The soldiers repeated over and over, but each time Eluria shut them down with a cold voice:
“How can you expect to coordinate with your allies when you can’t even synchronize your voices? Again.”
“You’re supposed to protect the people. Why do you look so scared? Again.”
“Some of you are glaring at me, but I have no reason to fear those who can’t even follow simple instructions. Again.”
“Crying won’t fix anything. Again.”
“Don’t think I’ll stop just because you’re at your limit. I already said that this doesn’t end until you fulfill my command. Again.”
“Soldiers must risk their lives to execute their missions. Thus, every command must be undertaken with similar resolve. Again.”
As the soldiers’ desperate shouts rang through the air, Eluria simply continued mercilessly shutting them down.
Ariel watched this from beside her, trembling. “L-Lady Eluria... Did you do this in your last life too...?”
“Mm-hmm. After around two days, my troops were left with no light in their eyes. After that, they became very good kids who no longer resisted their superiors.”
“Sounds more like brainwashing to me!”
“No. They became good kids,” Eluria insisted with puffed cheeks—which would have looked cute, had she not been leading such a brutal exercise. “Besides, the point of this isn’t to make them obedient—it’s to familiarize them with pain and fear. If they freeze up in actual battle, they could harm not just themselves but others around them. This is especially important if they’re wielding a weapon as powerful as magic, so I always made sure to be very thorough about this.” She looked down at the soldiers and narrowed her eyes. “Obedient or not, as long as they remain ignorant, people easily become twisted when they get their hands on immense power. Magic, especially, can take another’s life with the snap of a finger—but I didn’t make magic just so people could use it so thoughtlessly.”
Long ago, Altane had used the Demon Lord’s magic to trample over others and to rule over the entire continent, hence the Demon Lord had set out to rectify their misuse by bringing ruin to all. The Eluria Caldwin before Ariel right now was not the Demon Lord passed down in the stories and legends, but she was undoubtedly the same person at her core—Ariel could feel it in the strength and conviction in her words.
“It’s easy for anyone to inflict pain and suffering unto others when they don’t know how it feels themselves,” Eluria quietly continued. “That is why this is an important process.”
“Yes... You’re right,” Ariel muttered. “When I first attained the Hero’s power...I swore never to turn my blade against the common folk.”
“So you understood without having to be told. You’re a good kid, Ariel.” Eluria stood on her toes as she reached up to pat Ariel on the head, eliciting a faint blush from the Hero. Eluria drew her hand back, then winced. “But sometimes, the people who make it through this training develop...problematic proclivities.”
“How so?” Ariel asked.
“For some reason, they start asking for punishments.”
Ariel gritted her teeth. “Why does that sound so vexingly familiar...?!”
Suddenly, one of the soldiers on the left side of the formation raised his voice. “Commander Caldwin! I, Junior Officer Volo Crepton, stationed under Commander Verminant, humbly request permission to speak!”
Eluria nodded. “A very respectful request. For that, I grant you special permission to speak.”
“As Commander Verminant’s subordinates, we make a sincere plea that our superior personally give us orders!”
Eluria turned to Ariel. “Sounds like they want you to do it.”
“Th-They want me to...order them like you?”
“We want Lady Ariel to call us trash too!!!” the soldier clarified with great enthusiasm.
“What are you saying all of a sudden?!” Ariel snapped.
“If possible, please do so while glaring down at us!”
“Of course, we love your current perplexed expression! But we would also love to see you look down on us in disgust!”
“And if you could so kindly lace your voice in scorn as well, we will gladly bark for you!”
“Hey! Who said that?! Which mad lads are spouting these crazy requests?!” Ariel screamed.
Eluria placed her hand on Ariel’s shoulder. “It’s the superior’s job to meet her subordinates’ expectations.”
“Wha...?!” Ariel sputtered. “You too, Lady Eluria?!”
“I know those eyes... I’ve seen them from some of my own students and subordinates,” said the girl as she gazed into the distance. Ariel realized that she, too, seemed to have had struggles of her own. “Morale is important. So, Ariel, go ahead.”
“Urgh... I understand what you’re saying, but I just...!”
“Don’t worry. I think you have the potential,” Eluria insisted as she pushed Ariel to the front.
“What potential?!” Ariel exclaimed. She looked down at the soldiers from atop the city walls and nearly flinched from the sea of sparkling eyes filled with hope and expectations looking back up at her. Steeling her resolve, she sucked in a deep breath and said, “Y-You are not soldiers... You’re trash!”
“WE ARE NOT SOLDIERS! WE ARE TRASH!!!”
Instantly, the ice around their legs shattered into brilliant, shimmering fragments.
Ariel collapsed to her knees and buried her face in her hands. “How were you able to suddenly give such a perfect response?! Dimwits—every last one of you!” she wailed, although her cries were buried beneath her soldiers’ joyous cheers.
She and Eluria sat in silence for a while, as Eluria consoled her with a kind and sympathetic hand on her back.