Prepraration

-" Is everything ready? We will depart soon." Jeffrey was overlooking a large crowd from inside the second floor of the main army building.

-" Most of the new recruits already reached here, we just need to pack the rest of the supplies carts." A tall young man who sat beside Jeffrey spoke.

-" Luckas and Byrth didn't arrive yet, I already sent the carriage to pick them up, so they mustn't take too long." Cyl's had an anxious face, this would be the first expedition of the duo and they still didn't arrive, Cyl was afraid of their late arrival would cause the other army officers to have a negative image on them.

-" For a Squire to arrive after his Master is truly a shame, but, what makes me even more infuriated is that an army counselor not being present to his first strategic meeting." The man looked annoyed, when he heard about the new counselor and Jeffrey's squire being common people he felt like Philips was trying to spit on their faces.

-" It isn't like this meeting is too important, Luckas knew about this expedition even before me, so I doubt he would need to get caught up with it, and besides, we asked him to be here at 3, so there is still a bit of time." Cyl tried his best to soften the irresponsibility of Luckas and Byrth;

-" Cyl is right, after all, it was you who requested the meeting to be sooner." A white-haired man spoke as he ate a piece of cake.

-" Bryson, did you really think that it's okay for some newbies to arrive so late? This is the army, if they don't even show respect for their elders in their first meeting how can I trust them to follow orders in the future?" The tall man's face began to turn red, he already expected Cyl to protect them as he heard about his relationship with them, but for Bryson to be so nonchallant with this attitude made him angry.

-" Alan, enough of this already, why do you think the two would follow your orders? Luckas is a Counselor and Byrth my Squire, you don't have the authority to order them around." Jeffrey felt annoyed, while he too thought that Luckas and Byrth lateness was a bit too much, Alan's incessant rants made him feel even more stressed.

-" Tsk, I just hope those two are worth the trouble, for what I heard they aren't even at the Foundation Establishment yet, I just want to know what talentless youth are doing in the top echelons of the Duke's Army."

-" While I feel it's weird that they are just novices in cultivation, I couldn't in sane mind challenge Sir Philips orders." The old man stopped eating his cake as he heard what the man said. " It puzzles me that you are so open to questioning his authority."

Alan's face fell, he knew that who arranged their position was Philips, but, he didn't think that Bryson would take such offense of him questioning their position. He wanted to explain himself, but, knowing Bryson the one army official who followed Philips thought all of his reign as a duke wouldn't even listen to him anymore as he questioned Philips.

Alan sighed and looked towards the windows, he could see a carriage with the two deers insignia, he smiled. Alan knew that the best argument for their incompetence would be their performance.

At the carriage, Byrth looked at the crowd worried, as he was lost observing them Luckas was reading the report prepared for the expedition.

-" Is something bothering you?" With just one look Luckas knew that Byrth was nervous.

-" It's just that I know some of the faces of those recruits. The recruitment process of this batch was made in the areas close to the Verdant Forest so I interacted a bit with some of them."

-" Anyone that offended you? You can use your new authority to oppress them." Luckas smiled as he said jokingly.

Luckas suggestion made him speechless, as the two cemented their friendship in those past few moments Luckas felt more comfortable joking around with Byrth, but, Luckas's sense of humor sometimes left Byrth a bit uncomfortable.

-" It isn't that, I'm just worried about them, the life of villagers is hard, so we create a kind of kinship with those who live near us." Byrth didn't take Luckas joke seriously and explained himself.

-" Oh, so why don't you help them? Your authority can do that too." Luckas remained focused on the report in front of him.

-" I don't want to take advantage of my position to benefits those close to me. " Byrth continued looking at the new recruits as he clenched his firsts. " At least not so soon, I want to prove myself before anything else."

-" Prove yourself to whom? You're Sir Jeffrey squire, your duty is to him only, and i doubt he would disapprove of you helping the new recruits." Luckas finally finished checking the report and sighed.

He felt that he had a good understanding of the situation of the territory now, they were going on an expedition to combat the constant plunders happening near their main trade route. Byrth past village was close to where they would set up camp.

The carriage came to a halt, Luckas and Byrth exited it and entered the main hall, while they were still on time, they knew that Luckas as a newcomer counselor and Byrth as Jeffrey squire should be here sooner.

Byrth wanted to arrive way sooner, but, Luckas said he would wait a little more, Byrth didn't want to leave Luckas to go alone so he decided to wait for him.

Byrth especially was nervous, which contrasted Luckas calmness. Luckas felt confident going on this meeting, since receiving news about the deployment he used a great amount of time to research the situation in the Verdant Forest.

Luckas experience as a cybersecurity expert made him very adept at making reports and briefings, coupled with his fruitful reach Luckas knew that he could perform greatly in his first job as an army counselor.