The familiar scents enveloped Alleria as she passed through the royal capital. She had made several trips to the human city ever since she was forced to evacuate to the kingdom 30 years ago during the Twilight War. To her, it had barely changed over the years. She could still remember the fine bread from the small bakery off at Tulip Street, the very first place she had stopped at after her arrival to the kingdom 30 years ago. Or how about the nearby flower shop, the one from where she got a free lily after correctly guessing the name of a rare flower the shopkeep was displaying? Indeed, those were still there, just taken over by the next generation.
According to the stories other elves had told her from their travels to the outside world, the human world was chaotic. It was ever-changing, never standing in one place for too long before something new would come along and replace it. Of course, after arriving to Linirea, Alleria realized that perception might have been true, but merely from the elven perspective. The fickle nature of humans was justified as the lack of long lives meant they didn't have time nor desire to stay or study in one place to reach the absolute heights of their abilities. After all, when you have a natural time limit, one that would slowly erode your abilities as you started reaching it, would you desire to try and reach for perfection?
The bakery and the flower shop were merely two of the places she really wanted to visit, now that she was once more in the capital, however the duty called. Besides, Alleria would enjoy the visits far more once the spectre of the battle became a mere distant memory. And so she chose to focus on the force.
After assisting with the elven expeditionary unit to settle down while awaiting for the orders, she would escort the General back to the palace as she was the only high ranking officer currently available. Of course, Alleria also knew that King Denas would demand her presence there before too long and so she gladly went to the royal palace.
After their arrival, the General went into the throne room first to debrief the King on everything that has happened so far. Alleria hadn't opposed to that, as not only was she a late arrival to the scene as she along with others only joined up after Silveroak Forest, but her matter would be separate to deal with. And so, while the debriefing was under way, she paced around outside the throne room, waiting her turn. Of course, as the servants knew who she was unlike the General, she was given the respect all royals received as they passed by the throne room for their work.
It wouldn't be too long before she was called inside. As soon as she entered, the royal court, already present there, bowed down to her presence. As the General was turned towards her and she wasn't announced entering, he still had no clue. As for Alleria, her gaze focused on the one person she knew well for the last 30 years, the one person that saved her life before in the Twilight War. The man sitting upon the throne, King Denas.
If there was any proof to the elven claim of humans ever-changing, it was right in front of her. When she met Denas for the first time, he was young, dashing and arrogant prince that came to defend the Kingdom of Aredhal from the threat of Twilight elves. While suffering from self-indulgence, his heart was in the right place as his help came to be one of the most crucial ones for the war effort.
Even after the end of the war and becoming the Linirean king, he had retained his traits, leading to the kingdom's prosperity. Unfortunately that was also true for his negative traits as there was no other way to state it. Denas' physique from his glory days turned from that of a great knight, which could rival Gerald, to that of a morbidly obese man. It wasn't even uncommon for him to be carried around on his chair by 4 knights. However, this wasn't the time to point it out. After all, Denas was quite aware of what he had turned into.
Instead, Alleria focused on the reason everyone was there right now. The meeting. Denas was the first to speak up, as he greeted his old friend with smile on his face. "Welcome, Alleria. It has been a while since your last visit."
Alleria pretended to be bashful in her response. "Oh, come on, Denas. Even for humans, one year isn't a long time at all." It was clear she was pretending as she had returned the smile.
Denas nodded. "Indeed. But as you can see, the situation can change quite a bit in such a short time so let us focus on this. Mind explaining what I am holding in my arm?"
Alleria didn't need to bother to pick up the letter Denas was holding in his hand. She knew very well what it was as she reached the gathering near the throne. It was the letter of commission, promising her to receive the rank of Captain. She answered that, glancing at the General. As he was solely turned to her, she could see his calm demeanour slowly cracking in form of beads of sweat. He had probably realized by now he might have screwed up by offering her the position. The self-denial was keeping him from breaking it completely.
Meanwhile, Denas pressed on. "Then mind explaining the reason for its existence? Or should I ask your, ahem, "superior" officer for the truth?" There was nothing hiding the sarcasm behind the last part of King's words.
Alleria turned to General. "Go on. Inform everyone the reason behind this, Thomas." He immediately turned to the King. "Your Majesty, as it is my role as the Royal General, I saw fit to grant officer positions to the skilled men and women to supplement my forces. Miss Swiftwind here showed her capabilities in commanding the elven contingent so I decided to grant her the leadership of my skirmishers. Hence the commission, to ensure her command."
"I see." Denas leaned back at the throne. "But General, do remind me of something because I might be forgetful. Please inform me, by what authority of your position do you have the right to conscript foreign royalty into the Royal Army?" It was then that any form of self-denial was shattered as General loudly gulped. Meanwhile, Denas continued. "And let me remind you that your station can command a limited part of Linirean forces while Princess Alleria over here has the authority over Silveroak Forest and the Kingdom of Aredhal and could even quite easily sack you and take the command for herself. So again, I ask. By what authority of yours?"
There was silence as no one dared to answer the question. In the end, Denas continued. "That's enough. I request a private talk with the Princess." Others followed the order and left the room without protest.
Alleria was the first to spoke up. "So, how are you these days? Keeping up with the health?"
Denas stood up, showing some difficulty as he did. "I have been trying to. Unfortunately, trying to reversing your eating habits isn't easy feat."
"Thankfully, you no longer stand alone anymore. Speaking of which, where is your son? I thought he would be helping out the defence in the capital."
Denas couldn't help but smile. "Vesper ended up going with the 4th and 5th Battalion, desiring to show himself worthy as the next in line. Ah, he reminds when I was his age."
"Yes. I still remember when the report of a human army wishing to assist us came in. It was surprising to hear that you would risk your own life without any prompt against the threat that wasn't affecting you yet."
Denas just shook his head. "It might not have been a threat at the time, but the Twilight elves would have went to war sooner or later. Their desire was to rule the world and we would have been in their way sooner or later."
Then he walked closer. "That does lead me to the big question. Why? Why haven't you said anything to the General prior to today?"
After taking a deep breath, Alleria answered. "Simple. He treated me as a mere officer, not a member of the divine royalty."
Denas raised his eyebrow, realizing what she meant as Alleria continued. "I am grateful that you kept my presence here a secret from the kingdom. Truly. It had allowed me to be somewhere where I could feel normal, like any other person. Sadly, that still failed to solve the dilemma I have been struggling with."
"The "how to change the twilight into dawn" question? I heard you had raised that one before."
Alleria nodded. "There is no way to state it otherwise. The Twilight War revealed a disaster heading for the elvenkind. We have taken our lives for granted and now it is triggering a crisis. Tell me, did you know that there are no elves who were alive during the Goddess' stay on the planet?"
Denas was surprised. "Truly?"
"Yes. Everyone says we are immortal, that we will stay here for all eternity. Yet, it seems our time is rapidly reaching its end if nothing changes. Despite how horrible it was, the goal of Twilight elves managed something unseen in centuries. Unite a large population for one common goal. Not even my ancestors had achieved this in a long time so now we face a massive problem and one we must address."
"Is that why you haven't taken the crown yet?"
Alleria nodded. "I offered the council two choices. One, let me take the time to figure out what direction we should take as the kingdom. Two, take my refusal as abdication and let them choose a new monarchs among themselves. Proposition one was accepted unanimously."
"Heh, I guess elves really are averse to change."
"That's the current situation. Now I am struggling to find the answer that I seek."
After a moment of silence, Denas nodded. "In that case I might as well try to help you, Captain." Alleria's eyes lightened up after hearing that, but she let him finish. "You have been ignoring our progress with the Royal Musketeer Corps, but you cannot afford that anymore. Several companies will be assigned under General Blackwood's command which by default means you will be in charge of them. I would suggest that you finally make the trip to their barracks and learn about them."
Alleria nodded. "I accept that. And, as for the rank..."
Denas raised his hand. "Don't mention it. If it means it might help you on your journey and maybe even gain you the confidence you need, then I have to accept the commission. But remember, Alleria. You are losing any right to replace General from his position. You are in his hands now." Alleria accepted the responsibility, causing Denas to lower the hand. "Now then, we should celebrate your arrival to the capital as usual."
Alleria tilted her head. "You think that's a good idea with the current situation and all?"
Denas shook his head. "If it were just your arrival, I probably would have refused. But thankfully, my dear Royal Army officer, you were part of the forces that helped save the city. Shouldn't we celebrate the heroes instead?"
Alleria smiled as she agreed with him. The celebration for the liberators would happen the next evening. Before that, though, Alleria had work to do. As promised, she came down to the Musketeer barracks the next day to inspect them, accidentally coinciding her visit with that of Clancy and Agate.
While Agate quickly went off to inspect their cannons, Clancy remained with her. "I am grateful for your presence here today. That should make our job easier in terms of coordination."
Alleria shared his feeling. "Yes, I concur. According to what I know, the Musketeers work differently compared to both the frontline troops and the skirmishers. We should try to find some common ground to work."
"I agree. And that's why I have requested one of the 4 companies assigned to us to report to the training ground for showcase. That ought to help us immensely."
The duo made their way to the training to find the 14th Musketeer Company waiting for them. They, alongside other 3, remained in the capital as the reserve while other companies created a regiment which marched northwards towards the Frozen Highlands to investigate the situation there. The men and women were organized into three rows, standing at the attention. Meanwhile, their commanding officer made the introduction. "Lieutenant d'Artagnan Fleury and the 14th Musketeer Company, reporting for duty!"
Clancy spoke his thought out loud. "d'Artagnan, huh? Not a common name around these parts."
The Lieutenant answered immediately. "My mother immigrated here from across the sea. She is the one who gave me that name."
Clancy realized his mistake. "Oh, my apologies, Lieutenant. Didn't mean to ask that question though I am grateful for the answer. But back to the topic." After a cough to gain everyone's attention, he continued. "I am grateful for your and your unit's presence here today, Lieutenant. Captain Swiftwind and me are not familiar with how the Musketeers operate so I requested a showcase here today to learn more about your capabilities."
"Understandable, Sir. What do you wish to see?"
It was Alleria who spoke next. "Our request today is twofold. One, we need to see how does the musket operate exactly. Two, we need to see how does your unit operate as a whole. We will need to know how to best coordinate with other units if we are to use you to the best of your abilities."
"As you wish, milady. What do you desire to see first?"
Alleria looked at Clancy. "I think me and the Captain are on the same page when it comes to this. Pick one soldier to show us the usage of musket and order everyone else to stand down. No need for them to remain at attention while we inspect the firing practice."
Lieutenant did as asked. After preparing the target for the soldier named Pascal to shoot at, the Musketeers were ready to show their ability. Alleria and Clancy stood to the right of Pascal. Clancy spoke next. "I assume you march around without a bullet in the chamber, am I right? In that case, please try to take your time to reload the first shot. We want to see how it is conducted."
Pascal understood. Since they weren't learning to wield the musket, there was no need to explain it in detail. Rather, it was much easier to just show how it was handled.
The usage of the so-called Ferguson musket, the gun used by musketeers, went like this: unlocking the trigger guard; make one revolution to open up a breech; use a small tool that is tied to the uniform to put the bullet in; place the blackpowder in; close the breech with counter revolution; lock the trigger; place the remaining powder into the priming pen; close the frizzen; cock the hammer and then fire.
The duo watched closely as Pascal made two more successive shots in merely 20 seconds. It was only after that they had asked more about the rifle. Few of the details they asked and learned about were: the tool tied to the uniform was used to lock the round bullet into its place; the threaded system tied to the trigger guard allowed the gun to be reloaded from the back rather than the front like in earlier muskets; the guns weren't as reliable in rainy conditions as blackpowder would be unusable if wet.
After learning about how Musketeers operated on individual basis, everyone returned to the company to see how they operated as a unit. The company was reassembled and then arranged into their battle formation, the two battle lines. The company's bugler was assigned next to the Captains. After learning more about the bugler's role within the company, they then observed how the unit performed, standing behind them.
After the formation was ready to engage, Lieutenant took over the command. "Front rank, present! Fire!" The first line did as ordered and opened fire. They had no bullets in the muskets so it was merely a blank fire. Regardless, it worked well as a presentation. After finishing the firing, the front line crouched down to rapidly reload.
Lieutenant continued barking orders. "Rear rank, present! Fire!" The rear line did as ordered. "Advance!" The rear line then advanced 2 metres and then crouched down to reload while the now rear line prepared to fire. "Rear rank, present! Fire! Advance!"
That was the tactic Musketeers used for both offensive and defensive actions. A strict line formation to ensure the max effectiveness in any situations. There was one last thing to be shown. The retreat. As soon as the signal was given, the bugler sounded the retreat. "Retreat! Retreat!" As they were considered light troops and had no armour at all, they had no reason to stand in melee at all.
Clancy and Alleria were impressed by the showcase and promised that the Musketeers won't be ignored in the upcoming campaign. After leaving the grounds, Clancy openly guessed: "I think we are on the same page when it comes to them."
Alleria agreed. "They are our opening and closing move for the battle and great to guard against aerial threats. Depending on the situation, they either move in or out of the defence line to shoot down everything."
Clancy felt smug about that. "Good. Glad I was right about it. But do tell me, any idea about the smoke? That will easily obscure the battlefield if we aren't careful enough." He was talking about the smoke the muskets produced after firing. Unlike the special blackpowder used by the dwarves for their artillery, the human version had a drawback of producing white smoke, both for cannons and muskets.
Surprisingly, Alleria answered immediately. "We will try to use the mages to clear the smoke. If not possible, then just bombard the area with the new artillery and do it that way."
Clancy was stunned. "I didn't expect an elf to speak like that. Using explosives like that."
"Times are changing, after all. We need to adjust to the younger races if we are to prosper. Besides, artificially harnessing the elements is nothing new. Just ask the dwarves with their inventions."
Clancy smiled. "Heh, yeah. I really hope we will get to see at least another one of their wonder weapons before this is over."
"Honestly, I hope so too. But in the meantime, I should return back and report the good news."
Clancy nodded. "Yes, you are right. Good day to you, Captain."
"Good day to you too, Captain." And so, the duo left on a happy note, though personally it was Alleria who was far more happy at the situation. In her mind, any doubts she had about the unit, especially about replacing her personal project, was now gone.
The Musketeers were a frontline unit that required rigid formation and made their position loud and clear, or in their case foggy, every time they opened fire. They were opposite to the rangers in every way and so their roles were completely different. While the Musketeers would have to stand in front of the melee line to shoot, archers and rangers could stay behind the melee line to avoid most of it. Between that and the few tricks that elves were about to teach the humans, the rangers were to stay in the army even after the war was over.
Of course, she would also not deny her new subordinates the chance to prove themselves. It genuinely piqued her curiosity as how well would they perform in the battles. And so, as she slowly returned back to the camp, she was feeling more confident than ever.