"Rodri, I want your clothes."
The medic girl spoke in a completely flat tone.
"Please look at how I'm dressed now."
"Ah? Aren't you cute."
"Thank you for the compliment, but that's not what I wanted to say."
With a displeased look on her face, she squinted and shot Rodri a scornful glare.
On the other side, Rodri responded to the girl with a troubled expression and an obviously dismissive attitude.
"I'm telling you to look at my clothes. My clothes. C-l-o-t-h-e-s."
"Ugh, you're so annoying!"
"What are you two even doing, Senior…"
Ignoring the rising tension between the two, a man casually jumped into the conversation.
It was none other than Gomuji, the same soldier who had been carried on the medic's back with both legs injured not long ago.
"Oh, Gomuji? As you can see, I'm asking Rodri if I can borrow his uniform."
"Why do you need his clothes?"
The girl still had that expressionless look on her face as she kept tugging at Rodri's sleeve.
Meanwhile, Rodri kept a stern face and showed no sign of wavering.
"Look at what I'm wearing right now. Any thoughts?"
"Isn't it obvious? It's soaked with blood and grime."
"That's right."
At the moment, the medic girl was wearing a white dress drenched in blood and flesh.
Not long ago, Gomuji and the girl had just escaped from a Marshdale crawling with enemies.
At that time, she had smeared blood and gore on her clothes in order to disguise herself as a corpse.
"I don't want to keep wearing this blood-soaked dress."
"Even if you say that…"
"Rodri, don't you have a spare uniform? I saw one in your backpack. Please give it to me."
Of course, no one would enjoy wearing clothing soaked with someone else's blood and flesh.
Now that they had successfully escaped from Marshdale, the medic just wanted a clean change of clothes.
"Why does it have to be me? There are plenty of other soldiers around."
"That's because…"
As the young soldier tried to dodge responsibility, Touri gave him a faint smile.
"Out of everyone I know, you're the shortest."
"Oi, what was that?!" he retorted.
Objectively speaking, Rodri wasn't very tall. He was little below average for his age group.
And he immediately flared up the moment that fact was called out.
"I'm at least taller than you, Shorty!"
"That's true. Still, you're the closest to my height. So please, lend me your uniform."
"Damn it, stop acting so smug!"
Rodri clearly didn't like having his shortness pointed out. He sulked and turned his head away, visibly annoyed.
"Why are you being so stubborn? Just tell me why."
"Because it's my uniform. My. Uniform!"
"Alright, alright, Senior. Maybe it's time to ease up a little? Try to understand his situation too."
It really did seem like Touri couldn't comprehend why he was so unwilling to lend his uniform.
She didn't grasp what was troubling the young soldier's heart.
"What do you mean, Gomuji?"
"Well, y'see. You're a girl, Senior, and Private Rodri is a man at that kind of age, you know,"
"So?"
"Basically, he's embarrassed."
Trying to be helpful, Gomuji leaned in and whispered an explanation into Touri's ear.
Letting someone of the opposite sex wear your clothes can certainly be embarrassing, especially when the person is a girl about the same age.
"Private Rodri is starting to become aware of you… y'know, like that."
"…Ahhh, I see. That makes sense."
"That's not it at all, you piece of shit!!!"
Unfortunately for Gomuji, Rodri heard everything.
Once again, Rodri's face flushed red from anger. Not caring that Gomuji was older than him, Rodri promptly kicked him.
"Sorry, I guess I was being inconsiderate. Rodri is at that age, after all."
"I said that's not it! Agh, what a pain in the ass! Fine! Here! Take it already!"
"Thank you very much."
"This is torture…"
Rodri grumbled and sighed as he reluctantly handed over the uniform with a deeply regretful expression.
Watching all this unfold from nearby, another senior soldier, Allen, came over with a grin on his face.
"Touri, you'd better be grateful, yeah? A soldier's uniform is a precious thing."
"Is it?"
"Gomuji, you're still a newbie. Makes sense why you don't know."
Naturally, Gomuji averted his eyes from the changing Touri to engage in conversation with Allen.
"For example, Gomuji. What happens if you can't hold it in in the middle of combat?"
"Well, of course, I'd…"
"In the heat of battle, when you can't look away even for a second, your stomach suddenly roars and twists in pain. There's only one thing you can do in that moment."
As he says that, Allen pinches his nose as if he's feeling sick.
"You shit yourself."
"Whoa…"
"After that, you can't really leave them lying around in the trenches because of the smell. So, what you do is throw it straight at the enemy. It's called shit tossing and it's the nastiest weaponry there is."
He explained all this like he was teasing Gomuji.
"It actually happens a lot. All soldiers with a modicum of combat experience had probably shit their pants once or twice."
"Ugh…"
"Outside of that, it's also not uncommon for you to be drenched in body fluid or vomit from enemies and allies alike. In other words, it's natural for soldiers to feel anxious without spare clothes."
"I see. That's why Private Rodri was so reluctant."
"Well, I don't think that's the only reason."
"Okay, I'm done changing."
As the two continued their disgusting conversation, Touri returned wearing Rodri's oversized uniform.
Though the size was a bit off, she had rolled up the sleeves, making it look just presentable enough.
"That's what trenches are like? I'm lucky I never had to go to the front lines."
"Yeah, there's no denying the fact that the hygiene's terrible."
"Did you ever shit yourself, Senior?"
"…Medics don't engage in combat. Also, maintaining cleanliness is part of our job. Gomuji, I recommend that you learn some tact in the future."
"Ah, sorry. I nearly forgot that you're a girl, Senior."
Touri was clearly annoyed by his blunt question.
Realizing his blunder, Gomuji quickly changed the subject.
"Anyway, Private Allen. You mentioned Rodri had another reason for not wanting to lend his uniform?"
"Yeah. It's simple. You see how we're all covered in mud?"
"Ah, then Private Rodri also wanted a clean set of clothes?"
"Nah, that's not it. We don't really mind the mud."
Allen trailed off before shooting a meaningful glance at Rodri.
"You know how sometimes people get turned away at brothels if they show up covered in dirt?"
"Ahh…"
"That guy was probably planning to head to a place like that once we get back to the capital. But now that his spare uniform's gone, no dice. That's why he was so reluctant."
"…Oh?"
After hearing Allen's explanation, Touri narrowed her eyes and stared at Rodri.
At that, Rodri didn't look even the least bit guilty. Instead, he fought back with confidence.
"This is the post-battle entertainment I've been looking forward to. You got a problem, Shorty?"
"Not really. I was just thinking how carefree you are in a life-or-death situation like this."
"Right? That laid-back attitude is one of my best qualities. Hahaha!"
"Hmph…"
"What now? I lent you the uniform, didn't I?"
Touri's mood kept plummeting by the second while the oblivious Rodri continued to provoke her.
Gomuji couldn't help but worry that things would turn into a fight at this rate.
"What do you think? Those two get along pretty well, don't they?"
"You call this getting along?"
"Don't be fooled by how they are now. They were a real pain at first. They wouldn't say a single word to their comrades and just kept themselves locked up in their own shells."
Allen said with a nostalgic smile.
"They probably wouldn't have lasted a month if they'd stayed like that. But somewhere along the line, it was like a switch got flipped. They suddenly started opening up to the platoon."
"Yeah… now that you mention it, Senior does give off that 'not a people person' vibe."
"But the one who sparked the change was a total playboy obsessed with women. Rodri got influenced by him too and finally loosened up."
"Ah."
As Touri glared at him in silence, Rodri started to look a little embarrassed.
No matter how many times you watched their little comedy bit, it never got old.
"Rodri's a serious guy at heart. The way he tries to act like a playboy despite being straight-laced is kind of hilarious in its own way."
"That's pretty funny. I mean, you don't become a playboy by trying. It's something that just happens naturally."
"Rodri's still young, after all. He probably doesn't want his wild desires to get out of control and hurt the little sister sleeping next to him."
Looking back, they saw Rodri repeatedly flicking Touri on the forehead with loud flick sounds to shoo her away.
The girl's gaze was growing increasingly icy.
"See what I mean? Don't you think they're pretty close?"
"It feels like they're a pair of siblings."
"Exactly."
This was a fleeting, quiet moment of daily life between soldiers, happening during their retreat from Marshdale, as they made their way toward Winn.