The ox cart soon reached another group of clerks.
"Hello," Anning paid a bit of attention to her choice of words, "My ... my superior, Marquis Tolleson, is here to register..."
Logically, she should have said "my master," but Anning simply couldn't bring herself to say the word "master".
After all, Anning was a modern person, and she came from a country that believed "even a noble-born would rather have ability," so bowing her head and calling a foreign brat her master was more repulsive than Anning had anticipated.
Fortunately, the clerk in charge of registration didn't pay much attention to Anning's stutter. He looked down at his notepad, then his expression suddenly changed: "Did you say the Marquis?"
Anning nodded: "Yes."
"Excellent, General Carnegie is looking for the Marquis. Is the Marquis available right now? The General would like to see him."
"Uh, the Marquis..." Anning was about to reply when the still drowsy Mr. Kroetz sat up, stretched his arms with a big yawn.
Seeing him raise his arms, Anning actually thought he reflexively gave a French military salute.
There's no helping it; for someone who came from an era of constant exposure to France, some habits simply can't be changed overnight.
After yawning, Kroetz finally noticed the registration officer in front of him and excitedly blurted out: "I am Croci de Tolleson, Sergeant. I can still fight! Please assign me to the infantry!"
Anning's heart skipped a beat, as he certainly didn't want to be stuffed into the front lines as part of the infantry again, so he reflexively tried to interrupt Kroetz.
However, the clerk shook his head: "No, Marquis, I'm afraid we can't let you join our infantry troops. The General is waiting for you."
Kroetz looked very disappointed, murmuring: "It must be that my father has sent him a letter..."
Anning listened without a change of expression, silently praying that General Carnegie would send this Mr. Marquis—or Miss Marquis—back to Paris.
Clerk: "Junior Sergeant Yulei, take them to see the General."
A junior sergeant saluted the clerk and then turned to the ox cart: "This way, please."
Kroetz stood up in the ox cart, lightly jumped down, and almost stumbled because he didn't land steadily.
Anning quickly stepped forward to support Kroetz, his hand naturally encircling Kroetz's waist.
This only made Anning more convinced that Kroetz was a woman, as that waist was just too slender.
Kroetz: "Thank you."
"No problem." Anning withdrew his hand after confirming that Kroetz was steady on his feet.
Junior Sergeant Yulei looked down at Kroetz's stockings, barely containing his amusement: "Marquis, seems like you've had your share of hardships."
Kroetz's long stockings and tight breeches were filthy, particularly the white silk stockings which were so dirty they were nearly black.
Kroetz smiled: "It's fine, thanks to my capable attendant, Andy."
Anning nodded; he didn't mind Kroetz praising him a bit more. In this way, he would firmly establish himself as an attendant and could accompany him all the way back to the Duke.
While they were talking, two French soldiers approached and ordered the old farmer who had brought Anning and the others: "You may leave now, turn around!"
The old farmer looked at the French soldiers with a puzzled face.
Anning quickly stepped forward and said in German: "You may leave now, thank you very much."
The old farmer nodded, then put his hands together: "I wish you good luck."
Anning raised an eyebrow, thinking that not only had this old farmer helped the invading army, but he had also wished the enemy good luck.
Indeed, the national consciousness of Germany was still not awakened at the time, and warfare was merely a matter for the nobles.
After the old farmer drove the ox cart away, the clerk gave Anning a thumbs up: "Your German is pretty good."
Kroetz: "You see, I think his German is excellent."
The clerk looked at Kroetz puzzled: "Um... wasn't he an attendant of the Duke?"
The implication was how could you not know how well your family's attendant speaks German?
Kroetz: "This... the attendant was chosen by my father, I wasn't informed beforehand."
"I see." The clerk pursed his lips, apparently not intent on delving further into these details, "Let's go quickly, don't keep the General waiting. He ordered us this morning to confirm if there is anyone with the surname Tolleson among the retreating troops."
Kroetz pursed his lips: "Alright, lead the way, Junior Sergeant."
The Junior Sergeant named Yulei nodded: "This way. It may be a bit of a walk."
**
Following Junior Sergeant Yulei's lead, Anning and Kroetz walked a great distance, climbed a small hill being fortified by the French Army, and then the view suddenly cleared.
On the other side of the hill was a large expanse of French Army tents.
In this era, armies set up camps, unlike later armies that would billet in civilian homes.
Because they had to camp, a significant part of the army at this time were logistics personnel.
For example, a French infantry regiment was organized into three battalions, with one of them serving as a reserve battalion primarily responsible for chores like setting up camp and sometimes guarding the tents.
The French Army reformed after the Revolution, as they were operating on home soil and did not need to set up camps, instead lodging with fellow countrymen, ended up having unparalleled mobility, and could beat the European feudal lords' armies to a pulp.
Junior Sergeant Yulei led Anning and Kroetz up to a tent with a General's Military Flag at the entrance and loudly reported.
A slow and deliberate response came from inside the tent: "Come in."
The Junior Sergeant then lifted the tent flap and entered, announcing loudly, "General, Marquis de Tolleson is outside the tent."
"Oh?" Anning heard a voice full of pleasant surprise from inside the tent, "Really? Great, let him in quickly."
The Junior Sergeant immediately lifted the tent flap: "Marquis, please come in."
Kroetz entered the tent with a restrained expression, and Anning also slipped in, trying his best to act like a loyal bodyguard.
General Carnegie was short statured, his open military uniform revealing a delicate waistcoat underneath.
Although it was still morning, the General was already wearing a white wig, looking every bit like a fully dressed toy soldier.
He glanced at Kroetz and immediately raised his voice: "Monsieur Marquis, it seems you're in quite a bad state; those Prussian yokels didn't even spare your wig."
Anning then noticed that Kroetz was not wearing a noble's wig.
No wonder, since Kroetz had crawled out from a pile of corpses, most likely having lost all his noble decorations and luxury items.
Kroetz looked a bit embarrassed: "Yes, as you see, I am somewhat disheveled. But I am ready to return to the battle..."
"Where is your sword and pistol?" the General interrupted Kroetz and asked.
Anning hurriedly took off his own sword and pistol and handed them to the General: "Here they are!"
Kroetz: "Uh, I was attacked by bandits; they were looting our fallen soldiers on the battlefield, and it was Andy who defeated them!"
General Carnegie: "With your sword and gun? Where is his own gun?"
Anning thought to himself that he didn't even have a gun; he was a drummer.
Anning: "Report to the General, I was knocked down by a cannonball, and that's when I dropped my gun!"
General Carnegie nodded and then gently pushed aside the sword and pistol handed over by Anning: "Keep those, you've done well in protecting your master."
Anning took back the sword and gun.
Kroetz took a step forward, his voice trembling slightly as he said to the General: "General! Please allow me to join your infantry, I..."
Anning thought to himself, no way, he did not want to go back to that hell!
General Carnegie shook his head, interrupting Kroetz: "No, no, I have received a letter from your father, Duke Louis de Tolleson, who hopes that once I find you, I shall immediately send you back to Paris."
Anning secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Then he couldn't help but inwardly mock the Duke's full name.
Anning remembered in his original universe, before the Revolution, the Duke of Orleans was supposed to be named Louis de Philippe, and after the Revolution, as a progressive noble inclined towards the revolution, he decided to change his name to something more revolutionary, choosing the name Philip Egalite.
That's right, the Duke of Orleans started going by the surname "Egalite" from then on.
Anning wondered whether in this parallel universe, Mr. Tolleson would also change his surname to "Egalite."
As Anning inwardly mocked, General Carnegie stared at Kroetz and said: "So I cannot allow you to join my troops, but I will assign a hundred Cavalry to escort you back to Paris."