3 His Pastime...

-August 2, Year 1909, the sunsets were drawn out, Leon in his parent's house and the bakery.-

_______________

Two years had passed after that incident...

"Hey, Leon, will you be fine? Four military blueprint models... That is no laughing

matter."

"Hard, did you head bump your head somewhere? You know I wanna be in the military no matter what happens."

With his eyes almost half-closed, a tentative smile appeared on Leon's young and slightly pale face. He put his hands and a graphite pencil on the blueprint as he design it while sitting and facing a desk with a typewriter on the side, and all fingers started their rhythm at a decent speed. He typed in the formula and design description in organized ways that were openly sensible for anyone to read—inputting the data like a matrix code.

The slightly older guy standing behind him, Richard, threw himself into his amazing masterpiece when he found out Leon is working on his blueprint again.

"As expected of my childhood friend," Hard said and a tap from Leon's shoulders. "You been crazy about modifying the naval ships and some metal-like vehicles so far... I'm still curious if you're really a person or a devil itself."

Leon put his heart and sweat into his work, and this modification of some notable war machine could improve any nation's tech dramatically.

***

A radio broadcast from a tower announced a blast from a nearby abandoned mines. The radio announcer indicates an army of an independent kingdom marching toward the city—time to stiffen the defense and tighten up the patrols, the announcer adds up.

According to the city's governor rules and regulations, patrolling hours should be extended in such unprecedented situations like this, but Leon simply stretched his back and rotated his tired shoulders.

He had been into this voluntary work for a continuous five days. Tomorrow was the last piece of his modification, but the atmosphere around him changed as if he was on the bloody battlefield. His hobby of checking the previous models is his plaything before and until now, yet it was revised and improved under his brilliant thinking.

Thanks to him, he almost accomplished his work in this day, not to mention about this unwanted occurrence and the former insurgent group just got disbanded a year ago because of manpower issue so they are no help at all in this current situation, they manage to work as a team but didn't end up so well. Although Leon help on that incident so simply in a short notice, he managed to save each of the remaining units perfectly, a miraculous talent beyond expectation. Sadly, his skills were outstanding because he always love handling such critical information like war machine blueprints, collecting some real-life small-size figurines of Naval ships, planes, and real gun prototypes (unloaded). That was back in the past, his old life and now, he no longer have those and probably thrown in the trash.

Even he was asked once by Capt. Viktor Davos if he is willing to join the insurgents but say "No" and a few weeks later, the group was disbanded.

After a long series of battles, dead bodies, lost limbs, and critically wounded troopers were scattered like gravestones on the battlefield. Looking at the after results of the collision of the independent army of the Kingdom of Lars and the provincial city Athenia, part of Osmania Empire, he could see the rescuers (medics) working hard rashly, bodies collapsed on beds like they were throwing them there carelessly and without regret of life. Leon had seen so much to the bare maximum, and already got used to it as a former military personnel in his past life.

"Alright, take those bodies in those made-up beds! We are almost done! Great news everyone, now we can rest peacefully! The enemy had been forced to retreat their army!"

"Sir, how about the reinforcement?"

"What reinforcement?"

"The reinforcement promised by the Empire."

"Oh, that thing... Don't rely on them too much. There will come in handy probably a few days later. Go ba—."

"But sir, It was already delayed and we can't hold this place... We will die here in no time."

"Then, die for the Empire! Now, go back to your work! Why, all of you standing still! Go back to your post, now!"

Leon sneaked up from a narrow alley and saw the yelling officer in command. The officer was wearing a hard-shelled greyish steel helmet and a sharp point designed in the edge, dirty brown military uniform with four pockets on it (two in the upper chest and two below the belly, parallel to each other), a black leather belt, hard light brown pants also with hard crossed bondage-like from the knee to the foot and a pair of leather brown shoe.

His helmet had an insignia of a quarter half moon design and his collar had shown his ranking etiquette.

He then thought about going home to rest but decided to stay for a while as he watch them working. By the time, he saw multiple armies comes in from the gates of the wall, some familiar vehicle like the tanks drives in and from the back of the rotator is a magic instilled small-like nuclear generator that glows blue, some truck pass by, and a mechanical artillery that seemingly pulled by the troopers, its design from the cannon storage trigger was also instilled by a small-like nuclear generator.

No planes flew by or ships swung across the deep-blue waters. The tank design was barely the same model of M1918—the first ever build tank in American history (Earth).

Leon walk back and prepared to leave in a hurry, it was already night and his parents would scold him badly. He was not alone when Richard found him, his friend escorted him back to the house. Following the crowd's movements, Leon and Hard need to reach the place in a rush.

"What are you thinking? Why are there in that area...?" Hard says. "What if, you got caught? And you know, children like us have a curfew time."

Leon sigh, "Don't worry, it's not like I want to be captured or play the chasing game. Its ju—"

"...The military war machines, right?"

"Ah-ha-ha, Yes it was..."

"You're insane!" Hard slightly yelled. "I shouldn't be here if it wasn't for you to begin with."