Chapter 31 - Barracks

Once the flags were collected, everyone jumped onboard the Sixth Army’s ships and they scuttled out into the vast ocean to return back home. It was still the early morning when they arrived at Ralom and the streets were a figureless void. Only the incessant squawking of seagulls welcomed them back after their tiring experience. But despite this, after enduring the long trials, they felt a sense of jubilation and accomplishment.

Even before the ships were tied down, boys quickly hopped off and on top of the wooden docks. The sound of feet colliding into hard woods made a series of “thuds” that was reminiscent of a drummer learning to keep tempo for the first time.

“Follow me to the barracks if you’ve passed the exam!” yelled an officer as he ran through the mob and up ahead of everyone else.

They all listened and started to chase after the running officer. Singing and laughter filled the streets as they passed. These Ingras were finally Ralomans.

It meant that no longer did they have to live in disheveled and broken homes. No longer would they have to face discrimination for being born either in the outer city or another island. And no longer would their lives in Ralom be dead ends with no means to gain upward mobility.

It was only now, that the inhabitants of the city started to take notice of the arrival of the Sixth Army. People peered out of their multi-floored windows and opened their doors. When they saw the horde of boys running towards them from the harbor, they all knew what it meant.

A woman, who was in her mid-thirties, smiled as she stood near a window and looked down at the crowd. She turned herself around, towards where a man was sitting down at a table topped with plates of food, in the small room.

“Darling, look outside! There’s more of them this year!”

“Come and finish breakfast, Isabella.” he said, as he picked up a sausage with his fork.

“But Celso, you should see how happy they are! Some of them might even become your students.”

“From the sound of it, they sound like Ingras boys.” Celso took a bite and lifted his glass full of wine, staring through it at a purple tinted Isabella.

“The chances of them coming to my school are too low.” he said and then drank.

Arnest was currently running along with Lajos and Victoro. Urbano, Palben and Zenon were already Ralomans so their sights were set higher. They wanted to become officers so they headed back to their homes to start preparing for the officer exams. This was usually the case for most Ralomans so the boys who were heading to the barracks were mainly Ingras.

They ran through the inner city and all the way towards the eastern side where a huge wall welcomed them. It wasn’t beautiful nor crude. Just a simple stone wall that was a few stories high.

It surprised Arnest that this was the wall wasn’t as impressive as those in Zanabo. Weren’t these walls meant to hold back monsters? If a Mamalark attacked here, these walls would probably be toppled over by a single storm. Or what if the legendary Zanas just walked onto the shores? It would probably just walk over the wall like it was nothing and crush the Ralomans who were hiding behind the wall.

The officer of the Sixth Army walked up to the wall. A man was standing at attention at the top and looked down at the officer who pulled out a small parchment paper. The guard nodded, yelling out orders to the other side of the wall, and the entrance started to slowly creak open.

What laid behind the walls was a mystery for most of the boys. Some expected ornate buildings built atop lush fields. Others expected to see a fleet of monstrous ships and Ralomans lined up in their signature armaments. What splendor and wonder must the Raloman army be?

Their faces were all stupid grins as they stared intently at the opening, trying to see what laid beyond. And within minutes the gates were fully opened. Everything exposed, for every one of them to finally see what they were working so hard for.

The ground was a deep brown, not a single patch of green in sight. Dirty red tents littered the field in a disorderly fashion. Raloms pride and joy were, only now, waking up and when they exited their haphazard tents, their bare feet sloshed through the mud. They also wore cheap undergarments instead of a fancily engraved armor and sleek swords.

In the muck that was the barracks, the single thing that exuded a sense of the grandeur usually associated with Ralom, was the fleet. When comparing the Sixth Army’s ships to the ones they saw in the distance, the Sixth Army was clearly lacking. Specifically there were five or so ships that were embossed and gilded with gold. At their forefronts was a huge figurehead that reached from over the bows, of a busty woman with flowing auric hair. Like a diamond found in a mud pit, it glowed with an uncanny brilliance in an unlikely home.

“These are the barracks?”

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“We’re going to have to live here?”

“This shit’s worse than where I already live!”

The boys started to question and yell, so much so, that their voices ended up getting lost in the mix. It just became even more rambunctious as some of them started to scramble towards the opposite direction, back to the western slums. The officer who led them here just had an unresponsive stark face.

After a while, he said “I’ll take you guys to see the recruiters,” and started to walk past the gate.

Not everyone heard him so they continued to complain amongst themselves, however a number of them decided to follow. Arnest, Lajos and Victoro were close enough to hear the officer but Arnest looked out with some apprehension.

“Should we follow him?”

“Yes. We must follow because we’re Ralomans now.” Lajos said, serious as always.

Arnest sighed. “That’s not a good reason to follow someone.”

But Lajos ignored him and just moved forward. Victoro didn’t say anything but followed Lajos. Arnest looked at their backs for a while, before sighing again. “I guess we’ll see what happens,” he said, following Lajos.

They tried to follow the officer but he was walking fast, without worries of getting dirty, unlike the boys who were taking off their shoes and rolling up their pants. So when they realized they were falling behind they hurriedly chased after him, splashing and kicking up mud on each other and themselves. It was impossible to stay clean trekking the field at his pace.

The officer stopped at a stone white building that was more brown than white. There were more than a dozen other men who were standing in front. Unlike the other soldiers, they were wearing their official Raloman officer armor, and stood with poise.

Standing about ten in front of the other officers the Sixth Army officer ordered,“Form loose columns of twenty, starting here.”

In a short few minutes, the boys aligned themselves accordingly. Arnest, Lajos and Victoro stood next to each other in the same column. They stood at attention, awaiting further orders.

Now that they were in their positions, the officers started to methodically walk in between the boys, inspecting each one. They would stop in front of one, tilt their head up and down and finally stare directly into their eyes. A lot of the boys fidgeted a lot when they were subjected to such a strange inspection.

This continued for a while until an officer slammed his palm on top of one of the boys heads. “This one’s joining the Ninth Army!”

“This one’s joining the Eleventh!”

“This one’s a Seventh Army boy!”

The officers just started yelling out declarations and directed them to stand to the side. Twelve groups started to take form, one for each of the Raloman armies. But Arnest noticed there was more than twelve recruiters. The twelve army recruiters were quite recognizable because they were shouting but that also made the other officers stand out more. They were more aloof, serious faces and didn’t say a single word.

One of these officers who was just quietly inspecting, suddenly changed in personality. His eyes widened and a smile covered half his face. Placing his hands on the boy in front of him, he asked, “Would you like to join the Euqata School?”

The boy was confused but nodded his head. He knew enough that any Raloman school was meant for military training. Usually it was to train boys to join a specialized unit like the vanguard or a naval unit. It could even mean that they’d be given the opportunity to become an officer. So either way, it was best to not let the opportunity not slip away.

The other quiet officers broke their silence as well, starting to invite boys to join their schools. But even then, at this point there were still a lot of boys left to be inspected. Arnest and Lajos waited for a while, officers passing by them. Specifically when they looked at Lajos, some of them scowled and muttered some curses before moving on.

Finally a school officer recruiters stopped right in front of Arnest. Sacks pooled under his eyes, wrinkles covered his face and he had patches of white hair around his head with a bald spot in the middle. Everything about him screamed “old man” but he had such an animated smile that it made him look years younger.

He patted Arnest’s shoulders with both hands. “I’ve heard about you from Abdiel. He said you’re quite the little schemer.”

“The Sixth General?”

“If you want to become something more than a sailor, follow me.” the elderly man said, as he walked off.

Arnest turned around to Lajos and Victoro. “I’m going to follow him for now. Let’s meet up after we get our assignments.”

“Alright.”

Arnest then headed over to the elderly man who was standing to the side. He led him northwards, past the tents and towards another stone building. However unlike the one from before, this one was pristine. It was such a perfect white that it reflected the rising sun’s rays making it look that more extravagant. Also it was much bigger than the one from before and looked more like an apartment complex.

The recruiting officer wiped his boots on a mat placed at the front, and opened the door.

“Welcome to Guardia, the best officer’s school of Ralom.”