Claude wanted to cry but no tears came out. He didn't even know how he walked out of Felidos' office.
With the conscription order in hand and Felidos encouraging him to work hard in the military, he walked out of Whitestag's administrative center in a daze.
He looked up at the sky and slapped his thigh again. After confirming that he wasn't dreaming through the pain, he sat down on the steps of the administrative center.
It was a scene he would never have dreamed of. Who would've thought that Felidos, whom he had only met once, would care so much about his enlistment? Not only did he write him a recommendation letter and ask for the conscription order, he even handed it to him personally. How bored must someone be to do something like that?
After calming down, Claude analyzed the situation and realized that he had been dragged down by the fact that he graduated first in his physical studies.
If he'd known that would happen, he wouldn't have had to fight Welikro for the first place during his graduation.
Even if Maria had already mentioned in the letter that the kingdom wouldn't be conscripting soldiers this year, there would be a large-scale conscription next year to prepare for war against the five countries in the east. But at the very least, the conscription would be delayed by a year. Who knows, Maria might even be able to get an exemption from military service …
But it was too late now. The conscription order was already in his hands. If he didn't enlist, he would be treated as a deserter and would be sentenced to at least two to three decades of labor.
Although they did not need to be cannon fodder on the battlefield, their situation was like that of a slave. They had no freedom, did not have enough to eat, did not have warm clothes, and were watched over by others to work tirelessly day and night. It was better to be on the battlefield and die a quick death.
Perhaps he shouldn't have met Felidos the other day when he came to inspect the company. Had he known things would turn out like that, he would rather feign illness than go to the company.
It was all Ludian's fault for introducing him to Felidos. Felidos was the one who set his sights on him and insisted on sending him to the army.
However, Ludian couldn't be blamed for that. He knew that Ludian introduced him to Felidos to show off his connections with the Normanys and also to let Felidos take care of him.
It would be more convenient for him to do anything in Whitestag in the future. At the very least, with his connections, Felidos would be able to speak up for him if there were any problems.
However, Ludian had forgotten that Felidos was a soldier. He understood Ludian's intentions and wanted to take care of Claude.
However, his care was to send Claude into the army, especially when he was the top student in his physical studies class in middle school.
The way Felidos saw it, there was no better way to take care of Claude than sending him to the army.
Having figured that out, Claude didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
She had taken it upon herself to help Claude's brother pay the debt of five hundred crowns, regardless of whether Claude needed it or not.
Felidos, on the other hand, had taken it upon himself to send Claude into the army without asking for his opinion.
Perhaps they saw Claude as someone who had just come of age at eighteen and wasn't mature enough.
As his seniors, they made Claude's life choices according to their own wishes and didn't care about what Claude thought at all.
Felidos, in particular, made it seem like sending Claude into the army was an honor for him and he even looked forward to Claude's gratitude. What he didn't know was that Claude really wanted to give that chrysanthemum-like smiling face a good punch.
Rather than a surprise, it was more like a shock. I really want to beat him up for not even asking if I'm willing to join the army … Claude muttered as he picked up the conscription order. There was no mistake. It was written in black and white. It was indeed his name.
The only thing that stood out was the blue feather printed on the page. That was the unique symbol of Bluefeather, one of the four ace corps of the kingdom.
The so-called four famous corps of Aueras were the corps with the highest casualty rate in every war. Behind their illustrious achievements were countless corpses.
Be it their own soldiers or their enemies, the corpses that littered the battlefield were what made them famous.
The conscription order stated that Claude had to report to the Fukby Hill camp in Kafreizit, Gonegada, Kafreizit by the first of the ninth month.
Kafreizit … Was there such a prefecture in the kingdom?
Claude thought about it for a long time but couldn't recall it. His grades in geography weren't bad, so what was going on?
He stood up and returned to the administrative centre. There was a map of the kingdom pasted on the wall of the hall. It took him a long time to realize that Kafreizit was one of the three prefectures ceded by Nasri more than twenty years ago.
The geography textbooks referred to them as the three frontier prefectures. Since they weren't the focus of the exams, the three prefectures were easily overlooked.
Additionally, as it was the territory ceded by Nasri, Aueras had been enforcing military control over the three prefectures for the past twenty years to suppress any resistance. As such, news about the three prefectures rarely appeared in the newspapers.
Wasn't that the frontlines?
Claude smiled bitterly. He'd be cannon fodder the moment he joined the army. If war broke out, Bluefeather would definitely be the first to enter the battlefield.
Chief Steward Felidos really thought highly of him, sending him directly to the frontlines to be a soldier.
He even told him to perform well and not let him down. He had to bring glory to the person who recommended him.
Claude didn't understand where he got his confidence from. It wasn't like he was invulnerable. Even a small bullet could take his life.
If war broke out and the kingdom started conscription, Claude would join the secondary corps of the three southwestern prefectures. He would only be sent to the frontlines after a short period of training.
If the situation was good, they would stay at the rear and wait for the main corps to retreat before picking up reinforcements from the secondary corps.
If the situation of the war was more severe, then these second-line legions might even receive orders to join the front line or defend a certain line of defense.
No matter what, Claude wouldn't be the first to enter the battlefield like he did with Bluefeather.
The first batch to enter the battlefield were usually the ones to face the most difficult battles. Everyone knew how many casualties there would be.
After looking at the conscription order again, Claude finally understood why Felidos wanted him to thank him.
The conscription order clearly stated that Claude wasn't going to Bluefeather to participate in recruit training, but to receive officer training instead.
That meant that Claude would become an officer the moment he finished his training and not a normal recruit.
Even though officers would have to fight alongside new recruits and the enemy's bullets wouldn't be deflected just because they were officers, Claude would be able to skip the long period of recruit training.
But for Claude, he had skipped the long recruit period and joined the army as a non-commissioned officer.
During times of peace, a new recruit would have to serve for five years before he could be promoted to an officer. Then, he would have to go through three years of observation before he could be promoted to a warrant officer or second lieutenant if he performed well.
A second lieutenant, on the other hand, was an official officer of the kingdom. Regardless of whether he retired due to injury or stayed in the army, he would have the status of a citizen.
It was no wonder Felidos said that if Claude performed well, he would only need three years to become a second lieutenant, and that was before the outbreak of war.
Based on that alone, Claude really did owe Felidos a huge favor.
Perhaps it was because Claude graduated first in his physical studies and Maria's high regard for him that Felidos was willing to take care of Claude that much. He asked an old acquaintance of his in the army to give Claude a spot in Bluefeather's officer training.
Claude didn't know whether he should be happy or sad. But no matter what, the conscription order was already in his hands and he wouldn't be able to escape it. Even if Maria sent him a pardon, it wouldn't matter.
Before he was conscripted, the pardon could still be used. As long as he registered with the administrative center, he would be exempted from military service.
But now, the conscription order had arrived first and the military had already registered him. He didn't know if the pardon order was there yet. Even if it came in a few days, it would be nullified.
In terms of first come, first served, not even Stellin X could argue with the military. Otherwise, if the pardons reached the military and the soldiers in uniform were to retire, the military would fall into chaos.
It was already the 30th of the seventh month. Claude estimated that it would take him five to six days to reach Kafreizit. If he took a carriage, he might arrive a day earlier.
If he took a ship from Whitestag to Port Neru, it would take him two days. Then again, it would take him three days to travel from Port Neru to Kafreizit. So, he might as well hire a carriage. He wasn't lacking in money anyway.
In other words, he only had around twenty days left at home. He would have to leave on the 24th of the eighth month at the latest. Of course, it wouldn't be a bad idea to arrive two days earlier. He could familiarize himself with the unfamiliar environment and he wouldn't be delayed by any accidents on the way.
Military law was merciless. Even if he had sufficient reason to prove that his tardiness wasn't due to him, he would still be punished for the delay.
Claude didn't want to be tied up and whipped on the first day of his arrival.
Perhaps it was time to put an end to some things. Even if he became a non-commissioned officer, his life on the battlefield was uncertain. Nobody could guarantee that he wouldn't be one of the people left standing after the battle.
So, before he left, he had to deal with the matters at home as they should. He couldn't let his mother, sister and brother's peaceful lives be affected.
But he was disappointed. His eldest brother, Arbeit, was missing. He wasn't in Whitestag. It was said that he left the town the day his father jumped off the building and went to Baromisse to look for work.
But no one had seen him in the county of Baromisee, and no one had heard of him either.
Claude had to keep the news from his mother. Otherwise, he wouldn't know how worried she would be for Arbeit.
No matter how selfish and unfilial Arbeit was, he was still her eldest son in his mother's eyes, a blood relative.
Every day after school, Claude would bring Angelina back to the wood and bring her to the clearing in the forest to learn how to use a gun.
After he joined the army, the only one who could help his mother would be Angelina.
Even though she was a timid girl, she had a rather tough personality. She was already 15 and could become the main pillar of support for the family.
Especially after learning magic from Claude, her intelligence and ability to deduce things from one instance surprised Claude greatly. Her life in the wood also made her more cheerful and courageous.
His younger brother, Booke, was still young at only eight and was still at the age of a naughty child.
But the upheaval in the family and his father's suicide made him much more mature.
Especially during the time they stayed in the wooden hut in the wood, he slept in the same room as Claude. Under Claude's supervision, he corrected many of his bad habits.
While he was mischievous, he still knew how to help his mother with the household chores within his means. That made Claude quite happy. At the very least, it seemed that Booke wouldn't become a wastrel in the future.
Luan expressed his displeasure at Felidos' decision to issue a conscription order to Claude and wanted to reason with him.
He was adamant that Claude couldn't join the army while Normanley Real Estate was at its busiest. He even came up with a few ways for Claude to avoid conscription, such as getting someone to break one of his legs or cutting off a few of his fingers.