Arc of Fire

Aleksei Barfinovich was completely oblivious to everyone’s stares, focusing solely on the girl.

Natalia took off the floral scarf from her head, allowing her hair to cascade down in the moonlight as she gazed affectionately at the boy.

She received the glass jar filled with stars, and impulsively rushed into the boy’s embrace, where they kissed each other.

Wang Zhong was beside himself with astonishment. Was this direct? Were they skipping some steps?

He nudged the rookie in front of him, “Were these two dating before?”

“No, Alyosha just took a fancy to her yesterday, picked flowers secretly at night, and wanted to make a move during the day, but then the enemy attacked,” the rookie explained without turning back.

Wang Zhong was immensely shocked. This was their first date?

Is this what people do on a first date?

In the midst of his shock, Wang Zhong suddenly remembered something and prodded the person in front of him again, “Isn’t this Natalia from the laundry team? How come she’s at the front line?”

If she were from the cooking squad, it would make sense for her to show up here, carrying large pots of vegetable soup on a shoulder pole. But why would the laundry team come to the front? He hadn’t heard of soldiers changing their clothes before a battle was over.

“The girl fancies Alyosha as well, what’s so strange about that?” the rookie replied.

At that moment, the kissing couple began to do things better left unsaid, and Wang Zhong was even more shocked, continuing to nudge the person’s back, “This quick? Isn’t this wrong?”

After asking, Wang Zhong remembered that in the West things tend to move quickly, like in “Titanic” where the two just took a liking to each other, drew a picture, and then went straight to the car.

In a foggy car, suddenly a handprint slapped onto the window.

The first time Wang Zhong watched this scene he was too young, and immediately thought of “The Shining,” imagining the scene where an axe chops through the door, and burst out crying.

Wang Zhong understood, but the person in front of him did not, “Why are you making such a big fuss? It’s just like the mature age ceremony back in the village, making eye contact and then sneaking off into the haystacks—Oh my! General, sir!”

The rookie snapped to attention and saluted so quickly!

Wang Zhong was standing too close and got smacked in the chin by the suddenly attentive rookie, letting out a yelp of pain.

The moment he stood up straight, the person behind him got hit squarely and let out a surprised cry, “Hey? Alyosha, don’t suddenly stand up like that!”

As Wang Zhong was holding his chin, he heard the voice and became puzzled, turning around to see Ludmila holding her chest, clearly in pain from the collision.

“Alyosha?” a surprised shout came from behind Wang Zhong, probably from the girl of the laundry team.

Realizing the potential for a misunderstanding, the Brigadier General called out loudly, “The one over there is also called Alyosha; we’re not the same person!”

Ludmila tilted her head, “I know, I saw the girl call the boy Alyosha.”

It was only then that the surprised rookies realized, and they all snapped to attention, saluting, “Brigadier General, good evening!”

Wang Zhong waved his hand in return and continued to watch Ludmila, “Why have you come to the front line? You should be with the Divine Arrow Company!”

Ludmila pouted, “Yeca Neiko, the vice knight, said there wouldn’t be any reconnaissance tonight, and I could take a break, so I came! On my way here, I also went to check on your horse!”

Wang Zhong, “Oh, is Bucephalus doing well?”

“Alright… you just care about the horse, not about me?”

Wang Zhong, “Are you alright?”

“Yes, the enemy bombers were far from us, so it’s okay.” Ludmila glanced at the awkward couple and asked, “You… have so much free time? Watching people date?”

Wang Zhong replied seriously, “I am checking on the posts. Don’t believe me, ask Sergeant Grigori! Sergeant… huh?”

The sergeant had disappeared.

Not only had the sergeant vanished, but the military academy cadets who had just been saluting beside Wang Zhong were gone too, the speed of their concealment truly befitting professional soldiers.

Even the dating couple had fled into the shadows, running hand in hand.

Suddenly, there wasn’t a soul in sight.

Wang Zhong, “Sergeant! It’s your duty to protect me!”

From somewhere came a response, “Don’t worry, I’m here.”

Great, now I’m the monkey put on display.

He looked at Ludmila with a solemn face and said, “I really am checking the posts! I just happened to come across them while crowd-gazing.”

“And then you decided to join in for a look?” Ludmila cut in.

“As a commander, I must fully understand the soldiers’ lives!”

“What about your life?” Ludmila asked.

Wang Zhong took a moment to register the question, “Huh?”

Ludmila continued, “Before, Alyosha, you needed seven or eight servants to wait on you, and you couldn’t even polish your shoes.”

Wang Zhong frowned, “Was I that useless before?”

Ludmila shrugged, “Now you may still not polish your shoes, but you can do everything else by yourself.”

Wang Zhong looked down at his dirty military boots.

He suddenly remembered that in foreign armies, polishing shoes is akin to our army folding tofu blocks.

And Wang Zhong, having transmigrated, hardly wore dress shoes most of the time in his previous life; he would only wear them for job interviews after college, and once he started working, he always wore sneakers.

Now, Wang Zhong thought, it’s a good thing he ended up in such a good-for-nothing body that no one suspected him for not polishing his shoes.

At that moment, Ludmila looked up at the sky and said, “I wonder if Misha and the others have survived.”

Huh? Misha? Who’s that?

Wang Zhong speculated it might be someone familiar, so he tried to act knowledgeable, “They must have…”

“You don’t even know who I’m talking about! You’ve never remembered the names of the servants, have you?”

Ah, so that’s it.

Lucky that I’m wearing such a carefree skin.

Wang Zhong simply asked, “So who are you talking about?”

“Misha, your maid, and Menjileliev, the old man, your steward. They all stayed in Ronied.”

“Ah, oh, them.” Wang Zhong tried hard to say something, but having witnessed the atrocities of the Prussian Army, phrases like “they must be fine” just couldn’t be spoken.

Ludmila looked at Wang Zhong, “After I arrived in Loktov, I finally managed to write a letter home to tell them we’re still alive, and that you’ve become a general on a white horse. But so far, there’s been no reply.

“But with the situation as it is, it’s normal not to get a reply.”

Wang Zhong: “Don’t worry, the Crown Prince knows about our situation and even sent us B4 howitzers. He will surely take care of our family.”

Ludmila smiled, “Him? As disrespectful as it sounds, I don’t think he’s attentive to such an extent. I rather think he’s probably boasting about your achievements as his own everywhere right now.

“Sending the cannons over was also to let you achieve even more impressive results in battle.”

Is, is it so?

The image of the Crown Prince suddenly became very clear!

At that moment, Wang Zhong suddenly remembered the question that had been troubling him, “What exactly is Ludmila to me?”

It could be ruled out from their names that they were siblings, as both their surnames and patronymics were different.

And since she was so familiar with him and could even send word home on his behalf—she could only be his fiancée.

Having such a beautiful fiancée was rather thrilling, especially considering Ludmila’s silver hair and her bust, which seemed perfectly crafted for Wang Zhong’s entertainment, hitting right in the sweet spot.

Although a voice in his head was saying, “This isn’t the time to be thinking about such things,” Wang Zhong still couldn’t help but want to confirm whether Ludmila was indeed his fiancée.

At this moment, Ludmila said, “Walk with me. Since I’m already here.”

“Hmm.” Wang Zhong nodded and gestured for her to follow, “Let’s go this way, I’ve already checked the post behind us, walking with you gives me a chance to check the other posts.”

Ludmila: “You didn’t use to be this conscientious.”

“I now have the self-awareness of a commander.”

Ludmila just smiled.

Then, quite naturally, she linked her arm through Wang Zhong’s, allowing her armor to come into intimate contact with his arm, unconcerned.

If things have gotten this intimate, she must be the fiancée, right?

No sooner had Wang Zhong thought this than Ludmila said, “Your father said that he would ask for my father’s permission to marry me in October. With the war starting, I don’t know if it can still happen.”

Alright then, she was a “prospective” fiancée.

Wait a second, do I still have a father in this timeline? Damn, I can’t bring myself to call a stranger “father”…

Ludmila: “My mother always complained about you, saying that even if it were for a political alliance, there could be better options. She probably has no objections now.”

At that time, Wang Zhong suddenly thought of a question. Ludmila was such a beautiful girl and a noble at that, surely she must have had no shortage of suitors. How could she have fallen for the original owner of this body?

So, Wang Zhong asked, “You don’t have any objections to me?”

“I… I’ve actually always treated you as a brother, after all, I’ve been cleaning up your messes since we were young, and over time, I got used to it… And besides you, everyone in your family is pretty nice.”

Ludmila looked down at the ground.

“But, after the war broke out… you changed… became like a hero from the stories, and you liked riding a white horse… I…”

Because her face was now thoroughly flushed, Ludmila leaned on Wang Zhong’s arm, using this as a way to block his line of sight.

Too bad Wang Zhong had an overhead view and could adjust the angle to see the girl’s face!

What did this mean? Did my heroic actions completely win over the girl’s affection? Does she like the current me, not the worthless person I was before?

At that moment, Wang Zhong thought about the inappropriate behavior of “those two” just a while ago.

Now it seemed like he could just pick her up and start kissing her without issues. It’s their custom, after all!

A certain part of Wang Zhong’s body started to chant, “You can go for it!”

The only thing holding Wang Zhong back now was the dignity of a Chinese man; all he had to do was let go of that dignity…

At that moment, a new thought entered Wang Zhong’s mind.

What if I die?

Although he had so far survived many dangerous situations, the fact that he had been dancing with death had not changed.

An old song echoed in Wang Zhong’s ears:

Maybe I’ll say goodbye and never come back—

Do you understand, do you know?

Maybe I’ll fall and never get up.

Will you still wait forever?

…

At this moment, all vulgar and reproductive thoughts vanished, and Wang Zhong’s mind was filled with unshakable conviction.

One should not make a loved one wait forever.

One should not bring children into such hell.

Not until the day when the cruel and evil great enemy is defeated, not until the day when smoke rises again from the homeland and angels can peacefully slumber.

Only then can I embrace the girl without worries and build a future together with her.

So Wang Zhong suppressed the impulse.

“Ludmila,” he said, “I will defeat the enemy as soon as possible, conquer the Prosen Empire, and then formally respond to you.”

Ludmila laughed, “The way you say that, it’s as if you’re the grand marshal who can decide the fate of this war. You’re still the same, floating on air just because you’ve barely become a major general.”

With that, the girl playfully punched Wang Zhong’s shoulder several times.

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