Recruiting
Shirou looked at Chiaroscuro from a few miles away then turned his head slightly to see the large army camp that was set up just outside. Trin confirmed his thoughts "It probably is the legion that Lady Nereth asked you to wait for. Sneaking in could cause problems so heading for the Tepet guest house in Chiaroscuro would be best, they would likely pass the message to the legion."
They started walking again and were in Chiaroscuro before an hour had passed. They then headed for the guest house. Trin explained the situation to them and showed the proof he worked for the Tepet family and they were allowed to rest in the rooms.
"In all likelihood they won't call on us for a while. The news that we are here will take a while to move up the ranks." Trin spoke softly and Shirou nodded.
Trin was only partially right, if the Legion's information network were working properly it would take a while to find them. Fortunately or perhapse unfortunately, there was someone looking for them. At around the same time the red-piss legion set up outside Chiaroscuro, Nereth and Rai arrived in the same place.
Officially, Rai was there to take up a few months of life as a soldier in order to redeem him of a faux pas from a recent party (That Nereth asked him to perform intentionally) and Nereth was here to do some research on the Chiaroscuro undercity. The fact they came on the same ship was supposedly a trick of fate and not (as it was in truth) the act of sending two dragon-bloods out to meet with an asset.
Rai had been training with the legion while Nereth kept her ear to the ground looking for signs of Shirou, Trin and the anathema they had said that had joined up with.
When they came to the Tepet guest house she knew and headed there.
There was a knock at the door of the room that Trin and Shirou were staying in. Trin looked at Shirou before going to the door and opening it before stepping back in surprise and bowing deeply.
"Be calm Trin, it has only been a few weeks." Stepping through the door was Nereth Tepet. Shirou stood up and gave a short bow himself.
Nereth gave both of them an imperious yet kind smile before sitting on one of the rooms nicer chairs and speaking "So Shirou, do you still want to fight for us?"
Shirou nodded "For the same payment, permission to research in the Heptagram."
Nereth's smile grew "Good, I will bring you to the legion tomorrow. Do you know about the army's structure?"
At Shirou's head shake she continued "As an outsider that doesn't have the same training as the rest of the troops you would be considered part of the auxiliary, depending on your role however you might have a more support role. It depends on whether or not you are deemed suitable for combat."
She checked if Shirou was still following her before continuing "Assuming you were fielded you would be considered as a sorcerer due to your unique abilities. Units containing sorcerers are generally assigned the protection of their sorcerer and the sorcerer in question is treated as a higher rank than the rest of his unit. On the other hand as part of the support staff you would likely be assigned to the creation and repair of weapons for the troops. Less glamorous but far more important."
Shirou asked a question as she paused "Why can I not be part of support while marching and resting and a sorcerer during battles?"
Nereth replied simply "Rai could explain this better but it is army policy, you don't risk useful support staff in battle even if they are skilled. If they die you lose important support staff."
Shirou nodded and Nereth stood up while saying "That is probably enough for today, I will come by tomorrow." she nodded to them and left
End of chapter.
Yes I know it is short, I have been having trouble deciding what would go into this chapter. A mini-writers block if you will.
Fun fact; this lesson allowed Shirou to get some War skill, the exalted skill used for leading troops
