The place Manrique arranged for Claude to stay at was at the eastern end of the village. It was a little far from the military academy and would take around 15 minutes to get there.
However, Manrique said that the academy could provide Claude with a healthy horse as a means of transportation. As for the three horses that Claude's group originally rode, they had already been purchased by the academy at market price. That would save Claude the trouble of having to take care of his own steed.
Ranger would be a mobile force, a rapid reaction force, so every officer and soldier would need to be skilled in horsemanship.
It was only when the cadets who were undergoing training came to report to the academy that the academy discovered that at least half of them did not know how to ride a horse.
As a result, the horsemanship class was temporarily added to the curriculum. Before the higher-ups allocated a batch of warhorses, it became an urgent matter to collect a batch of healthy horses for the students to practice horsemanship.
That was why the three mounts brought by Claude and the others became Manrique's target. At the same time, it gave him an idea.
The cadets who came to report to the military academy either rode on carriages or horses. As long as they purchased the mounts of the cadets, there would be no need for them to go to the royal capital and haggle with those horse dealers who were trying to raise the price.
Lieutenant Colonel Manrique perfectly completed the task of purchasing the mount, and even saved a lot of money compared to the estimated cost.
"This is where you'll be spending the night," said Lonkdo, Manrique's new adjutant, who brought Claude over.
The house he pointed to was the largest Claude had ever seen in the village. It was built of stone and wood in an L-shape, with four rooms on the long side and two rooms on the short side.
In front of the building there was a large yard with a well and a shed for livestock.
"Is this the home of the leader of the village?" Claude asked.
"I guess so, but the village chief is not him. He chose this place because their accommodation is the best and they have extra rooms."
Second Lieutenant Ronkedo replied somewhat embarrassedly, "I only came here once to check if the room meets our requirements. I don't know much about this family.
However, the head of the household here was the village chief's father. It was said that he had an eccentric temper.
However, the village chief said that his mother is the one in charge of the house. For the sake of the rent, the village chief's mother welcomes you to stay. "
"The village chief's father is the head of the household. Doesn't the village chief live here?" This relationship seemed to be a bit complicated.
"The village chief is a disabled veteran and has the status of a citizen.
But his father was just a commoner, so he could only live on the other side of the village.
Right now, there are two younger brothers and a younger sister living with his father. The village chief's second younger brother is currently serving in the imperial guard corps, while his third younger brother was exempted from military service because of his two older brothers' service. Right now, he's working as a clerk in a merchant company in the capital. "Second Lieutenant Ronkedo had done some research.
The two of them dismounted from their horses. The door to the courtyard was unlatched, and Second Lieutenant Ronkedo directly pushed it open. "Is anyone here?"
Very soon, four people appeared in the courtyard, three women and a man. The man was a tall old man in his sixties. He had a stern face, and his expression didn't seem very good. There was even a bit of dust on his graying beard.
Claude could clearly see that the old man had come out from the barn.
There was also a chubby middle-aged woman in her fifties wearing an apron. She seemed to be cooking something in the kitchen as she smelled of smoke.
However, she was rather friendly and greeted him with a smile. "Sir, you're here. You must be the officer who's staying here. You look quite young."
Ronkedo nodded and made the introductions. He pointed at the old man and said, "This is Mister Zasirak, the head of the household.
This is Zasirak's wife, Madam Nathalie. "
"Nice to meet you, Mister Zasirak, Madam Nathalie.
I'm sorry to have caused you a lot of trouble staying here in the future. "
Claude saluted the old couple politely. He didn't expect to hear the old man mutter, "You know you're going to cause us trouble, yet you still want to stay here."
What did the old man mean? It seemed like he didn't welcome him staying here.
His wife, on the other hand, rolled her eyes at him and said with a warm smile, "You're welcome, Sir. It's our honor to have you stay here.
Don't call me Madam. I'm just a country bumpkin who doesn't know much. If you don't mind, just call me Aunty. If you need any help, just ask.
By the way, let me introduce you. This is my second daughter-in-law, Doris, and this is my youngest daughter, Harbena. "
Only then did Claude look at the two young women. They had come down from the second floor.
The older one should be the second daughter-in-law. She looked to be in her mid-twenties and had decent looks. She could be given a score of six or seven.
However, she seemed a little flirtatious. She looked at Claude with a teasing gaze and licked the corner of her mouth with her tongue.
Thinking back to what Ronkedo said about the second son serving in the royal guard, it was obvious that the wife couldn't stand the loneliness at home.
Perhaps it was because of this daughter-in-law that the family head didn't welcome Claude to stay.
The younger one was the youngest daughter of the family. She looked to be in her twenties and had delicate features. Her figure was rather similar to her mother's, but she was more voluptuous. She had an innocent expression on her face as she looked at Claude with wide eyes.
Claude saluted again. "Greetings, beautiful ladies."
The one called Doris giggled. "I'm not a lady. You have to call me Madam."
Claude looked at Ronkedo awkwardly. He didn't know what the family's surname was, so how should he address them?
Natalie, on the other hand, helped Claude solve the problem. "Doris, don't make things difficult for the young ones. What kind of madam are you? Just call them by their names.
We, the country people, give names to others. Let's call you Madam. Look at yourself, do you look like a Madam at all … "
Ronkedo coughed and interrupted Natalie's nagging. "Hey, erm, is Captain Claude's room ready?"
"It's been taken care of long ago. We even cleaned it up. All the furniture, even the doors and windows, have been scrubbed clean. We're just waiting for the officer to move in," Natalie said as she led the way. "Come with me."
They were on the first floor, which was the shorter part of the L-shaped building. It was a two-room suite with its own toilet and bathroom.
That made Claude quite happy. Even if he had to fetch water from the well in the courtyard and boil it in the water tank outside the house, it was still better than not having a place to bathe.
"This is where my eldest son lived when he got married. They moved out after we split from the family," Natalie said.
"My second son and Doris chose the two rooms upstairs when they got married. The first floor has always been empty. It's quite suitable to rent it out to the officer."
Even though it was the first floor, it didn't feel damp at all. That was probably due to the fact that the foundation was built well.
There was also a layer of wooden flooring on the ground. It was made of wooden planks that were no more than 60 centimeters long, but it gave off a warm feeling.
The walls of the house were made of stone, which made it quite sturdy and soundproof.
The only downside was that there weren't any decorations on the ceiling. There were only rows of wooden beams on top of which the flooring of the second floor was laid.
Claude didn't understand why there wasn't a partition at the top. That way, dust would fall from the cracks in the flooring when people walked around.
But when he heard that Natalie's family lived on the second floor, he understood. Since nobody lived on the first floor, they wouldn't pay attention to that. So, there was no need to spend money to build a roof above the first floor.
"Alright, I'm quite satisfied with this room.
I'll bring my luggage over tonight. I'll have to trouble you from today onwards, "Claude said to Natalie.
Lonkedo said that even though the old man was the head of the household, the one in charge was his wife. As long as he could settle Natalie, everything would be fine.
"Alright, alright. Why don't you have dinner with us tonight, sir?" Natalie invited politely.
"There's no need for that. Our academy has a rule that we have to eat in the cafeteria.
Also, Aunt Natalie, just call me Claude from now on. Don't call me sir. It sounds distant, "Claude politely declined.
Lonkedo stepped forward and started discussing with Natalie about letting Claude's steed spend the night there. It was just a spot in the barn and a few handfuls of feed. In the end, they settled on an extra thale per month.
After everything was settled, the two parted ways.
From that night onwards, Claude would be spending the night there.
Now, he had to go back and pack his luggage. Classes would start the next day and the tents by the field would have to be moved to the warehouse.
"That old man doesn't seem to welcome me," Claude said.
Lonkedo nodded. "Don't mind him. He's a little old-fashioned and he's worried that an officer will try to seduce his daughter and her second daughter-in-law.
Don't you think his second daughter-in-law looks rather slutty? She should be easy to seduce. You'll have a chance in the future.
His wife, on the other hand, wants her daughter to marry an officer. That way, their family will have someone to rely on. "
Claude smiled. "That's a pity. I've only been married for less than half a year and I'm not interested in his daughter.
My wife is already three months pregnant and I'm worried about her health. "
"Congratulations, then.
Second Lieutenant Ronkedo said enviously, "You're already a captain at such a young age and even received the Knight's Medal.
You even have a wife and you're going to be a father soon.
Compared to me, you're really a winner in life! "
After returning to the academy, Claude didn't even have time to pack his luggage before he was hugged by someone.
"What took you so long?" The ones hugging him were Berklin, Moriad and Dyavid.
Claude asked angrily, "What's going on? I thought you guys didn't dare to see me. You didn't even come to my wedding …"
"What? Boss, you're married too?" Moriad asked, surprised.
"Huh?
I'm married too? What do you mean? Didn't you get my wedding notice?
I sent it to you last August to invite you to my wedding, but none of you came. I thought you didn't recognize me as your boss anymore. "
"That's not it, Boss!"
Dyavid cried, "We didn't get your letter. We weren't home, so we didn't know you were getting married."
"You weren't home?"
Claude found it strange. Didn't the two of them say they were going to show off when they got back to the royal capital?
They weren't even home during their three-month leave. What were they up to? "Where did they go?"
"Boss, don't blame them. I'm the one who dragged them down. They didn't go home because of me," Berklin admitted.
"What did you do this time?" Claude asked curiously.
"Boss, Berk got married too.
Moriad said, "He and his wife eloped. We didn't go home because we wanted to help him escape from his wife's pursuit …"
Eloped?
That was even more shocking than Berklin's marriage.
Claude's interest was piqued. "Tell me, what happened? Is it settled?"
"Boss, do you remember Aboyev?" Dyavid asked.
"Of course."
Claude nodded. Dyavid was their good friend and one of Claude's lackeys. He was the smallest among them but loved to joke the most.
The four of them joined the army together, but Aboyev fell during the attack on Wilf Hill.
A bullet pierced through his left eye and the back of his head.
Fortunately, his death was very sudden, and there was no pain at all.
"Aboyev is a twin. He's the elder brother and has a twin sister," Moriad explained.
Aboyev and his twin sister were illegitimate children. While his father acknowledged their blood relationship, he didn't acknowledge their family. That was why he didn't have a family name in his name.
Berklin went home to visit his family first and found out that Aboyev's sister was being forced to marry off to an old noble in his fifties whose wife had died.
So, Berklin bravely took Aboyev's sister with him and ran away from the marriage. They were chased by the woman and the old noble.
The desperate Berklin brought Aboyev's sister to the barracks to seek help. Coincidentally, they bumped into Moriad and Dyavid. Now, their safety was guaranteed.
So, Moriad and Dyavid helped hide Berklin and Aboyev's sister while they tried to convince the woman and the old noble.
The girl was quite easy to talk to. A declining noble family didn't have much confidence. Although Aboyev was dead, his good friends were now official Second Lieutenants of the kingdom. It was worth it to use a concubine's daughter, who wasn't valued by the family, to gain their friendship and help them in the future. Moreover, the one who took the concubine's daughter away was a First Lieutenant of the kingdom.
So, their conditions were simple. Berklin had to marry Aboyev's sister and they had to deal with the old noble on their own. The woman wouldn't be held responsible.
The problem was that the old noble was a pervert. He didn't care how Moriad and Dyavid tried to persuade him and only insisted on two points. One, the woman had to hand her over since she accepted his betrothal gifts.
He didn't care if they were compatible or not. What he wanted wasn't Aboyev's sister's love, but her body.
Two, he didn't want to use his status to scare people. His nephew was a colonel in the army's logistics department. What are you young second-lieutenants trying to show off for?
"And then?" Claude was concerned about the outcome.
"There's nothing we can do." Moriad shrugged. "If words don't work, we can only rely on our fists.
The two of us watched the old man for three days. Finally, he went to the tavern to have some fun with the maidservants.
When he was done enjoying himself, he knocked him out with a stick. Then, he put a sack over his head and carried him to the alley behind the tavern to give him a good beating. Then, he took all the money the old man had on him.
We did it just like the thugs in the royal capital who beat people up and robbed them without being discovered.
"Then, we brought Berklin and Aboyev's sister to the three southern prefectures and found a moon shrine for them to marry. Then, we pooled our money and bought a house beside Lieutenant-Colonel Ledefonk's residence for them to live there.
With Lieutenant-Colonel Ledefonk's wife looking after them, Aboyev's sister will be safe even if Berklin comes to the military academy for training. "