Chương 197: Chapter 194 - Cheap Ale

Most of my squad stepped down from the platform and made their way to the training yard. Barry and Varric were at the front. Varric looked uncharacteristically excited, probably because he was in charge once more. As he had once been the leader of a bandit tribe, I was sure he had trained members of his tribe in the past. Now, he was getting the opportunity to do that again. On the platform, only Leif, Eleanor, and I were left.

As I turned to make my way to the central tent, I was met with a raised eyebrow and a judgmental look from Eleanor.

"Slimy nobles?"

"Hey, that was something I took inspiration from in a speech I heard from Captain Darrow. He mentioned people from the capital, but in this case, nobles worked better. After all, most commoners hate nobles," I said, raising my hands in an appeasing manner while Leif nodded along. Giving her a grin, I continued, "You would be surprised to learn that Barry and Varric are not exactly experts in civilian combat. One is a thief, and the other is a bandit."

"Don't you feel bad about lying to helpless commoners?" she asked.

"No. If it were something that affected only their lives, I would have been completely honest with them. But their performance will affect the lives of everyone living inside these walls. For that, if I have to lie to and deceive them, I will do so happily," I replied. The grand beast tide had been a great learning opportunity for me. During the beast tide, from beginning to end, the Captain had done everything he could to keep morale high.

I had experienced multiple subtle influences from skills, which, at the time, I had found manipulative. But now I knew those things were important. Those manipulations saved lives. There was no denying it.

"Hmph, you talk like my father," Eleanor commented. Leif patted my back.

"Brother, your speech was great, but I am afraid your comment about nobles and merchants might create trouble for you." I frowned when I heard that. I could understand why Eleanor did not agree with it, but not why Leif did not. Thankfully, his next statement cleared my doubts.

"Are you not planning to recruit from the merchant houses? Will that not create a divide between people from the merchant houses and the commoners?" I sighed.

"You are right. There was already a divide, and my words could have made it worse. But that is my plan. That is what I want to use." I looked toward the training yard.

"I want to use that competition to motivate them further. The difference between them already exists. Hopefully, by doing this, the commoners will try to outdo people from rich backgrounds, while people from rich backgrounds will not be able to tolerate poor people performing better than they do. There is still a chance that things could go badly, but this was the only idea I could come up with." Then, looking into his eyes, I said, "Doing something is better than doing nothing, right?"

Leif sighed and patted my shoulder.

"I used to think becoming an army officer would be fun. You get to order people around. But now? Not anymore."

"You know there are units that focus solely on fighting, right? Maybe you should lead one of those." Leif just shrugged.

"Maybe." Then, clasping my hand, he continued, "I will spend the rest of today in my tent. I have some books that discuss the previous wars against Frosthallow. I might also try to get in touch with some veteran lieutenants who took part in those wars." I nodded. This was the reason I had given him the task of coming up with strategies Frosthallow might use. With his academic education and every lieutenant treating him as a future knight, he could gather far more information than I could.

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. While Leif went on his way, Eleanor and I also left the camp to start meeting with the merchant houses. By evening, I was completely drained. For me, politics was more exhausting than leading five hundred demoralized recruits. Thankfully, the day had been successful. With Eleanor's help, we were able to recruit more than one hundred and fifty new people, all of whom would join us the next day.

While the heirs of the merchant houses were still kept safe, the houses allowed us to recruit some of their low-ranking members and reduced their house guard forces by two-thirds. With a few more houses left, we were hoping to recruit another hundred the next day. Because I was mentally exhausted, I did not join my squad around the campfire. Instead, Peter and I sat in my central tent with bowls of stew in hand, talking about the progress they had made that day.

During the conversation, I could not help but wonder about Peter's situation with his family.

"Peter, this might be personal, but I was wondering why you joined the army. Honestly, at first, I thought it was because of your low affinity and because your family did not respect you, or something along those lines. But from what I have seen, Eleanor and Edmund respect you as their big brother, and even your parents love you." Peter sighed.

"It was mostly my fault. I was five years old when Edmund was born. From then on, people started saying that House Roscoe had been saved and that it now had a proper heir. My father never corrected them or consoled me, so I started to believe them." He looked down at his bowl.

"From then on, even the smallest thing done in Edmund's favor felt like neglect to me. I understood that he was my younger brother, so I never took it out on him. But once I received the [Tactical Soldier] class during my awakening, I ran away to Stonegate. After spending eight years away and getting an earful from my mother, I understood how wrong I was." I patted his shoulder.

"You never showed any reluctance when we were sent here."

"I was not reluctant. Rather, I was planning to come here as soon as I could." I patted his back, not sure what to say. Then, noise from near my squad caught my attention. While we had been talking, something unexpected had happened around the campfire. Somehow, my squad's usual antics attracted attention. Because of the playful atmosphere created by Rokan, Daren, Brakk, and Oren, a crowd of around fifty people gathered.

The following night, after training, the same thing happened, but on a larger scale because, without even informing me, Barry snuck in a few barrels of ale, turning the gathering around the campfire into a full-blown party, with my squad sharing stories of fighting in the wild. This was something positive. With people bonding and sharing their stories, they would form a support system in times of need.

Instead of everyone fearing their own deaths, there would now be a few people dreaming of roaming the untamed forest and slaying mighty beasts. Maybe, from those dreams, a few voices that dared to speak of defeating the enemy and returning in triumph would rise. On the evening of the third day after I took charge, I made my way to the central district for the command meeting.

The meeting proceeded as usual, starting with Senior Lieutenant Scaevola briefing us on defense upgrades, followed by Senior Lieutenant Caeso reporting on the condition of the injured soldiers and the setup of first-aid stations for the battle. Then Senior Lieutenant Torquatus gave his report on whatever reconnaissance he was able to conduct from within the walls, followed by each lieutenant briefing the room on their own progress.

"Hmm, next is militia recruitment in the commoner district. Sergeant Edward, please give us your report," the Captain said, nodding at me.

"We are making steady progress, with the size of the militia rising to seven hundred and fifty able-bodied men. Morale has also improved, with almost everyone trying to learn. It has only been three days since I took over, but thanks to the previous lieutenant's efforts, most of them can already coordinate and perform simpler drills. I am confident that by the end of the month, we should be able to send them out with the town guards to perform watch duties," I reported.

"Sergeant, I hear you are training the militia in town combat, and they are teaching it to their family members. I understand that this is something like a scorched-earth tactic applied to the population, meant to make capturing the town harder, but do you not think this fire might burn our own hands?" one of the lieutenants asked.

"It should not come to that. After all, we are the ones training them, and House Roscoe is also playing a major role in this effort. With some bonding exercises—" I was interrupted mid-sentence by a sneer from the back.

"Bonding exercises like what? Drinking booze and singing songs like bandits? Your squad might be safe, Sergeant, but the battalion of House Petrae will be seen as slimy nobles." While the first lieutenant's question had been filled with curiosity, this one was filled with mockery and anger. But instead of letting it affect me, I simply nodded.

"Yes. This was something I planned to bring up in the next command meeting, but now that it has already come to this, I will ask." Taking a deep breath, I looked at the Captain and continued, "I was hoping that veterans from the Petrae Battalion and the Roscoe Battalion could join the campfires at night. They could simply listen in or tell some stories. I am sure that would resolve many of the divisions that exist between us and them."

"Do you know what the Petrae Battalion is?" the lieutenant snapped.

"Its members are elites of noble birth or special talent, selected for a specific role. Normal soldiers consider themselves lucky just to get a glimpse—""I will go." The lieutenant's angry rant was cut short by Senior Lieutenant Caeso's words. The entire hall turned to look at him. He simply shrugged.

"What? It sounds fun. I will also take Scaevola. We can regale the newbies with our adventures from our younger days." At Caeso's words, Senior Lieutenant Scaevola rolled his eyes.

"We from the Roscoe Battalion would also like to join," said one of the lieutenants from the Roscoe Battalion.

"Young Master Peter and Young Lady Eleanor have already discussed it with us, and we would like to support them however we can." I looked at the Captain for approval. He simply nodded. Then I turned and addressed the lieutenants present with a small smile.

"These campfires are informal settings, so anyone can come, as long as you are all right with cheap ale."