“You can hear them, can’t you?”

  The figure in front of the young boy was pale, ghostly, and most of all…almost indistinguishable from the demon devils earlier.

  With a baggy white coat, a mask that obscured half of his lower face, and a steel helmet that hid much of the rest, all Wilhelm could see was the man’s dead grey eyes.

  “You killed…a dozen of them,” the man continued. “And you did it with nothing but glyph traps. Tell me, boy. Do you see them in your mind? Do you hear them?”

  Wilhelm continued to stare at the suspicious man in silence, as his blue eyes flickered.

  Yes.

  He could hear them. Always. The wails, the screams, and the messages those creatures sent to each other. As those sounds melded together their vicious assault in his mind, a mental map which showed their locations formed.

  He could see where they were, what they were, where they were heading, and even how strong they were.

  Many more were coming here. Dozens. Small ones. Big ones. Those who looked like animals. Those who looked like humans.

  Demons.

  They killed my sister.

  They killed my mother.

  I have more traps set.

  I can kill more of them.

  His mind trembled excitedly at those thoughts. Years ago, these voices made his brain tremble in terror, and as a consequence, he could seldom sleep.

  Now, it was the reverse. He loved to hear them, because he wanted nothing more than to know where they were. Because…

  I want to kill more of them.

  The boy’s azure eyes glowed at the idea of more dead demons, and he grinned.

  He was taught how to use glyphs back then by his father. It was hard to use, cumbersome, and usually impractical. How would one even use them properly as traps when creatures might not even step on them?

  Yet, in front of their abandoned estate, were a dozen burned, frozen, or crystallized demonic creatures. All of them were dead. Their blood flowed in the snowy fields profusely, still fresh from the battle he alone won an hour ago.

  “Can…” Wilhelm started, as he turned in the direction of the distant corpses. “Can you kill more of them, Sir Soldier?”

  “Sir Soldier eh?” the masked man laughed, as he patted Wilhelm’s shoulder, while looking at the fallen demons as well. “Sure. I know how to kill a lot of them. Been doing that for three decades now. Will you answer my question then?”

  “Yes. I can hear them,” Wilhelm answered, as he pointed at the distant fields. “There are twenty of them. Incoming. Animal-like. They howl.”

  The masked man laughed again, as he stood up. That was when Wilhelm noticed something peculiar on the shoulder part of the soldier’s coat. There was a patch with a symbol of a fox on it, smiling at him like a sly predator.

  Behind him, more soldiers with the same white uniforms appeared from the woods, their coats bearing the same shoulder patches. They held crossbows, swords, and shields. Some even carried staves and wands, and all of them seemed ready to kill.

  He could sense that these people were those that his fathers called the demon hunters of the north, mankind’s only shield against the darkness.

  The Defense Forces.

  “Then follow me, boy. Tell me where all of them are, and what they are,” the soldier leaned close to Wilhelm, as his grey eyes stared at the boy with psychotic excitement. “I can’t promise you lofty things…like a better life, or regaining your nobility. In fact, if you choose me—the battlefield will be your home and coffin. Like all of us.”

  Home and coffin?

  This soldier sure was trying to scare Wilhelm, but the boy didn’t care. What he wanted was to kill more demons, nothing else. And that was what this soldier offered him as he continued.

  “But if you do well, then I can assure you that you can kill thousands more to avenge your dear mother and sister.”

  The soldier then extended his gloved hand to Wilhelm.

  “Lend me your bloodline’s ancient ability that you inherited, and I will turn you into humanity’s finest tactician, Wilhelm von Eisen.”

  Wilhelm didn’t know what ‘tactician’ meant, but it seemed like it would mean he could kill more demons if he became one. The urge to have revenge, and the urge to fight, until all of those demon devils were gone—it made his brain tremble.

  No, it consumed him.

  He shook the soldier’s hands with childish glee.

  “Please, Sir Soldier. I wish to kill a thousand of them, then a thousand more, and beyond that!”

  “You will. All those demons screaming in your mind, because of you, one day, all of them shall perish.”

  Wilhelm watched as the soldier grinned.

  “My name is Colonel Erwin Stahl. Welcome to the 101st Rapid Reaction Brigade, or as they call us—the Fuchs Brigade. You, little one, made the right choice to join us.”

  +++

  With only barely a dozen men under his command, this man, somehow, during the battle against Sloth, according to Alexa’s novel, managed to hold back said special demon that couldn’t be killed by any magic except for the saintess’ holy magic.

  Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

  Even an entire corps was said to be insufficient to hold back or kill these creatures, and only Wilhelm’s ‘Fuchs Brigade’ usually forced them to retreat whenever they appeared on the battlefield.

  That was what Wilhelm managed to help kill.

  While he did die during the incident, his actions of aiding the saintess in the end meant ultimate victory for mankind when she didn’t die, and her powers were activated.

  It was his final battle, making him the only officer known in the story’s history who lost not a single battle until his demise in his final victory.

  And that reality didn't change even after Alexa’s actions earlier. When the novel changed the timeline after she befriended Phoebe, it was this scary guy who picked up the pieces after Alexa died by setting up an elaborate trap that made it easier for Phoebe to kill Sloth.

  Still…did that really mean that Alexa had to follow every whim of this jerk?! Why was he making her run around the fields like some rat? Was his mind functioning correctly? She was the Crown Princess for goodness’ sake!

  “I’m tired!” Alexa whined, collapsing on the green grass of the Academy garden. “I can’t…I’m dying…no water…”

  She reached out to the sky pathetically with one of her hands, as if she were a soldier valiantly dying on the battlefield, choking out her final words.

  “Please…someone, save me…”

  Then, Wilhelm appeared in front of her, holding a steel cup filled with water as he knelt with a knee.

  “The Empire is truly doomed,” he spat out coldly, before smiling. “But at least you seem like you’re trying now. That’s commendable.”

  “Doomed?!” Another blood vessel popped in Alexa’s forehead, as she suddenly stood up, regaining all of her energy, before she snatched the cup of water from the instructor’s hand. “What in the goddess’ name are you implying by that? If I may inform you, I am the finest princess produced by House Wolgast. I will not be lowered by a mere peasant like you!”

  Finishing her speech, Alexa chugged all of the cup’s contents in a truly unladylike manner, before placing it back on Wilhelm’s hand.

  “I’m done with this. I need to take a bath. My clothes are ruined, my skin is drenched in sweat, and my muscles are aching. This ‘training’ of yours is quite awful.”

  “You’d better check your stat window first before doing that,” Wilhelm said, as he stood up. “You’ll see if our efforts in the last two days paid off.”

  “...Fine.”

  Alexa mentally opened her ‘status sheet’, and immediately, a bluish screen appeared in front of her.

  Alexa’s eyes widened. Was this true? One of her physical stats, SPD or speed was now at L neutral instead of L minus.

  Now that she thought about it, lately, she’d been feeling less tired whenever she ran around. Last month, during winter, even just walking a few hundred feet meant that she’d be completely winded, so she always complained to Alfred about it.

  Now, however, after two days of rigorous afternoon training under Instructor Wilhelm, she managed to finish three laps before dying in this garden.

  This jerk. I can’t believe his methods work. Now I’ll have to admit it. No way, I can’t.

  “...I-I suppose it improved itself,” Alexa said, not looking at him. “Still! I don’t see why the changes are so minuscule, Mr. von Eisen. These gains are way too little for my great diligence.”

  “What are the gains?”

  “Well…um…” She looked at her screen. “My SPD stat improved.”

  “I see. That means running around trains your body better at moving faster.”

  “Hmm. I’ve been wondering about this,” Alexa walked close to Wilhelm, looking up at him. “What does each of these ‘stats’ even mean?”

  “Have you not read anything about it?”

  “The grimoires I read said nothing about it!”

  Besides, asking that asshole system grates me. It always goads me into doing stupid things.

  An overly enthusiastic bluish screen that looked like an advertisement appeared in front of her.

  [PLEASE ATTEMPT A FORMATION RITUAL IN THE NEAREST MANA CONDENSER TODAY—!]

  Shut up!

  “Your temper can benefit from some work,” he bluntly pointed out, before answering. “Alright. STR means strength. It determines the physical strength of your muscles. The highest value that STR can reach is SSS plus, though I’ve never seen warriors with that level of strength. That level of power combined with some sword arts can practically cleave a building a mile away.”

  Alexa’s eyes widened in awe. But then it made sense, she supposed. People in this world seemed superhuman.

  “What about the next ones?”

  “CON or constitution determines your body’s durability without mana reinforcement, and it also determines resistance to non-magical diseases and ailments. The higher the value, the more an individual can resist blows aimed at him. We’ve once battled a demon rated with SS plus constitution in the Northern Front, and it practically ate twelve heavy anti-demon energy bolts.”

  “My, how interesting. How common is that?”

  “I haven’t seen a human with that level of power. I’ve heard that some people reached it, but I’ve seen none on the battlefield.”

  “I see. What about SPD and DEX?”

  “SPD determines one’s stamina and mobility. The higher, the faster you are, and the longer you can run. DEX is all about your dexterity at handling items skillfully and with precision using your hands. This is very important for most artisans, swordsmen, or cooks.”

  “I see…” Alexa placed her hand on her chin. Her quest required that she improve all four a bit so that she could finish the tutorial.

  Mr. Scary Eyes over here required it after she told him that she couldn’t conduct a formation ritual, lest she risk cardiac arrest. He said that he needed her to be of sound health first, and he had a potential intervention he could use on her.

  Apparently, he had the same affliction that Alexa had. His heart was so weak that he almost died when he attempted to form a magic circle. It was only his father’s intervention when he was a child that helped him plow through the first magic circle.

  Even now, this famed commander still relies mostly on external mana, either using items or paper glyphs to cast spells that he might need.

  Unlike Alfred, who could probably cut through a hundred men using his sword and magic, this Wilhelm guy probably wouldn’t be able to fight any knight worth his status one-to-one.

  Yet, he’s the one with better combat records, and he seems like he knows how to train me better.

  Strange indeed.

  “Mr. von Eisen, does that mean running around won’t aid me in improving my other three stats?” she asked.

  “Yes. But I have to train you a bit in self-defense anyway, so these three should improve as well. My goal is to get you at least to L neutral. At best, L plus. Better bodily conditions after all will mean your body can withstand more stress placed on it during a formation ritual.”

  “I see—”

  “I knew it,” someone suddenly entered the garden. Alexa turned to her back, and standing in front of a bunch of flowers was a very angry Alfred. “You’ve been taking your time with her all this time.”

  “Heh,” Wilhelm laughed at his twin brother. “This girl asked me to teach her how to get her first magic circle, because she wants to know how to kill demons. I thought I’d help her, for the good of the Empire and all.”

  “Now you’ve just pushed it, you one-eyed freak,” Alfred walked forward, his hand already on the hilt of his sword. “I should have finished your miserable life then and there when I saw you again—”

  “Sir Alfred,” Alexa called out, her eyes closed as she crossed her arms. “Didn’t I tell you that your job today is to continue figuring out any leads about the herbs I need for the aiding elixir? I need that for the formation ritual. I presume you failed then?”