*the next day*
{HIKARI'S POV}
I sit at Jun's bedside. He looks peaceful now, but pulling down his loose tunic reveals a long, angry red scar down the center of his chest. It's been stitched together with fibers made from plant material, so it's biodegradable and won't have to be removed. Apparently, a lot happened while I was asleep.

When I first woke up, I was greeted with the site of Lord and Lady Kirigawa both sleeping in chairs, their heads resting on a cot, where Jun laid in a nest on goose down pillows. His cot was placed near mine in a slightly secluded area of the main medical tent.

I sat up quickly, and was immediately overcome by a wave of dizziness. I slumped forward, but one of the helpers noticed and stopped me from falling.

I demanded to see Jun, so they helped me walk over and explained what I missed.

There are also smaller scars on his left forearm and bellow his left knee. Both arm and leg are carefully splinted so they don't bend or move while Jun's bones set. His ribs are also broken, but there's not much left to do about them. Only time will tell.

There's a lot to be done now that the war is over, but we've made very little progress on anything.

We need to organize the collection and proper burials all the dead bodies, as well as moving all of the people of Tai back to what remains of their home villages, and rebuilding said villages.

All that work can wait.

The mood outside this little bubble can only be described as jolly. Last night consisted entirely of partying and dancing and singing and alcohol. Lots and lots of barrels of alcohol.

Even the more mobile wounded are joining in. The pharmacists got mad when someone snuck in a mug of alcohol for everyone awake, including me.

The pharmacists eventually conceded to the puppy-dog eyes of the injured knights ("We need this, it'll help us heal!"), shaking their heads and laughing. They still wouldn't let me keep mine though.

Despite my rather dour mood, I'm not going to be the one to stop the revelry. Everyone needs to destress and decompress after months of constant tension.

One common sentiment arises from the citizens outside: a desire to tear down the West Wall.

We love the wall.

We built it with our own hands, and it protected us splendidly. However, now that the war is finally over and the wall's protection is unnecessary, the citizens crave freedom again. What better way to show that the war has ended than by breaking through the only thing that protected us ourselves?

So people gather at the wall with pickaxes and hammers. The atmosphere is happy and chaotic.

When those tools prove too slow to be exciting for the rowdy mass of people, someone has the bright idea of taking the catapults down from the wall.

They come to me for permission. I eventually allow myself to be pulled from the medical tent, feigning uncertainty about using the catapults. I make a big show of thinking about it in front of everyone.

Of course I agree. A deafening cheer arises from the masses. I can't help but smile.

The knights and strongest amongst the citizens get to work, carrying the catapults down the steps. By removing the metal pieces, the catapults are made of wood. Despite the large size, they're relatively lightweight, so the knights have no issues.

Six catapults are lined up side by side, then reassembled. People begin chanting as excitement swells. The knights load up the stone ammunition—boulders from the quarry—one at a time.

Not many citizens have actually seen a catapult fired. With each boulder added, the chanting grows louder and louder. I cover my ears discreetly.

"Fire!" General Isamu yells, pointing at the wall.

The catapults fire one at a time, with about three seconds of delay between each shot. They smash into the West Wall at high velocity and smash on impact.

Several people back away as the shrapnel flies further than expected, pelting them with sharp pebbles.

Now with slightly more space, the catapults are loaded and fired again. The wall begins to cave outward. It takes five volleys of ammo aimed at the target for the top of the wall to give way.

It crumbles slowly at first, then speeds up, stone falling away like something big took a bite out of the top of the wall. The rest gives way easier as the damage continues to accumulate.

After months, the West Wall finally gives in. It caves in on itself, the surrounding wall crumbling outward as well. This section of wall has been demolished. Only a pile of rubble remains.

Everyone jumps up and down and cheers.

The catapults split up. Three to the left, three to the right, firing boulders and continuing to break down the West Wall. The crowd splits too, each half following one of the two groups and hyping them up.

A very small group of people is left at the original demolition site, myself included.

I climb up on top of the debris pile. It's tedious, since the rocks are rather unstable and keep sliding out from under me. I look out at the plains. Then I frown.

There's a group of people on horseback coming out of the distant treeline in tight formation.

My heart sinks. Perhaps the Menadian troops are coming back? Did they run into reinforcements and decide to try again?

Then I begin to panic. I'm an idiot. I just gave the okay to destroyed our sole line of defense! Everyone's guard is down. We have no soldiers on patrol. They'll charge past the wall and overrun us.

It's all my fault. I failed to protect everyone.

"General Isamu, look!" I yell and point frantically to the horizon.

"What?!" He shouts, confused but concerned by my panic. He begins to slowly clamber up the rock pile. When he sees the army in the distance, he frowns and narrows his eyes.

"I don't understand. They didn't have horses before. Where did they get all the horses? I've never seen that formation. What does it mean? How do we defend against it? Why are there so many soldiers? I didn't think they had so many left? Reinforcements? Was it all a trick? I fell for it. I'm so stupid!"

"Hikari-sama!" General Isamu puts a hand on my shoulder, jostling me out of my dark spiral of spoken thoughts. "I recognize that formation! It's taught by the Sereg knight circle. It's Clarin in origin. And look at the flag in the lead!"

I squint. A blue and silver flag flies above the group. The seal royal of the royal family of Clarines is embroidered on it. My family's seal.

As they draw closer, the horses galloping in a V now, the one the point of the V has pale blond hair glinting in the sunlight. He's wearing regal clothes and a white cape flaps in the wind behind him.

"Dad." I whisper. "Dad! It's Dad!"