The Life of a Captain (2)
The papers on my desk contain requests for admission to new soldiers.
Before they enter the army, a physical test and a written test are given.
The papers contain the results of the tests and the types of candidate profiles.
The test takes place once a year, and only a small number are accepted. Usually, lieutenants apply these tests.
After I have completed some of the paperwork, I go on my lunch break.
As always, I go to a bar near the training center, buy a bottle of beer, and drink it from the bar until I get back to my tent.
After a few hours of work, William arrives to do the training.
It is no longer raining, but the sky remains cloudy and the weather is humid.
At the level William is at, I train with him dueling with wooden swords.
I win most of the time, but he's getting better every day, and I'm having more and more difficulty keeping up with his attacks.
Maybe I'm getting old... The new generation will definitely surpass the older ones.
After training, William takes time to rest. Meanwhile, I'm taking off my armor and putting my equipment in an organized place.
"You told me your friend was strong, didn't you?" William asks.
"As far as I remember, yes." I answer. "Why the question?"
"I wanted to know if he's stronger than you, with all due respect." William was never very sensitive about questions...
"It's been a long time since I met him, I even thought about sending him some letters." I speak. "But the last time I saw him, he seemed to be stronger." I sigh. "He was in the same guild as mine." I complement.
"Have you ever joined a guild!?" He seems to have been surprised.
"Of course, did you think I was adventuring around the world without anyone around?" I say. "Actually, this friend of mine didn't stay in the guild long, and he left a week later, but we still kept in touch for a while..." I comment while sitting on a bench.
"You're a lot more experienced than you look." William says.
I don't know if I'm happy that he called me experienced or angry that he indirectly called me old...
"And when did this happen?" He asks.
"It happened shortly after I got my Adventurer's License. I don't know if you know, but after graduating from a Magic Academy, you receive one of these licenses." I explain. "Right after I got my license, I looked for a guild and found it. But I left pretty quickly..." I say.
"You could be an adventurer!" William exclaims. "Because you left??" William asks indignantly.
"I wasn't that useful to my companions." I answer. "I became a useless burden to them... Maybe they were right."
To be honest, I feel like a burden to others to this day. I feel like someone else in my place would do better.
Maybe I only agreed to train William just to feel like I was being useful to someone...
"You're not useless!" William says. "You... are a captain of a kingdom! There's no way you're a burden." He speaks.
"When I was younger, I had the same dream you have." I look at the damp, dark floor. "Being the Supreme Swordswoman was also my dream, but I never had the talent to be one." I say.
William remains silent and looks as if he has had a shock of reality.
"Talent..." He mutters.
"I also never did anything heroic, nothing that people would remember me for." I keep. "I don't have a legacy, much less a history, that lives up to the title of Supreme Swordsman."