I Wish To Die Peacefully

Chapter 7: Easier Said Than Done

BRANDON

"My Lord, these are the paperworks needing approval for the rest of the day," Xion, the newly-appointed platoon leader under the battalion assigned for my command said as he placed a tray full of scrolls on the desk.

"Are the requests for supplies also among them? What about the armory report?" I asked, looking up from the set of documents that I'm currently looking over.

"The armory reports are tagged with a silver ribbon and the requests for supplies are with a green one. The red tags have the names of the newly-appointed soldiers while the white ones are the new regimens for training," Xion answered.

"I got it. I'll have Jet bring them over after I'm done with them," I told him.

"Have you eaten lunch yet, my Lord?" Xion suddenly asked.

I looked up again. "Lunch? It's already lunchtime?" I asked back.

Xion gave a small smile. "It's actually an hour and a half after lunchtime, Lord Brandon... Your aide Sir Jet told me that he brought you a meal but you told him that you would eat later. You have been doing the same for the last week. I understand that there's a lot of work to do, but please look after your health as well..." he said with a caring tone.

I smiled back. "I understand. Tell Jet to bring the meal," I replied. Xion nodded, bowed once and left the office.

Among those who trained with me during my time in the Academy, Xion is one of the few who had been close to me. As the son of a Count, he and I were among the noble recruits. To keep order in the military, students from the Knight Academy all start training as foot soldiers without regards to an individual's noble rank. It was to promote equality and encourage skill over birthright in selecting the future leaders of the army.

I had been promoted to Platoon Leader just three months after joining the army. The promotion was due to my contribution in an ambush that almost backfired on our platoon during my first mission as a knight. The Senior Captain acknowledged my efforts and wrote a letter of recommendation. After that, I was given a test which I passed. That was regarded as the fastest time record that a recruit had been promoted thus I was also known as the youngest Platoon Leader ever named.

Eventually, I had more missions with my own platoon and was able to gather more achievements. In under half a year, I was able to work my way up as a Major and just a month ago, I was assigned as the Lieutenant Colonel of a newly-formed battalion.

I know that there are many around me who had been criticizing my gradual rise in ranks. It was unheard of for someone to reach the level of a Lieutenant Colonel after just a year of being knighted. Some people believe that it was because I am the second born of a Duke's family that helped pushed my way up the hierarchy. I do not mind what they say because I know for myself that I got the rank fair and square. The knights who fought beside me for all the missions and inter-boundary battles over the past year also acknowledge that fact.

Even so, I didn't expect this much work after a month and a half of being assigned. Rearing a fresh battalion would need much attention and precise arrangements. Most of the knights are new and young thus I know for sure that this is a task that my superiors gave to me in order to see how much I can offer.

I stopped working when my lunch arrived and I had a moment of peace as I ate. The brief break gave me the opportunity to think about the matters at home.

It had been a couple of weeks since I left the mansion and I still vividly remember the time when my brothers and I talked to Ava before my departure.

To our surprise, Ava genuinely apologized for all the trouble she had caused and promised that she will stop her attempts to take her own life. She also told us that she knows that we would be skeptical of her words thus she is willing to be under surveillance for as long as we wanted.