Chapter 304: Sergeant?

Haru talked with Major Samson for a few hours as it soon hit one o'clock in the morning, and they were alerted by the sound of his alarm which was supposed to indicate that it was time for him to go to bed. Unlike the other soldiers on the base, Major Samson had lots of things to do. During the day, he would take requests and questions from the soldiers, and during the night, he would have to report what is going on to the higher-ups at headquarters.

​​

It was a stressful job that required him to stay up into the early hours of the morning, so it was a necessity that he set a reminder to sleep or else he would forget to altogether. But now, he knew that he wouldn't get any sleep at all. And the last thing that he wanted was for one of his soldiers to pass out while on duty. So he ordered Haru to return to his room and sleep.

Haru gave a salute out of respect for Major Samson, but he found the whole ordeal strange as they had already met in his past life, but he never knew that they did.

After returning to his room, Haru quickly noticed that the lights were out and everyone was already asleep. He swiftly made his way across the room without disturbing anybody, which wasn't a problem since his footsteps were as quiet as a summer night's breeze. As he wrestled with his blankets and pulled them up over his body, he felt a gaze upon him.

For any regular person, it would be too dark to see. But for Haru, it was a simple task of directing his Qi towards his eyes. It allowed him to see in even the darkest of climates. Which meant the darkroom was nothing. The room quickly lit up within his gaze, and he spotted Orin laying in bed at the opposite side of the room, staring with a confused expression.

'What is this creep doing?' Haru thought as he looked over at the Orin who was staring into Haru's soul. But that didn't do anything to help him understand.

Not wanting to wake anyone, Haru remained silent and closed his eyes while pretending to be asleep. He entered his soul ocean while he wasted the night away cultivating his strength. Hours passed as he still felt the gaze upon him until the sun peeked over the mist on the ocean.

Birds chirped loudly as they flew around the humid island, bringing the sounds of waves along with them as they soared through the sky. But that was quickly silenced by the sound of knocking upon the door.

'Wake up! Wake up! It's time to work!' Yelled one of the soldiers responsible for waking the battalion. The rustling of sheets and morning coughs from the smokers in the room gave Haru the signal to get out of bed.

He turned straight to his locker and put on his new uniform. It was the first time he had worn it since trying it on, so everything remained brand new, which was soon pointed out by one soldier.

"Hey, the newbie still has green camos. You know what that means don't you? It's time to turn him into a human mop bucket!" A bearded man yelled as he gathered the troops to dirty Haru's uniform.

Haru starred as they approached him with the intention of messing up his uniform until Orin stepped out from his bunk and held out his hands towards them.

"I don't think that's a good idea," Orin stated, as clear as day in a voice that he had never used before. It took them all by surprise, including Haru, as they had never heard him speak out in such a way.

The soldiers stopped for a moment and took the time to process what they had just heard. It took them a while to understand, but they immediately backed off when they saw the purple flames gather within his hands.

"This is no fun. Why did the freak have to ruin it? Come on. We have PT with Captain Liegan. Let's not have our morning ruined any further." The man with the beard insisted as he clearly took on the role of group leader. All of the soldiers followed behind him and left the room, leaving only Jake and Haru remaining.

"What happened last night? I didn't see you come back. And when I asked Orin about it, he just ignored me like he usually did. Why did he stand up for you?" Jake asked, confused by the situation. But he knew that there was a perfectly reasonable explanation.

"Oh, not much. I just had to kick some ass to get what I wanted, that's all. Just the usual." Haru smiled as he mocked what he had done the night before as they both followed slightly behind the group and out into the courtyard.

SPecs of rain drizzled down from the sky as they stepped outside into the humid air of the island town. The sun beamed down through the darkened clouds warming the earth as it was cooled by rain.

"Fall in, Fall in!" A voice shouted from behind as Major Samson walked out from the building behind them. Upon hearing his voice, the soldiers practically ran to get into position and salute the Major as he walked along the yard.

"Good, Good. It's nice to see that my staff has trained you well. Now, I know what you're wondering. "Why are we getting a visit from the top brass?" Well, it came to my attention that one of my sergeants had been treating you all awfully.

He even went against the Geneva conventions to punish some of you for disobeying his unreasonable orders. First, I would like to apologise on his behalf, and those of you affected will surely be compensated. As the leader of this battalion, it is my responsibility to make sure you are all looked after. So I think it's time that we elect a new sergeant to take his place.

Now I know what you will think about my decision, but I believe you should have someone you can confide with.

I know he might be new here, but I think that it will be best for you to have someone younger lead and direct you with their morals. I believe that you will all see this in the future. So Corporal Jake Ainsworth, Please take a step forward." Major Samson announced to all of the soldiers present for their morning exercise.

Jake looked at Haru with a gaze that said, "Who me?" Haru smiled for a moment and then nodded his head, urging his friend to accept the reward.

Jake looked back and forth for a few moments before taking a step forward like he was instructed to do. As he walked towards Major Samson, he noticed that he was holding a golden pin within his hand.

"Congratulations Sergeant, You will be the one to lead this unit, so make sure that you get to know all of your men as though they are your brothers." Major Samson smiled before reaching out and placing the golden pin upon his chest, Signifying that he had been promoted to sergeant.

'What did I do? This has to be some kind of a mistake, right? I have been here for less than eight months, and they are already making me a sergeant? This has to have something to do with Haru, right? It seems odd that he disappeared for a night, and then in the morning, they made me a sergeant.

Just what in the world did he do? Do they know the reason why he had come here? Because I sure as hell can't see why he would.' Jake thought as he looked at Haru with a curious glare.

Before he could even turn around to look back at Major Samson, the unit had taken the opportunity to applaud their new sergeant as he was promoted in front of them.

Jake turned to look at his new unit to be greeted with a salute by all of the members, including Haru, who was smiling proudly like a father who had watched his child grow up.

'I don't know what they're planning, but I think making Jake a sergeant was a good call. He will soon become one of the highest-ranking mages if he decides to show off his power. I made sure of that myself when I taught him all of those spells.' Haru thought as he looked at the first friend he had made in this life.

"Well then, I will leave this morning's register to you then Sergeant Ainsworth. I believe it shouldn't be a problem, should it?" Major Samson asked with a smile before handing Jake a clipboard filled with the names of all of the soldiers under his command and walked back inside, leaving them just as quickly as he had appeared.

Jake looked around for a few moments in disbelief about what had just happened. But it was real; He had become a sergeant in less than eight months of graduating, Making him one of the youngest sergeants in the country at the age of nineteen.

'If my grandfather could see me now. I bet he wouldn't think I'm still a failure.' Jake smiled with joy as he looked at his unit and began to read out names.

One by one, he received a "Yes, Sir." Along with a salute as he called out to them all while walking up and down the rows of soldiers before finally reaching Haru.

"Private Haru Kitagawa?" Jake called out, acting as though the name was unfamiliar to him. But he couldn't help but smile as he looked at Haru with a look of joy.

"Yes, Sir!" Haru called out with a stomp of his foot before raising his hand to his brow with a serious-looking face, not breaking character for even a moment as a way to show respect for Jake's new promotion.