In the time it took for me to return with the antidote, Godolphen had somehow managed to arrange for knights from the Trouverean private army (who apparently maintained a garrison nearby) to come and collect the spies. The Trouverean knights arrived a surprisingly short time later and quickly departed with their new captives, clearly eager to find out exactly who they were and why they’d been wandering around Yugria in the first place.
“Well, let us not delay any further. Your fifth and final scenario still awaits, of course... But first, I’d like to introduce you to Tim Buchan, an associate of mine from the Royal Order who has graciously been assisting me over these last few days.”
My classmates began to whisper. I hadn’t really bothered to learn the names of anyone outside of the Third Legion, but Tim—the vice captain of the Fifth Legion, according to their whispered conversations—was clearly quite well-known. He stepped forward to greet us with a friendly smile.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you all. As the Sage said, I’m Tim, from the Fifth Legion of the Royal Order. I’ve been able to observe some of your activities here, and I can tell you I’ve been very impressed by what I’ve seen. I urge you all to keep pushing forward, and don’t let yourselves become complacent. I’m hoping to observe the fifth scenario too, so I’ll be looking forward to seeing you all in action a little more.”
He’d tried to make it seem as though he’d only caught a glimpse here and there, but I could immediately tell that Tim was the one who’d been following us alongside Godolphen right from the start.
I was right about him being a talented tracker—I just didn’t expect him to also be a vice captain... I mean it just doesn’t make sense, letting someone as important as him skip around the mountains for a whole damn week. Did the Fifth Legion run out of actual work to do or something? Seriously...
Godolphen cleared his throat. “Tim here is in charge of recruitment for the Fifth Legion, and as you might imagine, he also has some measure of sway when it comes to Order recruitment in general. For those among you who intend to join the Order, this is an excellent opportunity to demonstrate your prowess.”
Oh, that explains it. He’s a scout and a talent scout.
I had no interest in “demonstrating my prowess,” but Godolphen’s comment had clearly lit a fire under some of my classmates, particularly Stella. A potential position within the local Fifth Legion was probably right up her alley.
“Now, it is high time for me to explain the particulars of the final scenario,” Godolphen continued. “After recapturing and reinforcing this stronghold, you are now tasked with defending it from enemy forces. Reports indicate that these forces are already nearby and will likely converge on you at approximately 10 a.m. this morning, though their numbers remain unknown. Their assault will continue for twenty-four hours. If the stronghold falls into enemy hands you must strive to recapture it once again, though this will be reflected in your score. Additionally, should the stronghold fall three or more times, you will be required to complete an additional twelve hours of supplementary training following the fifth scenario—though sadly, that would prevent you from enjoying the hot springs alongside the other class groups,” he said, his smile not reflecting his alleged “sadness” one bit. “The leader for the fifth scenario shall be Fe—”
“Just a moment, Master Godolphen,” I interrupted. “I’ve got a request concerning the enemy forces.”
Godolphen raised his eyebrows. “Oh? Rovene, I acknowledge that your unexpected encounter might have slightly delayed your return to the stronghold, but you had plenty of time to complete your reinforcements prior. I will not reduce their number to account for it. War demands we adapt to the unexpected.”
I sighed dramatically, shaking my head. “What are you going on about? I didn’t say anything about reducing their number. I’m guessing you’ve borrowed three companies from the Trouverean army to play the part of our opponents, right? So that’s what, four hundred soldiers at most? What I’m saying, Godolphen...” I paused, smirking. “Is that you won’t stand a chance.”
I could see my classmates shift slightly as they pointedly looked away. Godolphen remained silent, which told me my guess had been spot-on.
Generally speaking, the official and private armies of Yugria followed the same structural system. A company typically totaled around 128 soldiers in four squadrons, though the exact number often varied given the volatile nature of the work. Honestly, it hadn’t been hard to more or less figure out what his plan was for the enemy forces. After all, we were meant to be defending a military stronghold. His scenarios had been realistic so far, which meant it was very unlikely that said enemy forces would now turn out to be Godolphen the Indomitable himself. Even if we managed to take him down, the experience wouldn’t teach us anything worthwhile. Besides, he could attack us anytime he wanted back at the Academy; there was no reason to do it all the way out here.
I’d been anticipating that we’d eventually face a proper military battle ever since he’d announced the second scenario. Given that our assigned “stronghold” had all the defensive capacity of a pile of rubble, the largest force we’d have any hope of holding our own (and therefore it) against was probably a company. Obviously there was no reason for our opponents to pull an all-nighter just because we were, so I assumed he’d commandeered a reasonable number of companies (say, three) to take turns attacking us. They’d be able to rest and regroup, and we’d have our work cut out for us. If, by some miracle, we managed to hold our own until the battle was nearly won, Godolphen would definitely send all three companies in for a final showdown. I could already picture the stupid smirk he’d wear as he gave the order.
That was all assuming we defended this stronghold, of course.