You've served in this army well and always done your job regardless of the shitty situations you've been in. You might not like a lot of it, but you've never complained. Lately you've been on edge about a possible all out assault of some big ass demon army that's going to attack any day now, and playing is one of the few pleasures you have to put your mind at ease.

Perhaps it's a combination of this and a combination of this unwanted and unnecessary scolding that causes you to speak out of turn.

"With all due respect ma'am, I am fully prepared to battle at a moment's notice and so are those under my direct command. But even soldiers need to rest, if only for a minute."

The woman looks very surprised you didn't comply with her demand to see your superior officer.

"…you DARE speak out of turn like that to me? I'll see you sent to the Nuro Front for that sort of insubordination! Then we'd see just how battle ready you are! How would you like that?"
"I wouldn't like it at all. I barely survived the first time." You say trying not to express any fear.
"…What? What are you talking about? First time?"

Now you're a little surprised she doesn't know who you are considering how some of the high ups exaggerated about how you managed to survive. You explain yourself briefly and she doesn't quite believe you at first, a couple of your troops hiding nearby at least back up your claims before slinking off.

"That was YOU? What the hell are you doing here? You should be leading from the front not languishing in some fort that barely sees battle!"
"Doesn't see battle? We suffered a small demon raid last week! We see plenty of battle!"
"What I mean is, somebody of your obvious combat and survival skills should be assigned on the front lines where you can do more good. Normally I don't question Zalan command, but this is really an oversight on their part."
"Well maybe they know better than the both of us, besides this assignment isn't a walk in the fairy fields. I think we'll be suffering a grand scale attack any day now."
"Doubt it. Velzix has been having a hard time keeping his unruly mob together. If it wasn't for a lot of the sycophantic Tulan citizens, he'd probably be confined to pure defense, though something will have to be done soon, reports say he's attempting to gate in more demons everyday. Not to mention that supposedly civilized demons from other nations are starting to display their true colors and flock to his banner. Like I always said the only good demon is a dead one!"

This causes you to smile a bit and she very faintly smiles back when she sees that you feel the same way. This smile disappears quickly though as she continues her rant.

"I wish I wasn't assigned to the Tulan Border though. I'd rather be taking Nuro back. THAT'S the more dangerous threat. The demons will kill themselves with their own chaotic and violent natures, but the undead…they've almost taken over the world before just because of one bastard that lead them. I never thought I'd see a serious threat like this in my lifetime, especially not…"

The female captain at this point stops. She even looks away from you as if whatever she was going to say was just too much even for her. She seems to be a lot more battle hardened than you and probably ten times braver. You can't imagine what horror she experienced that would be worse than your own, but you don't find out since she changes the subject.

"…Bah! Maybe you're right; a soldier does need to keep their mind occupied on other things every now and then. We aren't undead after all. So what's with the lute? You also a bard or something?" she laughs.
"No, I think those dreams are long gone, but my playing seems to boost spirits around here a little, which can only be a good thing in this situation."
"Hm. My mother was elven and she used to sing this song to me and my…brother when we were very young. It was very smooth and calming. Beautiful melody."
"Yeah, most elven music is like that. When I was assigned in Retlad I learned a few elven songs from a few of the citizens there, you wouldn't happen to know the song would you?"

She tells you the name of the song and you know it immediately. One of the first new songs you learned while stationed in Retlad actually. This seems cause her to momentarily revert to a less stand offish behavior. You're about to play it for her, but then a messenger comes running up handing her a note. She reads it and she's all business again.

"Alright men! We're moving out!" she shouts and leaves without saying another word to you. You didn't even learn her name.

Perhaps it's just as well; you'll most likely never meet again due to one of you dying on the battlefield. You go back to doing what you were doing.

Two years pass…

Three years since the Nuro Incident and this struggle still continues.

You're still stationed Fort Virtue and you've repelled more demon attacks than you would care to count. Velzix has finally gotten his shit together completely. A unified demonic front is in full swing here and its taking its toll. Once again your skills have come in very handy in defense. You are certainly known as a demon slayer, but you still don't feel like a hero of any kind. You're just trying to do your job and survive. You save lives when you can, but you know ultimately it's a futile task as death seems to be everywhere nowadays.

As bad as it is on the demon front, its nothing compared to what've you've heard on the undead front. The Necromancer has finally broken out from Nuro, and successfully attacked the Kingdom of Brot. Several undead giants demolished the area. You've never even seen a living giant and they sound intimidating. You can't even imagine an undead one. The power to raise one, let alone several is sort of scary. The Grand Alliance army didn't get there in time to stop him and as usual they were repelled when they arrived.

You worry about the Grand Alliance failing to stop the undead horde. You hope it doesn't get any closer to the Zalan Empire where your family might be in danger.

Sometimes you worry so much that you can't sleep, not that you do much of that nowadays anyway. Normally you play to keep your mind at ease, but tonight you go to the archery range to keep yourself focused.

For a long time you're by yourself, but suddenly you feel a creeping suspicion someone is watching you…

You turn around with your bow and see a pale man. He holds up his hands.

"Hey now! Don't shoot! Sorry for creeping around like that. Professional habit." He says.
"What? Who are you?" you demand.
"Warnov. Zalan Intelligence."
"You're a spy?"
"Well I suppose you could put it that way. I was here to give some info to your Captain Eckard, and I also wanted to take a look around the fort. Didn't think anyone would be on the range though. Nice shooting, I know who you are and heard about your marksmanship with a bow. You're certainly doing your part with the demons around here."

Despite the fact that you're talking to a spy, you feel the need to vent your feelings.

"Yeah, well I hope the Grand Alliance starts doing its part. I mean what the fuck are they doing? Weren't they created to put a stop to all this shit? I mean am I supposed to worry every day if that undead horde is going to get closer to the Zalan Empire where it can threaten my family?"

Warnov doesn't look offended by your words, if anything he looks intrigued.

"Well, I can understand why you're venting. Trust me I sympathize. But as part of intel, I can tell you its not that easy…there were a lot of surprises that weren't accounted for. We're doing our best to rectify this situation by gathering as much info as possible. In fact, you could help us…"
"Excuse me? How?"

Warnov looks around and gets closer before speaking.

"Look, as I said, I know all about you and your skills, why you joined, all of it. I know you don't much care for some of the propaganda made about some of your exploits. But it's important to realize that deeds like yours must be blown up a little to give common people hope that ultimately good will win the day. You may not consider yourself a hero of any kind, but your actions aren't without some of those qualities. You obviously care very much about your family, and I've heard how you try to keep the people under your command alive. Sound like heroic qualities to me. Perhaps they're on a smaller scale, but they're there. I'm betting that there's a BIGGER hero in there somewhere, just itching to get out. You think the Grand Alliance isn't doing a good job? Perhaps we can arrange something for you to be transferred into it, or maybe you'd like to take an even more direct approach."
"What do you mean?"

Warnov suddenly backs away.

"Before we go any further. I need to know are you willing to take up the mantle of being a hero. Because if you aren't, then we have nothing more to discuss. I shall require an answer now."

You letters to home (War continues...)

Dear Mom,

Just another letter from me, letting you know I'm still alive. Though I'm sure with my newest title of "Demon Slayer" you probably knew I was.

More exaggerations of course. I do my job to be sure, but there are plenty of other men and women my age or even younger that doing just as much as I am and they don't seem to get any credit. Of course many of them have also been killed. I've always tried to keep everyone alive under my command, but I know it's a futile endeavor.

The fighting has been getting worse up here, the demons I think have finally gotten more organized. Though what alarms me more is hearing that the Necromancer Lord has finally broken out of Nuro and taken over the Brot Kingdom. I thought the Grand Alliance was supposed to stop this sort of thing.

I'm tired of all this. I feel like playing right now, sorry for the short letter.

Give my love to the rest of the family

Your son