34 Chapter 34 - A Trial? (7)

The moment William finished his sentence, the atmosphere of the listening city guards turned tense.

Many people had their bodies suspended still with their minds buzzed, shocked by what they heard.

Theodore was also stunned for a moment. Although he had expected the city guard's captain, William, to announce some severe news, he did not expect it to be this serious.

The word war used to be far away from. Even though Theodore had recently heard many rumors, he did not genuinely believe them. Hearing Wiliam's announcement just now gave him a notable blow.

William swept his eyes over, looking at the soldiers lining up before him and examining their expressions. When he saw that most people had calmed down, he continued, "Due to the upcoming war, there will be some changes to the arrangement of the city guard."

The city guard's captain, William, then explained the new layout of the city guard in detail with solemn expression.

When he finished, he stopped briefly to let the people digest his words.

Theodore listened to William's explanation and roughly understood the division; the majority of the city guards would go out to meet the enemy while the minority remaining persons would patrol the city to prevent people with ill intentions from causing trouble from the inside.

While contemplating, he noticed William nodding to Ethan, the deputy captain, who soon walked to him and handed over a scroll.

'That should be the division list,' Theodore guessed. At the same time, he made some mental preparation in his heart that he would be among the people who would go out and fight with the enemies.

It was not difficult to think this way. He was, after all, someone without a background, and he could imagine how much the value of a safer position that did not require a person to risk his life with the enemies was.

Theodore was self-aware enough to know what he could and could not have. Instead of hoping to get lucky and avoid the frontline, he was thinking about what he would need to prepare to survive and the ration required for his teacher.

Although Theodore knew he had little hope, he still continued staring at William, waiting for his following announcement.

William opened the scroll before declaring, "People with the name I announce will be responsible for patrolling the city during this upcoming war period."

"If you hear me calling your name, walk out and line up here." He added as he gestured his hand to a side of the training ground.

William then called the names of the selected city guards one by one.

Theodore watched as one city guard after another was called up and walked to line up in another group.

It was as he had expected; most people who had their names called had extraordinary backgrounds or had a lot of money.

'It seemed that some people knew the news in advance.' Although he had expected it, Theodore still sighed a little at the unfairness he faced.

...

William did not know what others thought of this news. He genuinely did not care; he just needed to complete his job.

He had already finished over half of the list; he paused a little when he saw an unfamiliar name.

As a person who was the city guard's captain, he still understood the basic layout and had a thorough intelligence of the city guard he was responsible for.

Among the information he had access to was the city guard's background. He had noted the people he should be careful of or give privilege to. However, he could not recall hearing this name before.

Despite his doubt, William did not pause for long. He called out the name naturally with a plain expression, "Theodore Hale."

Theodore, who heard William calling his name, blinked, stunned. He even thought he was hallucinating and hearing it wrong.

He took a moment to recollect himself before walking out dazedly to line up at the place where William had pointed before.

When Theodore walked out, some people, especially his former teammates, peeked at him with doubt.

He could feel other people's confusion but did not know how to respond. He believed no one could beat him now in bewilderment.

He soon reached the line; he stood at the end of the line, following the others.

Theodore swept his eyes around and caught Lucas, who had not been called by William yet, winking at him.

'Could it be related to team leader Lucas? But why?' Theodore puzzledly thought as he stared at Lucas. In his opinion, although Lucas was not an immoral person, he was also not a generous person either.

William did not pay attention to what happened to Theodore or people's doubt; he continued announcing the name in the list.

Theodore lingered in the line with doubt. The city guard's captain, William, announced more names, but his team leader's name remained uncalled.

'Why was Lucas not being called yet.' Theodore wondered as he gazed intensely at the list in William's hand. He did not wait for long to know the answer.

William soon reached the last name on the list; he said, "The last person is Lucas Levine."

Lucas walked out confidently in response as if he had known beforehand that his name was on the list.

Theodore stared at Lucas joining the patrol group. He was not the only person who did so; everyone did the same.

Most of the people who had already joined the patrol team did not have much reaction and just indifferently looked as if they were watching a show. Meanwhile, people who did not get selected looked at him enviously and begrudgingly.

William glanced around, taking notice of everyone's expression. He ordered, "The selected individuals follow Ethan for further instruction."

...

Theodore followed the crowd as he counted the number of people in the group; there were thirty people. He calculated and found that it was a little less than a tenth of the overall number of the city guards.

Theodore and the other city guards soon reached their destination: a garden near the city lord's mansion.

Ethan then explained their arrangement, task, and shift in patrol. When he finished, he soon left as if he was busy and had many things left unattended.

Everyone watched Ethan leave before joining their team, according to Ethan's arrangement.

Theodore walked to the team he got assigned to. It turned out that his team leader was still Lucas.

'Is it really a coincidence?' Theodore secretly wondered.

...

Theodore followed Lucas with his new teammates to complete the day's task. The workload of the team significantly increased as fewer people were patrolling.

When the team finished their task, the others quickly left as there was a lot to prepare for the upcoming war. The remaining people were Theodore and Lucas.

Seeing the others had left, Theodore dubiously asked Lucas, "Are you the one who helped me?"

"Guess," Lucas paused for a moment before he answered. He gave Theodore a meaningful look and soon left as well.

Theodore frowned at Lucas's response; he found it unusual. However, if it was not his team leader, who else would help him and have enough influence to help him?

Theodore was deep in thought due to these questions.