothing. This isn’t working. Luis is most definitely moving faster than I can look for his tracks. I need a different approach.

  It was dangerous, but… he could take the high ground by jumping up the trees and looking around.

  The forest was not so overgrown that he couldn’t see into it while standing up. There were plenty of plants that could obscure vision, yes, but they weren’t so tall as to make high ground completely unviable. In fact, if something were to move them or disturb them, he’d probably notice it easier if he was high up.

  He glanced up at a tree. It was thick with long and non-spindly looking branches. Similar to many others in this forest. It would definitely support him if he can get up there. The problem is that he needed to climb up approximately eight meters to be able to get a good view.

  How hard could it be…?

  It turned out to be fairly simple. Emulating how he saw Luis shimmy down the tree, he did the same, except upwards. He was quicker with it than Luis, though he attributed that more to both his fitness and the enhancement currently running through his body. A strong body led to a strong mind, or something to that effect.

  He scanned the direction he was going first. His eyes landed on a few disturbances, but waiting it out revealed only a few animals scurrying about. Nothing that would disprove that Luis was there—or that he wasn’t.

  He looked behind him—and while there were some disturbances he hadn’t noticed before, it was mostly safe and as expected.

  Beside him were much of the same. More plants and more animals.

  … Damn it.

  He continued doing this for the next ten minutes. A few times, he had to change directions, because of a particularly scary looking monster, or because of a severe lack of tracks he could continue following in a direction.

  At this point, the sun was already shining. It hadn’t gotten to the point that he was getting beaten down by the heat, but it was only a matter of time, especially in this humid environment. He quickened his pace, but there was only so much he could do with what was practically guesswork and a pipe dream.

  I wish I had learned how to track people properly. Alas, he could not go back to learn it now. Another skill to potentially add to his skillset in the future. For now, he has to make do. Just like every other time.

  In the end, what made him notice he was close was not any suspicious disturbances, but the complete lack of any.

  Lee observed his surroundings. The plants were still aside from the occasional gust of wind. There were no animal sounds coming from that direction of the forest. And it was suspiciously undisturbed. What Lee had noticed over time was that a disturbance did not necessarily mean that people had gone that direction—but that something passed by the area.

  He had to trim down what he considered to be a lead because of that, leaving it to boot prints and looking for disturbances that looked like they were pushed aside rather than walked through. The boot prints had stopped appearing minutes back, and the plants stopped showing anything just now. What lay beyond was completely undisturbed, as if no animal had gone through the specific patch of forest.

  … Or as if someone is hiding something.

  He doubted it would be Luis that had done something like this, but he had to check out that patch of forest. There was no reason for animals to not be inside this particular patch of forest. He’ll just have to make sure he remembers the way back—if this isn’t Luis, after all, then he’d be in a load of trouble.

  He walked into the silent patch cautiously, his eyes peeled for any activity. He did his best to not disturb any of the plants, to leave as little trace of himself as possible, though the effect of that may leave much to be desired. The sun did not help much in the matter, as its rays revealed him whenever he had to sneak into an open area.

  Regardless, he kept sneaking. It was strange—outside the silent patch, he had heard animals in the distance, but now that he had gone inside… he can’t hear a thing. Not an echo, not a peep. It was almost as if he was—

  “Another one?” A bored voice interrupted his thoughts.

  His eyes widened as he spun to his side, his spear pointed towards the speaker. It was—thankfully—not a Blade. He wore a dark purple shirt with a thick chest rig over it. He had black pants and boots, as well as some sunglasses over his brows. A Hand. Oh, thank goodness. But this is still not great.

  “Sorry?” Lee questioned cautiously. “What do you mean, another one?”

  “Hmm,” the Hand didn’t answer his question. He stared Lee down, as if he was a predator cornering his pray. Lee kept his spear up, but didn’t point the tip towards him as the Hand walked around him. “Interesting.”

  “What?” Lee couldn’t help but say in surprise. “What do you mean by that?”

  “Nothing important. And yes, another one,” the Hand shrugged lazily. “Why? You looking for him?”

  If the Hand decided it was nothing important, it was probably best he didn’t ask anything more. “Y-yes, he ran in here unprepared, and I’ve heard that you folks were doing a training exercise here… You must have sent him back, then?”

  “Hmm… nah. Don’t remember anyone radioing in about it,” the Hand replied. “To be clear, I didn’t speak to him like I’m doing to you right now. We just know someone entered the isolation barrier.”

  “This is an isolation barrier?” That… would make sense. It’d explain why noise from the outside couldn’t get in, or why noise from the inside couldn’t get out. But also, he did not know that ‘isolation barriers’ were possible until now. There was probably some fascinating artificing going on in there, but now was not the time to ask. “But—why? I thought—”

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  “Don’t ask questions you don’t want answers to. Go back to the City, kid. We can get your friend back for you.”

  “… But I came from the village, though?” Lee frowned. This man seemed awfully unprofessional for being a Hand.

  “Same thing. Go back home. I’m sure that—”

  An explosion broke the silence, Lee noting a plume of smoke rising off in the distance, and the bored man in front of him sharpened, for the lack of a better word. It was as if all the previous laziness was just a fa?ade. Lee had already been thinking that it was a mask that he showed for civilians of some sort, but seeing such a drastic change happen in front of him was still a bit unnerving. “… Got it. Kid, run along now. I don’t have time to play with you.”

  With those words, the man practically vanished. It was not hard to tell where he was going, despite his speed, considering the path he had taken had practically split apart every tree in the way. A mildly terrifying display of bodily enhancement, but it also gave Lee a view of the source of the smoke—a self-sustaining fire in the middle of a what probably had been a perfectly good section of forest that was now turned into a clearing.

  “Oh, gods above…” A fight between high level casters, and he’s right by the blast zone. He really didn’t want to be here, but according to that Hand, Luis was still in the area. At the very least, he’ll know he’s not in the isolation barrier anymore once he stops hearing the spellcasting.

  A flash of lightning arced a couple dozen meters over his head, and despite the distance, he still felt the thrum of power that echoed with it, making him flinch. I need to be quick, before they throw even more area of effect spells around the place.

  He didn’t know how long it would take, but he hoped it would be quick. Running around a battlefield was not safe in the most normal of situations, and this battlefield contained at least a squad of the Emperor’s Hands and some of the Barbarian’s Blades throwing around spells like they were cheap.

  Thankfully, aside from some lightning spells and large area of effect spells, not many came Lee’s way. The combatants were excellent at aiming at the right targets. It helps that the lightning and general elemental spells came from what looked to be the Blades—the strange red mask and black clothing identifying them from the purple shirts and chest rigs that the Hands wore.

  Finally, with some trial and error, and accidentally exiting the isolation barrier at times, he found Luis, who was gaping at the fight while holding something in his hands. A staff of some sort. Knowing what Lee did now, he could almost feel a headache coming on. But he had to get out of here first. Then he can start to berate the dumb kid that has put both himself and Lee in danger.

  He roughly grabbed Luis by the shoulder, making him jolt in fear as he turned to point the staff towards Lee. Lee batted the tip away from him. “Don’t point that thing at me! Let’s get out of here, kid, it’s not worth it!”

  “But—”

  “Shut up! No buts! Let’s go!” He forcefully tugged him into a standing position and shoved him towards the direction away from the fight. From now, its pretty clear that whoever set up this barrier had made it so that their fight wouldn’t escape this area, and the way to get out would be by going away from it.

  And so, the two of them make a run for it. Luis was not near the edge of the barrier, having been closer to the fight than he was to the exit, so there was some distance. Lee flinched as another arc of lightning struck a dozen meters above his head, but didn’t dare look back.

  “Urgh, sorry, Luis, but hang on!” Lee ducked under the young man, ignoring his yelps and complaints as he took him in a fireman’s carry. He grunted as he adjusted to the weight, and circulated his mana as best as he could on his legs, then ran.

  He’d never run this fast before—a soldier in formation running this fast would mean practically abandoning your duties. It meant that he wasn’t quite as experienced in this as he wished he was. His legs burned as he pumped as much mana into it to get as much speed as possible. He’s sure there was a major inefficiency in the way he was pumping mana into his legs, but now was not the time to reflect on this.

  Alas, Lee couldn’t have predicted how the fight would go.

  A particularly powerful spell of some kind created an explosion behind them. A powerful gust blew behind him, nearly tripping him into his face as he ran. It succeeded in slowing him down. Slow enough to see a person in black whizzing past him and landing in front of him, making Lee duck into a bush and put a hand over Luis’s mouth to shut him up. He didn’t need much convincing.

  “Fox!” A man in black sped past him and landed beside the fallen combatant—Fox—and pulled him up. Both of them wore red masks. Two. Shit.

  “Damn, there’s too many of those damned Emperor’s hounds. At this rate, we won’t be getting the VIP,” another voice said as it sped past him. Three.

  “We must. Commander Dog’s instructions…” Four. Gods damn it.

  “He also told us to extract if it’s impossible. Clearly, it’s not possible,” Fox grunted, being supported by his teammate. “We must leave and alert the Coalition to the situation. The Hounds have grown numerous. It means they’re ready.”

  “But, the VIP…”

  “We can still get them. In a future operation. Maybe. For now—we have to save ourselves.”

  Please don’t see us. Please, please. Lee made sure to keep his hand over Luis’s mouth as he tried his best to remain hidden. Where even are these Hands? Gods please—

  His prayers were answered by a mocking laugh from somewhere to his side. His eyes darted over to where it came from to see six of the Emperor’s finest standing with varying levels of injury. “You think we’re gonna let you save yourselves?”

  He couldn’t see their faces from this place, but he figured some of them had some sort of mocking expression on right now. “You filthy barbarians have gone on unimpeded in our territory long enough. What made you think you could run around near our HQ without a problem?”

  None of the Blades answered. They simply readied themselves and their weapons once more—one wielded a seemingly unadorned staff, two had swords that Lee was sure acted as some sort of spellcasting focus, and Fox had gauntlets that they slammed together.

  In comparison, the Hands were already ready, all of them wielding a staff of varying lengths and already casting spells. Hundreds of projectiles filled the air as the Hands open fired into the enemy’s direction.

  Fox smashed his gauntlets into the ground, and a wall of earth came up. The projectiles that would certainly have penetrated through normal earth failed to do so, and the other Blades behind him started casting some spells as well—though it seemed this time, it wasn’t targeted towards the Hands.

  “Give me some time,” the one with the staff grunted as he focused.

  “You didn’t have to ask.”

  A wonderful display of camaraderie from a group of barbarians, but Lee didn’t much care about that. Luis was practically shivering beneath him as they hid from the clash of two powerful forces, but he slowly crawled away through the dirt and grime, trying to go around the fight.

  Luis miraculously stayed quiet the entire time they were crawling. The projectiles that the Hands were repetitively shooting into the Blades’ defensive spells were unrelenting, the sounds of impact filling the area as they did their best to remain undetected.

  But as is bound to happen, one of the projectiles got through. Or rather, one of the Blades dodged a projectile instead of blocking it, and the two of them just so happened to be in the path.

  Luis’s eyes closed as he braced for impact, while Lee stood and pulled Luis to the side as he leapt away from the projectile’s path, which revealed him to everyone who had been fighting.

  “Shit, there’s still civvies in here? I thought you—” the lead Hand turned to one of his men, who Lee now recognized as the person he had met when he first entered the barrier. “And—wait, that’s—”

  “It is! And I thought I—” the Hand he had talked to seemed flustered as he tried to explain.

  “The VIP! Come on, get him!”

  The VIP?

  … Luis?

  The Blades wielding swords lunged at him, and Lee did his best to defend. He held up his spear and jabbed it towards them. “Get the hell away from us! Help! Fuck!” He cursed as one of the Blades nearly got through his spear, backing off and trying to lead them away from Luis. Strangely enough, they weren’t trying to stab him with their own weapons. A semblance of honor in their barbaric cultures, perhaps. “I don’t know what you want from him, but you’re not getting him!”

  “We don’t—”

  “Good initiative, kid!” The lead Hand got past the Blade named Fox and stood in front of him, defending him from the Blades. “How shameful, turning your weapons against the weak. You folks are outnumbered, and now you want a hostage?”

  “You filthy hound,” one of the Blades spat. “Spreading lies and deceiving your own people. No. We are simply—”

  “Yap, yap, yap,” the lead Hand mocked them with a hand gesture as he held his staff on the other. “Your ‘Fox’ may be strong, but he’ll fall soon. My squad is gonna finish him off. Then, we’re going to capture you. And you’re gonna tell us exactly how many of you ‘Blades’ there are, and who trained you.”

  “Our exfil is ready!” The one with the staff suddenly shouted. “Grab the VIP!”

  One of the Blades lunged.

  Lee almost didn’t see him move. It might be his adrenaline, but even when everything felt like it was going in slow motion, he felt as if the Blade was moving in normal speed as he moved towards him.

  It was a nightmare scenario. The Blade’s hand was stretched out, looking to grab him as a hostage, but even while he was perceiving things in this speed… His own body refused to respond as fast. The best he could do was close his eyes and pray.

  But… nothing. He felt nothing.

  He opened his eyes again.

  The Blade that had rushed him had his arm cut off and was knocked unconscious by the lead Hand, his staff having sprouted blades made of pure mana at two of its sides, looking to be similar to a strange sword. The other Blades have gathered together, a wall conjured by the one they called Fox barely holding up against the barrage of simple spells the other Hands were shooting at them, before a blue portal suddenly appeared behind them, where the Blades all dropped in.

  The portal closed as soon as the last one got through, leaving the forest in silence as the Hands stopped shooting at the enemy.

  “… Holy shit,” Luis murmured. Frankly, Lee couldn’t find the energy to disagree with the statement. Holy shit was about right. This—this wasn’t a regular engagement.

  Whatever this is was way above his paygrade. On one hand, he’s glad to have come across this event early on his adventuring. It meant that it could bode well in the future to continue doing his adventure to keep learning new things.

  On the other hand, he almost met an early death just now. It would’ve been a massive blunder and waste of life.

  His heart was pounding as the Hands split up to—well, Lee wasn’t quite sure. To investigate the scene? To do something else? To regroup? There was much less of them than he expected to find, especially with the convoy that had come here.

  “We definitely could’ve captured them,” the Hand that had saved him complained. “Why’d you kids decide to mess up our operation, huh?”

  “W-we’re sorry for interrupting a crucial operation,” Lee forced Luis to bow in apology alongside him. “We didn’t know this was something this dangerous!”

  “Mmm. Can’t be helped, I suppose,” the Hand glanced at Luis and noted the staff he was still clutching in his hands. “Oh? Civvie kid number two, where’d you find that old thing?”

  “Um,” Luis struggled to find the words. “I—I found them in those guys’ camp? They had it out in the open so I just grabbed it, but that was a bit before you found them…”

  “Oh?” The Hand’s eyes seemed to gleam curiously. “You found ‘em before we did?”

  “I—I wouldn’t know, sir,” Luis apologized. “I know they weren’t doing anything at that time yet, though.”

  “Hmm,” the Hand hummed. The two looked at each other as he seemed to be thinking.

  “You kids… can keep that old thing. I’m sure one staff from their little cache in there is fine to ‘lose’,” the Hand smirked. “Besides, I’m sure you kids want a trophy from this little shit show, yeah?”

  He waved them off. “Now get the fuck outta here. You’re overstaying your welcome, ya lucky brats.”

  The obvious dismissal had Lee tug on Luis as they both ran out of the isolation barrier, a tad faster than usual.

  It took some time to find their way out, but they managed to exit the forest, and Luis seemed to recognize it as being close to the village. “Gods… Holy fuck… That was insane.”

  “I’ve never seen a fight like that up close…” Lee had seen them far, far away from the usual slugging fest of formations. “That was absolutely terrifying.”

  “This is what an adventure is all about…” Luis seemed to be in his own world, forgetting about the fact that he had been near useless the entire time.

  Lee did not let him live his delusion. “No, you damned fool, that is not what adventure is. You shouldn’t look for that stuff either!” It was absolutely insanity that adventure was the point he took away from that near death experience.

  “Oh please, you were fine! You were fighting that guy to a standstill!”

  “If you call that fighting, I would suggest you get your eyes checked,” the Blade had not been trying to capture him for some reason, possibly to use as a bargaining chip against the Hands. It wouldn’t work in the later parts of the war, but before it? It probably could have.

  “Have more faith in yourself,” the idiot encouraged Lee. “See, we could be a duo, I’ll be the glorious adventurer, and you could be like my bodyguard or something!”

  “Hell no,” Lee refused immediately. He would not be traveling with an impulsive idiot like this. “I’m taking you to your home. Then I’m getting out of this damn village.”

  “Wait, wait, wait, but—”

  “Shut up. You know what you did, huh?” He turned to Luis. “Your little sister woke me up because you suddenly ran off. She was crying. She didn’t want to lose you. Your parents don’t want to lose you either.”

  “You don’t get it!” Luis suddenly shouted, angry. “My parents, they’re stifling me! I want to explore! I want to do things! I don’t wanna just a villager forever!”

  “Then don’t be a villager forever. You don’t have to risk your life to get your kicks in,” Lee turned towards the village. “Your lucky there’s someone to care for you at all.”

  Silence accompanied them as they walked back to the village. Lee let him stew in his thoughts as they approached the village. It lasted until they both got to his home, where the door was opened by his little sister, in front of both his parents.

  Chuck had a dark expression, and Vivian had been obviously crying. Their expressions instantly turned to relief when they saw Luis, as they both scolded and thanked Lee at the same time.

  Lee didn't know what to say, so he simply offered them a small awkward smile as he excused himself to grab his stuff.

  His backpack was just as he left it.

  “Thanks, kid,” Lee whispered. He doubted she heard it, with all of them having Luis trapped in a group hug. He scooted around them as he walked for the exit of the house.

  “Wait. Wait up, Lee!”

  It was Luis. He struggled out of the group hug and took a deep breath. “Look, I’m—”

  “You don’t need to apologize to me,” Lee interrupted him. “You need to apologize to them.”

  His family, who he had scared twice now. No, definitely more times, considering he’s been doing this for a long time.

  “Yeah. But that’s not what this is about,” Luis bowed. “Thank you. Really. From the bottom of my heart. Thank you.”

  The genuine, heartfelt gratitude he felt from the statement was a bit much. “… Yeah. Don’t worry about it.”

  Luis shook his head. And with a small amount of hesitation, he shoved the staff he had been holding towards Lee. “No. You saved my life. Shit, I can’t even use this thing. It’s useless to me. It’s better off with you.”

  “But, you literally went in there for something like this—”

  “And now you get to keep it,” Luis firmly shoved it into Lee’s hands. “Again. Thanks.”

  “… Got it,” Lee took a deep breath. “… Don’t do anything stupid anymore, yeah? Enjoy your time with your family.”

  With those parting words, he left their home.

  What a way to start adventuring… A strange, near deadly event, and meeting an incredibly impulsive individual.

  Lee would wish he didn’t encounter these things anymore, but considering this was the type of information he wanted to learn in the first place, it was bound to keep happening if he wanted to learn more.

  And also… he raised his new staff up. He was holding it instead of his spear, the weapon being strapped to the side of his backpack instead. I get to keep a staff. He wasn’t sure why the Hand let them keep it, but he wasn’t one to look a gift horse in the mouth.

  But this might help him. Despite the danger of the situation, he had seen what might be possible if he continued practicing spellcasting. The image of that lead Hand with his sword made of energy was stuck in his head. If I could figure something like that out… I wouldn’t need to maintain my spear as much. I can focus everything into artificing…

  Regardless… the future was looking mighty interesting for Lee.

  A few days later, in the next village, Lee heard of something new while he was resupplying.

  The Imperial Army wants YOU.

  The war has begun.