Soldiers

We walked with Elijah outside the mansion and watched the soldiers run with everything they had.

Speeds of about 40 mph for the unranked and 55 for the purple.

They were doing well for what I expected.

"Sir, I understand you have some pretty hard training planned for the recruits, don't you think you shouldn't mistreat the soldiers?" asked Elijah.

He is a warrior at heart. Honor and respect for combat and warriors is born deep within him.

But I have no such respect. Elijah is a good man, but most people are not. Myself included.

So soldiers must be disciplined to extinguish not their evil, but their lust for power.

Lust for power leads to quick betrayal. There is no point in keeping such men around.

"You should calm down, old man. I'm not going to rough them up any more, some of them will probably die, but that's the burden of their choices. I warned them, didn't I?"

"Sir, I am your protector and I have no intention of interfering with your plans, but don't expect me to help you beat up soldiers. If there is a whip to be raised, do it yourself." He said, leaving no room for retreat.

"I understand. I will never force you to do anything, so don't worry."

After that we continued to watch the soldiers as time passed.

After 2 hours, one of the soldiers fainted and fell to the ground.

From the looks of it, they're not putting up much of a fight. I doubt they have done much training in their lives.

The Drysicc were born in arid lands, with few resources and almost no water. Their bodies are adapted to maintain endurance even in extreme situations.

This is weak. Very weak.

I got up and jumped straight to the runway.

I arrived almost immediately and stood next to the half-awake soldier.

I woke him up with my foot and made him stand up.

"Soldier, I believe my orders were clear. If you stop, you will be punished," I said in my emotionless voice.

"Easy, soldier. It will be a light punishment, while I do not want my men to be weak, I have not yet trained them properly. So it will not be a harsh punishment," I changed my tone to a more friendly one.

The soldier visibly relaxed, he stood in a rather casual posture.

"Soldier, walk to the middle of the track, look straight ahead and extend your arms," I ordered.

The soldier walked calmly as if nothing had happened.

He stood in position with his arms outstretched and palms out.

He took the weight he was carrying and divided it into 2 halves, placing 1 in each hand.

"Good, you'll stay in this position for 4 hours, if you lower your arms you'll get 5 lashes. If you pass out, I will expel you from the army," my voice returned to its natural coldness.

The soldier looked at me again with fear. As if I were a monster.

Don't look at me like that, you decided to sell yourself for 5 more silver coins. Even though it's a 50% increase, you're already thinking about whether it's worth it.

If you survive, it will be worth it.

"The rest of you keep running, someone will slow down again and you will accompany our friend here.

After speaking, I returned to my position next to Elijah.

"Sir, I don't think he'll be able to withstand the weight. He will fall first," he said a little worried.

"That was the plan. I didn't want to punish him like this, but the man dares to show himself weak in front of his commander. Not that I care personally, but I do care about the image the soldiers have of me. If I allow such attitudes, they will never be able to obey. They will become the typical men who raid a village to rape the women. I'm not interested in having that kind of trash in my troop.

Elijah looked at me calmly. He too has experience as a leader, but he is very soft. He needs to be a little more ruthless.

But he's always treated me well, so I'm not going to force a trauma on him to change his personality.

I'll settle for him to accompany me into battle.

"I understand, sir. Then I agree, there's no need for such a man."

We continue to talk about a few things. Nothing important and then the silence returned.

Six more soldiers fell, and one of them was a Violet Core. It's pathetic that a Violet Core would fall for such a thing. Of course, the resistance will not be infinite, but they can use essence to make up for the lack.

In battle, you get tired a lot faster because you have to do a lot of things besides running. Controlling your vision, attacking, defending, moving, casting spells, strengthening your body. All in quick succession.

This is simply running with magic to compensate.

This man will leave the army no matter what he does.

Anyway, I put everyone in the same situation. Standing and shaking under the weight

The first soldier I put in was disgustingly sweaty, red in the face, and breathing heavily.

"Commander, I surrender. I will no longer be in your army," he shouted, throwing the weights to the side.

I jumped up and stood in front of him.

"All right," I said and punched him in the leg, causing him to fall.

I lifted him by the arm and motioned to two violet pips.

"Hold him while I get the whip," I said handing them to him.

As I walked away to get the weapon, the soldier went into a state of hysteria and panic.

"YOU BRAT SON OF A BITCH, YOU SAID YOU WERE ONLY GOING TO EXPEL ME, WHAT KIND OF FUCKING ARMY MISTREATS ITS MEN WHEN THEY DESERT? YOU'RE JUST A SADISTIC BRAT, LET ME GO."

His face is red with anger, but his eyes are full of fear.

He is a cornered animal, he does this because he believes he has no other choice.

"I never said there was no punishment for abandonment. Of course there is punishment for disobeying and abandoning a noble. It is the rule of the Empire. Desertion is something serious."

Talking stupid nonsense, I approached the man.

The two soldiers held him and tied him to a post with his back to me.

I raised the whip and hit him. Not too hard, because I could kill him with a wave of my hand.

The sound of the whip exploding and blood splashing appeared, as well as a huge gash in the soldier's back.

I struck again and again as the man's screams went from hate speech to just screaming.

Screams of horror

And from screams they slowly became silent. With little reaction to each blow.

With the last blow, I turn and walk away.

The man's back is indistinguishable from a back.

Chunks of flesh are missing and you can see his spine.

Chunks of flesh lie on the ground around the man.

I'm sorry, my friend. You have just become an example of your outbursts.

I didn't lie about defecting. Soldiers are required to perform duties for 2 weeks after resigning. Leaving in the middle of something is desertion.

Anyway, I sit back down next to Elijah while all the soldiers keep running. Now afraid of punishment

Elijah's POV:

My master has become cruel and heartless.

The only ones he treats with decency are me, Ingrid, Seth and Layla.

The rest are just tools in his eyes.

I don't understand why he's like this, but I do understand that he has a mission, and from the deductions the Count made, he doesn't have much time to complete it.

So I can understand your actions with this man.

His idea is probably to give more punishment for leaving than for staying, as long as fear is instilled in the hearts of his subordinates. After a while, as the soldiers improve their cores or increase their monetary gain, that buried fear will slowly turn into admiration.

It will change because their greed makes them want to continue serving their master for the rewards, and the fear is an obstacle to that path.

But that fear will never go away completely, making them disciplined and capable.

But I still feel that this is a bit of an exaggeration.

When did he become so cruel?

When I first saw him with the priest, I thought it was my job to heal his emotional wounds. But now I realize that's not possible.

My job is to protect him, and my sword will do that. My sword will kill his enemies.

His heart will take care of his own healing. If he can

But no matter what the Lord decides, I will remain his sword.

For the Lord is my heir and my legacy.

And I must protect him until the day he accepts my gifts.