"Alright then, what are they?"
"Um…"
Orvin was tongue tied in that moment—not because he didn't know them, but because of how he had suddenly been put on the spot.
Especially with how Jake had been released from his restraints, and along with his wrangler, were now looking at him with expectant eyes.
Or at least one of them was, the other man still had his helmet* on so he couldn't be too sure.
Orvin swallowed, and he registered every small movement of the muscles involved in the act.
"I-it's Miss Lea, Mr Ian and… Jack."
"By the divine's might, he actually knew them… so, that bet we talked about was just a joke, right?"
Just as the words left his mouth, Lea swung her arm backwards, connecting a quick jab that forced the air out of his lungs.
Thankful that he hadn't stuttered with their names, Orvin let out a small, relieved sigh without registering the remark.
Although, it did strike him as odd when he opened his eyes and noticed Jack was doubled over and clutching his stomach.
"Drop the 'Miss' part, and you're good, alright?"
Orvin nodded, his lips curving into a crooked smile in response to Lea's own, much brighter, smile.
"—Wait, how come you say their names all formal, and then, I'm just 'Jack'?"
But before he could get an answer, a dark metal gauntlet shoved his head aside.
"Don't mind him—how did you know it was me?" Ian said, not even sparing a glance in Jack's direction.
Orvin blinked. Seeing that jack was seemingly caught up in a world of his own, he took a moment to consider the question.
He struggled to find the words to explain that, due to his aversion to looking people in the eye, he had instead become attuned to sensing the mana that flowed out of them as a means of recognising them instead.
Ian's deep blue mana had a distinct, almost wave-like fluctuation, its movements easy to distinguish even among the countless different flows Orvin had encountered.
It was particularly noticeable beside Lea, whose mana seemed almost still by comparison, allowing Ian's restless flow to stand out even more clearly as it pressed against hers like a current threatening to swallow it.
"Your voice?" Orvin eked out, although his pitch made it sound more like a question.
But explaining all of that was not something he had mentally prepared himself for yet.
Ian hummed lightly in response, "Neat."
He then began stroking his chin, or at least where it should have been on his helmet, before saying, "I'll have you know, back at the Academy, they'd even compare my singing voice to Annita's."
"As in… the 'Lady of the Lyre'?"
"The one and only." Ian confirmed, tilting his chin up in a confident gesture.
"'One and only', my ass." Lea cut in, a sharp clang ringing out as her elbow nudged his chest plate.
"Don't let his confidence fool you. This guy has a voice that can make even a hell bats screech sound like a gentle lullaby."
Orvin held back a chuckle, making sure he kept an even face.
Seeing the say Ian's shoulders slumped at the comment made him feel a bit bad about finding that funny, especially when he heard a faint, "It's not that bad, is it?"
A bit off to the side, Jack had shelved thoughts of their 'friendly' wager as his thoughts centered onto a more urgent matter—the sudden lack of formality from when referring to him.
It had barely been a few minutes since his earlier talk with Orvin was interrupted, but he was starting to see that his words may have gotten through to him. If only a little.
It seemed to Jack like it had been enough for Orvin to refer to him more comfortably.
'That's why he paused before saying my name,' he concluded.
Jack nodded to himself a few times, and then slowly looked between the two of them; his expression becoming increasingly sullen as he did.
"You poor souls." He soon said, wiping an imaginary tear from his eye.
Lea and Ian shared a look, a moment of shared confusion as to what he was suddenly talking about.
Jack noticed this, but he paid them no mind.
For how could they ever fathom the depths of the bond between himself and Orvin?
"… Maybe one day, but not this day." Jack finished off the thought, swiftly turning his head to look up as though he was holding back more tears.
"Hey, is your head alright?" Lea arched a brow, bewildered at his sudden burst into theatrics.
The words seemed to go in one ear and out the other, yet before their confusion could deepen, Jack was already in motion before another word could be said.
He raised his hands and gently placed them on Lea and Ian's shoulder, patting them lightly before saying, "He's all yours," while gesturing to the wide eyes Orvin.
After that, he'd just turned his back on them and walked towards the resting procession.
Ian was fully prepared for him to turn around at some point and boisterously announce the end to his charade, but that never happened.
The closes it had ever gotten to that was when Jack looked back over his shoulder and winked back at them, clearly intended for Orvin, but other than that—nothing.
"…"
"…"
"… I think you broke him." Ian said in a small voice as he watched his retreating figure, "That last blow must have set something off."
"Me? Hurt our precious front-liner—never!" Lea dismissed the accusation with a frantic wave of her hand, "It was probably that hold you had him in; that was obviously because his brain wasn't getting enough blood."
"What? How could you ever accuse me; known for having a silk-touch with something so brutish?"
Even with a helmet on, Ian made up for his lack of expression through waving his arms around to display his harmlessness.
"That—" He gestured in Jack's general direction— "Was clearly the work of a brutish, less refined, oaf who's never known the warmth of a mothers touch."
"Hmm…" Lea hummed in response as though she agreed with his statement.
"As punch able as his smug-looking face is, we don't take kindly to bastards who harm one of our own, no matter how little they were loved as a child."
"Oh~ and how do you plan on deal with this vile, despicable person?" Ian egged her on, seemingly having forgotten how they got to this point.
Lea paused, her expression was of deep concentration as she appeared to be seriously considering her response.
After a brief, but thoughtful moment, she finally said; "Meh, I'll just tell the captain and have him deal with it."
Ian nodded in agreement, an approving hum sounding from the breaths of his helmet.
"As expected, the wisdom of our vice-captain knows no bounds."
—Pfft.
That tiny sound was enough to break through the last of his restraint, and once it did, an uncontrolled, jubilant laugh spilled from behind the hand hovering over his mouth.
Lea and Ian shared a look, quiet satisfaction flickering in their eyes before they joined Orvin in his laughter.
________
After Orvin had practically laughed out all the nervousness in his system, he had a much easier time getting the words out as he talked with Lea and Ian.
They hadn't spoken about anything significant, but rather Lea had been regaling him with tales of the captain and his monstrous strength—and had even sprinkled in mentions of their platoon members who were not on this mission.
Orvin still remembered their faces and names, but other than introducing himself, he had yet to speak with any of them since. Perhaps he could at least make an effort to offer them more than a nod in greeting when they crossed paths after their return.
At first, Orvin regarded her stories with a healthy amount of poetic faith, under the impression that whatever tales she spoke of had been embellished for her audience.
This rang especially true when Lea, with much greater enthusiasm, spoke about a time the captain had wrestled a beast twice as large as the yellow stone bison's they had passed earlier that afternoon.
And unlike with the dreadmare he had basically overpowered, the captain had seemingly met his match with this one; an owlbear.
Neither Ian nor Lea saw it fit to elaborate why one would be outside of its den mid-winter, but he just shrugged it off when Lea dove into the meat of their encounter.
With how Lea had described the entire experience in such vivid detail, even going as far as to mention who bet on which outcome, Orvin could clearly imagine how things had played out as though he was right there with them.
Eventually, after nearly an hour of wrestling in an arena of snow carved out by their spilt blood, the captain had emerged victorious against the owlbear.
And according to Ian, the captain had both the scars and a souvenir to prove it.
Yet despite all of this, Orvin still had his doubts on the matter; did he really do so bare-handed? With only the clothes on his back?
He knew their basic military uniforms carried a few enchantments, but he hadn't expected them to withstand the claws of an owlbear.
Internally, Orvin's view of the Baylith family went up a little when he realised just how effective those enchantments were.
He had so many questions, but before he could get them out, an argument had started on whether the captain—who was apparently inebriated at the time—employing his mana halfway through his tousle with the owlbear counted as cheating.
And ignoring the elephant in the room, as well as setting aside his questions, Orvin couldn't help but agree with Ian;
"… an owlbear would already have the physical advantage against a human, so using his mana would only be levelling the playing field," was what he said.
The duo had paused for a second when he suddenly spoke up, just long enough for Orvin to question himself, but then Lea let out an indignant sigh before falling back onto the grass.
'Did I say something wrong?'
Orvin watched with confusion swirling in his eyes. and then turned his eyes towards Ian—who was exuding an air of triumph as he met his gaze.
Even with a helmet on, he could swear that Ian was smiling at him underneath it.
He didn't know this, but Orvin had just become another stone on his side of the argument for the captain victory.
Ian folded his arms and nodded in acknowledgement of something Orvin had no idea he was now a part of, "I always knew you were one of us."
Pulling Orvin under his banner had not occurred to him until a few seconds ago, but now that it was on his mind, he was fully intent on following through.
"Wait a second!" Lea sat up with such speed that Orvin felt a gust of wind slap him across the face, "You can't just claim him like that; he wasn't even there, so how could his opinion count?"
The numbers had always been evenly split amongst their unit, and if Orvin wasn't going to be on hers', then Lea would rather him be disqualified to maintain that split.
'That is, or course, until I convince him to join us.'
Again, Orvin found himself in a situation where the topic of conversation was lost on him despite being what was discussed.
But before another word could be spoken…
—Kra–Koom!
A loud, thunderous boom swept over the area as the wind suddenly intensified, sending a powerful gust through the surrounding foliage and forcing the leaves and branches to bend beneath its force.
In the distance, a dark shadow was encroaching upon them as the distant storm clouds drifted towards their position.
"Looks like a storm's coming."
Lea said the thought aloud, already on her feet and dusting herself off.
Her amber eyes narrowed thoughtfully onto the distant clouds; her left-hand fiddling with the rough flint stone hanging from her sword's pommel.
Judging by the winds current speed, there was still about half an hour until the storm would reach their current position.
And if they were to make haste and resume their journey now, they could extend that for a few more minutes even at the pace they had been going.
Regardless of whether it was a little bit ahead of schedule, the time they had spent here was more than sufficient to let their mounts recover for the path ahead.
When the sounds of movements and purposeful voices reached her ears, Lea turned back to see signs of the procession readying themselves to head out.
Having recognised the voice that caused everyone to stir, Lea came to realise that she and the captain may have been of the same mind.