While Ms. Garcia leaves to closes the gate, I look over at the group that she brought together for the night watch. A quick headcount gives me an estimate of 40 people with the vast majority being students my own age. With some students talking amongst themselves and all of them giving off an inexperienced impression, it doesn't look like they will be qualified sentries any time soon.
Sighing in resignation, I decide to get this over with and walk over to the group to introduce myself.
"Hello everyone, I'm Shin Okamoto. For those that don't know, I'm the one that is in charge of the night watch for the first night here. I was asked to provide the training necessary for this group to become a fully functional guard unit necessary for protecting not only the people inside these walls, but entirety of what is contained within these walls." [Shin]
A look of surprise passes over the group of people as I speak to them.
"You are probably wondering how qualified I am due to being either a similar age to you or much younger, but do not let age concern you. My father was quite the active member in our military back home and I've received some training from him. Starting at the age of 5, I've been briefed on tactics, combat and logistics involving both warfare and protection of targets. Considering that this job is in fact a much greater version of target protection, I believe that I will be able to give you sound advice when it comes to this detail." [Shin]
"Now, before we begin, I have no idea who you are, what kind of person you are, and how reliable any of you are. Keeping that in mind, if you do not like taking orders from me or will question my orders, do not be shy and please take your leave. I would much rather have people who take orders than think that their knowledge is superior, act in accordance with their "superior" knowledge and place the lives of your comrades in jeopardy." [Shin]
Finishing my sentence, I stand tall in front of the group of people and wait for people to leave. At first, not a single person makes any moves, as if embarrassed to act first. After a minute passes however, a person in the rear decides to leave.
{There's the first. Now, how many will follow? Humans are sheep by nature. Where one wanders, others will follow.}
Sure enough, after the original person leaves, their embarrassment slowly fades, and people slowly trickle away from the group. First 1 then 2 more… until only less than half remain. From the original 40 or so, only 15 remain.
"What happened? Why did everyone leave?" [Ms. Garcia]
Returning from the guard house, Ms. Garcia must have seen the large portion of the group leave and began to panic.
"I told them that I would be in charge, and they all left. Funny enough, all the teachers that you brought here left first. I guess they didn't like the idea of taking orders from someone younger than them." [Shin]
"I thought I told you to give them a chance. Why did you emphasize that in the beginning knowing that most would leave?" [Ms. Garcia]
"I have no use for people who don't listen to me. They would have done whatever they though was right, whether it is or is not "right". When I told you I would take charge, I told you that it was my way or the highway. Keep in mind that this many people is much more than I thought would stick around. Especially after being told that they would be listening to the orders of one of their peers" [Shin]
"Yeah, yeah I got it fine. Just make sure you keep your promise and train them properly."
"I'll try. Now join the line with the rest of them" [Shin]
"What do you mean?" [Ms. Garcia]
Finally able to get back at her for her countless years of nagging me, I devilish smile passes over my face.
"Ahahaha, what did you expect? You are also receiving my training and I'm greatly looking forward to teaching you. You know, to pay you back for the countless years that I've been tutored and lectured by you. Now get in line and stand at attention." [Shin]
"Hey now, don't…" [Ms. Garcia]
"NOW!" [Shin]
"F-fine, I'll listen to you for now." [Ms. Garcia]
"Hehehe, yes you will." [Shin]
With a look of resignation, Ms. Garcia gets in line with the other people.
{Before beginning the crash course, I should probably find out what kind of Titles and weapons they use. }
"Okay everyone, some of you may not be happy with this next topic, but I need you all to share your titles and what weapons fit your class. If you are nervous or reluctant to share with the group, you need only reveal your most combat oriented Title and if even that is too much for you, you may reveal your weapon of choice instead. Of course, if you do reveal your title, you have my guaranteed secrecy regarding your Title. Of course, because I'm asking you for your Titles, I will share my Title with you all." [Shin]
Thinking about which Title to reveal, I summon my Spirit Plate and show it to the group.
"If you look here, I am a "Hunter". To give you a rundown of my skills, I am proficient in tracking and detection. My preferred weapons are long weapons and bows. Now if you could please show your Titles to me, I would greatly appreciate it." [Shin]
Although some people did not seem to be thrilled with revealing this information, all of the people present eventually chose to reveal their weapon of choice. Funny how everyone decided to keep their Title hidden even though I shared mine. As far as I know, this group of 16 including Ms. Garcia contains the following weapon users:
- 3 Bow users
- 3 Shield wielders
- 2 Swordsmen
- 1 dagger user
- 3 Spear Users
- 1 Halberd Users
- 1 War Axe user
- 2 Mages
{Alright, bow that I got this information, I can finally begin with division of labour.}
"Alright you 5 in the front step forward." [Shin]
2 of the five step forward immediately, while the other two hesitantly follow after them.
{Huh, so the female bow user and one of the shield users are the ones who have the most potential for following orders, while 2 of the spear users seem to be reluctant to follow my orders.}
Pointing next to me, I begin my explanation of their first assignment.
"This here is Laura; she has followed me here and has earned the position of my second due to my trust in her and is thus second in command. You 4 will accompany her to the armory to quickly go and get the weapon and supplies necessary while I train the remaining 12 people. When you return, you will distribute the weapons and learn while they take first watch. Understood?" [Shin]
"Yes, sir" [Bow & Shield User]
"Yeah" "'Kay" [Spear Users]
After hearing their affirmation, I feel a tug on my sleeve. Turing to my right, I see that Laura is giving me a timid stare.
"U-Uh, Shin…" [Laura]
"You look like you have a couple questions, but I need you to go and get the weapons first. Can you please do this for me. I need you to be there to make sure people don't steal weapons and your concealment will help with that. Please grab the weapons from the third floor. The ones that look the best preferably. Do you remember what weapons these people prefer?" [Shin]
"Y-Yes! I think so…" [Laura]
"Good. Can I leave that to you then, Laura? Oh, can you grab a war scythe for me? I've always wanted to use one." [Shin]
"Okay, I'll take care of it." [Laura]
{I'm glad that I brought along Laura, she listens, is intelligent and reliable. I'm happy I sat down beside her in class this morning.}
"Miss Laura, was it? Should we head out now? [???]
The Shield and Bow user seem to have approached us while we were discussing things between ourselves.
"Uhh yep. Lets go and get the weapons, follow behind me." [Laura]
"Understood!" [Shield & Bow user]
Laura and those two take off jogging in the direction of the armory, followed by the 2 spear users a second later. Watching them until they turn the corner and disappear from sight, I turn back towards the remaining group of people and begin the "training."
"Now. Lets begin on what exactly I'm expecting of you 12. First, let us talk about formation. Since we have 12 people here and 18 people in total, we will be using 3-man cells. I will be grouping you based on your weapon preferences, so I don't want to hear any whining about being with friends or other garbage like that." [Shin]
Organizing the current group of people based on their weapon of choice, I make 4 groups of 3 which ends up being:
- Group #1
o Bow
o Sword
o Shield
- Group #2
o Bow
o Shield
o Spear
- Group #3
o Mage
o War Axe
o Halberd
- Group #4
o Mage
o Sword
o Dagger
"Now that each cell is formed, you can discuss who the Leader is at a later date because it really doesn't matter. I've divided you into groups that offer one long-range attacker, one mid-range blocker/damage dealer and one agile person to attack flanks. This will be our formations for tonight. Remember who your group members are and try to get along." [Shin]
"For tonight, we will be focusing our strength on the main gate and patrolling the grounds to make sure that other people aren't causing trouble. Since we will have 6 teams in total, the division of labour will be 2 teams patrolling the keep, 2 teams roaming the ward, 1 team close to the gate and the final team will be inside the guardhouse where the gate mechanism is. Is that clear?" [Shin]
After I finish giving the patrol plan, a hand raises in the back of the group.
"Yes, what seems to be your question?" [Shin]
"Uh what about the walls? How come no one is going to be stationed on the wall. They're built for stuff like this right?" [???]
"What's your name?" [Shin]
"Vilmos…sir" [Vilmos]
"Drop the sir, it sounds insincere coming from you. I believe that you were the Axe user, right? Well to answer your question, we have no idea what kind of creatures these "monsters" are. When I entered the Walls earlier, I noticed burned marks from what I believe was fire magic, as well as deep claw like marks in the walls themselves. That means that there are potentially enemies who can use magic and possibly even other forms of long-range spells or weapons." [Shin]
"The reason I don't want people up on the wall tonight is because I don't know what kind of animals are out there. If people are seen on the walls, it might attract the monsters. Of course, not to mention that there could be flying monsters and those up high will seem like easy targets with the little cover there is up on the wall. There's also the possibility of someone falling off the wall in the darkness. Does that answer your question?" [Shin]
"U-Uh, yeah…it does." [Vilmos]
"Anyone else?" [Shin]
"Yeah, I have a question. I had the people present gather firewood before your showed up. What are we going to do for light?" [Ms. Garcia]
"That's easy, there won't' be any." [Shin]
With this remark, bewilderment spreads amongst the crowd.
"What do you mean no light? How will we see?" [Ms. Garcia]
"Yeah exactly, what are you even thinking?" [Member #1]
"Everything you said up till now made sense, but this doesn't make any sense, we can't defend if we can't see." [Vilmos]
"Yeah, I'm with him" [Member #2]
{I see that these people are not too bright. They should know the answer, it is quite obvious.}
"The answer is obvious, just think about the complications with fire." [Shin]
Confused looks pass over the group. Even Ms. Garcia seems to be struggling to come up with the answer. As the group rack their brains, trying to figure out the issue with fire, a voice appears behind me stating the correct answer.