As we prepared ourselves before the first assault, Sam instructed us to make a strategy discussion for the upcoming battle. I was honored to hold the rank of a Captain while Blanc became my Lieutenant by our self-proclaimed Field Marshal, Sam Maximus. While most of her very trusted friends was appointed to a way higher position than us from Major to Colonel, Brigadier to General. It’s not that because she doesn’t trust us enough to give us a higher rank in this small scale revolution, it’s just that most of that title doesn’t really do most of the dirty work unlike those below us. Sam trusts us enough that we can go out there and fight the enemy.

“Are you sure this is enough to protect myself?” I commented on my commissioned outfit that was rather minimalist in terms of protection.

I was given a blue uniform jacket with a white shirt underneath it. I also got a black glove on my right hand and, black pants that have two pockets, and a pair of short dark grey boots. There was no form of protection at all.

Blanc quickly responded by saying, “It’s enough for a ghost like you.” Blanc unzips her thigh-high boots as she said that.

“You think so? Well what about you? You can’t go translucent like I do. What you’re wearing is rather…revealing.”

It was indeed revealing for me. Blanc’s hair was unkempt. She wears a beret, a dark jacket with the button halfway closed from up to down, and a checkered skirt. She’s basically showing off a little part of her skin with the way she’s buttoning the jacket. She also uses a black, fingerless glove, the right of which extends to her elbow, and a leather thigh-high boots to fill out the rather revealing ensemble she wears. Let’s not forget her huge machine bracelet on her left wrist. This all makes it even more troubling because there were two disturbances for my eyes. Two big disturbances.

“Enjoying the view, pervert?” Blanc raised one of her eyebrows as she begins to zips the other pair of her thigh-high boots.

I tried too hard to be discreet and said, “What are you talking about? It’s your fault for wearing something like that. That’s not just going to attract the enemies; it might as well attract your own allies.”

“What an idiot.” Blanc picks up her Devourer and begins to clean it up with a piece of cloth. “We’re wearing fewer clothes because we need to do this swiftly. Do you think wearing a bunch of armour can help us win the battlefield? It will only prolong the battle as far as I can see.”

I raised my eyebrows and said, “Ow, you mean this increases our speed?”

“The less the burden we have on us, the better.” She said that as she carried her Devourer by her shoulder.

“Yeah…burden…” I lightly laughed as I looked at her carrying that huge blade of hers.

“Here take this.” Blanc threw me a packet of syringes.

I duly asked her, “What are these?”

“Those are Instant Healing Syringes. It’ll patch up instantly on any part of your injured body. You’re still a half-ghost. You’re going to need that.”

“Do you have yours?”

“I don’t need it as long as I get to devour something in the field.” She calmly said that as if it was nothing.

“You should really stop thinking about eating other students.”

“I’m just joking.” Blanc lightly laughed then said, “You’d think I would eat another human being? Come on, Sam is waiting for us.”

I see why my ranking is superior to hers. It’s basically saying that I have to keep an eye on her. Like putting her on a leash. I’m not quite sure if I’m ready for that kind of role. Especially when the leashed was actually The Eater of World. I tried not to get bothered by her a lot as we made our way to the strategy tent that was made next to the store room.

“Looks like the Captain and his Lieutenant have finally arrived.” Sam noticed our arrival. She then greeted us, “Captain. Lieutenant. Come, join us.”

There were a number of other high ranked superiors inside the tent. All of them can be seen discussing about the layouts of the campus. As everyone involved had finally arrived, Sam clears her throat and begins the official briefing.

“My advisor, my strategist and my Generals have come to an agreement. An agreement which allows us to gain an advantage in the battlefield before the battle even begins. This agreement concerns you two as well.” Sam looked at both of us as she suddenly started putting a lollipop in her mouth.

I guess that’s one way of avoiding from tobacco. But in any case, we continued to listen to Sam’s word as she begins to explain our first assignment.

“Alright then. Your first assignment is to infiltrate the enemy encampment. Meaning outside of this store house area. But I don’t want you two to simply step out through the main road. You guys will have to make your way through the sewer by the bridges.”

“Where does that lead?” I asked.

Sam continued, “From there, you will traverse the sewage water until you reach this point.” Sam pointed a checkpoint on the map. “This is The Pen. You know what it is. But you don’t need to go there, you just have to sneak by and climb the gates into the campus building. There, you will be tasked to find a number of VIPs being held hostage in the top floor classroom. Make sure to only get them and leave the rest.”

“Why not save everyone?” I asked her back.

“You think you can move a bunch of people without making the enemy notice you? Impossible. We’re only doing this because we need more manpower. The targets I’m asking you two to secure are the Trinities of each class as well as their Cardinals.”

One of the generals speak out to us, “If it’s too out of reach to get all of them, I suggest you only focus on the other 3 Cardinals. That will be the minimum goal today.”

“Got it.” Blanc nodded and understood the plan.

“That’s good and all but are we really doing this with just the two of us?” I kept on asking her.

“Of course not” replied Sam. “Two other guys will join you, creating a squad.”

“Who are these two people?”

“They are from Magic Studies and Administration Magic respectively. They’ll be waiting for you outside. You may begin the operation…now.”

“Let’s go and see the other squad mates, Shiro.” Blanc patted my back and leaves the tent.

I followed her outside and as we expected two other people with similar outfit design were waiting for us. A male and a female. One of them was White’s roommate and his name was…

“Hello there, squad. I’m Ralph and I’ll be your squad leader for today.”

Ralph Clef of the Administration Magic. I heard he’s considering to transfer out of this campus after figuring out that he made a mistake. This could just be his farewell gift before he’s going to leave us. I heard he was done with all the paperwork but I guess Sam probably had something to do with him not leaving yet.

“What about her?” Blanc asked Ralph about the girl who was wearing a more concealed dress compared to Blanc’s revealing clothing. In fact, the girl was too concealed.

“This is Lin. Lin August. She’s one of the trinity of Magic Studies.”

“Pleasure to be working with you.” She bowed to us politely.

Compared to what Blanc was wearing. Lin was more bearable for me to handle. She completely covers herself with some sort of garb. She wasn’t wearing a normal boots but a weirdly designed sock.

“What is that thing, Lin?” I pointed out her footwear. “That doesn’t look like a shoe.”

“This here is a jika-tabi. It’s a traditional Nihon socks that dates back to the 15th century. I thought you were from Nihon, Shiro.”

“My parents were both from Nihon, but I was born and grew up over here, actually. So I don’t know much about Nihon.”

Lin was disappointed as she carefully observed me, “I was expecting a true Nihon coming from you. But it looks like you have been breathing the same air as all of us ever since you were a child. Never mind then.”

“What are you supposed to be?”

“This uniform I’m wearing is traditional Nihon clothing worn by mercenaries during the warring states of Nihon. They call these people, Shinobi. Their functions included espionage, sabotage, infiltration, assassination and guerrilla warfare. But since I'm a girl, the female equivalent to a Shinobi is called a Kunoichi.”

“Wow, you know a lot of this thing, Lin.”

“I do and I can’t wait for our trip to Nihon at the end of the semester later.”

“Oh, I see. You’re that kind of person, huh?”

Ralph interrupted us and said, “Looks like you two have come into terms. I guess we should get going now, team.”

“Very well. Nice to meet you, Lin.”

“You as well.” She nodded at me.

We made our way to the sewers as we begin to initiate the first mission in of the campaign against the unknown force. This will be the first focal point in the battle against the mindless chaotic Watchers. This will decide which forces have the upper hand before even the battle start. This will be a decisive mission for the four of us. Failing was not an option.

TO BE CONTINUED