Chapter 1604 Enlistment (Ⅱ)

"Joan, which company do you serve in, are you sure?" Arnold asked.

"not yet."

"Why don't you go to the First Cavalry Battalion with us, and we buddies are together, so we can have someone to take care of us in the barracks! Otherwise, a fair and handsome boy like you, maybe there will be something like that The old bastard who sees people as inferior is trying to bully you!"

Arnold laughed, patted Joan on the shoulder and said, "I'm not worried about you being bullied by others, but I'm afraid you won't be able to suppress your anger and strike too hard, blowing up the barracks with spells!"

"Don't be kidding me, Arnold! I have always had a good temper, so I'm not as irritable as you said!"

Facing Arnold's eager invitation, Joan shook his head apologetically.

"I'm sorry, the notice I received was to go to the headquarters to report first, and the specific appointment should be subject to the arrangement of Lord Custis."

"So that's how it is..." Arnold touched his chin and guessed, "The lord probably has heard of your reputation, and intends to keep you by his side as a combat staff officer, instead of letting a genius mage like you go to the front line with us to do some For jobs that don't require brains, such as 'throwing fireballs and bombing the real people of Fei', it is better to stay in the headquarters to make suggestions and give full play to the value of genius minds."

"I don't know that."

In fact, Joan does not agree with Arnold's concept. Compared with staying at the headquarters as a staff officer, he is more willing to fight at the forefront, and he is indeed very good at fighting against large groups of enemy troops by himself. Service experience has fully proved this point.

The reason why he declined Arnold's invitation and did not want to serve in the 1st Cavalry Battalion, apart from the ostensible reason for obeying Lord Custis' arrangement, was that he didn't like the commander of the 1st Cavalry Battalion — Lieutenant Colonel Henry James — bigoted and racist, he felt uncomfortable serving under such a man.

Qiao An felt that since he was volunteering to join the army, at least he had to find a boss who didn't hate him to cooperate with him. Otherwise, it would be better to give up his military status and simply attack the intruders as a civilian, which would be more free.

The convoy stopped outside the gate of the barracks, and the students got out of the car with their bags on their backs, followed Arnold to the center of the square to assemble, and received military uniforms and nameplates from the quartermaster.

Baron Laval delivered a short welcome speech, and then arranged for these more than 300 "student soldiers" to report to their respective companies.

After saying goodbye to Arnold and the others, Joan, wearing the blue military uniform he had just put on, went to the regiment headquarters alone to visit Lord Custis.

At the entrance of the headquarters, Joan asked the guards on guard, only to learn that the Lord was in poor health, rarely appeared in public at the headquarters, and usually lived and worked in his own barracks.

I don't know whether it was out of enthusiasm or worry about Joan, the guard offered to take him to Lord Custis's barracks, named as a guide, but Joan felt that the other party was spying on him.

Considering Lord Custis' important position in the regiment and his poor health, Joan thought it was right for the guards to be vigilant against strangers like him, and of course he would not feel wronged by it.

After the briefing, a tall, dark-skinned Asa man came out. Joan immediately recognized Heimdall, Lord Custis' personal servant, and hurried forward to say hello.

Heimdall bowed back and politely invited Joan into the room.

"Dr. Vader, please come in, the Sir is waiting for you."

The guard who sent Joan over, at this time, was convinced that this boy who looked only fifteen or sixteen years old was really Dr. Offal of Midgard University, a genius mage highly valued by Lord Custis, and he was relieved. Yu, also felt terrified that he could not recognize noble people, and apologized to Qiao An repeatedly.

"You are just performing your duties, there is no fault at all, and there is no need to apologize to me."

After comforting the guard, Joan followed Heimdall into the barracks.

In addition to Heimdall, Lord Custis also brought four servants from his manor to serve his master's daily meals and daily needs.

This is not all because the lord is sick and needs to be taken care of. Those noble officers who are healthy in the army are also surrounded by servants brought by their families.

The military service system in the colonies is largely inherited from the mother country, and it has the remnants of the knightly wars of the old days.

For example, officers in the army are seldom promoted by ordinary soldiers who have accumulated merits step by step. Most of them are the children of wealthy families. They spend money to buy a cavalry captain or lieutenant. .

According to the tradition of the knight age, all officers in the army had to be of noble origin, and some even held glorious titles. When these knight masters go out to fight, they always show off with their front and back. From the retinue to the groom, they are all brought out from their own manor.

Today, with the advent of the magic industry era, the feudal manor economy is declining day by day, and the battlefield is no longer just a stage for knights to show off their might.

The art of war is becoming more cruel and efficient day by day. A civilian soldier equipped with a magic crystal rifle can kill a master knight wearing a full set of ancestral armor with a single click of the trigger a hundred steps away. Shoot down the horse.

Compared with the mainland of the empire, there are not so many aristocratic families with a long and intricate history in the colonies. Most of the officers in the army are the heirs of wealthy manor owners, factory owners, or big merchant families who have no inheritance rights. They spend money to buy a military rank and mix in the army. Seniority is one of the few outlets for these wealthy children.

A young military officer from a rich family followed the chivalry of the old world, brought his own servants and even a large group of slaves to the army garrison, and he also had a mentality of showing off his wealth.

On the contrary, those young people who have received a university education and are deeply influenced by enlightenment thoughts, such as Arnold and Audrey, even if they come from famous noble families, they don't bother to imitate the style of old knights. They neither bring their servants to join the army, nor He seldom takes the initiative to talk about his family background in front of his comrades-in-arms, and he is willing to associate with peers of the same age with ordinary family background but outstanding abilities like Joan.

In the past two years, Joan has served in the army many times in Alfheim and Midgard, and he has a personal experience of the old traditions and new styles that coexist in the barracks, which makes him often have a wonderful feeling Feeling, as if you are in the estuary where hundreds of rivers meet, being carried by the torrent and rushing downstream - the corner that symbolizes the change of old and new eras is not far ahead!

As a war hero twenty years ago, Lord Custis should be a model of old knight lords. However, Joan can't see the slightest old-fashioned and conservative behavior in this sick old man, otherwise he wouldn't He will let the other party arrange his duties during his service.