Miller felt like he was in a dream these past few days. First, he joined the militia to make a living. Later, when he was transporting supplies to the city wall, he was inexplicably asked to guard the city gate.
The sharpest weapon he used to hold was a pair of scissors. Now, he was a member of the city guards who carried a spear and a sword at his waist.
Wearing Shalorian armour, he stroked the sword at his waist and walked on the western wall of Audis, yelling at the militias who were transporting supplies to and fro.
Not bad, Miller had made a meteoric rise. He didn't know whose armour he was wearing a few days ago, but in Shalor, soldiers with armour were at least squad jarls. People were dying at the top of the walls all the time, so who would remember if there was a person called Miller before?
The platoon jarl of the three arrow battlements on the north side of the western gate patted Miller's shoulder and encouraged him. The area guarded by Miller and the other Shalorian soldiers had resisted fiercely during the last Faustian attack. The Faustian soldiers below the city wall were repulsed before they could even get close to it.
In the end, when the platoon jarl came to inspect, he found that Miller, who was wearing armour, turned out to be the highest-ranking person in this place.
"Do well! I'll give you a day off tonight! "said Miller's immediate superior with admiration.
"Yes!" Miller said firmly, pretending to be dedicated to his country. This made his platoon jarl even happier. After a burst of hearty laughter, the platoon jarl went to inspect other places.
When he walked to the corner, the platoon jarl stopped smiling and had a puzzled expression on his face. "Why don't I remember having such a person under my command? Is he new?" The platoon jarl shook his head. There were too many people joining their platoon in the past two days. There were even several squad jarls. He couldn't remember everyone's name, let alone their faces. He could only distinguish them by the armour and the uniform they were wearing.
After Miller watched his platoon jarl leave, his body finally relaxed.
How was he a squad jarl? He was a pig with a nose full of scallions. He didn't even know how to slash and stab. These days, all he did was hide under the arrow mounds with his hands over his head, or stab down the wall with his spear. He didn't know if he had hit any unlucky Faustian soldiers.
That was Miller's opinion, but it was different for other soldiers. Miller was famous among the Shalorian soldiers for daring to stand on top of the wall and fight with the Faustian soldiers on the scaling ladders. Most of the soldiers in this area were like Miller, forced to defend the city. Many of them were not as bold as Miller.
As for hiding in the pile of arrows... In any case, the armor Miller was wearing was that of a squad leader. Normally speaking, shouldn't a squad leader be commanding the battle from the arrow mound?
This was the opinion of many soldiers, and this strange opinion made Miller quite famous among the soldiers these days. At least Miller doesn't have to worry about people exposing him.
After nearly a week of continuous battles and his pure royal accent, no soldier would doubt the authenticity of Miller's position.
Whistling, Miller held a sawdust in his mouth and walked towards the inside of the city wall. In the evening, it was dinner time.
This week's meals were the most luxurious Miller had ever eaten in his life. There were enough wheat biscuits, and a small captain like him had a bowl of fragrant meat soup.
Miller went home two days ago, and his wife was surprised by the change in him. This greatly satisfied Miller's vanity.
Looking at his two children gobbling up the food he brought back, Miller couldn't help but feel emotional. Just a week ago, his family of three still needed relief rations to survive.
"Ford, give me two pieces of meat to wrap up!" Miller shouted at a cook who was distributing food to the soldiers.
"Okay!" Ford replied.
As a squad leader, Miller was provided with a bowl of meat soup for every meal, but he didn't want it. Instead, he asked the logistics staff to change it to meat. His two children were still growing, and they hadn't eaten meat many times in their lives. As a father, Miller needed to do something for them.
Ford wrapped up two pieces of meat that were smaller than the size of his palm and gave them to Miller along with two wheat biscuits.
Miller kept the meat, grabbed the wheat biscuits in one hand, and went up to the top of the city wall again.
The platoon jarl gave him a holiday at night. Although it was close to evening, he still had to stick to his post.
Lying next to the lookout in the arrow mound, Miller watched the movements of the Faustians in the distance while eating the food in his hand. Two wheat biscuits were just right for his weak physique.
Miller, who had inexplicably become a squad jarl, wasn't idle all day. He had been working in a tavern in Audis for more than 20 years, so he had a pair of good eyesight. He could quickly discover the attacking movements of the Faustian soldiers in the distance.
This ability allowed him to avoid wave after wave of threats in the past few days of battle.
"Boss! What's the situation? "a tall, round-faced man asked Miller.
This guy was one of Miller's soldiers and also a recruit who had been pulled up to the top of the city wall in the past two days. He spoke in a very heavy northern dialect, and sometimes others couldn't understand what he said every day.
Only Miller, who had been in a crowded tavern for so many years, could roughly understand what the big man said. That was why this big man had the best relationship with Miller these days.
"Nothing! Aoun! " Miller replied at the top of his voice. He didn't know if this big man called Aoun was too high in altitude, but his ears were not facing the wind, so he always needed someone to speak very loudly in order to hear him.
The rest of the soldiers didn't like to deal with this big man. Apart from his height that made them feel inferior, it was too difficult to talk to him. If you talked to him for a long time, not only would he not hear you clearly, but you also wouldn't know what he was talking about. In the end, you would feel like a fool.
"Oh!" Aoun touched his head, walked over, and sat on the haystack next to Miller.
Miller bit on the wheat biscuit and looked at the big man sitting there with his head down without saying a word. He asked curiously, "Have you had dinner?"
Aoun opened his mouth, but didn't answer Miller's question. He lowered his head and kept pulling at the hay on the haystack.
Miller understood at a glance and didn't say much. He took out another piece of wheat biscuit from his arms and placed it heavily on Aoun's hand. Then, he got up and walked out. Not long after, Miller walked into the arrow mound with another piece of wheat biscuit.
"Eat! Why aren't you eating? "Miller looked at Aoun holding the piece of wheat biscuit that he gave him and didn't eat it for a long time.
Aoun revealed a grateful expression and wolfed down the biscuit. Aoun, who wasn't short, only needed two or three mouthfuls to eat such a piece of wheat biscuit.
Seeing that Aoun had started to eat, Miller walked over and leaned against the arrow mound to sit down again. As he bit on the piece of wheat biscuit that he hadn't finished, he said, "You fella, what a waste of your height. With your physique, can you still be bullied by others?"
Aoun didn't reply. It was unknown if he didn't hear Miller's words.
Miller saw that this fella was like a reincarnated hungry ghost and didn't say anything more. Aoun was also considered a weirdo under him. He was obviously strong and tall, but his character was like a soft persimmon. Everyone could suppress him. His share of food had probably been embezzled again.
Miller, who had been a waiter in the tavern for so many years, had seen all kinds of people, but it was his first time seeing a weirdo like Aoun. It was also because of this that Miller took care of this silly fella.
After finishing the wheat biscuit in his hand, Miller put away the other piece of wheat biscuit and the two pieces of meat. He was going to give them to his wife and children to eat tonight.
Grabbing the spear beside the arrow mound, Miller yawned, leaned against the watchtower, and dozed off. From last night until now, he hadn't slept at all. His body had long reached its limit.
After lying down for an unknown period of time, Miller was woken up by a shake. In his hazy eyes, Miller saw Aoun's anxious face and his hurried action of looking out.
"What's going on?" Miller, who was sleeping, was in a bad mood. He felt that he had just closed his eyes for a while and was woken up.
Looking in the direction that Aoun was looking, Miller looked out through the watchtower. The sky was already dark, and countless red torches were lit up outside the city. They were like stars, meteorites, and even more like countless ghost fires. At this moment, Miller's dazed mind instantly became clear.
"Quick! Get up! "Miller anxiously pulled Aoun's tall body and rushed out of the arrow mound.
"Enemy attack! Enemy attack! " There was no need for Miller to remind them. The scouts on the other arrow towers had also discovered the countless approaching Faustian soldiers outside the city.
Dragging Aoun to his team's guarded area, Miller murmured in disbelief, "No way, why are there so many people?"
At the Faustian command 2,000 yards away from the top of Audis, Prince Kenzir and Marmen were sitting in front of a flame curtain, carefully watching the situation inside.
It could be seen that the flame curtain was showing the situation at the east gate of Audis. Besides Kenzir and Marmen, there were two other people beside them.
One of them was holding a crystal ball and pointing it at the flame curtain. It seemed that he was the caster who was supporting the flame curtain. The other person was sitting together with Kenzir and Marmen, watching the battle at the front line together.
"Uncle Shia, thank you for coming in time," Kenzir said to the middle-aged man who had just appeared.
"Prince, you're too kind. This is what I should do." Shia's family was a die-hard royalist. They only obeyed the orders of the Faustian king and his heir. Shia did not dare to be arrogant towards Kenzir's compliments.
"Tonight, with the three corps of Gale attacking, I don't believe that we can't tear apart the defence of Audis!" Kenzir was confident of victory.
"Yes, since the death of Woode, the morale of the soldiers of Gale has been in a state of depression, but so far, they have not tasted defeat. As the saying goes, an army with righteous indignation is bound to win. In this battle, Gale is the main force to attack the city. "It was rare for Marmen to praise Gale.
"We must win this battle!" Kenzir slammed his fist on the table and said.
That night, Audis was on fire, and the battle cries did not stop until the next morning.
On the 9th of January, 13674 of the Aomar calendar, Faustian, located in the south-central part of the mainland, launched an all-out attack on Audis, the capital of neighboring Shalor. A total of 140,000 Faustian soldiers broke through the east and west gates of Audis overnight. The remaining Shalorian garrison, nobles, and members of the royal family were wiped out the next day after defending the city for a night.
The war between the two countries, which lasted for five years, ended with the destruction of Shalor.