Cain handed me a journal and said I should write down stuff that happens that I think is important. It looked like there was something else on his mind when he handed me my journal, but he wouldn't say what it was. Obviously, whatever has him worried must be something only he can handle, so I just have to do what I can to support him. The only thing he said about the journal was that it might help me. I don't know why it might help me, but Cain says that it will help me if I write stuff in. He suggested that I keep track of some of the things that happened after we managed to escape that ship we rigged to explode, starting from when we met the weird guy from the local PDF.

I know Cain has a lot of old data slates he used to keep track of our old adventures that he hid somewhere only Amberley would know where to look for them, so I guess I will write my own diary too. He must have been trying to tell me to keep track of everything important that happens for him in case any of the mutants on this planet are spying on us. He wants me to trust them, but since it does look like there are a few Eldar roaming around this planet, he must know that they might try to spy on him some day. This must be his way of keeping track of things while he does the hard job of attracting their attention while I keep a record of everything we do on this planet.

I will not let the commissar down after placing his trust in me. I'll keep on filling this journal out whenever I can make sure I am alone.

Gunner First Class Ferik Jurgen
Commissar's Aide

Day 1:

We killed a lot of greenskins when we first arrived on this planet and met Goblin Slayer, who helped us kill the mutant Orks and agreed to help us contact the Imperium. That was a good day.

Cain thinks that the greenskins are Chaos worshipers, but I think he might be wrong. I know greenskins, and there aren't any that I know of that would ever worship a god less cunning or brutal than Gork and Mork. Maybe they'd follow Khorne if they thought he was Gork or Mork, but they would NEVER want anything to do with Slaanesh. The commissar probably knows better than me though. He's always been better at making plans than me and always knows where to look for hidden cults and xenos. It wouldn't be the first time he uncovered a secret cult while everyone else was focused on a smaller threat that only served as a distraction that dangerous heretics used to keep themselves hidden.

Maybe these greenskins do follow the Ruinous Powers? Maybe we shouldn't have let Goblin Slayer return those captives we rescued without letting a few priests inspect them first after all.

Oh well. I'm sure everything will turn out fine like they always do. Cain wasn't worried about them, so I won't worry about them either.

Cain also argued a lot with Goblin Slayer. I don't know why since Goblin Slayer did a lot of smart things when fighting the goblins in that cave we found him in, but apparently the commissar thought the kid needed personal lessons and took it upon himself to teach the adventurer a couple of things. I'll have to make sure Goblin Slayer is putting everything Cain taught him to use the next time I meet him.

Day 2:

Nothing important happened until the evening. We travelled a lot, saw a lot of tiny villages, and Cain tried teaching Goblin Slayer a lot about communication and working as a team on our journey to Frontier Town.

The weather on this planet is too hot. I don't know how Goblin Slayer can walk around in all that armor in this heat. He must be used to it though. He has to be because I don't think I've seen him take off his armor to even eat or sleep. I wonder if it's air conditioned?

When we finally reached the Frontier Town, we saw a lot of mutants roaming the streets along with the humans that lived there. I thought they were xenos scum when I first saw them, but Cain told me that they were actually abhumans before the day was over I don't know why he wants me to treat them any differently just because they are mutants instead of xenos, but he said I should. The commissar has never made a mistake before, so why would he start now?

A lot of stuff happened when we arrived at the Guild Hall of the Adventurers Guild. I made sure to act like one of the bodyguards that General Zyvan had with him once Cain made his entrance in the Guild Hall like he told me to. It was nice to see him finally get the respect he deserved as the people of this planet rushed to get out of his way once they realized they were looking at the Hero of the Imperium. One idiot didn't recognize the commissar's greatness and he wouldn't stop acting like a juvie in front of everyone in the Guild Hall until he made Cain angry. Thankfully one of the people running the Adventurers Guild took care of him for us before Cain decided to kill him. The person who saved him was a helpful woman called Guild Girl.

She and Cain went to a separate room from all the riff-raff to create some sort of treaty or something after getting rid of the idiot. I don't know what they were doing, and I couldn't do much to help Cain. He must have saw I was eager to help him, so he sent me out to make him a cup of tanna tea while he did the important work.

I didn't know where the kitchen was in the Guild Hall, but one of the waitresses there helped me find it and was able to talk the chef into making a meal for me and Cain. Padfoot Waitress was the person who was kind enough to help me and, as it turned out later, was one of the only two people that are any good at their job in the Guild Hall. She was really nice, for a mutant. I guess that is why Cain made sure to tell me that the people here were abhumans that were just as worthy in the eyes of The Emperor as any other human. Padfoot Waitress was definitely a lot less annoying to deal with than the other guild staff and adventurers.

After I returned to serve Cain his meal, he had me fill out our applications to become adventurers. He must have been eager to defend the people of this planet from the vile greenskins and other xenos scum threatening their planet. The commissar never could relax while innocent people were in danger, so I filled out a form for both of us against my better judgement. I didn't think it was a good idea for him to start working for the people on this backwater planet before they started showing him the respect he deserved, but Cain was insistent that we do everything we can to help the people of this planet by becoming adventurers.

Cain approved of my work, but he did make one change to the forms I filled out. He said that he didn't want to be known as the Hero of the Imperium and thought it would be better if I wasn't known as his aide, but Cain always knew best, so I didn't argue against him. He also wanted people to know me by my rank in the Imperial Guard instead of my position as his aide. I tried telling him that being his assistant was much more important, but he disagreed. Cain must have realized that by recognizing me as a soldier instead of his assistant, any accomplishments I made would make the Imperium look good to the civvies on this planet. I should have thought about that before he pointed it out to me. That was always like Cain, thinking one step ahead of everyone else.

These forms were the first time we had to deal with the strange custom of this planet where people call each other nicknames instead of using their real names. I asked Padfoot Waitress why after our duel later that day, and she told me that using someone's real name was something you only did with family members on this planet. I don't know why the people of this planet do something so stupid, but I guess they have their reasons. It wasn't any stranger than the people of this planet enjoying hot weather like most other people in the Imperium did. I still don't know how anyone can stand living on a planet where you can't see your breath freeze against a nearby window.

Once Cain was happy with our registration forms, he let me have the honor of fighting against the incompetent fools working the Guild Hall's counter defending his honor at the same time. The girls there must have never seen a real soldier before, because they all had strange looks on their faces when they saw me. They also were just as disrespectful as the idiot with the spear because they insisted that Cain was no smarter than bluefeet who didn't know which end of their lasgun was supposed to be pointed towards their enemies. I tried my best to correct their mistake, but all of my efforts to talk some sense into them turned out to be a waste of time.

Cain tried to convince Guild Girl after I informed him about the mistake the Guild Hall staff had made, but apparently the Adventurers Guild had some sort of regulation that prevented them from immediately recognizing his greatness. Cain and Guild Girl talked about a lot of meaningless stuff that shouldn't apply to a hero like him, but in the end she said that there was no way for Cain to receive a more appropriate rank until he did enough work to prove he wasn't a worthless rookie. I knew the only way to increase his standing would be through showing the Guild just how wrong they were about us by defeating any enemies we set our eyes on. Knowing Cain, he is probably happy to do so. He likes fighting the enemies of mankind personally rather than letting other fools try to do what he tells them to, so that must be why he accepted Porcelain rank within the Adventurers Guild.

Cain did end up earning the respect of most adventurers by the end of the day when two adventurers challenged Cain to duel, even though he was still considered just a rookie by the Guild. The adventurers he defeated were Heavy Warrior and Female Knight, the former an ogryn man that carried a sword that was much smaller than the weapons ogryns usually carried and the latter was a witch that dressed up like an Adeptus Sororitas. They bet one of their rooms if one of us could defeat them in a duel, and Cain instantly accepted knowing they stood no chance against him. He was so confident that he even let me choose an adventurer to fight in his place, and I of course chose the witch since there was something about me that made psykers like her lose their powers. Cain was putting his confidence in me by allowing me the opportunity to fight in his stead. It would have been unthinkable for me not to fight the opponent that would have been annoying for him to defeat when I could dispose of either adventurer with ease.

I never did get the chance to fight Female Knight. She forfeited our fight as soon as she realized that she would not have the chance to impress the crowd that had come to watch the commissar when she learned she would be fighting me in his place. She must have been too discouraged to do anything once she learned Cain didn't consider her to be an opponent worthy of his time. Heavy Warrior did try to challenge him, but Cain easily defeated the larger man and even broke his giant sword to prove just how much better he was than Heavy Warrior.

Thankfully, the commissar had enough foresight to make sure the fight wasn't completely pointless. Cain told me to place a bet on him to get as much money as we possibly could from his duel, and since Goblin Slayer gave me a pouch full of coins after we helped him kill those greenskins yesterday, I bet the whole thing on the commissar. The woman that was keeping track of the bets turned out to be the idiot's partner, and she seemed happy to give me my full payment instead of taking a small percentage of it for herself like all bookies do. I think I remember her talking to Cain before then too. She must have recognized his greatness unlike the other adventurers and tried to flatter me so she could speak with him again.

That was a great day.

Day 3:

Nothing exciting happened today. Cain and Guild Girl talked about setting up a training facility for new recruits, and I stayed in the Guild Hall doing a few jobs for the Guild Girl when I asked her if I could help. I asked Cain if there was anything I could help him with, but he didn't find anything he believed I could handle yet. I hope I can find something to do soon.

Day 4:

Cain says he has started drafting up some plans for a training center for the Adventurers Guild. I finally have some work to do, finding the perfect place to set up this training camp while Cain does his own work.

Day 7:

I got tired of writing down stuff when nothing important happened.. I don't think I'll keep on doing that anymore so I can save space for more important things.

Witch and her bluefeet partner stopped by today and asked for Cain. Apparently she wanted that idiot to apologize for acting like a brat, and he did. Cain was generous enough to show him mercy and offered to work together on a quest someday once he was finished creating the plans for the Adventurers Guild's training facility. I think I found a place that isn't too far away that would work. There was a village that used to be in the place that I chose, but something happened and the village was destroyed. The ruins are still there, and since it is a few kloms away from the nearest village, it will take a long time for the camp to be built.

It shouldn't be too long before Cain and I finish with this job and we are able to start defending the people of this planet. I know he must find it boring to be sitting behind a desk where it is safe instead of fighting The Emperor's enemies in a crowded battlefield again.

I also know why sounded so worried when he handed me my journal earlier. He must have asked one of the locals where he could buy some tanna tea when he went shopping the day after our duel, because I asked Padfoot Waitress if she knew where I could buy some tanna tea leaves and she said they didn't grow near Frontier Town. Padfoot Waitress told Guild Girl about my problem, and they both said they will try their best to find a supply of tanna for the commissar before my supply runs out. I should have enough to last a few months, maybe a year if I let the commissar have all of it. I hope I can find some fresh tanna leaves before then.

Day 8:

Bad news. Today I learned this planet's supply of tanna is controlled by the Eldar and they only sell it to trusted allies. I need to find a rogue trader that is friends with those vile xenos before Cain conquers this planet just like he did with Perlia.

I knew I should have taken an extra pouch of tanna leaves with me instead of the melta bomb. I never should have taken it with me after we defeated the Tyranid Hive Fleet that attacked Fecundia. This is my fault and my responsibility to make things right.

May The Emperor protect us all if Cain runs out of tanna tea again.

Author's Corner:

BONUS CHAPTER!

At first, I wasn't sure whether or not to include Jurgen's perspective on Cain's adventure when starting this series, but after a while, not including Jurgen's innocent and adoring view of Cain's actions seemed almost criminal. Our unsung hero might not be the most well spoken or intelligent man in the Imperium, but his story deserves to be told just as much as Cain's does.

Trying to whip something up that felt very… "Jurgen" that could also be taken somewhat seriously was a fun little challenge. Consider this chapter and any other ones like it in the future as a minor intermission to explain and explore timeskips in Cain's story. No one can expect Ciaphas Cain, HERO OF THE IMPERIUM, to keep track of every minor thing that happens to him, right? Handling the more mundane aspects forced upon a commissar is supposed to be Jurgen's job after all...

Anyways, I hope you all liked this very different chapter!