161 The Tomorrow War (2/2)

\”Is he competent?\” I asked as I put the scroll down on the table.

\”Very,\” Edo answered as he sat back on the wooden chair that seemed to groan in protest at his weight. \”Even with only four thousand men. He won't need us to conquer that oasis.\”

I grinned mischievously.

\”We can't have that… don't think he'll mind a team-up, do you?\” I wondered aloud.

\”Not if we let him know we're coming… he won't mind it at all. Won't even mind if you steal the glory… he's got enough of it,\” Edo chuckled.

\”That's our first target then…\” I said, leaning forward in my seat. \”If he's as competent as you say, he'll pair well with whatever we plan to do.\”

I looked over to the scroll again and reread its contents. I frowned after I noticed one key point in the report.

\”These units attacking the oasis to the right won't win the right oasis so we'll have time,\” I reasoned.

\”Why do you say that?\” Azuma asked curiously.

I referred to the report on the table.

\”The enemy commander's pretty famous… the Knight of Morning himself,\” I answered.

\”The Dawn Breaker?\” Edo sat up suddenly. He whistled. \”Well, that's going to be trouble for us.\”

I nodded in agreement. Then I pointed back to the left oasis.

\”So here's what I'm thinking… we assist the Red Bull in conquering the left oasis then gain his help in taking over the right one,\” I explained. \”No matter how famous the warrior, we just need to come at them with overwhelming force.\”

Both Edo and Azuma sat back almost reflexively like they were suddenly at ease.

\”More and more I'm beginning to realize why an annoying boy like you defeated me,\” Azuma smirked.

\”The little commander should be at least this useful after all,\” Edo added, a similar smile playing on his lips.

\”You guys really know how to butter up a dude, don't you,\” I said with a shake of my head.

It was at this point when Aura and the rest of my officers walked into the command tent. While the rest of them carried what was arguably a bamboo-type shot glass in their hands, Luca was carrying what was obviously a birthday cake in her arms.

My eyes went wide with surprise as I didn't expect a cake until the morning back in Mudgard. Aunt Lena had planned a breakfast with Ty and Arah.

\”Celebrating the day you were born, I like this tradition,\” Varda admitted as she sat on the chair next to Edo.

\”Sounds like a bother to me,\” Qwipps countered as he took his seat on her other side, \”Having to remember dates for all your acquaintances…\”

\”Don't worry, Qwipps,\” Ashley added as she sat next to Azuma. \”No one expects you to remember anything. We're used to it.\”

Qwipps' sent Ashley the Fayne's version of the finger and she sent him back a flying kiss.

\”Ah, revelries, this is the stuff I like about you guys,\” Shanks looked around for a chair that could fit him, but finding none, he opted to stand behind Ashley and lean on the tent's central pole. He raised the very tiny wooden cup in his hand. \”You didn't scrimp on the good stuff too.\”

As he said this, Luca placed the birthday cake down on the table in front of me while Aura put a cup down beside it. Then they each took their respective seats on opposite sides of me with Pike claiming the seat next to Luca and Ty sitting on Aura's other side.

Thom and his cousin, Enna, took their seats next to Qwipps and Ashley respectively, with Thor and Xanthor rounding out the full roster of officers opting to stand at the other end of the table from me.

\”You're going to enjoy the gift I got you, dude,\” Ty told me. \”Left it in your house before we ported.\”

\”Sweet,\” I said, still feeling overwhelmed by this unexpected gesture from my team.

\”We've distributed most of the mana to the soldiers who performed well during tonight's mission,\” Aura explained.

\”The rest were promised a slight increase in pay like you wanted, Commander,\” Varda added.

I nodded gratefully at them for handling the task for me. It was appropriate I think, that everyone gets rewarded for their efforts which over the last few months showed a vast improvement from the last war.

\”So, shall we begin?\” Thom asked. \”I believe our Commander,\” that smirk of his didn't annoy me as much tonight, \”requires we sing him a… what was that, Luca?\”

\”A birthday song,\” Luca reminded them before turning to me with a grin and saying, \”They actually practiced it first.\”

\”Extra points to Varda for hitting those high notes,\” Ashley laughed.

There were a few more jeering at everyone's expense, and as I paid attention to their fooling around, I wondered if this warm feeling I felt in my chest wasn't similar to those good old days when the family table was set for four when my dad wasn't just a memory and my mom hadn't gone cuckoo yet.

And I never really imagined that I would feel this way again in a battlefield of all places while surrounded by such an eclectic cast of weirdoes, who, despite my bias against fairies, have become as close to family as Luca and I have ever had.

I blinked away the tears that would have fallen from my eyes and earned me a new wave of jokes at my expense, and just sat there, waiting for the others to finish so we could get down to the business of eating cake.

Eventually, Aura, as our proverbial matriarch, clapped her hands together for quiet. Once all noise had died down, she ordered the others to sing. And together, in a variety of tones that were a horror to my ears, they sang me a happy birthday.