Ch 406: Years Later, Nirvana Would Always Remember The Morning That Child Arrived

“Report, Officer! I am Phoenix Delavich, a soldier newly assigned today!”

A boy who looked only sixteen stood before Dominic’s office—which wasn’t called Nirvana yet—saluting Dominic. The boy’s hair was rather messy, and his face had many freckles. He stood solemnly before Dominic’s office door.

“Hmm? Are you the only new recruit?”

Dominic looked up. Before he changed his name to Nirvana, he was the captain of an elite squad in the Ferenti Kingdom. His rank wasn’t high or low, just enough.

“Yes, only me.”

The boy remained standing at attention, saluting. Dominic stood up and brought the boy inside.

“Alright, I am Dominic Traelis. From now on, you are a team member of my squad.”

“Yes!”

“Don’t be so stiff. If you keep this up, you won’t last a month in our squad.”

“Huh?”

Dominic poured a cup of water for Phoenix. Seeing Phoenix didn’t take it, he directly shoved the water cup into Phoenix’s hands.

“Drink first. I’ll take you to familiarize yourself with our troops later.”

“Okay. Oh, right, should I give you this?”

Phoenix took out a personnel transfer letter and handed it to Dominic. Dominic took the letter, glanced at it, then threw it into the wastebasket beside his desk.

“Officer, what was that?”

Phoenix didn’t understand Dominic’s actions. Seeing the boy’s clear eyes, Dominic guessed the boy didn’t know the contents. Dominic took a deep breath to calm himself, then patiently explained his actions to Phoenix.

“Kid, remember this. That thing you just gave me was a personnel transfer letter. Those nobles in the upper echelons of the Kingdom want to pull me in because of my insignificant achievements. I don’t want to collude with them. Kid, remember, there isn’t a single good noble, except for one.”

“Who?”

“The Prince of Wales, the current King’s older brother.”

“Oh, oh. I understand.”

Dominic took a cigar from his drawer, cut the end, lit it with a match, and took a long drag. The pungent smoke instantly filled the space between them.

“Do you smoke?”

Dominic offered the cigar to Phoenix. Phoenix took it and imitated Dominic, taking a long drag.

“Cough! Cough… Cough cough cough… Offi… Officer, this is too strong.”

Dominic took back the cigar, wiped the saliva from the end, and took another long drag.

“Kid, I told you, you won’t last a month in our troops like this.”

“Why?”

After taking a large gulp of water to rinse his mouth, Phoenix wiped the tears from his eyes, which were stung by the cigar, and looked at Dominic questioningly.

“Do you know what our troops do?”

Phoenix shook his head.

“I was just transferred here; I don’t know the situation of the different troops.”

“Alright, take a rest. I’ll explain the situation of this troop when I take you on a tour later. Be prepared.”

Phoenix, with his clear eyes, nodded. He watched Dominic smoke a few more puffs before taking out a roster.

“Phoenix, your family is quite cultured, giving you the name of an immortal bird.”

Phoenix scratched his head, smiling shyly.

“It’s just my family’s expectation of me.”

“Alright, I’ll call you Finny. If there’s no problem, I’ll write it down on the roster.”

“No problem, Officer.”

Dominic opened the roster and placed it on the table. He picked up the quill pen, already dipped in ink, and wrote Phoenix’s name and nickname on the roster, where many names had already been crossed out.

“Officer, what’s the situation with those crossed-out names?”

“They’re your seniors. They sacrificed themselves.”

“Sacrificed? So many?”

“Kid, once you join the army, your life no longer belongs to yourself or your parents. Your life now belongs to the country. As long as the country orders, you must obey. Your seniors sacrificed themselves like that; they were all brave men.”

“Officer, don’t you feel heartbroken?”

“Heartbroken? Kid, you’re not the first to ask me that. Let me tell you, I am heartbroken. I am very heartbroken. These people all ate and lived with me. But soldiers prioritize obedience to orders. Their sacrifice was unavoidable yet great. Heartbreak won’t bring them back.”

“…”

Phoenix was silent. He naively thought that being in the army meant daily training and then retiring after two or three years with retirement pay, starting a business or finding a better job. He never imagined that being a soldier was so dangerous.

“…Officer, I don’t want to die.”

“Hahahaha! Kid, nobody wants to die.”

“I still have parents to support, and a younger brother who is still in school. I can’t die until he can support himself.”

“…I’ve seen many cases like yours. Let me make an exception. Be my aide. Your chances of survival will be higher following me.”

“Huh? Wouldn’t that be unfair to those seniors?”

“Fairness? They certainly didn’t want to be my aide. You’ll understand later.”

“Is there such a thing?”

“There’s much more you don’t know, kid. Just be honest here for the next few years, training and going on missions. By the way, do you know how to smoke or drink?”

Phoenix shook his head.

“Report, Officer, I don’t know either.”

“Then you’re going to have a hard time. Although I don’t want to lead you astray, I suggest you learn at least one, or you might become a ‘sunny-day doll’ here.”

“What’s a sunny-day doll?”

“An ornament hung on the window to pray for sunny weather. That’s just a metaphor. In a way you’ll understand, it means hanging yourself.”

“Wow, isn’t that suicide?”

Dominic took another long drag of his cigar, and the smoke drifted out through the open window.

“The suicide rate of new recruits is quite high. You better not be one of them.”

Phoenix’s eyes became firm. He stared at Dominic.

“Don’t worry, Officer. I definitely won’t commit suicide. Absolutely. I have parents to support, a younger brother who hasn’t become independent yet, and I’m even single. I won’t commit suicide.”

“I hope so.”

After another puff of his cigar, Dominic cut off the burnt part and put the rest back into his drawer. After dealing with some documents, he took Phoenix to tour his camp.

“This is where you’ll train.”

Dominic pointed to the barren, flat ground. Phoenix didn’t understand.

“There seems to be a lot of debris on the ground. Won’t that be a problem?”

“Hahaha, that’s the point! What kind of training would it be without challenges? Don’t forget, my troops are elite!”

Dominic laughed, patting Phoenix on the shoulder. Phoenix started to worry.

“I… I understand.”

Then, Dominic took Phoenix to the dormitory. It was actually rows of tents.

“Why are they tents?”

“Dummy, where are you going to live in a house during a war? Having tents is already pretty good. Sometimes, on missions, for concealment, you can’t even afford a tent; burying yourself with leaves for the night is normal. Another reason is to prevent new recruits like you from becoming sunny-day dolls. Tents don’t have beams for hanging.”

“Which tent will I live in?”

“You’ll live with me.”

“Ah?”

Phoenix was surprised. He didn’t understand why a new recruit should live with his officer.

“I’m afraid you might have an accident. Some new recruits couldn’t handle the training and missions and snuck out to commit suicide in the middle of the night.”

“This is getting scarier. Am I really joining the army or some strange organization?”

“You should ask the person who transferred you here. It’s your bad luck to be assigned here. Speaking of which, what troop did you apply for?”

“The Royal Guard’s Third Battalion.”

“Hahahaha! It’s normal that you couldn’t get in. You have no background and no experience, and you want to go to the best-treated Royal Guard right away. You really dream big. Let’s go, I’ll take you to the mess hall.”

“The mess hall won’t be outdoors, will it?”

“What are you thinking? After training all day, if you eat sand and rocks in an outdoor mess hall, you’ll be furious! Don’t worry, the mess hall has a building. Don’t think about becoming a sunny-day doll in the mess hall; there are no beams there either.”

Dominic ruffled Phoenix’s hair. Phoenix brushed Dominic’s hand away.

“I said, I won’t commit suicide.”

“Good spirit. Let’s go.”

They went to the mess hall. It was passable, but it wasn’t mealtime yet. They didn’t know how the food would be.

“It’s… Friday today. You came at the right time. Friday has delicious food.”

“What kind of food?”

When Phoenix heard about delicious food, his eyes lit up.

“You’ll find out later.”

After the tour, Phoenix followed Dominic back to the office.

“Speaking of which, I haven’t seen anyone along the way. Where are those seniors?”

“Their training today is outdoor weight-bearing training. They’ll be back in the afternoon.”

“What will I eat at noon?”

“Lunch? You want to eat? We’ll starve together. The mess hall doesn’t cook if there are fewer than ten people in the camp.”

“Ah? No way!”

“What? Want to go back? No way. Stay here honestly until you retire.”

Dominic took two pieces of dried meat from the cabinet and threw one to Phoenix.

“You’re lucky. I only have this little bit of dried meat left. I’ll share half with you. Eat. It’s not good to starve on your first day.”

Phoenix took the dried meat. Although it wasn’t much, it was food.

“Thank you, Officer!”

After bowing to Dominic, he put the dried meat in his mouth. After chewing for a while, his face twisted.

“So salty!”

“Hahahaha! Gotcha! Hahahahahahaha!”

Dominic laughed heartily. After laughing enough, he poured a cup of water for Phoenix using his water bottle. Phoenix took it and gulped it down.

“Speaking of which, Officer, why aren’t you training?”

Dominic pointed to the documents in front of him and showed them to Phoenix.

“Someone has to handle the documents. Don’t think that being in the army means only missions and training. As a military officer, I also have a lot of tedious work.”

“That’s tough.”

“Humph, you’ll envy me later.”

Dominic put down his quill pen, looked at the sun from the window, then turned to Phoenix, arms outstretched.

“Welcome to the elite unit of the Kingdom’s Fourteenth Battalion, the Four-Winged White Raven Special Forces, Finny!”

Years later, looking at the broken soldier’s dog tag with only half a name, First Lieutenant Dominic Traelis, now Nirvana, would always remember that distant morning when a boy named Phoenix came to his office to report. That was the most unforgettable child in his life, the child who changed him.