NOVEL SIMPLE Chapter 1103: Enlistment
Chapter 1103: Enlistment
"Wait... we're almost there?"
Continuing to admire the sights their current mode of transport gave them, Wells' happiness eventually became short-lived as a familiar set of buildings appeared before their vision.
"How long has it been since we left the kingdom?" he asked soon after as he looked at Valyr. "It hasn't been that long, no?"
"It has not." Valyr nodded in agreement, smiling as he imagined the reactions the two would give him from his next words. "I've been keeping track for a while and uh... we've been traveling for six hours straight."
"Six..." Edward's eyes widened in surprise as he looked at Wells.
"Hours?" Unsurprisingly, Wells returned the gaze back, with the two eventually shifting their gazes towards the young man that was bringing them along for the ride.
"Yep," replied Valyr as he briefly brought up his status screen for appearance. "Six hours."
Taking a brief glance at the sky to make sure they were not hallucinating or something, both Edward and Wells eventually let out a long sigh filled with a mix of negative emotions after getting confirmation from their friend.
"You know, you could've told us we would've reached this place in six hours." Letting out yet another sigh to compose his thoughts, Wells looked back at Valyr with a hint of remorse. "We could've stayed in the kingdom for a few days longer."
"Well, you didn't ask," said Valyr in response as he shrugged with a teasing smile. "Even if you didn't ask, you could've told me how far the frontlines were in relation to the kingdom as a heads-up."
"Welp. That's a few extra days of rest down the drain." Though Edward had more or less accepted the current situation, the young teenager could not help but let out a regretful sigh, imagining himself and the two still back at the inn.
Seeing how the two reacted to the speed at which they were heading to the frontlines, Valyr inwardly began to feel a bit guilty at some point, eventually asking them if they wanted to cover the remaining distance on foot to extend their "vacation" in a way.
In response, the two shook their heads, telling them that there wasn't really much difference if they were to travel the remainder on foot or not.
"Sure, if we decided to trek the remainder on foot, we would've arrived far later, possibly a day later if we took a few detours," said Wells to Valyr. "However, we would've arrived at the frontlines tired and exhausted."
"On the other hand, we may have arrived at the frontlines early because of your movement skill. Though, at the very least, we're all in our best condition to fight if the need comes up for it."
With Edward nodding in agreement at Wells' words after that, Valyr eventually decided not to pursue the matter any further, deciding to make use of the remaining time they had to have the two give him a brief rundown of what to expect at the frontlines.
...
"Whew... I'm tired. How are you holding up?"
"Could be worse, but at least I'm not dead yet. I'm guessing this is our last mission for the month?"
"Yep. With this now done, we're allowed to request a week leave from the frontlines." "Haah... those military guys are definitely squeezing every ounce of energy we have. Is it because we've decided to enlist ourselves as mercenaries instead of... wait. What's that?" "What's what?"
"Up there."
As a conversation between two exhausted men arose within the military base, the two stopped what they were doing as they noticed something dark blue flying up above them. Naturally, as they took note of the flying object, many others within the base took notice of it as well, with almost all of them curious as to what it was.
Seeing as the dark blue object was heading for the base's entrance, many of them decided to head there, only for the dark blue object in the sky to disappear not long after.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Just as a great portion of the people within the base arrived at the entrance to see what the commotion was all about, a trio of people fell from the sky and landed near the base, sending out a gust of wind at the last minute to cushion their fall.
"Is this how you usually stop your movement skill?" Feeling a hint of pain from having fallen from such a height, it took a while for Wells to muster up the words he wanted to say.
"Yeah." Valyr looked back at the two with a slight grin as he nodded. "Well, I could always have the skill head to the ground first and stop the skill there... but that's a place where I could save some energy, no?"
Unsurprisingly, the two began to look at the young man in slight anger after that, causing the latter to let out a chuckle as he took a look at the sight before them in greater detail.
Though the vantage point the movement skill gave him made him think that the military base near the frontlines was considerably small at first, Valyr knew that reality would prove him otherwise the moment they got to the ground.
After all, with what the two told him earlier, the three of them had ended up at one of the largest defensive lines humanity has created in the war against the orcs.
Specifically, the defensive line that took most of the brunt of the orcs' offensive.
Pushing his perception to the limit, Valyr more or less surmised that the area occupied by the military base lied somewhere between the area Danyhris Town and Clossbay City occupied.
'Then again, from what I could see, there are tens of thousands of people here at the moment,' said Valyr to himself inwardly, noting the large number of people that had arrived at the entrance to see them.
Wryly smiling at the thought of their flashy entrance, Valyr looked at both Edward and Wells, who immediately nodded back at him as they understood what he wanted to do next.
However, before the three could even enter the military base...
"Halt."
All of a sudden, one of the people near the entrance made their way near the three, donning a military uniform that looked similar to what Edward and Wells currently wore.
Though, unlike their military uniforms, the man had a few badges of honor affixed to his chest, which surprisingly complemented both his head of neatly cut black hair, as well as his
pair of jet-black eyes.
Recognizing the man that appeared before them, both Edward and Wells immediately stood ramrod straight as they gave the man a military salute. "Captain Rahlberd!"
Hearing his name be mentioned, the man raised his eyebrow in curiosity before recognizing the two that greeted him soon after.
"Ah, Edward. Wells. Glad to see you two back so soon," said the man with a bit of laughter. "I suppose the two weeks of rest I've given you two was actually more than enough time for you two to come back early?"
At those words, Edward and Wells looked at each other for a bit before returning a pair of bitter smiles back at the man.
Surprisingly, the man took no offense at their response, letting out a bit of laughter as he told the two to head to the military base first. "If you don't mind, I have something to discuss with
your friend for a bit."
Hearing that, Edward and Wells looked at each other once more, to which Valyr looked at
them and gave them a nod.
"Don't worry about me," said the young man to the two with a faint yet reassuring smile.
"Listen to the captain."
Though the two were still hesitant to leave Valyr on his own, the two eventually decided to listen to the man's words, prompting the two to head to the military base first as they also decided to disperse the audience that came because of their entrance earlier.
Seeing Edward and Wells swiftly move the audience that was forming away from the
entrance, the man looked at the two with a smile as he slightly shook his head. "Those two, really..." The man let out a content sigh before looking back at Valyr with a kind smile. "They really trust you that much to wait for your input first, huh?"
At those words, Valyr could only wryly smile as he waited for the man to get to the point.
"Don't worry." Taking note of how tense the young man was at the moment, the man let out a chuckle as he gave Valyr a few reassuring words. "I was given a heads-up by Sir Julian that the three of you would come here at some point."
"Though, I definitely wasn't expecting it to be this early."
Hearing the name Julian come out of the man's mouth, Valyr immediately understood what was going on, causing him to inwardly let out a wide sigh of relief as his body began to loosen
up.
Noticing how the young man's body relaxed after his words, the man could not help but shake his head as he chuckled yet again. "Well, before we get down to business, let me introduce
myself first."
"I'm commonly known here as Major Rahlberd, though with how Sir Julian personally vouched for your abilities, feel free to call me Eivann."
"It'll be a while before I get used to it," replied Valyr with a wry smile. "Can I call you Major
Rahlberd for now?"
"I don't mind." Eivann nodded as he smiled. "This is the first time we've met each other, after
all."
"In any case, there's no need for you to introduce yourself. Sir Julian already gave me a heads- up on who you are," continued the man.
"Then again, even if he didn't, the contributions you've already made while not being in the frontlines are more than enough for the higher-ups to take note of who you are."
"Now that you're in the frontlines..." Eivann looked at Valyr with a hint of expectation. "Who
knows what kind of things you'll do?"
"Ah, crap. I've gone on a tangent." Realizing that he was going off-topic, the man caught himself at the very last minute as he swiftly steered the conversation back to where it was supposed to be. "Now then... what was I going to say again? Ah, yes."
"Now that we've gotten to know a bit more about each other, it's now time to ask you quite
the important question." "Would you like to enlist as a mercenary or as a military officer?"