Flashia In A New World

Another Leap Forward

Rewritten second/Esterrian part of 'And to Push Forward'

cord: https://discord.gg/UqgavrsYUd

...

Scharna, Esterria, 15/7/1702
Lieutenant Vincent van Kuik is walking down the streets of Scharna, just looking around after having inspected the Commonwealth troops garrisoned here to ensure they are still capable of defending the city and well-prepared for future operations, which are awaiting to be executed by Einskirka.

Vehicles go past the roads every now and then, and it's not just the civilian horse-drawn carriages that are cruising down the street, there are also military self-propelled vehicles, both wheeled and tracked, armed and unarmed. Soldiers in green with rifles on their hand or slung behind their back patrolling the streets would also become a normality amongst those present.

For this seasoned veteran ranking lieutenant, it did took awhile to get used with the sight of soldiers in green instead of the old sky blue with rifles in black in lieu of the wooden and metal musket, along with the fact that self-propelled carriages once thought impossible are now the ones cruising down the roads in the Royal Army.

He continued down the street with his cadres accompanying him in this inspection. As he continued down the roads of the city, he then smelled something strange yet somewhat familiar. He turned to the source of the smell and it turns out a soldier to his left were smoking a cigar but not really. This 'cigar' seems to be smaller and more simpler with rolled up paper which is the part burning while the light brown part is sandwiched between his lips.

Vincent had seen something like these before, and he sure is familiar with cigars. But cigars are often associated with nobility so seeing soldiers of civilian, peasant background smoking something similar was a jarring scenery for this noble lieutenant.

"Would you mind telling me what are you doing at this moment?" he inquired.

The soldier then looked at him, taking the smaller version of cigar out of his mouth.

"Oh, this?" he answered "This is a cigarette, they're basically small cigar if you know what I mean"

"Oh I see then..."

Flash import have made their way into the markets of Esterria for cheap, so it's no surprise that it would also end up in the hand of even the poorest. Some of these made the lives of normal people easier, while some are just for the sakes of leisure, including some that is reported to be a cheaper version of nobility products. And it seems cigarette is one of these cases.

"...Would you mind if I have one?" the Esterrian lieutenant asked again.

"Not at all, I got more in my pack anyways..." as the soldier takes out a small box, opening up and plucking out one of them and then hand it to the noble Lieutenant "Here"

The lieutenant then puts the light brown part on his mouth, mimicking what the soldier done to hold it in place while he'd pull out a small, slim silver box afterward, flip it open and lit a small flame which is then used to burn the paper at the end, and then shut it close, the small fire presumably extinguished. This particular metal box is another of those that intrigued Vincent.

"What about this one?"

"A merchant I got it from called it a lighter, very useful for lighting up logs and burning other stuff, or so I believe. Haven't tried doing so myself other than cigarettes..."

The lieutenant nodded, acknowledging what he said. With a lit cigarette on his mouth, Vincent inhales in, then takes the cigarette out and let out a white smoke.

"It certainly has the aroma that I expected, albeit a bit low quality..." the lieutenant commented "...Certainly been awhile since I got a taste for one"