Chapter 1047 - Tests (1/2)

Chapter 1047: Tests

Translator: TransN Editor: TransN A noise came from the crowd.

The army had always recruited soldiers from the official residents, and the qualification requirement had steadily become increasingly tighter. The last open recruitment to all the residents was carried out during the fight for the throne. Why did Roland suddenly do it again?

Even the new immigrant Good had heard from his uncle about the favorable treatment given towards those in the army.

If he could get enrolled into the First Army, he wouldn’t have to worry about his livelihood anymore—not only were food and clothing supplied by the army, his family could also get the benefit of a sum of pension if he were to, unfortunately, pass away. And the food served to the soldiers consisted of not only oatmeal and pancakes, but other rare food like fillet, jerky, and butter would be served without limitation! Except for the disadvantage that one might lose their lives in the line of duty, it could actually count as a perfect job.

No, it is a perfect job!

If I could get so much, isn’t it already worth more than the value of my life?

During his exile from the Kingdom of Wolfheart to Graycastle, Good had witnessed far too much suffering and adversity: whole groups of people fell dead on the roadside just like animals; crows danced on the bodies happily, enjoying their rich meals… Sometimes, a human life wasn’t even worth as much as the grass growing by the roadside.

Besides, even the Church of Hermes, which had once conquered the greater half of the Kingdom of Wolfheart, was defeated by the King of Graycastle. If he could join this powerful and mysterious army, it might be safer than being a squire under a knight.

It was also not a bad choice to join the Second Army. Although the overall conditions might be a little poorer than that in the First Army, and he might be dispatched to another city, at least it was much safer, since he had not heard of the Second Army being involved in any major battles.

In other words, if he could join an army, no matter which one it was, it would become the best path forward for an immigrant like him.

Good and Sanko were both excited. They looked at Bucky and said, “Uncle!”

Bucky hesitated. He pondered over it for a while and said with a bitter smile, “I think I’d better not go… In order to hire me, I guess the foreman must have had to go to a fair amount of extra effort. I shouldn’t break my agreement with him.”

“Today is only for signing up our names. It doesn’t mean we’ll pass.” Sanko tried to persuade Baji, “You can decide when the result comes out.”

“Perhaps then I won’t have enough willpower to refuse.” Bucky shook his head. “Go ahead. I’ll wait for good news from you in the square.”

Sanko wanted to say more, yet was held back by the shoulder by Good. “Let’s join in the queue.”

Sanko looked back and finally nodded. “Let’s go to apply first.”

A lot of the applicants could neither read nor write, which made the situation a bit chaotic. Those who finished signing up were taken to another location by the black-uniformed guards, to be separated from the crowd. After hearing the news, more and more city residents came to sign up. The swarming applicants almost flooded the corner of the square. The organizer finally had to close the passage to the registry and announce that the recruitment would continue the next day. Even then, it took a long time for the crowd to disperse. Many remained around the tent as they wanted to see how the test would be carried out.

Good could not help but feel lucky for arriving early for the registration.

On the other side of the registration desk, a few more candidates came into the tent under the guidance of the guards.

Good noticed that even though the tent was almost 100 steps long and wide, which was big enough to take in almost all the applicants, not more than 10 applicants were allowed to step in at one time. It meant that the test might be much more complicated and difficult than he had imagined.

Sure enough, not long after, shrill cries came out of the tent. Hearing that, the facial expression of the applicants waiting outside of the tent turned solemn.

“This…” Sanko shrank his neck and said, “This isn’t a test to see how many beatings we can endure, is it?”

“If they were being beaten, the cries should be repeated at regular intervals,” Good said in a low voice. “Since these cries are random and sporadic, I guess they were only frightened.”

“Is, is it? You seem to be familiar with this…”

“That’s because I’m experienced at both beating and being beaten.” Good sighed slightly. “I’ve only heard of it from others.”

After a while, the sound of someone vomiting could be heard.

The crowd’s faces turned ghastly pale.