Chapter Text
Granger counts out the gold coins carefully, as the old man twists his hands. Finally Granger looks up.
"Yes, all seems to be in order."
The old man sighs in relief, as he passes over a white scroll wrapped with ribbon to Granger - the scroll that had been the bane of the family. A tiny girl peeks behind the trousers of the old man, while a young boy of about 22 stands close by.
"Thank you for this." the old man says gratefully. Granger nods back. The younger boy steps up and extends his right hand.
"Thank you." he says too. Granger looks at the hand before shaking it, feeling the smooth skin of the other man's palm.
It was like this boy had never done a single day of labour in his life. Granger felt his own calluses on his hands, borne from hard work and labour and violin playing. While this boy had probably never toiled in the sun, lounging in his fancy pale blue house with high ceilings.
But Granger didn't say a word. It didn't matter to him. Men like these were the ones who paid men like Granger to go to war on their behalf, while they sat in their rich homes and worried about things like restaurants and second wives and taxes.
And with rumours of a war coming soon, every single family was decreed to send one man from their family to serve in the army. The rich ones could buy their way out, paying someone else to report on their behalf. The rich ones were the ones Granger targeted.
And Granger was pleased with what he got.
Hoisting the bag of gold on his shoulder, he left for the marketplace. His best pal Alucard was already there, ogling a new pair of blue boots on display.
"How you'd do?" Alucard asked. Granger dropped the bag of gold on the cobblestone path.
"Good. 32,000 gold."
Alucard whistled. "Nice. I didn't get that much. But my family threw in a few diamonds for me." Granger rolled his eyes at Alucard's 'my family' joke. It had become an ongoing joke between them, that they had so many families. Because, in truth, they didn't.
They were both orphans in the first war. The first war that claimed so many lives, including Alucard's parents and Granger's parents. Both boys were sent to the nearby Monastery cum orphanage, which is where they had met.
They'd trained together side-by-side, and whenever the recruitment scrolls came from the Imperial Army, they took the opportunity to bargain with rich families to send them on behalf of their children.
Most families were only too quick to take up their offer, none of their children ever having shot a gun or thrown an axe or swung a blade.
"Should I get these?" Alucard turns back to the shiny blue boots that had taken his fancy.
"Will you wear them?" Granger asks. "You must have a hundred boots by now."
"Yeah but these are blue." Alucard says. "They match my coat!"
Granger rolls his eyes again.
***
The camp was bustling when they got there. Men mingled around, carrying leather bags, laughing and slapping each other's backs. Some had set up chess boards, others were busy unpacking.
Granger and Alucard march up to join a long queue of men.
"The Fu Family." Alucard hands his scroll when he reaches the front. The sitting man looks at the scroll and nods, scribbling something with his quill.
"The Han family." Granger says as he hands over his scroll. The sitting man nods and scribbles, then gives them some gear for their own tents. The duo find a spot to pitch their tents, Granger taking a spot slightly further away from the others.
"Hey, look at me!" a dark skinned man with shockingly white hair does a handstand, switching his body weight from one hand to another, shaking his free hand at another at a fair red-headed man.
"Vale, stop that!" the man with fiery-red hair laughs. "Show-off!"
The man called Vale doesn't stop immediately, still switching his body weight between his hands, before deftly hopping to his feet. "Bet you can't do that, Valir!"
"I can do a lot of things you can't." Valir smirked.
They get distracted by a tall thin man walking past them. His blonde hair is tied up in a bun, but that's not what draws their eyes. The man is puffing his cheeks up, his arms swinging awkwardly at his sides. Granger is reminded of an animal trying to puff itself up to make itself look bigger and more threatening than it really is.
The man walks past Vale and Valir, and the latter rolls his eyes and sticks his leg out. The tall thin man comes crashing down to the ground, as Valir sniggers. The thin man gets up, shaken, and turns towards Valir with his fists raised as though to fight him. Vale, sensing animosity, steps in between with his hand raised.
"Hey, hey!" he says in a lighthearted manner. "Sorry about that, totally a mistake." He brushes off some stray dust from the thin man's shoulder, though he flinches when Vale touches his shoulder. "You alright?"
"Uhh... yeah." the thin stranger says. "I'm fine. I just got here though, where should I go?"
"First time?" Vale says as Valir leers, spitting at the ground. "You need your scroll."
"Ah!" he fumbles for a moment, searching his pockets before producing a scroll wrapped with a blue ribbon. "Uhh, I'm from the Fa family."
"Cool. But you gotta give it to the guy over there." Vale points to the man who still had a long queue of people lining up for him.
"Oh. Uh, okay. Thanks."
"I'm Vale, by the way." Vale holds out his hand.
"I'm Sil... Silverio." Silverio clears his throat as he shakes Vale's hand. "See you later."
Vale waits till Silverio has walked away far enough before he turns to Valir. "That was mean of you."
"Meh. He'll feel the heat of the inferno soon." Valir digs his ear.
"Why?" Alucard can't help asking. Vale and Valir turn to look at him.
"Because Zilong is gonna kick his ass." Valir sniggers. "He won't last a day."
"Captain Zilong is commanding our battalion?" Granger asks. Captain Zilong is famed far and wide, for being one of the most demanding captains of the Imperial Army.
"Yeah." Valir says, relaxed.
Granger and Alucard exchange a glance. This was going to be interesting.