High School Soldier
I feel sorry for the buttons

No one can complain when the arrival of the last day of ‘luburan’ or their task is to be a guest of the contingent representative of ‘other world’. As a celebration of the last day of their Year's Eve in Iztok City, all invitations must attend the evening party.

Everyone at the inn had been busy since this morning, including the staff, the band that the kingdom had called to entertain the invitations, and of course the invitees from ‘the other world’ itself.

Both female and male soldiers wore ceremonial uniforms to attend this kind of ceremony. The men wore suits, white shirts, and black belts, and weapons hidden behind their clothes, such as sharp weapons or pistols. Clothing for formal events unrelated to combat, allowed to be modified according to the taste of the owner as long as it does not break the rules. However, almost all the clothes worn by representatives of ‘world other’ are uniform, because they are adjusted from their respective countries.

Most of them only modify on a certain size or part of the clothes to make it feel more comfortable, even though their uniforms are not the production of famous fashion companies that are famous for their high prices. The TNI contracts to several small and private medium enterprises to make ceremonial uniform suits for their personnel. So that the use of funds can be saved, without the need to contract large companies that have been famous.

“Oh, Lieutenant, you look different.”

“I think it's still the same.”

In other words, this is a garment meant to accentuate the physique of a warrior – a warrior. And, the Student Soldiers spent their teenage years on the battlefield, until their bodies were forged to fight. Therefore the clothes they were wearing looked very fitting.

“Why are we doing this? I don't want to go to parties like this,” Hendra complains while fiddling with her clothes.

As a person who prefers calmness rather than having to attend an event that will certainly be attended by many people. If allowed to vote, Hendra would choose to stay asleep in his room.

Some people said something to motivate the lethargic Hendra, while others likened the young man to someone who had the pleasure of being confined to a room rather than socializing. Because according to people who prefer to stay in the room, being in the crowd will make their energy drain.

“Do not worry, this event is only attended by invited guests from Guild member countries only. No one will judge you just because of how you look. I'm sure there are many people who will look at us with admiration,” said Ferdi because he imagined if the party he would attend would be visited by many girls.

“It's a little tight,” Nio said while several times arranging his clothes collar.

The shirt collar, which covers only half of his neck, can still reveal a scar on the right side of Nio's neck. According to some people it might be a cool scar, but not trying to have one. As for Nio, the scars on several parts of his body, including the neck, started from the pain he had to endure until the fight ended.

**

Elsewhere, precisely the women's dressing room, to which their excited voices were heard, some girls looked at themselves in the mirror before leaving for the party. They hardly put on excessive makeup, and only use lip moisturizers or others.

(olog note: the author does not know about cosmetics:v)

They felt very different than usual when in full daily or combat uniform. Actually the host has prepared clothes for the invited guests from their ‘otherworld’, but they choose to wear ceremonial uniforms.

All the girls were looking forward to this day, when they heard that the Change of Years ceremony would be closed with a party. Other than this event, they had never enjoyed any party since joining the military.

In a corner of the dressing room, Sheyn stared at herself in front of a large mirror. She wore her dress, her hair was trimmed, and some girls decided to do a little makeup on her.

She was wearing a blue colored party dress that she bought just for this event. The party clothes had prepared servants for her and the other girls during their visit in Arevelk, but she had no intention of wearing them, as she would be dealing with Nio.

Although not fair, but the other girls have ‘allow’ herself to express her feelings ahead of them. He had yet to say that to the subordinate girls of Nio who were interested in the young man, given the language barrier the 12th Team suffered from. Only Nio was truly fluent and very fluent in speaking the language of this world, while the others were only in the learning phase. They are at the lowest level when compared to Nio regarding the problem of communication using the language of this world.

He heard that Sigiz would wear the white clothes he got when visiting Indonesia, and he was looking forward to it. Because in this world, white is very rarely applied to clothing, and only limited to buildings considering they have not found a technique to color the fabric with white.

The fabrics in this world are made mostly of plant fibers, and are not made of cotton or silk-producing cocoons. The resulting yarn will be brownish or moss green, so most of the clothes of the world's people are colored. That is why there is an expression if white clothes are the most valuable treasure under self-esteem and territory. That said, there was once a story if a piece of white cloth covering an area of one meter can be exchanged for a land the size of Madura Island.

Sigiz, Lux, Edera, Hevaz, and Zariv supported her to express her true feelings to Nio. Although they all know if Nio already has a real lover, they agreed to become ‘sawapan’ or concubine ‘secretia’ and make Arunika the main lover of Nio. At least, the laws of the Kingdom of Arevelk and Yekirnovo no one regulates regarding the limits of a person having a partner, as long as someone who decides to have multiple partners can be fair and kind it is not a problem as long as they understand and understand each other.

Sheyn specially bought the dress she was wearing now for the party today. He spent a long time thinking about the right colors and designs. It took her a long time to apply makeup so that the scars on her face were barely noticeable, and choosing which hairstyle would be the perfect complement.

He had been to a party before, while he was still siding with the Luan Empire. His standing as the next emperor's candidate would force him to attend an event, even one he disliked the most. He had never actively taken part in such a party event that nobles from abroad attended. Nobles who had once approached Sheyn, they were nothing more than political tools, pretending to approach him for status or mere possessions.

He hated parties involving noble families, and if the noble boys approached him, their eyes were fixed only on the status and wealth of the emperor's family. The wardens love to look for face. He was tired of facing half-hearted praise from them, moreover he had to respond with a smile. To him, it was no different from torture. He hates those kinds of parties.

But today is different. She had separated from the Luan Empire and became queen of the Yekirnovo Kingdom. He was surrounded by people from all walks of life who would accept him. He dreamed of the moment of having an actual friend, and not a friend ‘fake’. Then, the expression he would make when facing Nio later consumed his mind.

Before Nio's arrival in this world, Sheyn had never had the man of her dreams. In the end, he fell in love for the first time to an otherworldly warrior who had beaten his commander to the point of almost dying.

Only Nio, a man who did not put on a hidden ‘jijik’ expression while talking while looking directly at his face. Actually, he was happy after getting the scar on his face. Because of that blessing the number of men who approached him was almost nonexistent due to his physical condition.

He and Nio both had scars on the face, although Nio's was not as bad as his, but the young man only had one eye. However, Nio looks ‘ mediocre’ when talking to him and does not try to keep his distance when he is near him. Nio's toughness when fighting had been proven during the Alliance's first major battle with the Expeditionary Force, and in his view Nio had successfully qualified to become an actual knight. In fact, if she found a man with a trait similar to the one Nio had, Sheyn was sure the man would not succeed in making her have the feeling of falling in love like he is now.

He was very grateful for the Gate phenomenon that connected his world with Nio's home world, even though it caused a lot of problems in the future.

She has to confess her feelings now, even though Nio has a woman ‘utama’. He will not turn his face away from embarrassment or anxiety, because he will really tell his true feelings. His admiration for Nio was not only when they met on the battlefield, but also in ordinary days. When he threw away his face, it was possible that he would lose Nio and his chance to get him back was nonexistent, and that frightened him. But, he would hate himself if he did not tell her his true feelings, yet he had already lost Nio without ever knowing about her feelings.

So, he decided he would, so he would not regret it.

He then wore a handmade necklace around his neck. The necklace is made of pure gold – which has the same value as a tactical vehicle complete with weapons and supporting equipment. The decoration was decorated with red gemstones. After which, he looked into the mirror then nodded to reassure himself.

**

The place where the party is held has a function as a place for social events such as community meetings or celebrations such as the Change of Year or other ceremonies.

Inside the room, there were countless garlands, and tables with appetizers. Some invited guests have started dancing with their chosen partner or just having a small talk.

Uniquely, there were almost no government and regional nobles present at the party tonight who wore white clothes. The arrival of guests from ‘otherworld’ makes them feel like they have to wear the best clothes they have – or order clothes on the best seamstress of their home country to get the latest designs. Seeing the white shirt worn by the men of the guests invited representatives of the contingent of ‘otherworld’, some interested male nobles immediately swarmed them.

In one corner of the party room, Hendra is seen standing in the corner while eating a menu opening a kind of satay – with meat and spices typical Arevelk. He felt that the crowd had declared itself as his enemy, and Hendra just accepted the challenge of the crowd by withdrawing from the crowd of invited guests that surrounded his colleagues.

“Sayang.”

Liben sees Ivy approaching him after coming out of the dressing room and reaching out to him, he freezes on the spot. The girl's brownish hair was straight, and matched with a dark blue-colored dress, which complemented her fair skin and bright hair.

Liben looked at Ivy like a goddess, and the accessories the girl wore sparkled. Even the accessories on her dress uniform are nothing with accessories decorated with precious stones belonging to Ivy.

“Ah... I forgot that we were going to get engaged,” Liben said inwardly after staring at Ivy with sculpting in place.

Seeing slender arms with white skin outstretched and want to hold his hand – dark brown skinned – makes Liben feel cold air surrounding him. He feels that luck is too on his side, so that the perfect girl like Ivy falls in love with him.

He looked around the party room, and found that there were enough noble children or young noblewomen that he felt would fit in with Ivy. However, he did not want to waste the luck he had obtained even if it was a little something in his opinion.

“... Are you okay with me, Ivy?” finally Liben asked, although with language that seemed a bit messy.

Liben carefully grabbed the hand of his fiancee ‘calon’. He was a Papuan warrior sent back to this world, and because he had ties to Ivy, Liben was treated like a noble knight (unbeknownst to the headquarters). Although most knights were low to middle nobles, he was still considered a noble by most Arevelk people who knew Liben as the lucky person who won Ivy's heart.

The 12th Team member who saw Liben holding a perfect girl, looked at him with a sniper gaze filled with grudges.

Jayapura Garrison Warrior Kaikoa saw Liben – who came from the same land as him with envious gazes. However, there were five noble girls of the government who were staring at Kaikoa with admiring gazes, or rather they had designated the young man as the target man, and he didn't realize it and remained seated in his place while staring at Liben's envy.

Similarly, dozens of girls noble government and other regions, all male soldiers invited representatives of the contingent of ‘the other world’ they were after. However, their existence is like not considered by men, so they choose to use the ‘aggressive’ way to get the attention of men.

Some men seem to prefer to eat the dishes available, while occasionally responding to the noble girls who are interested in them.

Then, Nio appeared in the party room while carrying a suit that he did not wear, so he only wore a white shirt with a green tie. She did not style her hair properly – because it was really unruly. As a body fragrance, he uses perfume that can be found in stalls or convenience stores in Indonesia, of course, cheap.

“Hei.”

“What?”

Jonathan and Kambana's arms held each other together ever since they both walked towards the party room. Jonathan looked at the person he was holding.

“Do we really have to join together like this?”

“Well, our height is almost the same. Is that a problem for you?”

Kambana answered according to what he wanted to say. For a woman, she is tall. He was shorter than Nio, yet he was slightly taller than Zefanya who had a height of 170 centimeters.

Jonathan of course wore the same ceremonial uniform that Nio and his subordinates wore. Kambana wears a red dress that matches her blonde and white hair. It was a dress that was ‘brave’, as it showed cleavage and showed her tight back. Kambana looked at Jonathan with a proud smile.

“No need to hold it. Tell me what you think of my appearance.”

Kambana clearly wants praise from her lover, even though she has added to her feminine impression.

“You're getting pretty.. I guess.”

The party was attended by almost a hundred royal families of government and regions, all guests invited representatives of the contingent of ‘other world’, and invited guests from the Kingdom of Yekirnovo. Ladies and gentlemen wear clothes of various colors – except white. The sound of loud laughter and chatter rivaled the loud music.

The chatter of the nobles sounded like talking about the white clothes Sigiz would wear at this party. They were very much looking forward to it, and had qualified to make many people feel very curious. Even Nio thought about how valuable white clothes were to this world, as if a white shirt he wore could be exchanged for a country. Even if that were true, Nio would not trade his white shirt for a country. He felt that organizing a Squad was still quite difficult for him, and he could not imagine having to organize a country in this world after swapping his white shirt.

Nio saw all his members gathering together somewhere, and he saw some nobles staring at them and talking about something about their members. The gaze of male and female nobles towards their members is like that of people who are attracted towards them, although in a sense attracted to romantic things. After all, he had not known and had read that the soldiers of the Peace Forces were forbidden to have a mate from this world. So, he would allow his subordinates to target and choose the person from the world they chose.

The otherworldly girls seemed to be nowhere near him, even though it was the thing that made Nio feel quite calm. They were in separate places, conversing with noble women. Their faces showed no objection when talking to nobles, but after the topic switched and the noblewomen introduced their boys, the faces of the girls instantly showed a very clear expression of dislike. Of course it kept the noble boys away from them, with a painful feeling of heartbreak even if it was only a gaze, and not a rude remark of rejection.

“Why did they break away?”

Nio felt that the breakaway Hendra was natural, and he could not force Hendra to join the others. Hendra's face really showed a very lethargic person, and was eager to go home. He did not even respond to some of the women surrounding him.

However, Nio saw the same thing, but a little different from the case of Hendra who really likes calmness. Zefanya and Sheyn are seen sitting in one of the places that have been provided. Nio was barely aware of the existence of the two, due to the pile of dishes blocking their faces.

On the other hand, Zefanya spoke with her makeshift ability with Sheyn. Sometimes Sheyn justifies Zefanya's words that have a wrong or inverted arrangement. Nio decided to approach the two of them rather than stand up without doing anything, although he realized there were about 30 royal and local girls who wanted to get acquainted or invite to dinner together.

On the other hand, Sheyn still did not have the courage to talk to Nio, even though just a moment ago she was able to speak fluently with him. Meanwhile, Zefanya did not understand Sheyn who showed a strange reaction. He realizes that the Undead (Nio) is standing near them.

Nio was quite surprised after seeing Zefanya who was not wearing a female ceremonial uniform like the Russian contingent present at this party. The girl was actually wearing a male ceremonial uniform, even she was wearing male pantofel shoes instead of high heels like the girls wore. Zefanya also wears additional accessories in the form of white gloves.

Some of Zefanya's face remains wrapped with – bandages as when carrying out daily tasks. As the captain of the special unit team, Nio had information regarding his subordinates, including information regarding the physical condition of his subordinates.

Zefanya's right face had a fairly large scar, and the girl was lucky enough that the wound she had received did not make her lose sight in her right eye. In addition to the face, the chest and other body parts have scars that the girl gets when fighting with enemies from other worlds. Nio felt that his fight against the enemy from another world was still easier than Zefanya's struggle which he felt was more difficult and painful. He did not know why Zefanya had such a terrible scar, yet he imagined how the girl's expression as she was in pain after getting the wound that caused the scar on her body.

As for Sheyn, the injury to her left face caused the girl's right eye to lose its sight. While getting help to restore his facial condition and remove the scar on his face, Sheyn refused on the grounds that the scar he got was proof of his struggle. In essence, he did not accept when the sign of his struggle was removed just like that, even though it made his appearance different.

“Why don't you sit down, Lieutenant Nio?”

Zefanya – who has heard a lot of Sheyn – stories about Nio, takes an empty seat beside him, and puts it next to Sheyn.

“Zefanyaaaa! Why are you still there, let's take a picture together.”.

Zefanya stood up after hearing Ratna's loud voice. Nio turned to the source of the voice, and saw several guest girls invited by representatives of the Russian and North Korean contingents along with the 12th Team girls forming a photo formation that they had set.

“Sorry Queen Sheyn, it looks like I have to leave you both.”

Sheyn looks only resigned after Zefanya walks away from the two of them, while Nio is seen looking at his male members dancing with noble girls who were chosen to be their dance partners. Although their movements seemed to be uncharitable, Nio's male subordinates seemed to be trying hard to make their movements as good as their dance partners.

But in an instant, the festive excitement suddenly turned into silence after someone said in a loud voice that His Highness Sigiz had arrived and was about to join the party.

Sigiz came down the stairs like a dignified woman who exuded true purity and elegance.

Nio and all members of the 12th Team – from Indonesia saw Sigiz while sculpting. They did not move at all after knowing ‘’ white clothes Sigiz wore, even they themselves did not know what to react to this scene. Indeed, there is no one who can not deny the beauty of Sigiz, but for Indonesians who attended this party the clothes worn by Sigiz are really unexpected.

The entire nobles who saw Sigiz who was actually wearing white clothes stared in admiration, they also let out a voice that signified their shock and admiration.

Sheyn looked at Nio who was staring at Sigiz with ‘white’ clothes that the queen of the host country wore without blinking. Then Nio said…

“This is serious, or is it just me who sleeps less?”

Nio and all his subordinates – who are from Indonesia – have the same question about the clothes Sigiz wears.

“So, the white clothes belonging to Queen Sigiz that we are waiting for are Indonesian High School uniforms?!”

“Even she also wears her tie!”

“Wait, is not his clothes too small for Queen Sigiz who has a big chest? I feel sorry for the buttons,” said Nio.