Chapter 32: Deployment (2)

"Phew..."

"Good work, Charles."

"Thanks, Erik..."

Night had fallen over the Iraqi heartland. Having pushed deep into the interior, the group had taken up residence in an abandoned building not far from the capital, Baghdad. Within their makeshift barracks, laid out with only simple bedding, they sat around a fire, cracking open military rations.

"You Alters take the perimeter watch. Artoria, if your Instinct catches anything, report it immediately."

"Understood."

Artoria used Excalibur Morgan as a makeshift cane as she began her rounds. Using her Dragon Witch skill, Janette took control of the Wyverns Zod had summoned, setting them to patrol the skies. Meanwhile, Emiya Alter and Cu Chulainn Alter stood guard over the students.

"Sigh..."

"Jean, you're going to create a sinkhole with all that sighing..."

"It's just... so hard, Scott..."

Jean Grey leaned her head on Scott's shoulder, rubbing her weary face. Having experienced the visceral truth and brutality of war during the day's battle, she had spent much of the evening retching in distress. Only the presence of her lover, Scott, allowed her to endure it.

"My grandfather died on the battlefield... I wonder if he felt the same way back then?"

"Your grandfather sacrificed himself for this country. Let's find the strength to do the same to protect our nation, Jean..."

"Thank you, Scott... I feel a bit better because of you."

Jean forced a smile at Scott's words, desperately trying to put her mind at ease. The reality of having to stain her hands with blood was horrifying. Yet, she managed a strained smile, justifying the gore as an act of profound justice for her motherland, the United States of America.

"Phew... I wonder if Raven is doing alright?"

"You certainly dote on Raven, Professor."

"She's my sister, even if we're related only by adoption... and I'm well aware that you have feelings for her, Hank."

"............Did you read my mind?"

"No? It's just painfully obvious."

"Hah... damn it..."

Hank and Charles chatted while sipping coffee made from their supplies. Their conversation centered on Raven, Charles's adopted sister, who was currently infiltrating Al-Qaera using her shapeshifting abilities. Hank had fallen for Raven the moment he saw her, but his crippling insecurity—believing she could never love a man who looked like a Phantasmal Beast—prevented him from confessing.

"Phew... I'm thinking of properly confessing to her once this war is over."

"Oi, oi, Hank. That's a textbook death flag, isn't it?"

Erik tapped Hank lightly on the shoulder as he sat across from them with a smirk. Hank looked back with dull eyes; Erik also harbored feelings for Raven, making the two of them both rivals and comrades.

"Besides, I'm going to confess to Raven first. Why don't you go look for someone else?"

"I'm fairly certain I can take better care of Raven than a playboy like you, at the very least."

"Pfft! What, are you planning to film Disney's Beauty and the Beast? Haven't you long since passed the age to believe in fairy tales?"

Snap!

Caught by Erik's cheap provocation, Hank let out a low, guttural growl, much like a Beast.

"Shouldn't you set a better example for the students as a teacher?"

"Oops~ My, my, it looks like the Beast is angry~ I better make my escape then."

After successfully getting under Hank's skin, Erik chuckled and walked away. Hank sighed, suppressing his annoyance, while Charles gave him a bitter, sympathetic smile.

"Zod-chan~ Here! Milk tea!"

"Ah... thanks, Janette."

Zod took a sip of the milk tea Janette had made using powdered milk and cheap black tea bags from the supplies. He immediately spat it out.

"Pfft!! Damn it! It tastes like I'm drinking sewage!"

"Is it that bad?"

"Drink it yourself."

Jeanne Alter took a sip of the tea from the tin cup Zod handed her, promptly spat it out, and hurled the cup away.

"Sorry..."

"That's cheap rations for you... Damn it... They send top-tier supplies and luxury goods to the other battlefields via dedicated transport ships and planes, but for us? The League? They send the dregs. That bastard President... I'll kill him once the administration changes."

Ordinarily, a military deployment of this scale would have a robust supply chain. But 'The League,' the superhuman unit Zod led, was given the bare minimum of low-quality junk. Zod's irritation was mounting.

It was obvious discrimination. To the government, it was preferable if these 'espers' simply went out and died, so they didn't bother providing decent logistics.

"Here. They're not ginger snaps, but they are cookies..."

Crack—!

"Fucking hell! This is a goddamn rock!!!"

"Zod-chan! Your dignity! Watch your dignity!!"

Zod, who usually maintained an elegant and refined vocabulary, had lapsed into vulgar cursing. A horrified Jeanne Alter tried to restrain him.

"Munch, munch... Pui—! I see why you are reacting that way... Though, compared to the food I ate back in Britain, I suppose this counts as edible..."

"Even the swill my teacher (Scáthach) made in the land of shadows was better than this."

Artoria Alter and Cu Chulainn Alter nodded after tasting the cookies Zod had thrown. They finally understood his vulgar outburst. The 'cookies' were dry, hard, tasteless, and excessively salty.

"I'll take them then... I can't taste anything anyway..."

Emiya Alter spoke indifferently, biting into a cookie as if it were nothing. Watching him, the teachers and students—wondering just how bad the food could possibly be—took a single taste of the rations before quietly pushing them aside.

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