Allen saw Luna's hands clench into fists at her sides and got a little worried.

Wait why the hell are you losing your cool after telling me to relax?!

Suddenly, Luna's whole body tensed and she stepped right up to the guard with her helmet almost touching his.

"What did you say to me?" she snarled. Her gravelly voice was now filled with a sudden and sharp anger.

The guard was surprised and caught off guard by her reaction. He took a step back. "Whoa, kid. I'm not trying to start something here. It was just an observation, calm down."

"Calm down?" Luna spat. "Just how many times do you want me to tell you that the reason I'm here at such a young age is because my father was also a knight and ended up dying in the last campaign, and joining the army was the only option I had left to support my mother and siblings?

"How many times do you want me to repeat the same thing to you over and over again huh?"

She jabbed a gauntleted finger into the guard's chest, with the metal making a slight tink sound against his armor.

"Do you get some kind of sick satisfaction from that, you bastard? You like making me say my sob story over and over again? Does it make you feel like a big man?"

The guard's face went pale. He immediately raised his hands, showing his palms and backing off two steps.

"Hey, hey, easy. Gods. I'm sorry."

He looked genuinely flustered. "I... I forgot. It's you. The kid from the Third Platoon. My fault, kid. My fault."

The younger guard put a hand on his friend's shoulder, looking at him with a sense of sympathy on his face. "Let it go, Markus. It's been a long day."

"I know, I know," the big guard who's name was apparently Markus, mumbled.

He looked at Luna again with his expression was now full of pity. "Sorry. I'm just on edge today. You know…so much has happened today that my head's not on straight."

He shook his head and waved his hand toward the path behind him. "Go on. Get to the fire and warm up."

Luna stared at him for another hard second. Then she gave a sharp "Tch!" sound before she shoved past him.

Allen just nodded at the guards before quickly following after her.

His heart was hammering so hard he was sure they could hear it. He didn't look back. He just kept walking.

It wasn't because of fear or nervousness anymore though. It was excitement.

He followed Luna into the quieter and more secluded sections of the camp where there weren't a lot of people.

"That was just amazing, I didn't expect that," he said, walking beside Luna and matching her pace.

"I told you, didn't I? It's a lot easier than it looks," Luna replied, her tone carrying a sense of joy. He couldn't see it due to the helmet, but she was smiling.

I didn't know gaslighting would already be this much popular here. It seems like I'm not the only one who can bullshit through a situation by telling a fake situation and making people sympathize with you.

He thought to himself, and as he did a little chuckle left his mouth.

He found it rather ironic that she was using the same tactics on her enemy that he was using on her to make them believe in his story.

It was like the Matryoshka dolls with similar situations recursing into each other, with Luna telling a made-up story to the guard and Allen doing the same to her and the one doing it being completely unaware of the fact that it was happening to them as well.

"Now how do we actually find his tent?" Luna said out loud, looking around as the two of them continued to walk.

"That guy did mention him I think, no? Randolf was his name I guess?" Allen said, referring to the guard they'd met. "It doesn't seem like the soldiers here really like him that much."

"Of course they don't. No one would like a commander who forces them to go into war, even when their death is certainly set in stone," she replied.

"Makes sense I guess," Allen said. "Although despite that I think as a commander he knows his stuff well. We'll have to be careful."

"Yeah, you're right. The fact that he's having soldiers do a dark patrol despite both forces sustained such a huge loss goes to show he has not completely ruled out the possibility of us launching an attack at night," Luna completed Allen's words.

"It seems like we've underestimated him a little," she added.

"Underestimating your enemy is one of the biggest blunders you can make," Allen said. "That's a saying from my homeland."

"Well, I have nothing to say in return. I accept. It was our fault to underestimate him," Luna said, raising her hands in a little gesture of acceptance.

The two of them then walk around for a bit, scouting the nearby location and trying to see if they could see the commander's tent from anywhere or even recognize it in the first place.

As they were roaming around the place, going into much secluded areas and away from the campfires where most of the soldiers were sitting.

Allen instructed the system and the image of this area he had taken while the drone was flying, appeared before his eyes in form of a translucent screen.

It gave a rough overhead map of all his surroundings with enough detailing to make out the routes between all the tents.

He used it to search more efficiently yet despite minutes of long search by both of them they didn't seem to be able to find anything worthwhile.

And they didn't have a lot of time either so the more time they lost the harder the situation became for them.

However, when it was seeming like they might have to change their strategies and look in a different direction Luna called out to Allen.

Since he wasn't much far away from her he quickly paced toward her, stopping by her side.

"What happened?" he asked.

"I found it, I think," Luna replied, and pointed at the tent that was standing at a bit of distance.

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