"Are you going home tonight?" Uziel asked.
"I'm not sure. I need to check the situation," Paige replied.
"Why don't you all stay here? There's food and a place to sleep.
If anything urgent happens, I can come and tell you right away."
Paige thought for a moment and replied.
The hotel has rooms, and if there's an air raid, there's a basement to hide in. Overall, it's pretty safe.
They discussed it for a while and thought it was a good idea.
So Paige took out a piece of gold to pay for the stay and meals. If there's extra, they'll refund her; if it's not enough, she'll pay more later. She didn't know how many days they would be staying.
"Keep the money you have for shopping. You three go buy two sets of clothes to change into.
You can walk around nearby, but don't go too far. If there's an air raid, you might not make it back in time."
After giving her instructions, Paige ran off.
Ely opened his mouth several times but couldn't find the right time to speak.
When Paige had run off quickly, he asked Winn, "Big brother Winn, if there's fighting on the front lines, why is my sister going there?
Why can't she just come home with us? We can hide in the mountains. Isn't that safer?"
To Ely, the mountains had food and shelter, and planes couldn't reach there. It seemed like a very safe place.
If someone came searching, they could just go deeper into the forest and wait until they left.
"Your sister is really strong now. She can help. We should stay out of the way.
Come on, let's go buy those clothes," Winn said to Ely.
Then the three of them walked toward the fabric store.
Their clothes were warm, but patched all over. They looked really out of place on the street.
Paige is a capable woman. They didn't want to embarrass her.
Paige ran all the way to the city gate. The guards there looked tired and dirty.
She sneaked into the command center again. She was now level two, so she could go anywhere like she was invisible.
Even if she stood right in front of someone, they wouldn't see her, unless by accident.
"I heard the PN soldiers sent in two more divisions. Our soldiers haven't had proper rest in days.
I don't know how much longer we can hold on," said someone in the room, where the officers were in a meeting.
"No matter how long we can last, we have to. There are hundreds of thousands of civilians behind us."
"No backup troops, no new ammo. Whether we die sooner or later, it's still death.
The top leaders have already run away. Maybe we should prepare to retreat too."
"Where could we retreat to? The day we stayed behind, we already accepted that we might die.
If the city falls, we fall. If the PN want to take the city, they'll have to step over our bodies."
Voices arguing filled the room. The more Paige listened, the more her eyebrows tightened.
From what she heard, it was just a matter of losing sooner or later. Why wasn't anyone saying they could win?
Had they really run out of ideas?
"Um, can I say something?" Paige couldn't help speaking up.
"Who is that?" Everyone in the room panicked and pulled out their guns.
They were discussing top secret matters, yet someone had gotten in without anyone noticing.
Were the guards outside just eating for free?
Paige peeked her head in through the door and said, "Don't panic. Bullets don't have eyes.
If I wanted to hurt you, one grenade in here and none of you would still be talking."
Everyone looked at each other. What the person said did make sense.
Even though they thought that way, they still didn't lower their guns. They just stopped pointing them at Paige.
"Who are you? How did you sneak in? What's your purpose?" one of the officers asked.
"I'm just an ordinary citizen who cares about my own quality of life, so I sneaked in to listen.
You don't need to worry about who I am. We are all from Rin, all trying to protect this land beneath our feet.
I overheard some of your conversation just now.
I also observed the guards' mental state.
Do you really think, with a mental state like that, even if there's no enemy attack, how long can they really last?" Paige asked in return.
"It's just that we're short on people for now. Once reinforcements arrive, things will get better," one of the generals said.
"Alright, no need to keep covering things up.
Let me tell you what I think. It's every citizen's duty to protect the country.
Since the army doesn't have reinforcements, why haven't you thought about recruiting from the civilians?
Afraid of casualties? When the whole nest is overturned, how can any egg remain unbroken?
If they die on the battlefield, they can be called martyrs. In the future, their children can proudly say their father was a hero.
But if you fail and the enemy enters the city, then their deaths will be meaningless. It's uncertain whether their descendants can even survive.
I believe, if given a choice, most people would choose to pick up a weapon to defend the country.
With fresh blood joining, the veterans can rotate and get some rest. One veteran can train one or two new people, and they can take turns resting.
That's better than forcing the soldiers to keep fighting nonstop. If they're well-rested, they can fight better too."
Paige's words made everyone lower their heads.
"We've thought about this situation too, but our problem now is that we lack people, weapons, and food.
The higher-ups have already retreated, and the equipment they left behind is limited.
Recruiting from civilians would only delay the inevitable failure for a while.
We're ready to die for this, but we can't just watch the civilians walk into death," one of the generals said with disappointment.
When the others retreated, they already knew failure was just a matter of time.
They were holding on, waiting for the leaders to make arrangements for the people in the city.
As long as the civilians could safely evacuate, their sacrifice would be worth it.
"When that day comes and you've failed, won't the civilians still die? Or do you have other arrangements for them?" Paige asked.
Everyone fell silent. They were still waiting for those arrangements too.
Paige immediately understood.
"Please. The enemies are already at the gates. If the leaders had a plan, it would have been made already.
Are they going to wait until you lose the city before sending out orders for everyone to line up and take bullets?" Paige said with disdain.
"You sure speak well for a young woman, but the more people you have, the more resources you use.
With no reinforcements, every bullet has to be used wisely.
If we recruit civilians, they don't even know how to aim. How are they supposed to fight PN soldiers? They'd just be targets.
How is that any different from sending them to die?" a general couldn't take it anymore and argued.
"If they don't know how to shoot, they'll learn after firing a few rounds. Who didn't start that way?
You don't even have time to train them now, so it's better to let them learn on the battlefield.
Maybe in life-or-death situations, they'll unlock their potential.
And haven't you heard the saying, 'wild punches can beat a master'? With enough people, and bullets flying everywhere, some are bound to hit."