Second Life as a Soldier

I looked at the Captain, trying to understand what he was getting at. Was it a genuine question, or was he just trying to make this gathering difficult for me?

When I saw genuine curiosity in his eyes, I paused and thought about it.

He was partially right. I had never tried to convert my squad members into what people would traditionally call good people. I allowed them to keep their vices. Not just that, I encouraged some of them.

I knew Varric liked to spar, so just yesterday, I had arranged sparring partners for him. I had made trips into the wild just so Garran and the rest of my squad could take out their anger, and Barry might be the one who got the most leeway from me.

Most of his jokes and pranks were never punished. Heck, after he ignored my instructions during the spy mission in the frontier village, I did nothing and treated it like just another normal day.

But I had a reason for all of this.

“Captain, quite frankly, the current method of leading death squads is highly inefficient, and the results of my approach speak for themselves. In the last year, my squad has performed far better than any other death squad. If we consider only successfully completed missions and the power level of those missions, my squad’s performance is comparable to that of a Vanguard squad.”

“As for why I never tried to correct my squad members, I do not think that is my job. My job is to keep my squad united and make sure we complete our missions properly.”

My statement got raised eyebrows from Captain Roscoe and Edmund, but neither of them said anything, allowing me to continue.

“I know this might sound strange, but I also think this comes from the prejudice we hold. We all know people in the army who bend the rules, and some who outright break them. My squad recently had an experience with a noble sergeant who almost conspired with Frosthallow just to take my position as combat lead. And in the end, all he got was a fine of fifteen or twenty mana crystals and a rank demotion.

“Why did the army not try to make an example of him, the way you want me to make an example of those who do not follow rules? And are you honestly telling me you make it your personal duty to correct every sergeant and lieutenant who works under you?”

I shook my head as I realized I was starting to get off topic because of my emotions.

“I think punishing them and creating divisions in the squad is not the right way to correct them. Instead, showing them what they can gain by following rules is a far better way to change their behavior, and that is what I have been doing since I was assigned to this squad.”

I finished my speech.

I was ready for a rebuke from Peter’s father, but he just nodded, accepting my answer. Or maybe he simply thought this was not the right time to argue.

After a few seconds of silence, the entrance door opened loudly.

“Why is this lowly soldier eating food in my house again?” a pompous voice came with the sound of the door opening.

From the smile on Peter’s face, I knew that comment was not meant for me.

The voice belonged to Peter’s sister, Eleanor, who had a cheeky smile on her face, both hands on her waist, and narrowed eyes looking at Peter with disdain.

“Is this how you talk to a Royal Army soldier? You are a lowly administrator who works in the slums,” Peter replied, matching her tone.

“Eleanor! We have a guest!” Peter’s mother said.

Only then did Eleanor look at me. I had expected her to shy away or at least apologize. At least, that was how I had imagined a noble lady would behave. But instead, she just smiled more brightly and walked toward me to shake my hand.

“Hey, nice to meet you. I knew Peter was a lazy bum who was still a private. But look at you. You are younger than him, and you are already leading him,” she said while side-eyeing Peter.

Just before she could reach me, Peter’s mother stopped her in her tracks.

“Eleanor, where are your manners? At least go wash yourself and change your clothes.”

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Eleanor looked down at her boots, which were completely covered in mud.

“Oops! There was some issue with a well in the lower district,” she said, then took off running inside the manor.

I turned back to see Peter’s mother holding her head in her hand, frustrated by her daughter’s antics.

“I am sorry, Edward. Eleanor has been like that since childhood. No matter how many etiquette lessons I send her to, she never learns,” Peter’s mother said.

“Ma’am, please think nothing of it. As you might already know by now, I am just a commoner. And honestly, seeing siblings argue like normal people makes this place feel less intimidating,” I said with a smile.

After some time, Eleanor also joined us at the lunch table, and suddenly, she took charge of the entire conversation, regaling us with how she had organized well repairs and how foolish the workers had been.

Midway through her storytelling, her eyes stopped on me, and a questioning look appeared on her face.

“Edward, you are a commoner, right? Can you tell me why you joined the army? I have tried to convince a lot of families with teenage children, and even teenage orphans in the slums, but they would rather join a gang than the army.”

“Eleanor, watch what you say. You should not ask so carelessly about someone’s past,” Captain Roscoe said.

“It is alright, Captain. My whole squad knows about my past.” Then I turned to Eleanor. “Lady Eleanor,” I said.

As soon as I called her Lady Eleanor, she wrinkled her nose but did not say anything.

“My father had just died, and I was beaten half to death by some thugs, so I was afraid they would come back again. I also felt extremely helpless at that time, so when I saw the army’s recruitment board, it felt like a godsend opportunity to me.”

Both Eleanor and Lady Roscoe had sad expressions on their faces.

“Umm... sorry. I should not have asked such a question,” Eleanor said.

“Actually, I might know why it is so hard to convince them.”

Suddenly, Eleanor’s expression brightened, and even Captain Roscoe looked at me with interest.

“You see, the problem is the reward given for joining. It feels like the army is giving families an incentive to sell their children. I know a lot of soldiers who joined me in training camp felt that their families had sold them to the army for money. So unless a family is extremely desperate, they would not send their children to the army.

“The army needs to change how it presents the reward. If they call it a family honor grant, or maybe provide it as part of the recruit’s salary during training, it would feel less like the family is being paid to give up their child and more like the recruit is earning for their family. That alone might remove some of the negative feeling around joining the army.”

“The army also needs to advertise how big a difference joining a training camp can make. Maybe they should even do a study on the casualty rate among conscripts and compare it to soldiers who joined at fifteen and went through proper training,” I said, directing that part toward Captain Roscoe.

Eleanor nodded. “I think you might be right, but that is not something I can fix.”

Then she turned to the Captain and said in a tone of authority, “Father, you should fix that.”

After ordering her father as if he were one of her workers, she turned back to me.

“What I was thinking is that people do not have proper information about the army. The role model they have is the Duke of Silverpeak, who became a Tier-7 duke more than a hundred years ago. It is hard for them to imagine something like that being done by normal people like you two.

“But kids in the slums have examples of higher-level thugs who do not hesitate to show off the cool things they can do. If those kids could meet real soldiers like you and Peter, they might become interested in joining the army,” Eleanor said.

Peter and I nodded at her explanation. If kids saw me creating mana shields or Garran lifting a cart, I was sure they would be impressed.

“So you two agree with me,” Eleanor said, a sly smile appearing on her face. “Then why don’t you two join me sometime this month when I visit the lower district? You can give a demonstration or two.”

And just like that, Eleanor had somehow made Peter and me agree to her demand.

In the conversation, time passed quickly. Soon, lunch was over, and even after that, I spent a significant amount of time with the Roscoe siblings.

Eleanor was not just interested in the management of the poorer districts. She had grand plans and even dreamed of becoming city lord one day.

Edmund also got interested in the conversation once he learned that I would be meeting Tellus Petrae. He did not know the man personally, but he did know his nephew, Julius. Both of them were in the Royal Mage Academy, though Edmund was his junior.

And in Edmund’s words, Julius did not have any personality traits associated with a military house other than being a good fighter. From Edmund’s description, Julius felt like a typical noble scion who looked down on others and would not miss any chance to show off the power and fame of his house.

By the time I left Roscoe Manor, the sun was already beginning to set. I even got an offer to stay for dinner from Peter’s mother.

The rest of the week passed with me doing the things I loved. I would leave my quarters only for lunch and dinner, and both times, I would either try a new dish or visit a new tavern. On my way back, I would spend an hour near the river, doing nothing but dipping my toes in the water and watching the clouds above me.

The rest of the time, I researched and read House Cicero’s notes on non-elemental core formation. By the end of seven days, my understanding of the core formation process had reached the next level. I was ninety percent sure I could form a core outside the human body, as long as I had pure mana and a rune setup to bind that core.

One fine evening, while I was walking through the commercial district searching for rune materials, I saw an unexpected pair.

Leif and Lela were walking together. Lela wore green archery clothes and carried a longbow and quiver on her back, while Leif looked taller than before, dressed in a brown private’s uniform. Both of their clothes had House Petrae’s symbol on the back.

Approaching them, I called out.

“Lela, Leif, what are you two doing here?”

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