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  "This plan was doomed to fail before it began! You can't just-"

  I was cut off abruptly by the drawing of steel against leather behind me. Of course they were going to kill me, I had failed and those two had no room in their great machinations for failure. I growled and my shield flared with a deep blue glow. The man behind me cursed and launched forwards but it was too late. I used my skill and the point of my kite shield slammed into the skull of The Messenger.

  Cocky asshole deserver what came to him. Even as fifteen different blades found their way through the gaps in my armour and the like, I spat on the fresh corpse and raised my middle fingers to the surrounding soldiers.

  "Now you've all failed too, stupid bastards... I'll see you all in my next life rats!"

  Feyre

  It had been a few uneventful days since I reached the city. I went to the fletcher and he said that I'd have to wait a while before he could start properly on the bolts. Which was fair enough, it seemed like all of the archers in the city went to him for their arrows and bolts. I went back to the trinket shop a couple times, looking through his wares using identify to see if he had some hidden treasure that only the chosen one is worthy of. I had no such luck and the best thing I found was a stick that could perfectly cook a marshmallow if it was impaled perfectly at the centre.

  I was bored after the first day, not having anything to do or see was pretty terrible as I'd already seen all of the good and recommended views around here. The next nearest one was apparently at the top of the barracks so I wasn't going to see that any time soon. A couple people that had really stuck out to me were a large group of orphans who'd all grown up together and then founded their own orphanage. It was well kept and funded by the local administration, as long as the orphans were given a proper education and encouraged to join work other than the adventurer's guild. I was offering my services as a guard through a mercenary group that had a good rep in the city and when I got one to be a playground guard I thought it would be easy.

  I hate kids.

  They're grubby, they cough all over you, and you can't even get angry because they're so friggen adorable. I basically just stood around for the first couple hours while they were all in different lessons. That all changed when the first bell went and like a torrent they all burst out the double doors and straight towards me. The Matron, a nice woman called Lucian, smiled apologetically but I wasn't that bothered. I had almost expected this to be honest, and it wasn't like I was the only one who was here. Three other guards were here too, the woman sticking close to me, probably because I wasn't quite as well vetted as the others.

  Ser Greofth's assurances got me the job but it was good that they weren't just trusting a stranger to guard a bunch of kids. One of the girls asked me to lift them up, and after looked at Lucian and getting a nod I grinned. I guess my strength stat was pretty damn good now or something, because it was near effortless even when I was only using one hand.

  This show of great and awesome strength got the boys interested. Thankfully they were all similarly as light as the first little girl, so up until they asked me to lift four of them at once, I was having no issues. I smiled politely and looked to Lucian again. This time she looked more worried.

  "Are you able to?"

  The words were mouthed, not spoken, yet I knew what she had said as if it was shouted. That was weird, maybe one of my stats or something in the system helped me there. I nodded my reassurance and flexed my bicep for good measure. Not that anyone could see what was underneath the gear I was wearing.

  "Very well, children. I propose two of you on each side, one on the forearm and the other the bicep. Are you aware of these areas?"

  The kids all nodded and four of them went to each side of me. I crouched down and they all grabbed on, I was going to have to clean my gear at some point anyway but this made it a higher priority. Who knows were small children put their hands.

  I grinned and stood up again, all four were dangling from my arms as I basically hit a T pose. Joyful giggles and squeals came from each arm and to show off a bit I did some fake curls, causing the squeals to go up in pitch before breaking into giggles again.

  The other guards had all decided to stand to the side at this point, all three were just grinning at me, so I grinned back. This wasn't so bad, I could have gotten used to just goofing off while also making sure the kids didn't wander off or get hurt.

  I just had to open my big internal monologue mouth. After a few days of playing playground teacher and role model, our usual routine was broken by soldiers approaching the group. Being the best guards, as we were, our reactions were almost instant. Create distance between the potential threats and also make sure not to create panic in amongst our charges.

  We left the biggest of us back with the kids and one of the History Teachers. They would make sure the kids were safe, should anything happen. As this was going on, we all walked in tandem to the group of five guards, they came with their hands on the pommel, so we mimicked them. I wasn't too worried about our odds of winning should anything, however unlikely, happen but to do so without killing the guards or traumatising the kids might be harder.

  "How'd'ya do ladies and gent? We are not here for anything that would require such hostile looks."

  The man at the front of this group had already peeved me off by approaching a group of kids while having 4 soldiers in tow all of whom looked like they might draw their sword at a mouse. My eyebrows furrowed and I think my nose must have flared because the four followers all snapped their attention to me and tensed.

  "So you say, ser. However, I am not usually one who is inclined to trust unidentified and armed people near my charges, even if they are a part of Errol's military."

  Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

  I was glad I wasn't the spokesperson. Clearly he had this handled, and me and the other woman could just stand back and look scary. Funny how things worked out isn't it. The soldier who had spoken first sighed.

  "Ah... Right... That would come off as pretty crass wouldn't it... Sorry about that. I do swear we don't mean the kids any harm, we just need everyone to come to the Square. City Lord has called a gathering and well... Tis not really negotiable you know?"

  He shrugs and I hum quietly. From the shocked faces on the other two, this was unprecedented. I scowl and turn back to the group, waving my hand to get one of the adults to come over here. The teacher jogs over and I repeat what I was just told which makes his face go very pale. He runs into the orphanage and soon all the resident adults are outside, with the children. Finally, soldier number one, that was his name now until further notice, nodded and turned around.

  "The gathering starts at midday. Be there, or there will be repercussions for everyone."

  I raised an eyebrow and as they walked away, the leader of our little band and guard who'd spoken with the soldier, Geraint, sighed heavily. He looked almost ten years older than just a few minutes ago. He smirked at the first part of his thoughts before it fell back into resignation.

  "I know we could have won, but I am so glad that those paranoid farmers that they call soldiers didn't draw their swords. Though their tension is warranted. The City Lord has never called a gathering before so it isn't known whether people would cooperate, especially trained fighters like us..."

  He sighed again. It must have been a thing in this world that strong or confident people smirked a lot. I would have to make a note of that if I ever wanted to pretend to be an incredibly powerful being.

  At that Lucian walked over and spoke to us one by one. She said that for those of us who aren't native it might be best to collect our belongings just in case the City Lord initiates a lockdown, so we can slip away while it's being set up. I nodded in thanks for her suggestion before jogging back to the inn. This was mostly for show, but I had left some belongings in the room, for realism's sake.

  I grabbed the trinkets that I was yet to sell and put them in the rucksack before placing them in storage and jogging back out of the inn. I still had a decent amount of time to get to the square but I didn't want to risk it so I caught up with a crowd and followed them. Hopefully, This would be a drill or something. I was preparing for the worst case I could think of though, which is that the City Lord had decided to lock down Errol or the like.

  It didn't take too long for me to make it to the great open space that was lovingly and imaginatively nicknamed the square. I looked around and it certainly did feel like every single person in the city had gathered or was gathering here. I saw at the centre, three men in long robes that looked almost comically stereotypical. They were all chanting and suddenly the square grew to almost twice it's size in all directions. Ritual magic maybe, I wasn't sure but it meant that a lot more people fit in. After a while, soldiers started going through the crowd, getting families to all be in one place and trying to create some modicum of order without separating them. Good, at least the City Lord wasn't a complete asshat.

  After waiting for what must have been an hour at least, I had already been directed to stand with other mercenaries and guildless visitors, A large platform floated up in the centre of the square. Upon it I could see three figures, one of which was a cliche cloaked type, like the three on the ground. They liked their groups of threes in this city...

  A large magical looking screen appeared, facing al four ways, not dissimilar to the screens in a sports arena. On that screen I saw a ruggedly handsome man with mousy brown hair. He was dressed in very swish and fancy clothes and stood directly next to Ser Greofth. I shouldn't have been surprised, he was the knight captain after all, but I couldn't help my mind briefly question what in the hells he was doing up there. The man whispered something to the magic man and stepped forwards, clearing his throat. The sound reverberated across the people and I doubted there was a single person you didn't feel the vibrations.

  "Fair citizens of Errol and esteemed visitors. It with a heavy heart that I must initiate a draft. All able bodied citizens are expected to go to the nearest recruitment tent, which will be set up by tomorrow's morning, and sign up. For those of you who are visiting, or already owe your allegiances to another organisation, if you are to stay in this great city I expect utmost cooperation with my soldiers on the ground."

  He coughed as Ser Greofth said something and shook his head. The City Lord nodded and spoke again.

  "Our most esteemed majesties, the King and Queen, very recently had an attempt made on their life. Then, not even a day later, our long time enemies have decided to declare war!"

  He paused, taking a deep breath.

  "Adrultan is not a kingdom to be underestimated, but I know that with the brave men and women of Errol working alongside our brothers and sisters throughout the Briarhearth Queendom, we will win! I ask you, people of Errol, not as your lord, but as a fellow countryman, fight alongside me! Fight for our homes! Fight for our families! Fight yourselves!"

  He takes another deep breath and directs his speech to those of us who aren't from around here.

  "To the mercenaries and adventurers that have gathered here today. I know I don't have any right ask you to fight for this country. However, I do ask that should you decide to fight, you remember how the people of Errol and Briarhearth treated you. You will have the same rewards for choosing to fight as any citizen. I am not an unjust man, should any of you have a family you might lose, I assure you we will send any reward meant for you to them, should you fall."

  He gestured to Ser Greofth then.

  "This man beside me is known as Knight Captain Greofth! He will be the one to keep me accountable for all of these promises, as his Knight order is wont to do! We do not fight alone, against this oppressive kingdom. We fight together, side by side! I will not be hiding in the command tent while you all fight on the battlefield, I shall be fighting alongside you as an equal! For I love this country just as much as the Kuryuk love Gold!"

  He finishes his speech and there's a roar in the crowd. I noticed out of the corner of my eye that a mental skill had been used, rallying speech, and that it made people more amenable to your words should they be about war or conflict. I raised an eyebrow. I wasn't particularly happy about such a mass manipulation of people's minds, but at the same time, they'd get drafted anyway. Might as well make it so they are happy with it too.

  A day had passed since the City Lord's speech. Knowing that he didn't really need to be like he was when giving his speech to get the people to listen to him did make me more open to his use of mental manipulation. Furthermore, he was very open with his use. Apparently, everyone got the system notification about being affected, so they knew that at least some of their fervour was artificial. Not that it mattered to them, it seemed. The tents had popped up along every major street and the soldiers in them were taking the names and residences of every man or woman which went in.

  Despite what I had initially feared, the City Lord made exceptions where needed. Any household which included a child was permitted to have one adult stay at home to be a carer, it didn't matter whether it was the mother, father, aunt or anything like that. Although it was strongly encouraged to have the adult with lowest stats to stay at home if the option was available.

  Acting wanted me to join the army, something to do with the choices I had made so far and keeping up the pretence of a knight in training.I had no delusions that there were going to be good guys. It was war after all. But if I joined up with the army I would hopefully get a couple skills or at least level up a bit.

  "G'mornin ma'am. Answer teh followin': citizen or visitor, name, including any relevant titles, and current residence if you wouldn't mind."

  "I am a visitor, Ser Greofth can confirm, and I go by Dame Eleanor. I am currently staying in the inn next door."

  Their shocked faces were pretty funny.