Earth’s Doom Starts with… Me?

Dmitri's eyelids fluttered open as the sun rays were peeking through the horizon. He rubbed both of his eyes with the back of his hands, when suddenly he felt something soft was brushing his arm.

"Wolf?" Dmitri blinked a few times looking at the boy who was snuggling close to his chest. The boy's face looked very peaceful, as if nothing malicious was happening around him.

"Hngg." The boy shifted his position a bit, trying to make himself more comfortable.

Dmitri moved very slowly and carefully, making sure he won't wake the boy up. He pulled the blanket to cover the boy, and then he placed his bag under Wolf's head, replacing his arm that was used as a pillow.

"There we go." He smiled, proud of his mastery of babysitting.

"How's the boy?" Jeanne's voice abruptly came from his right.

He turned to find the owner of the voice covered in blood. Her face was stern and her eyes were in full focus. She wiped the blood off of her cheek and approached them casually.

"General Jeanne? What happened?" Dmitri asked in surprise. Even though he couldn't hide his surprise, he still managed to keep his voice hushed to not wake the boy.

"Minor inconvenience happened. Don't worry about it." Her eyes darted towards the sleeping boy, and she let out a relieved sigh.

"But, general--"

"You should join the others and have some breakfast. We're going to invade the minotaurs in a bit." Jeanne cut him off and turned around, walking away.

"A-alright..." The stunned Dmitri blinked a few times again, before he stood up to get himself and Wolf some food.

He approached the soldier who was distributing the rations from their cart, and greeted him with a bright smile.

"Good morning, Will! How are you feeling today?" Dmitri waved his hand.

"Morning, Dmitri. Cheerful as always, eh? I'd say I'm pretty damn nervous today. Here, your ration!" The soldier handed him a piece of dry chicken sandwich and a canned soup.

"Thank you! Don't be too nervous, man. You'll lose focus, haha!" Dmitri patted Will on his shoulder.

"I'll try, man. Anyway, here's another portion for that kid you're babysitting," Will said as he took out another ration and gave it to Dmitri, "also, here's your bottled water. And that kid gets a bottled water plus an orange juice."

"Wow, thank you! I'm sure Wolf will be happy!" Dmitri beamed.

"Courtesy of the twin generals. Meanwhile, we always get water. Haa..." Will sighed.

"Eh? What's wrong with water?" Dmitri tilted his head innocently.

"Nothing's wrong with water. But sometimes I just want to be able to eat to my heart's content, you know? We've been serving in the Vanguard for years, and yet we rarely get to experience what normal people do..." He answered while he continued to hand out rations to other soldiers.

"Haha! That's true!" Dmitri scratched the back of his head.

"If you know, why are you laughing, then?" Will sighed.

"Well, the way I see it, they're able to enjoy good food precisely because we served for years in the Vanguard, right? After all, we also scavenge for resources aside from killing monsters to keep them safe," Dmitri explained, "so I'm already happy enough to be part of the reasons why they can eat good food, even though I can't enjoy good food often, myself! Haha!"

"You... I swear, no one can ever beat your positivity." Will chuckled and tossed him a candy bar.

"What's this?" Dmitri asked as he caught it with his hand.

"That's good food. Eat it, so I can be the reason you can enjoy good food." Will said as he gave Dmitri a huge grin.

Dmitri's eyes widened a bit, and he smiled, "thank you, Will."

After he got the rations he came for, he walked back towards where Wolf was sleeping and found him right there, sitting down while talking with the birds casually.

"Oh, you're awake, Wolf! Good morning!" Dmitri sat beside the boy, "here, eat these. We will be having a long day, so make sure to finish them all and chew carefully, okay?"

"Okay." Wolf replied as he took the sandwich Dmitri gave him.

The little boy immediately ripped the top sandwich bread into little pieces, and scattered them for the birds.

"I thought we feed the birds already?" Dmitri said, dumbfounded.

"They eat. But no full. You no ask." Wolf responded casually while eating the leftover sandwich he had.

"Ah... Now that you mention it, you're right. We just assumed they were full. Sorry, birds." Dmitri looked down and ripped his bread into pieces too, so the birds could have some.

"Birds say it's okay. Humans always like that. Humans think only humans matter. Birds say they're used to it." Wolf translated what the birds said.

"Y-you're right... Sorry." Dmitri scratched the back of his head.

He glanced at the bag of bird feed they had brought, and saw that not only was the bag too small for the number of birds they've brought, but the feed was also mixed with some pebbles.

He winced at the sight. Now that he thought about it, they had been turning a blind eye to other creatures' suffering, so that they, humans, could have more resources, which could lead to a better life. For a moment, he doubted whether it was the right thing to do or not. After all, other creatures would love to have a better life, too, wouldn't they?

"Attention, all soldiers!" Owen's voice snapped him out of his trance, and he instantly turned towards Owen.

"Finish up in five minutes! We will coat ourselves again in new minotaur blood, and then we will advance in 30 minutes!"

"Yes, sir!" Everyone answered, and they all began scattering about.

"Wow, they really did it. They really killed a minotaur, and one from a horde, no less..." Dmitri muttered in awe.

"Yeah, man. Our generals are crazy strong, right? Even general Jeanne, who stayed up all night fighting off small monsters and wild animals doesn't look tired at all!" A soldier near him said as he offered Dmitri a bag to throw his waste in.

"Ah! So that's why she was all bloody this morning." Dmitri gasped while putting their waste inside the bag.

"Yeah. Now I feel better about this raid. It's amazing how they could raise our morale even without saying anything." The soldier closed the waste bag and moved on to another soldier.

Dmitri watched the generals' back as they drifted away towards the frontline in silence. Sometimes, he wondered if one day he could become as reliable as them, too. After letting out a sigh, he quickly helped Wolf to get ready for their raid.

Once the promised 35 minutes had passed, everyone was already lining up in groups of five. They wouldn't be riding anymore. Instead, a few men would stay behind to watch the perimeter and guard the horses while the rest of them invade. They couldn't afford to lose their horses inside the minotaur's kingdom, as it would severely damage their economy and resources.

"Alright! Remember your duty, and follow the plan! Now, we march to the minotaur's kingdom!" Owen howled as he raised his spear.

"Yes, sir!" The soldiers followed his lead and raised their weapons in unison.

"For humanity!" And with one final cry, the air was filled with the sound of armors clanking as they closed the 1 km distance between them and the minotaur's kingdom.