To a certain extent, Claude had become a legendary figure among the new recruits. He got into a conflict with the veterans the moment he entered and sent six of them to the infirmary.
Even though he was sent in, it didn't diminish his glory. Thanks to the propaganda of the four nobles in the same tent, he gained a reputation as a hero among the new recruits who entered the camp.
Now that he had fully recovered and returned to camp, he became the focus of the new recruits. Along the way, almost all the new recruits looked at him respectfully. Some even cheered loudly. That made Sidra, who was escorting Claude back, feel rather uncomfortable.
"Second Lieutenant Most, new recruit Claude Ferd's three days of confinement are over. He will now return to camp. Please sign here," said Sidra as he handed a document to a bearded second lieutenant in the tent.
Claude stood behind him and looked curiously at the command tent that was slightly larger than the camp tents.
The bearded second lieutenant didn't say anything and quickly signed his name on the document.
Sidra took the document back and said after some thought, "Second Lieutenant Most, I hope you can pay more attention to Claude's training and make him a proper and disciplined soldier of Bluefeather as soon as possible. Don't let him tarnish the glory of our blue feather."
Second Lieutenant Most raised his head in surprise and looked at First Lieutenant Sidley. "First Lieutenant Sidley, you're in charge of the Military Law Department and the Military Police. Training soldiers isn't your forte.
As for how to train new recruits, I have experience. Trust me, any new recruit in my hands will quickly become a proper soldier. "
Sidra didn't say anything else and turned to leave. The bearded second lieutenant looked at his back and asked Claude with a smile, "How did you offend him to make him target you like that?"
Claude didn't know how to answer and could only shrug helplessly.
Most patted Claude on the shoulder. "Don't worry, it'll be fine.
You should know that you're a hero in the eyes of the new recruits.
Personally, I think you did a good job. You fought six of them alone and you're quite skilled.
Also, you're the first person to be able to stand up straight after three days of confinement.
So, I'll reward you with half a day of rest. You don't need to train in the afternoon.
The most important thing for you now is to take a shower, then go to the canteen to have a good meal. After that, go back to the tent and sleep. Training tomorrow won't be so easy. "
Claude stood at attention and saluted. "Thank you, Sir."
When he returned to his tent, he was immediately surrounded by Aboyev, Moriad, Dyavid, and Berklin. They were very attentive and concerned about his well-being.
The other beds in the tent were already occupied. The recruits who didn't know Claude looked at the four nobles with envious gazes.
It was almost noon. After the morning training, the recruits had all returned to camp and were waiting for the cafeteria's bugle to be blown.
According to Aboyev, there was more than an hour of rest after lunch, enough for everyone to take a nap.
The afternoon training usually started at 2: 30 and ended at 4: 00 to 5: 00.
Calculating it seriously, the daily training time was only about four to five hours.
The training seemed rather lax. Claude wondered if this was the notoriously harsh three-month recruit training.
It didn't seem like much. It wasn't even as strict as the military training in his past life.
"We have to go through such harsh training every day for the past three months. It's really tough.
Boss is the best. He only went to the infirmary for half a month and now he's back. There's so much less training time, "Moriad sighed.
Berklin looked Moriad up and down maliciously. "Why don't you let me beat you up? As long as you can endure the pain, I promise you that you can stay in the treatment center for ten days to half a month. You don't have to continue training."
"Ptooey, you wish." Moriad rolled his eyes. "Then I'll just keep training. At least I can run and jump. It's better than lying on a sickbed unable to move."
"Alright, brothers. I'm happy with your enthusiasm.
Even though you don't mind the stench on me, I can't stand it.
I'm going to take a bath first before going to eat. We'll have a good chat when I come back, "Claude said to the four self-proclaimed nobles.
"Boss, I'll go with you. I'm sweaty from training this morning, so I'll go take a bath too," Aboyev volunteered.
The other three followed suit and the five of them went to the bathhouse with a change of clothes.
Having four minions was quite convenient. Even his back was scrubbed by Berklin when he bathed. His hair, face, teeth, and toenails were all taken care of by the four minions.
Towels were wrung out and toothbrushes smeared with tooth powder were all given to Claude. Even his dirty clothes were washed by Moriad.
The bathhouse in the barracks was actually just a small stream in the mountains that was connected by bamboo and clay pipes to the various compartments of the bathhouse for bathing. Apart from the stream being a little cold, there wasn't anything else to be dissatisfied about.
After washing up, Claude felt refreshed all over and changed into a new uniform before heading to the mess hall with his four minions.
It was only when he arrived that he noticed that there were now two more stoves.
Aboyev told Claude that it was the result of the canteen brawl he had with the veterans, so the camp was expanded.
There were six stoves.
The two on the far left were used by the veterans who were undergoing NCO training, the two in the middle were used by the original soldiers of this camp, and the two on the far right were used by the new recruits who were undergoing NCO training.
If they had built two more stoves earlier, he wouldn't have had to go to the infirmary with the veterans. It was only then that Claude believed that Perunt wasn't wrong when he said that most of the officers in the army were people who used their buttocks to think. They wouldn't change unless something went wrong.
Even though there were two more stoves, the food in the mess hall was still the same as it was the first time Claude went there. Stewed potato ribs, black bread sandwiched with bacon, a fist-sized boiled apple and black tea that he could drink as he pleased.
However, after spending three days in solitary confinement eating black bread and water, Claude's mouth watered at the sight of meat.
He couldn't wait for the chef to scoop up two more ribs for him.
Aboyev and the other nobles, on the other hand, looked rather annoyed. They had been eating the same food in the mess hall and didn't have much of an appetite anymore.
However, they knew that the training in the afternoon would be tough if they didn't eat their fill, so they forced themselves to stuff food into their mouths.
Claude wolfed down the big box of stewed potato ribs and got up to get another one.
The chef was rather happy. He didn't think that someone would actually find his stewed potato ribs delicious, so he added two more spoonfuls of it and almost stuffed Claude to the point of bursting.
Just as he was enjoying his meal, a veteran came over and placed his own lunchbox on his table. He stared at him intently.
"Good day. Is there anything I can help you with?"
Claude swallowed the food in his mouth and looked up. The veteran before him had a sharp face and didn't seem like someone to be trifled with.
"You're Claude Ferd?" the veteran asked with a smile, revealing a row of white teeth.
"That's me. You are?"
"I'm Staff Sergeant Fitney. You don't know me, but I've known you for a long time. I'm here to thank you for sending my brothers to the infirmary and letting them rest well," the veteran said with a smile.
Staff Sergeant Fitney?
That name sounds rather familiar. Soon, he recalled the warning Corpsman Bell gave him. He said that the leader of the veterans he sent to the infirmary was Staff Sergeant Fitney and that he should be careful. Fitney had said that he would teach him a lesson during the meal.
Claude stood up warily. "What are you trying to do?"
Fitney shook his head. "Don't worry, I won't teach you a lesson here. We're all training right now, so I don't have time to do so.
But I promise, we'll meet again soon. You won't be able to escape from me. "
After saying that, Fitney turned around and left.
Claude looked at his back and felt a headache coming on. It seemed that the fight with the veterans wasn't over yet and the consequences would continue.
However, he didn't know what Fitney's last words meant. How did he have the confidence to say that he wouldn't be able to escape from him?
The four noble lackeys didn't say anything until Fitney was far away. Only then did they react. "Who was that? How could he be so arrogant? It's annoying to look at him.
Boss, why don't we go and beat him up and send him to the infirmary with his brothers? How dare he talk big in front of us? "
Claude rubbed his nose and furrowed his brow. "Enough. You only dare to act so arrogantly after the others have left.
Forget it, I won't ask you to beat him up. Help me look into this Staff Sergeant Fitney over the next few days. "
"Alright, Boss. We'll definitely look into it for you. We'll make sure to find out how old he was when he stopped wetting his bed," Berklin said as he patted his chest.
The next day, Claude started his recruit training. As he started training ten days later than the other recruits, Most arranged for a corporal to help him out.
That corporal was someone Claude was familiar with. He was the one who received him on Gilp's orders on the first day he reported to the camp.
It seemed that the corporal was well-liked by the second lieutenants and would be with him wherever he went.
However, Corporal Gero was a quiet man and wasn't good with words. Whenever he spoke to him, he would only get a 'yes' or 'yes'. Otherwise, Claude would have asked him why he wasn't one of the veterans who trained the sergeants.
What Corporal Gero helped Claude with was nothing more than military salutes, military discipline and posture, as well as familiarizing him with the meaning of the various bugles.
It only took him three days to grasp the basics of the movements.
For example, military salutes differed from the salutes he saw in his previous world in the way the palm was held.
Those salutes in his previous world had their palms flat, but they were held vertically with the four fingers together and the thumb aimed at the temple.
It was said that this was a form of salute passed down from ancient times. Generals on opposing sides would salute in such a manner to show that they didn't have any sharp weapons hidden in their right palms to show their sincerity. It had been passed down to the present day and became the military salute of most countries on Freia.
Military discipline depended on rote memorization. Military posture was nothing more than standing and walking with a straight back. When taking large strides, one had to match the pace of the comrades around them. There wasn't much of a goose walk or a forward walk.
The bugles were also very simple. Most of them had one long and two short or one short and two long. It was probably because they were worried that the soldiers would get confused if there were too many bugles.
Most of the bugles were very happy that Claude managed to catch up to the other recruits in just three days. After assessing Claude, he praised Corporal Gero and announced that Claude would be able to participate in training the next day and wouldn't need any more private training.