Kire laughed. "Be that as it may, I still would like being allowed to serve my king and country rather than sit in my room playing the one-handed game, if my meaning in coming here wasn't clear."
The General actually widened his eyes slightly before catching himself and settling down again.
'What the FUCK happened?! Not too long ago he was a innocent kid who didn't even understand what happened to him when he was before us awaiting judgement! Now he's capable of noble-like speech and playing this game?'
Kire was still 17 for gods sake! Where did he get all this sophistication from?
He sounded... educated!
"I see. But recon missions are not suitable for a valuable awakened such as yourself..."
General Paris awkwardly trailed off here, hoping Kire could accept the hint.
"Then assign me to the 11th Battalion."
This time General Paris leapt to his feet!
"How could you-!?"
Kire smiled and casually picked up the cup of tea set on the table that the general had been drinking prior, a casual move of dominance in the conversation.
"You really should keep tighter walls, James."
James Paris froze. "Who... who are you really?!"
Kire smirked as he looked up. "What do you mean?"
"Who's really standing behind you? A farmhand couldn't gain all this information in the past few weeks..."
Kire stood, setting the tea down. "I am a soldier in your army sir. I am just asking to be used in a way befitting my particular talents rather than my station. After all, my god believes in equality."
He bowed, and turned to leave, stopping at the door.
"Do you have a god you pray to?"
General James Paris stood there, pale and confused. "Of course... I pray to the god of fire and war for victory like an soldier."
"Has he ever answered your prayers?"
"No? God's never do."
"Mine does. Perhaps I can show you some day... My god may not give me victory, but he offers the chance to seize it myself."
Kire nodded to the General. "Please consider assigning the soldier known as Kire to the 11th battalion... I doubt anyone will notice since my last name has yet to be added to the official lists."
Kire left leaving a few more words, "maybe no one would notice a simple order going through for a random, insignificant soldier who has yet to be updated. Nobody could stop it after the fact, it would be too late to stop me from doing my duty, finally."
The door clicked shut softly, and the General sat down.
He felt his forehead... and a big of wetness touched his finger tips.
'I'm... sweating?'
He looked at the door.
What the hell had just sat across from him?
Was that even human anymore?
Now the question became whether or not he should listen.
The higher ups and nobility couldn't snatch Kire from the military since Kire was using his "term of military service" as a shield to avoid being taken to the capital, but he also couldn't go out and do anything with how they were constricting him.
If Kire existed under house arrest, the common soldier may begin to question why this great awakened never seems to do anything... and then his possible political pull among the people is gone, and he's even easier prey to the noble families to take as their seedling.
After all, if taking him will help them grow in power, they will do whatever it takes.
But it was true, an order for a basic soldier who technically should no longer exist in the system went through...
Kire could slip through the walls built around him like a ghost in the machines of politics.
'My greatest issue here is...'
The General grimaced. Considering how Kire acted and how he himself suggested it... he was likely very suited for the 11th Battalion's role.
He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose as he pulled out some papers and began writing a reassignment of a particular squad of foot soldiers that happened to include a certain ghost as trainees to the 11th Battalion, to fill in lost numbers.
"Keke! Get in here! I have something for you to deliver!"
A man in green clothes with a frog emblem came in and took the envelope before leaving to deliver it.
Now that the order is sent... it's too late to regret it now.
Maybe its a good thing for the nobility to get a bit of a crawfish down the throat. Soldiers aren't so easily stopped from doing our duty."
He put his own positive spin on it, nodding to himself before turning away and picking up his tea to take a sip.
'A farmboy turned soldier now has awakened and seeks to become a military assassin and interceptor? Sounds like the plot of a book rogue's fairy tale.'
He mused... unaware of the tiny bit of Will left in the tea he now drank into his body.
[Mine does. Perhaps I can show you some day...]
~ ~ ~
Kire stretched with a smile.
"Thanks Zanna, your lessons in speech and etiquette have been a real help!"
Zanna smiled and nodded. "Sure thing!"
She then frowned quizzically. "But what were you doing just now?"
Kire shrugged. "Nothing much."
"Hmph!" Zanna frowned unhappily. "You've gotten good at hiding things!"
Kire smiled at her and reached out a hand, stroking her cheek. "Don't get upset, you of all people get my position."
Zanna leaned into his hand a bit. "Doesn't mean I have to like how fast your adjusting..."
They both froze as the both turned their eyes to Kire's hand and Zanna's cheek, a slow blush growing over her face.
Kire slowly withdrew his hand and took a few steps back. "Apologies m-milady." A bit of fluster broke through the politeness he attempted to hold as a shield, and Zanna curtsied as she too retreated before turning around and running away.
Kire stood there awkwardly.
'...the fuck just happened?!'
~ ~ ~
"AAAAAAAAH!" Bast swing up form her bedroll, covered in a cold sweat as nightmares of Jonathan melted away in the twilight.
She looked out the entrance of the cave they were sheltered in, turning to look at Junior.
He couldn't do very well during the day in the desert yet, but he was getting better at managing with the heat as he absorbed more and more of the light element to increase stamina, and more of the air element making him use less effort with walking.
He was overheating less now.
They'd had a scare the first few days in the desert where Bast had to use the fire element to draw heat out of his body to prevent him from dying of heatstroke, so now every dawn Bast would melt a hole in the side of a sand dune to make a cave of glass that they covered in sand to prevent light reflecting.
A spell of fire supported by light as the fuel keeping the spell going for awhile is what prevented most heat form getting in along with the hole slightly-underground thing.
But now dusk was falling, so the safety of night's chill would allow travel once again.
"You ready boy?"
Junior gave a look at Bast, and a will filled with concern touched her mind, his fear for her and her nightmares much more evident than anything else.
"I'm fine." Bast sent a bit of her emotions of the calm she felt with him by her side as a reassurance.
She took a few steps... and puked on the sand as she left the cave.
She gasped a bit as she held her stomach, a sudden wave of nausea hitting her as a Junior was suddenly next to her, supporting her silently while waves of concern radiated off him.
He wasn't using language yet, but he was clearly smart enough to communicate in small ways now.
"I'm fine... I'm probably just unwell from the remnant heat."
Bast ignored the fact that heat was very unlikely to bother a fire awakened as much as possible.
Everything was fine. Right?