Chapter 12

Over the course of the next month, things had gone smoothly. The towns walls and gate were rebuilt and even built better than before. The towns buildings had finished being repaired as well, allowing many townsmen to be free to undergo training from the Captain and other soldiers from Mustang Company.

The orc that the Sargent had captured also provided good intelligence for who and why they attacked the town. He said that Helgrath was behind the attack and was conducting more attacks elsewhere. The orc, however, refused to give up any additional insight to what might be inside of the cave they had found. In the end the Captain finished off the orc and reported his findings to the General.

After reviving the news, the General had sent reinforcement to replace the soldiers lost in the battle for the town. These new soldiers were not new recruits like last time, but they came from Hawk Company. The new soldiers told the Captain grave news as to why they were joining him. It had so happened that Hawk Company had received similar orders as Mustang Company. Which was to go and defend a town in the opposite direction of Mustang Company's position.

However, when they arrived at their town, they discovered it had already fallen to an orc invasion. They entered the town to see if there were any survivors and they fell into a trap. The orcs were still hidden in the town. After the battle had ended the Human forces had won, but Hawk Companies captain had been badly wounded. Soon after they returned to the Military Base the General announced that their captains' condition was to severe and Hawk Company would be disbanded. They were then sent to Mustang Company and reassembled into it.

Now with these new soldiers Mustang Company now totaled one hundred and fifty in all. This was actually a great surprise to the Captain. Not only did he have more men under his command than ever before, but he could conduct searches deeper into the forest to scout out the locations of the cave entrance or where the orcs may attack from next. After asking the new soldiers about the orcs they fought it was clear that Helgrath was also responsible for them too.

"Helgrath, how powerful you have become lately. Over four hundred orcs have attacked towns nearby and yet you still haven't shown yourself." The Captain thought to himself. He was walking through the town with the Major, just checking on everything.

They rounded a corner and found that they had arrived at the town square. Here the Sargent was training thirty men from the town to wield a sword. He looked like he was having a tough time.

"Now remember for the hundredth time," The Sargent roared out to the townsmen, "Keep your dominant foot back when striking at your target. Otherwise if they block you, you won't be knocked off balance."

The men were in fifteen pairs dueling each other with wooden swords. Their actions were clumsy and inaccurate, but this wasn't all too surprising as they were former farmers or wood cutters; not to mention just learning these skills for the first time.

The Captain chuckled and said to the Major, "Do you remember the time you first picked up a sword to learn. Feels like my first time was ages ago to me. I still remember my father and older brother beating me so badly during training. I seemed to be covered in bruises all the time."

"It was nearly the same for me." The Major said nodding in agreement. "My mother disapproved of me learning swords play greatly and hired a very mean teacher to train me. But it turned out I was actually very good, and my father even approved of me joining the military in the end."

"Well thanks to your father you're now here, under my command and your training with me has improved your skills nicely. I am sure he would be pleased that his daughter is capable to defend herself." The Captain said looking at the Major.

The Major straightened up and saluted, "All thanks to you Sir." She sounded quite proud now. Not like when she first came under his command, unfortunately she still hadn't lost her obsession with maintaining military regulations.

"Well let's hope they can learn soon, so we can make a move on Helgrath." The Captain said looking back at the training area. "Before he can get his forces ready for another attack somewhere." The Captain said with a dark expression changing the topic.

"Not only that, but the men need to get back to the fields as harvesting time is near." A soft voice called out from behind them. They turned to see the Lady Mayor was walking up behind them. She smiled and gave them a small wave.

"How are you doing today Captain." Lady said cheerfully. "Oh, and you as well Major." She said correcting herself.

The Captain smiled, "I am doing well. Thank you." The Major however only just nodded at the Lady, her expression was blank. The Captain thought that since they were both ladies close to the same age they would get along. But during their time in town it seemed like they had some tension growing between each other and he couldn't understand why.

"Let's have a seat in the shade and watch the training." The Lady said gesturing to an overhang at the edge of the square.

The Captain was about to agree, but the Major interrupted him, "I'm sorry Lady Mayor, but we need to get back to our duties at the command tent before we get behind. Right Captain?" The Major said eyeing him.

Though the Captain did wish to take a break the Major wasn't wrong. He did have work that needed doing. The Captain sighed, "I am afraid the Major is right, we do have work that needs doing."

"Oh, but you have been working so hard lately." The Lady replied with a smile. Her smiled seemed a bit forced, clearly the Majors actions annoyed her. "It won't hurt to take a rest every now and then."

"Again, we must decline." The Major said quickly. "We have our duties to the Military first and resting now when there is work waiting goes against our regulations." She crossed her arms as if to ensure her point.

"Oh, but it's just some silly paperwork." The Lady said trying to be calm, "You can do that anytime. There no need to be in a hurry. 'All work and no rest makes one stress', my father always said." She finished giving the Major a cold stare.

The Captain was getting tired of this seemingly hostile exchange and was about to ask them to relax and find out what was wrong between them they both suddenly turned to look at him and said, "Well Captain, are you going to pick as side?"

The Captain hesitated for a moment, "Well resting is important, but we do need to get the work done." He scratched his chin thinking. "I guess we can sit for a moment and then get back to work."

The Major didn't look to happy but said nothing. The Lady Mayor clapper her hands to getter and smiled at him, "That's the spirit Captain. Let's sit on that bench by the tree instead of under that overhang. We can't see the training to well from there."

They walked over to the spot when the Lady spun around neatly. This caused her light pink dress to furl like a upside down Morning Glory flower. "I almost forgot." The Lady said to the Captain. "My father wished to invite you and some of your higher ranked soldiers to attend a small party to celebrate the towns completion of repairs from the invasion."

"I think that can be arranged, if it doesn't conflict with anything we have planned." The Captain answered politely.

"That's wonderful to hear." The Lady said smiling cheerily. She sat down on the bench and patted next to her indicating that he should sit as well. Unfortunately, there was no room for the Major to sit and forced her to stand grumpily next to them. As if the Lady intended to make it so.

"The party is in two days just before sundown at my residence. I hope that's an acceptable time Captain." The Lady said.

"Yes, that is fine." The Captain nodded but was suddenly distracted by what two pairs of townsmen trainees were doing. "Excuse me for a moment, Lady Mayor." The Captain said getting up and walking toward the training area. "Sargent! Do you see what these four are doing?"

The Sargent looked over at them and shook his head as he headed towards them. The rest of the conversation was out of ear shot of the two women. The Major looked down at the Lady, "Hmpf, it seems that swords play is far more interesting than some silly party to the Captain."

The Lady looked back at the Major, she had no smile on her face now. The Major continued unperturbed, "And it seems I am also being trained by him personally." She immediately left the unhappy Lady alone sitting on the bench to follow the Captain.