Four days later, Myjack and Gum returned to Squirrel Village.
Myjack reported to Claude that it took them 13 days to reach the royal capital and find Baron Normanley's mansion.
When night fell, Maria received them. After reading the letter Claude wrote to her and the first prince, she gave it some thought and told the stewards to arrange lodgings for the two of them and had them stay in the manor to wait for news.
From that day on, Myjack and Gum lived a happy life as pigs in Maria's house. Apart from eating and sleeping, they didn't see Maria at all.
Myjack managed to borrow a few books from the steward and Gum helped out in the kitchen when she was free and managed to get herself quite a bit of good food.
Half a month later, Maria suddenly summoned them and informed them that the first prince had returned to the frontline command center and the situation was under control.
So they were allowed to return, and they were rewarded with five crowns.
So, they set off the next day.
Along the way, they noticed that the security was much better than when they went to the royal capital. They could also see large groups of people retreating from the frontlines from time to time.
Myjack and Gum did well this time and successfully completed the mission Claude gave them.
Claude told them to go back and rest. The feeling in his heart grew stronger and stronger. The day when his unit would leave Squirrel Village would soon arrive.
After another three days, Claude received a messenger eagle from Major Skri. As expected, he was ordered to gather First Clan and leave Squirrel Village within two days.
It seemed that it was time to part ways with Sheerah. Claude rushed to Witch Forest that very night.
"This is my address in Whitestag. My mother, my sister and my brother's names.
This is the national bank account I set up for you. There are 200 crowns in it.
If you need to go out or need money, you can withdraw it from the national bank. I've told you how to do it before. You should remember, right?
Also, if you want to send a letter, you can give it to the village chief. I've already told him that I'll send your letter to the tavern for him to pass on to you. "
Claude repeated the details over and over again. In the end, he asked, "Sheila, are you really not coming with me?"
Sheila threw herself into Claude's embrace. Her eyes were filled with tears, but she shook her head resolutely.
He could only let out a long sigh and hug the soft body in his arms.
After settling the affairs of Squirrel Village, Claude and Durioro hugged for a while before leaving the village on horseback.
Captain Duriolo stood at the entrance of the village and shouted, "Brother, don't forget to go to my family's manor when you reach the capital. There are many good wines waiting for you to taste …"
Claude waved at him to let him know that he heard him and that he would definitely pay him a visit in the future.
Battalion HQ was in the town of Rosha, which wasn't far from the entrance of the mountain pass. When Claude's brigade arrived, he found that the other three brigades were packing up as well.
Skri welcomed Claude with a hug as well. He had heard that Claude was almost framed as a traitor by the nobles when he was recuperating in the camp under frontline command. He knew that it was because of him, so he greeted him warmly.
"Has the list been drawn up?" Major Skree asked.
"Yes." Claude handed him the list of five.
"Myjack and Gum are going too?" Major Skri was a little surprised. "They're just orderlies and guards …"
Claude nodded. "I'm going to let them lead the new unit. It'll be a waste for them to stay by my side all the time."
"New unit?"
Skri was taken aback for a moment before he realized what was going on. He couldn't help but laugh. "Claude, did you think I'd have to transfer you five to another unit?"
"Isn't that so?
Captain Durioro said that I'm definitely going to be assigned to a new unit. "
"No, I want the list because I want to send you for training. Take a look at this." Skri found a black folder on the table and handed it to Claude.
He opened the folder and found a notice inside. It was a notice from the frontline command center. It requested that the various units that received this notice select a number of outstanding officers to attend a year and a half of military academy training in the royal capital. 1st Ranger Battalion had a quota of ten.
The only thing that puzzled Claude was that he had never heard of the name of the military academy. It was none other than the Caleben Royal Military Academy.
"The Caleben Royal Military Academy was only recently established."
Skri seemed to understand Claude's doubts. He explained, "The kingdom has decided to form four new standing corps. Three of them will be stationed in the territories of the three former duchies that have been occupied.
Another corps will be the kingdom's mobile force and will be stationed near the royal capital. It's called Ranger.
As the name suggests, it's a mobile infantry corps equipped with warhorses. The kingdom has come to an agreement with Canas to provide the kingdom with 80,000 warhorses within three years as compensation. "
Durioro had already told Claude that the kingdom was going to form four new standing corps, which Claude wasn't too surprised about.
However, the information Skri gave him was a step further. Canas was going to compensate the kingdom with 80,000 warhorses, and the kingdom was going to use them to form Ranger, a mobile infantry corps equipped with warhorses.
There was also the newly established Caleben Royal Military Academy. What was the connection between the two?
What was the point of sending officers like him to the academy for a year and a half's worth of training?
"In the future, all the officers of these four new standing corps will have to go to the Calleben Royal Family's Military Academy for training, from non-commissioned officers to field officers, without exception.
Most importantly, those who are qualified to enter this military academy for training can only be civilian officers. "Major Skri added.
Claude understood. The royal family wanted to strengthen their influence in the military and make the four new corps loyal to the royal family.
The Caleben Royal Military Academy was set up to groom the commoner officers of the four corps. The goal was to let the commoners receive the same military education and training as the nobles.
"Prince Hansbach is the first principal of the Caleben Royal Military Academy. The chief instructor is the one the prince trusts a lot, General Michelic Jac-Priest.
He's also the person in charge of the academy. He's already resigned from his post as chief of staff of Bluefeather and refused to become the general of the newly formed Bluefeather. He'd rather be the chief instructor of the academy.
He believes that grooming outstanding officers in the academy is much easier than being a general. Not only that, it gives him a great sense of accomplishment. "
General Michaelic K'Priestly is a clever man, thought Claude.
Now that the war was over, being the general of an ace corps in peacetime was a very taxing job. What one needed wasn't outstanding military talent, but rather an expert at mediating relationships.
Be it nobles or commoners, their power must be balanced. Bluefeather was almost wiped out in the Great Plains of Canas, so the newly reorganized Bluefeather would definitely become a place where many factions would covet and fight for it.
"By the way, Claude, you'll have been in the army for five years in another two months, right?" Skri asked.
Claude nodded. He graduated at the age of 18 and joined Bluefeather half a year later. He received officer training and officially joined the army in September.
Then, the war broke out and lasted for four years. He was now 23 and it was July. In another two months, he would be five years old in September.
"Usually, after three years in the army, one can get three months of family leave. But after the war broke out, that was stopped.
Now that the war is over, the other corps have reopened the family leave system and 1st Ranger Tribe is no exception.
You have two choices now. One is to start the family leave immediately. I can give you five months to go home and visit your family.
The other is to follow us back to the royal capital first before going home to visit your family. However, you only have three months left. "Skri gave Claude a pleasant surprise.
Wait, something doesn't seem right. It took Claude a long while to snap out of his daze. "Sir, what did you say?
I can go home and visit my family right now? "
Skri nodded with a smile.
"B-but I don't understand. Why do I get five months of leave while I only get three months of leave to go back to the royal capital?" Claude couldn't figure it out no matter how hard he thought about it.
Skri laughed heartily. "That's because the next two months are the dates given to us by the higher-ups to return to the royal capital. Our tribe has already been incorporated into Ranger by the first prince and we have to go back to the royal capital to be reorganized.
If you don't want to go home first, you can slowly travel with us. When we set up camp in the royal capital, you can go home to visit your family. "
Claude came to a sudden realization. It was a perk Skri was giving him. Since 1st Ranger Tribe was going to be on a long march, they had to reach the royal capital within two months anyway.
Since that was the case, he might as well go home earlier. After all, he could travel much faster on horseback than on foot. There was no need for him to waste time on the road with 1st Ranger Tribe.
"Thank you, Sir!" Claude saluted happily.
"The first batch of family leave for 1st Ranger Tribe will be in your 1st Brigade. Go back and ask. We can set the number at around a hundred.
Have them fill in an application form for you to approve. Once they're done, have them register their names at the camp's logistics office to receive their salaries and travel permits, "said Skri.
Just as Claude was about to rush out of the office to tell his men about the good news, he was stopped by Skri. "By the way, Claude, your leave ends on the 15th of January next year.
In other words, you must report to the Calleben Royal Military Academy before the 15th of January next year, because the 15th of January is the official opening day of the Calleben Royal Military Academy.
"Don't I have to report back to the camp to cancel my leave?" Claude asked.
"No need. When we reach the imperial capital, I will hand over the names of the five of you, along with the files of the five candidates I have here, to the military academy. You can report directly to the military academy to cancel your leave.
After your training is over, the academy will reassign you back to 1st Ranger Tribe.
I wonder if we'll still be called 1st Ranger Tribe by then, though … "Skri seemed a little melancholic, but there was nothing he could do about it. 1st Ranger Tribe would be part of Ranger Corps, so the name would definitely change.
Claude happily rushed over and hugged Skri and spun him around a few times. "Thank you again, Sir!"
It was the 24th of the 7th month and Skri told Claude to report to the royal military academy on the 15th of January next year. That gave Claude another twenty days of leave, which was why he was so excited.
After returning to the camp, Claude had Myjack call Dyavid and Moriad over, as well as Gum the big one.
First, he told the five of them about the training at the Caleben Royal Family's military academy, and then about the home leave.
For Myjack and Gemi, the training didn't matter as long as they could follow Claude around.
As for the home leave, the two of them were rather troubled. They were orphans, which was why they were sent to join the army by the local conscription agency.
One of them wasn't even 16 back then and the other was always hungry. Neither of them were suitable candidates for the army, but they had nowhere to go after they were sent there, so they could only stay.
Fortunately, the two of them were taken in by Claude and slowly grew by his side. They were now elite veterans in the eyes of others.
Myjack was a non-commissioned officer and Gemi was a staff sergeant.
If Gemi could read, his rank would be the same as Myjack's.
However, Claude had already instructed Myjack to teach Gemi how to read. It didn't matter if he learned slowly, as long as he could remember it well.
If Claude were to go back on home leave, Myjack and Gemi would have nothing to do in the camp. One of them was Claude's orderly and the other was his bodyguard. Both of them revolved around Claude, but they weren't willing to go back to visit their families. Their hometown wasn't a beautiful memory to them. It was a painful memory of being bullied, starved, and forced to scavenge for food in the trash.
"Forget it, Boss. Why don't you bring them home with you? They don't have a home to go back to anyway." Moriad's words were the deciding factor.
Myjack and Gemi followed Claude home. Moriad and Dyavid, on the other hand, didn't really care about the leave. They were abandoned by their families, after all.
They decided to return to the royal capital with the army before going home to visit their families. They wanted to let their families see that the children they abandoned had sacrificed their lives for a bright future in the army and in the war. They were now official second lieutenants of the kingdom.
A hundred slots for family visits was a third of the total number of soldiers in 1st Brigade. The soldiers of 1st Brigade went wild when they heard the news.
In the end, Claude decided to draw lots to decide who would be allowed to go on leave. Maqic used his rank and position as a second lieutenant to get a spot without having to draw lots.
He had thought that his days in the army would be over. He didn't think he would be able to become an official officer of the kingdom.
With his rank, he decided to go back to his hometown and propose to the widow he had admired for a long time. He wondered if she had remarried after all these years.