Second Life as a Soldier

Velkar Town was an ordinary yet beautiful town. Its outer walls were higher than the walls of most towns, with large towers built throughout, giving the town an imposing look.

Even more impressive, and truly marvelous, were the ten-foot-wide canal-like structures built along both sides of the wall. These canals were an engineering marvel, taking water from the river flowing through the town and turning it into both a civic and defensive resource.

The primary function of these canals was to support farming activities inside and outside the walls, but that was not the only reason they had been built. The outer canal provided great defense against armies. Opening the gates built into these canals could flood a huge portion of the area surrounding the town.

And honestly, it was a great strategic asset. If timed right, a huge amount of water could kill many Tier-1 and Tier-2 soldiers, maybe even a few Tier-3s.

While the inner canal was not effective for killing, if the outer walls were ever captured, the army could flood the fields inside the walls and destroy a lot of food and infrastructure that could help the enemy.

We stood in front of the enormous town gate, marveling at the walls and canals. For the first time, the whole squad was not wearing the Royal Army’s uniform. When we left the fort, we left in civilian clothes, and that had a huge effect on my squad, as if some type of pressure had been lifted from them.

Throughout the whole journey, the amount of pranks and jokes had increased to an absurd degree. Thankfully, Peter and I were left out of most of the pranks.

Wearing civilian clothes also made me realize something: my whole squad and I had almost no clothes.

For my squad, it made sense. They were criminals, and it was not like the city authorities would take you out shopping once you were captured and conscripted. They were given two sets of clothes, and that was it.

Sadly, I was in far worse condition than them. I had no clothes available for myself. I had training clothes that had been given to me during training at Stonegate, but they no longer fit me. While my height still remained the same as my 15-year-old self, I had gained muscle, so the clothes no longer fit.

Thankfully, Peter had provided me with a shirt and pants for the journey. Otherwise, I would have had to travel in the Royal Army’s uniform.

It was not like we were not allowed to travel in army uniforms, but if I wore one, I was required to carry myself as a sergeant. The Royal Army’s uniform carried respect, and it had been drilled into us that no matter where we were or what condition we were in, we had to act according to our station and maintain the dignity of the army.

It was not like someone in the wild could create trouble for me if they found me laughing and pranking with my squad. It was more of a mental pressure than anything else. And somehow, a borrowed pair of clothes made me feel freer than the uniform of the Royal Army.

I decided that the first thing I would do after reaching Velkar Town was get myself some clothes.

Finally, as the line at the gate moved forward, we were greeted by one of the Royal Army privates and one of the town guards. Both of them looked on guard just at the sight of the people I was traveling with, and I could not blame them.

My squad was filled with tall, muscular individuals, and in their civilian clothes, they looked like thugs or barbarians in disguise. Combined with the fact that most towns in the north were on high alert, their reaction was understandable.

As soon as I showed my papers to the private, he saluted me while the town guard simply nodded. After going through the documents, the private frowned.

“Sergeant, did Private Peter Roscoe arrive with your squad?” he asked.

“Yes,” I said, pointing at Peter, who was standing just a few steps behind me.

“Sergeant, you will have to wait for a few minutes. There are instructions here telling me to check with my sergeant before allowing your squad to pass,” he said nervously.

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I nodded, signaling him to proceed with whatever process he was required to follow. Then I turned to Peter and gave him a questioning look.

“Is Lord Father creating trouble for his little boy?” Barry commented, earning a glare from Peter while the rest of the squad laughed.

Peter respected his father a little too much, so one night, when we were discussing our families, Barry had casually called Peter’s father an old brute, causing a big argument between them. They had almost come to blows, and much to Peter’s dismay, since then, Barry had made a habit of calling Peter’s father Lord Father.

I cleared my throat to break the staring contest between Peter and Barry. Peter turned to me, his face red with embarrassment. Looking at him, I burst out laughing. His face reminded me of my past life. He looked a lot like a kid whose parents had embarrassed him in front of his friends.

After five to ten minutes of pulling Peter’s leg, the private finally returned, but he was not alone. With him was one more person.

“Sergeant Edward, welcome to Velkar Town. I am the sergeant stationed at the southern gate,” said the new arrival.

“Pleased to meet you, Sergeant. Can I ask what is causing this delay? I am supposed to be on time off, and after traveling for 20 days, I would really like to rest.”

“I have bad news for you, Sergeant. I do not think you will be getting rest anytime soon. Captain Roscoe has personally instructed us to bring you and your squad to the command building as soon as you enter town.”

I sighed and shook my head in resignation. I knew I would be meeting another captain in person on this trip. I just did not expect it to happen this fast.

My squad and I followed the sergeant half-heartedly to the town command building.

But as we approached the central area of the town, the whole squad’s attention turned toward it. I knew that a river passed through the middle of Velkar, but I did not know how creatively they had used it to form an almost impenetrable fortress in the center of town.

Calling it a fortress even felt wrong. It looked more like a small town built over a river.

Inside Velkar’s circular inner wall, which had a radius of two kilometers, the whole area was covered with water. The river entered the inner town from the east, feeding this huge pond-like area, and left from the west.

In this approximately twelve-square-kilometer pond, there were around 100 islands of various sizes arranged in four concentric rings, with the large central island hosting the fortress. The remaining islands contained buildings that served various official functions, but I could also see five or six residential islands. If I had to guess, those were where the noble families of the town stayed.

All the islands were connected by bridges, but in such a way that, if command wanted, they could cut off the connection between each ring simply by breaking a few wooden bridges.

“Peter, is that fortress the command building?” I asked, pointing at the largest island.

“Yes, but it is also the town hall,” Peter said. “When Velkar Village was captured and later liberated from Frosthallow, two knight orders of Avalon, one made up of earth mages and the other of water mages, worked together to build that fortress and the wall surrounding the inner town as its last line of defense against Frosthallow.

“But over time, as Avalon kept expanding toward the north, the burden on the fortress lessened, and as the town grew in size, its administrative needs increased. So around fifty years ago, my father and the mayor at that time converted the fortress into a shared space that hosts both the Royal Army and the town administration. They also established the inner town by building all these islands around that time.”

“Is the mayor a water mage?” I asked.

“No, but the town’s guard commander is. He is older than my father and was part of the knight order that built this fortress. So when he retired, instead of establishing his house under the master of the order, he asked for permission to establish his house here,” Peter replied.

I nodded. There were three types of nobles in Avalon.

The first were non-landed nobles, people who did not earn their titles but purchased them by paying Avalon a huge amount of resources.

Then came people like Peter’s father and the guard commander Peter had mentioned, those who had earned their titles by reaching Tier-4 and providing exemplary service in Avalon’s Royal Army. There were a lot of people like that, with the most famous example being the Duke of Silverpeak, who had become a duke because of his achievements in the Royal Army.

And last were the old noble houses that had fought alongside the Royal Family to establish Avalon, houses like House Cicero and House Petrae being examples of that.

As we passed island after island, I kept asking Peter questions, sometimes about the function of the buildings, sometimes about the people who lived in them. Our conversation came to a halt when both of us saw a giant man standing outside the fortress, with a company of neatly dressed soldiers behind him.

He was almost as tall as Varric, standing about six feet four inches, and from the mana pressure he was exuding, I knew this person was a Tier-4 individual.

He was also Peter’s father.

Looking at how casually my squad was standing, with most of us not even carrying weapons, armor, or shields, he frowned.

We were traveling with a cart for food and water, and that was where all our equipment had been kept.

“This does not look like a Royal Army squad to me,” Peter’s father said, looking at me.

“This does not look like enemy territory to me,” I replied without even thinking.