I was literally thrown into a unit by Dr. Mori.

The troop camp is located on the edge of Everdark Island. Most of the dwellings are haphazardly built of wood and stone, and they look crumbling and threatening to collapse at any moment. This is the unit that is closest to the battlefield of Changji Island, and it is also a real front-line unit.

When I was taken by Dr. Sen, several soldiers were playing cards boredly in the low room. Glass bottles were piled up at their feet, and white smoke and sparkling cigarette butts emitted a pungent and unpleasant smell.

Dr. Mori probably couldn't accept such a bad indoor environment, so he stood in the doorway, not wanting to go in at all. Then he gently took me from behind him and brought me in front of him.

I turned to look at him and waited for his next instructions.

Since he didn't give me orders, I wouldn't have acted alone.

The soldiers also noticed Dr. Mori and me, who were standing at the door of the tent. After seeing the two of us, they stopped playing cards and chatting.

The soldier at the head was very enthusiastic. He threw the cards he was holding on the table and subconsciously got up. But after standing up, it was as if he had suddenly suffered unbearable pain, and his expression instantly became hideous, and he had to sit back on the stool.

"Dr. Sen, why are you here in person?"

He wasn't very tall, but he was very strong. The exposed skin is brownish-black with deep and shallow burns and scratches. There are also two blood marks on the side of the face that have not congealed, which adds a bit of roughness.

In fact, all the soldiers present were just like him.

"I remember you...... Okura-kun. Dr. Mori bowed, "Is your leg injury healing?" ”

He laughed innocently, and his not particularly white teeth were also conspicuous against the brown and black skin: "Of course it's not so fast." However, fortunately, Dr. Sen treated the limb in time and did not have it amputated. ”

Hearing him say this, Dr. Sen laughed and said nothing.

On the contrary, it was the soldier who was playing cards with him opposite Okura who noticed the little me in front of Dr. Mori: "Dr. Mori, this kid can't be our newly recruited military health officer, right?" ”

"Nope." Dr. Mori pushed me on my back and pushed me towards the soldier without resisting, "This is the junior of my college classmate, and I hope he can have a training experience with you." ”

Dr. Sen casually made up an identity for me, so I would naturally listen to him and inherit this identity. I introduced myself to them, "Yes, I'm a junior of Dr. Mori's college classmates, and my name is Kazama. ”

The expressions of the soldiers changed from indifference to incredulity, and then they looked at each other. But then they showed reluctance, and Dr. Sen's request probably made it difficult for them.

"Of course, I know that the front line is dangerous. You don't need to take extra care of Kazama-kun. ”

Dr. Mori bites down heavily on the pronunciation of the words "extra care". The soldiers seemed to know what Dr. Mori meant, and they looked at each other and nodded slowly.

After confirming that the soldiers had been accepted, Dr. Mori left satisfied. The back of his departure was exceptionally neat, not at all muddy, as if he had forgotten my existence the moment he turned around.

I didn't bother to pay attention to the soldiers who wanted to talk to me out of curiosity, and trotted out, grabbing his sleeve tightly.

"Kazama-kun?" He turned to look down at me with undisguised confusion in his eyes.

"I-"

What do I want to say? I don't know. Perhaps what I want to ask is, will I be able to see him more often in the future? Or I want to ask, when will the next time I see him? I obviously didn't want to go against his arrangement, but when I saw the back of him leaving, I felt a sense of abandonment in my heart.

"What you should do now as a human ......"

Dr. Mori pointed to the barracks, where several people were watching curiously as I interacted with Dr. Sen. It was only when Dr. Mori pointed his finger at them very clearly that they laughed and looked away as if nothing had happened.

"The first thing is to get along with the soldiers who are about to get along with each other."

I nodded, and didn't hear the heart.

Dr. Sen was leaving. And all I have to do now is express my dazed feelings, even though I don't know what to say.

There was a pause before I spoke.

It was like a promise to him, and it was like a promise to me.

"Dr. Sen, I'm not going to die."

I won't die, so even if I'm on the battlefield, I'll be able to wait for the day he retrieves me.

I don't know if he read the unfinished meaning of my words. He put his warm hand over my head and patted it gently. It seems perfunctory, and it seems to be serious.

I looked him straight in the eye without flinching, and there was anticipation and excitement in his eyes that I couldn't understand. In addition to this, there is also an inexplicable scrutiny. All I know is that he probably wants something from me.

"It's just a simple experience, Kazama-kun."

His tone was understated, but it gave me hope that it wasn't false. It's just a trial, so he'll pick me up from here when it's over.

"Good!" I nodded heavily.

By the time I said goodbye to Dr. Mori and returned to the camp, the soldiers had stopped their boring entertainment.

I don't know who threw a small ball of plastic paper at me. I was forced to disconnect from thinking about Dr. Mori and look at them for no apparent reason.

"Hey, boy!" Okura beckoned to me, his expression looking serious, "Come and sit down." ”

As soon as I sat down at their table, he was the first to say to me, "Dr. Mori said that we don't need to take extra care of you. ”

"Hmm."

He looked at me so calmly, as if he didn't understand me, and continued to explain to me: "In other words, we won't give you fewer tasks because you are young. Even if you're the one Dr. Mori stuffed in himself. ”

"Okay."

"Maybe Dr. Mori has a personal vendetta with that classmate from his college days?" The man on the side held a toothpick in his mouth and said casually, "Even if the government's recruitment conditions have dropped to teenagers now, then you should go to logistics and start as a cook." What is the difference between putting a child on the front line and sending people to death? ”

He was tall and thin, and he was probably younger than Okura in terms of physiognomy. It's just that his raised thick eyebrows, coupled with some prominent cheekbones and sunken side cheeks, give people a feeling that it is not easy to get along with.

"Okay, Ueno." Okura didn't seem to want him to continue talking, so he grabbed the small half-bottle of wine on the table and threw it at him.

I glanced at him for some reason.

Was he unhappy with Dr. Sen's arrangement?

It's just that Ueno was not reconciled, and he asked me very bluntly: "Kazama, right?" Did you have systematic training when you kid joined the army? Physical fitness, fighting, firearms training. ”

I shook my head. It was only five days from the time Dr. Mori picked me up from Tokokumi Island to his dormitory to recuperate, and the time he sent me to the front line. I'm just wearing the same uniform as the soldiers, but at heart, I'm just a fake soldier. Not to mention recruit training, I didn't even go through the enlistment process.

"Look." Ueno shrugged his shoulders and insisted on his conclusion to Okura, "That's it on the battlefield, and I don't even have the most basic ability to protect myself. ”

I didn't care at all about their conversation: "It's okay, I'm not going to die." ”

They scoffed at me when I said that.

It's like laughing at my naivety, and it's like laughing at my incompetence.

*

It was said that it was a period of reprieve from the war, but I was not able to integrate into this strange group for a few more days, and I soon received the first task - to build a military defense line on the front line.

"Do you need to use iron wire to build a defensive line?"

I stood in front of an off-road truck holding a large ball of wire. The wire is not an ordinary wire, it has a rough knot at short intervals. And where the knots are made, there are dense spikes that extend out. Even with the thick protective gloves on, I could feel the spikes of the wire almost piercing the palm of my hand.

"Of course, this kind of broken place where the bird doesn't poop, this is the easiest and most effective way." Ueno held out his hand to me, "Come, hand to me." ”

He took the wire ball from me and pulled me onto the off-road truck. The off-road truck was the vehicle for our mission, and because the task was not difficult, there were not many people on the rear body.

Off-road trucks headed for the front line. Along the way, there were large and small craters that had been blown out everywhere.

And the so-called front line is already close to the center of the island. It's like a big wasteland, with no plants under your feet, only rough sand and gravel. In addition to the trenches dug for the battle, in the distance, there is a line of defense made of iron thistle wire nets.

Ueno patted me on the shoulder: "Be careful yourself." ”

"Got it." I promise it.

I know what he means. Now that they are all on the front line, everyone has their own tasks, and every soldier is equally exposed to danger. Even if they hadn't been specifically instructed by Dr. Sen to [don't take extra care of me], they wouldn't have had time to take care of me.

They're already working. Filling trenches, repairing defenses, and in the midst of this, there are some chats that are not. I couldn't get into their conversation, so I could only look at the outermost fence of iron, where no one had chosen to repair it, and where the lines seemed to be more dilapidated than the ones that came closer.

I have no intention of getting along with these people.

He just walked there silently to complete his task.

The task of patching up the line of defense is actually quite simple. It is only necessary to stretch the wire and wrap it around the old iron mesh, and then fix it to the iron stake that is nailed deep into the ground. It's a no-brainer task.

According to the popular science given to me by Ueno, this kind of thistle terrestris net can not only effectively slow down the enemy's attack, but also effectively prevent attacks such as artillery shells and tanks.

But what does that have to do with me?

I only showed up here because of Dr. Sen's arrangement.

I did my job in silence. Even if the wire accidentally scratched my hand, I didn't care. I just wondered when this experience would end, and would it have to wait for Dr. Mori to come and announce it himself?

At this moment, a sudden roar swept through the low sky.

I looked up and saw the roar above me. Heavy shadows fell over my head, enveloping me completely. The propeller shook in circles and whipped up a strong wind that almost blew me off the ground.

In a trance, I seemed to hear someone shouting to me in the distance.

"Hey, Kazama, danger! Find the crater and get in—"

The voice is a little familiar, as if it was Ueno.

What is he shouting? Is it for me to get down?

My body is a lot faster than my mind. After judging that what he said was indeed making me lie down, my body was already moving. But before I could finish the action, it was as if something had fallen from the sky and landed on the ground not far away.

Then came a wave of heat that hit me. The rough stone and gravel seemed to turn into swift bullets at this moment, shooting into my face and body, and then penetrating into my flesh.

My body seemed to have turned into a sieve.

Blood gushed down the holes in his body.

Very familiar feeling.

I'm probably going to die again.