Xyrin Empire-Chapter 1408: The "Adorable" Recruitment Officer

Chapter 1408: Chapter 1408: The "Adorable" Recruitment Officer

I know I shouldn’t look at problems with tinted glasses, but due to the overwhelming ambiguities in the Goddess’ Scripture and the Old Village Chief’s heavy concerns about "recruitment," I can’t help but have a bad impression of the government, church knights, and similar organizations in this world. It always feels like they’re plotting something sinister—so when I heard the recruitment officer came to this small village to enlist soldiers this morning, the first image that popped into my mind was a group of overbearing soldiers, barging into the village, riding arrogantly and whipping civilians, wearing their armor crookedly, and yet being incompetent, only worth five experience points each with no equipment dropped after being killed...

Seeing Bingdisi approaching with a brick in hand, I think I’m not the only one with such thoughts.

As it turned out, the recruitment officer was not as I imagined. They came with just three people, none of whom were soldiers from the upper echelons. From their vigor, the neatly equipped armor and weapons, as well as their professional demeanor and steady posture, these three were clearly veterans who could hold their own on the battlefield, perhaps even seasoned warriors. They included a handsome elf and an authoritative female officer—this world might not value pleasant service and government public relations, but it’s hard to say one of the reasons these two were sent was to refresh soldiers’ impressions. This image certainly contradicts my previous assumptions. And their attitude was commendable. Although the burly soldier leading was brusque, he was polite when talking to the Old Village Chief, maintaining a rhythm of nodding every three sentences. It’s difficult to tell if this was due to military discipline or because of Ron’s cynical expression behind the Old Village Chief...

The foolish big guy led the way, and I followed, leading a group of girls watching the commotion and two listless little lolis. We easily threaded through the crowd: the foolish big guy was truly an expert at clearing the way, making a path wide enough for a Xia Li to drive through...

The burly soldier was arguing with the Village Chief when he suddenly felt a sense of oppression, as the sky darkened overhead. Muttering, he remarked, "Just had rain last night, and now another..."

Before he finished speaking, he turned his head and saw a towering unknown creature standing beside him, gasping in shock. His two companions nearly formed a defensive formation (I suspect they didn’t because there weren’t enough of them). However, the foolish big guy greeted the three recruitment officers with a simple smile, cautiously stepping aside: this honest country fellow didn’t possess the brawn to match any swagger, as he faced officer knights in their armor with the same trepidation any civilian would, even if those three officers together with their armor might weigh as much as he did...

The Old Village Chief craned his neck to see me, with a wrinkled, bittersweet smile: the Gandor Empire really hadn’t forgotten about this administrative unit, and the recruiters were now here.

At this moment, the foremost recruitment officer, recovering from the oppressive presence, said gruffly to the Old Village Chief, "Old Master, I’ve already explained the situation to you. The Imperial City has issued orders that must be obeyed. Every town and village has the task of temporarily increasing recruitment. The recruitment proportion here is one for every five, with males aged sixteen to forty reporting to the Northern Fortress. The remaining ones must be organized into militia standby, training in peacetime, ready to fight whenever the North and South Fortresses cannot hold. After our departure, infantry units will come to each village for stationing, assisting with training exercises. We must understand that this battle is not for anything else, but for... well, I won’t say more, it’s for your wives, children, and those few rooms behind you. Go back and discuss, start picking the soldiers."

After the recruitment officer finished speaking, my impression of him improved again: quite an honest person. I previously thought this world also followed the old-fashioned path of soldiers becoming bandits and civilians suffering.

But despite his sincerity, I also heard the harsh side of it for Pine Forest Village’s residents: The one-for-five selection is secondary; the most deadly part is the command for everyone in all places to turn into soldiers, steadfastly defending—the implication hidden in this command is: No fleeing!

With the Dark Moon War approaching, the sides of the Long Bridge Mountain Range near the Dark Moon Transfer Point will naturally become the frontline. Even under a dormant volcano, people live in peace after a period of stability, and since the Dark Moon War only occurs once every few hundred years, it’s no surprise that villages like Pine Forest Village dot the area. Generally speaking, chaos is followed by civilian dislocation, with those near the frontline fleeing en masse from villages, towns, even cities to the interior being normal. But now the Gandor Empire’s mandate carries a bloody scent: civilians on the frontline must not retreat, form civilian corps on-site!

There’s hardly a chance for civilians to flee, directly transformed into soldiers to stay in place and fight, a situation rarely seen. This command’s background must involve either a fiercely resilient populace or the Imperial City’s lunacy...

I can think of these things, and so can other villagers. Thus after the recruitment officer’s words, a slight commotion arose, yet nothing more, as people seemed to quietly accept this command from the Imperial City. Now, they just need to decide who to select in the one-for-five. Given the circumstances, I think this one-for-five selection is merely deciding who dies first or last—the recruitment officer even said: when the North and South Fortresses can’t hold—they already know they won’t hold! This is doubtlessly based on experiences from five previous wars!

I don’t quite understand how a group of civilians with no military training can calmly accept such a command; on Earth, a rebellion would have long happened. But for now, we await what the Old Village Chief has to say.

Old Master’s expression looked somewhat gloomy; he had long anticipated this day would come but didn’t expect it to arrive so soon. He rubbed his hands as he negotiated with the Recruitment Officer: "We must obey the command from the Imperial City, but as you can see, our small village doesn’t have any farmland, and the population is already sparse. We rely on hunters to make a living day by day. If twenty percent of the men leave in the next couple of days, and the remaining half of the men devote their energy to training as militia, who will go hunting? If we were a place that grows crops, even if there aren’t enough men, women and the elderly could manage to work the farming— but here, we don’t farm, and there are man-eating fierce beasts in the forest behind the village."

What the Old Village Chief said made sense; a village like this that survives solely by hunting in the mountains is most afraid of conscription. In other places, women and the elderly can manage farm work when the men go to the front lines, but it’s rare to hear of young wives leading twenty or thirty old men and women into the mountains to hunt bears. Moreover, now the Imperial City has ordered all villages and towns to form local militia corps, making manpower even more deficient. I actually think whether these hunters train or not is no big deal; those who can fight wolves might have fighting capabilities not necessarily inferior to soldiers— of course, professional soldiers might still consider the issue of combat awareness. Facing the army coming from Dark Moon, hunters who can fight wolves and tigers might indeed lack the courage to fight, hence the necessity to organize militia for militarized training. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

Nevertheless, the prevailing thought remains: saving the world and resisting foreign enemies is indeed noble, but another issue that ordinary folks like us must consider is how to ensure three meals a day, which has nothing to do with bravery or awareness— after all, they’re just honest civilians live their lives.

The leading Recruitment Officer didn’t seem unreasonable; he spread his hands helplessly: "I understand, but what can we do? Everyone has their task."

Ron stepped forward; today he at least didn’t tie the Priest Robe around his waist, but his open-chest appearance still didn’t look like a Priest: "I’m the priest of this village; if I speak in the name of the Goddess, you must listen, right?"

The three Recruitment Officers nodded simultaneously.

Ron collected his words: "Here’s the idea; firstly, we are not cowards afraid of death. After all, everyone knows that once the Dark Moon people come, fear is useless, and everyone can only fight desperately. But our village has so few people that we honestly can’t muster many able-bodied men. How about we make a discount and conscript fewer people while we form a good militia corps? At least with the militia, everyone remains local, and it wouldn’t affect the village’s livelihood too much..."

The Recruitment Officer remained troubled: "This is conscription by the Empire, not something else. You think you can conscript less by saying so? Moreover, what discount would be appropriate?"

Ron and the Old Village Chief discussed it for a while, and he tentatively extended his hand: "How about a fifty percent discount? Change one-fifth to one-tenth."

We were already dumbfounded in the back; Lin Xue nudged Bingdisi’s arm: "This is the first time I’ve seen villagers negotiating a conscription discount..."

Bingdisi nodded: "This is also the first time I’ve seen conscription officers allow discounts."

After negotiating for a while, the Recruitment Officers and Ron couldn’t make much progress. It seemed that "discounts" weren’t realistic in Imperial conscription, but then the Foolish Big Guy unexpectedly stepped forward, surprising everyone. This seemingly timid big man unexpectedly took the initiative to speak to the officers: "Us villagers are few in number; why not take me instead, since I’m strong enough to count for a group of people?"

The three Recruitment Officers had long been glancing at the highly conspicuous big man; at this moment, seeing him suddenly step forward, they immediately jumped back half a step. Then, the leading sturdy man reacted, sizing up the Foolish Big Guy while asking the Old Village Chief: "What does he eat to grow like this? His stature is certainly sufficient to enlist..."

"Big guy, do you really want to go?" The Old Village Chief glanced at the Foolish Big Guy, "Didn’t you say the other day you’re afraid of war and don’t want to be a soldier?"

It was only then that I realized that before we even arrived, the Foolish Big Guy had discussed similar issues with the Old Village Chief. The topic of the Dark Moon War had been the most pressing concern for the frontier residents these past two years. It was only natural for the Old Village Chief and the Foolish Big Guy to exchange views on this topic.

"I thought about it. No matter how strong the people on the moon are, they can’t be tougher than a bear," the Foolish Big Guy said gruffly. "I don’t want to make the Village Chief embarrassed, nor do I want the Knight Order to be troubled. They’re all good people. Didn’t the Knight Order bring food to the village during the snow disaster two years ago? And the Priest said, the Emperor is pretty good to us common folk..."

I continued to be utterly confused: how is this different from the scenario I had imagined? What happened to the ruling class colluding with the church to exploit the people?

Later, I figured out what was going on: this is a special world constantly under the threat of the Dark Moon War. The Dark Moon People are demon creatures that do not accept surrender or any alien race captives. Because of the regularity of the Dark Moon War, the church and the ruling class have been aware of what to expect for decades. They know not only when the wars will start but also how large-scale they will be. Under this visible and tangible pressure, which they will face within their lifetimes, there’s no chance for incompetent rulers to rise to power. Any national leader daring enough to seize power during these past two years did so with determination, willing to sacrifice their lives to protect the state. How could there be a scenario of complacency after a long peace leading to total corruption? It’s like when a city has a million enemy soldiers about to invade, would they elect a new commander who isn’t competent?

Just then, the Recruitment Officer spoke up: "Hey, Big Guy, you might not understand, but our recruitment numbers have rules. Just because you have the strength of ten men doesn’t mean you can fill the quota for ten people..."

The Foolish Big Guy slapped his belly: "I can also eat for ten," he boomed.

The Recruitment Officer wiped sweat off his forehead: "...But when I go back, I still have to report to my officer!"

We few, watching from the sidelines, didn’t know whether we should intervene. The Recruitment Officer wasn’t wrong in trying to fulfill his duty and the villagers, with their common folk mentality, wanted to ensure their peaceful days could last a bit longer. Neither side was in the wrong, and more importantly, the atmosphere was still harmonious. Although there were differing opinions, there was no forced conscription. As outsiders, it wasn’t right for us to speak up. At this point, I really wished these three Recruitment Officers were the typical fat and lazy soldiers of a corrupt regime, pushing around the common folk. Bingdisi’s grip on that Star Gold Stone Slab was about to turn it to powder...

Actually, I had already guessed after the Foolish Big Guy spoke: having such a mutant hunter able to provide the whole village’s food on his own meant that Pine Forest Village had no need to worry about a lack of labor force. As long as the Big Guy stayed, even if there were another hundred elderly, weak, sick, or disabled villagers, they wouldn’t starve. Many of the arguments previously were just excuses. In the end, the Old Village Chief didn’t want to see his people dragged to the frontline to die. Being stationed at the fortress closest to the Dark Moon Gate meant counting the days until death.

Finally, Qianqian couldn’t hold back and stepped forward to speak: "Why don’t you do what the Foolish Big Guy said? Your goal is to fight a war, which is more worthwhile: recruiting one super soldier or ten armed farmers?"

The red-haired female Recruitment Officer, who had been silent until now, curiously glanced at Qianqian. She’d noticed that we few didn’t fit in with the other villagers but had assumed we were just ordinary passersby, so hadn’t spoken. Now that Qianqian suddenly jumped in, she had to respond: "Recruitment is no joke, nor is it like shopping in a vegetable market. Besides, just because this Big Guy says he can match several soldiers, our officer still needs to acknowledge it."

"That’s simple," Qianqian’s eyes lit up with a mischievous twinkle. I knew this girl had come up with another "immature idea," but I didn’t have the chance to stop her as she started counting on her fingers and discussing with the Recruitment Officer. "How many people do you expect to take this time?"

"Given the village’s size, we should recruit at least fifteen strong soldiers, maybe more."

Qianqian clapped her hands: "Then go back and have your officer send over fifteen regular soldiers and let the Foolish Big Guy knock them all down. Wouldn’t that solve it?"

So Qianqian’s "immature idea" was typically destructive. Did you think such an idea was something an ordinary person could come up with?!

Sure enough, the red-haired woman widened her eyes: "There are limits to jokes! How could the Knight Order send a squad to waste on something like this!"

Before I could agree, the red-haired woman patted the shoulder of the handsome Elf soldier next to her: "Joe, handle it. Let that Big Guy hit you fifteen times to see if what they claim is true."

Everyone: "..."

The Elf Soldier called "Joe" looked at his companion with a wry smile: "Anna, with your brain, you’ll still be an Iron Knight five years from now."

"What’s wrong with my brain?! Aren’t you an Iron Knight too?!"

As it seemed the two were about to clash on this topic, the burly man leading them quickly interjected to mediate: "Alright, alright, let’s talk about this later. We three joined the army the same year, have been Iron Knights for fifteen years, so no need to expose each other’s shortcomings..."

The red-haired woman and the Elf man glaring at the burly guy exclaimed together: "Shut up! You’re the worst!"

"Puhahahaha—" Bingdisi finally couldn’t hold back anymore and stepped forward, exuding authority as she pointed at the three adorable Recruitment Officers. "Just shut up. I’ll go to that fortress with you guys for a couple of days. Chen, you’re coming too."

I never expected Bingdisi to throw this out there suddenly, completely deviating from the previous plan, but her expression was serious: What is Sister Bing up to?

"You all?" The red-haired woman glanced suspiciously at our odd group, while Pandora and Visca squeezed to the front, "Bringing kids? Are you enlisting in the army?"

"Join the army my foot, you can’t afford our level of combat power," Bingdisi haughtily flipped her hair, nearly knocking Visca, who was standing closest, off her feet. "Didn’t you hear? We’re going to your fortress to hang out for a couple of days and sort out this Dark Moon War mess. It’s too annoying. As for recruitment—it’s not like you need the new recruits to report today, right? Come back in a couple of days, if it’s still necessary by then."

I punched myself in the head on the side: After lying low for two days, this female hooligan was finally going to explode...(To be continued. If you like this work, please go to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please go to m.qidian.com to read.)