XXIII Auferstehen - 2

MAP OF UNCHEAN NORMAL

REPORT OF UNCHEAN [AUFERSTEHEN -1] 

Each bold-italic above has a comment containing the maps it says.

- Author

( * )

It was the sixth day of the month of Auferstehen, Hierd had taken the last three days with an iron fist. Training, a little bit of rest, then more training. Taking all that can be done to perfect as much as possible in a short time. To shoot a gun should be common knowledge, to control it, should a knowledge understood in litte time. And the recruits, were now turned into proper soldiers. 

The older Ridge-Brown soldiers were then transfered into the Venit-ille Black units and took their time training with the Kar98k. 

"It shall turn into a week." Hierd was inside the Unchean's Research Facility, it was located deep underground the manor, and the stench was as horrible as could possbly be. "Do you think there shall be another wave by tommorow?" He looked at Jamie, who was busying herself with her gathered samples. 

"We can never know, my lord." She replied. "But I feel it shall tommorow."

He inched himself closer to her. "What did you find with your vials of blood and flesh?"

"No anomaly supports my thoughts." She said, rather disapointed did she sound. "The creature, who attacked us, my lord. Has but one pillar that supports that thought of mine."

"Which is?"

She made her way to a large glass jar. Of which inside of it was a large, dead heart floating in green viscous liquid. Hierd could think of a hundred different smells that can be smelt if one were to open it.

"This, my lord." She flicked the glass jar. Regretting it after a sharp pain ached her two fingers.

"It's heart." 

"Y-yes, my lord." She regained herself. "The heart contains more magic than all of the other samples I got from the monsters it commanded. We used to think that these thing's hearts change in amount of people in one spot, but I am starting to doubt my speculations."

"Why so?" Hierd pushed on.

"It's magic was five-times the amount of it's subordinates, my lord." Her face indicated to Hierd that what was told was indeed bad news. "This discovery changes the insights we've had about these creatures. I should post this discovery to the academy-"

"Do not." Hierd stated. "You can do it after we have the lands of the academy in our lands."

Jamie smiled. Then went back to her work. Her mind fading into the madness that was her vials of thick, dark blood. 

"I shall go now." Hierd said, unlocking the chamber's door and exiting. Jamie made no movement nor did she speak. 

( * )

Hierd had went outside the manor, after a brief change of clothing and washing, as his body had kept the smell of the lab. His squad soldiers came running towards him. Like before.

"Good Afternoon." Hierd said.

"Good Afternoon, lord." They said in unison. 

The roads were being swept clean of snow, as the snow could cause problems to the trucks when driving, as it indeed made the road pretty slippy. There were now about ten people, excluding Hierd, that could drive trucks, in response, Hierd had asked for five more trucks. And the roads were busy with them in transit. 

The population of civilians were shook when they had first arrived. It was no occurence that they ever withstood. The veterans shared their concerns with the army's handling and wished to volunteer as a soldier. Hierd turned them all down, saying that they should instead be spending time with their loved ones. And; "What use are old guys in a battlefield where guns are prevalent? I'd just be hastening their fucking ear-loss." 

Speaking of ears, the citizens voiced their opnions on the gun's and their thunderous shaking of the ground. It had scared the children, scared everyone. The lieutenants have entertained their questions and persisted that their guns are needed. And without? They'd be dead. They had voiced no more of such opinions again after that day. 

"All is well, all goes well." Adelheid sat on the library chair, flicking pages of a Z1 Leberecht Maas destroyer ship manual. It was as much pages as does the whole collection of Dante's Divine Comedy. He kept on, reviewing and writing notes of the whole process. The scientific and fundamental mechanics. He would've just slept off the evening if not for this book. It was quite, to him, awe-inspiring. 

He looked out of the window, even though it was afternoon, the sky looked gloom. Grey. 

( * )

His soldiers opened the door of the military's barracks. Immidiately, when they saw Hierd enter, they leapt up and bowed. "Good Afternoon, lord!" They yelled in unison.

It was quite the crowded place, but the soldiers made do with what they had. Heduc appeared out of nowhere. "Lord?" He went closer to him. "What are you doing here?"

"Gather all of Lieutenants, and the majors as well, I wish to speak with them." 

"I will, lord. In the office?"

"No, no, here." 

Heduc went his way outside. Whilst Hierd and his soldiers calmly walked past the mass of soldiers and into a room. "This is the war room of the barracks, my lord." 

"Looks like that." He stared at the map sprawled on the table, it was a map of the whole kingdom, and it was quite the startling discovery realising that the capital was a far more kilometers north that he thought. He sat down upon one of the many wooden chairs. His soldiers merely stood. 

( * )

It took a couple of minutes before everyone could come. The lieutenants and the majors sat their seats, and they awaited anxiously of what Hierd wanted to say. "I would like to hear from the second-lieutenants, of their protecting of the southern and northern gates." He planted his gaze onto Verdel.

He jolted up. "L-lord." He took a little bow. "I was stationed at the northern gate. And...

---

"The fighting's happening at the western gate." Said one of my squad soldiers. 

"We are to stay here." I sighed. "We have to follow the lord's orders."

"Yes sir.." He looked troubled by the fact.

I had doubt in my mind; being in charge of the northern gate all by myself? W-without the guidance of Gelmund, Heduc, or Jeane. Being in charge of fifty soldiers, whoms't some lots I had never even taken glance of. I mainly stood at the wall's edge. Just observing the treeline. 

---

"Can you get right on the part where you had spotted the monsters?" Hierd said with a smile on his face.

"Y-yes, o-of course, my lord."

---

*RAHHH

When we heard the first roar, it had certainly scared us to death. But around that time was when we saw the monsters leap out from the trees. 

"Fire the Vickers!" I shouted to the soldiers.

---

"T-that was also around the same time the monsters appeared on my side." Gelmund added.

"The roars are commands." Naturvege said. "The creatures are intellegent, but never before like this."

"Intellegence." Hierd thought in his mind. "Games are fun when there's intellect involved, but games get harder when there's intellegent players. I'm basically Germany fighting the african tribes. But just that those african tribes have bulked up muscles and large bodies."

"They weren't intellegent before?" Hierd inquired.

"They had the same awareness as does their normal counterpart, one could suppose." Said Friedrick. "But they moved slow, they attacked like brutes yet never swiftly did they charge at something, and never so in those groups. And too never so without a leader."

"I had visited Jamie, the research labratory's head, just today, she had told me that the heart differed from the rest of the hearts that same day." He placed his hands on the table. "The magic was; 'five times the amount than it's subordinates.'"

"The total amount of Venit-ille and Ridge village's inhabitants would not have contributed much if were it that the magic gets larger by amount of population." Said Jeane. 

"Either Jamie's speculation was wrong, or that she was right and there was more people. Either way, the amount of monsters and the fact that they intellegence, makes the whole thing worse. We have, before, devised a simple plan. And I do not think there is a need to try and revert or change it. More guns, more action." He looked at Gelmund, then swiftly to Verdel. "You two, how many monsters persay did you have to deter?"

Verdel said first; "We had hundreds of horses come, yet none were able to penetrate the gun fire, lord."

"I say the same, my lord." Gelmund said.

"As there are more soldiers using the Kar98k (ninety exactly), I wish for there to be thirty soldiers at the two gates, whilst there being one-hundred soldiers at the western gate. There shall be ten Vicker machine guns placed there instead of five, and the amount of mines will be quadrupled." -He gazed at Major Naturvege- "please tell the Artillery platoon that."

"Yes, lord."

"The soldiers have been given ample food, water?" 

"As the logistics say, my lord." Friedrick said.

"That's good." A sigh of exhaustion. "I want the soldiers to begin patrolling, that shall be their only activity today, and no training. They've done enough in the past days."

"Yes, lord." Naturvege said. 

Then, looking at Naturvege. "The to-be naval captain, Jack Huntsman, was it? I'd like to know what he has been doing."

"The naval captain has exceeded training expectations, my lord." 

"He is fit enough? And can use the sabre and luger?"

"With amazing accuracy, my lord." He smiled recalling the days of training he had with the captain. Recollecting that Jack had used such a thick seaman's accent that understanding him was much to be left to historians to theorize of what he really meant.

"Great," Hierd smiled. "I... Can schedule him for a naval exam some time by next week." Hierd stood up.

"There is nothing else to talk about is there?"

The room stoop up with him. "No, lord."

"Then this meeting is ov-" 

An earthquake!

The wooden chairs and the table began to wiggle, vibrating. And dust began to drop down from the ceiling. 

Hierd stood clung to the floor. His squad soldiers hurried to him, using themselves as acting body cover. If any debris were to fall, but only dust fell. In a few more moments, the quake had stopped.

"Everyone, everyone! out!" Hierd shouted. 

Naturvege, upon hearing him, bolted to the door, using his shoulder, he knocked it down with his pure strength. Wasting not a single second. 

The soldiers were grabbing their guns and sabres just at the other side and have just been evacuating out the building. 

The barracks had not rubbled that much, but dust certainly had dropped down and irritated eyes. Hierd painstakingly exited the building, he looked up. "The clouds are darker, much more than usual, could it be?!"

From the west, a hail of gunfire could be heard. 

The barrage, the monsters! They've come! Hierd realized it, he was irritated.

"Everyone!" He shouted to the soldiers, I want you all to your stations now!" He yelled at the top of his lungs.

"There should be fifty already at the west gate..." He thought hurriedly. "I need fourty soldiers to come with me!" His words stopped dead the soldiers. And immidiately and without hesitation, some lots of soldier came with, one couldn't count how many, but it was many for certain.

They ran, from the barracks, the roads, to the road leading up to the western gate. Looking up, Hierd saw a sillhouete, menacing and mighty. He made nervous jolts.

The soldiers and trucks had ran frantically to their stations. Hierd had even needed to stop and let for a truck to pass by. The lieutenants rode their trucks and went fast forward with troops in the back towards their gates. And Jeane, Heduc followed with the lord's footsteps, having the same nervous feeling encapsulate them also.

"They strike at the worst of times!" Jeane said, jokingly.

"And this time, an earthquake!" Hierd yelled. 

The ground felt to have been cracking, as a thousand thuds of many a horse's hoove had hit the ground with it's thundering weight, and the mortar's explosive firing had helped the ground shake. 

The gun fire was erratic, and once they crossed the west gate's begone gateway, he saw the soldiers shooting their FG42 with much intensity. Throwing grenades, igniting their mortars with rage, and that sillhouete. The monster. It was different, it was taller. And it was menacing. 

"A giant wolf?" It was standing on it's hind legs and Hierd looked completely awestruck. "I want that shit bombarded!"

There was a mass of horses charging towards the walls, the amount of drivel coming out of their mouths had frothed a shake of disgustingness. Before they could even reach the minefield, they were laid with gunfire from multiple guns, evicerating the big pieces of muscle.

"Lord?!" Naturvege yelled as the gunfire obscured their voices. "You want the thing to be bombed!?"

"Y-yes!" He made a nodding gesture if Naturvege couldnt have heard that. He went quietly into one of the empty tents and inside. "I want an MG42 with large bagful of ammo." 

[REQUEST GRANTED: MG42 WITH LARGE AMMO PILE]

Sprawled on the unmade bedding of whatever soldier, he picked the beauty up and walked outside, he began to shoulder-fire it into the wolf's chest.

The creature, drooling viscous spit from it's rabid mouth, had roared a cry of distress. It went down from it's standing position and sat on its legs. Hierd kept shooting at it's head, aiming at it's snout, eyes, and, mouth. The thing wept a cry of pain. The agressiveness of the horde of horses had begun to move faster.

The empty winter farmland surrounding the walls were full of soldiers firing their guns, FG42s, Kar98ks, you name it. And the amount of grenades being tossed were a hell another, as the sky had looked to have been covered by the green color of the grenades hitting the monsters. The little houses and roads set up were not safe from the carnage of gunfire. 

 Heduc and Jeane looked at Hierd and his new gun with awe, it was like a vickers machine gun, however, he just held it and fired without care. 

"I feel like fucking terroriser!" He laughed. 

Looking at the wolf, it seemed to be backing up, too far. Almost as if; "It's going to charge! Everyone! Fire at the wolf! Or else it's going to charge!" 

It prepared it's legs. The combined gunfire of two Vicker machine guns and Hierd's machine gun, they shot at it's legs. It cried yet tried to endure the hail of bullets. Cutting, impaling, burning. The bullets had made the creature weak and much in pain.

It leapt! Several meters off the ground, making a crater where it jumped. 

The soldiers stared and shooted at it with all they could muster. 

*BAM!

It's rear feat landed on the mine field! 

The multiple mines that were meters way off the farmland;

detonated under it's feet.

It bellowed a cry of pain! It's rear legs, exploded off and it's paws gone.

"Grenades!" Hierd yelled. "Throw grenades at the wolf!" 

The soldiers much obliged, hurriedly, they got off a grenade. Throwing it at the pained wolf. 

In a matter of five seconds, the grenades exploded round' it's face. Blowing it's eyes and mouth off. A pool of viscous black blood began to flood it's feet. 

It roared once more in agony, but behind, the herd of horses began to climb it's tail and up it's body.

Hierd saw it too late. 

A hundred horses jumped with hellish neighs from it's destroyed head down to the cleared field of snow. 

"Fire at the incoming horde of horses!" Yelled Naturvege, shooting his FG42, flaling it left to right to make sure he hit all the targets.

Their glowing eyes were menacing up close. The quickly depleting amount of mines worried Hierd. The mortars were set up far enough from the right action that they couldn't hit the damned beast. Hierd strode fast to Naturvege emptying his twenty rounds. Upon noticing, Naturvege stopped shooting and rotated to face his way. 

"Lord?" 

"Shoot this instead." Hierd very hastily threw it onto his arms. He letting go of his FG42. 

"A-ah, thank you lord?" Naturvege looked at the gun he was given. It was clearly way too large.

Hierd swiftly turned away and ran to the men shooting with mortars. "You, three!" He yelled, his eyes focused on the second group of men. "All to the front! Place your mortars at the gate!" 

He repeated this for each passing group of men, after hearing his order; each had packed their bombs and began swiftly moving their mortars and armaments towards the gate's front. 

Seeing no more soldiers, Hierd then veered backwards. Of the many cries and roars that came from that herd of horses. The bombs that ascended and went quickly down, a blast, a ghastly explosion erupted, blowing off their heads, feet, body; they weren't even synonymous anymore with the word; horse. More of; burnt rubbish.

The wolf, agitated. Began to growl and eyes redden. Even without it's rear legs, without it's left eye, with only a blurred right one, it began to crawl on the frozen ground in agonizing pain, as it began to squeal and cry for every step it took. 

The fusilade of gun fire, detering it's every agonizing step. And as it reached the range of the mortar fire, the explosions detonating at it's feet, body, and head, had burnt off any remaining vision or scent. 

It fell. 

Yet the barrage of horses did not stop. 

"Keep on shooting, soldiers!" Hierd encouraged, yelling. 

The wheels of a truck turned to a halt. The driver's door opened, Hierd's soldier. He ran to Hierd. "Lord!" -Hierd turned to him, suprised- "The southern gate needs reincforcements!"

"Reinforcements!?" Hierd exclaimed. His heart dropped, and his mind was in utter confusion. 

"Sir Naturvege has sent all auxillary forces to the south, but there is still a need of forces. Lord, sir Gelmund has worried of the collapsing of the ga-"

The ground began to erupt!

Yet no mine, nor mortar could cause this.

A soldier flaling his arms and shouting to Hierd, caught his attention. Finally being seen, in a moment of exasperation; "L-lord! The southern gate! The southern gate has fallen!"

( * )

On the road and continuing the fire, with only one Vicker's machine gun left, and a full horde of blood thirsty horses crawling from the rubble and into the city. Gelmund, with fifty soldiers, threw grenades towards that rubbled-collapsed gate without any moment of hesitation, not afraid of it bouncing off and hittin nearby houses, of which it did. 

"Have the citizens nearby been evacuated towards the pier!?" Gelmund shouted to his squad soldier as the gunfire made his voice almost audibly silent. 

"N-no, sir!" He yelled also. "There are still some we've yet to evacuate."

"Well" -he switched his gaze towards the rubble and began shooting- "continue to evacuate them out!" 

"Yes sir!" The soldier ran.

The smoke that filled the air, from the dust of the rubble to the benovolent bombing with the mortars and grenades. Made everyone's eyes irritate and they all coughed and struggled to breathe. "I've called for reinforcements awhile ago! Yet no-one's come! This is bad!" He kept shooting, empying every magazine he fitted to his FG42. The combined fire of all the guns, certainly made them ear-deaf. 

"How did this even happen!" A sweat wept down his face. Getting nervous as time grew and reinforcements hadn't came. 

*click

Gelmund's heart dropped. The machine gun's ammo has depleted. The click seemed so loud even the hell of gunfire. The operator pulled the trigger multiple times in desperate haste. There was no more ammo to feed the iron hunk. For it all fell in the gate's rubble. 

"Everyone! Ready your sabres!" Gelmund said, unsheathing his blade. He tried to absolve himself of the nervousness he felt within himself, yet his blade twitched still as he eyed the grey wreck.

A hoof.

Many hooves.

A horse's drooling face.

They were slowly but surely making their way upward, and the amount of grenades quickly exhuasted were a scare to look at. The three mortars behind them were running out of bombs, and the soldier's morale were at the midpoint of falling down. 

Horses piled up behind the rubbled gate, the horses behind climbed up on their bodies, a way up and into the city.

*Thud

The horses neighed to the clouds as they touched ground on the road, staring at the soldiers, they began raring up their hind legs for a lethal sprint.

"Everyone, prepare! They'll charge forward!" Gelmund yelled, falling back a bit. 

"Yes sir!" The soldiers gathered up in a line column.

The horses bolted!

With every clop, the soldiers' hearts beated an inumerable amount of times. 

*SHHLL

The swords pierced the horse's skin! 

Gelmund pulled back, striking again!

Cleanly cut, the horse's head strayed off it's neck. Blood splattered and landed on his suit where he slit. It all seemed so slow, as the horde of horses charged in without care of the buildings they bumped into. That dissonance of grenade and horse neigh tarnished their ears, bluring their sights and ears. Shooting and slicing, the perfect sharpness of their sabres dulling at every slash. 

Piercing, 

Stabing.

And when their lugers needed to reload, the formation was pushed back and back. Soldiers knocked down at every horse's kick, blood oozed out the soldier's noses and they were knocked cold. 

Gelmund phased further back the line. The soldiers there were throwing grenades and shooting their Kar98ks. It wasn't good, he had no command of the other two roads, and didn't know what the situation was there or anywhere really. Slowly getting pushed more and more back, Gelmund hadn't a single time to lose. 

"A truck!" At the corner of his eye, he bolted to it as fast as he can. "There should a be a machine gun at the back of it! They weren't transfered yet, so please!" He ran to the back, "Thank you!" 

The Vickers Machine Gun sat there with all it's glory. There was still ammo attached to it's feed. He ran to the front and opened the driver-seat door, the key was still there, the screams of the soldiers were getting rampant. Encouraged, he swiftly grabbed ahold, twisted the key.

The engine roared, he hit the gas and swerved! 

Turned around, he opened, dashed to the back. "Soldiers!" He yelled as high as he can, yet they couldn't hear him under the distress. "It's no use!" He climbed in, sat, and rotated the thing to the horde. 

He fired a shot to the air. 

The sound, so distinct to the mess, was immidiately heard, the soldiers at the back took notice of this, and moved to the side, signalling the ones in the middle to do so too. 

Gelmund smirked. 

He pulled the trigger.

A deafening hail. Bullets pierced multiple horse hearts, bursting blood on the street like it rained blood from the sky. The grating sound of horse neighs filled the air, and their bodies dropped down like flies. 

Assisting their leader, they quickly reloaded their lugers and kar98k and aimed at the quickly depleting horde of horses.

Firing!

( * )

"The horses really did a number on you all." Hierd looked at the injured soldiers sprawled on mattresses on the road. Some were less fortunate than others. Hierd overlooked a man who's balls were kicked. He squealed internally. There were a number of apothecaries caring for the injured, yet it was gravely low how many doctors existed in the city. 

"Y-yes, lord, they did." Gelmund had multiple bandages put on him from some kicks and blows he recieved whilst fighting the horses. His breathing was raspy, wheezing everytime he inhaled and exhaled. 

Looking at the gate, a thought came in his head. "How did the gate collapse?"

"W-we did not have alot of soldiers posted there when first I-I came." He urged some thought in his mind. "I-it was fifteen or so soldiers. And only two could use t-the machine gun. I and a Venit-Ille soldier. Three machine guns, five kar98ks, and a wall of lugers. I-it did not take long for them to start piling up and the mines started to r-run out-"

"And then that happened?" He interjected.

"Y-yes, lord." 

"Plentiful and strong." He remarked. "This is, as I understand, the first instance of their aggresiveness in droves."

"My lord, m-may I bring upon a suggestion?"

"Speak it."

"The newly recruited weren't taught to hold a kar98k, and I wish for them to be able to for more firepower, I-I would even say that they should all be taught to train with the FG42 instead."

"Two gates now non-existant, two waves with equal negative damages." Hierd sighed. "I think I need to introduce the STG44 and the M1 Garand, the two are more better than the Kar98k." 

"We can do that, of course we can. I plan to anyways." He paused. "But I wish to introduce yet another armament."

"A-another weapon, my lord?" 

"Yes, hopefully that one shall be more better combined with all of the weapons we have in our arsenal." 

A truck pulled over next to the scene. It was Naturvege driving it, popping open the door, Hierd noticed and went over to him. "What happened to the Northern gate?"

Naturvege closed the door behind him. "The north gate is standing, lord." 

Hierd turned behind. Looking at the grim scenery of pounds of horses and blood. The houses that had holes put inside of them. And the crumbled gate. "I want the houses emptied after then demolished."

"L-lord?" He said, confused of what Hierd uttered. "The citizens still live in tents, my lord, I do not think this is the right time for such a decision."

"How many citizens have been evacuated over to the pier?"

"Atleast a hundred, my lord."

"A hundred people is no worry. I wish to construct new buildings. And, scout out able recruits from the evacuatees. Say that those who wish to become a soldier will live in Auferstehen with a gold coin every month."

"The expenses, my lord, the manor will be emptied of gold by the end of Auferstehen."

"I-I have a stable flow of gold, count on my country, Naturvege."

"I see, my lord." A sweat dropped down his head. 

( * )

In the manor, Hierd put on a meeting. The usual people, the architects and engineers. And the guilds. they were there for a whole other reason.

"Good Afternoon everyone." Hierd put on the table two guns, the STG and the M1 Garand. 

"These two will be the new weapons of the army. All Kar98k guns will be stored in the basement downstairs, and for the next week, and hopefully two weeks, these guns will be used in training."

They stared at them, the new design was intriguing. The Garand looked to be similar looking to the Kar98k, but the STG-44 was a beast undefined, it looked intricate, metalic, and looked definitely powerful. Silently, their eyes yearned for manuals, Hierd realized this and spawned in fifteen manuals for the two guns. And gave them it, sliding it on the wooden table.

"I would like to start training now." Adelheid bluntly put.

"Done." Naturvege slammed the table. He stood up and looked at Hierd. "My lord, I wish to conduct it now."

Hierd looked at him with a confused smile. "Y-yes, you may." 

"Thank you." He walked and opened the door.

"Good thing I put the guns in the basement already."

Now focused on the awkward meeting room.

"My lord." Feliz started. "I would like to know the state of the city, the lives of the people."

"The city will stay as it always been. The monsters, as you have seen, have increased in number and intellegence." He adjusted his sitting. "This is not good. They are evolving? Why are the monsters coming with this kind of ferocity? We do not know, there is no understanding in this mess. The army has done what is has, and has fended off the monsters that if otherwise fought with blades and arrows, this city would have had been done in and be burnt to the stakes. Then, then the people." -He thought for a moment- "The citizens are concerned. Two gates have been busted. And in the future, some houses will be torn down."

"Wait, torn down, lord?" Adelheid suprised; questioned. "What do you mean by that?"

"It means as I mean it. Torn down. The buildings have been damaged, I am sure to get rid of anything inside for the people. And replace the ones who've been destroyed with new ones. I wish to cooperate with the engineers and architects upon building a new type of building made of cement."

Adelheid simply nodded. 

"The state of the city." Hierd repeated Feliz's question to continue his statement. "It is in a sad state, the quality of life I find depressing. The new buildings I will make will have better systems of life than whatever is still contained within these walls."

"T-thank you for answering my question. My lord."

( * )

Naturvege conducted a rough training, done in Venit Ille and finished with a long march back to Unchean after what seemed like two weeks. No monster came ever, it was quite peaceful, and the people were granted freedom to go to their houses again. But of that two weeks, not one soldier could taste their home's warmness for the remainder of their training, they slept in makeshift tents, slept and ate rations that were delicious only to a hound. Grueling days of excericise, even the second lieutenants grated them to shreds.

Hierd, from the top of the wall looked at the soldiers coming home to their city. Once news got out that the soldiers were returning, their parents, loved ones awaited at the gate with teary eyes. The soldiers were men before, but looking at their eyes, their dirtied suits, they were a different class of man. It looked as if they gone through three wars and back. 

In jolts of joy, the soldiers ran faster and faster towards their loved ones, laughing as they went closer and closer, not even caring if they did or if they didn't fall on some ignorant pebble. They hugged each and each. It was certainly a heartwarming site. 

"These soldiers have gone through rigorous training, Naturvege."

"Yes, lord." He stood by him, standing as still as ever. 

"The men will have their break tommorow, the day after, reinstate the education program."

"Yes, lord." Naturvege turned around and put a foot down on the stairs.

"And" -Naturvege stopped in his tracks- "I would like to talk to the naval captain, isn't it about time we have a warship?"

Naturvege nodded with a smile.

"Yes, my lord."