Chapter 1 Military Rank

Locke was a second-class soldier of the Faustine Kingdom. He had started serving at the age of 14 and had been serving for 4 years. Today, he was in a good mood. Because it was the day to pay for the soldiers, the second-class soldiers of the kingdom had three silver ducas a month. In addition, there were two silver ducas that Baron Cadozzi provided for his soldiers. He could get four silver ducas a month. Why four, not five? It was because the military would always embezzle one silver ducas. That was a tradition.

Locke couldn't wait to receive four silver ducas. Then, he would ask Lord Baron's caravan to send three back to his hometown. He hoped that his sister could buy a ribbon that she liked to replace the rough-linen wrapped on her hair. He also hoped that his parents would eat one or two meals of white bread in the next month. They were already in poor health. As for the remaining silver ducas, Locke would treat his brothers to a drink. He had a little authority, managing a team of ten men.

He knew that his brothers were having a hard time either. The third-class soldiers only had two silver ducas every month while the servant soldiers had only one silver ducas. They needed to change their silver ducas into copper ducas. They needed to subsidize the family and cover their own expenses. This was not enough at all. In order to unite the soldiers, and have a few loyal subordinates who could stand up for him at the critical moment, Locke was generous in treating them.

In his ten-man team, there were five third-class soldiers and five servant soldiers. Apart from three of them being assigned to their team two months ago, the rest had fought together for at least half a year. Most of them were the same age as Locke, but they had served a shorter time. They were all new soldiers who had only joined the army for one or two years. Most of them admired Locke from the bottom of their hearts because Locke was generous and loyal. He would treat them every time after soldier's pay. Most importantly, they had more or less been taken care of by Locke during the battle, saving many team members after the first battle. After experiencing more fights, team members were becoming more tacit, and the survival rate of the team became higher and higher.

This was also quite famous in the entire military camp. No matter if it were for a recruit or a veteran, as long as they were younger or of the same age as Locke, they would call him Big Brother Locke, showing him their respect. Moreover, it was said that Locke had killed many barbarians from the Karlaw Kingdom in the battle two months ago. He was about to upgrade as a first-class soldier.

Locke walked to the military supply camp. Soldiers could receive their pay here and it was also a trading place where you could buy everything you want from fragrant ale, a sharp fine iron sword, a horse with good stamina to a beautiful woman. There was everything here, and Baron Kaidoqi took care of his soldiers very much. But the premise was that you have money... Or, power. As a second-class soldier, Locke could narrowly consume here, but he rarely squandered here. It wasn't just him. In the military camp, basically, all the soldiers with family or burdens wouldn't consume here. It wasn't because the soldiers had strong self-control, but because their pay couldn't afford to be extravagant.

"Hey, Locke! Your pay!" With a rough roar, a burly bearded man with a large waist threw a bag of money to Locke. Locke opened it and saw that there were three sparkling silver ducas and a hundred copper ducas.

"Uncle Joshak, are you going to have a drink this afternoon?" Locke said to the bearded man with a smile.

"How many times have I told you to call me Captain in the military camp? You brat! One cup is not enough! At least two cups!" Uncle Joshak corrected with a smile.

Locke invited Uncle Joshak to drink not only because he was polite, but also because of the promotion of his military rank. His military achievements were about to reach the first-class soldier level. The first-class soldier was a dividing line for all soldiers. For those who reached the first-class soldier level, the baron would give them the cultivation method to cultivate Qi. This was the passage to advance to the knight level. And first-class soldiers could at least be middle-class captains. An old first-class soldier like Uncle Joshak was directly appointed as Captain.

Uncle Joshak agreed to Locke's request not only to attend to his prestige but because he thought Locke was a promising young man. Moreover, Uncle Joshak and Locke came from the same town, Mineton. In fact, most of the people in their brigade came from the same place, Cadozzi Barony. Uncle Joshak had helped him a lot since Locke joined the army. From a servant soldier to a second-class soldier, Uncle Joshak had witnessed his growth over the years. He was also willing to help this young man. This time, he was prepared to guide him on advancing to a first-class soldier.

"No problem. I'll call you when the time comes!" Locke took his pay and left. The exquisite armor, sharp long sword, and the coquettish woman around him almost made him jealous. An ordinary set of armor would cost at least 100 silver ducas, which was one gold ducas. A good sword would cost at least 10 silver ducas. And if you wanted to spend a night with a beautiful woman, it would cost you at least one silver ducas. Locke did not have much spare money. He was now equipped with only damaged leather armor, a sharp iron sword with a gap, an iron spear, and a dagger hidden in his boots.

Locke returned to his own tent and looked at his subordinates who were sitting in groups of two or three playing cards and bragging. He became relaxed in such an atmosphere. Locke kicked Kane, who was shouting while playing cards. This guy was a scout of the team, a third-class soldier. On the battlefield, he was a scout who was calmly ambushing while normally, he was careless and speaking in a loud voice. He, Locke, and the team's shieldman, Hans, had the best relationship. They had been comrades for more than two years. "I'll take you guys to drink in the afternoon. Now go get lunch! Don't mess around here!" Locke said to the team.

"Hey, boss, can you stop kicking my butt? What if someone observes my swollen butt next time when I scout?" Kane winked at Locke, making everyone in the tent laugh.

"Don't worry. If your butt is swollen, I'll go ask Ritch Brothers to lend you a mint and apply it to you. It will be fine the next day," the spearmen, Yard, teased, who was also a third-class soldier. The Ritch brothers were famous gays in the camp, who were good at interrogating the tough prisoners. The mint slices were used for some kind of activity to reduce the swelling. After all, they still had to fight the next day.

"Piss off! Little Yard, are you intended for a beating? How dare you tease me? Be careful that I won't show you any mercy on the training ground!" Of course, Kane was just joking.

The daily fun of these soldiers was playing cards, bragging, and teasing each other. Everyone was good at joking and teasing. Locke liked this kind of phenomenon very much because it indirectly increased the cohesiveness of their team. "Stop talking nonsense. Go get your food and bring my share," Locke scolded his subordinates with a smile, "Kane, don't secretly eat my meat. Otherwise, you won't have any share for drinking in the afternoon!"

"Don't, boss. No one will eat your meat. I will beat him if anyone dares to eat it! Hans, let's go!" Kane promised before leaving.

In order to encourage the soldiers to fight bravely and strive for honor and merit, the military had set up a lot of hierarchy systems that could be displayed in terms of eating. Every meal, servant soldiers would have chestnut cake and potato soup; third-class soldiers would have black bread and potato soup; second-class soldiers would have wheat cake, a piece of meat, and potato soup. As for the first-class soldiers, they ate with Lord Baron, the captain, and others in the military tent at the center of the camp. It was said that they ate white bread and meat soup. However, this kind of treatment was not something that ordinary people could have. There were more than five hundred people in the entire camp, and only less than fifteen people could eat in the tent, including four infantry Captains and four deputies, the captain of the cavalry squadron, Sir Will, the captain of the cavalry squadron, Baron Cadozzi, and his eldest son, Solon and his butler. Locke had been looking forward to enjoying the white bread for a long time.

Not long after, Locke's subordinates returned. Kane handed Locke's lunch to him and said with a smile, "Boss, look at how big this piece of fat meat is. Should I help you eat it?"

"Piss off! Hans and I will go to the military supply camp later. Have you all received your pay? Whoever wants to send money back to the family gives the money to Hans. I will help you send it later," Locke took the lunch, gave Kane a kick, turned around and said to his team members.

Perhaps the word 'family' was too distant for the soldiers at war. Everyone was silent for a while when they heard it. Most of them nodded in agreement. In other teams, it was taboo for the captain to ask for payment from the members, which might cause a mutiny. But this would not happen in Locke's team. Because when the members needed to borrow money, Locke never rejected it.