“A must try: Gryphon meat dipped in demi-glace! Fifteen percent discount for metal-pass holders,” Aziz read from the brochure in his hands. “What do you think?”

“Gryphon meat, eh?” Marie glanced at the skies. “Weren’t gryphons monsters that required Squires that were capable of flying to even have a chance at killing? How did they become a specialty of a sleepy little village?”

“Maybe the meat comes from domesticated monsters?” Aziz glanced at their destination, a quaint little restaurant that had more than ten red banners fluttering in the wind. A steady column of smoke rose into the air, along with the sound of joyful sizzles.

A small queue had formed outside the entrance of the restaurant, and without any hesitation, Aziz dragged Hans and Marie over before the queue inevitably grew longer.

“Well, even if it isn’t real gryphon meat,” said Marie, “you gotta admit that whatever they’re cooking smells real nice.”

She smacked her lips twice. “And we’re only at a border village. What kind of specialties would the inner cities of a Divine Kingdom have?”

Aziz patted her shoulder. “We’ll go around to all of them one day. Promise.”

“After we retire from our work?” Marie asked. “Sounds like a good plan. We haven’t tried much from the Western Holdings yet; we’ll have a holiday over there once this whole demon war business is over.”

The colonel lowered his volume. “That’s not the only one we haven’t tried.”

“Why are you so secretive?” Marie asked. “What others have we not tried?”

Aziz gestured at her hand. After pondering for a moment, the marshal extended a palm over, which the colonel held with his left hand. With his right index finger, he wrote out ‘demons’ on her palm, and then grinned.

It took her a few moments to figure out what he’d written, and Aziz watched as shock, realisation and approval clambered onto her face and fought for representation. His grin widened as Marie nodded her head in contemplation, her bobbing head bouncing up and down five times in a single second.

“Ahem.” Hans cleared his throat.

The two of them.

“Right,” said Aziz, “you were here. I forgot about you. My apologies.”

Hans clasped his heart lightly. “Don’t say such heart-breaking things ever so casually, will you?”

He paused. “Sir.”

“We’re out and eating,” Aziz replied, waving his hand airily. “No need to be that formal. The same applies for Marie too, as you can tell from how she’s rolling her eyes.”

Hans glanced at the marshal, and then made a sad smile. “She’s not rolling her eyes. Stop pulling my leg, s—”

The colonel sighed. “Marie, please roll your eyes a few times so that he’s convinced.”

“Nope, don’t wanna.” She waved the pamphlet. “Anyway, there’s more important things written here.”

“I’ve read the whole thing, and the only thing I cared about was the prospect of demi-glace gryphon meat cooked to perfection,” Aziz said. “I don’t think there’s really other important information here.”

“It seems like your pursuit of food has overridden your analytical mind.” Marie sighed. “I suppose it’s my fault, so I’ll be direct then. This village is something created by the immigrants of the Five Lands! It’s not a settlement created by the God of Fire or his servants.”

“What of it?” Aziz asked, blinking his eyes.

Marie breathed out slowly. “Don’t you get it? The fact that there are godkith here means that the Worldshaper approves of people moving into his territory! This is an informal sign of his approval!”

“Oh.” Aziz had a feeling that what his boss was saying was actually important, so he turned his mind away from the tantalising smell. “You’re saying that’s important, because…”

“The Worldshaper is treating his Divine Kingdom as an actual nation, dolt.” Marie rapped his head twice. “In the past, all the signals we got from Liamar hinted at him being the same entity as his Divine Kingdom, but since he’s letting it develop independently...”

Aziz rubbed his head. “I suppose we’ll have to get Pauline to establish an embassy here eventually, then. If the Worldshaper is going to have his nation sit here indefinitely…assuming it’s not destroyed in the war, we’ll be surrounded by semi-hostile states.”

“Yes.” Marie made a rueful smile. “We’ll have to be prepared.”

“Excuse me,” Hans piped up, “but do the two of you usually flirt like this?”

“Flirt?”

“Flirt?”

Marie and Aziz glanced at each other, and the corners of their lips rose together.

“Of course,” Marie said. “What were you expecting? For us to whisper sweet-nothings while together? Maybe nibble at a strawberry while taking turns?”

“No, no,” Aziz added. “We are intellectuals who bond over knowledge and possibilities. We aren’t just blunt tools of war and murder. We are beings that are both alive and thinking, seeking to improve ourselves through a constant polishing of our minds.”

Aziz paused. “Hans.”

“Yes?”

“Why did you look at me in that way?” the colonel asked. “Did you, perhaps, think that I’m a brute who doesn’t know how to think? Despite a mountain of evidence to the contrary?”

“Uh…”

“Say no more. Tell me, Hans, how many extra duties do you want to do? I’ll let you choose from three options: A, B and C. Make your choice.”

“Can I not choose?” Hans asked.

“Nice try, but no.” Aziz beamed. “Now, choose your poison.”

A small hand smacked his head lightly. “Don’t go abusing your power, Aziz. That’s petty. At the most, I’ll just promote Hans to a major. We have more than enough yes-men in the force anyway; we need someone who can say no.”

Hans froze, but before he could say anything, Aziz had gleefully accepted Marie’s offer with a wide, wide grin. “Offer accepted. Hans, you’ll be working at my office from now on.”

“Wait, wait!”

“What?” Marie asked. “It’s a discretionary field promotion by the Chief of Air. You cannot gainsay it.”

“But you’re the Chief of Air!”

“Heehee.” Marie took out a small box and handed it to Hans. “I apologise for the lack of ceremony, but in those trying times, we need all the talent we can get.”

Trying times? Aziz raised an eyebrow, but he didn’t say anything. From what he could tell, however, Marie was already intending to promote Hans anyway. Whether this would be extended to the other captains he had no idea, though.

As Hans broke down into despair, Aziz slid over to Marie.

“His promotion was already confirmed by HR, right?” he whispered.

“I was just having fun. Besides, it’s better if I do it personally, right?” Marie smiled. “The other captains are going to be promoted too; I just did it three days early.”

“Yeah, by ignoring all established protocols and procedures,” Aziz replied. “You’re going to get chewed out — oh.”

“Oh, indeed.”

Their conversation was cut short by the arrival of a waiter. “Excuse me, ma’am, sirs. Table for?”

“Three, thank you.”

“Very good. Please, follow me.”

Dragging the despairing Hans, Aziz followed Marie into the restaurant.