At the grove near Vendan village in Masmerford province, March 18th, Year 310 of the Imperial Calendar.
Lines of men were formed as Anne introduced herself to the platoon. Out of 48 soldiers, there were 42 men. The remaining female soldiers were separately lined up. The men, seeing Anne and realizing that she was their commander, started to look at their friends.
"A girl?" Some of the men on the back whispered to each other.
"Interesting."
"Now, we're got some good stuff in here."
"God saves us! This platoon is going down!"
Anne bit her lips. Being the subject of constant gossips, she had developed a quick and sharp sense of hearing.
Inflamed by their disrespectful attitudes, she felt that she needed to knock some sense into some of them to set examples. Neverthess, doing so would make her their enemies, and they might hate her right from the start.
"Don't ever presume that I don't hear you badmouthing me, which is actually fine. But if it turns out that you're disobeying the high-ranking officer, you'll be immedietely sent away, and off to the gallows. Say whatever you want, but don't interfere with my work, and then we're good. Glory to Celestia and His Majesty!!"
"Glory to Celestia and His Majesty!!" they all repeated after her. They did not dare to criticize her after her threat and salute to the king.
They all separated to build camping tents, and Anne retreated back to Cirece's tent where she was doing paperworks. Inside the tent several women were allocating letters from the soldiers' families. As Cirece saw her, she greeted her and commented on the situation earlier,
"I saw that coming, Anne, since you were promoted. Some men have immovable egos that they don't want to be led by a woman."
"I wonder how long those attitudes would remain among them," replied Anne.
"As long as you display competence, honestly," Circe laughed, "C'mon, this isn't the usual you. The Anne I know charges headlong at the bear with a screwdriver if she has to."
"That's wrong actually, you don't charge at a bear. You stare them down," said Anne in a serious manner, "And don't run away, make yourself as big as you can to intimidate."
"Alright alright ... geez you're a pooper," Circe then continued with her work.
After Anne's weird interactions with Circe, Alexis came into the tent with haste. He slowed down upon coming in, and as he saw Anne inside, his eyes widened and he accidentally dropped his parchments.
Circe teased him, "Hey Alexis, who do you think is the prettiest in here? And be honest."
"Shuttt uppp" Anne said quietly to her.
Alexis was a handsome man, the puppy-like type; and some girls inside were getting uncomfortable. Livia for example, who was writing reports to the HQ, looked up and carefully put her hairs behind her ears, and continued writing. Violet who was arranging the letters adjusted her bangs. Delilah dropped her papers and went down to grab it.
Anne unknowingly adjusted her military garb.
"Alexis, what's the matter?" Anne, with her soft-spoken voice, asked him.
Alexis mustered his courage up and said, "I ... I've come to send the mail to my sister, please?" He quickly picked the parchments. He looked at Anne for couple of seconds and then had to look at the dirt ground.
Anne smiled at him, but that seemed counterproductive. It made him even more embarrassed, "Now, now, I thought it's gonna be something serious," said Anne. She then directed him to the table where Alisa was sitting. Alisa was absurdly annoyed by Alexis. For some reason, she hated him.
Alexis continued speaking," And ... Uh ... two men are having a brawl outside."
Hearing this, Anne exclaimed, "Oh God!! Not so soon." She then immedietely went outside and saw two men in fighting stance. All the men circled around the two and cheered. She did not believe what she saw. The brute scene of the fight was not in any way noble and virtuous, like how she pictured the Imperial soldiers were supposed to be.
The soldiers, upon seeing her, stopped cheering. All of them turned silent, waiting for her command. However, as Anne observed every visages, it seemed like they were up to something.
The two men still wrestled despite her pressence.
This disrespect from them displeased Anne greatly.
Now Anne, whether out of her cold judgement or absolute anger, lit her matchlock gun and fired at the gap between the two. The gap was just only 11 centimetres. This sent a shiver down to everyone's spines, espectially the two. Her eyes flared up.
"You two want to fight so much? Fine! Let's fight, but here's the catch. The person who loses, as long as I am here, comsumes not his breakfast. He will starve to death in this wretched battlefield. Let's not be cowards and live with the consequences. One who inflicts pain on others must be ready to handle karma. Are you noble enough to bear that repurcussions?"
The men looked at her, not even flinching. Two men who were fighting just witnessed the brink of getting their skulls exposed.
"Wretched beasts!! If you want to live like savages, then I'll be sure to end your lives if you're not one then!! I'll be a barbaric tyrant if you want one. Now, fight away my fellow chimps!"
All were silent. It was the level of silent where one could hear birds singing and the sound of a running river.
Suddenly, Alexis, to dispel awkwardness, cheered loudly; Circe looked at him and thought that was the loudest noise she had ever heard him made. Then, the whole platoon let out a loud cheer to Anne. She was bewildered by their sudden change of attitudes. From fear to jovial in a matter of seconds, what exactly were these horrid men up to?
Even the two who just fought earlier, cheered aloud and now they even did a fist bumps and put their arms over each other's shoulders. At that sight, Anne then knew that she was tricked in the most unforgivable manners. "You bastards!!" She cursed, which was not very often. The men all laughed.
Moments later they all clapped their hands, and one by one they came to pay a proper respect to Anne, who was trying to hold back her tears.
"I will serve you to death, commander," said one of them. "Magnificent judgement, commander," said the other.
All the women who came out of the tent bore witness to the sentimental moment of the platoon. Cirece, with this loose moment, had the opportunity to talk with her suitor from the second year, without having to deal with embarassment. Thanks to Anne.
Anne's counternance turned sweet again. They were as youthful as ever. She smiled and laughed heartily, like a true noble woman. She received each men with benevolence. Alexis observed her and smiled lovingly; he was now relieved that all turned out fine.
He was going to approach and pay her respect like others, but he thought over again. He thought that he had talked with her already too much today. It was Alexis who conjured up the plan.