Magical warfare

Magical warfare

Left, right, left, right. The sun has gone down ages ago, but we are still walking. Luckily the armor we wear is lightweight so its easier on us than it is for the ones that have heavy armor.

Even if the real soldiers with heavy armor are trained and strong, we are all just cannon fodder in this war. At least with the leather armor we can move easier to our deaths. There are so many of us and most of us were normal farmers before they made us fight in this war, so it was lucky that I even got a sword to fight with.

Even shopkeepers and nobles had to join the army, only the highest nobles and the most important people avoided it.  The ones that couldn’t afford their own weapons were given a weapon but if you were weak or unskilled in using one then you could only get a farming tool to fight with.

Even though I am stronger than normal since I must tend to my farm alone and take care of my little sister and mother, I still only got a short rusty sword as my weapon.

Tom is looking a bit wobbly, I take his hand and put it on my shoulders. He looks at him with gratitude. There have been cases where people fell and then they got trampled by the people behind them. The higher ups at the back even stabbed them on the way.

Tom is from the farm next to ours and he has always been a frail and weak. He preferred staying inside doing crafts and cooking like his mother. He makes great bread and often brings food for us, so I have always been grateful for him.

We met up with the lizard people yesterday and now they are walking behind us. It shows how little they think of us. They could march next to us, but they went to the back where they are safe. I suppose we are all just cannon fodder.

I can’t understand why we would participate in this war. They told that we have to get free from the suppression so we can do what we want but there are no negatives with the so-called suppression. No wars and a mandatory adventurers guild only give benefits for us. People that don’t have anything else can make a living from the adventurers’ guild and people like me wouldn’t have to leave their family on their own to fight in wars that give us nothing but death and injuries.

I feel the weight on my shoulders get heavier. I look to my left and see another person hanging on to me.

“Get off of me.”

“Now, now. You are already helping someone else so what’s one more person?”

“It’s a lot, and he is a friend while I don’t know you.”

I push him away from me and he laughs weakly. He is longer than me and his fur is shorter. He has a dagger in his waist and a leather armor that looks weaker than mine.

“You can always get to know me.” He smiles and winks at me.

“Why would I? We are all going to die soon anyways.”

“We might win this war though, in that case we could live through it.”

“Even if our side wins the war, we wouldn’t live through it since we are the weakest race on our side so we will be pushed to the frontlines first.”

 “Oh, you are smarter than you look like. You are right, we are doomed to die all because our king wanted to chase after power and wealth foolishly.”

“Its not me who is smart, most people here are just stupid and chasing after the same things. They imagine that they can earn merits in the war and rise to a higher position thanks to that and even volunteered happily to come here.”

“Hahaha, there are also the dumber people who believe the bullshit they tell about freeing our country and making it a better place to live. They happily sacrifice their lives for a country that is just using them for their own benefit.”

“What can we do about it though? If we run, they kill us. We are forced to fight the enemy and die. If I had no family, I could go against them or try to run but they might kill them then.”

“You think they would remember one farmer that runs away from the war? They will all die anyway so running away is the best option you have. Your family won’t be safe on their own if you are gone.”

“They even kill the people that are unable to walk, you think that we could manage to run away from them? Also, I don’t think its safe to talk about this here, anyone could hear you.”

“They don’t know who I am, and we all look similar. Even if someone went to tell the higher ups about me, they wouldn’t find me. We are all exhausted too from walking for days with little food. No one cares at this point.”

“You might be right.”

“You know I’m right. If you are going to run wait until the war starts so they won’t have time to deal with you.”

I see him walking past the guys in front and disappearing into the crowd. What a weird guy that was but I do agree with him. My only way to live is running away from the battlefield. It will be hard since we will be at the front and the armies of other races are going to be behind us. I don’t really see myself living from this, but I have to try.