Chapter 7: High tensions

THE MONTH OF NINSUM DAY 12 YEAR 675 OF THE SECOND HOLY CALENDAR

Dominic sat up as usual. He needed to support himself with the cushion looking out the window he squinted his baby eyes against the bright sunlight. He was watching the training of the soldiers as he usually did, but the soldier's training was unusual. It was unusual in the sense of tension that each man carried it would have been unnoticeable unless he'd seen the training before. It's like two shades of the same color that you didn't realize were different until someone put them side by side. The training was the same those training were the same the equipment and even the patch of Muddy grass that they used were all the same and yet it was completely different.

The soldiers advanced in heavy infantry equipment brandishing wooden swords rather than regular ones. It was two platoons of heavy Infantry who were sparring against each other today. They charged in a formation that was four ranks deep and 10 men wide a few men on both sides remaining close to the rear, mages Dominic knew but he had never seen them actually engage in training it might have been too dangerous for just a training exercise. Once the two formations collided the soldiers running at each other created a huge moment when they collided, and chaos briefly erupted. Some soldiers were hit with swords covered in powder at which point they withdrew from the battlefield and received medical treatment. But both sides quickly stabilized their formations and continued fighting.

Dominic turned his attention away from it as he'd seen it far too many times for it to be interesting anymore, this was the most common form of training that they engaged in. The entire residence had the same air of tension as the soldiers for some time now. It started ever since that time on the lawn. It had affected everyone, even Luce and Nora had been negatively impacted by it. Making things worse Dominic became sick during this period running one of his familiar high fevers. He had been frequently sick ever since his birth and this time was not particularly different. yet it set already high tensions a blaze within the residence.

Especially since every time he was sick, Nora would also get worried for a 2-year-old she could be perceptive. Her frequent visits to the nursery became practically living there and she would constantly stare at him with a worried expression like she thought he was going to die. This coupled with whatever was causing the adult stress already and his sickness resulted in the residents falling into a brief state of panic. This panic subsided after he got better but Nora probably picked up on the concern around her and continued her visits.

Dominic of course didn't mind since it gave him something to do other than worry. He didn't fully understand the conversation that Luce had with the soldier, but he was smart enough to know that it wasn't anything good. The soldiers were training more intensely and with greater ferocity. Dominic had a pretty good guess that it had something to do with war although he didn't know anything else. Wars were a common occurrence in Dominic's previous life. But being an American from modern times had blessed him so that he never experienced a nation-scale conflict before, So he couldn't say for sure having never lived through a real war before.

“Flick.” Dominic turned around to see the only person who called him like that Nora. She was staring at him in the same worried manner she always did or maybe she picked up on his concerns. She called him Flick thanks to her lisp, and shortened his name.

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“Norw,” Dominic called out with his own lisp. Dominic could speak he just rarely chose to although many people were probably under the impression that he was mute. Hearing him speak she gave a relieved smile. She held out a toy soldier for Dominic making noises and gestures that Dominic Easily understood. It wasn't mind reading it was just that he was used to it. He looked at his maid Jane who knew what he wanted instantly that might have actually been telepathy. She picked him up lifted him from the window seat and placed him on the ground next to Nora who happily pushed over the box of toy soldiers for his perusal.

The toy soldiers were incredibly intricate in design and numerous in quantity. They were not made of plastic like the soldiers in Dominic's previous life instead they were made of stone, wood, bone, and Metal. They were painted and some of them even had gemstone eyes. some of them even had attachable weapons, although that was only a few of them. There were three types Dominic had noticed.

The main difference between the two was the color one was painted green well the other was painted red. The last kind was the type of soldier that Dominic was used to seeing around the residents. These soldiers were more intricately designed they weren't just painted all black instead they had faces and their shields were painted with golden crowns dripping blood onto their black backgrounds. They were also more worn than their counterparts these were likely hand-me-downs.

Dominic had once used these toy soldiers to make a replica Battlefield primarily out of boredom. Nora repeatedly asked for him to do it again Dominic generally obliged her. It should have been difficult for a baby like himself to do but Dominic lacked health and stamina but he made up with dexterity, primarily due to his training. This time he chose the red pieces to go against the black. He formed the red pieces into a standard line of archers in the front heavy infantry behind them and Cavalry to the wings. But he formed the black pieces into an oblique formation or formation concentrated on their right-wing with their Heavy horse on their wings. He then made the formations fight each other similar to the ancient Greek battle of Leuctra where the oblique formation originated. He pushed forward the right wing while hanging back the center and left of the black forces.

Nora happily clapped her hands and even helped Dominic knock over the red pieces as he moved the formation along. Dominic rearranged the formation this time matching the Battle of Cannae before doing it again differently. Nora started arranging her own formations while Dominic watched and helped her.

Dominic was acting strange for a child but had long given up acting childishly funnily enough no one seemed to mind him acting maturely almost as if it was normal. This strengthened Dominic's belief about other potential reincarnators, or maybe people in this world were just precocious. Nora seemed to be quite precocious herself so maybe they were just used to babies acting like 20-year-olds. Dominic neither had enough acting ability nor enough desire to act like a baby and at this point, it was also far too late.

Dominic continued playing with his energetic younger sister for a few hours. Eventually, Nora grew tired, and her maid started trying to take her away but Nora stopped her. She approached Dominic and hugged him it almost felt like she was cuddling with a stuffed animal. Dominic lacked the control capable of reciprocating her hug, so he just sat there. This has become a common occurrence recently which led to Dominic's continued belief of Nora's precociousness.

After she left Dominic looked at Jane who returned him to his window seat and he resumed staring at the world outside. “I wonder if I look like a philosophical baby.” Dominic thought distractedly. Dominic smiled self-deprecatingly “And I'm still here powerless as ever.”