"Where was your horse?" Captain Sanjin questioned Reivyn.

"Sir? I don't have a horse," Reivyn replied, confused.

"No horse? Then how are you expected to report to me?" Sanjin asked, equally confused.

"I'm not sure I understand, sir. I have to stay with the men of First Platoon."

"Why?"

"I'm the Platoon Commander, sir."

"Isn't that Jeckly guy the Platoon Commander?"

"That's Senior Sergeant Jekle, sir. He's not a commissioned officer."

"But he's been the one acting in charge?"

"I've been grooming him for command, and I've been having him out front, but I'm the one that's been commanding, sir."

"Normally I would say that's a colossal waste of time, but it works out great in this circumstance," Sanjin nodded his head. "Go to the quartermaster and get a horse. You're now the Company XO, and you'll need the additional mobility in order to report to me."

"Yes, sir. And where will I need to go to report to you, sir? You won't be with the company?"

"Why would I be with the company?" Sanjin was taken aback. "I'll be with the battalion command staff, obviously. I'll need to stick close to the Major if I'm to contribute my military genius to the overall situation."

"Yes, sir. Of course, sir."

"Here," Sanjin handed Reivyn an empty requisition form for the quartermaster with his signature on the bottom. "Fill this out, and get yourself a horse. No need to find me tomorrow, I'll be with the Major. Just take charge of the company, and have them March out with the battalion."

"Yes, sir." Reivyn saluted, turned about at the obvious dismissal, and departed from the captain's office located in the central administrative building of the barracks. The captain's office was on the second floor, and the quartermaster's office was on the first floor, near the exit leading to the warehouse for the military gear.

Reivyn headed towards the quartermaster, the soldiers bustling about the interior of the building stepping back and saluting as he passed by. Even though Reivyn's rank was Provisional, he was still commissioned, and the regular soldiers maintained proper military decorum. Nobody looked at him askance because of his younger-looking face, even though it was beginning to finally mature.

They're probably used to seeing officers selected for nepotism, Reivyn mused. As far as I know, they still have to go through all the same training, but if my guess is correct, they don't have the possibility of failure.

The rest of the exercise in the field with the battalion performing the search-and-engage maneuvers had been pretty boring. Reivyn had ordered his men to build rudimentary fortifications in the valley, and the other platoons had gotten to work doing similar things after Jek had followed suit, but Captain Sanjin had put a stop to it.

His reasoning was that they wouldn't be there for very long, and they weren't actually fighting, so why do all that unnecessary work? Reivyn had tried to argue that it was part of the practice, but Captain Sanjin rebuffed him. It would have been easy for the other man to just let them do what they needed to do, but he specifically ordered them not to do anything unnecessary. Reivyn had felt it wasn't unnecessary, but he had to act according to what Captain Sanjin thought.

After the other company discovered them and "drove them off," they once more met up with the rest of the battalion. They had completed their training mission, as it was more to get the captains familiar with moving their men about than it was gauging combat readiness. They had already done those evaluations during the other training. The battalion had cleaned up and headed back to the city.

The Major had taken a moment to address everyone about the upcoming mission, and then they had received a day off before it was time to head out. The officers were required to compile reports about their subordinates. Reivyn had delivered his reports to Captain Sanjin on their day off, and the captain had had Reivyn write up the report for the company as a whole, using the excuse that Reivyn was his selection for XO. Reivyn suspected it had been more along the lines of him being the first officer to deliver the reports, and the captain didn't want to do the work himself.

Reivyn stopped at a small table to fill out the supply requisition form.

Let's see... I need to put in the request for the horse, obviously, but this is basically a blank check from a superior officer. I can take this chance to get the additional communication magic devices, as well as some extra spears and other gear.

Reivyn filled out the form with his own requests added to it. He didn't go overboard and ask for the moon. He felt like the additional requests were perfectly reasonable. He nodded to himself as he tucked it back into his breast pocket, and then he made his way downstairs to the quartermaster.

He stepped through the doors and was greeted by a soldier standing behind a desk. The room was fairly bare, with the other side of the desk leading directly to the warehouse attached to the back of the administrative building.

"How can I help you, sir?" The young soldier asked.

"I have a requisition form here," Reivyn said, pulling the form out and placing it on the desk in front of the soldier. "I need a horse, thirty spears, thirty swords, thirty shields..."

"Hold on a moment, sir," the soldier held his hand up. "Let me get the Supply Officer for you."

"Very well," Reivyn nodded his head as the man excused himself to walk into a side office. A moment later, another man came out with the young soldier. He was a bit older, and he had the rank insignia of a captain on his collar.

"What can I help you with..." the Supply Officer peered at Reivyn's rank insignia for a brief moment, "Provisional Lieutenant?"

"I have a requisition form here that my company commander, Captain Sanjin, ordered me to bring," Reivyn indicated the form signed by Captain Sanjin.

"Alright, let me just take a glance, here," the Supply Officer picked the form up, perusing it.

"Mhm... mhm... yes... mhm," the man nodded to himself. "Hmm... no, no, this won't work at all." He shook his head.

"What seems to be the problem?" Reivyn asked, a frown on his face.

"Well, your captain is requesting four additional communication tools. See, here?" The Supply Officer pointed at the spot where Reivyn had just written the request, emphasizing the rank of captain. "There's no way I can satisfy that request."

"And why is that, exactly?" Reivyn asked. "How many communication tools do you have available?"

"According to the supply manifest, we have forty of them, but if I gave you four, then I would only have thirty-six. Do you see the problem?" The man asked, a mild smile on his face.

"No."

"We have to maintain a minimum amount of extra gear on hand," the Supply Officer explained. "And we just happen to have forty of these items in reserve at all times. Protocol, you understand. So if I give you four of them, we won't have the necessary reserve any longer. I'm afraid I can't give you any."

"Isn't the entire reason you have to keep any reserve is so that they're available for when they're needed?" Reivyn questioned, feeling a headache coming on. "We're stepping off on a rescue mission tomorrow, and we need lines of communication."

"Hmm, one would think so, but that's not the case," the man shook his head. "The protocols are very clear: We must maintain a reserve of forty units at all times. It doesn't stipulate that it's so that we have them for when they're going to be used, and even if that was the case, how can we determine that your use for them is more important than someone else's use for them in the future?"

"Because we're leaving the confines of the city to travel hundreds of miles away, and everyone else who's still here literally won't need any?" Reivyn pointed out.

"Mmm, I'm afraid that's not enough of a reason. You'll have to get a requisition with the Major or Colonel's signature on it. Captain Sanjin's rank isn't high enough to give me an order to go against protocol."

"I see," Reivyn said, irritation nearly filling his voice. "But everything else is in order?"

"Oh, yes, I can give you everything else that you have listed here. We have plenty in reserve," the Supply Officer nodded amicably. "A word of advice, though," he leaned forward and lowered his voice, "make sure you request everything associated with the mount. You only listed that you needed a horse, but you left off the saddle, tack, and everything else associated with a horse, including the horseshoes."

"Including the horseshoes? You can't be serious? Isn't it common sense that a mount would come with everything required to use it as a mount? Wouldn't adding everything else be to request extras?"

"Oho, you might think so," the man replied mirthfully, "but we have to keep meticulous records, and we need a way to cross-reference everything that's come in and gone out. You understand. I'll have Private Porro fix the mistake... this time."

"Thank you... sir," Reivyn replied, deadpan.

"Of course, of course!" The Supply Officer smiled happily.

The private ran out to the warehouse to get the gear that was approved for requisition, and the Supply Officer told Reivyn he could go out back to pick the gear up. Reivyn nodded his head before excusing himself to run to the barracks to get Jekle to form a work party to pick up the additional gear for the platoon.

He didn't feel bad for not getting additional gear for the other platoons, as he saw a line of supplies being loaded up for the entire battalion. He had just secured some extra gear for his men early, and they wouldn't have to go through the trouble of getting gear in the field right away.

Jekle immediately understood Reivyn's orders, and he had Senior Sergeant Paul command the squad leaders to volun-tell some of the troops to go get the gear. Reivyn ran back to the warehouse to see a horse, properly kitted out, already being held steady for Reivyn to receive.

"Do you guys keep horses in the warehouse?" Reivyn asked, walking up to the soldier.

"No, sir. There's a stable attached to the other side," the soldier informed him.

"I was under the impression that I would be able to pick my own," Reivyn glanced at the soldier through the side of his eyes.

"There's a rotation, sir," the man explained. "But don't worry. We don't have any nags or weak horses. They're all of similar quality and training, and you'll be sure to be happy with this horse, here."

"Thank you... Lance Corporal," Reivyn replied after verifying the man's rank.

It appears that there was a stable and pasture for the horses not assigned to anyone where they could be housed and trained, and the ones that were assigned had their own stable much more accessible for retrieval. The supply troops would be in charge of handling all horses not assigned to an officer or staff sergeant, but the individual platoons and soldiers were responsible for the upkeep of their own horses.

Reivyn waited for the detail of his troops to arrive to take charge of the requisitions before he mounted his horse and departed. He rode the horse around to get familiarized with it, and the soldier hadn't lied to him. While it wasn't a powerful specimen like the personal mounts of the young men, his own captain included, it was a well-cared-for mount. It followed his instructions easily, and it didn't give him any problems.

After trotting about the grounds for a while, he took it to the battalion stable and left it with the grooms. The stable within the military compound was mainly manned by civilians, but the soldiers from the platoons also assisted them so they understood what to do out in the field. Not all of the troops were trained in horsemanship, and the officers didn't have time to do all of the maintenance themselves.

Reivyn decided to go ahead and do the maintenance himself this time, as he was still letting the horse get used to him. He would do so several more times, at minimum, but his command duties would probably preclude him from doing it too often once they were on the move. The horse was docile enough, and Reivyn wasn't too worried that he wouldn't be able to form at least a little bit of a bond with it before they saw any combat.

Done with his tasks, Reivyn was finally able to enjoy the day off. His morning had been busy, but it hadn't taken up too much of his time. It was still well before noon, and he knew exactly how he was going to spend the rest of his day.

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"What's taking him so long?" Kefira paced back and forth in her inn room. Once they had volunteered to join the Auxiliary Units, they no longer had a need for a room to themselves at an inn; however, now was the only opportunity they would have for the foreseeable future to have any privacy, so Kefira had reserved another room for the day.

She had foregone the typical robes that Mages wore, and she was just in a plain tunic and pants. Plain in that they aren't extravagant, Kefira thought to herself. The clothes were still extremely high quality despite their lack of accouterments.

"He seemed like the type to take his duties seriously," Serilla replied. "I'm sure he's just finishing up his reports."

"If he takes his job as seriously as you say, shouldn't he have done the reports last night?" Kefira countered. Serilla shrugged.

"I don't know. That Sanjin character he was assigned to seemed like a clown, to me. He probably roped Reivyn into doing his reports, too."

"Yeah, what's up with that?" Kefira stopped her pacing. "Wasn't Reivyn the top graduate? Why was he assigned to such an idiot?"

"I can think of two reasons, but it's only speculation," Serilla said, holding her hands out to tick off her fingers. "One, the Colonel thought he was assigning him to the best captain because he's friends with his son. Or, two, he assigned a competent platoon commander to a terrible company commander to make him look better. Either way, what's done is done."

"He better pray he shapes up," Kefira said, crossing her arms. "And it's not even a matter of putting Reivyn in danger with his incompetence. Well, not entirely."

"Uh huh," Serilla smirked.

"Hey! We don't know if this is a bigger issue, yet, or not. If it turns out these are outsiders from the kingdom, then I'll have every right to interfere at that time. If it's not a bigger issue at hand, the chances of catastrophic failure in rescuing the civilians are pretty low, anyway."

"They defeated and captured everyone in a city of tens of thousands of people," Serilla pointed out.

"Yeah, but our current goal isn't to defeat them in turn. It's to rescue the population of Kirlon. Failure is still very much a possibility, but not a catastrophic failure. Like our own forces getting wiped out in the process. Anyway, all that to say, it's unlikely anything majorly bad will happen if it's an internal dispute, and if it is an external invasion, I'll have the ability to make sure morons aren't in charge of getting people killed."

"If that's the case, it might be wiser to wait for one of your older siblings to arrive to take command."

"Of course it is, but that doesn't mean I have to let idiots stay in positions of power while we wait. And I've already alerted the family to the possibility."

"What did they say in reply?"

"The usual," Kefira shrugged. "They just acknowledged the information and told me to do what I felt was best for now. Without more information, we would be seen as meddlesome. While that's not too terrible, it might affect our prestige among the other empires."

"Since when have you cared about that, Little Miss Run Away Anytime There's a Banquet?"

"Hey! I care!" Kefira pouted. "I just don't care for my personal prestige. I'm still young, and the mystery revolving around me always being absent, among other things, has actually added to my own prestige. You've heard the rumors. Don't think that I haven't."

A knocking sound came from the door, interrupting their conversation. A smile threatened to split Kefira's face in two as she leaped to the door to answer it. She threw the door open and slammed into the person on the other side, barely using enough time to verify it was the person she had been waiting for.

"Oof," Reivyn called out, instinctively circling his arm around Kefira's waist. "Miss me?"

"Of course," Kefira answered, leaning back without letting go to gaze up into his face. "This will be the last time we'll have any real privacy. Speaking of," Kefira turned to Serilla, "go wait in the common room."

Serilla raised an eyebrow at the command, and Reivyn took a step back, concern on his face.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Reivyn questioned, Serilla nodding along.

"I let you be the gentleman last time and convince me to let her chaperone us," Kefira said, turning back to Reivyn. "But not this time. We're going to have some real time alone together." She addressed Serilla once again. "I promise it won't be for long enough for anything untoward to happen, so you can go with a clear conscience."

"Really?" Serilla eyed Reivyn up and down as she walked to the door. "By the looks of him, I imagine twenty seconds would be enough."

"Huh?" Reivyn tilted his head with a confused look before realization hit him. "Hey! That's a bit uncalled for, don't you think?" Serilla just laughed, and even Kefira snickered. "Et tu, Fira?" Reivyn said, grasping at his chest.

Et tu? Kefira frowned. There he goes again, with his weird sayings.

"I don't know... Why are you getting so defensive?" Serilla returned to Reivyn.

Serilla walked out the door and gave a wink to Kefira before turning to head downstairs. Kefira yanked Reivyn all the way into the room, slamming the door shut. She turned back to Reivyn, once more embracing him. Reivyn bent down and planted his lips on hers, encircling her in his arms, and she felt happiness and butterflies explode in her being.

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They only spent about ten minutes together truly alone. Fira had been much more aggressive than she had ever been, and they had ended up cuddling together on the bed for a few minutes before Reivyn decided to do the responsible thing.

"We really should call Sera back in here," Reivyn said into Fira's hair. He heard an unhappy harumph come from her, and she tightened her grip on his arms around her.

"Serilla," she said.

"Come again?" Reivyn asked.

"Her name is actually Serilla," Fira said. "Sera is her nickname, and that's the name we use when we're out and about."

"Oh? Trying to stay incognito?"

"Yeah, and using a nickname we're used to makes it easier to respond to a pseudonym than coming up with a fake name."

"So if Fira is your nickname, then what's your real name?"

"Guess."

"Hmm... If it's similar sounding so that it's easy to remember, then... Amy?"

"AMY?!" Fira turned around and glared at him fiercely. "Try again, knucklehead."

"Hahaha," Reivyn laughed. "Ok, ok, for real this time. Fira... Fira... Is it Firala?"

"Firala? Nooo... You'll never guess it. My real name doesn't have the exact same sound as my nickname. It's Kefira."

"Kefira. Ok, I can see how Fira would be your nickname. Especially on paper. Your nickname sounds like 'fear-uh,' and your real name is 'ka-fire-uh,' but you probably spell them the same, huh?"

"Bingo."

"Well, I'm just Reivyn. No nicknames or anything."

"I suspected as much."

"Ok, I think that's enough stalling for time," Reivyn gently patted Kefira on the arm. "Let's call Serilla back up here."

"N~o, I don't wanna," Kefira pouted, squirming deeper into Reivyn's hold. Reivyn sighed.

"I know. I don't want to either. But we should. I don't want to impugn your reputation to your parents."

"You just don't want my mom to slap you," Kefira pinched his arm.

"Guilty," Reivyn chuckled. "But the other reason is valid, too. Your mother wouldn't want to slap me if she didn't suspect me."

"You don't know my mother," Kefira whispered under her breath, but she extracted herself from Reivyn's embrace. She tidied up her clothes and hair; they had gotten a bit tangled up. Reivyn appraised her looks and secretly found the wild look to be quite attractive. Kefira noticed the look. "What?"

"Just admiring your beauty," Reivyn smiled.

Kefira flipped her hair over her shoulder after getting it straight, and then she sashayed to the door.

"Eyes up top," she said. Reivyn's eyes snapped up to the back of her head in time to catch her eye as she turned her head to smirk at him. She laughed as she left the room to call her bodyguard back to the room. Reivyn quickly got up off the bed and took a seat at the small side table.

His appearance was impeccable, and he was seated in a respectful manner by the time Serilla stormed through the door to try and catch him not looking like a perfect gentleman. Serilla paused at the sight and sniffed at the air before looking at the bed with its obvious wrinkles. Kefira waltzed passed her and took a seat next to Reivyn, not paying any attention to where her bodyguard was looking, but Reivyn could see the tops of her ears had turned a bright red.

"Have a seat, Serilla," Kefira nodded across the table. Serilla was momentarily surprised, shooting a sharp glance at Reivyn, from the address, but she did as she was told. "I took the liberty to order some lunch while we were down there," Kefira turned to Reivyn, holding her hand out, palm up for him to grasp. He took the opportunity presented to hold her hand. "We can eat in some peace and quiet, and then we can figure out what to do with the rest of our last day alone together."

"I'm looking forward to it," Reivyn smiled.