DAWN CHESTER, capital of FEORIS, 7 years before...

In the hospital corridors, he strode towards the emergency rooms, his body badly damaged. With a tired look, in agony and staring at the light,

-: ‘Grandmother, Risca, have you forgiven me?’ asked the young man who was living his last hours.

-: ‘Keep giving him enough oxygen, his pulse is getting weaker and weaker,’ warned the doctor who was accompanying him with several other members of his medical team and his companions.

-: ‘He's losing too much blood. Stay with us,’ replied the doctor, encouraging the young man to hang on.

-: ‘Stop the bleeding,’ ordered the doctor.

-: "Hey, kid, don't give up, keep fighting, everything will be fine. IZUMO, I forbid you to die," said his colonel, a man in his thirties with brown eyes, grey hair and a beard.

-Arima: Mate, if you die, I'll kill you. You have no right to leave me alone. I don't want to win this rivalry this way. We were going to eat our favourite meal afterwards, remember?

-: ‘You mustn't follow us, Colonel. Leave us alone,’ warned the doctor

. ‘Do everything in your power to save this man. I've lost enough children today,’ begged the colonel, who had just had a rather upsetting and tragic day.

-Doctor: Sir, you're getting in the way. We'll do everything we can to keep him alive,‘ warned the Doctor, promising to do everything possible to save the life of this young man in whom the Colonel had placed so much hope.

’His infection is spreading. Bring the syringe. I want you to put him in a coma. ‘

’I'm cold, I can't see anything, I can't hear anything either. What were the Colonel and Arima telling me? Forgive me, I didn't win this fight," were the young man's last words, and ____________________his heart stopped.

- ‘We're trying to revive him,’ said the nurse who was with the doctor.

- ‘I can't feel his heart anymore, it has stopped beating. ***’ announced Dr Nisha.

*10:30 a.m. PHEORIS border 3 hours earlier.

It was during the post-winter period, when winter had just ended four days earlier and everyone was getting ready to welcome spring, but on that day in Eatogias, one of the prefectures of the Kingdom of Phèoris on the border with the Kingdom of Inun, on this border, climatic changes were often observed, either at the end of the season or even in the middle of it, so it was possible to have rain at the end of winter or snow in the middle of spring, but this change never lasted more than three days, and often the people of this border called this phenomenon the blessing of Gillevardar.

*In a snow-covered grassy meadow, a bearded man with grey hair and brown eyes, in his forties, lay under a tree. Lost in thought, he smoked a cigarette to warm himself in the cold weather that day, while watching his squad training and patrolling in the distance, when suddenly...

- ‘.... Sniff’ The man in his forties took a drag on his cigarette, but was interrupted in his comfort.

‘Still thinking too much and smoking about our world, Colonel? Or is it the cold and snow that has kept you immobile all this time?’ asked a fair-skinned man with grey eyes and blond hair, who turned out to be his subordinate, dressed in a military jumpsuit covered with a military raincoat and carrying two twin swords as weapons.

"Give me a break, IZUMO. First of all, weren't you supposed to be preparing for your admission? Instead of wasting your time criticising an old smoker like me in the cold?

Colonel Tamayo, don't worry about me, everything is under control. I'll do it once we're back from patrol.

"Well, anyway, I'm not worried about you, it's more about that other arrogant bloke I'm concerned about; where is he, by the way?

‘Ah, if it's him, I see him as the future of the coalition army. He's gone out on reconnaissance alone, and when he comes back, he promised to treat me to a meal if he kills more than two draugr today.

’What? He's not afraid of anything. Well, if he dies, at least it will show everyone else that you should never rush in headlong and always work as a team.

‘You say that, but you're just as proud of his prowess as a mentor, aren't you?’ asked Izumo, knowing full well that his colonel thought the opposite.

"Ah, let's not talk about it anymore, or he'll make me look like a grumpy old man; besides, there are some good recruits this decade whose names I can't remember. said the colonel, throwing his cigarette into the snow and immediately lighting another one.

Colonel Tamayo stood up and looked across the border wall, where he saw his men, but he focused his gaze on a black man with braided hair and could see his tattoos running from his arms to his neck, as he did not seem to be wearing a raincoat for the snow.

‘Hey, you there, come here. Remind me again, what's your name?’ Colonel Tamayo called out to him.

He approached him and, looking tired, replied, ‘Uh, my name is NIKAN, Colonel.’

‘NIKAN? Are you sure you're in the right place? And may I ask why you're not wearing a raincoat? Are you trying to freeze to death before you even get a chance to fight the draugr?’ ‘ The name bothered him because the colonel suspected that it was too famous and that he had heard it somewhere before. ’What is a privileged Inun doing in such a rotten place, especially in this military section, which is known to be dangerous and unsafe for a nobleman like you? ‘ asked the colonel.

’ZARUBA NIKAN,‘ he told the colonel.

’I didn't forget my raincoat, I just wanted to enjoy the gift of this new season.

‘Habon? Enjoy the new season? Have you come here to prove something, ZARUBA NIKAN?’ asked the colonel.

‘I didn't come here to prove anything, Colonel. I am simply respecting this gift, which is a blessing from Gillevardar. My apologies if you saw this as arrogance. I was only following the customs and traditions of my kingdom, but at least I helped my teammate with my raincoat,’ Zaruba replied respectfully.

‘Your teammate should be less clever for forgetting his raincoat during this mission. I understand and respect your custom, but the body has its limits, and you shouldn't perish even in the name of tradition. As the leader here, you need to be able to cover yourself at some point,’ warned the colonel respectfully, for the colonel was a strong and respectful man among the few officers of the coalition army, but also a strict man, which earned him the respect of his men.

‘And how long do you think it will take before this snow gives way to normal weather?’

" ‘I think today or tomorrow morning,’ replied Zaruba after observing the sky.

‘Very well, that way we won't have any deaths among our ranks, and seeing that he is well informed about the case, I think he is hiding his intentions here,’ said the colonel to himself.

‘Why? Are you asking him, boss? Have you suddenly taken pity on Nikan? Or are you interested in his custom and want to try it yourself?’ Izumo asked provocatively.

‘No, I just want to know how long our horses can endure this cold.’

Zaruba added: ‘By the way, Colonel, about my presence here and my blood...’

‘That's enough. Don't tell me your life story. It's still noon and it's going to rain in two hours, or rather, there's going to be a storm. Go put on your suit and get your weapons ready. We're leaving in 20 minutes,’ the colonel interrupted before NIKAN could finish what he had to say.

‘Hmmm...’ grumbled NIKAN.

‘Hey, soldiers, make sure you all equip yourselves with your ANIMA and prepare the horses; we're going!’

While galloping, Izumo approached his colonel.

‘Excuse me, Colonel?’

‘What is it, Izumo?’

"Nothing. Just a detail about Zaruba Nikan. I followed up on his case with Nozel, and it turns out he belongs to the royal family. And he seems to remain completely calm when the other racist soldiers attack him for the colour of his skin and the marks on his body. Speaking of which, I would certainly say that his family placed him in this army coalition to spare him and protect him from the wars of succession, because in the kingdom of Inun, the infection has been relentless. More than 30 per cent of the population of their kingdoms have taken refuge in the capital of Inun, I don't give their country much hope for the next 10 years.

- Hmm, if he's there, he must have his own reasons, and I admire his stance, because we too have been fighting the infection for decades, and the more years go by, the more this whole thing has turned to shit; the kingdoms continue to spy on each other selfishly, while in 10 years' time, the infection will have got the better of us all.