The hospital in the Liberio internment zone was a pitiful sight. Dusk was when the former shell-shocked Eldian Warriors would be allowed outside for a breath of fresh air. Handicapped men; young adults with the thousand-yard stare; even conscripted teenagers; they became a common sight after the Marley Mid-East war concluded.

You were frequenting this area for a reason, however. As per usual, he was there at the usual meeting place: the Eldian Warrior you befriended. He survived the war, although he lost his left eye and leg, and was being hospitalized for PTSD.

As you sat down on the bench beside him, he just barely turned his head to you. “Hey,” Mr. Kruger said gruffly. It was a blessing that he was recovering rather quickly and could talk again already. “How are you doing?”