Work Text:
I looked at the meeting place Marth had decided to set up for us to meet at. It looks like Marth has already made it here. Ike, Titania, Soren and I made it a little after he did, as he’s talking with Roy. Roy’s made a better ambassador towards the other countries, ever since the war(?) ended. He’s made international trades with Lycia, and his parents and friends plan to visit soon. Marth turned as the rest of us walked up to the tree.
“All right. Most of the marquesses are coming here in a little while. Roy told them he and I would meet them here. Is this the recruits’ lunch break?”
“Yeah. We got another half hour. What do you need us to do?”
“After the marquesses come, I was planning on showing how the recruits train. So assuming that they don’t come for another half hour, then we’re good. You guys can head back, and let the recruits know that other nobles will be visiting today-- make sure they’re doing their best.”
“Great! We get an extra half hour of not training!” Abel said, excitedly.
“They’ll be here any minute, so get on your horse and practice against me! Show me what you’ve got,” I replied, while Titania went to go help the other horseback recruit.
Soren executively runs the recruit program and teaches the potential mage units, however this time there are none. Soren was helping some of the foot recruits before turning around. The front gates of the castle were being knocked on.
“Hey, Cain! Could you go get that please?” Soren asked.
“As long as Abel gets to come,” I said.
Abel and I made our way towards the front gate of the castle. Roy had apparently started hitting it, warning us they would be here soon. I proceeded to unlock the gate, like Roy asked. Marth came over and looked at me as I mounted my horse.
“Cain, Abel, what are you two doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be training?”
“Soren wanted me to get the gate,” I said.
“He wanted me to come,” Abel said.
“Let’s go,” I replied as the other marquesses started to appear.
As soon as Abel and I had gotten to the training grounds, Soren asked who it was. We told him that it was just Roy, Marth and the other marquesses. He told us to get back to training, before anyone heads over.
Right after Abel and I started, I noticed Marth, Roy and the marquesses had turned the corner. Marth was talking while Roy was translating. Seemed that they’re having a pretty interesting conversation. Marth motioned towards Abel and myself, saying that the cavalier recruits train one on one with the instructor sometimes. Honestly, since there is only two recruits, Abel included, the instructors get to train one on one with the recruits. Marth beaconed Abel and myself over for a quick moment.
“Cain, quick question.”
“What’s the question?”
“How would you say the cavalier recruits are doing?”
“Very well,” I said, eyeing Abel.
Marth nodded to us and we went back to training. He told the marquesses that the foot recruits are much more numbered than cavalier recruits. Abel wanted to know if Est, Minerva, Catria and Palla could start up the pegasus knight/wyvern knight recruit system. It may be what more people want to do.
“Abel, if you can ride and fight on a horse, you can ride and fight on a pegasus or wyvern. It’s that simple,” I said.
“Oh. I never thought of it that way.”
Abel really is a quick learner. He’s learned more from me than he learned from Jagen. Sometimes, Titania and I switched which recruits we trained for a day or two, so they could get used to what both of our teaching styles are like. Both Abel and the other, I don’t remember his name, prefer me over Titania. Sometimes Titania would ask me why.
“Why do they prefer you over me, Cain? Is it the way you teach?” Titania asked during the lunch break today, after we returned from meeting with Marth.
“I’d say it’s the way you’ve been teaching. Pushing them too hard. I’ve never seen someone who knows how to push someone way past their limits. The other recruit almost cried the other day, he was being pushed too hard. I’d recommend learning their limits and trying to not push them past those because if they get pushed past them, they will probably start crying or worse. You probably wouldn't want that to happen, would you?”
“Oh, you mean Lucas?”
“Is that the other recruit?”
“Yeah. Oh, and I'll try to not push them past their limits anymore. I think I got what it takes.”
Training continued on as usual. Abel stayed after again today. He said that Est wouldn’t want him back home if he said she couldn’t run a recruit system.
“But don’t you run a shop? The only weapon and general supply store in the entire country! We need those!”
“That’s what I told her! She usually never listens to a thing I say, but if it's from someone else...”
“Tell her the shop won’t be up anymore if she trains recruits! That isn’t a way to make money! Especially for her! Your shop is the only one in the entire country right now. Besides the farmer's markets that are locally held. It really benefits the economy, Abel. Could you at least tell her that much for me?”
Abel walked up to me the next morning and told me that Est realized that he was right. Feels like I kind of helped stabilize things there. No shop means no business. Certainly Abel wouldn't want that. Especially since his shop is currently the only one in the entire country.
"Thanks again, Cain. I really appreciate it. Est listened to what you told me to say, and she told me that you're right. If you don't mind, you want me to repay you anyhow?"
"No, Abel. You want to get started early though? You're almost done, too. Hold on. I'll go ask Marth to see if you can get out of the recruit program early. You just have to learn one or two more things."
"I think you've already taught me everything."
"Oh yeah, I did. Let's go ask Marth. About your graduation to the knights. You'll get paid."