Diether had concluded that the best way to keep Kajei alive was to rise to the highest ranks of the Army and get him out of the border regions as soon as possible. Becoming a Commander would allow him to choose a second-in-command and also decide on most of his missions.

His training commander had other plans in mind. But Diether always outperformed the other recruits. His short stature drew unwanted attention, but everyone learned not to get in the way of the red-haired little devil, unless they wanted to spend a long vacation in the hospital.

Basic training soon ended, and everyone was preparing for the day the new commander would be selected. A commander would be chosen. This excited Diether. He had slept very little the night before.

Early in the morning, he put on his uniform; every day it became easier for him to put on his boots and gloves. He adjusted his buttons and looked across the room where Kajei was fast asleep.

“Unbelievable.” He kicked the bed where Kajei was sleeping. “Get up, Kajei. You're going to be late.”

Kajei grunted and sat up, the sheet wrapped around his whole body. “Mmm. I'm awake now.” He shuffled to the bathroom and closed the door.

Diether was lost in thought when Kajei stroked his head, full of tousled reddish hair.

“Oh, worried about the height requirements?”

“It won’t be a problem to beat all these weaklings again.”

“That’s the spirit! Although if I become Commander, you won’t have anything to worry about.”

Diether laughed at the idea that Kajei, with his gentle nature, would manage to secure the position of Commander.

“If you become Commander, I’ll become Minister of War,” he added jokingly.

“Good heavens. I don’t think the world is ready for that,” Kajei replied quickly.

“Who knows?”

When they arrived at the training barracks, their training commander ordered them to line up. Above them, in a small tower, he watched. His left eye twitched as he watched the recruits enter the room. He was never seen smiling; his spiky dark hair often covered his eyes when he was stressed. He was known throughout history as a brave soldier, loyal to the very end, who never left anyone behind.

“I see you’re all here. Shall we begin?” He paced around the room, with the young soldiers lined up before him. “Based on the previous tests, I’ve carefully selected a list of candidates to operate the units; one of them will be the commander.”

There was a murmur among the recruits.

He stood in the center of the room and began naming the operators for the cannon units. Kajei was called out, and he quickly nudged Diether in the ribs. “That’s me,” he whispered excitedly.

“That means you’re not the commander.”

“Wow. You don’t know yet. Don’t give it away.”

The Training Commander continued naming the unit operators from the list he was holding.

The names went on and on, and Diether still hadn’t been called.

“And that’s all… Congratulations. To be…”

“Sir, I’ve been left out!” Diether interrupted.

“And why should I care?”

“Because you’d be making a terrible mistake, sir.”

Kajei tried to stop Diether, but he was already heading toward the commander.

“Really?” He seemed offended by the suggestion of a mistake.

“Yes, sir. I have more determination, courage, and ingenuity than any of these men.”

“Strong words. Well, now it’s time to prove it. All of you. The last man standing will be the commander. I don’t give a damn how, but first I’d get rid of the man who just spoke ill of all of you.” He saluted and marched off toward the tower.

Kajei ran toward Diether as the other soldiers began to gather around him.

“Seriously, Diether. How did you get yourself into this—again?”

“Do me a favor. Make sure no one shoots at me and… get out of the way.”

Kajei nodded and fled from the center of the group. He joined a group of worried and nervous comrades who had previously learned not to fight against Diether, the recruit with the most training time under his belt who had easily passed all the endurance tests.

Diether cracked his knuckles as he waited patiently for his first opponent. Kajei was so nervous that he started biting his nails—or so he thought; he was wearing his uniform gloves.

The recruits slowly took steps toward Diether but didn’t attack. Not yet, anyway. They exchanged nervous glances with one another for a while. But then they seemed to have come up with a plan. A plan that Diether caught on to. They all attacked at the same time.

In the chaos of the fight, Diether’s size helped him dodge some blows, and he used his own momentum to send them crashing into the others. A few minutes later, the number of soldiers still standing had been reduced to one. A tired and battered Diether, still standing.

Slow applause came from the tower.

“Congratulations, Diether Ædelric O. Agmundr, Commander of the 49th Squadron. You’ve just defeated all your men...Again”

Diether frowned and raised his fist toward the man, flashing him an obscene gesture before turning his attention to the defeated recruits and Kajei—his new soldiers.

“Vjoltran, Kajei. Step forward,” Diether ordered.

Kajei instinctively saluted his new commander.

“You’ll be second in command. Now get them on their feet. Everyone has the day off. I’ll expect you all tomorrow morning at the Training Headquarters to continue training. And… you’d better get used to frequent beatings.” He smiled sadistically, frightening the soldiers even more.