After safely getting out of an explosive situation, Lucian managed to escape the woods, eventually arriving at the garrison town of Norbury.
Unlike the relatively bustling city, the town was quite small. Most of the houses were next to each other and didn't share many architectural elements aside from the shade of beige that they were colored in. The town was also pretty quiet when compared to the urban area, the only sounds that could be heard being those of smiths working on swords and breastplates, as well as the occasional child playing in the narrow streets.
The soldiers who lived in the town were expected to follow a set of rules and didn't mingle with the populace too much, which helped to maintain its calm atmosphere.
The building which housed the soldiers, the barracks, was built near the center of the town for convenience. Most of the businesses in town, including the not too savory ones as well, were in the middle too, so soldiers didn't have to go far away to fulfill their needs.
As Lucian rode towards the center of the town, a loud and grouchy voice caught his attention.
"Where's my money, you brat!?"
As he searched for its source, he found the boy who visited him yesterday being confronted by an older man who appeared to be a merchant. Lucian and a pair of onlookers observed them from a distance.
"I paid you already!" The young soldier exclaimed, clenching his fists. "Don't you remember!?"
“If you had really done so, then would I be asking for it?” The man inquired as he cornered the young boy into a wall. "Now hurry and pay up!"
As their argument dragged on, Lucian decided to intervene between them before things became a little rougher than they should.
"Good morning." He said, approaching the two. "Is something the matter?"
"Sir." The merchant replied, bowing his head. "This wretch bought some meat and bread from me some time ago and said he would pay me later. It's been two weeks, and he hasn't paid me anything, not even a single gram!"
The boy flared up at his claims.
"I've told you a hundred times already, I paid you!" He exclaimed, glaring at the older man.
"No, you didn't!"
"Yes, I did!"
"God, this isn't going anywhere..." Lucian thought to himself while sighing and shaking his head. "Maybe I should just help him."
The lieutenant directed his attention to the merchant and inquired of him how much money the boy owed him.
"Uhh... 20 copper grams." The man said, scratching the back of his head. "Yeah, if I remember correctly, it was 20 copper grams."
Lucian searched through his pockets for some coins, eventually finding the quantity the man had asked for.
"There you go." He said as he handed the money to the merchant. "No more debts, I suppose?"
"I-It is as you say... Thank you, sir." The man, dumbfounded, replied as he counted the money. He then turned to face the boy, a stern look on his face. "If it weren't for this gentleman, you wouldn't have gotten away so easily. Keep that in mind for next time."
As he said this, the merchant put the money in his pockets and left the area. For his part, the young soldier directed his gaze downwards, not uttering a single word. Once the man left, Lucian approached the boy.
"Mind explaining to me what happened?" He asked, a concerned expression on his face.
"It's... none of your business." The boy said, a tinge of coldness in his voice.
Lucian was slightly taken aback by his response but didn't take offense by it, simply giving the boy a light smile.
"Well... You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. Just don't get into trouble, alright?"
As he made his way towards his horse, Lucian heard the boy’s voice calling for him.
"Why?" He asked in a coarse manner. "I didn't ask for your help, so why did you help me?"
Lucian stopped in his tracks and asked the young soldier a question.
"Do you really need a reason to help someone?"
The boy averted his gaze in response.
"But I..." The boy said as he curled his hands into fists. "I don't have anything to pay you back with..."
Lucian sighed and shook his head.
"Look. You don’t owe me anything. I just felt like helping you. So let’s leave it that, okay?”
The soldier watched on as Lucian left. Before he mounted on his horse, however, the boy approached his side and bowed.
"Thank you." He said, a slight shade of pink on his cheeks. "I... appreciate it."
Lucian turned to face him and gave the soldier a light smile.
"Don't mention it."
After riding on his horse for some minutes, Lucian finally arrived at his destination.
The barracks were built around a large area and had enough capacity to house approximately 15,000 soldiers. Like most of the buildings in the town, they weren't particularly fancy, especially so as they were built simply for giving the soldiers a place in which to live.
Once he was granted entry into them, the lieutenant decided to visit one of the sergeants that were under his command. Making his way through the dormitories of the leftmost barrack, he knocked on the door of one of the rooms that were near the end of the first floor's corridor.
An elderly, tan-skinned man of tall stature who had silver hair, olive-green eyes and a thin beard that reached around his neck opened the door. He was dressed in the same armor that soldiers used, except his looked slightly rusted and battered.
"Oh, if it ain't the lieutenant. Welcome to my humble abode." The older man said, smiling at his guest. "Please, come on in."
"Thank you, Lord Marlton," Lucian replied as he entered the dormitory.
The room was relatively small and only had a table, a closet, and a bed. Compared to citizens and the higher-ups, members of the military that resided in these buildings had to live a relatively frugal life, without much of the things that normal people often took for granted, as discipline was highly enforced, and wasting your time leisurely came at a high cost.
"So how do you do, whippersnapper?" The man known as Marlton asked, a grin on his face.
"Eh not much, the usual, you know..." Lucian said, smiling sheepishly. "How about you, my lord?"
"Still alive it seems. Life's good!" The sergeant said, laughing.
Sergeant Jonathan Marlton had been in service for thirty years or so. Though nearing sixty four, he maintained a kind of youthful vigor that was rare for someone his age. Ever since the lieutenant came to the city and began working, the sergeant had been assigned under him. Lucian considered himself lucky to have someone as experienced as him under his command, as no matter how much he had learned in the academy, having a veteran with real experience on the battlefield was quite helpful.
"So, to what do I owe the occasion?" The sergeant asked.
"I just thought I'd check on you, see how you're all doing."
"Well, as you can see my boy, everything's smooth as butter. At least for now, that is."
"I see," Lucian said, nodding.
"Where's the second lieutenant?" The older man asked as he looked around.
"He didn't come with me this time. Said he's helping over at the school today."
Marlton stroked his beard, nodding pensively.
"He's a good lad. Ever since he was little, he's been very devoted to his parents." The sergeant said. "While I understand his motives, he shouldn't forget about coming here once in a while. After all, these inspections are his kinda work, aren't they?"
Lucian nodded to the sergeant.
"Since these days we don't have many things to do anyway, I don't pressure him into coming with me. Besides, I don't mind having to do his share of duties every once in a while."
"That's very noble of you and all, but it's no good to do everything on your own, you know?" The sergeant said, in a matter of fact way. "You can rely on us too to get things done."
"Really?" The lieutenant said, gazing at his elder.
"Of course, son." The elder replied, nodding. "All you lieutenants do is oversee things and help your superiors. Can it really be that difficult?"
"...When you put it that way, you make it sound easy." Lucian said, narrowing his eyes.
"I know, I know." The sergeant said, laughing out loud.
"Anyway, what's the schedule today?" Lucian asked the elder.
"Just the usual drills," Marlton said. "I was just on my way to assemble the men for the second daily drill when you arrived, sir."
"Oh," Lucian said, deviating his gaze. "Sorry about that."
"Ain't matter. Shall we get going, then?"
"Sure."
As the pair exited the room, Marlton called a nearby soldier that appeared to be on guard duty.
"Sir!" The soldier said, hurriedly approaching the sergeant.
"Go and tell Johnny to assemble the men in the training field. Tell him that if he doesn't do it in 5 minutes, he's going to regret it."
"Y-yes, sir!" The soldier said, as he hastily made for the building's second floor.
After making small talk, the two made their way towards the training field. When they arrived, the men had done so as well and were eagerly waiting for their orders. All of the soldiers were dressed in the same armor as the sergeant and had swords and shields for equipment.
When the lieutenant and the sergeant assumed position in front of the troops, a young, tan-skinned man with slightly spiky silver hair and green eyes who bore a slight resemblance to the sergeant approached them.
"Father. Lieutenant." He said as he made obeisance.
When he finished, Marlton smacked him hard in the head.
"Johnny, how many times do I have to tell you?" He said, glaring at his progeny. "When you address people in the army, you start by the one with higher rank!"
"I'm sorry, father..." Johnny said, bowing.
"Not to me, to the lieutenant you dimwit!" He exclaimed as he hit his son's scalp once more.
Lucian and most of the soldiers widened their eyes at their antics while some just shrugged it off as if they were used to this by now.
Johnny faced Lucian and bowed profusely.
"My apologies, Lieutenant."
"D-don't worry about it," Lucian replied, giving him a pitying smile.
"Is it really that important...?" He thought as he narrowed his eyes and gazed away from the sergeant's son.
Marlton nodded in satisfaction and directed his attention towards the troops, carefully looking over them.
"Johnny, is everyone here?"
"Yes, father," Johnny said as he pointed to the men. "There are currently one hundred and twenty men assembled here."
"Good." The elder said as he stroked his beard. "You may go and return to your position."
"Yes, sir."
When Johnny returned to his position in the assembly of men, Marlton addressed the troops.
"Listen up!" He said in a thunderous voice. "First lieutenant Lockhart came to see our progress today, so show him what you've got!"
"Yes, sir!" The men exclaimed in unison.
"Like we’ve practiced.” The sergeant said. "Assume formation!"
The soldiers lined up and began separating from each other at an arm's distance. When they had all done this, Marlton began giving them orders.
"Left!
The soldiers hastily moved to the left,
"Right!
The troops moved to the right and returned to their original position.
"Back!"
The troops performed an u-turn so that they now faced the opposite direction in which they started.
"Defensive positions!"
The men raised their shields to the level of their shoulders, synchronized.
"Attacking positions!"
With their unoccupied hand, the soldiers unsheathed their swords and slightly lowered their shields.
"March!"
The soldiers began marching through the field in an orderly manner, the sound of their footsteps resonating in the open area.
"Hmm... They're a little better than before." Lucian thought as he carefully watched over the men.
When the men finished marching three laps around the training field, the sergeant began inspecting them one by one. Each of the men stood firm, unflinching at the Sergeant's stare. However, one of the soldiers that were in the back caught his attention because of some weird movements he made with his mouth and hands.
"What are you doing, soldier?" The sergeant asked, examining the young man in front of him.
The soldier remained silent.
"I said, what are you doing soldier!?"
"S-sir... I'm eating some fruit because I missed breakfast and I felt really hungry just now.'"
"You're eating breakfast? At this time of the day?" The older man said while glaring at the young man. "You messing with the army, soldier!?"
"Uhh... No... I'm..."
Marlton shook his head and sighed.
“Come with me, recruit.”
The sergeant brought the soldier with him to where the lieutenant was.
“Sir. This soldier was eating some fruit just as the march finished because he "didn't eat breakfast"." The sergeant said, imitating the younger one's speech. "What should we do with him?"
"Well, when you're hungry and need to go..." Lucian said, expressing slight sympathy for the recruit. "You can't fight on an empty stomach."
The soldier's eyes brightened up, but the sergeant only shook his head.
"Is that really it?" Marlton asked the lieutenant. "Didn't you go through something like this when you were in the academy?"
"Well, yes, but-"
"No buts!" The sergeant exclaimed, shaking his head. "Lieutenant, you're too soft. For all you know about strategy, deceit, and battle formations, you don't have much experience with the actual thing."
“Well... I can’t really deny that.” Lucian said, sighing.
"Success in battles is dictated by many things. One of these is the discipline of soldiers. If their discipline is lax, then when they find themselves in danger on the field of battle, they will not hesitate to run and desert your ranks."
Lucian nodded to his elder, taking in the words of advice he had just spoken.
"Now, speaking of running..." He said, pointing to the undisciplined soldier. "Go and run 30 laps around the field."
"30?" The soldier complained. "But-"
"No buts, sir," Marlton said, pointing to the field. "Go and run. If you don't, you'll face the consequences."
The soldier groaned but obeyed the command nonetheless.
"It's like he transforms into someone else when doing this..." Lucian thought, shaking his head. "He's even worse than those instructors I had back at the academy..."
"This incident aside, what's your verdict, lieutenant?" The sergeant asked, awaiting his input.
"You've all improved. But there's still some work to be done, I think."
"I see. Maybe I have to be harder with them..." The sergeant said, his right hand on his chin.
"I-I don't think there's any need to do that, sergeant," Lucian replied, narrowing his eyes.
"Hmm... If you say so."
The sergeant then looked over the assembled troops and addressed them once more.
"Everyone dismissed! Return to your quarters until new orders."
As they were starting to disperse, a voice coming from their backs took the lieutenant and the sergeant by surprise.
"You call this drilling your soldiers?"
A young man with pale skin and a well-built figure that had curly dark blue hair, brown eyes and was dressed with the uniform that the higher-ups in the military used appeared before them. On his left hand, he held a cross-shaped spear that had a red handle and was slightly larger than an average one. Behind him, numerous soldiers that also had spears on them followed him.
"Lieutenant Aegar..." The sergeant said as he made obeisance.
The lieutenant walked past the pair and assumed position where the sergeant had just been, his troops following the same procedure as the ones from before–lining up and separating from each other at an arms distance.
"Let me show you how it's done." He said, gripping his spear.
With a wave of his hand, the soldiers assumed a position similar to the one he had. When they were assembled and seemingly ready, he began performing various movements with his spear, thrusting and sweeping it as if he were fighting an invisible foe. As he moved, the soldiers imitated him to an almost perfect degree, with almost no sign of sloppiness on their part.
"Well, would you look at that..." The sergeant said, in awe.
"Their movements are pretty synchronized," Lucian noted as he watched the performance. "It must have taken lots of practice."
After he finished doing these exercises for some time, the soldiers began doing similar actions to the ones the sergeant had put the troops before. As they did so, Aegar approached the lieutenant and the sergeant.
"Discipline is important, but practicing the actual movements that you use in battle is just as important. Perhaps even more."
Lucian and Marlton nodded, taking in his advice.
"I hope you learned something. If you did, you ought to put it into practice."
"I'll try and incorporate something similar for our routines." Marlton said, nodding.
"That said, if you can't even do that much..." Aegar said, looking over to the soldier running laps around the field and then over to Lucian. "I am always available to train your troops. I'll make men out of them."
"I'll... consider the offer," Lucian said, slightly narrowing his eyes.
"Well, then. Farewell."
The officer began to leave the training field, with his troops following him close by in an orderly manner. When he left, the sergeant approached Lucian.
"Kind of a difficult guy, eh?"
"I suppose..." Lucian said as he stared towards the direction Aegar left.
"Hmm... I wonder..." The sergeant said, raising his eyebrows. He then shook his head, as if to forget about what he had just been thinking about.
"Anyway, what are you going to do now?"
"Well... I don't really have anything else planned at the moment." Lucian said as he put his hand on his chin.
"How about staying for a while, son? Care to join me and the boys for a few games of cards?"
Lucian nodded and gave the older man a light smile.
"Sure. Let's do that."
When the clock marked the fifth hour, Lucian bid farewell to the sergeant and the others and made his way back home. As he went to find his horse, he bumped into a slightly familiar face.
"Whoops, sorry about that..." Lucian said as he recovered from the recoil of the impact. "Hey, aren't you...?"
"Lieutenant, sir!" The soldier he met in the morning said, bowing. "I'm sorry about that. I didn't look where I was going."
"It's okay. I wasn't really looking where I was going either."
"I see..." The boy said, a shade of a smile escaping his lips.
A small silence between the two ensued.
"I have to get going. So, if you'd excuse me..." Lucian said, hastily making for the stable.
“Umm… Please, wait!” The boy exclaimed.
“Is something wrong?” Lucian asked, a confused expression on his face.
"I wanted to tell you that I'm sorry for earlier." The boy said, gazing downwards. "It was rude of me to say those things to you, sir."
"Don't worry about it," Lucian said. "We all have our good and bad days."
"Thank you." The boy said, giving him a light smile. "I know you're probably occupied, but if you'd like, I could tell you about what happened."
Lucian pondered for a while but eventually decided to accept the invitation.
"If you don't mind having a guy like me hear your troubles, then sure."
