The Empire
8 June, Unified Year 1921
In all the movies and TV series of war I had seen in my previous life, the scene where the protagonist had to leave home and family to join the army was one of the most dramatic. They show the pain and suffering of his family that sees him leave, knowing that he will probably never come back. They show the sadness of his wife, often pregnant with their child, who know that her husband will not be there when she will give birth. All this to show the viewer how bad and unjust war is
Our departure from the orphanage was not like this. We had no family, no affections and no belonging to anchor us to that place. The nuns were sad for us, but frankly we did not give a damn about it. We had chosen to be soldiers of our free will, and they could do nothing to make us change our minds.
Therefore, when the military convoy started up their engines to return to their base, there was no love nor affection for the orphanage where we had lived since we were reborn. I admit it, maybe there was a bit of nostalgia, but it was not strong enough to make us stay.
When we passed the orphanage gate, I felt as if I had just turned a page of my life. Our lives as children was over. And now, our lives as soldiers began.
"You both have the aptitude to be mages" said the officer with the gray hairs looking at us "but why volunteer at your age?"
We were now in a room of the Academy for Officers of the Imperial Army. Once the military convoy returned to its base, we had been redirected to this place.
I do not deny that being accepted was difficult at first. The soldiers at the entrance could not believe their eyes when they saw two cute young children showing up to volunteer, and thought it was a prank. They kept laughing and trying to make us go away, and only when their superior officer appeared they started to take us seriously.
"We want to serve our glorious Fatherland, that's it!" I said, looking directly in his eyes.
This was a little trick in learned in my previous life: if you watch someone with determination in his/her eyes, you will manage to impress him. It was a very difficult trick, because, apparently, looking someone in the eyes is enough to make you start laugh, but I could not afford even a smile.
"Well" said the other officer, a brown-haired middle-age man "I must admit that your magic aptitude is very strong, but..."
"Are you doubting about us?" said Tanya "We are ready to take whatever we will have to face! This is our only choice!"
The two officers looked uncomfortably at each other. It was evident that they were not sure about what to do with us.
"Well" said the gray-haired man getting up of sudden "I think we have a little…problem here. Can you wait for a little while I go to get somebody to help us?"
We both nodded, so the officer took the chance and left us alone with his colleague.
Nothing happened for five whole minutes. Tanya and I continued to look at the remaining officer, while the latter kept checking the documents in front of him, perhaps looking for an excuse to be able to refuse us without breaking regulations. However, he found none.
Finally, the door opened again, and the gray-haired officer went back in the room.
But he was not alone.
Along with him was a tall, dark man with a prominent scar on his right cheek. His officer's hat and the grades on his shoulder pads indicated that he was a senior officer.
"There are the ones?" asked the man looking at us.
"Yes, Captain. They want to volunteer; however, they do not look old enough to join!"
The captain nodded, and then he went to our direction. He walked around us, analyzing us with his cold and penetrating gaze.
"So, you children think that the war is just a big game, huh? That war is fun, and glory, and more fun, eh?"
We remained silent. I did not know if I was allowed to answer, and even if I had, I would not have known what to say.
"You want to join for the glory? Well, let me break the news for you: War is not a game! It is sacrifice, pain, death, more pain, duty! I already said pain? Well, let's repeat it!"
The captain lowered himself, so that his face was right in front of us.
"So, tell me: why do you want to join?"
"B-because is our duty sir!" I said almost accidentally.
The Captain looked directly at me. He did not appeared angry. For the moment, at least.
"Did you said something, little boy?"
"Yes sir!" I said firmly "I said that is our duty to fight to defend the Fatherland. That's the reason for us to join!"
The officer kept looking at me for a few second, before switching to Tanya.
"And you, young lady? Are you here for that too?"
"Yes sir!" she said "Tanya Degurechaff, ready to start the training, right now sir!"
The Captain nodded. Then, he got up and turned to the brown-haired officer.
"Register these two and give them their uniform. I want them already accommodated!"
The officer saluted, before heading out followed by his gray-haired colleague.
"Okay children: you do not look old enough to take up a rifle, let alone fight in a war. However, since you are both so enthusiastic about volunteering and due to your exceptional magical aptitude, I will let you both join. This of course does not mean that you will receive a favorable treatment just because you are so young"
The captain lowered himself again, so I was able to see his face.
"By the time you will leave this academy, you two will no longer be children. You will be soldiers, forged and built to fight for the Empire! Do you understand me?"
"Yes sir!" we both saluted
And so, It began.
Tanya and I were now in our new uniforms.
The obvious problem with them was that, since most of the recruits tend to be young adult men, the quartermaster's office did not have clothes of our size.
Even now, I cannot stop thinking about the face that the corporal responsible for the assignment of the uniforms did when the captain took us to receive our new clothes. He looked at us with total incredulity, and only after the captain confirmed that we were exactly what he was seeing he straightened himself up.
After that, we finally received a couple of extra-small uniforms that, however, turned out to be too big still. Therefore, hard work with needle and thread was needed in order to restrict them to the right place.
In the end, however, we managed to dress ourselves just in time to follow the captain to our new quarters. To Tanya was assigned the quarter B-15, while I got the C-1. That would have meant that we would no longer be dorm mates.
While I was going to the quarter C-1, I could do not stop thinking about what Tanya convinced me to get into. We had just joined the military school for officers, and this meant that I would not get much chance to relax in the next couple of years. For the following months, life would be study, training, more study, discipline, all naturally with derivative obligations and tasks.
However, I was not regretting it.
Military life would be tough, but it was also the only real chance to earn myself a better future and a better life. And with the war approaching, I would need to work harder than the others to be sure of getting a place in the rear.
I wondered what my chance of surviving until the end of the war was. Having been a soldier opens many doors for careers that you would never get to see in other ways.
Ah-ah, I though as I finally managed to find my quarters.
The door was half-closed, therefore I had no problems in seeing that there was someone else inside.
I stopped for a few seconds, trying to think for the best way to introduce myself to my new comrades.
What attitude could guarantee me more sympathy points? Cheerful and jovial? Sweet and cute? Or maybe a mix of the two?
I leaned forward, and knocked on the door of the dormitory. The Moment of Truth.
"Who is it?" asked a male, grumpy voice form inside.
"Cadet Frederick König here to take his place!" I said, trying to appear as adult as possible with my voice.
"Well" now, a big arm was opening the door "come inside, new..."
Now a large, muscular man was standing right in front on me, looking down. At me.
"...comrade?" he said with an astonished tone.
"Hi!" I said doing the salute, "You must be..."
"Cadet Urs Rommel. And who are you, kid?"
"I've already told you! I'm Frederick König, cadet of this Officer Cadet School, just like you!"
"Urs, what's happening?" said another voice from inside the dormitory
"Heinz, you would not believe this!" said Urs looking back.
After the first, understandable moment of confusion by my comrades, I managed to explain to them about my young age, and that I was there because I volunteered there, just like them.
My fellow cadets were three adult men. In addition to Rommel, the other two were named Heinz Bukliger and Leonhard Nadelman. Heinz was a tall, skinny man with red hair and brown eyes, while Leonhard was an average-physical man with brown hair.
Both were pretty surprised by my bodily appearance and my tone of voice.
"So… you volunteered?" sked Leonhard, keeping his eyes fixed on my hair.
"Yes" I said, trying to look natural and relaxed "Do you have a problem with that?"
"No, it's just that… hell; I have a little brother who is older than you."
"So?" I asked looking at him "My friend Tanya Degurechaff is here too. And she looks younger than me!"
"Wait" said Rommel still unbelieving it "Are you telling me… there is another child here as well?"
"If by child you mean someone which looks like my age, that's right. However, do not underestimate her. She's pretty tough!"
This affirmation caused more than a smile between my fellows. Apparently, they could not imagine someone as old as me who could keep up with them.
"You're so cute," said Heinz caressing my hairs.
This sentence made me angry. Not because of the act, but because I kept being reminded that my cuteness was still there. Once, I thought that cuteness would be a blessing; however, lately I had come to the realization that it was more like a curse. This because, due to it, nobody would ever take me seriously.
It was like being a baby seal: even being dressed in a military uniform was not enough.
However, swearing or getting angry would have blown all my chances to socialize with my fellow cadets, preventing me forming useful alliances with them. Therefore, I kept smiling and said.
"I'm happy to hear that!"
That was when the door of our quarters opened again, and a sergeant came inside. As soon as I realized it, I immediately got up and saluted, quickly followed by the others.
"Lesson starts in ten minutes." he said in his most serious tone "Finish stowing your belongings and get moving!"
"Yes sir" we all said.