A Time of Tigers - From Peasant to Emperor

Having it put to him like that, Tolsey couldn't help but blush in embarrassment. His intention hadn't been to undermine all the Captain's years of experience, after all.

"Or maybe it is the boy that you have qualms with? Leaving such a duty to a peasant, after all?" Lombard mused, a touch of sympathy in his voice.

Slowly, Tolsey nodded. "It just seems too sudden – and it goes against much of what we are taught. You're almost giving him the freedom of an officer, despite him being a member of the peasantry. He's sworn no vows of loyalty, he isn't even enlisted amongst the troops."

Realizing that what he said sounded harsh, he turned to Beam to apologize. "I'm sorry for saying it in front of you, boy…"

Beam shrugged. "I don't mind. It makes sense for you nobles to care more about that than the rest of us."

It took a great effort for Tolsey to point out it was only Beam who seemed not to care – everyone else they came in contact with followed the due social procedures, whilst remaining hyper-conscious of their rank.

"A vow of loyalty, hm?" Lombard murmured, his expression darkening. "I do not believe they are worth all that much."

With that darkened tone, Tolsey nearly shuddered. He decided to nod grimly, and trust in his Captain's judgement. "I will do as you say, captain, and hope that I might learn something from this experience."

The Captain merely nodded, leaving the conversation at that. He called out to the sergeants that were still on duty.

"Take your men and rest. Bring two squadrons worth of men to take your place. The boy will be taking care of the front line until dusk," the Captain said.

Cheers erupted from the men. Their shift had been cut short, and even during the shift, their workload had been greatly lessened. There were more than a few shocked explanations when they heard that the Captain only intended to put two squadrons on duty, but that quickly gave way to celebration, as they realized that their own turns to take a shift would now be even further into the future.

If they were lucky, they might even be able to get three days' rest. There was much excitement to be met with such a prospect. At the start of the day, their morale had been at an all-time low, as they watched their comrades grow increasingly injured, and they had to fight increasingly often to make up for the lack of numbers, with increasingly shorter times to rest.

Now, their Captain had turned that situation around completely for them. They did not care whether it was a peasant that brought that relief or not. To them, he was merely a weapon of war, and they praised him for it.

"Thank the Gods for that little monster!" They shouted, as they skipped back towards their tents.

Judas attempted to go with them, rolling his shoulders, as though to relax himself after a hard day of work.

"Where are you going?" Lombard called out when he saw him walking away.

"Ah…" Judas froze. Usually, he might have had a dry-cut response prepared, as he tried to worm his way out of whatever duty was about to be foisted upon him. But against nobility, like every peasant should, he trembled, knowing they could easily cut him down for the slightest transgression.

"Your shift has barely begun. You will assist the boy and join one of these two squadrons. The fighting will be minimal – but even you seem more than capable of shifting a few corpses, no?" Lombard said icily.

"Yes, sir…" Judas said with a grimace, trudging unhappily towards Beam's side.

"Fighting these monsters is fuckin' terrifying," Judas muttered in his ear once he was there. "I don't know what they've been putting in the water, but even just normal goblins used to be bad enough, now we've got these fuckin' hell beasts. Got to say – thank the Gods you're here, so I don't have to be dealing with all that myself."

"Well, it is partly my fault for dragging you into this," Beam said, a little more sympathetically than he normally would. He usually wasn't opposed to giving Judas more work to do, but after that morning's antics, he was beginning to feel a twinge of guilt that he'd got the man wrapped up in all this, even if it seemed to be for the greater good.

"As long as you keep me alive, I'll forgive ya," Judas said with a grin.

Beam walked through the campsite, as the sunset on the distant horizon, and the world grew darker.

Several fires were already lit, and soldiers were gathered around, sharing drink – they were allowed a small amount of alcohol, depending on when their next shift was due – and hot soup, and roasted meat.

The mood about the camp was far more positive than it had been a few days ago.

"They were meant to be spending their winter back in Ernest, with the wives and families – a brief reprieve from the war. Instead, they got drafted here, to deal with the Yarmdon threat," Tolsey explained to him, as they walked through the camp together. "They were rowdy from that, as might be expected, but they've calmed down a good deal since you've been taking on so much work."

He looked sympathetic as he noted the amount of work Beam was doing. Again, Beam finished the day drenched in blood and filth. It was his second full day of work with the army, and the monsters had shown no signs of slowing.

"How is the work? Are you managing alright? It should be catching up to you by now, no?" Tolsey pressed.

Beam shrugged. "I'm sleeping well enough, and eating well enough. The work isn't too gruelling."

When he said that, he meant it. It wasn't too different to how he would have normally spent his days training and patrolling. In fact, it might have even been easier, for there were often brief reprieves in between each wave of monsters, enough time to catch his breath and calm himself, and think of new ideas that he might want to try.