Awakening Of The New Emperor

POV: Recruit 79

The general had sat away from me for quite a few moments after saying 'it's time to get started,' but he's yet to even ask me anything.

He's just been staring at me...

Maybe he'd think I'd buckle and spew something out?

I don't understand his intention here.

Finally, the general let out a sigh before looking back up at me, with a more serious expression this time. "I'm gonna run through a series of questions, just answer them to the best of your ability, okay?"

I nodded in response, acknowledging what he had said.

"Where were you held?"

"Not sure, somewhere in Blackreach," I answered. "I just kept running once I got out."

"So you weren't released," the general began speaking, scratching his hair. "You managed to escape from their region? How?"

"I-I don't know," I stuttered. "There were multiple other recruits with me at the time of being taken, and I was able to find a narrow way to escape when they are occupied with another recruit trying the same thing."

I had to lie. Even if I didn't want to, it was the only choice.

The whole weirdness of not only my situation while being captured, but the journey back, had to be hidden now. I was too unsure of everything myself to properly dump this on someone, let alone a general. 'Hopefully he believes me...' I thought.

"Did they say anything?"

"What do you mean?" I asked, genuinely out of confusion. I'm hoping for him to elaborate...

The general scoffed. "Through their conversations, patterns, anything related to Zhang that might prove useful."

"No, I'm sorry," I answered truthfully.

This time, I was able to be entirely honest.

It seems like their motives and ultimate goals, at least for that raid, had extended beyond just doing some damage to Zhang's central territory, even though it's probably rebuilt entirely by now, so I don't see what the plan was...

"Did you see anything then, at least?"

"Not really," I answered. Another honest answer, as most of my time locked up was spent entirely starving away thinking I was going to die inside of some dark, wet dungeon...

"However," I continued. "Their hatred for future Emperor Zhang is quite apparent. The symbol of The New Order was quite generously spread throughout whatever... base I was in—all of them gruesomely crossed out with blood of course, which seemed to look fresh. If I had to guess, it would be the blood from the others...

Half truth, half lie.

It was true, our symbol was everywhere around their base, crossed out. However, it wasn't with blood, that part was a lie.

I needed this general to fully believe that I was the only one to make it out.

While in the end, I may have been the only one to actually make it back to Vareth, other recruits escaping with me but not returning back would symbolize me as a primary suspect, or potentially apart of this entirely.

It was too much for him to know, at least for now.

"Well," the general continued reluctantly. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about three different people brutally murdered in a forest region of Blackreach, later identified as recruits from The New Order, would you?"

My eyes bulged slightly, and despite how hard my jaw wanted to drop, I did everything I could to keep myself as expression as possible.

How did he know about it? Was the event that shocking that news spread this far?

Of course I knew a lot about it, I was apart of that group.

However I can't just explain what happened to them so easily—that would gives up the lies I had spoken just earlier!

"N-No, no I don't," I stuttered, but only slightly.

The general sighed. "If you say so, there's not really much I can force you to, or anything really to ask you more of. This situation has been one hell of a nuisance," he continued.

"However, as long as everything seems to be okay with you, I can have a post ready for you in another base immediately," he finished.

Through this short conversation, I've realized just how much of a poker face General Aurelian has. The contrast between his public demeanor and laid back attitude when there isn't any pairs of eyes watching is astronomical.

'Maybe he isn't as much of a stuck up as I once believed,' I thought.

Just as I watched the general stand up from his seat and slowly drag his relaxed body over to the door once more, an idea hit me.

It was risky, but it could pay off tremendously.

"General—"

I couldn't finish my sentence, however the general did stop to turn back and face me. "What is it? You remember something important?" He asked.

"N-No," I stuttered anxiously. "I'd like to submit myself for an emergency re-evaluation."

***

I had followed the general down the militia base. He was quite shocked at my words, however there seemed to be an odd feeling that welled up inside of him after, almost like I could feel that he had expected something like that.

A re-evaluation wasn't too uncommon. While most fresh recruits would get regular monitored and examined through their development anyway, many would manually apply outside of their monitoring period if they feel like they've exceeded the requirements to boost up a rank. Whether that's to become a soldier, or even higher.

However, an emergency re-evaluation was something somebody can only do once.

Evaluations could take weeks for you to find a spot, which is perfectly fine for those who want to refine their material, hone their strength, or anything.

However deeming it as an emergency could mean a few things. It could mean that due to your schedule, you won't be able to fit in any re-evaluations for months afterwards. It could also mean that someone's become too full of themselves, over-confident.

But, in my case, it means that the growth in recent time has been exponential.

While I can't say for sure how much I've grown...

I feel different. Too different. There's no way I was just a weak little recruit anymore, I was sure of it.