Reincarnated Prince just wants a quiet life

Part 15: Into the Fire

The sun was high in the sky and bearing down on my back as I sat in the palace gardens overlooking the ocean. It was a comfortable day in terms of the weather, neither cold nor hot and a calm breeze was always present. Wind chimes somewhere in the gardens softly played their song as the breeze came and went. It had been a few weeks since my speech and the city seemed to buzz with a certain energy that wasn't there before. The streets once more filled to the brim with humans and demi-humans alike. It was almost as if a battle for life and death hadn't happened at all.

Yet the evidence was everywhere, buildings that had been destroyed were now being rebuilt all throughout the capital. The sounds of construction could even be heard all the way in the palace. Outside the capital was the crater that had once been the Whilhelminan army's main camp. It wasn't until weeks had passed that the thick fog of miasma dissipated and we were able to send scouts to investigate. What they found were scraps of buildings and not much else, not even the skeletons of the deceased.

As I sat in the gardens I tried to avoid thinking about such things but my mind would often come back to them. Today would presumably be my last quiet day for a while as I was meant to start training the new recruits for my new division. After my speech there had been an overwhelming amount of hopeful recruits, the majority of which were demi-humans. All of which would be boarding the small fleet of ships the day after tomorrow to head to Half Moon Island, where they will undergo their training under my supervision.

I myself was heading to the island tomorrow to prepare it for the recruits. I had much to prepare but I had a small army of men at my disposal to not only help me prepare but to train them. I was grateful to my father for giving me a helping hand but the task before me was an arduous one. I was meant to train nearly 20,000 troops and have them ready to carry out missions in a matter of three months. A difficult task for anyone but even more so for someone who is as inexperienced as myself in these matters.

Which is what brought me here to the gardens. I had been holed up in the library pouring over countless military records or past training procedures, but they were largely unhelpful. In the past the only true training was given to human soldiers while the small unofficial units of demi-humans were only ever trained in etiquette. How to address a higher ranking officer and so forth, and those records were very brief and there weren't very many of them. If any other training was given to the demi-humans the officers of the past never recorded them.

So in frustration and looking for a change of pace I came to the gardens to clear my head and see if anything would spark some revelation. However, nothing had come to me yet.

Letting out a sigh I sank further into the bench and stared out into the endless blue ocean. "Ahhhhhhh! What was that old man thinking, giving me such an impossible task? And mother just agreed with him! Just awful both of them!" I screamed at the sea before letting out another sigh. "No, it's me that's awful, after talking such a big game and being unable to back it up." Shaking my head and turning around I was shocked to see Luna standing in one of the garden archways looking at me.

"A-apologizes my prince I hadn't meant to eavesdrop... I just didn't want to interrupt you." She said shyly.

"Mistress Luna, how many times must I tell you that you needn't worry so much about trivial things like that." I said with a soft smile, "What brings you to the gardens?"

"I was sent by your mother, she wishes to talk to you before your departure tomorrow." she replied.

"Of course, Shall we?" I said walking to stand by her.

Nodding she turned and started walking through the gardens and eventually back into the palace. As we walked I noticed that she would cast her gaze at me as if she intended to say something but would eventually avert her eyes and fiddle with the hem of her shirt. Smiling at the cute little gesture, "Mistress Luna, is there something on your mind?"