On the fifth day, Perunt checked on Claude's body and felt that he could get out of bed, but he would still need some time to fully recover.
Claude found it odd. Didn't Perunt say that he would recover in five to six days? Why did he suddenly say that he still needed some time to rest?
Bale poked him in the waist and chided, "Are you dumb? Why are you leaving the infirmary now? Are you going to line up like those new soldiers?
Staying here is much better than training in the field. Listen to me, stay here as long as you can. "
Claude finally understood why Perunt told Sidra that his injuries had just healed and that he still needed some time to fully recover.
That was because Sidra came to the infirmary again to bring the punishment orders for the two parties involved in the canteen fight.
Perunt was right. The higher-ups tried to smooth things over and punished both sides. Be it Claude or the veterans who started the fight, they were all sentenced to three days of confinement.
Naturally, Claude would be punished for using excessive force, while the veterans would be punished for provocation.
At the same time, considering that both parties were injured in the fight, the higher-ups were considerate enough to wait for them to fully recover before carrying out the punishment.
Perunt was a rather easy person to get along with. That was something Claude knew very well.
Apart from the fact that he would scold the higher-ups for their idiotic policies from time to time and use his buttocks to think things through, he was indeed a white-robed angel to the injured.
The way Claude saw it, Perunt was essentially an angry middle-aged scholar.
From Doctor Perunt's personal experience, his life was actually very inspirational.
He was born in a poor family. When he was young, he obtained an opportunity to study in the War God Temple. Because of his hard work and diligence, he won the admiration of an old pharmacist in the War God Temple, who took him in as a disciple.
After he became an adult, he devoted himself to treating the diseases of the common people. He gained a high reputation in his hometown, but at the same time, he attracted the jealousy of his peers.
On his 27th birthday, he received a conscription order and became a pharmacist in the Blue Feather Army.
The difference between a military pharmacist and a new recruit was that he only needed to serve for ten years before he could obtain citizenship.
Doctor Perunt had been in the military camp for 16 years. After his term of service was over, he was reluctant to leave the camp. Even though he had obtained the status of a citizen, he still stayed behind as an army pharmacist.
In his words, it was easier to survive in the military camp. He could eat and sleep for free, and he did not need to buy clothes. His salary was also high, so there was no need for him to go back to his hometown and fight with his peers for patients.
Claude stayed in the infirmary for another ten days or so. When he had free time, he would argue with Perunt. Since he had lived two lives, he was able to argue on equal grounds with Perunt on certain topics. Perunt considered him to be a rather mature and thoughtful person.
That was especially so when Perunt found out that Claude had a rather solid foundation in herbalism. He even considered letting Claude stay in the infirmary as his assistant.
Unfortunately, Claude was there for officer training and not a new recruit. Perunt couldn't do much about it and could only do his best to extend Claude's stay in the infirmary.
But no matter how long he stayed, Claude would have to leave eventually. On the 15th day of his stay in the infirmary, the military judge, Sderi, came with two soldiers to escort Claude to carry out his punishment of three days of confinement.
On the other side of the training field, the four of them drew the attention of countless people as they walked through the large field.
On one side of the field were trained veterans and on the other were new recruits. More than eight hundred people watched as Claude's group of four walked through the middle of the field.
The military camp on the hill was located on a flat slope halfway up the hill. Claude found that the confinement area was a dark cave on the rocky cliff. Two soldiers on duty stood at the entrance.
After entering the cave, there was a very long passageway inside. There was a torch inserted into the wall every ten meters. The dim light from the torch made the cave seem deep and quiet.
Sidra brought Claude to the end of the tunnel. It was a rather dark tunnel, but it wasn't very long. It was only about ten to twenty meters long. There were a dozen or so heavy metal doors on one of the walls of the tunnel.
Sderi opened one of the doors and gestured for Claude to enter with his chin.
However, it was pitch black behind the door and he couldn't see anything clearly.
One of the soldiers took a torch from the wall and stuck it into the door. He said impatiently, "Hurry up and go in."
Only then did Claude see that there was a small room behind the door. There were three stone steps leading up to it. The room was about 1.6 meters long and 1.4 meters wide. It was about three to four meters tall.
Beside the three steps was an uncovered wooden toilet. That was where he would relieve himself for the next three days.
The moment he entered the room, the door behind him closed and the room was plunged into darkness once more.
After a while, he finally saw a bit of light above him.
He looked up and saw a small ventilation window that was only the size of two palms. There were two metal poles on top of it.
It was probably carved out of the thick stone wall. The light from the sky reflected off the stone wall and gave the room some light. He could vaguely make out the outline of the room.
The room was so small that he could only sit. There was no place to lie down.
It was about 1.6 meters long and he couldn't even stretch his legs out. Even if he moved the wooden toilet bowl away, it would be more uncomfortable to stretch his legs there.
As the room was only 1.4 meters wide, he would have to hug the toilet bowl to sleep if he didn't put it there.
The narrow room gave him a stifling feeling. It was also three to four meters tall and it made him feel especially lonely.
It was no wonder Perunt said that the soldiers who committed the crime would rather receive 30 lashes than be locked up for three days. It was indeed not a place for humans to stay in.
Unless one was stupid or stupid, most people would develop mental problems after being locked up in such a place for too long.
The sound of footsteps could be heard from outside. He realized that he was especially sensitive to the sound of footsteps in the corridor outside the small room.
The footsteps stopped in front of the small iron door. With an ear-piercing creaking sound, the iron door was opened. The light from the torch shone into the small room, and the stone walls reflected strange and blurry colors of light.
A rough voice rang out, "You, come over here and take this blanket and toilet paper.
Also, your meals will be served from below this door. After you're done eating, take the cutlery out from under the door. Got it? "
Claude walked over without a word and took the blanket and a dozen pieces of toilet paper from the policeman.
The door was closed and the room was plunged into darkness once more.
Claude leaned against the cold stone wall and closed his eyes.
For other soldiers, being locked up might be a terrible punishment, but for him, it wasn't a punishment but a reward.
This was also the place where he could cultivate his meditation technique without worrying about being disturbed.
So far, the second hexagram in his spiritual space had gathered less than half of the second elemental photons. It would take a long time to fill up the entire space inside the hexagram. He didn't know when he would become a two-ring Rune Mage.
After meditating for a while, he heard footsteps coming from the tunnel again and the whispers of the two gendarmes.
They were betting on whether Claude would be able to crawl out of the cell after three days or if they would have to drag him out.
Based on their experience, soldiers who were put into solitary confinement for the first time would need someone to drag them out of the small room three days later.
This time, the two policemen brought Claude some food. The food was rather simple, consisting of a wooden plate with two slices of black bread the thickness of a finger and a wooden cup filled with water.
There were no forks or spoons. It seemed that they were worried that the cutlery would be turned into weapons in the hands of the soldiers who were locked up and something unexpected would happen.
There was a foot-long and 12-centimeter-tall movable window at the bottom of the door. It was just enough for the wooden plate and cup to be placed on the first step of the door.
Claude got up and took out the black bread and the cup of water. He quickly gulped it down and pushed the wooden plate and cup out of the sliding window under the door.
What he needed now was peace and quiet. He didn't want anyone to disturb his cultivation.
In the afternoon, Claude continued meditating. After two sessions, he started experimenting with the spells he knew.
Apart from the seven basic spells engraved on the hexagram in his mental space, the other spells were all casted by drawing magic formations out of thin air.
Since he left home to join the army, he left his tome with Angelina.
After all, there were too many people in the camp and it wasn't safe for him to carry the tome around with him. He couldn't let others find out that he was a magus.
Claude's sharp hearing allowed him to notice that he was the only occupant of the ten-odd cells in the corridor. The policemen outside wouldn't come to patrol for no reason.
Therefore, he was very confident in practicing the proficiency of those spells in the confinement room. He even placed a Pearl of Light spell in the confinement room, illuminating the confinement room in a dazzling white and abnormally bright manner.
After depleting his mana, Claude started meditating again. At night, the policemen brought him two slices of black bread and a cup of water.
They began to find it strange that the new recruit was a little too calm, completely different from the other soldiers who were locked up.
After all, those soldiers who had been locked up for an entire day would no longer have any appetite to eat. Some would even cry and throw a tantrum. Most of them would lean against the metal door, hoping that the military police who delivered their meals would talk to them a little more. Even if they were to be scolded badly, they would still be happy to do so …
It was very likely that they hadn't been here long enough to understand the horror of the confinement room. Perhaps after one night, they would be like the soldiers who had been confined in the past. Tomorrow, they would most likely start to cry.
With that thought in mind, the policemen packed up the cutlery Claude had brought out and left.
Claude continued meditating. The only downside was that he felt a little energized from too much meditation.
Claude used his feet to support himself against the walls of the room and slowly pushed himself up to the vent above. He took a few deep breaths of fresh air before grabbing the two metal bars of the vent with both hands and started doing pull-ups.
After a while, he jumped down and did push-ups with both hands on the stone steps.
When he was completely exhausted, he leaned against the wall and stretched out his legs. He covered himself with a blanket and fell asleep.
When he woke up in the morning, he felt a little uncomfortable as he slept in a half-lying, half-leaning position.
He had to stretch for a long time to get rid of the soreness in his back and shoulders before he continued meditating.
Three days passed in the blink of an eye. Finally, footsteps could be heard from the tunnel. This time, there was another person. It was clear that the time for his confinement was up.
"Creak." The small iron door emitted a hair-raising sound as it was opened. The light of the torch flickered.
One of the policemen poked his head in to check on Claude, only to see him standing up while leaning against the wall. He asked calmly, "Is it time?"
Not only were the two gendarmes agape and stupefied, even Lieutenant Sideri was astonished.
He took the torch and looked around. When he didn't find anything out of the ordinary, he looked at Claude suspiciously. "How did you survive the past three days?"