Earth’s Doom Starts with… Me?

"Wet wipes?" General Emilio questioned me. Although his face remained relatively unchanged, but I could sense a hint of confusion in his tone.

"Yeah. For you." I said as I gently placed a pack of wet wipes on his palms.

Ever since I stayed at Elena's place, I was introduced to a bunch of beauty-related products that she had always used. She said that she would never forget about self-care, even in the midst of battle. Because, as she stated, 'I'd rather be a pretty killer than an ugly killer'.

"Why?" General Emilio stared at the pack of wet wipes on his hand, and slowly flipped it around to see if there was something else to it.

"Try using them on your face or hands, it feels nice." I answered quickly before immediately turning around and walking back to Jeanne and General Zhang.

Elena had offered me various skincare products, but I only took a few wet wipes because it might be useful when we went on a long raid, or when we got lost. To think that it'd be used for this...

"Haa..." I sighed deeply as I thought about the possibility of offending a new general.

During my dark days after Eli disappeared, I neglected even the most basic everyday tasks, like eating, showering, and cleaning up. And whenever I forced myself to eat, I wasn't able to swallow it without throwing it up right after. Until one day, someone forced me to wash my face.

It was something simple, something menial. It wasn't even a proper face wash, just a simple rinse with water. And I instantly felt a little bit better. Since that day, I slowly tried to do just one simple task every day.

But, just because it worked for me, didn't mean it'll work with everyone. What really helped me was that I found a new purpose, a new goal. I just thought that those wet wipes might help him feel a little bit more refreshed.

"Wet wipes? Why are you suddenly giving out wet wipes?" General Zhang asked me as soon as I approached them again.

"I got them from Elena, okay?" I pouted.

"Give me some, too." He held out his hand and smirked at me.

"No wet wipes for you," I pushed his hand away lightly, and turned to face Jeanne, "by the way, Jeanne. Before we go, is Wolf in good care? Does he have a place to sleep?"

"Of course. He's staying with Dmitri right now. And it seems like Dmitri enjoys playing the role of big brother for him, too." Jeanne chuckled a bit.

"That's great, then. Let's go look for souvenirs for them after we get back?" I clapped my hands together, and my eye lit up in excitement.

"Sure. I think the boy would love some gifts." She giggled.

"Oh, and also, let's get him some food. I'm sure he'll like some juicy meat. Or sweets?" I put my finger on my lips while thinking.

"We can get both. Maybe some new clothes, too?" Jeanne added.

"Yes!" My smile widened.

"Why do you guys sound like annoying neighbour ladies?" General Zhang piped in.

While we exchanged banter, I peeked a few times at general Emilio, who was still staring at the pack of wet wipes without moving an inch. I gulped nervously, wondering what he might be thinking.

"Come. We should hurry." He suddenly spoke up, and I flinched a little. Well, at least he didn't seem angry? Kinda hard to tell when he had a stoic face, though...

"Yep. Let's get on our horses." General Zhang agreed.

After that, he walked towards his own horse, which was already strapped with supplies. He rummaged for a bit, before tossing me a perfectly smooth rifle that looked almost exactly like my previous one, just with a new globe-thingy, and complete with a silencer too, "here, little cub. Your promised weapon."

"Ah, thank you!" I caught the rifle and silencer, and immediately inspected it with sparkling eyes. My brand new weapon, finally! At last, I could bid goodbye to fighting like a caveman with a stick and fists!

"Try channeling your mana into it." He smirked playfully while he crossed his arms in front of his chest.

I did as he told me to, and the globe-thingy in the middle of it glowed red, the color of my element.

"Woah! What does it do?" I asked excitedly.

"Not much, you now have two firing options, basically. One is your usual mana bullet, and the other is your condensed mana bullet." He held up 2 fingers while explaining it to me.

"Condensed? What's the difference?" I tilted my head in confusion.

"For that one, it's like a mana bullet, but infused with your element and coated with a special substance that Koji made, don't ask me what, it's nerdy stuff," he chuckled, "so because your element is fire, that bullet will explode upon impact."

"This... Sounds expensive, haha..." I nervously scratched my cheek, "and does that mean different elements will yield different results?"

"The answer to both of your remarks would be a huge, giant yes! Tee-hee! But that condensed mana bullet needs a lot more mana, though. So it's best if you save them for important occasions, or you'll run out of mana and get mauled by a monster!" He said as he winked playfully at me.

"This eel..." I frowned in annoyance.

"Are you going to ride a horse this time, general Zhang?" General Jeanne asked as she approached me with two horses, presumably mine and hers.

"Yeap. Timmy is too big to navigate through the woods. And he will stick out like a sore thumb, anyway." He answered with ease.

"I see," Jeanne nodded, "here, Chaerin. Your horse."

"Thanks, Jeanne!" I gave her a huge smile as she handed me the horse's leash.

'Brrrr~' The horse purred softly at me, and rubbed its snout on my cheek.

'Ding!'

[Passive skill: 'Animal's Beloved' is reacting strongly towards the being in front of you]

"Hehe, that tickles." I patted its head affectionately, and rejoiced silently because I chose that skill.

After that, we all made sure we got proper weapon and armor ready, and fastened our supplies to our horses. Once we were sure, we mounted our respective horses and headed towards the gate.

"Wait, so what's our plan?" I awkwardly asked while I turned left and right, looking at each one of them. We were already heading out, but what would we do, exactly?

Following a brief silence, general Emilio finally spoke to me, "...General Zhang will explain. He's the one who concocted the plan. I just lead on the battlefield."

"Okay?" Was it just me, or was general Emilio's voice a bit nervous?

"Well, first..." General Zhang started.

"Uh-huh?" I nodded, fully focusing my attention on him.

"We commit arson."

"The hell!?"