Chapter 4

Turning around to look at the person yelling at him, Arthur saw that it was a young man around 20 years old. He was quite handsome with short blond hair, a pointy nose, and sharp eyebrows. He was wearing a luxurious linen robe with the same lion logo on the chest as Arthur's clothes.

"Ah… Uhm … I can explain that." Arthur said with a wry smile. How could he explain that he had robbed a dead person of his clothes?

"Go ahead then!" The young man seemed to be reasonable. At least he was willing to hear out Arthur.

"Uhm, I fought some bandits in ash forest and killed them … One of them was wearing this uniform, and my clothes were drenched in blood, so I decided to snatch these clothes!" Arthur thought of a lie and said it with a wry smile. It was not the best lie, but it was better than telling the truth.

"Hmm, so it is like that … I am not an evil person. I won't do you anything if you hand it over!" The young man said. He was still a little annoyed, but he knew he could not just kill a normal person.

"Okay, just let me buy these clothes so I can change into them!" Arthur answered with a smile. He did not know who the young man was, but he had a feeling he should not offend him.

"No … hand it over now!" The young man said with a wicked smile. He wanted to humiliate Arthur at this moment.

"So you want to humiliate me, I see … Very well, I will just have to remember you, friend!" Arthur was not stupid. If this man could win against 29 bandits back in ash forest, his force was definately stronger than Arthur alone. Arthur did not want to make too much of a commotion the day he arrived in the capital.

Arthur took off the clothes he was wearing, only leaving his undergarments. His full body came into view for everyone in the shop. Looking at Arthur, one could see he had been trained from young, as all his muscles looked like they had been sculpted to perfection. They were neither too big nor small, and they were perfectly defined.

The female shop clerk and some of the assistants in the shop could not help but blush after seeing this. They were all women, and a man with such a handsome face and great body would definitely suit their tastes.

On the other hand, the young man had become quite annoyed as he saw that Arthur was not embarrassed for even a second.

"Can I buy my clothes in peace now?" Arthur looked at the young man with an indifferent attitude. He had edged this guy's face into his memory, and he would definately return this favor one day.

After hearing Arthur's comment, the young man could do nothing more than just leave. He was very much annoyed as he had hope for some fun.

"Haha, now that that is over, can you let me buy these clothes?" Arthur turned to the shop clerk and asked with a charming smile.

"Y-Yes, sir!" The shop clerk was quite flustered seeing how handsome Arthur was at this moment. She received the coins, and Arthur received his clothes.

"Thank you for your help!" Arthur flashed another smile at the girls in the shop as he put his new clothes on and left.

It was time to make his way to the military barracks to apply for the military. He had to walk there, as the carriage had already left. Bruno had other things to do, so Arthur did not want to keep him here, waiting for him.

What Arthur had not thought of was that he had no idea of where the barracks were. He had never been in the capital before. So he had to ask for directions several times before figuring out the correct way.

The barracks were placed on the far eastern side of the capital, which was around the same place as the tailor. This meant that he did not have to walk much more than ten minutes to get there.

Arriving at the barracks, Arthur was quite surprised, as there was a massive queue outside. It was so long that Arthur could barely even see the entrance. In the end, he could do nothing but stand and wait in the queue though.

As he went to stand in the queue, he ended up behind a small woman. She was not taller than 170 cm. Arthur couldn't see how she looked from behind, except that she had blond hair and quite a nice figure.

The oppressive feeling she gave off had made Arthur pay attention to her. All the people around were standing at least ten steps away from her. No one had the power to get closer than that to her.

On the other hand, Arthur did not feel it was too oppressive, so he decided to challenge her power. He himself did not know why he did so, but something in him told him that it would be fun.

Arthur started walking closer to her, and it did not seem she noticed anything. Arthur also felt that he got heavier for every step he took, but he did not mind this. This could also be called training for meeting someone stronger than himself.

After taking the ten steps, he had gone up right behind her. She seemed like she had not noticed him yet, making Arthur reach for her shoulder.

"Uhm, excuse me miss, can I ask why you release such an oppressive air?" Arthur asked with a wry smile as he grabbed her shoulder.

Everyone around looked at Arthur with shock. They looked at him with pity, as if they were looking at a small child fighting an adult. None of them dared go near her, as she seemed too strong for them to handle.

The girl was also shocked as she jumped around, looking at Arthur. Everyone expected that she would be angry with what had just happened, but to everyone's surprise, there was no anger visible on her face. They could all clearly see that she was just embarrassed.

Seeing her face, Arthur could not help but admire her face. Her face had no flaws whatsoever, with a pair of adorable eyes. Looking into them would make any man want to treat her with love. Her lips were small, pink, and tender. She had an angelic face with a devilish body. She was a woman who would be hard to resist for any man.

"S-Sorry … I didn't mean to!" The girl said with a nervous expression. "It just happens!" As she stopped speaking, the oppressive feeling disappeared.

Her voice was too pleasant to listen to. It sounded like an angel was speaking. Arthur almost lost himself, but he managed to keep himself together.

"Haha, don't mind it. Just be careful in the future!" Arthur said with a charming smile. He did not want to trouble her. In the end, he was just doing it to train himself.

"I will!" She said with a cute little smile. "By the way, are you here to join the army too?" The girl suddenly spoke out of curiosity and with hands clasped behind her back.

"Hahaha, of course, I am. Why else would I be here?" Arthur answered with a laugh. He had no other reason to be here after all. This made the girl blush straight away, as she was embarrassed.

"Anyway, my name is Emily. Nice to meet you!" the girl said with a big smile while stretching out her hand.

"I am Arthur. Nice to meet you too!" Arthur said with a slight smile shaking her hand.

Arthur and Emily proceeded to fall into some small talk, where Arthur figured out a few things about her. She was a girl raised in the mountains by her grandfather, where she had been hunting beasts every day.

Her grandfather had also trained her to become a strong fighter, and now it was time for her to go fight for the country. As far as Arthur could understand, the grandfather was an old, high-ranking military person.

This also made Arthur understand the previous pressure from her. She had lived with only her grandfather all her life and killed many beasts. She had become accustomed to releasing the pressure to stay safe and oppress the monsters she would kill.

Arthur could not help but be impressed, as his whole life had been somewhat sheltered. He might have been trained by his father, but he had only just recently been in a real fight where he had to think for himself.

"Emily … you are actually quite the amazing person!" Arthur could not help but blurt out after listening to everything.

"Y-You think so? Thank you!" Emily became flustered from embarrassment, but in the end, she was happy to be praised.

"But you still seem quite naive!" Arthur said with a teasing smile while placing his face close to hers.

After a short and casual conversation, Arthur felt really close to Emily. He was not sure she felt the same way, but that did not stop him from teasing her a little.

This move shocked Emily for a second before she pulled back. She did not know what to say, so she just pouted and ignored Arthur. In reality, Arthur was Emily's first friend, and Emily was Arthur's true first friend too.

After standing in the queue for a few hours, it was finally time for Emily and Arthur to get the test for the military. They were both hyped for this.

"Good luck!" Emily turned around, smiling.

"You too!" Arthur gave her a charming smile before she went inside.

It did not take long before it was Arthur's time to get inside. A big guy around 230 cm tall came walking out, looking at Arthur from top to bottom.

"You! Come with me!" The big man said with an indifferent expression while pointing at Arthur.

Arthur followed the big man inside. Inside the barracks was a huge amount of soldiers in uniform, all doing different things. Most of them were just talking, though, as this seemed to be the place they went to relax.

The room had many tables, different kinds of games, and even a bar for alcohol. It honestly looked more like a tavern than anything else in here.

He did not get to stay here for long, though, as the big man escorted him to a door on the other side of the room. Entering this door, Arthur saw a massive battle arena, where many people were fighting at the moment.

Arthur kept following the big man, and this battle arena was the place they were going. He was escorted all the way down until they stood in front of another man who was dressed up in a fighting uniform.

"This is the next guy!" The big man did not say anything other than that before he left.

The guy in the battle uniform looked at Arthur with a smile. He looked at Arthur from top to bottom, and one could see a little disappointment in his eyes. Arthur saw it too, but he did not mind, as he would let his abilities speak for him.

"First of all, what is your name?" The man said. He did not bother announcing his own name, probably because he didn't think much of Arthur.

"Arthur Maquire!" Arthur stated his name proudly while puffing his chest a little.

"Oh, the baron family?" The man had heard the name before, lest how would he know the name. "Good, go grab the weapon of your choice, and I will start the evaluation of your combat skills!" The man said as he pointed at the side. A rack on the wall held all the different wooden practice weapons.

Arthur walked over to pick up his weapon. He already knew what he wanted, and it was the knight's sword. He had been practicing with this weapon since he was young, so it was the weapon he was most familiar with.

After picking his weapon of choice, he walked over to the man again, standing opposite him. At this time, he realized that the man had drawn his weapon, and it was a two-handed broad sword with a length of 140 cm. "Oh, you use the knight's sword without a shield, interesting!" The man said with a small smile. "Well then, should we begin the test?" The man suddenly asked.

"What is the test exactly? Do we fight?" Arthur had no idea what the test was about, but since they had a weapon each, he thought it would be a duel. "You come at me, and then I will determine your strength! now! Come!" The man said with a confident smile. He was ready for some action.