With this, our service period is over, right?” asked Cat’s Paw who was clearing the square of the burning debris of the bonfire, and then continued with a voice full of regret, “I really don’t want to go back to the mines and work in a hole. I have to say, I already miss the Months of Demons, a little.”
“Yeah, and I don’t want to deal with those stones again either,” Jop immediately agreed, “The most important thing is that the difference in salary is too much. When we were assigned to the artillery, we had meat every day and a salary of 15 silver royals each day.”
“Don’t say such foolish words,” said Van’er while holding a torch high to illuminate the surrounding “His Highness provided all this food to us so that no person would starve to death during the Months of Demons. You only need to remember what happened the previous two years, not even half of the people from the old district were able to survive! Did you already forget this? I’ll say it once more, it’s unlikely that the team will be dissolved, His Highness just put us into the artillery team and burned so much gunpowder to train us, do you think that was all without reason?”
“But the Month of Demons is over, so, why would His Highness still need the artillery?” asked Rodney while leaning on a broom.
That’s because the artillery isn’t meant for the demonic beasts, Van’er thought, but in the end he said out loud, “Soon we’ll know more, tomorrow we’ll hear the answer,” he yawned then waved his hand impatiently, “Okay enough, quickly clean everything up, I’d like to go back to bed soon.”
The next morning, the teams were assembled and Van’er’s previous statement was confirmed.
When everyone was there, Iron Axe went in front of the lined up team and said loudly: “You have completed the first stage of the task – which was to defend Border Town against the demonic beasts. After three months and six days of fighting, you all earned His Highness’ recognition! Because of this, the militia will be promoted to His Highness’ regular army, but in case you don’t want to fight any longer, you just need to stand up and leave now. His Highness had said that everyone who leaves now, will get all of your outstanding payments, and additional a payment of twenty-five silver royals as… “Iron Axe had to think for a moment, then he said,” right, retirement fee.”
From the three hundred militia members, no one moved, only the Cat’s paw raised his hand and said: “Report.”
This was also one of the odds rules the Prince had introduced during the training, no one was allowed to whisper in private if they wanted to say something they had to shout.
Iron Axe nodded, “Speak.”
“What do you mean by being promoted to the regular army, do we become knights?”
Van’er couldn’t stop himself from laughing, but he quickly set up a serious face again.
Becoming Knights? That would mean becoming part of the aristocracy, not only getting an estate and a squire, but also their own territory. By asking this question, he had really lost a lot of face for the artillery.
“No,” answered Iron Axe and began to patiently explain, obvious to him since he had also previously asked His Highness, “The regular army is a professional fighting force, only established for the protection of His Highness and his territory. In other words, when miners work in the mine, you will be training, when the farmers harvest their wheat, you will be training. And when the merchants sell their goods, you are still training. All the training is to win all the future battles, just like you did against the demonic beasts during the Months of Demons.”
“Then what is the difference between the regular army and the militia?” Asked Cat’s Paw.
“More frequent training, stricter training methods, and a greater reward.”
“Report!” Hearing all this Rodney couldn’t help himself and asked, “What does a greater reward mean?”
Van’er sighed, why was his group of young men so impetuous? But in all honesty, he would also like to know this answer.
“The regular army will get an officer-led structure, and soldiers who fulfilled their given task according to the previous plan during the battles will get the chance at a promotion, and soldiers who performed extraordinarily well,” said Iron Axe, “for example, could rise to my position.”
If this was what His Highness said… Van’er thought to himself, and this was the way they implement it, it would be better to not offend one’s superior, right? He quietly looked around, it seemed that no one realized the general problem, instead, they still listened with keen interest and pleasure.
“Officers won’t only get a higher payment, they will also get… their own territory.”