I made my way to Lieutenant Cicero's office. He was sitting at his table going through some papers. As I walked in, the lieutenant looked at me, then at the spear, then frowned. I was ready for some inquiry about why I had such an expensive spear, and maybe he would ask why I had been given it, but none of that came. Instead, he smiled.

  “Looks like you got a gift from Fenward. It is a great time. Your new mission will require all the advantage you can get,” he said.

  “Umm, sir, you are not worried about him bribing me?” I asked. I thought it was common for nobles not to trust each other.

  “With someone else, I might be worried, but Fenward is more soldier than noble. He lives and breathes the Royal Army. His father is also a captain in the army, so he would not do anything to harm his name,” he said, dismissing my concern.

  “Well, that is what I thought, sir, but I had a bizarre conversation with Lieutenant Fenward. Would it be alright if I shared that with you? I would like your opinion,” I said. Over the last few days of training under Lieutenant Cicero, I had started trusting him. He was always forthcoming and would even discuss noble strategies and how they could use money and connections in battle. When he trained me on defense and supply layouts, he explained everything clearly, so if anyone could explain what happened in that meeting, it would be Lieutenant Cicero.

  He nodded at my question, and I explained what transpired in the meeting.

  “Sir, I think it was the lieutenant’s effort to establish a connection between me and his house, maybe even himself. What I fail to understand is why he would go through all this. Even without the spear, I had a great amount of respect for him. He always treated me with respect, trusted me, and helped me a lot before the beast tide. With all this, I can only doubt his intention.”

  “You do not have to worry about it. Most probably, he was forced to do all this by his house. Knowing him, he wanted to give you a spear, but because of pressure from his house, he gave you Alric’s spear instead, which will shut up the people from his house. By filing off the house name, he stopped you from having any direct favor from his house,” the lieutenant explained.

  “In the future, would it cause any issue? Could he or his house members ask me to do something I am not supposed to do?” I asked. Since I started learning about noble politics, this had been one of my biggest fears, that I would be bound by some noble to their bidding even when I did not want to.

  I knew that being part of the army meant I would have to follow orders that I might not completely agree with, but I could still accept them as long as they came through the chain of command and had some reason behind them that served the safety of commoners. But I did not think I would be able to follow orders that only benefited some noble house.

  Though the rulebook was very clear about following orders, it mentioned that in my current position, only Lieutenant Cicero, Captain Darrow, or anyone with a higher position than Captain Darrow in the Seventh Legion had the authority to order me directly. If any other lieutenant wanted to send me on a mission or assign me to a specific activity, they would need Captain Darrow’s permission. Still, sometimes I doubted how effective these rules really were and whether refusing a random order would bring me trouble.

  Hearing my question, the lieutenant suddenly became extremely serious.

  “Edward, you know about the chain of command, right?” he said to me.

  “Yes,” I nodded.

  “Then you know who can order you. Maybe it is my fault for talking about politics so much, but know this: the rulebook of the army is something you need to follow, and even high nobles do not have the authority to break the chain of command,” he said. Then he continued, “I will tell you more about why even high nobles are scared of breaking these rules, but before we get into the history of the Royal Army, let us discuss your mission assignment. I need your full attention for that and not to be distracted by other things.”

  He said this while passing me a sheet of paper. It had a small map similar to the one I saw during the meeting. A line was highlighted going from Fort Darrow to Fort Dunvale, with a star marked in the middle.

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  “Let me start by saying this mission will be tough, but this is what you should expect from death squad missions,” he said. “You heard Lieutenant Jay explain the routes. The forest route from Stonegate’s west gate to Fort Darrow, the route from Stonegate to Fort Darrow, and finally Fort Darrow to Dunvale are the targets to be cleared in this mission.”

  “Vanguard will be clearing the forest route, while infantry will be clearing the main route to Stonegate, and the death squad will be clearing the route from Fort Darrow to Fort Dunvale.”

  Listening to that, my heart rate spiked. I remembered the details Lieutenant Jay provided. There were multiple Tier Two threats on that route and even one Tier Three beast.

  “These are the locations and the beasts you will encounter. Your objective is to clear the path to the campsite and then hold it for two months so no new beasts occupy it. After that, you will rendezvous with Vanguard and the supply unit.”

  He passed me another map with detailed markings and beast profiles.

  “Once you link up, you will proceed to Fort Dunvale. Vanguard will remain there, and your squad will escort the supply unit back to Fort Darrow.”

  I started going through all the details provided. After a few minutes, I looked up.

  “Sir, I am not questioning orders, and I will definitely take this mission, but to me, the difficulty looks too high. This almost feels like a suicide mission,” I said carefully. I did not want to question the first mission I received, but looking at the difficulty, I could not help but speak up.

  “Sir, our target is not just six dens of Tier Two beasts, which could amount to eight to ten individual Tier Two beasts, but also our final target is a Tier Three beast with earth affinity. In our current condition, this beast is the worst possible match for my squad due to its affinity,” I said.

  If my evaluation was correct, this beast was harder to deal with than a Venelion. It had taken almost ten Tier Two soldiers to bring one down. And while I had killed a Tier Three shadow cat, an earth-affinity beast had thick hide and far more power. Its only weakness was its slow speed, which was not much help considering that squad formations are not known for agility.

  “This is why I said you will need all the help you can get for this mission,” he said, bending down under the table and pulling out an iron shield. This shield had the same type of grooves as the spear.

  “I was going to get you a spear as well, but now that you already have one, this shield should help you on the mission. This is one of my shields from my younger days. The captain has also increased the budget for this mission. Since the fort is understaffed, your mission is more dangerous. You have two days before departure, and you can request supplies worth two to three mana crystals.”

  It was not a huge amount of supplies, but it was enough for preparation. More importantly, it reassured me that this mission was not meant to target me or Lieutenant Cicero personally, but was a result of the fort’s condition.

  As for the shield, I might have hesitated to accept it under normal circumstances, but knowing the mission difficulty, I did not think twice before taking it.

  “Umm, sir, I understand the supplies for my squad, but I am not sure how this spear and shield will help me on the mission. I am not questioning their quality. They are the best equipment I have ever seen, but how will they help other than increasing my personal power a little?” I asked.

  He looked at me in surprise, then smiled.

  “Sometimes, while talking to you, I forget you would not know about this type of equipment,” he said. “Push mana through the grooves of the spear,” he added.

  I sent a small amount of mana, like I did to activate runes on my spear or shield, but nothing happened. I tried again and sent more mana. Still, nothing happened. I looked at the lieutenant in confusion.

  “Do not cut the flow. Keep feeding it mana. Follow the groove,”

  I followed his instructions. Suddenly, the spear tip started to glow.

  I looked at the lieutenant with sparkling eyes.

  “This type of equipment has multiple uses in combat. It strengthens and sharpens the spear, but more importantly, it allows you to deal magical damage, harming even beasts with tough hides.”

  It suddenly reminded me of the sergeant’s strike that killed the boar during the beast tide, a clean cut that beheaded the beast.

  “This type of equipment also helps you train mana manipulation. If you do not have that skill, this equipment will help you develop it. Do the same with the shield,” the lieutenant said, pulling my attention away from the spear.

  I turned to the shield and guided my mana through the grooves. While the grooves on the spear were straight lines, the grooves on the shield formed a spiral from the center to the edge. As soon as I completed the path, the shield expanded outward, and a translucent mana structure formed, making the shield large enough to cover two people.

  I could not believe my eyes. I did not even know equipment like this existed. The spear was impressive, but the shield was something I had never imagined holding. There was no doubt it was rare and expensive. The grooves on the shield clearly contained multiple rune.

  I looked at the lieutenant, unsure if I was really allowed to carry this shield.

  Lieutenant smiled at me.

  “Are you still interested in learning about the history of the Royal Army?” he asked.