conscription

Conscription?

Conrad Coetze picked up the document and looked at it carefully—he read every word over and over again, then looked up blankly, put it down, and then picked up the attached material from the side and read it.

The material is about a few hundred pages long, and the thickness is staggering. The pale yellow paper has intricate patterns around the edges, and the Imperial Aquila logo shines brightly at the top of each page. Coetzes wondered what they were made of to look so solemn.

He read them with a careful and serious gesture, so meticulous that he had to think about even the punctuation for a moment.

He had spent half an hour working on the pile of material, and had carefully annotated it with his pen, and when he had done it, Conrad Coetze sighed heavily.

conscription

It was a very serious subject, so serious that even Conrad Coetzes suddenly felt a sharp sense of exhaustion.

The Eighth Legion currently has only 20,000 men, which may sound like a lot, but compared to the other legions, it can only be said to be pitiful.

After all, a legion is a legion, 20,000 people. Even if the Eighth Legion's role was to be Inquisitors, rather than frontal assault type warriors, that number was a bit too small.

That is, conscription is an imperative.

It is impossible to have no casualties in the war, and if the supply of troops is not replenished, then no matter how elite the Eighth Army is, they are bound to die little by little.

But where to go for conscription?

Conrad Coetzes began to slowly recall the words on the material.

The current Iron Hand, the original recruiting ground of the former Tenth Legion, is also Terra, but it is not a prison, but it is spread all over the world, among which Albia has the largest number and the most reputation.

The Emperor's son, the Third Legion, was also conscripted in Terra, and its members were from the nobles of Europa. And they were the best young children among them, who were sent by their defeated parents to express their apologies and respect for the emperor.

The Fist of the Empire, the Seventh Legion, is also Terra

The Bearer, the Seventeenth Legion, or Terra

Terra seems like a word that can't be avoided - but there is another thing that Coz knows.

All legions that reunite with the Primordial will call the Primordial planet their home planet, and they will recruit from the planet where the Primordial landed. This seems to be a tradition, and almost all legions have chosen to do so

Thinking of this, Conrad Coetzes opened his eyes numbly.

Conscription from Nostramo

How many years will it take him to make Nostramo a normal world? Decade? Twenty years? Or thirty years?

Carlile's words were a wake-up call for him and opened a heavy door. Conrad Coetzes had understood how difficult it was, and it was not as easy as he could raise his arms and make people fully conscious

He had to make the Nostramo people fully sober.

Silent.

Conrad Coetze, the Lord of the Eighth Legion, sat in his chair and looked calmly ahead, his gaze not focused. After a moment, he smiled and shook his head.

Difficulty? It's really difficult, almost desperate.

However, the hard part is hard.

And how?

Chuckling and lowering his head, he began to read the document.

When it comes to this, time flies, even surprisingly. Six hours had been speeding past Conrad Coetze's eyes, and when he looked up again, a person had unknowingly appeared in front of him.

“.”

He jerked back, making the chair that the Eighth Legion had made for the original body creak with such force.

"Don't be nervous." Carlil said with a smile. "Just coming to see you."

"I'm working."

"Ah, has the Lord of the Eighth Legion driven people out?"

“.”

Coates lowered his head and muttered, "I didn't say that how long you've been here?" ”

"It didn't take long for you to be very focused and attentive at work, which is a rare quality, and Conrad has many people who want to enter this state every day, but they can't knock at the door. A few people were able to enter, but it didn't last long."

Carlil tilted his head and muttered something rare and puzzling to Coetz - in the past, Carlil would praise him, but it was always purposeful, and he would point out his shortcomings after the praise.

Available now.

"Hmm." Carlil blinked. "Anyway, come on."

"Do you have something to say to me, Karil?"

"Well, probably not."

"Really?"

Carlil nodded casually, "Fake." ”

"Huh?"

"Fake."

The giant chuckled, leaning back on the long silver table and shaking his head. "I'm not going to lie to you, so—it's fake. Of course I have something to say to you, but I don't know how to say it, Conrad. ”

“.”

Conrad Coetze looked at Carlil without saying a word, waiting for his next words.

“.”

Karil Lohals looked at Conrad Coetzes without saying a word, waiting for his next words—or rather, for him to speak first.

“.”

Coetze finally relented, pursed his lips and asked, "What the hell is going on, Carlil?" ”

Carlil lowered his head and was silent for a long time. He had never seemed so cramped, so uneasy in front of Conrad Coetzes. An emotion that Coates didn't know how to express was slowly flowing through that pale face.

"I'm going to be honest with you, Conrad." He whispered.

"What?"

"I wasn't going to stay in the Eighth Legion." Carlil said in a deep voice.

Conrad Coetzee stood up suddenly, his palms trembling as he propped up the table.

"Don't worry, listen to me, Conrad."

Instead of looking at him, Carlil stared at the table, searching for his own vague reflection in the flickering light. He sighed softly and spoke again: "In the beginning, I didn't want to live long. ”

"I can't stand Nostramo – I can't stand every part of it, even the smallest detail."

"Corrupt sour air, perpetually obscured by heavy clouds, coughing workers on the roadside, cannibalistic gangs, corrupt aristocrats and disobedient officials."

"Even fucking rats eat people, Conrad. They only eat people."

"Nostramo, this place, it drove me crazy. Especially after I realized that no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't save this planet in the best way. I'm completely insane. ”

"So, when I found you at the bottom of the mine, I was almost in a treasure. There is no sin in you, you are not tainted by Nostramo, you are still pure. Yes, you don't know anything about the world, but so what? I don't care, Conrad. I knew what I could do, I always knew it. ”

"The Empire calls my ability psionic power, but I used to think of it as something else. I see them as the response of the dead, and the obsession of the dead haunts me, Conrad. They are calling out to me for revenge on them. I can't live up to this power, my original plan was to raise you, and I intend to let you learn the best way to transform the world little by little. ”

"And I myself will set the whole world on fire in the stupidest and quickest way, and I will make it burn, otherwise, where will your nourishment for changing the world come from?"

"And you know what happened next."

"I failed, my plan wasn't perfect, it was hardly even a plan. It's just a shell, with a beginning and an end, but it's a blank slate. ”

"And for a madman like me, it's the limit of what I can do. I mentioned the countdown to you, and yes, I really thought there was such a thing at the time. The obsession of the vain dead gives me strength, but it also exposes me to something that I must complete my mission as soon as possible and die, or I will endanger the whole world. ”

"I can't live like this, Conrad, I've always wanted to die until you save me. After that, everything changed. ”

"My plan failed, but I also succeeded. But now it's different, Conrad. I met with the Emperor, and I had a pact with him, the contents of which I cannot tell you, but it was by no means intended for me to join the Eighth Legion. He doesn't have any restrictions on me, but I know it myself, I know it very well."

"I can't join your legion at will, and as much as I would love to, and he advised me, I can't ignore the rules by which your legion depends."

"The Eighth Legion is the Inquisitor, Conrad, and your Legion is the enforcer of the rules. And the enforcers of the rules themselves must not cross the line. “

"If, as your adoptive father, I joined the Eighth Legion, how would you serve the people? These warriors went through a lot of hardships to become Astarte, so why should I join without doing anything? ”

"And if people find out, what will they think of you? The empire is huge, Conrad. What would they think of you if they knew? ”

I don't care. Conrad Coetzes thought. I don't care at all. I know you're doing the right thing, and I'm going to do the right thing in the future, and I'm going to keep doing it, so why should I care what they think?

He didn't speak, didn't interrupt, just waited sourly for Carlil to finish.

"Your company commander came to me today because of this, and he doesn't even know how to speak. I guess Siani told him. After all, Siani is also a company. ”

"He was sitting in front of me, and I could tell he was a man of manners. But he broke the rules, and I could see his uneasiness and shame. He sat in front of me with difficulty, tormented by these two emotions, trying to get me to stay. ”

Carlil closed his eyes.

"I tried to tell him that I wanted to stay too, but I couldn't."

"So I'm going to ask you." He said in an almost dreamlike voice. "Do you think I should stay?"

Conrad Coetzes hadn't spoken for a long time. He lowered his head, then lifted it again, his eyes glittering. Carlil never opened his eyes, he just waited, calmly.

"Regimental instructor."

After a long time, Conrad Coetzes spoke.

"Legion instructor Karil Lohals, you have been drafted. With the authority granted to me by the laws of the Empire, and in the name of the genetic protogenone Conrad Coetzes, I recruit you into the Eighth Legion to become a combat and melee cold weapons combat instructor. Would you like to? ”

".Conrad—"

"—In the name of the Emperor, would you! Carlil Lohals! ”

After a moment, Carlil chuckled, and there was an infinite complexity in that laughter.

with relief.

"You're taking advantage of the rules." He whispered. "Learn fast, Conrad."

"So," Carlil said softly. "I'm joining."

I'm sorry, I've been sitting for too long today, my back hurts, I can't write, and I owe 3k to pay it back tomorrow.

In addition, I saw that some readers said that they didn't understand why Carlil was dwelling on this issue for too long, but it was actually normal, he was a madman, didn't you see? If only you could understand a madman. Right?

This chapter does not count in the Eighth Legion.

Finally, tomorrow will probably be called the Midnight Lord.

(End of chapter)