KANAN'S POV

"We are safe here for now. We can also spend time talking to each other since Alpacas don't usually use their vision or hearing to know where we are unless they are close."

The one-armed man who brought me to this forest goes by the name Mori Yazawa. A Love Live Legionnaire. He is responsible for why I am still living up to now.

He brought the two of us within the canopies and branches of a small forest. His horse is left nearby. This place is currently the only safe haven amidst this hostile, foggy, landscape. Even so, I asked him again to confirm why he chose this spot:

"Why here?", I asked. Mr. Yazawa quickly explained.

"Most of the Alpacas should be focused on chasing the large population of Expeditionaries over there in those open fields. Alpacas only go to places where a lot of humans reside. This is good for us, it is highly unlikely that the Alpacas will come here just for two people. At the very least, I assume only one or two Alpacas might come here. If that does happen, it will be easy for us to take them out."

"Easy for you sir....you are a Legionnaire, I am not. I have no idea how to properly fight these Alpacas nor do I know how to use 3DMG.", I stated.

Until now I cannot cope with all the horrors I witnessed. No one will be able to comfort my mind anymore. I filled my head with thoughts of how I will die, how my future is lost, how hopeless I am gonna be once my new comrade here dies too. Still, I had clear mind to talk normally.

"Then why did you come here in the first place if you cannot fight?"

"I came here because of my dad....he's dead now though."

Mr. Yazawa realised I am too stressed out to talk about deaths or my agenda. He changed the topic.

"I believe that a lot of desertions had already happened even before the Expedition travelled into an unexpected, foggy terrain like this. Sooner, the commanders will realise that they need to retreat immediately. They might be retreating right now. In any case, we will use that as our chance to get out of here later."

I wondered how this man has lived through so much of this and survived. His arms catched my eyes' attention. I am curious as to how strong he must be.

"By the way, sir....why do you have only one arm left?"

"Oh this? Blame the Colossal, it is responsible for sending the damned Alpacas that invaded Akihabara and bit my arm when I tried to save my children.", he replied as if it was no big deal.

"You are from Akihabara?!!", I asked with surprise.

"Yep."

Knowing where he comes from bothered me further. He is one of those who've seen the worst things in life. Rather than escape from those worst things, he faces and moves towards them. I cannot grasp how he could have such a dangerous mindset like that.

"This world truly is brutal....I cannot imagine why you keep fighting in places like this!"

I showed him how frustrated I am since I cannot understand why he chose to come here now instead of staying inside the Walls. I wanna know why he and his fellow Legionnaires are not hesitant in being suicidal with their missions.

"No offense sir, but I wanna know what the Love Live Corps is thinking. Why would you guys go out here and risk your lives in Alpaca territory?"

"Well....that's because we know the Walls won't last. We know that the illusions of peace will soon break and that minkind will become food for the Alpacas."

"Everyone inside the Walls accept that, sir. We all want peace because we refuse to waste and gamble our efforts to seek for new homes outside the Walls. We are content with what we have."

"Content? That is probably why mankind will fall into extinction. Listen, we Legionnaires are not content with that. We want mankind to last forever. That's why we fight."

"But you guys will die for that reason. How can you be so immune to taking that risk? You guys should not be risking yourselves outside in a hopeless war. You should just remain in the Garrison - "

"Alpacas won't stop at the Walls. As the Armored and Colossal has shown us, they wanna get in no matter what. Someone needs to face them beyond the Walls."

"For what?"

"To protect those we care about and live to share what we experience and learn to guide our descendants as they defend humanity. For us, being a Legionnaire is the proudest and most honorable jobs for mankind."

"I see....", I managed to understand how authentic and unique the Legionnaires are now. He further added:

"That is why.....I promised...no...I guaranteed my family I will be back alive. I wanna live another day to serve Love Live another day."

For some reason, I have a feeling that Mr. Yazawa is someone who knows what he is doing and what he wants to acheive. Am I wrong to think that this man is destined to be a greater person than what I see now?

"I need to get back inside the Walls since this Expedition will fail anyway. I have to see my daughters, son, and family back."

"Sir, are they the reason for your participation.......no, sorry for asking such an obvious question."

Mr. Yazawa, refusing to leave my question unanswered, replied confidently:

"Quite literally actually. They are the ones who wanted me to come here in the first place!"

I am intrigued by what he meant, yet at the same time I felt honored to meet someone who has a very unique family.

"Gosh....I am so envious of you....you have a family to go to at least....", I said with a very sad face. Mori picked it up and asked:

"....hey, ummm....what's your - "

"The name is Kanan Matsuura, sir."

"Oh thanks....ehem....Kanan, could I ask how your father is like? As in what I mean is what kind of a man he is? If it is fine for you at least..."

I talked long enough with him that much of my worries no longer clouded my thoughts. I showed him that I am ready to talk about it.

"It's fine. About my dad, Shinzo Matsuura, he is a hardworking father, but someone who knows his limits. He took care of me all by himself when my mom died, so I guess I can describe him as someone who cares for both big and trivial things. If I am to describe the most important traits that he has, he always likes to let things go with the flow. When something happens, how bad it maybe, he just accepts it immediately without question or complaint. I can also say that my father is very humble and does not want to dream too much."

I am happy to talk about my dad to him. I wanna feel how heroic my dad is somehow - to help convince myself that his death meant something. I can see Mr. Yazawa also looks happy and humbled to know about my dad.

"But...for me, the greatest thing about him is that he is a smart guy. He knows how and when we should react during any situation. He is skilled at navigation, reads books as his past time, knows a lot about animals, and more things than what I already know. He even is smart enough to think about the - "

My face froze when I just said that. Memories of what my dad told me a while ago raced through my head.

"...what is it?", Mr. Yazawa asked me. I quickly looked up at him to tell him:

"Sir!! Listen to me very closely while I still remember!!"

"Remember what?"

"I just remembered that a while ago, my dad shared me his theory on what the true purpose of this Expedition is!!"

Mr. Yazawa had a surprised look, but I resumed talking when he nodded to hear my words. I told him what my dad theorised, about all this being a lie. I explained to him the full details. (Go back to Chapter 09 for details.)

Afterwards, he clearly showed both disbelief and trust in Kanan's tale.

"I see.....this Expedition is truly a big flaw and fail after all...."

He looked back at the fields.

"I think it is a bit fine now. The fog is still thick, but it has cleared a tiny bit at least. I have not heard any noises either - noises from horses and people are totally absent. It looks like the Expeditionaries have left."

"You want us to set out now?!"

"Yeah, otherwise if we stay here too long, once there are no more humans around here, Alpacas will soon detect us and find us here. Nor should we risk falling behind the Expedition Forces and get lost on our way back."

I am so lucky to find an expert by my side. He is like my dad. Riding behind his horse, I nodded and followed him wherever we'd go to.

------

Journeying back into the Expedition was both rough, scary, and silent. The two of us kept our mouths shut to evade Alpaca detection. Mr. Yazawa relied on the noises we hear to determine where we should head for - avoiding the Alpaca noises, of course. I still felt fearful as we rode through the fog, but Mori whispered to me to stay strong - he did the same thing my dad did to me many hours before.

Finally, we heard the stampedes of horses and found the southernmost flank of the retreating Expeditionaries. The soldiers who saw us brought us into the formation, asked what happened, and guided us throughout the retreat - thank God we are lucky.

"Thank God, we made it Kanan."

"I should thank you, Mr. Yazawa! I owe you a big debt!!"

"You don't need to do that. Don't pay me back with anything. Just stay alive - that is more than enough for me."

"Okey.....then...I'll remember you and your name no matter what! That's what I will do!!"

While we chatted, I think we passed by the young Legionnaire, Eri Ayase. I only heard her voice - I believe she is leading her squad of Legionnaires in assisting the retreat by killing off pursuing Alpacas. I did not give her much attention as I focused on getting back alive with Mr. Yazawa.

Many minutes passed. The entire Expedition is clearly moving back to the Walls, but there's still no sign that we have gotten any closer. The terrain started to look familiar but there is still fog all over the place. No matter, I am thankful that we're safe now. I don't think we'll need to fight Alpacas anymore because the southern brigades are handling the flank's defense very well -

"AHHHHH!!!"

....or not. Before I knew it, my eyes opened widely as I started hearing the screams of soldiers behind me. I looked back to find nothing going on - the cursed fog blocks my view.

Once again, fear grew in me. I just hugged Mr. Yazawa to remove my mind of any horrible thoughts.

"Hey kid, you and I are gonna live through this. It's alright."

Mori Yazawa comforted me to ease my worries - sadly, his words would turn out useless....

"THE ARMORED ALPACA IS COMING!!"

A female Legionnaire shouted those words as she rode through us. She warned us that the Armored has returned. Once again, I got scared.

"We're doing all we can to stall that monster!! No matter what happens, keep riding forward!"

Soon, the Armored Alpaca - and it's menacing face with glowing yellow eyes - suddenly appeared out of the fog and watched us with pride as we felt horror with it's arrival. It's arrival caused panick amongst the hundreds of Expeditionaries withdrawing alongside me - the ones in front of us are militias who are both too cowardly and inexperienced to attempt a fight.

"NOOO!!!"

"Shit!!"

"Crap!! How did you get here so soon!! Tskk...you two, get away no matter what! I will deal with this one!", the woman said.

"Don't!! You can't fight it off - "

"I'd rather die than let that thing massacre any of you!!", The woman turned back and rode to face the Armored. I looked helplessly as I witnessed this Legionnaire's sacrifice.

She jumped off her horse and grappled her hooks unto the ground many meters away. It carried her all the way at the Armored's back legs in a circular path and she aimed for the legs - her blades shattered and she missed the narrow slits that the Alpaca's armor did not cover. The Armored kept dashing at us. Later, she jumped on the Alpaca's back and tried to slash down whatever slits were there to distract the Armored with another twinblade. The Armored jumped to get her off and the woman fell. She quickly unleashed her hooks and grappled it unto the Armored's mouth. She dashed towards it and slashed though - it worked. The Armored screamed in pain after the lady pierced it.

Soon the fog covered the encounter and I never managed to see her or the Armored for a while. I realised that attacking the Armored close and personnal is the only actual way to fight it off. I focused my attention back at the retreat.

"Everyone, go!! We'll make it soon! Keep moving forward!!"

Not long after, however, a shadow appeared over me and Mr. Yazawa - it was the shadow of the female Legionnaire - and it hit us. We both fell off our horses. It was painful.

I fell on the ground to find that the lady that hit us is dead, probably thrown off by the Armored. Worse still, the impact of the fall broke my bow - I am now completely defenseless and useless.

Nearby, I saw Mr. Yazawa hastily stood up and reached for me. He grabbed my hand:

"Kanan!! Get up!!"

Then he whistled - his horse got back soon. Mr. Yazawa hurriedly pushed me up when suddenly an Alpaca appeared out of the fog and attacked us.

"SHIT!! KANAN, GOOOO!!!"

------

MORI'S POV

At first, I saw nothing. It was black all around me - turns out my eyes were closed.

I slowly opened my eyes. I felt an aching feeling in my head. I touched my head to find blood stained in my palm. I looked again to find my vision looking weird - no, it looked upside down.

Over the distance, I see Kanan on horseback, screaming at me. Panicking. I wonder why....?

I looked up....fuck....I see the face of a smiling Alpaca with it's freaky blue eyes and blonde fur. From there, I realised something....

I found my body hanging upside down, my leg and probably half of my body grabbed by the mouth of this Alpaca. I am currently being eaten....by an Alpaca...in this field...in this fog....in this goddamn time.

Instead of fear, I felt frustration. I looked at this animal calmly not because I am fearing for my life, but because I am thinking about the consequences of my decisions.

I just realised what a fool I am. I told my family - Noriko, Cocoro, Cocoa, Cotaro, Nico - I am gonna be back. Even if it meant abandoning anyone I am with.

Instead, I wasted my chance to leave by saving this girl and hanging out with her. At the time, I could've let her die - I would not have had needed to hide in a forest for the sake of this girl. I could've catched up with the Expedition earlier.

I guess it's just me. I am a soldier, after all. Soldiers must prioritise the weak no matter what. I like that regardless - I am such a wannabe hero.

Energy and adrenaline suddenly flowed through my body and my face expressed intense anger as I raised my sword with my one and only arm and thrusted it at the behemoth's mouth - blood came out but the Alpaca felt nothing. Fuck, I got bitten by an Aberrant (Abnormal), but at least I am still fighting.

"GOOOO!!! KANAN, GOO!! WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? YOUR GRAVE?!!"

Kanan is shocked at my resilence. I just kept shouting while I still had consciousness. I had nothing else to think about other than my family's smiling faces and getting this girl to live.

"LIVE, KANAN!! LIVE!!", I shouted. The little girl just showed me her tears as they fell, before she turned away and rode to another direction - back at the formation.

As she faded into the fog, I hallucinated as if I saw Nico wearing the Love Live cloak, riding on horseback.

My vision faded.....I managed to get a glimpse of the Armored Alpaca approaching me as I get munched on by this other blonde Alpaca....

"....f-fuck....my...self..."

I whispered as I lost consciousness.....

KANAN'S POV

Once again, I am struck with despair. Another man is doomed to die before my eyes.

"GOOOOO!!!", he said.

I rode away like a scared piece of shit. I kept crying as I rode away. I wanted to do something but I could not with my bow broken. I felt nothing but despair, frustration, and self-loathing. My dad died - another man like him just died.

"AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"

I closed my eyes as I heard his scream. It sent shivers down my spine. I could not take it anymore. I had witnessed too many deaths. I do not want to see another corpse.....

But it bothered me....I still somehow wanted to give him one last look...

I could not help but look back. But when I did.....I saw something bizarre that shocked me.

I saw through the fog that the Armored Alpaca has stopped chasing us.....then about two seconds later, it was attacked by another Alpaca.

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A/N: I carefully choreographed how this scene would play out. I will hint that this scene is gonna be more amazing when you read future volumes. Prepare for the next chapter.