Second Life as a Soldier

Peter’s POV

I stood off to the side with a frown.

Just a few steps away, inside a makeshift fighting pit, my sergeant circled Silas, sweat dripping from his face, while the rest of the squad shouted encouragement like drunken hooligans. If not for the two men on perimeter watch and the one stationed in the tower, this would have looked more like a bandit camp than a Royal Army detachment.

I shuddered.

If my father had ever seen a sergeant behaving like this, laughing and sparring with his subordinates, he would have considered it a failure of discipline. And these were not even regular soldiers. They were members of a death squad. Criminals. I would have been reprimanded simply for suggesting such a leadership style for a death squad, and my position in the line of inheritance might even have been questioned.

And yet here I was.

Watching my sergeant not only mingle with criminals, but actively train them.

“Do not hesitate! Come at me with full force!” Edward called out.

The tone was uncomfortably familiar. It sounded exactly like our academy instructors.

Silas lunged. Edward shifted his body out of the spear’s path, then parried with practiced ease, nearly disarming him. Edward stepped back and waited as Silas adjusted his footing. In real combat, Silas would already be dead.

“Plant your rear foot and keep your guard up,” Edward continued, instructing Silas on spear technique and footwork.

I sighed.

Scenes like this had become routine over the past month.

When I was placed in Edward’s squad, I was excited.

I knew about him even before he made his name during the Beast Tide. After all, he was the one who changed the recording method for all intelligence privates in Fort Darrow.

The last I heard, it had begun to be implemented in other forts as well. So while other departments might not know much about him, Edward was a well-known figure within the intelligence division, at least in Fort Darrow. Winning the Iron Medal only expanded his reputation, making his name recognizable across the northern region of the Kingdom.

But all my excitement was dashed on the first day I met him. Almost everything he did was the opposite of what I had been taught. It began with training criminals to use formations, then providing them with rune equipment and even rune weapons. Worst of all, he gave criminals tasks that would help them progress in their classes.

The first few days out in the wild on this expedition were a nightmare. I slept lightly, expecting a knife in my back.

Yet it never came.

Instead, what came was surprise.

When I read the mission brief, I was certain the death rate by the time we dealt with the Tier-3 beast would exceed fifty percent. That was how first missions for Death Squads were designed, specifically to test a new sergeant’s performance and conviction. This one was slightly difficult, but nothing out of the norm.

But with the new rune sergeant had come up with, it not only helped with ambushes but also allowed us to move at a faster pace.

Another reason for such low casualties was that there was no oath required in this squad.

The squad worked without needing one. And why would they need a Mana Oath?

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Any normal sergeant, even me in that role, would have taken a safer position in the rear instead of the front, leaving the rest of the squad to deal with the threat and using Mana Oath to save myself if needed.

But not Edward. He chose to lead from the front.

Even after I warned him when he took the front position against the Tier-2 beasts, Edward once again chose to stand at the front when facing the Tier-3.

Yet when the beast gave the squad the opportunity to betray their sergeant, only one took it. When Edward fell, I was ready to die as well, expecting the others to stand there and do nothing while the beast crushed him. But the entire squad moved to protect him.

I feel ashamed that some of them stepped forward in Edward’s defense even before I did.

Corvin was the only one who behaved like I expected everyone to. He was the only one who betrayed Edward’s trust.

A sharp shout snapped me back to the present.

Edward accelerated suddenly, deflecting Silas’s spear with his shield and thrusting forward in one fluid motion. Silas barely managed to block in time before Edward’s spear tapped his chest, finishing the match.

“Edward!”

“Edward!”

“Edward!”

The clearing erupted in cheers.

Edward grinned as if he was not the one assigning duties. As if exemption from night watch was a prize he personally valued.

Then he began walking toward me, wiping sweat from his face using his sleeve.

I straightened instinctively.

“Peter, walk with me. I have something to discuss with you,” Edward said, making his way out of the circle as Daren and Varric came into position.

“Tomorrow I want you to participate in sparring. This should allow you a good opportunity to analyze their skills, and we can work on training plans,” Edward said as we kept walking.

I frowned as I listened to his statement.

I had no interest in fighting these criminals, but after thinking for a while, I nodded.

Something at the back of my mind was telling me to try Edward’s methods, and I do not think it was a request.

While his methods might appear soft, that does not mean you can dispute his orders. I have seen those giant monsters fall silent when Edward is not in a good mood.

He knows how to punish, and most of the time his punishments hurt more than physical ones. Digging latrines for refusing to work with the squad still haunts me. That was a punishment I had not received since graduating from trainee status. I have seen him assign Varric and Barry the most boring duties, and for someone with their personalities, it was a nightmare.

“I wanted your opinion on changing weapons for Varric, Rokan, and Daren,” Edward continued.

“What weapon are you thinking? I do not think the Fort will allow us that, but after using the merit of the Tier-3 beast egg, it might be possible,” I said.

“No, I was thinking of using the femurs of the mammoth. They’re large enough to make hammers. The mammoth’s Earth affinity makes the bones far stronger than our normal weapons.”

”Varric knows how to make crude weapons from bone, and if we use the stones we collected from the mammoth’s spine, they could make good hammerheads,” Edward said.

“Why are we doing it?” I asked.

One good thing about working under Edward was that you did not have to worry about asking for his reasoning or voicing your doubts.

“Well, during sparring I realized Rokan and Daren use their spears like hammers, not surprising given their background. Even Varric’s file mentioned he knows how to use a hammer.”

“With weapons made out of this beast’s bones, we can save on cost, and the hammers could increase our squad’s attacking capacity.” Edward explained.

I sighed. It was a good idea, no doubt about it, and I do not think there is any harm in giving Rokan and Daren such weapons.

“Do you think it is a good idea to give Varric a more powerful weapon?” I asked, almost ready for another argument, but instead he did not disagree with my doubt.

“No,” Edward said, “but I will know in some time.”

“What do you think about the effect of using such weapons? Will people at the fort have a problem?” Edward asked.

“It is not uncommon to use beast parts for weapons. I am sure your new shield and spear were made by mixing them with beast materials. I think it is quite common for the Vanguard to use beast parts,” I said.

“These bones are not part of our mission requirements, so we can use them however we want. But with us being a Death Squad, it could raise some eyebrows. Will the lieutenant support your decision?” I asked.

“Yes,” he replied with confidence, without a hint of doubt.

It perplexes me how supportive Lieutenant Cicero is of Edward. If people outside knew how Lieutenant Cicero treats Edward, almost like his disciple, it would cause a huge reaction, both negative and positive, among the noble houses of the Kingdom.

“As for the people, the direction our squad is taking will definitely affect them. So these weapons could be a good way of testing how they will react,” I added, answering Edward’s second question.

Suddenly a teasing smile surfaced on Edward’s face.

“Our?” Edward asked, maintaining his smile.

Without realizing it, I had started treating myself as part of the squad, and I think it was my first time calling it “our” in front of Edward.

“Sergeant!” Oren’s voice took Edward’s attention.

“Come, you versus Varric, final round,” he said.

Edward clapped my shoulder once.

“Later,” he said.

Then he jogged back toward the cheering circle.

I remained where I stood, watching as the criminals of a death squad awaited their sergeant.