To my dearest Leticia:

I miss you. I miss you so much. It has been two months since I’ve left for the front lines and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you every night. You’re the last person I think of when I go to sleep every night, if I were able to. How have you been? I hope Ricky has been a good boy. He’s at the age where he will start asking questions, so please let him know that daddy will be home sooner if he is a good boy that will help his mommy out around the house. Do tell him that I love him too, my dear. I’m not sure when this letter will reach you, but I want you to know that is war is going pretty well for us. The invading Rishaidia swines haven’t been able to advance at all for the past week. The higher ups call this a stalemate, but I call this good news. Since they are the ones coming onto us, once their provisions run out then they will have no choice but to retreat. The attacks from the swines have been weakening, so I do believe I am right about this!

Love,

Your husband Robb

P.S. Please tell my dad I will definitely bring some roast beef from Myrinne back for him, so he will stop mentioning it in every letter sent here!

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“…Sir, I think I’ve found him,” a soldier with an eye-patch over his right eye called out, signaling for an officer nearby.

The officer trudged through the muddy ground, mindful of where and what he was stepping on. His leather boots were completely covered in mud, making weird imprints on the ground as he walked. The sky has been drizzling since morning, with no signs of it letting up at all. Dark, heavy clouds beckoned in the distance, indicative of the impending downpour. The officer squatted down beside the one-eyed soldier, gesturing for him to continue.

“Lieutenant Robb Brown,” The soldier said, still holding onto the letter with his index and middle fingers. “One of our best lancers.”

The officer adjusted his helmet, wiping away the droplets of rain obscuring his field of vision. The body sitting before him definitely belonged Robb. Although his face might have been badly mangled, there was no mistaking the armband his son made for him. The armband has been stained red with blood, with speckles of red dotting what that remained of the originally white fabric. The officer turned his eye to the lance pinning Robb to the wall. The brownish red metal of the lance glistened in the rain.

Rishaidia steel.

A type of Steel refined from blood iron, a red colored mineral found only in the Kingdom of Rishaidia. Rishaidia steel is said to be stronger than regular steel, hence giving the troops of Rishaidia an edge in warfare. However, Rishaidia’s aggressive invasion policies have diminished the quantity of blood iron, resulting in the limited production of Rishaidia steel based weapons.

“Captain Ewin, sir,” the soldier asked suddenly, breaking the officer’s concentration of the lance. “Don’t you think it’s a little odd how they left their Rishaidia steel weapons behind?”

Captain Ewin, the officer, turned his head to survey the surroundings. It was obvious that Lieutenant Robb put up a fierce fight against the Rishaidia troops here. This was, probably, also where he lost his entire platoon. Captain Ewin deliberately avoided stepping on the bodies of the fallen while he was moving about. However, with all the corpses littering the ground, it has proven to be an incredibly challenging feat.

“It was not the troops,” Captain Ewin answered, eyes focused on Lieutenant Robb’s face. “There is simply no incentive for the Rishaidia troops to mangle his face.”

There was no denying that the lance was what that caused Lieutenant Robb’s demise. However, the injuries on his face seemed to suggest that something with powerful jaws has been chewing on his face.

“…Head-hunters,” Captain Ewin muttered, having recognized the injury on Lieutenant Robb’s face.

“Head-hunters, sir?” the soldier let out an exclamation in disbelief. “But those critters live in caves and mines! Even if they do leave the mines, they don’t stray too far from…”

“Precisely,” Captain Ewin cut the soldier short, removing the armband from Lieutenant Robb in the process.

“Have our men survey the topography around here and bring in the researchers.” Captain Ewin ordered, stuffing the armband in the pocket of his coat.

“We might have just struck gold.”