Standing in front of the podium, I sighed, a breath of heaviness and fatigue. I rolled my eyes down, boldly.
"All of you standing here, facing me, it doesn't matter your gender, your age, your voice, your past or your future. What you need to understand is just: A puppet. Each of you is just a puppet under the tug of the army, ready to lay down your lives for the cause of the King. That is your mission, what defines you from now on. So at least, if you die, die after knowing in your heart that you have dedicated your life to a better future for the whole society. Die in the humiliating glory of losing yourself. Sure?"
Human voices began to ring, one after the other.
They began to cheer, with meaningless laughter, because perhaps they also realized: "You're going to die anyway, so doing everything you feel satisfied should be the last thing to stay with your awareness."
Then the banging and cursing continued, but…
Discipline in the military is the scariest thing of all, and a puppet, myself included, must strictly obey orders.
I pulled a small dagger from my pocket and glanced up at the ceiling.
Approaching the unfortunate undisciplined man, I stabbed it straight into his throat. Painfully, he waved his hand wildly. Slipping over his arm, I pulled out another knife and quickly twisted it into his heart. Pushing his body away, I yelled.
"In this room, there are more than 20 elite soldiers ready to take away your life! This is a place to train puppets, not a mental institution. If there is no discipline, everything will end with you crying."
The speech finally ended, more than ten lives were taken for disobeying orders.
I went back to my room, intending to rest until the afternoon, but just passed through the administration area when I ran into a rookie girl.
She gritted her teeth, walked towards me, and raised her fist. Slipping aside, I grabbed and twisted her little hand back.
"Let go of my hand, you coward! Do you still have humanity?!"
I stared at her for a while, then just asked her to speak at the management office. That girl must know what that means.
Humanity?
Interesting, I'm considered an useless coward just because I can't deal with the "punished" people, so maybe I still have some humanity in me...
In the middle of the night, when the voices of people have fallen silent, the atmosphere is still and the wind howls outside the door frame.
I lay in a thin blanket, thinking wild thoughts.
It's been more than three months since I took on that "big" responsibility, and I have gradually integrated more.
Thanks to a good impression in the training sessions, I was assigned to manage the discipline department, which meant that I did not need to be present in the "Enlightenment" trips…
Suddenly, someone opened the door: "Deputy Commander! Sir, we are under a surprise attack at the West Gate! Now many soldiers are trying to hold off the rebels. Deputy Commander Raymond, we need your direction!"
I jumped to my feet, panic mixed with shock quickly taking over the mind of this scoundrel.
S and her group of agents had set out to the Sanctuary last night made the situation even more confusing.
The forces that remained to guard the citadel were left with only a few new soldiers still in training and a lowly man who did not dare to even step a foot into the battlefield.
But above all, I have to keep my life…
I quickly changed into my uniform and rushed to the command room. The group leaders of each course were present, everyone turned pale.
"How's the situation?! What is the approximate number of enemy troops? Which groups are ready to respond? Is the West Gate still holding out?!"
"The enemy attacked from the west side of the capital, they may have disguised themselves as slave merchants to infiltrate. There are two other armies moving towards the Sanctuary, they want to consume our forces while focusing on attacking the main target. Enemies armed with weapons, mobile cannons, and about 2,000 soldiers attacked the western side of the Citadel. With the strength and skill level of our troops, we won't be able to hold out any longer!"
It was a pre-emptive battle, which meant they had to know that S and her group were on their way to the Main Hall in order to be able to strike at the right time.
The possibility of them having insiders providing information was extremely high, a surprise attack with such a large number to be able to bypass the city's gatekeepers, was indeed suspicious.
But with the current situation, this is perhaps the wisest…
"Send this message to the people at the Sanctuary quickly, they need to prepare their forces as fast as possible… Now, the 1st course has to urgently send people to the watchtowers to fire citadel cannons. The second course archers spread all over the western walls. Close the gates tightly to prevent them from entering. The third course quickly move the mobile cannons in front of the gate to be ready for the worst case scenario. The fourth and fifth courses quickly gather at the back of the citadel. I'll stay to hold out. This is a key position, we can't lose it! After gathering full equipment and bringing food to support the forces in the Sanctuary, the 4th and 5th courses immediately departed according to the designated shortcut in the forest! If we hurry, we can stop the rebels and wait for supplies from the soldiers in the Sanctuary. Immediately execute orders!"
All said in unison "Yes sir!", and although it was unlikely that we could defend the citadel, everyone had to give their best, because other than fighting, they had no other way to save their lives.
The screams, the trembling, all the chaotic emotions make people abnormal.
Faced with the people "from Hell", even if our soldiers give up their weapons and surrender, those demon will arrest and torture their relatives and friends to death.
Some of them even fell to the ground, crying helplessly.
Too many regrets, too many longings.
They have grown more mature, gradually understand the nature of a soldier and have the smallest dreams again, but when everything is budding, they suddenly realize how close death is, and tears also come, overflowing with meaningless cries.
But there are those who don't give up, they just keep getting up and looking straight ahead.
Whether they can fight or not, they must do their best because there will be no future for them if they stop…