21 Reminisced (1/2)

The night left and when morning came I watched Jake depart for the nearest town hoping to find a convoy on its way to the High Imperium. I helped him get all of the necessary paperwork done the night before and I gave him explicit instructions so he could find my home town easily.

Now everything was up to him, I hope he would be able to find his family and be able to pay off his debts before his leave ended. We had to focus on the task at hand anyway, the 12th battalion suffered the least amount of casualties during the siege, so we were going to push on while the 9th battalion guarded Valdora until reinforcements could arrive.

A couple of weeks passed as we marched through the countryside taking back towns and key locations as we went. The most amount of demons we ever fought at a time was around 50, so there weren't any real worries as we liberated the various locations we came across.

My squad and I were usually scouting as we had before. We did come across a few demon patrols, but they were easy enough to deal with, even if it was just the five of us. We made our way further south, our next objective was a former Paladin Order stronghold that was turned into one of the demons major bases this close to the border. Although we would have to wait until we could join with the 5th and 11th battalion to commence any significant operations.

As we stopped to camp for the night the rest of the squad sat around the campfire as I was cooking a field meal. They all sat around patiently as I mindlessly stirred a pot of beef broth while adding a couple of ingredients when it called for. The result was a steaming pot of beef stew that was a meal fit for the field.

I used some of the beef stock and potatoes we received from the quartermaster, then foraged some wild garlic and chives to help with the flavor as well as some parsnips to substitute for carrots. The smell was mouthwatering and my group of starved soldiers seemed ready to subjugate the pot themselves.

I served all of them, then we sat in palatable silence as we enjoyed a well-earned meal at the end of a hard day. When everyone was contempt and the pot was down to its last dregs of broth, fatty beef chunks, and discarded parsnip bits, Mathew rubbed his stomach in satisfaction and stated.

”Even after all this time, I still can't believe you can cook such wonderful meals from practically nothing. You must be some genius, I tried cooking once, but it almost killed Joseph. I just think he was being a baby though.” He threw an accusatory glance at Joseph, hoping he would take the bait like he usually does.

He did. ”It wasn't my fault you thought putting a lot of nutmeg in it would make it taste good. I was hallucinating for hours, I could have sworn you put some kind of poisonous mushroom in there to try and kill me.”

This started a back and forth argument, the bickering would last the entirety of the night if not interrupted. So I changed the conversation by telling Mathew how I could cook.

”It's funny, cooking was one of the few non-battle related skills Sir Richard taught me. When I was a little kid he would take me into the woods and show me all the different types of flora that could be turned used as food or ingredients. As we searched for certain ingredients for something we were making that night he would tell me stories about his time on the front line.

There was not always food when you were in the thick of battle, the demons would burn any crops or storehouses that they left behind and sometimes the supply convoy never came back. So some days Sir Richard and his fellow soldiers would find that they had to forage for supplies or die from starvation. I took it that he was too stubborn to let anything but a demon longsword finish him off, so I imagine he soon realized the importance of foraging and bushcraft.

He also taught me those skills, although after my 16th birthday I really didn't have much time to do anything but learn spells and swordsmanship, if there was any spare time he would have me make our dinner or collect some ingredients that the stronghold chef needed.

It's kind of funny actually, I've spent almost my entire life learning different skills and honing them. Sir Richard was always showing me some trick or making me practice something. I don't think my life was actually that boring believe it or not, most of my boredom was forgotten by whatever task held my diligence. I'm thankful for Sir Richard, he really wanted to prepare me for everything that was outside that small town I was in.”

Rachel listened admiringly as she usually did, Joseph and Mathew both listened respectfully, and Dontae nodded off barely able to stay awake. I smiled, then asked.