"…and that should cover all the demons that are known to have roamed Euphrates during the last 970 years."
So was how Evelyn ended the Demonic Studies lecture for the servants of the Leonardo Estate. This time, several townspeople of Guardia attended the lesson as well.
Just like Evelyn said, after the first meeting, the soldiers and the civilians would be taught separately.
The soldiers would be taught from 9 to 12 after their morning training. Then the servants would be taught from 1 to 4, where in those time Hilda would be the one taking over Evelyn training the soldiers.
Meanwhile, the baroness would often take the lesson alongside her servants, but not this time as she had other matters to handle concerning the barony.
The set of activity would then repeat the next day.
It had been a week since the new recruits came to the Leonardo Estate and a week since the first session of the Demonic Studies was held. Since then, the days of the Leonardo Estate went on just like that.
"That will be all for today. I'll see you on the next session."
At Evelyn's dismissal, the servants dispersed from the training hall and continued with their own activity.
While Evelyn was gathering her stuffs after the lesson, Hilda came to find her.
"As always, good work with the lecture, my lady." said the captain.
"Captain Reich! How's everything on your end? Is everyone ready?"
Hilda nodded.
"We have finished training for the day. All the soldiers are saddled up on their horse, ready to depart." reported Hilda. "I've prepared your horse as well. We're now just waiting for you to be done with the lesson, my lady!"
Evelyn raised her eyebrow and smiled at Hilda's report. She was happy with what she heard from her captain.
"Excellent work, captain. Very punctual. So punctual you even made me look bad for making everyone waits on me."
"Forgive me, my lady. But I believe you'd hate it even more if you were the one who does the waiting."
Evelyn giggled on Hilda's remark and walked to the door, "That you are right, captain. Let's go!"
The two then joined the band of Leonardo cavalries waiting in front of the mansion.
They were all geared with their armors and weapons. It was clear they were about to head out somewhere that would require their gears.
Evelyn and Hilda rode on their respective horse, preparing to depart as well.
[Bara Arts, Silent Voice]
"Attention, all soldiers! Attention, all soldiers!" communicated Evelyn through magic. "As scheduled, today we'll be going out for a field exercise. We will hold a little test to see how far you've come along after a week of training with Captain Hilda and I."
Evelyn whipped the rein of her horse, causing the mount to neigh and gallop forward.
"Let's make this a quick one. I want to join the baroness for dinner. GIDDY UP!"
"YES, MY LADY!"
With that, Evelyn and the Leonardo soldiers set off with their horses onto the cobbled street of Guardia and onto the dirt path beyond.
They hastily treaded through the plains of southwestern Euphrates, passing through farmers working on the fields and passersby in their carriages.
The people of the Leonardo domain were proud to see their knights were hard at work to defend their territory, especially when they saw Evelyn Leonardo leading at the forefront of the band.
Evelyn and her soldiers eventually arrived at a dense forest.
They proceeded deeper into the woods where the terrains were more rugged and the trees were higher, bushier, and closer to one another.
Once there, the soldiers lined up in front of Evelyn and Hilda with their horses.
"Listen up, soldiers!" called Hilda, the captain. "When I was first appointed as the captain of the Leonardo Army, many of you showed disapproval since I was a new recruit and did not even come from a knight background."
The knights and squires looked away when they heard Hilda, as what she said was indeed the truth. They did not approve her appointment despite Evelyn was the one who made the decision.
"After I was appointed and saw your reactions, I made a promise to you all that if any of you could outdo me in any training exercise we conducted in the past week, I will step down from my position as captain." said Hilda.
The knights and squires nodded their head to this statement, confirming their awareness of its existence.
"But for the past six days, I've always came on top in all of our trainings." said Hilda.
She then pointed her finger to the dense woods ahead.
"Today will be the final test. If any of you could outdo me in today's training, I will step down as captain. But if I outdo all of you, then you will treat me as your captain from here on."
The knights and squires nodded for the second time. They agreed to this arrangement.
All of them were aware of Hilda's feat in beating them in past exercises. So they were willing to accept Hilda as their captain if she could beat them in this final test.
"Normally I would punish all of you for showing insubordination due to your display of disapproval on the personnel I, myself, appointed." said Evelyn at last. "But Captain Reich was an adventurer. She is used to having complete trust from the people she worked with. So she asked me to allow this qualification tests to be held. And since I wanted you all to work well with her, I agreed to Captain Reich's request."
Evelyn summoned the Lucerna and stomped it to the ground. Bursting forth from underground were 100 gargoyle replicas made of dirt.
The replicas this time were not mere statues. They all moved and flew as how a normal gargoyle would.
Evelyn waved the Lucerna around the replicas and lights of various colors engulfed the imitations.
"In today's test, all of you will be doing target practice, with the gargoyle replicas as your targets." said Evelyn. "Though replicas, they act as if they're alive. They could see, feel, and hear just like a normal gargoyle would. Except they wouldn't attack you."
She continued, "All of you will be separated into 10 teams. Team 1 to 9 will be teams of five comprised of knights and squires, with the maximum of three knights in a team."
The current head knight of the Leonardo knightage then stared at Hilda.
"The 10th team however will be comprised of only one person. Your captain, Hilda Reich."
The knights and squires did not react to this announcement. They already knew of this arrangement.
"All teams will be hunting the gargoyles replicas using crossbows. Regular crossbows unlike the special one Captain Reich possessed." said Evelyn.
"For the record, I will be using regular crossbow like the rest of yours for this training." clarified Hilda.
Evelyn then pointed to the gargoyles.
"I've enchanted the replicas so that once a gargoyle is hit by an arrow on its eye, the replica will fall to the ground and a shield will instantly form around it to prevent another arrow from hitting the gargoyle." explained Evelyn. "That way, there will be no disputing who hit the gargoyle since only the quickest arrow will be left on the replica."
She pointed to arrows the soldiers were carrying.
"The color of the arrows each team will be using is different from one another. And since no other arrow could be shot to the target after it was downed, we would know which team shot the target."
"At the end of the training, we will be tallying up the number of gargoyles each team shot down." said Hilda. "If there is any team that shot down more gargoyles than me, I will step down from my position as captain."
Hilda's declaration was welcomed with another strong nod from the knights and squires.
The rules of the test were laid out. All that was left was to let it unfold.
"Alright! Let's not delay this any longer." said Evelyn.
She raised the Lucerna to the sky, making the gargoyle replicas to flap their wings and hover in the air.
Each of the Leonardo soldiers scrambled to gather with their own team. They loaded their crossbows with arrows and readied their horses for pursuit.
"The test will end once the last gargoyle is downed." said Evelyn as she readied the replicas.
Hilda looked at the other teams and spoke, "Make sure to put everything I taught you about the crossbow for the past week to good use. Take care of your form since you're now on horseback, consider the standard range of your crossbow, mind the speed and wind direction. Remember all of that and your aim will be perfect."
The knights and squires were a bit upset by Hilda's last-minute advice. But they did not talk back as what Hilda said was true.
"Everyone get ready!" shouted Evelyn.
All the soldiers readied their crossbows on the gargoyles hovering above them. They all wanted to land a shot on the targets once the test started.
"Commencing the test in 3…2…1…GO!"
The Leonardo noble stomped the Lucerna to the ground and the hundred gargoyle replicas dashed away further into the forest.
The gargoyles were so quick that the soldiers did not have a chance to shoot despite having their aim settled before the test began.
Crack. Crack. Crash. Thud.
The Leonardo soldiers looked around to see what was causing those sounds.
They spotted one gargoyle was shot down near them. It was shot right after the test began.
One team alone managed to shoot down a replica before it flew away.
The knights and squires all observed the arrow planted on the gargoyle's eyes. They all gasped when they realized the owner of that arrow.
The arrow was deep orange. Hilda's color.