Headed by a Snake

"Catch me, Justuuuuus~!!"

Munifex Rena dropped from a tree and into Justus' arms.

"By the Flame, Rena, are you a monkey??" Justus scolded.

As they were marching on patrol, he was wearing a heavy circular shield instead of the rank-and-file tower shield. Had he not, he wouldn't have both arms to catch the flying woman.

Giana looked up, "Wow. Miss Rena, that jump looked pretty dangerous."

"Ehehe," The archer girl climbed down from Justus' princess-carry, "He's never failed to catch me before!"

Gianna, the light of Justus' life, granted the pair her radiant smile, "I've always been a little envious of the trust between you two."

Justus tried to smile as naturally as he could, "I... I can always trust you to have my back, Gia."

Gianna's eyes widened in surprise before her expression softened. Sparkling eyes. Gentleness in her gorgeous smile.

"You're so sweet, Munifex Justus." She bowed her head, "I will be your shield, ever stalwart."

"...And I will be your blade, forever at your side," Justus nodded.

"Whoa hoh hohhhh," Rena let out a sharp whistle, "Now that I'm getting a good look at your armor, you're lookin' like a sexy hunk of MAN, Justus."

Justus was borrowing the muscled cuirass of one of the injured Decani. Decanus Zehr thought the armor would be better used by someone in the forward team. And as embarrassing as Justus' title was as the Hero of Leopardon, he'd heard that was the deciding factor on being lent the armor.

It was a bit heavier than his Munifex armor because he wore leathers underneath, but he really liked the way it made him feel-- almost like a real hero.

Gianna placed her finger on her lips, looking Justus up and down, "He does make a very handsome Decanus-- he just needs the helmet."

Justus gazed into Gianna's eyes. She often did that when she was thinking, cutely placing her finger on her lips. It made the beauty mark on her chin stand out. She had expressed not liking it a few weeks prior, but Justus had stupidly blurted out that he thought it made her look beautiful and more mature.

Since then, he hadn't heard her mention it, even once.

...Though it could have been because Caelistis made him run with weights for an entire week as punishment for speaking out of line.

Rena ran her hand through Justus' red hair, "Right. The helmet would make iiiiit *perfect.*"

"Did I hear Munifex Rena's voice?"

The trio turned to see Muni-- no, Decanus Zehr approaching.

Justus could almost hear Rena's jaw drop and hit the floor.

Zehr had eschewed his tattered cloak and hood, wearing a muscled cuirass, polished to a silvery gleam. His well-defined biceps were revealed and his battle-skirt showed off his well-muscled legs. His helm reflected the sunlight breaking through the forest canopy, the majestic black and yellow brush clearly marking him as a Tyrion Decanus.

Decanus Zehr wore the helmet better than Caelistis ever did.

However... Justus found it odd that the Decanus didn't wear a shield. Instead, he wore two swords on his waist and carried a bundle of pila.

Zehr began walking aside the trio, wearing a troubled expression on his face, "Munifex Justus, your hair is a mess. Please adjust yourself."

Justus made sure to glare extra-angrily at Rena before walking towards the water's edge to fix himself.

"Munifex Rena, what did you find? --And before you begin, understand that I'm referring specifically to anything of pertinence to the enemy."

"Aww," Rena groaned... "I evaded two kobold squads of nine, lightly armored, with crossbows and spears."

"And their banner?" Zehr asked.

"Wait, what do you mean 'their banner'?" Rena tilted her head.

"By. The. Flame." Gianna approached Zehr, her eyes wide like a little girl's, "Do the doggos have little flags?? Do they carry them around on little sticks?"

"E... eh.... Please... restrain yourself, Munifex," Zehr looked troubled. He shot a glance at Justus for help.

Justus cleared his throat, "The uh... the kobolds are the enemy, Gia."

"Oh..." Gianna giggled in embarrassment and took a step back from Zehr, "Right."

The Decanus thanked Justus with his eyes.

Justus nodded, happy that he could finally help Zehr with something.

That was something Justus didn't know about Gia until then. The woman must have really liked dogs.

The kobolds were probably her worst possible enemy...

"I remember... red paint and a black paw painted on one of their shields?"

Zehr nodded, "Red paint, black paw. Well done, Miss Rena."

"Ohhhhhh~!" Gianna squealed, "That is so precious!~♥"

"Decanus..." The archer poked her two forefingers together, "C-can you just call me Rena, please?"

Zehr raised an eyebrow, "Very well. Thank you for a job well done... Rena."

Justus grimaced, "I'm not going to catch you if you swoon."

Rena stuck out her tongue, "You're no fun, Justus."

"You three, with me," Zehr began to increase his marching pace.

Justus jogged forward to walk alongside the slightly-older youth, "Decanus, all together? Where are we going?"

"Oh? I figured it was obvious." Zehr smirked and patted Justus' shoulder, "We're going to gather the others and ambush some patrols."

...

Tycondrius sighed as he hid in the bushes along with the Munifices. He joined the Rhodok adventuring company as a mercenary because of the Gold-Rank quest they undertook. He didn't expect to come into a battlefield promotion and be working to protect their lower rank Munifices from a kobold tribe.

Red paint. Black paw.

Tycon had seen the same banner on the attacking kobolds from the earlier attack. It seemed their tribe was somewhere close by. Settlements tended to be near a water source, and it seemed they had lucked out.

If only there was more foliage on the east rather than the west, the Rhodok escapees would have been herded in the opposite direction.

"Decanus," Ferrutius approached, a sleazy grin on his face.

"Yes, Decanus? Here for another beating?" Tycon smirked.

"Flame take you, Zehr." He rolled his eyes, "I could barely put my armor back on."

Tycon smirked. Ferrutius' men were in place. Their Decanus coming to report meant they could soon enact their plan.