{MIHO'S POV}
It's been a month since we entered East Zoral, and the condition of the remaining citizens is awful.

Every single living human we've passed has happily joined our march to Citadel. They would rather get trained to fight and die in battle than live in fear, oppressed to the point of slavery.

But at least they were alive.

"I knew he was ruthless, but I never thought Uncle would stoop so low." Aoi-kun says softly. We've come across a silent town.

Silent, because the residents are now skeletons rotting in the streets. Doors have been broken, fires started, stone buildings caved in upon themselves after unlucky shots from a catapult.

I've seen my fair share of gore since I was twelve. But the sight of a charred skeleton wrapped around the tiny skeleton of an infant, a mother trying to save her baby in their final moments, makes my stomach sick. I'm glad Aoi-kun, Takeshi, Hajime, and I decided to investigate the strangely silent town alone.

To march an army past and disturb these people, after all they've been through, it wouldn't be right.

"Why?" I choke out the question we're all asking ourselves. "What happened?"

"Aoi-sama! Miho-sama! Over here!" Takeshi calls, voice cutting through the stagnant air like a knife.

We hurry over, following the sound of his voice, careful to avoid stepping on any remains. We find General Takeshi in the town square, and it's easily the most horrific sight I've ever beheld.

Skeletons piled on top of each other in multiple layers of death. Some are missing body parts, while others are terribly broken, as if the person was trampled to death by a panicked crowd. Dark, dried blood lathers the ground and the buildings.

A vulture screeches overhead, fluttering from a rooftop and flying away. It sounds to me like the screams of these innocent people as they were massacred and left here for scavengers to feast upon.

General Hajime is standing on a wooden platform. Several of the skeletons appear to have been killed while clawing their way up to the stage, frozen forever in their final death throes.

A guillotine is positioned on the platform. I can see exactly what happened. A small child's skeleton is handcuffed to the guillotine.

The child doesn't have a head. The guillotine severed it. I trace the path of old blood to a small skull perched on the edge of the platform.

This size indicates a toddler. How much did the child suffer? How much did they understand as the executioner lead them onto the stage for a public beheading? Did they see the rope get cut, watch the glinting blade come down in their final moments?

This is war. I can't save everybody. I knew people were going to die from the beginning. But still...

There's a bitter taste in my mouth. My breath bursts forth in rapid succession. My fists are clenched so tight that my nails cut into my palms and draw blood. My hatred for Kenji Fujimiya boils.

Aoi-kun looks as miserable as I feel. He's thinking his usual toxic thoughts: if he were stronger, faster, better, he could've ended the war and prevented this tragedy. General Takeshi joins us beside the toddler's skull on the sickening stage.

His face is stony as he hands Aoi-kun a yellow slip of parchment. Like everything else in this town, it's spattered in so much blood. The ink is hardly legible.

"It was posted on a board by the entrance. It's an invitation." Takeshi tells us, which is good because my vision is swimming with loathing and disgust, making it impossible to read. "An invitation to see what happens when you go against the emperor. Some of the townsfolk spoke out in favor of Aoi-sama in front of Kenji-sama's general, Daku. General Daku chose the young son of one of the activists to behead. I think he purposely chose someone uninvolved, someone innocent. He wanted the townspeople to riot, so he and his soldiers had an excuse to come through make an example of them."

"An example." My voice sounds venomous, even to me. The two generals back away. "No... an excuse. For this... meaningless slaughter."

My fists are trembling now. I want to punch someone—preferably a hog-tied General Daku—senseless until my knuckles are raw and bloody.

"You'll get your chance." Aoi-kun promises me. His red eyes seem to glow devilishly, and for the first time I can see why people might they're an ill omen. "I swear it, Miho. For these people, and all the other unnecessary deaths this war has caused. I'll personally hunt down all the corruption in this country and squash it. General Daku and Unc—no. I have no uncle. I don't recognize a man who would do this as my kind father's brother. He is Kenji. Nothing more. He is not a Fujimiya. Nor an emperor."

"Right." I agree, allowing my bloodlust to consume me for a little while, burning it off so I can face my allies without strangling them.

Aoi-kun and I are so focused on each other and our mutual hatred for Kenji, neither of us notices that Takeshi and Hajime are saluting us solemnly, fists pressed firmly against their chests.

"What are you doing?" Aoi-kun asks when he sees.

"It was just the right thing to do." Hajime replies.

Takeshi has a tear in his eye, but he blinks and it's gone. "For a second, I thought I saw Sei-heika and Azalea-heika. But you are Aoi-sama and Miho-sama; my emperor and my Commander."

We set about giving the people of this town a proper burial. It's the least Aoi-kun and I can do, since we couldn't save them.

There's a small hill just outside the silent town, with a giant oak growing on top. Soon it's lined with small mounds of dirt. Nameless graves.

The entire army chips in, taking a break from all training and planning to honor and bury the dead. Aoi-kun and I personally bury the toddler right at the oak tree's roots. I hope they, whoever they were, can find some peace resting there.