It's almost morning, and I still can't sleep.
A girl in bed, tossing and turning around, hugging a soft bolster that's just as big as her. Lilac strands of hair sticking to her face from all the movement, close to her sharp, light blue eyes.
Today is the long awaited Kingdom Army recruitment day! I need to be well rested to perform at my best but what is this... I haven't got a wink of sleep! Come on, Cattleya, sleep already!
More tossing and turning ensued and finally, after shifting into the weirdest sleeping position possible, did the girl fall asleep.
--
[ Thuringia Town ]
Thuringia is a small town located far north in the Eastern Continent, though most people refer it to the Ventus Continent. The town belongs to the Kingdom of Thorne, ruled by a reasonable king, though his influence didn't really reach the small town.
Thuringia is one of town that is close to the Crystal Forest, the biggest forest in the whole continent. It was rumored that the crystal dragon once dwelled deep inside, but no one has managed to explore that far into the forest and lived to tell the tale. It was said there is too much magical beast inside the inner ring, and no one knows why they are gathered there. Magical beasts are known to be able to speak and dislike humans. They prefer to be out of contact from the world.
Though there was some beast or monsters that attacks human settlements before, there was rarely any of them being a magical beast. Monster encounters are fairly rare since they live in their own environment, usually far from human reach. The humans doesn't want to have anything to do with them either, it was hectic enough facing the warring period with multiple kingdoms fighting for power and land. So the humans never bothered to expand through these places.
Thuringia itself is known for its peaceful atmosphere. The nearby fields harvest well and there is a lake just outside of town available for fishing. The townsfolk have little to no complaints, overall it is a happy town.
The sound of clapping horse hoofs and iron boots against the stoned pathways filled the city. Today is the long awaited Kingdom Army recruitment day. A large amount of people are already gathered in the town square. Most of them are young adults of both genders, most likely applying for the recruitment. The other half are the elder population of the town, probably wanting to see if their children make it through the rumored strict requirements.
"Make way for the commander!", shouted one of the foot soldiers.
The people makes way for a few cavalry and a normal looking wooden carriage behind it. As it came to a stop, a soldier opens the carriage door and the commander stepped out.
Walking to the center of the square, is the commander. Donned in a body fit leather armor, she looks like an agile fighter with a sheathed sword tied to the hip. She has long purple hair flowing in big waves down to her waist, with none of them covering her forehead. She looks around with her soft yellow eyes before unsheathing the sword and stabbing it on the ground, then rests both her hands on the tip of the handle.
"Good morning townsfolk of Thuringia, I am a Hundred Man Commander, my name is Iris.", she spoke with an elegance matching her appearance. A lot of the onlookers are staring intently, some with determination, others with, well, lust for her figure.
"I will be overseeing the recruitment in this town and making sure everything is conducted properly and no forms of cheating or bribery will be tolerated. Without further ado, those who are interested, please, come forward and line-up before me."
And so, the recruitment begins...
--
"I'm laaaaaaaaaaaate!", Cattleya shrieks as she tries to run as fast as she could down the path, to the town square.
Oh my god! I can't believe I slept till way past sunrise! The selection process must have begun already! What if they don't accept me because I was late?! Arghh, I'll be doomed!
Finally she arrived, still panting and breathing heavily. She looks around and then figured out the line in front of the beauty with the purple hair must be the applicant line. She inhales deeply and lets out a long sigh of relief.
The line was almost empty, there's only two more to go. Cattleya sheepishly walked to queue and without her knowing, Iris had been observing her from afar. Beside the commander is a soldier keeping record of the names and household of the applicants. The accepted applicants are all gathered beside the carriage, separate from the townsfolk.
Finally her turn has come. Cattleya steps forward and both eyes met. Iris looks at the smaller and shorter than average girl before her up and down. Scrutinizing every part, evaluating capabilities of the girl.
Wearing a normal long sleeved clothing and quite the baggy leather pants, with straight lilac hair that stops a little over her shoulders, sharp light blue eyes that rest below her also straight fringe. She has slender figure, though small, she doesn't look thin or lacking any muscles in any part of her body. Evaluating her body further is impossible given how covered she was.
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
Iris starts, "Don't think I didn't see you being late. What's your name?"
Cattleya gulped hard before she answers, "I'm sorry, I'm Cattleya, Cattleya Vanic."
"Cattleya Vanic... how old are you?", Iris is slightly curious since Cattleya looks small and might not be an adult yet. Although there's not really a written age requirement, she doesn't think the training regime can be handled by kids.
"18 years old, uhm..", Cattleya paused and fidgets as she doesn't know who is the person in front of her. Damnit, I must've missed the introduction.
"Iris, Commander Iris. Remember that name well. You're accepted to enlist and will be tested further. Join the others in the group over there.", Iris points out to the group of youngsters by the carriage.
"Yes, commander", Cattleya heads off to the group.
"We will now commence further testing in the fields outside of town.", with that, Iris extracts her sword from the ground and puts it back where it belongs. The movement looks so smooth and elegant, it leaves some in awe. A foot soldier comes close with a horse, and hands the reins to Iris. She then mounts it and slowly headed to the town gate.
One of the soldiers came over to the group of participants, "Okay you lads, follow the commander. It's time to see who are fit to serve the army."
--
[ Outskirts of Thuringia ]
The commander, a few foot soldiers and the participants arrived at a clearing just outside of town. Iris got down from the horse and instructed the participants to line up and count themselves. There are 165 people in total, not what she was expecting from a small town.
"Alright, you lot shall now divide yourselves to a group of 5 and call yourself a squad. Once you're done sorting yourselves out, pick one person in the squad to become the squad leader.", yelled one of the foot soldiers.
Cattleya was looking around nervously since she doesn't have any friends that enlist together, and most people went with stronger looking participants. She sighed, this is like school all over again. Just when she was about to go to the weakest looking bunch of people, she felt a tap on her shoulder.
It was a girl who was far taller than her, Cattleya had to look up slightly to see her face. She has short, fiery red hair with some of it falling nicely to one side of her forehead. She also has a light red eye colour.
"Hey there, do you want to join us?", she smiled.
Cattleya, delighted, "Yeah sure, I'm Cattleya Vanic."
The girl smiled wider, "Nice, I'm Riv Bahn. Come, you'll be our last member."
As they walked a bit, they're met with 3 other guys, who all nodded to Riv. The guys then moved closer and introduced themselves to Cattleya.
An average guy with brown hair and a soft smile, "I'm Luis Carter."
A quite burly guy with a happy grin, "Hugh Itago, nice to meet you!"
A guy taller than Riv with jet black hair and a poker face, "Kee Alvaro."
Cattleya bowed slightly, "Cattleya Vanic. Nice meeting you all."
Riv clapped her hands, "Alright, the captain of the squad will be Kee! He's so tall we'll have no problems sticking to him or finding him. Do you guys agree?"
The rest of them nodded in unison while Kee just stood still, not breaking his straight face. "Sure."
Then they all lined up with their squad leader in front.
Seeing that everyone had found and formed groups, Iris came and stood before them all. Her hair waved with the wind and she looks more like a noblewoman rather than a commander. Some of the guys softly mouthed an 'ooh' in awe. Though for the purple haired beauty herself, she found it annoying and wished she had a hairband to tie her hair before it becomes a strangle of mess.
"Each squad will have to venture in the forest, kill a monster, and bring their unique loot to me. This is not a grading test, you don't have to kill tough monsters if you are not confident in your ability, any would do. Though there will be higher rewards in killing harder monsters. We will wait here for 2 days, those who didn't return in time will be disqualified and no search parties will be sent after you. Everyone missing will be proclaimed dead."
Hearing that, some of the people waver and started to chatter among themselves, some even left and heads back to town. The people who were left behind had to find other people to fill their group.
Iris scoffed, exactly as she thought. Good, that leaves the wimps out.
A foot soldier approaches the group, carrying a large sack of weapons. Then dropping it on the floor before the squads. The contents spilled as he did so, revealing swords, spears, bow and arrows, and some other kinds of weapons.
Iris then told the squad leaders to pick for themselves and their members in an orderly manner. Then she told the ones who got their weapons to familiarize themselves with whatever they've gotten.
Cattleya and the rest were lined up pretty far from the weapons, so they get to choose last with limited choices left. Kee and Luis got a normal iron sword, Hugh got an iron mace, Riv got a pair of iron spiked gauntlet. The problem is now Cattleya.
Kee got her a sword, but she looks like she's struggling to handle it properly since she has never wielded one, and the weight of the sword isn't helping either. The group tried to bargain with other squads to exchange her sword for lighter weapons, but none of them wants to. Hugh's mace is too big and heavy for her, and Cattleya's hands and arms are too small to fit comfortably in Riv's iron gauntlet.
Cattleya sighed, "It's alright guys, I'll help in any ways I can. I promise I won't weight you all down." The other four members didn't say anything and just nodded slightly.
Once again, Iris' voice came, "Those squads that are ready can start now."
It begins. Some excited squads dived into the forest right away, while some wandered around its edges, looking for a safe way in. Kee was urging them to go straight in but Cattleya suggested them to pick a way in that looks the least dangerous, and wait for her there since she's got something to say to the commander.
While the other soldiers are busy setting up camp, Iris stood by the wooden carrier, leaning on it in a casual pose. She sighs as another strong breeze of wind came and her hair is ruined again. Then Cattleya came into view.
Smiling sheepishly, Cattleya reached into her pocket and got out a hairband, offering it to Iris, "Commander Iris, uh... It would be uncomfortable to not have a hairband for two days. It's pretty windy here all the time too so. .."
Iris felt glad, finally, her hair can be kept in place. She took the hairband and thanked the shorter girl, "Thanks, and good luck in the forest. Remember to stay alive, I'd like to return this hairband to a living, breathing person please.", Iris added a weak smile at the end of her sentence.
"R-right, yes, commander.", with that, Cattleya heads off to her squad that's waiting for her in front of the edge of the forest.