Several months in, and by the Gods am I tired. Soon after that whole debacle, I was appointed the General of the base. Like, what? My first thought was Why are you all giving me so much praise when I still haven’t done a single thing yet. Even still, I recalled the words of Auros that told me to live a more interesting life, so I obliged and just went with it. Obviously, I realized the ass-backwards logic of putting me in command, but seeing the happy and content looks of all of my friends, I just couldn’t say no. That being said, I was quite worried, since we did tell Nelly that we wouldn’t take long, but I’m sure she’ll forgive us.

They told me everything that has happened so far – the fact that the other ARA Generals said they’d join us, but never managed to arrive, the heinous trap laid out for Meil after he went to give the King their letter of challenge, and the many, many issues this base had as a whole. Now I’m no military genius, but if you’re gonna go up against someone armed to the teeth with guns and explosives, I’m pretty sure using goddamned bows and spears just wasn’t gonna cut it. So, I had us make a grand heist of sorts.

“What the hell do you mean you don’t have guns? Get in the wagon, we’re going to Carmen.”

“What?!” Everyone jolted, “W-What are we gonna do there?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” I chuckled, “Steal their shit!”

Rounding up a small group of scouts into our caravan of transport wagons and horses, we had stealthily made our way to the capital of Carmen. This goes without saying, but Cecily wasn’t part of this plan, and I had no intention of putting her in harm’s way. Sadly, even though now was my best chance to live out my fantasy as a hero waving his sword around while sitting on his trusty steed, it seems you need a ton of jockey training if you want to be able to pull that stunt off.

Even with that, though, I had us all hide out somewhere near one of the enemy’s numerous bases. The troops and these guys were all getting ready for a preemptive fight to the death, but they were both surprised, relieved and disappointed when they heard what my plan actually entailed.

“You guys do realize that I’m not actually planning on ever setting foot inside that there base, right?” I said as I Materialized a large gun, like the one we saw in Sulfury, “I only called everyone to accompany me here so you could help me carry the guns back to the base.”

“A-Ah.” Pierre winced, “Is that… so?”

“Yeah, now get to packing.” I handed him the gun, “This way, we’re simultaneously improving our troops arsenal, all the while immobilizing one of their bases. It’s a perfect situation, especially when you take into account that we didn’t even have to engage one bit.”

“But what if these guys still decide to attack?” Meil asked.

“Pfft, unlike you guys, they’re not idiots.” I chuckled, “Smart people don’t rely on stuff like willpower to win a war. They won’t attack unless they have proper weapons.”

“You don’t gotta be an ass about it…” Ed pouted.

“Humu, but Lune, you’re forgetting one important detail in this plan of yours!” Aaron sounded all too confident in his counterargument, “None of our troops had any real training with guns, so how do you expect them to…?”

“Wrong again.” I explained, “Look here – trigger, magazine, barrel, stock, hand rest. It doesn’t take a genius to shoot a gun. And besides, one half of you already has good enough aim because you’ve trained with the bow, while the other half can just work closely with Pierre, since he’s actually used guns in a war before.”

“Right…”

And with that, heist successful! We went back home and I immediately had everyone take up proper gun training. Before long, everyone was shooting without a hitch. And since the barracks in Carmen had a surplus of ammo, we could afford to train to our heart’s content! Even still, I wasn’t at all satisfied yet, so I had us focus on the next issue.

“Meil, you said the King tried to kill you with his trap and Iro Ability, right?” I turned to him, “Tell us more about that. We need to be transparent if we ever want to have a chance at winning.”

“Right, the King’s Yellow Iro Ability makes it so…” Meil started talking before Pierre interrupted him.

“Okay, Lune. Now you’re just being paranoid.”

“What the hell kind of bullcrap are you spouting now?” I groaned at him.

“Don’t you know?” Pierre reclined in his seat, “The leaders don’t do shit in the war most of the time! Neither the King nor we will be taking up arms, y’know that? We’ll be sitting back comfortably just as we are now, making up strategies to win the war.”

“Hold on, how can you be so sure about that?” Even Aaron furrowed his brows at him, “Meil literally got caught in the King’s trap and almost died, so why do you assume fairness is something the King cares about?”

“That’s…” Pierre couldn’t think of a counter to that, so he just started getting louder for no reason, “Look, I’m the one with the most war experience here! To me, you all are rookies who just so happened to excel in critical thinking! I’m telling you, everything will be alright, okay?!”

I have a bad feeling about this, but I’ll let it go in favor of trusting Pierre. He’s a bit clumsy and all that, but you can’t deny his years of service. If he says that we won’t be fighting, then so be it. I just wish he’d told us sooner, instead of making all of us train needlessly. In any case, that just leaves us with one final problem left to resolve…

“The plan!” I inquired, “You said Meil sent a letter of challenge, but when was the exact date set to be?”

“October 24th?” Aaron smiled.

Huh, that’s on my birthday. What a coincidence. Wait what?!

“That’s just a month away though?!”

“Well duh, we don’t wanna make them wait too long.” Pierre rolled his eyes, “That’s rude, and we’re not about that.”

“You idiots! We’re not ready at all! Are you trying to get us all killed?!”

“Hey now, what do you mean we’re not ready?” Pierre said, “Look Lune, I know you’re trying to show off and all that, but it’s not like we’re incapable of this much. Every one of our soldiers could kill a thousand men singlehandedly, thanks to you we have guns, and so now all that’s left is to wait for the decisive day and fight until we win.”

“You god damned…! Ugh, whatever, just tell me what side we’ll be approaching them from then.”

“What side?” Aaron and Pierre tilted their heads at me, “The front of course?”

“We’re not gonna hit them with a surprise flank?!” I pulled at my hair from the built up anger.

“Well, I mean, it’s not like they won’t be expecting us anyways…” Ed weakly refuted, “Listen Grim, the Generals explained it to me, but there’s a certain order that has to be followed before a war can start. It’s called…”

***

“The Four Chimes.” Vivia explained to the now very gravid Cecily, “It’s a long lasting tradition from my country.”

“Oh, I think I heard of that.” Cecily replied, rubbing her tummy carefully.

Indeed, while the Generals were wracking their brains to try and plan this whole final attack out in the other room, the girls had spent this entire time tending to Cecily’s needs and quelling her worries. For this, Vivia served a very crucial role, but thanks to that they appeared to have grown closer.

“The four chimes refers to a tradition of the Carmen Kingdom, and it stems from all the way back when it was still an Empire.” Vivia explained, “Before each war waged, both sides of the army would stand facing each other across the battlefield. This would be a period where not a single gunshot could be fired, as it would be considered a war crime.”

“Harsh…”

“This is the so called First Chime, and is indicated by a specially commissioned bard hitting it.” Vivia continued, “After that, the representative from both sides will come forth and shake hands with the enemy representative. It’s courtesy to not bring a weapon, but if they feel threatened, no one will judge you for having it in your pocket.”

“Oh…” Cecily sounded worried.

“Don’t worry though! As far as I know, my father’s never once brought a weapon with him to the Second Chime!” Vivia reassured her, “Then after that is the most important part – the Third Chime. It’s when they make final negotiations, y’know, setting boundaries and rules.”

“And when that’s done?” Cecily inquired.

“When that’s done, the Fourth Chime is rung, and they move back to their respective sides, ready for the fight to begin.”

“I see…” Cecily suddenly got all quiet, “Hey, Vivy, are you… anxious? I mean, the guys are gonna go up against your father and all. Doesn’t that make you sad?”

“My father, huh…” Vivia thought long and hard before smiling back, “Don’t worry about it! In any case, the person that started this whole attack on your country isn’t my father. No, my father was a kind and generous King, at the very least to his people. Back when he first got the idea to extend the territory of the Kingdom, I was trying my best to oppose him with all my might, but after realizing there was no stopping him, I had no other choice but to sit back and wait for someone like Edward to help me find a strong enough foe for him.”

“But that means whoever the victor is for this war, you’re still going to be the one left mourning?” Cecily teared up, “Your whole situation is the most pitiful of all…”

“Hey now, why the pessimism?” Vivia chuckled, “I mean, in most cases back in Sulfury, very rarely do the leaders get killed. They might get taken to prison and charged for their crimes, but actually dying as a General is pretty difficult to accomplish, y’know?”

“Really?”

“Yeah, girl!” Vivia went to hug Cecily, “Look, I know the decisive battle is approaching and all, but I have a plan to end this without a hint of bloodshed.”

Huh? Cecily thought, There exists such an option?

“Now I got your attention, huh?” Vivia donned a wry smile, “Look, before the battle actually starts, there’s a brief window of time where the leaders of both armies get to talk things out. Y’know, setting up some rules and boundaries and all that. Well, my plan is to use my position and familial ties to hopefully convince my father to stop his shenanigans, lest he lose hundreds of thousands of men that day.”

“Right, no matter what, both sides will just needlessly lose countless men…” Cecily figured, “It’s not in anyone’s political interest to fight in this war. Heck, even Lune and the others only fight because they need to.”

“Right?” Vivia giggled, “Lune… Your husband’s a smart man. One who values peace and his allies’ safety above all else, and just knowing that he’s doing all that with a kid on the way is saddening, to say the least. That’s why I promise you everything will go well.”

“Vivy… Thanks!” Cecily finally let go of the flood gates, “If there’s anything I can do to help, just say the words!”

“No, no. I could never ask anything of a pregnant lady.” Vivia banished the thought, “Look, everything will go all according to plan, as long as Lune is the one that holds the talk with my father.”

“Lune?” Cecily tilted her head, “Not Pierre?”

“General Pierre is certainly infamous in our country, given that he’s been the Lis General for as long as I’ve been alive, if not more, but he’s way too steadfast. He’ll say the wrong words or something and anger my father, I’m sure of it. But your husband, he’s not like the other Generals. He’s got a head full of common sense. I’m sure if he’s the one talking, everything will be okay.”

“Okay…” Cecily slowly got up from her seat, “I’ll go tell them right now, then.”

“Aww, you’d do that for me?” Vivia jumped for joy, “Just be careful on the way there, okay? Don’t want you tripping or something.”

“Hey, don’t jinx anything now!” Cecily joked.