Chapter 96: The Youngest
"Follow me." Captain Hector turned around immediately after speaking.
The trainees quickly grabbed their luggage and began moving to follow Hector. They moved in one straight line.
Lionel adjusted his grip on his suitcases and followed along. As they walked deeper into the more private area of the training grounds, he finally got a proper look at the place that would become his home for the next three months.
Just like he expected, the Imperial Army training grounds were enormous, but plain at the same time.
There were no decorations around and no unnecessary comforts. Everything existed for a single purpose—to create soldiers. The sight alone made several trainees nervous.
"Look at that..." One of the young men muttered under his breath as he watched a group of soldiers running with logs balanced on their shoulders.
Captain Hector immediately stopped walking when he heard that sound. Because of it, the trainee froze.
The captain slowly turned his head. "Did I give permission for conversation?"
"N-No, Sir!"
"Then save your breath."
"Yes, Sir!"
The captain continued walking as though nothing had happened, but the young man had his head held down now. The entire group also became even quieter afterward.
Lionel saved his breath too as he followed in silence. Somehow, this scene reminded him of when he was still training in his past life. He also went through this hardship after his father died.
Several minutes later, they reached an area near the eastern side of the camp. In there, rows upon rows of long buildings stood there.
Captain Hector pointed toward it.
"These will be your barracks."
Several trainees stared at the building. It was plain and made out of wood. When they saw that, the reality finally settled in.
This was where they would sleep in…
Captain Hector walked until he stopped before one particular building that bore the same flag as theirs.
"Group 9."
Everyone immediately became attentive.
"This building belongs to you."
He pointed toward the entrance.
"Inside, you'll find your assigned bunks. You can choose where you will sleep. We'll leave that privilege to you."
"Each of you shall have a bunk, a locker, and a small storage area for personal belongings." Captain Hector continued.
"However, be clean as always. If I find your area dirty..." His expression darkened slightly, "You will receive a sanction."
"I don't care who made the mess. If one person fails, everyone suffers."
Everyone's eyes widened at that. They were about to complain, but when they looked at one another, they forcefully stopped themselves. Especially when Hector's brows rose as if challenging them to do so.
"Good." Captain Hector smirked. He clearly enjoyed their misery.
"Now listen carefully. You have 1 hour." He pointed toward the barracks.
"Get your space, store your luggage, and change into training attire if you haven't already."
Then he pointed toward a large field visible in the distance.
"In exactly 1 hour, every single one of you will report to Training Field Three. If even one of you is late…" His mischievous smile returned. "You'll discover your first punishment."
The atmosphere instantly became tense at that.
"Now…" Captain Hector looked satisfied. "You may go."
The moment those words left his mouth, the trainees immediately ran toward the barracks. Nobody wanted to find out what the captain considered a suitable punishment, so everyone was eager to do everything they needed to do in just 1 hour.
It was only Lionel who picked up his luggage and walked toward the building calmly. As he entered the barracks, he immediately noticed how different it was from his room back home.
The interior was spacious. In there, rows of bunk beds stretched from one end of the building to the other. At the side, there were built-in wooden lockers. There was no sense of privacy inside at all since it was just one big space.
The moment the trainees entered, the previously strict atmosphere loosened slightly. They were now more comfortable without Hector around.
"Quick! Get a good bed!"One of the trainees immediately rushed forward with his luggage.
"Hey! I saw that one first!"
"You didn't claim it!"
"You just got here!"
Several young men immediately hurried toward the bunks closest to the windows. For the first time since entering the training grounds, they can now talk to one another.
Just as he was about to choose a random bunk like the others, a loud voice suddenly spoke.
"Hold on." A tall man stood in the middle. He was the tallest among all of them, so he immediately caught everyone's attention.
"We'll be living together for three months, right?" The young man scratched his cheek awkwardly.
"So... shouldn't we at least introduce ourselves first?"
"…"
"…"
The room fell silent for a moment. They were lost for a moment, and they forgot about that.
"Right…"
"We should at least be familiar with one another."
"That's reasonable."
"Yeah, it'll be awkward otherwise."
Soon, everyone gathered loosely in the center of the room. They stopped being tense and calmed down for a moment.
"Alright, I'll start." The tall man started.
He thumped a fist against his chest.
"My name is Kian. I'm 19 years old."
With him starting, the others followed suit, too.
"My name is Darius. 16."
"Black. 17."
"Harold. 18."
The atmosphere gradually became friendlier as they introduce themselves. Eventually, someone's gaze landed on Lionel, after noticing that he was quiet.
"What about you?"
Several eyes immediately turned toward him.
Lionel smiled politely.
"My name is Lionel. 14"
"..."
"..."
"..."
The barracks fell silent at that. Several trainees looked at him, while others looked at each other.
"14?"
"Seriously?"
"You're only 14?"
"I am." Lionel nodded at them.
"No way!"
"You're younger than my little brother!"
"Why are you here?"
"That's ridiculous!"
One of the older trainees suddenly laughed. "Well, I think we just found the youngest person here."
Everyone quickly agreed to it. There wasn't even a close competitor since most of the trainees were sixteen to eighteen years old.
"Then the youngest should choose first his bed."
Several others immediately agreed to it, finding it just fair enough.
Lionel blinked at them as he slowly scratched the back of his head.
Isn't this too much? I'm just a few years younger than them…
"You don't have to do that." Lionel smiled awkwardly.
But the others quickly shook their head.
"It will be unfair if we choose before the youngest does!"