Chapter 60 Promotion (2/2)

“……it is five.” Shaar thought for a moment and replied in a very frank tone: “I killed five and wounded one. Kevin finished him off.”

The general nodded and then stood up in order to walk around the table and stopped in front of Shaar. The stature of this tyrannical general was towering and vigorous. While standing in front of him, Shaar felt that it was not a human who was standing in front of him but a lion instead – The King of Lions!

Adrick looked at Shaar with flashing eyes: “Raise your head and fix your stand!”

Immediately afterwards, the generals big rough hands patted on Shaar’s shoulder and pinned abadge on his chest: “This is your military rank.”

A deep seriousness could be heard in his voice: “Normally you should be a private but taking into account the fact that you performed outstandingly during the mission and killed five Odins, according to the Imperial Military Law I am promoting you to sergeant.”

This badge was only a piece of slightly polished black iron sheet and originally Shaar did not care about those things. However seeing this black iron sheet, Shaar suddenly remembered that the scout team leader, whose son died, seemed to wear this type of badge.

“I hope that you can understand something – in this army this badge represents the glory, the blood and the sacrifices……” Adrick spoke with a very dignified voice: “Furthermore, you have killed five enemies and according to Imperial Military Law you can obtain a black metal Medal of Courage. The military law office was already notified of your achievement and your medal will arrive soon.”

While talking about, he suddenly turned his head and looked at Kevin: “Kevin, how long were you in the army until you obtained your first Medal of Courage?”

Somewhat embarrassed Kevin scratched his head and bitterly smiled:”I don’t remember the time clearly, but it should be after a year……”

“Ha! It seems like this newly arrived kid is stronger than you!”

Finishing the conversation Adrick walked back behind his table and said: “Kevin take this kid to receive his newly-arrived warhorse. Starting today, the Praetorian Guards will be equipped with cavalry equipment!”

Kevin’s eyes immediately lit up: “General, can we going on the offensive?”

Adrick glanced at Kevin and showed a faint smile. Kevin immediately understood and excitedly pounded his chest, before pulling away Shaar who was still in a daze.

After leaving the tent, Shaar suddenly remembered and asked Kevin about medal of courage.

According to Kevin’s explanation, among the ordinary soldiers of the imperial army, if they managed to kill five or more enemies in the battlefield they can obtain a medal of courage. This medal would become a future merit for being promoted.

The black metal medal of courage was only awarded to ordinary soldiers with no military appointments. Once promoted to a military officer, you can’t obtain this medal anymore.

In addition, owners of the black metal medal of courage also had a special privilege: All of the retired veterans who obtained this medal would be exempt from paying all taxes to the empire for the rest of their lives.

Hearing this, Shaar somewhat disapproved the idea of paying taxes in his mind – he lived in Primal Wildfire Town and was not a native of Byzantine Empire. Therefore, he didn’t have to pay taxes to Byzantine Empire.

When Kevin and Shaar returned to their tent, this bald man was very excited. There was a very simple reason for his excitement:

“Praetorian Guards are rarely provided with cavalry equipment, since the general issued this order then it is very obvious ……There is a major battle for us to fight in!”

Pausing of a moment, he smiled: “Alright, now I will lead you to pick up your warhorse so that you can stop torturing my backup horse.”

After experiencing a battle, Kevin’s attitude towards Shaar warmed up a bit. It was very obvious that he started to accept Shaar as a comrade.

“Since you are a sergeant now, you will be regarded as a ‘real soldier’! Generally speaking private soldiers can only act as an auxiliary unit in the army. Only after becoming a soldier, one can get a position to fight with the main force. Since we are a cavalry unit, our recruitment requirements are stricter than the infantry regiment. Now you can receive two warhorses,s along with cavalry equipment which includes an armor, shield and lance……”

Suddenly stopping mid sentence Kevin halted his steps and slapped his head: “Ah! I have almost forgotten an important matter.”

“What?” Shaar asked puzzled.

“Your squire!”Kevin smiled: “You are now an official cavalryman and an official cavalryman will be provided with a squire. As the general’s Praetorian Guards, we receive a special treatment and we are provided with a personal squire. If it was some other squad, several cavalrymen had to share one squire.”

“Squire? What do they do?” Shaar’s understanding of the army was very obviously limited.

Kevin frowned: “You understand the military map, but don’t know about this?”

Bearing with him, he patiently explained: “Look at me, my current military rank is a cavalry captain and I use three warhorses, two sets of permanent equipment, weapons, shields, uniforms ……In this case, someone has to take care of my warhorse, he needs to feed the horses, scrub the horses, clean my armor and weapons ……Someone has to do these chores right? Certainly it is impossible for me to take care of these matters; otherwise just looking after my three warhorses, I would be busy every day and have no time for other matters.”

Pausing for a moment, he smiled and continued: “A squire is your follower. You are responsible for going to war ……all other matters will be left to your squire. Even if you are wounded, your squire will be responsible for taking care of you.”

Talking about this, he patted Shaar and walked forward while taking loudly: “Come on, I will lead you to porters camp first to chose an appropriate candidate. First I need to explain something: according to the tradition of our Byzantine army, a squire of a cavalryman gets his expenses covered by his master! Anyway, your pay is not low so you can afford to hire a personal squire.”

Hearing about this, Shaar suddenly remembered an important matter and rushed up to Kevin: “Hey! How much do I get paid right now – where do I receive it?”