“Captain Verrill Lark,” calmly said a voice.

Lark almost fell off his seat at the unexpected call and a few of the soldiers laughed at the scene.

“Lieutenant Colonel Sir, would it be possible to walk like normal people and not randomly appear out of the shadows in broad daylight?”

“If I did that, how would I see you while you’re on vacation?”

Sorin whacked Lark at the back of the head for him to get off the chair. Lark mumbled something as he stood up and his seat was taken Sorin while Altair chuckled in the background. They were used to this scene by now and it somehow always amused them.

As to how their leader managed to show up undetected even while wearing light armour was still a mystery. Hymr also obediently sat down next to his master with his head on his paws.

“How are the new recruits?” asked Sorin as he looked over the training session while playing with the short staff Lark always kept at his side.

“The recruits are promising, we even managed get a few that could be taught to be medics,” answered Lark. Except those who were in Sorin’s company and the companies of the captains that had left for the royal army, most of his soldiers were new blood.

Since there was a new lieutenant colonel, the general had decided to separate them into a completely new regiment consisting of some of the newest recruits from other battalions, the two companies of the captains who had left for the royal army and almost three hundred new recruits.

The colonel above Sorin was notoriously lax and had let him decide on positions and the running of his battalion since it was started from almost nothing. The higher-ups had decided it would be easier trying out the new ideas on fresh recruits. They would see how the structure and ideas would work out before making further personnel changes.

“Report on each company’s activity,” said Sorin and Lark suddenly straightened up.

“One of the captains is in a literacy lesson with the slower learners, another company is helping with kitchen duty today. Others went to work on the farm while Mahalia and company will be gone for wilderness training for the week.”

“Wilderness training? Hmm… I hope she doesn’t kill anyone,” commented Sorin.

“If she trains them, the same way you trained us, a few will probably die,” added Lark with a snarky smile.

Sorin barely gave him a look before looking back at the archers. While Lark could use a bow and arrow, he was more adept at the sword and similar weapons and so had borrowed one of the more experienced archers from another battalion to take care of the others.

They watched as the demonstration started. While certain rules of archery were standard, each region had distinctive features in the way people used their bow and arrow, but this applied to any type of weapon or martial arts.

Because Sorin had spent a good part of his childhood outside the Louvarossy region, in fact outside the kingdom of Surcaster his skills in different weapons and combat had multiple influences. This helped with identifying weaknesses in certain strategies.

At a higher position, he now had a chance to oversee more people during training. While the seasoned archers were excellent by the standard of most armies in the kingdom, even the royal army, there could still be improvement in the exercise for the entire battalion and not just the designated archers.

Sorin stood up from his seat, threw the staff back to Lark and walked over to the practice range. A few officers from other battalions were also on the training field. Some, especially those older than him couldn’t help but give him a look as he stood watching.

It still wasn’t easy accepting a younger noble as a commanding officer even if he had proven himself before they knew his origins. This type of reluctance was also why General Kasabien had decided on letting Sorin have the newer recruits. Soldiers were simply stubborn to their bones.

“Officer, I know that most generally focus on using arrows as a mass weapon, but I’d like to discuss a few changes in the training program. I’ll have all my available captains join us later.”

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“Sir, if we changed the training for such a specific weapon, this group would differ from the other battalions. How would we then work together when that time comes?”

Sorin turned to look at Lark who shook his head and had his hand up in a gesture of defeat as if absolving himself of the officer’s words.

Although addressed as Sir, it sounded condescending more than anything else and those from other battalions looked at him with defiant eyes as if waiting for him to do something so they could intervene.

It already wasn’t easy for Sorin being a commanding officer especially to so many new people most of which were civilians without any fighting experience. Being new recruits, most of them would have to endure a bit of bullying by their seniors, some of it in jest but he knew others were malicious in their intentions.

The last thing he needed was being undermined in front of his officers, but it wasn’t as if he was unprepared for such things. It had never bothered him before even when he was just a captain.

The best solution involved firstly making third parties recognise that he was not using his authority to humiliate others. In fact, as a commanding officer, he didn’t have to explain himself to anyone below his rank no matter how long they had been in the army or how much older they were.

He could just issue corporal punishment or even run them through with a sword and be done with it. Unfortunately, there was much more politics to being a successful leader especially in a new position so he couldn’t simply act that way, making his eye slightly twitch in annoyance.

The second part of the solution was to give the other party a chance to get in line before more severe methods were implemented, giving them face despite them being a lower rank.

“Officer, if you have something to say, we can discuss it in the strategy meeting later.”

“Then we would have wasted time with today’s practice if it will just change tomorrow,” replied the man.

Everyone had stopped what they were doing to look at the scene as Sorin directly stepped in front of the officer. Hymr snarled preventing the man from taking a step closer, but Sorin gestured with his hand for him to stand down.

The third part of the solution was about to come into play; making sure no one called him unreasonable. The soldier’s eyes were suddenly somewhat unsteady even though he insisted on facing Sorin.

They were expecting him to pull out one of the swords at his side when his hand moved. Instead, Sorin placed his hands behind his back and stood tall.

“Since Officer would appreciate a reason for the change right now. Let me explain simply. In terms of coordinated attacks where arrows rain down en-masse on the targets or more than one archer is on the target, the standard way of training works fine but you know we’re not always fighting while standing in a fortress. We’re not fighting a planned battle, so we need to be able to adapt as the other side does.”

Sorin turned to face the rest of them, still with his hands behind his back.

“We are border forces, we fight whenever and wherever we’re needed, on the mountains, on the open plains and the forest in the harshest weather conditions at any time of day. Our archers need to be able to shoot for accuracy as well in different situations with a wide range of bows and not just in a group hoping that they’d hit a target.”

A few officers nodded, trying to grasp the logic of their commanding officer. It made sense explaining it that way and it didn’t make them feel stupid if they had wondered about it. That was a fresh change to those considered of the lower classes since being treated as dull-witted was common for them.

After a brief pause to let them digest, Sorin continued.

“Out in the field we don’t always have the advantage of numbers and some operations require us to be unseen. Whether my archers are on a horse or hanging upside down in a tree, using a bow and arrow or a crossbow, should be irrelevant. If I want a target dead, that’s what should happen otherwise it will be our funerals.”

For those who were familiar with Sorin longer, it was likely the most they had ever heard him say all at once. Even those that were not familiar with him had a feeling that he was not about to repeat these words.

The officer that had questioned him uncomfortably swallowed his saliva noticing that those from other battalions and his own were not saying anything either.

The fourth part of the Sorin’s solution was already obvious. There could be no punishment without an offence, and everyone had clearly seen the situation.

“Captain Lark, a junior officer disrespected and defiantly questioned a commanding officer, do we stand for such an attitude in this army?” asked Altair with an air of seriousness.

Sorin also turned his head slightly as if waiting for Lark’s answer who was standing straight with the staff behind his back. There was a tacit understanding between Sorin and Altair, so Lark didn’t even question who had asked him.

“Such action would warrant that the offender be punished according to the rules but to the discretion of the offended officer based on their offence even if they are under a different superior, Sir.”

“I’ll leave Captain Lark to deal with this at his discretion then,” insisted Sorin before walking off with Altair and Hymr a few steps behind them.