Chương 78: Old Friends

That evening, I'd been hoping to fall asleep early. After all, being winter, the sun set sooner, and we needed to get moving as early as we could. So the sooner we all slept, the better. But, after dropping the horses off at the makeshift stable, someone called out behind me, "Levi? Is it really you?" I turned around.

"Romance? Elf?"

"We heard you were back!" Romance exclaimed.

"And that you're leading a mission. We're gonna serve under you again."

"Kinda like an honourary lieutenant," Elf said.

"My slate hasn't shown a promotion yet," I replied.

"Yeah, lad, that's what honorary means," Romance said.

"And technically, you never really served under me." Romance grinned.

"Technically, you were our sergeant for two days. Now come with us to the fire. Hild's made soup for all of us."

"Does everyone know I'm back?"

"By the end of the evening, I'm sure most will know," Elf said. Neither of them wore their armour, but they all carried standard daggers at their hips now. It was probably just a precaution in case the camp got caught unaware.

"Who are these two?" Sage whispered.

"Some old squadmates of mine," I said.

"I think some introductions are in order." ~ ~ ~ We gathered around the fire and Hild's cooking pot. Dupes waited in line to gather up their bowls of soup, and as we waited, I introduced them to the sappers and gave them a quick review of what we'd been up to after I left the 294th.

"... and then, through the winter, we've mostly been training and helping out with minor missions around the castle," I finished.

"Do you have a plan for your next skill merge?" Elf asked.

"I didn't realize... you could actually plan it perfectly like that."

"It's not all random," I said.

"You don't just have to luck into an Art if you know what you're doing."

"Do you think…maybe you could teach us?" Romance asked. I glanced at my squadmates. Anchor rolled his eyes, and Sage was busy talking with Hild about something. I said, "Well, I suppose so. But after we deal with this orc convoy. And we'll have to figure out what abilities you want to get."

"Could you find a way to guarantee gravity Arts?" Elf asked. I winced.

"Shave was the best with magic and he didn't seem to know…"

"Brother, you have spent more time in Castle Urcia's library than Shave ever did," Brawl said.

"We can find a way. Plus, Sage may be able to help."

"Maybe. When we get back, we can try to figure it out," I said.

"Or on the way. I mean, we should have plenty of time. It's about three days 'til we reach the boglands, then however long it'll be after that to find the convoy."

"Something's been bothering me," Anchor said.

"If they're here to prepare for a siege, and to accumulate equipment, how much do you want to bet that they've slipped more through our borders without us knowing? They could've crossed the Thelea farther south, where we really don't have any more scouts…" I nodded.

"It's possible. Lord Ceonwin suggested something similar."

"We don't have enough squads to take out an entire orc army," Romance said.

"Complete the objective, live to fight another day."

"I'll think of something," I said, then put my hand on Romance's shoulder.

"But you're dealing with sappers now."

"You're all crazy?" Elf guessed.

"Only this one," Brawl said, motioning toward me. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

"You call everyone brother or sister, sit down," I joked.

"I am sitting, brother."

"It's just a—ah, you know what, forget about it." Before anyone could say anything else, Hild's apprentice, Fleda, carried a bowl over to me. She handed it over and said, "For you, Levi."

"I—I could wait in line," I said.

"I was almost done here. I shouldn't get special treatment, and—""The line is gone, Levi," Fleda said with a smile.

"They said you have high Focus, but you did not see?" I chuckled, then looked over at the cooking pot.

"For that, I'd actually have to be looking at the target. But thank you."

"I didn't want you to be eating cold soup the night before you leave," she said. I took the bowl with a bow of my head.

"Thanks." Nodding, she rushed back to Hild and Sage.

"If we do all get a gravity-based Art, you're going to need to start a school," Romance joked.

"Levi's Academy For Gravity Arts." I took a spoonful of soup.

"More like a special battalion of gravity-wielding Dupes," I said.

"I'm sure other Path-walkers have schools of their own, and we don't need to step on anyone's toes. Besides, it probably wouldn't work for anything except a Dupe." I'd heard of other Orders of non-Dupe Path-walkers (who couldn't access the System) in the time since I'd been here, but I'd never actually seen any of them. Apparently, though, there was a school for Path-walkers in the boglands—part of a network, actually. The Order of the Greencloaks.

But, according to Lord Ceonwin, they were also somewhat temperamental. It was for the best if we stayed away from them.

"A special battalion?" Elf asked.

"What, you'd be a commander?"

"I haven't had time to plan any of it out," I said.

"You guys just sprang this on me tonight. I'll think of something, though. Once I do become a full-fledged sapper, we'll see what I can do. For now…"

"You'd be better off starting a House," Anchor said.

"Of course, to do that, you'd need to be a thegn. And good luck to you on that account." My lips curled up slightly, remembering what Lord Ceonwin had promised.

"Perhaps. Like I said, I have to think about it." But they were right. If I wanted real power, the ability to make a difference, I'd need followers of my own. I couldn't just lead a squad under the Drillmaster or Lord Ceonwin, or wherever I got placed. Eventually, I was going to have to strike out on my own.

"If you were gonna make a House," Romance said to Anchor, "you'd also need to own land. It wouldn't be easy."

"I didn't say it would be easier," Anchor countered.

"I said he would be better off doing that. He could become a commander of a battalion, sure. That's the highest proper rank for a Dupe. But he'd still be subservient to a thegn."

"Is there any law stopping a Dupe from climbing higher?" I asked.

"I mean, after our service period is up, we would just become regular freemen, normal citizens again, right?"

"Indeed," Anchor said.

"We'd work a thegn's land for him, have a nice house, and retire in the countryside with a nice family. Or we could buy our own patch of folkland, though it wouldn't be enough to make us a thegn ourselves. Gate is far less strict about who can own land than the other western kingdoms." I snorted.

"With all the Dupes retiring, aren't we going to cause problems for the gene pool?"

"What?" Elf asked.

"Ah, uh, nevermind." I winced.

"I guess there's plenty of land we can spread out through. And how many of us actually make it to retirement?"

"Less nowadays, I'd say," Romance said.

"There's no easy front, anymore. If you went north, chances are you'd get chewed up and spat out within a few months. But south, there was a better chance of making it. They assigned us to the different fronts based on our combat proficiency—the better soldiers went north. Either they'd advance and survive or they wouldn't, but they were the ones that were more willing."

"Well," I said, "we're all in the same boat now. We know what we have to do to survive, and the 294th has done a good job at it so far. We're going to keep doing a good job at it. Now, we'd better rest up and be ready for tomorrow morning. I don't suppose I have my old bed, still?"

"No, sergeant," Elf replied.

"We did get a few replacements that we were promised from the other shattered battalions, the survivors of the Autumn Attack. Our squad is back up to six men."

"Then, tomorrow morning, I'd like to meet them," I said.

"Well, I suppose I should meet all the squads we're taking… but you know what I mean." ~ ~ ~ Anchor, Brawl and I slept on the floor of my old tent. There wasn't much room, and at one point in the night, one of the replacements stepped on me. I didn't feel it as much as I was expecting, given my increased Vitality, but it was still enough to wake me up for a few minutes. Lucky Sage, though—she got to sleep with Hild and Fleda in their tent, which was far less crowded.

We woke up early in the morning, before the sun had even risen, and we gathered just in front of the camp's wall, just beside the new smithy. While I waited for everyone to gather their kit bags (they had five minutes), I leaned on the counter, glancing over at Maurifus. He had himself an apprentice now, and he insisted on examining my new armour.

"This is excellent work," he said, holding one of my greaves. I had taken it off to make it easier to examine.

"It's from the blacksmiths at Castle Urcia," I said.

"They've done wonders here. And you say it's not enchanted?" I shook my head.

"Just a basic greave."

"Make sure to get as much loot as you can from your mission, then," Maurifus said.

"If this is what they can do with basic gear, you'll want to see what they can do with enhanced gear."

"Of course," I said. Then, I dropped my voice to a whisper and added, "You know, we'll hopefully have the upper level of Castle Urcia's Labyrinth cleared by the time summer arrives. Then we'll be able to get some even better equipment and ingredients from the lower city."

"You'd better come back and show me," Maurifus said.

"Of course. Now, I think most of us are here. I'd better get them moving."