That entire speech had sounded nice and good, but fortunately for Gaius, he hadn’t been given command of the defence. The little boy was never a commander of troops on Earth — after all, if an assassin was directing an entire army, something had either gone horribly wrong or horribly right. Rather, that dubious honour of commanding this place had been tossed to Winston Chamberlain, the son of the Warmaster.

Gaius didn’t feel exactly reassured by this appointment, however. The teenager had been restricted by an idealisation of honour in the battlefield, and although the little lecturer had made moves to rectify that, he hadn’t had much of a chance to serve as a lecturer in the first place. He’d only done so once, because the lecture that should have followed in the next week was replaced by the auction.

And as to whether there would be one this week…Gaius didn’t really think that was possible. Even if there weren’t any enemies attacking the camp, the little boy knew that the beastfolk remnants would be leaving the Five Lands by this week.

At any rate, there was nothing he could do but hope that the commander of this up-and-coming fortress would have a sound head on his shoulders. Fortunately, Nalus would be joining them soon, to act as an advisor and restraining bolt on Winston Chamberlain. The Campmaster’s son was more likely to be a calmer and more analytical strategist, from what Gaius could tell of him.

Well, better them than me, at any rate. Gaius grinned to himself, before striking out at the air rapidly. His movements were predictably stronger and faster after he returned from Heritage a few days ago, which was natural. After all, Major Degurechaff had mentioned that Heritage was a place of opportunities, something about powerful energies being in the areas of where gemstones were mined.

The boy's own encounters wasn’t exactly the same type of fortuitous encounters that the major mentioned, but Gaius was happy with his opportunities all the same.

The grin faded as he looked at the small cube in his hand.

“Nexus,” Gaius said quietly, “what do you make of this?”

A little wooden sculpture popped out from his tunic, leaning forward for a better look. “It’s a single-use artefact.”

“Funny, I thought it was a rubik’s cube. Of course I know it’s an artefact. What does it do?”

“Do I look like a compendium to you?” Nexus titled its head upwards and tried to pout. It looked a bit hilarious to its owner, but Gaius forcibly stifled his laughter.

“You’re the super-knowledgeable repository of knowledge throughout the ages. The word compendium doesn’t even begin to suit you,” replied Gaius, his face neutral. “You don’t need to assume that I’m a fool — someone like you should not need to pander to the lowest common denominator.”

The wooden sculpture shook lightly, and Gaius had to hide his smile again. “I didn’t know you thought that highly of me.”

Neither did I, but it seems flattery will get you anywhere, Gaius replied in his head. The little boy didn’t say anything, however, as his eyes continued to stare at the wooden sculpture. He did, however, marvel inwardly at the artificial intelligence’s ability to ignore snide words after clearly overblown praises were directed at it.

“There’s nothing in this world I can’t crack.” Nexus clapped twice, seemingly in appreciation of itself, and said, “This thing is an artefact that’s been specifically tailored to temporarily disrupt a single formation…the passageway to Heritage Basestation. Of course, you can use it in the camp itself, but it’ll sever the connection to Heritage entirely if you use it there.”

“That’s a last resort button, eh?”

“Not really. Think of it as a knife. Either you sever the land around the passageway, or you sever the passageway itself. Using it here results in the former, while using it at the camp makes the latter a reality.” The wooden figurine shrugged. “Great for someone who wants to make a heroic sacrifice.”

Gaius briefly debated on the merits of giving it to Winston Chamberlain, before stowing it into his pocket.

“Didn’t peg you as the type who would make a heroic sacrifice, Master Gaius.”

“Oh, so it’s back to master now, huh?” Gaius rolled his eyes. “So why can’t we get everyone out of here and use it now?”

“You could. But I’m quite sure you have instructions detailing its use anyway, and why your idea is a Bad One, capitalised. Now, are you done with your paranoia? You should have some work to do too,” said the artificial intelligence.”

Gaius poked Nexus’ wooden head back into his clothes and stood up. He had been hiding in this makeshift metal room, citing the need for privacy to read his orders. It wasn’t as big as his own tent, and it had no ceiling either, but the latter was to prevent someone in this room from being covered in darkness entirely.

Pushing the door open, he left the small, roofless building. He moved towards the centre of the fortress, which looked more like a settlement with tall walls now, where the Warmaster’s son and Nalus were discussing things with their own appointed officers and disseminating orders. From afar, they looked like experienced veterans, but Gaius could sense some nervousness from them. It showed in the minor details — the impatient tapping of feet, the overly-dramatic flourish as Nalus turned the page, Winston Chamberlain’s slight trembling every time he issued an order.

Gaius was satisfied at that last bit. It showed that the teenager, for all his fixation on honour and an honourable death, was aware that this was a battle, where people were going to die. His words would have repercussions…and the Warmaster’s son was mature enough to understand that.

The first person to spot him was Nalus, who waved his hand with an expression of obvious relief on his face.

“Gaius! Just in time, I was beginning to wonder where you wandered off to.” His hands beckoned madly, causing the little lecturer to sigh as he walked over. Some of the other Harvesters around looked at Gaius in surprise — they definitely knew him by reputation now, but not everyone had attended his only lecture.

It was natural that those who didn’t know him were surprised by his age and diminutive stature.

“You’re being too nervous, Nalus.” Gaius swatted at his hand and rebuked him. “You too…Winston.”

The Warmaster’s son turned in surprise, but the little boy ignored the expression on his face and continued to speak. “Have you ever seen your fathers show anything that’s not confidence on their face and in their actions before and during a battle? Discipline your actions, or everyone’s going to be overly nervous.”

“Y-yes, Lecturer Gaius.”

The little lecturer raised an eyebrow at Winston. “You?”

“Yes, lecturer.”

“Excellent.” Gaius whirled around to face the other Harvesters that the two had appointed as their aides. “You lot better do the same too, got it? Or you’ll be practicing with me. And I don’t play nice.”

Murmurs of assent filled the place as Gaius turned back to confer with Nalus. The whispers were somewhat annoying, but there was nothing the little boy could do about it.

“Now, you wanted me for something?”