Am I a fish trying to resist being pushed away from the sea?

Being sent on a mission to restore order in a commoners' uprising is practically a death sentence for any officer's military career.

Most absurd of all, I must form a battalion employing only recruits who have not yet completed their training, and without the support of cadets who can fulfill the role of officers.

I sip my coffee as I look outside through the window, the glass is slightly foggy. In a few days, an army will march down the main street towards the huge courtyard of the palace, it is an old tradition that soldiers who go to battle receive an order from the king in person to achieve victory.

It will certainly be a colorful event since the last time something like this happened, it was an army of swords and bows that carried out this traditional ceremony centuries ago.

"So Larssan's fusils will finally stop accumulating rust..." —I murmur as I place the coffee cup on the table respecting the symmetry.

Not only Larssan, but it will also be Brand's first time participating in modern warfare.

"I heard that you were chosen to play the role of Sifen Risna" —Valz, who I had already seen enter the premises, takes a seat across the table and exclaims that in a slightly mocking tone.

"The name of the director of the play is Jora Ur Veran" —I reply, taking my cup of coffee and taking a light sip.

Valz's face takes on an unusually serious expression as he plunges into his thoughts.

"Jora Ur Veran is about to graduate, he will first be promoted to Captain for a few months before..." —Valz's eyes show surprise upon reaching a quick and correct conclusion.

Just know the name of who has organized all this to easily understand their motivation.

"So this is something of that level, it already seemed strange to me that that old fox chose you for a role that you are not suitable for" —Valz shows some bitterness, he is probably thinking that it is a real shame.

"Sifen Risna, of all those who have played this role, I am probably the one who should interpret this role with the most realism" —I let out a slight laugh and then take another sip of my coffee.

"What do you mean by that?"

"I must form a battalion with recruits from the academy and without cadets"

Hearing my answer, Valz's eyes widen in surprise.

'A good commander can lead even a group of pigs to victory', these were the King of Albion's words to his general before ordering his head to be cut off.

That general's name was Sifen Risna, who had been defeated in a major battle by a disorganized Gracian army.

The King of Albion claimed the throne of Gracia as his own by being a relative of the late King of Gracia. For about twenty years, Albion's armies occupied much of Gracia to assert their king's claim.

In such a scenario and when the Gracian nobles seemed defeated, the peasants, tired of the Albians abuses, they rise and formed a large and disorganized army.

Sifen Risna who had been defeated by that army of peasants blamed his soldiers for the outcome of the battle. Confident of easily defeating peasants, Albion's soldiers had celebrated an early victory the night before the battle.

That defeat was the beginning of the end for the King of Albion's dream to rule Gracia, which ended up giving him the reason regarding his decision to cut off the head of Sifen Risna.

Tree hundred years after that event, among Larssan's army officers, 'Sifen Risna' is the mocking way those officers assigned to subdue uprisings are called.

The reason for this is easy to understand, what awaits an officer at the end of the confrontation with the revolted commoners, is the execution of his military career.

"Without cadets who can serve as junior officers, it is total madness, they are recruits in training, a single officer will not be able to maintain the discipline of an entire battalion" —forgetting the etiquette, Valz places his elbows on the table, which only serves to show their dismay.

"A good commander can lead even a group of pigs to victory" —I repeat the King of Albion's words, then I drink the last of my coffee.

"Are you resigned?" —Valz misunderstands my calm and asks that question.

Am I a fish trying to resist being pushed away from the sea?

I smiled faintly as I looked at the empty mug and adjusted the position of the handle to align it in perfect parallel with the line on the edge of the table.

"This event is not significant enough to disrupt my order" —I exclaim, and Valz is confused. "There are no impossible battles to win, only wrong plans and approaches" —I add paraphrasing an important Romulan general.

Eight years of military life destroyed by the whim of a spoiled child?

The world seems to be beginning to spin interestingly, there is simply no chance that I will allow someone to take me away from this position from which I can better contemplate these events that could perhaps lead me to find my purpose.

"Of course, if there is someone who can find a way out of this, that is you" —Valz resumes his carefree attitude.

No, I am not a fish trying to resist being pushed away from the sea, depending on the circumstances, I can be a seaweed that lets itself be carried away by the currents, or a leviathan that waves the seven seas.

"Regarding your lack of officers, there is a recruit that I would like to recommend to you, he is particularly talented and therefore I have given him a little more training, his name is Frank Grif" —as Valz captures my interest, the young waitress approaches our table.

The young woman arrives at just the right time to hear Valz mention that name, which seems to surprise her a little.

"Frank Grif?" —I ignore the waitress's presence and focus on the topic of my interest.

Someone singled out as talented by Valz would do well for my cause.

"Yes, he is Julie's older brother" —answers Valz while smiling.

"Julie?" —I don't recall ever hearing Valz speak of anyone by that name.

"Th-that's me, Julie Grif... Frank Grif is my older brother..." —exclaims the waitress with some regret and nervousness.

I immediately understand the reason behind that smile on Valz's lips. Is he still trying to get me to pay attention to the waitress?

"I understand" —I reply to the waitress, and then draw my attention once more to Valz. "Do you think this Frank Grif is ready?"

Valz's expression is strangely stiff.

“He just needs some experience, and being under your command will help him understand things that can only be learned by experiencing them the first hand” —Valz crosses his arms, which is a sign that he is somewhat angry.

Has he taken my question as if I were doubting his ability as a trainer?

The waitress takes Valz's order and leaves with an awkward smile.

“Sometimes you can be a damn bastard, do you come here regularly and don't even know the girl's name? Do you have any idea how painful it must have been for her to know you didn't even know her name?” —while holding his arms crossed, Valz exclaims that in an angry tone.

So that's the reason for his sudden moodiness.

"I come here to drink coffee, not to question employees or socialize with them"

I usually classify people into four different classes:

The not useful persons, to whom I do not pay the slightest attention.

The useful and usable persons, which are the ones I surround myself with.

The useful and not usable persons, which are the ones I keep away from.

Finally persons who are in my way, those that I can consider eliminating.

I can almost see a vein popping over Valz's forehead from my response.

"Recommending this Frank Grif to me, is it related to this strange desire of yours to pair me up with the waitress?" —I add and a stiff smile appears on Valz's lips.

After several seconds of silence, Valz lets out a very long sigh as all his tension and anger dissipate.

"I almost forgot that, in your case, the best approach is to be direct, there is simply no way to subtly manipulate someone like you" —Valz shrugs as he responds.

"And you're the type of person who tends to complicate things more than necessary" —for a second Valz is angry again, but he quickly shakes his head and resumes his relaxed attitude.

"Julie and Frank are the children of the owner of this place"

I just nod in silence, although I don't have much interest in the subject, for Valz it seems to be something important.

"Frank, the father of both, is a lieutenant dismissed with honors who lost a hand in an incident with a mine during field training"

A low-ranking officer retired with honors is certainly a rare event in an army that has never used its weapons.

"In that incident, I am the one who should have been injured, but thanks to the fact that Frank covered me with his body, I'm only done with a few scratches..." —Valz pauses and takes his eyes towards the waitress, who is taking the order to other clients. "Julie is my goddaughter"

It seems that the issue is not easy for Valz to deal with, so in the end, he has resumed his surprising history... no, for others this could be surprising, but not for someone like me who is not interested.

I am not usually very interested in people's lives, which is why it should not surprise anyone that after eight years of meeting Valz, I don't know much about his family or social life.

“Were you trying to get me to play with your goddaughter? You don't seem to be doing a good job as a godfather” —I point out, recalling our previous talk about the waitress.

"You don't have a shred of compassion do you? I've known you both for a long time, and Julie like you, I just thought that, if you started that way, in the end, you'd end up falling in love with her when you understanding how good a girl she is. As for his older brother Frank, he is truly talented, and I am sure he will be a great help to you”—Valz shows some discomfort after revealing his plan.

Falling in love with her by understanding how good a girl she is...

Valz is a great instructor and has an excellent eye for identifying talents, but when it comes to understanding people, he has a long way to go.

Someone whom his parents chose to cast off for the sake of improving their social position, can someone like that believe in something as absurd as the goodness of people?

At least for me, the answer is a resounding no.

After being discarded by my parents, I concluded that human goodness is just a facade that masks selfishness.

There are only two kinds of good people in this world, those who pretend, and those who have forgotten that they are pretending.

As for a relationship with a woman, sticking to my classification of people, I would only establish that kind of relationship with a woman that would be useful to me.

"I understand" —I reply after letting out a slight sigh to make me think that I am speechless.

"Aren't you mad?"

"I have some issues on my mind to worry about, I don't have room on my mind to pay attention to your intrigues"

Valz lets out a slight laugh in response to my words.

"It's true, for now, the important thing is that you get out of this and spoil the plans of that golden shoe boy"

After agreeing to transfer Frank Grif to my improvised battalion, I left the Cafe leaving Valz behind. Knowing him, he will probably speak to the waitress to come up with a new plan.

Once outside, I look up. The sky has started to turn copper and because of this the temperature has started to drop.

"This is not enough to disturb my order either" —I murmur remembering Valz's exposed plan.

Among the ancient religions oriented to gods associated with natural phenomena, there is a common link in addition to the nature of these gods, chaos, and order.

According to these ancient religions, previously nothing existed, only chaos. Those who, in one way or another depending on the ancient cult, brought order by creating everything, were the gods.

From my point of view, these gods did not create order, but chaos. The true order reigned in the absolute calm of nothingness before the gods came and created the chaos of life.

"But chaos is always much more interesting than order" —I murmur with a sinister smile.

If there is a place where I could find my reason for being, that place is at the heart of chaos.