A vest  

A few days later.

Aden's Study,

Greenfield Castle.

…

"The screening has been completed, my Lord." The butler Robert said to Aden who was seated in front of him. The middle-aged duke had an expression of contemplation as he listened to the butler speak while reading a scroll handed to him by Levi who was seated to his left.

"Although not all of the accepted two hundred and fifty-nine new applicants met the basic requirement, a large proportion did with only a handful falling into the 'filler' category."

"How many are we dealing with?" Levi who leaned back into his seat with his cheek rested on his palm asked.

"The fillers? young master?"

"Hmm."

"Forty-seven to be exact, young master," Robert replied.

Levi frowned slightly.

"That's quite high." Drumming his finger against the armrest, Levi's expression was one of pondering.

He sighed.

"I guess it can't be helped then. Hopefully, Sir Carter would be able to whip them into shape in the shortest time possible. We wouldn't want our plans delayed due to such insignificant reasons."

Putting the matter behind him, he asked again.

"How about the items I asked you to bring over for the Lord to assess, haven't they arrived yet?"

"They should have arrived, young master," Robert said with a small frown. "Please excuse me for a moment, let me confirm what the issue is."

Levi watched the butler walk out with an expressionless gaze.

Turning to face Aden, he spoke again.

"How is it?"

"This? It appears well done, I am just worried that your restrictions on the men appear too lax."

The duke replied without looking up from what he was reading.

"Lax?"

"Yes." Aden nodded.

"Although the rewards and reparations could be considered very generous and this 'pension' you mentioned in clause four seems like a very novel concept with surprisingly far-reaching social implications if one considers deeply, the punishments for misdemeanour and inappropriate behaviour appear slightly too weak."

Rolling up the parchment scroll, Aden glanced towards Levi and continued.

"Although building the soldiers' loyalty and dependency is very important, from my experience I know it shouldn't come at the expense of keeping your men in line. There is a blurred divide between admiration and over-familiarity, a good leader should know how to thread this line and maintain a balance if he truly wishes to retain control over his subordinates."

'Balance.' Levi muttered in thought.

"Understood, I will make some changes to this then."

"That would be for the best." Aden nodded.

"Regardless, you did a really good job restructuring the militia." He added. "This way the logistics required for expansion would be greatly reduced."

"I guess so, also I suggest you avoid calling them a militia in the near future."Your master commented. "Since the Corps is intended to be our official army, such a term could be deemed derogatory."

Aden blinked before chuckling softly.

"No problem then."

Levi received the scroll from Aden and read through it mentally noting down some point to change at a later time.

The door opened and Robert returned with two male servants in tow.

"Sorry for the delay, young master." Bowing towards Levi, Robert apologized.

"Is it ready?"

"Yes, young master."

Robert moved aside to allow the two servants to come forward.

They bowed towards Aden and Levi before dropping the boxes in their hands at Levi's feet.

"Is that the new uniform you mentioned that would be issued for the Corps?" Aden who was in a seat at his desk asked with one of his brows raised.

"Yes."

Turning to one of the servants Levi spoke.

"Take off your clothes."

"Y-yes master." Although the servant was confused as to what was happening he didn't dare refuse Levi's direct order.

Under Levi's expressionless stare the fidgeting servant undressed down to his underwear.

"You can stop now. Put this on." Levi ordered tossing the newly made uniform at the servant.

The servant quickly put on the clothes.

Levi gazed at his design with a hint of contentment.

A cream-coloured cotton shirt, brown woollen trousers, black leather boots and a brown hooded cloak with an embroidery of the Corps' emblem, a shield with a machete and a rifle crisscrossing it, sewn into it. Although the clothes were not the servant's exact size, they appeared somewhat close-fitting and comfortable while giving a subtly minimalist feel.

The boots which were had rounded tips at the toes and were made out of semi-soft leather with hardened soles while the cloak wrapped around the servant's torso had the Corps emblem proudly displayed prominently at the back.

"How does it look?" Levi asked turning to Aden.

The duke contemplated briefly before nodding approvingly.

"It's ok."

Levi smiled faintly.

'Ok? It's more than ok, you normie. It's a piece of art.'

Restraining his slightly excited thoughts he picked out a few more items from the boxes brought in earlier.

"These are the equipment I suggested we issued alongside the uniforms," Levi said laying out the items on Aden's desk.

The duke's brow crooked upwards looking at his suddenly crowded table, a hint of exasperation flashed past his eyes.

A Flintlock musket, one weirdly shaped knife, a small leather backpack for carrying supplies, a powder horn for carrying black powder, a reinforced infantry helmet and one odd-looking linen vest.

Picking up the knife his face was one of surprise.

"What kind of knife is this?" Aden asked weighing the weapon in his hand.

It was about as long as a man's forearm and exaggeratedly curved downwards along the blade's spine from the base of the blade down to its tip forming a catch along the blade edge. It was also serrated at the base of the blade for utility purposes.

But despite the weapons odd appearance Aden intuition told him it might be a very dangerous object in the right hands.

"It's one of my personal designs, a machete knife," Levi remarked explaining the weapon.

"Although it performs poorly when it comes to stabbing and poking through objects it excels at hacking and cleaving and is most suitable for very close range fights in cramped spaces."

Aden twirled the knife in his hand for a few seconds, the whooshing sound of the weighty blade spinning in the air could be heard.

"Good knife." He remarked with an approving nod.

Dropping the weapon he picked up the next item that slightly baffled him.

"And what would this be?" Aden asked lifting the linen vest.

"Oh, It's body armour," Levi replied.

"This?" Aden asked baffled. "I think a cuirass or even just Leather armour would make a much better alternative."

"I don't approve of arming the entire army with 'cloth armour' when we have much better options available."

"Oh, I think you are mistaken, father."

"How?"

"The vest isn't complete."

"Hmm? What do you mean?"

"I mean I haven't finished assembling it yet."

Collecting the vest from Aden, Levi unfastened a few knots opening it up.

He crouched to remove something from the box at his feet.

*Thunk*

The dull sound of metal hitting wood sounded.

Aden frowned glancing at a tiny dent of his table, exasperation flashed across his face again.

Glancing at the objects, he realized that they were two plain-looking metal plates.

No engravings, etchings or markings.

Apart from being slightly curved as well as oddly shaped there was nothing remarkable about them.

He watched with a baffled expression as Levi slotted the plates into openings in the linen vest.

"Could you borrow me your pistol, father?"

Aden pulled out a drawer and pulled out 'The Messenger'.

Passing it to Levi, he watched curiously as Levi aimed the weapon at the vest lying on the floor.

*Bang*

A gunshot, a plume of smoke and a few seconds later Lancelot and a few men barged into the room with panicked expressions.

"There is nothing to worry about, I am still alive," Aden said with a chuckle before Lancelot could speak. "Levi here was just showing me something."

Levi crouched and picked up the vest that had been knocked a short distance away.

Without looking at the knights that barged in he unhooked the vest and pulled out the steel plate within.

There the lead bullet was embedded in the slightly deformed metal. Although the point-blank shot greatly damaged the soft metal it did not manage to pierce it, only a small bump existed on the other side.

The plate was made out of inferior pig iron intentionally so as to allow deformation and prevent fragmentation.

Aden collected the plate from Levi and said with a smile.

"Good armour."

His gaze towards the vest was no longer one of disinterest.

Curiously he asked.

"And what odd name do you have for this one now?"

Levi smiled contentedly and replied.

"It's more appropriately called a plate carrier"

"But you can also call it a bulletproof vest or just simply a vest."