Chapter 10: Chapter 8 – Underestimation

Lance Corporal, Reichel Schwertspinne, Russiva Imperial Year 782 Month 3, Day 9, No Man's Land, Deutsche Imperial Army

Reichel ran back to the Sturm army camp as fast she could,without stopping in fear of more witnesses or perhaps reinforcements.

*swoosh* Reichel dashed from shadow to shadow, being careful to not be seen wandering around at camp at this time of day.

Just before she was going to dash out again, she heard a pair of voices that were all too easy to hear. It was another night patrol made up of the poor excuse of 'soldiers'.

*hide* She hid herself behind one of the conveniently placed crates, just in time to make herself invisible to the field of view of the incoming patrol.

*step*

*step*

*step*

"I wonder if Lance Corporal Reichel will be there tomorrow." A hoarse voice said.

"Of course she'll be there, she takes it upon herself to be nice to everybody at the camp, especially her own squadmates." Another replied back.

"Bahhh lucky bastards, I want to have such a cute girl in my squad too, It's all just filled with burly stinking men."

Not even looking around and just passing the place with spears and torches in their hand, the two soldiers passed Reichel's hiding place without any sort of problem.

'I'm once again amazed by how lax the soldiers are...'

The two could barely even be considered a patrol, it was kind of disappointing for Reichel as well as infuriating, knowing that she would eventually have to go to war again with these types of people.

She dashed through the lax and lazy night patrols with ease, as all but the smell of hobgoblin blood would only be noticeable in the air as she bypassed whatever little station of security the Sturm army camp had.

"I need to wash myself and my clothes soon..." She muttered.

It wasn't like being stinky wasn't something normal in the army camp, it was just that Reichel's sense of smell was so strong and keen that she could barely stand the smell of the wafting stench of hobgoblin blood which smelled oddly worse than any kind of rotten food or meat.

But of course there was also her own pride as a woman, that she could not let her own state to look as well as smell like this.

"*sniff* *sniff* Bloody hell..." Reichel smelled herself as she disposed of her cloak.

It was like the hobgoblin blood was smelling more worse and worse each time she went out for a hunt.

'More importantly...'

She was wondering whether the lone hobgoblin she left alive would deliver her message. Everything depended if that sole survivor would deliver her message to the higher ups and would retaliate in kind.

Because if they didn't, Reichel would have trouble gaining any kind of merit in this passive excuse of a War Theatre.

'Well, If they don't respond I'll just have to hunt more and more, and then they'll snap eventually.'

She had such a low impression of the Czuch Union ever since she first started fighting. She was disgusted at how they lacked any kind of uniformity and strategies, and were emotion driven as well.

They depended in their own racial traits as a race with superior physical capabilities to fight, instead of producing schemes to overwhelm and rout their enemies.

"I'll at least use you for my own benefit."

Reichel was determined to rise up in society, as devouring souls would be much more easier that way.

---

It was about 2 hours after the sun had risen and Reichel just managed to brush off whatever trace her little hunt from a while ago had left.

"Hmmm~ hmmm~" She strolled through the tents of the of soldiers who were just beginning to wake up.

'They're a disgrace to compared to whatever military back on Earth dishes out, but that just makes sure that nobody can steal my merits anyways.' Reichel thought.

It was the first thing in the morning and she would do what she had always been doing every morning ever since she enlisted in the military just a while ago.

She was now at the cafeteria part of the base, to get her much needed breakfast. However, she also tended soldiers meals as part of the cafeteria staff in order to maintain a good reputation.

"Up so early again Lance Corporal?"

"Yes sir! It is always a pleasure in my heart to serve my fellow soldiers, sir!"

"Ahhhh, Lance Corporal Reichel is such an angel."

"I want to make her my wife."

It was easy enough to make the soldiers like her, all she needed to do was flash a smile in the soldiers' direction while serving them food and there was no doubt they'd give out a good impression of her character.

There were also some soldiers who looked at Reichel with lecherous gazes, but that was all they could do, Cases of sexual harassment or rape in the military are cases that bring out a death-sentence.

It was all about maintaining whatever honour the Sturm army had after all.

"Yosh." Reichel said as she took off her white apron that contrasted with her blackish-green military uniform, signalling the end of her voluntary cafeteria morning shift.

And finally, after eating in the cafeteria herself she would take 7 meals-to-go for her squadmates who were supposedly training right now even though they were supposed to visit the cafeteria at this time.

'I fail to understand why someone would voluntarily start training first thing in the morning instead of grabbing your breakfast first.' Reichel thought, But she also understood that she would have to accept it.

She ordered them to 'Put training above all else', after all.

"No wait...make it 9 meals-to-go please!" Reichel thought, as she almost forgot that there were two new additions to her squad just yesterday.

"You got it Lance Corporal!" The head cook affirmed Reichel's request, not minding that she would have to put in extra effort.

"Lance Corporal, your appetite seems quite larger than usual today."

"Oh no no sir, they're not for me."

"Then who could it be fo--Oh, The new replacements for Sergeant Burghoff and Corporal Arrigstein must have arrived then..."

"Yes, that's right sir."

"I'm sorry, They were such good soldiers, It's a shame that they died like that."

"Don't be sorry sir, they died fulfilling their duties and I'm sure they wouldn't have it any other way."

'I led them into that trap myself, and saving the squad did earn me a nice promotion from Private to Lance Corporal because of it.' They fulfilled their duties indeed. Their duties to serve as stepping stones for Reichel's career advancement.

'Not only that, but ever since the two dead weights died the whole squad basically only followed me for my demonstration of martial prowess at the time. I really do have to thank Chlust for being such a sensible soldier and being the first to go along with my idea of training.'

"You're such an honourable soldier, Lance Corporal." one of the other cooks in the back said, and the others nodded in agreement.

"Here you go, 9 rations for the fraulein."

"Thank you sir!" Reichel said with a beaming smile.

"Um, isn't that a lot of stuff? Do you want me to send along somebody with you to carry them?"

"No thank you, I got this...but thank you for your offer!"

"Alrighty then."

Reichel turned around to waltz off the cafeteria while she balanced the 9 rations on two wooden trays on both her hands, humming happily in the morning.

"Such a polite little girl." The head cook said as he gazed at the back of Reichel who was returning to her squad.

---

As Reichel walked back to her squad's tent, she was greeted with the scene of her squadmates doing push-ups and sit-ups, training as they should be.

'I still don't know where they get that motivation from though...' Reichel thought as she observed her squadmates exhaust themselves with a series of basic exercises first thing in the morning.

You are reading story Unsightly Gluttony at novel35.com

"Men! I have brought your rations! Be sure to savour the taste because I know you're not getting lunch again!" Reichel shouted, and the soldiers quickly stopped whatever they were doing and distributed their rations among themselves.

Except...

"Hmmm? Hey Private Hengsbach, Where is Private Balholf, Adjutant Welck, and Sergeant Habsburg?"

There were three plates of rations left over on the two trays, the three had not come and gotten their own food which was kind of vexing for Reichel.

"I understand Private Balholf, but where the hell is Adjutant Welck and Sergeant Habsburg!?" Reichel demanded.

'Don't tell me they're still sleeping at this time of day!?' Reichel screamed inside her head, as she expected much more from Officer School Graduates.

"Private Balholf and Adjutant Welck are having a duel to see who can get the most push-ups." The Private in front of Reichel pointed to a far corner of the camp, where two men donned in full-military gear could be seen sweating the shit out of themselves while trying to do endurance training.

"Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiixty-Two! Just...yield...Adjutant!"

"Siiixty-Three! I'm....your....superior!"

"Siiiiiiiiiixty-Fourh! *pants* what is that....supposed to mean!?"

"Siiiiix-ty....Five! You surrender....first!"

'Well at least they're doing something productive.' Reichel thought as she looked away from the sweaty men.

"And the Sergeant?"

"He is in the tent, Ma'am."

"So he really still is asleep?"

"Nein, he is still looking for something he deemed of importance."

'Looking for his shoulder rank slide?'

And as Reichel thought about where Wilhelm might have been searching, a man with a Sergeant uniform emerged from the tents, with a look of worry on his face.

"Hey Lance Corporal, have you perhaps seen my other shoulder rank slide? It's been missing since this morning..." As soon as Wilhelm saw the face or Reichel, he couldn't help but ask.

"Your shoulder rank slide, Sir?" Reichel put out her acting skills, making a convincing act of cluelessness.

"Yes, It's really important to a soldier."

"I believe I haven't sir, But I believe you could request the logistics office for another one if you can't find it."

'You're never going to find it again anyways, Just give it up!'

"I can't just replace it, It was important to me, It serves as a memento for my graduation in officer school."

'I could care less if it was a memento!' She almost screamed out.

"Well, Let me help you look for i--" Reichel was about to offer to help looking for the shoulder rank slide, perhaps hoping that she could get Wilhelm to drop the thought of ever finding his shoulder rank slide ever again when suddenly a commotion from outside was heard.

---

A large group of soldiers were huddled around the eastern side of the Sturm army camp. Most of their faces were riddled with looks of uncertainty, and even some of the soldiers ran out of the large circle and started barfing on the ground completely emptying their stomach from anything they ate this morning.

Reichel ran as fast as she could and approached a nearby soldier, who was vomiting on the ground.

"What happend here?" Asked Reichel, being geniunely curious. She didn't know what any of these events meant.

"A messenger from the garrison of Urganschoft village....*vomits again*"

"What!?"

'Urganschoft!? But that's too quick!' Reichel thought, thinking that the disorganized mob of monsters who called themselves an army with barely any kind of logistics support could gather up an army in less than a day, and then attack one of the villages near No Man's Land.

'It must be a group of stragglers, or maybe bandits...yes that must be it!' Reichel kept her optimism as much as she could as she approached the crowd in heavy steps.

She shoved across the soldiers and made a path of her own, where the scene of a carnage was located.

A man was bleeding heavily across the ground, along with the corpse of a horse that was riddled with arrows everywhere.

A trail of blood tracked from the riding spot of the horse up to the man was scene, and the man was being cured for with First-Aid and whatever little healing spells the small number of healers in the Sturm army camp had.

They were struggling to keep his arm, which looked like it was torn off from the elbow and spurting blood everywhere, covered with bandages. His leg was bent in a gruesomely wrong direction as well, with a crack of a bone protruding from his still-bleeding flesh.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHH--KILL ME! KILL MEEEE!!" The messenger shouted that he would like some 'mercy' in throes of pain and agony, and Reichel was surprised that she had only heard his screams now.

The man's voice became hoarse, indicating that the man was very close to breaking his own voice box from screaming too much.

'He's lost too much blood, he's going to die anyways.' Reichel concluded with the current scene, only thinking of interrogating the man for information before he passes away.

Reichel ran up to the healers, and asked what message the man delivered.

"We don't know! He's been screaming like this ever since he got to the camp after his horse died of blood loss!" The medic said, with an expression like he's going to start vomiting as well upon seeing the gruesome scene.

It was obvious that he was only a new member of his craft, and this was too much of a scene for even a medic to handle.

Reichel shoved the medic aside, and grasped the messenger's soldiers while interrogating whatever information the man had.

"Hey! What happend to Urganschoft!?"

"AAAAAAAAA-A-ATTACK! ATTAAAAAAAAAACK!!!" Or at least she tried to.

The man just kept screaming attack after that.

'It's no use trying to get information out of him like this, Maybe I should use some Willowflower?'

Willowflower, a concoction that Reichel invented through mashing together all sorts of different poisonous flowers before she joined the army. It was the paralyzing agent that Reichel used on Hynek to tranquilize him last night. And although it was a paralyzing agent in moderate doses, it could also be used as an anesthetic if the dose was small enough.

'But this is my last dose...' Willowflower ingredients were hard to come by, and not to mention expensive as well. She was hesitating to use it on a man who was going to die anyways.

'....fuck it!' Reichel decided to use it anyways.

There was no need to use anything sparingly when it came to information gathering.

Reichel took out a tiny dart from her pocket and pierced the man's neck with it, completely blocking the pain he's feeling from throughout his body from being felt by his brain.

'A small dose...don't over do it...' Reichel thought to herself.

"What are you doing?" The healer asked Reichel.

"SHUT UP!" Reichel shouted at him, and the healer did.

The man's breath was slowing down, Reichel also basically blocked him from feeling his lungs, which meant that he was going to die any second now from suffocation.

"What happend!?" Reichel asked the soldier, almost shaking him in frustration.

"Urganschoft...was attacked...they were...everywhere...." The soldier said in short and ragged breaths, trying to preserve whatever little life he had left.

"They were attacked by who? Who is they!? Answer me! ANSWER ME!!" But Reichel didn't give a damn about some random's life, She screamed in almost growling noise.

"By...by the monster army of Czuch Union!" The soldier answered with the loudest volume he could muster, before finally falling limp in Reichel's arms.

And at that moment, she realized that she had severely underestimated what was literally a race with more physical capabilities than humans.

 

---