Spriggan Stress Relief
by aightaight2
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*Set two weeks after "Guiche mans up", from Halkegenia Offline Edition 5 by zero0hero/Triggerhappy*
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Duchess Valliere looked on as the pampered nobles drilled in the courtyard before her. Even the youngest Gramont boy had started to make some decent progress with his sword-work.
Things are starting to look up.
Motion caught the corner of her eye - it seemed that a Faerie had decided to forgo Camp Mulan's usual sign-in procedure and fly directly over the fence instead.
As the Faerie landed nearby she quickly quashed her momentary optimism.
Even a perfect day can be marred by a dark cloud scudding by.
Looking around, the Lady of the Spriggans quickly spotted the pinkette.
"Karin-chan! What's going down?"
The slightest hint of a line creased Karin's forehead as she stopped herself from frowning at Morgiana's irreverent greeting.
She waved at the ranks of soldiers suffering through boot camp in front of her before responding.
"As you can see, the new recruits are practicing their formation drills. Once they finish they'll move on to individual sword drills, then magic drills, then pistol drills."
"Sounds boring. Think I should liven things up by tossing a few spears their way?"
This time, she couldn't stop her left eye from twitching.
Surely she's not serious?
Karin blinked slowly as the Spriggan Countess lifted the butt of her spear off the ground.
Time to intercede.
"Thank you for the offer, but this is their practice time. Their capacity to respond to surprise attacks will be tested at a later date."
The Spriggan grounded her spear once more.
Turning slightly to the side, Karin couldn't help but make a subtle dig.
"You know, it has oft been said that those without discipline are the first to die in battle."
"Yeah, sounds exactly like the sort of thing those stick-in-the-mud generals would spout off. I bet your boys have heard it plenty of times already!"
Morgiana turned towards the recruits before shouting out at the top of her lungs.
"Hey munchkins! Don't look so serious - if you're not careful you'll start to look like some of those sour-puss old Manticore Knights!"
This time the twitch covered not just her left eye, but her left hand too.
Before she could respond, Morgiana called out again.
"You there! The fop in the white shirt!"
Most of the recruits had continued in their drill, but a handful had stopped to stare at their glamorous visitor. One of them, of course, just had to be the youngest Gramont son.
Gazing appreciatively at the Countess, Guiche looked startled at being called out in front of his peers.
Morgiana flicked him a silver coin.
"Want to earn a Yurudo?"
He caught the coin before it could bounce off his forehead.
"If you show me where the big cheese is, I'll spot you another one to match!"
This sally managed to derail Karin's thoughts entirely.
"The big cheese?" Guiche asked.
"You know. Red hair, big sword that doesn't like to block, runs around playing General with that cool Gramont dude?"
Karin's thoughts flipped around on their axis as she realized just who Morgiana was referring to.
Guiche proved once again that he too was no slouch.
"You mean General Eugene? I think he's at the command tent with his brother."
"That's the one! Lead the way boy-oh, no sense in wasting light!"
Turning to Karin, she took her leave.
"Catch you later, babe - don't let the discipline get you down too much!"
At that rejoinder, her eye twitch returned.
Must... resist... urge to kill...
As she stared at the departing the Spriggan's back, she missed the opening of the next Act.
Boiling out from the Garrison's entry-station came a flight of pixies dressed in black uniforms with the Kurotaka hawk embroidered on their shoulder. Not bothering to gain any height, they flitted directly through the marching recruits, making several of them dodge and causing the formation to break up in disarray.
Two of the pixies broke off, stopping in front of her while they waited for another Spriggan to catch up.
"Hey, Lady. Love the pink hairdo! You know where we can find the Secret Agent Training? Gotta go earn our double-oh license today!"
No, it wasn't Morgiana. It was, however, another of the Kurotaka menaces - scantily clad with a long musket slung over her shoulder.
With a stuffed look on her face, Karin pointed to the building to the left, where Argo's 1st Faerie Commando Division had set up its headquarters.
"Thanks, girlfriend. If you ever need someone to go drinking with you, just give me a call. Name's Yoko!"
"Let's go, Pixies! Time to sign up for the new Dark Knight Division!"
This time, Karin closed her eyes rather than watch the Spriggan decamp.
Pixies.
Kurotaka Pixies.
Those *crows* were forming a new Black Ops Division with KUROTAKA PIXIES.
No, this time keeping her eyes closed simply wouldn't suffice.
Twenty minutes later, the recruits uncovered their ears, checking whether it was safe to rise from their positions hugging the ground.
Behind them, the huge timber post with the arrow embedded at the top had been the first casualty - a few splinters driven inches deep into the hardened earth barrier at the end of the firing range was all that remained of it. The next group of nobles to arrive would have to learn of their limitations some other way.
The rant that had followed, an incoherent stream of curses about magpies, money grubbers, and undisciplined mercenaries, had been bad enough - the accompanying stream of hurricane force wind blasts slamming into the ground and sky had left everyone within range quivering on the ground with their hands covering their heads.
At least their Instructor looked a little bit less tense now, her rigid posture lost as she bent over panting with her hands on her knees.
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From behind the command tent, «MHCP-001», codename Yui, peeked out at the Duchess. A satisfied look stole over her features as she contemplated the success of their plan.
She turned to her partner.
"Thanks for the help Morgi-chan - you were definitely right. It can't be good to suppress all that tension all the time. Sometimes you just need a good excuse to let all the stress out!"