Winding around the other side of the palace from the cathedral, the General leads Nirou and Laska to another attached building. This one has no windows, and guards are stationed outside. These ones don't cause any trouble, merely standing at attention as the General passes by and acknowledges them. After entering through a lengthy corridor, the place opens up and proves to be mostly one huge room. The walls are lined with racks of weapons and armor, all organized by type. With the sheer amount of space here, you could surely outfit an army in no time at all. At the moment however, the place was nearly empty.

At the center of the room was a large square counter surrounding shelves with stacks and stacks of papers. The only two people in the building as the group entered were sitting on either side of this counter. The two of them seemed to be making light conversation, and laughing about something or other. Though as Nirou closed in, he found he actually knew one of the men. It was the General's older son, Hargujad. Sitting within the square counter, it could be assumed he was working here.

The man he was chatting with was on the rougher side, and his face was scarred in a few places. It gave the impression of an entier life spent on the battlefield. Despite the wear making him seem older at first glance however, Nirou actually guessed he was a young man much like his counterpart. His hair didn't show the slightest signs of thinning, and his movement as he was gesturing and such had a certain reckless abandon that older people usually discard. Basically, this was the kind of guy that looked way older than he was. Probably got mistaken for an adult as a preteen.

"You boys slacking off?" the General chastised them as he drew near.

The man Nirou didn't know immediately shot up out of his chair to stand at attention. "No, Sir!"

"A little bit." Hargujad responded to his father by waving his hand slightly back and forth in front of him. He was apparently not the least bit concerned with ceremony. Nirou guessed he was probably like the General in that way.

"I see they stuck you counting inventory again, Hargujad." Shilan chuckles. "Aren't you at least a bit disappointed? You should be drawing up troop movements in the war room!"

"Father, you realize that it's because of you that we don't need to bother with that now, right?" the son retorts. "I'm fine enjoying peace while it's peaceful. War can wait its turn."

"I suppose I can't fault you too much." the General concedes, before turning his attention to the other man. "You seem to be having a good time, Rashen. Enjoy your break while you can, next week I'm shipping you off. Speaking of which, these two are the ones I mentioned yesterday. The ones that I'll be sending along with you on your mission."

"Pleased to meet you. I am Laskadia Zysc Voldbend. And this is my companion, Nirou Tetsugawa." Laska volunteers to introduce the both of them again. He doesn't really mind his introduction being done for him, but he can't help but wonder if this is another example of Laska having less than stellar confidence in him. He should probably just take initiative one of these days.

"It's good to meet you. Laska, right? I've heard about you many times over the years." Rashen makes a slight bow. "With the way this guy talked, you'd think he had two little sisters. My name's Rashen Lujarda. Looking forward to working with you. Oh, and uh, nice to meet you too big guy."

Being addressed as a second thought was normal for Nirou, but this time he couldn't help but be bothered by how blatant it was. He didn't suppose this guy was known for his tact.

"Rashen is the Captain of my personal elite team of fighters." Shilan goes on now that introductions have wrapped up. "He commands three others, and he'll nominally be in charge of the two of you on your mission as well. I say nominally because you guys can really do what you feel like, I'm only sending you to maybe get some practice in the field. Or even just for some observation, whatever will help. I know Nirou has no experience in these matters, and Laska, you've never operated in a unit like this before. The acclimation is really the important thing, so just focus on that."

"It's better that you don't have to take orders from him, anyway." Hargujad says with a smirk. "This blockhead adapts to new situations about as well as a block of ice in the jungle. He'd have no idea what to do with you in the first place."

"Hargujad, you little...!" Rashen breaks from his position of attention to put the other young man in a headlock and throttle him. "You always have to make me look bad, huh? Can't let me just be the cool captain!"

"Ow! Hey, that hurts!" Hargujad whines as he tries in vain to pull the significantly stronger man's arm off of him. "Stop it, I'm enjoying peace right now, didn't you hear me?"

"These two have been friends since they were young boys." the General chuckles to himself as he watches the scene. "They used to get along swimmingly, but nowdays they'll have at each other over any little thing. You see, the truth is when they were kids Hargujad wanted to be the strong one and Rashen wanted to be the smart one. Neither of them got what they wanted, and they had to compromise! Hahaha!"

"General!"

"Father!"

The two men ceased their struggle to call out the laughing Shilan in unison. Neither seemed truly hurt by the comment though, so it seems this kind of thing is said often in good fun. In any case, the tension between the two friends dissipated just as quickly as it had set it.

"Ahem. Alright, enough horsing around. We came here for more than chit-chat." the General clears his throat as he stifles his laughter. "Our meeting with the King has made it even more apparent that you two need to be well equipped. At least when it comes to your wear. I don't know if you need to pull out any weapons. Laska has her rapier and it's likely more than enough, but what about you Nirou? What are you defending yourself with?"

Nirou pulls out the sword that's strapped to his leg and freezes for a moment. He hadn't thought about it the past few times he had strapped it on and off, but he actually had put this weapon to use. He killed a man with it. It was to save his own life sure, but it was still uncomfortable to think about. Particularly the fact that he would no doubt have to do it again. But that was a problem for another day, so he shoved the issue from his mind.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

The General noticed the hesitation, but said nothing. Instead he merely took the sword and observed it. He looked like he was doing that reading words in air thing. He glanced over and noticed Nirou's slight confusion.

"Standard summoned sword, has no special traits but it is of respectable quality." Shilan states, before handing it back to Nirou. "Take a read for yourself if you like. Anyone can bring up an artifact's description by focusing while they hold it."

Nirou took the sword back and did as he was told. After figuring out exactly the way he was supposed to be focusing, several symbols appeared in the air just above the sword. Not that he could read them. His lessons with Laska were slow going, and he only had a handful of characters memorized. The only one he knew for sure here was 'sword'. But this was nice to know anyway.

"You can use that sword by itself, or as a sidearm. A spear might do you well considering your stature." the General goes on. "But with no training, it may be best to stick to one at a time. In any case, the both of you will need armor. We've got all sorts of it here, so pick whatever you like. And don't worry, it all gets washed before it goes on the rack."

Nirou and Laska walked to the nearest wall and took a look at the armor racks. They were sorted by both what they covered and what they were made out of. The smallest rack had full metal plate that covered nearly the entire body, but there were only four sets. If Nirou remembered correctly, these were pretty expensive and hard to make. These might just be leftovers from warriors that died and didn't have anyone to claim them. On the larger racks were countless assortments of leather straps and metal plates meant to cover arms, legs, and joints of all kinds. Nirou looked around but didn't see any chainmail. Though he didn't know whether that meant it wasn't a thing in this world or just that it wasn't a thing in this region.

Laska went ahead and quickly found some leather armor that fit her, as there was a limited selection for her size. She also got metal guards for her shoulders, forearms, and calves. Her fighting style involved a lot of jumping around, so it makes sense that she would want to stay lightly armored. Nirou also had something of a size problem. None of the armor was made for someone quite so tall. Though with a bit of creativity, the General was able to get a leather frontpiece over him using some extra straps. It only covered his chest, but that seemed to be the best he was going to get. He settled for well-protected extremities, putting guards all up and down his arms and legs.

"Both of you are looking to be about standard issue." the General says, scoping the two out once they're fully geared. "We tend to supply three sets of guards per person in addition to suitable body armor. Helmets and such are available, but many forego them unless they plan to fight as ranks in the front line. You guys don't really need the armor of frontline fighters in any case, the mobility will do you better. The both of you are outfitted with weapons that would be standard sidearms for a spear or bow, but the more blessings in the mix the more unorthodox the gear you'll find people working with. It wouldn't do to set out with the intent of acting like a rank and file soldier with the goal you have in mind. You'd be prepping for failure."

The man really seemed to like talking about arms and armor. The circumstances of warfare in general really seemed to loosen his lips and made him spill the details. Nirou supposed that could only be from living a full life of it. However, he couldn't help but wonder something now that they were talking standard issue. It may not amount to anything, but it was a rare chance to try and contribute using the knowledge he had.

"General, I know this is just the armory, so it's not strange for it to be limited to this here." Nirou spoke up, to the surprise of most. "But is anything else standard issue to soldiers? In particular I mean first aid supplies. Bandages, medical ointments or something. Maybe tourniquets. I don't know how big you guys are on field care, but you could save a lot of trouble if soldiers could handle some wounds themselves before relying entirely on a doctor."

Nirou could feel himself sweat a bit as he waited for his suggestion to go over. At first he got only confusion in return, but Laska's face soon changed to one of interest. With a bit of a smug grin mixed in there, surely from having her tag-along touch on an unexpected topic. The General and his son also seemed to think the question over with seriousness after a moment.

"No, we don't give anything like that out." Shilan replied. "Men mostly have to make due for themselves. But it's an interesting prospect. I could look into how feasible it is to supply soldiers with that kind of thing. Though I never would have considered every soldier carrying tourniquets. Are those really standard issue in your world?"

"Uh, well, we've got a very simple design worked out by now." Nirou stumbles through his words. He wasn't expecting such a positive response. He's suddenly really glad he combed through the alternative texts like combat medicine. "It's basically just this strap with a knob on it that you twist to tighten it. It's got a loop you can hook over the knob to hold it wound up, and you just leave it like that for a couple hours or until you can see a doctor. It's simple enough that anyone can do carry one and do it."

His audience mulls over his explanation momentarily, then Hargujad fishes out a blank piece of paper and starts drawing on it.

"That actually sounds pretty neat. I'll draw something up and see if I can go to a guy about having it made. Since I've got nothing better to do anyway. This could be fun."

This whole time, Rashen has been a bit out of it. For someone with so many scars, it was strange just how detached he was from the topic. Laska noted his apparent confusion still lingering, and took the chance to talk her companion up to her new associate.

"Nirou was in training to become a physician in another world when I summoned him here with a spell." she explained with her arms crossed and a hand on her chin. Her grin had not yet subsided. "It's only natural that he would voice in on his area of expertise. You should all take it to heart. Do you even have anyone that can treat wounds on your team, Captain? It would be quite the oversight if not, given your tendency to operate in the field."

Rashen stepped back as if struck. He rubbed his head with his hand, hesitant to give what was obviously the answer.

"No. If someone gets hurt, we just wrap 'em up in whatever we got and haul 'em to the nearest doctor." the Captain admits. "I guess having the big guy around for a while won't be so bad after all."

The statement gave Nirou a big confidence boost, yet also made him apprehensive. Did he really have the means to contribute like they thought? Maybe he would be getting in over his head by doing this. Being able to talk about something and being able to do it are very different. But it was too late to back down now. He had already had his fill of being treated as baggage, so even pretending to be useful was better. He would just have to do what he could to make it work out.

"Even if that wasn't the case, you'll have to get along anyway. I said they're going, so that's that." the General smirks. "Since we got everything here that we needed, I'll head off. I'll get the exact details of your operation to you in a few days so you can get prepared."

"Understood, Sir!" Rashen returns to attention after having slacked out of it for a while now.

"I'll see you at home, Father." Hargujad waves while not looking up from his drawing.

Nirou and Laska also say their goodbyes before leaving the armory with all their new gear. It's nothing fancy, but now at least they looked like people who should be here. Being able to avoid a chastising like the one before was worth a sigh of relief.