Living Happily After

57: First dawn at Gardarik

Then there he was, at the train station, 10 minutes before the train to Gardarik Empire will be leaving. He swiftly bought a ticket and boarded the train.

He sat down on a seat in an empty booth. As for his belongings, he laid it under his seat.

He was issued a knapsack for his things, a ticket-looking paper, to which he assumed was for when he arrives at the entrance of the Gardarik border, boots along with the States Officer uniform including a beret stating his current title, and an official Gardarik insignia, as well as a coat down until his thighs.

For now, he was wearing the uniformed pants and boots, but his blouse was still neatly folded in his knapsack, instead he wore an undershirt with a black blouse, and the uniformed coat. He also wore his newly bought watch.

One thing that was different about Gilbert is not his clothing, but rather...he had removed his eye patch.
Though itchy and sometimes sensitive, he thought it'd be better if he removed it and let it be exposed.

Once he had sat down, he crossed his arms and straightened his back upright. This wasn't because he was portraying an act, no, but this was instead because of an habit of his. He unconsciously did this-silently observing his surroundings.

The train was most likely recently cleaned, the windows, ceiling, floor, and seats were cleaned and wiped, but the inseams of each were quite dusty, as he had seen by his keen eye.

Next that he observed that is interesting are that there are only few people on the train, maybe a dozen or so he guessed.

Whatever his posture was, he was much less approachable this way, making people around him taking another seat other than the booth he was sitting in.

He sighed, waiting for the train to start moving so that he could start his days in Gardarik.

And before he knew it, he arrived at Gardarik's gates.

As he quickly passed through with the  ticket he was given, he walked in Gardarik Empire, a union known for its military power.

When he had arrived, it was just seven minutes after six in the morning. He stood in front of the supposed Administration Office for States Officers, assuming they would know who he is.

And they did.

"Excuse me?" Gilbert asked.

"Mm? Oh, are you the new Master Sergeant?"

"Yes, I am. My name is Gilbert Bougainvillea." He said, raising his hand to offer a handshake.

"I thought so. I'm Lance, just let me check what station you'll be in." 'Lance' said, shaking Gilbert's hand before checking something behind the desk.

"Mm, okay then, you'll be the new Master Sergeant at Station XX, just walk straight ahead and the first station you see is Station XX. You'll meet Captain Admiraal there, he'll be your Captain." Lance said, nodding.

"Okay, thank you, I'll be going now." He nodded his head, then headed off to his new station(office).

He just walked a little, noticing a new taverns, shops, and houses, then he arrives at his said Station.

As he walked in the Station, he quickly noticed Captain Derk Admiraal sitting in one of the waiting chairs.

"Captain." Gilbert called.

"Oh, Master Sergeant, welcome." The Captain stood up. "I see you are here quite early."

"Yes, I left as soon as I could." Gilbert replied.

"I can see that. You still have your bags, I guess you have not settled in your temporary home yet." Captain Derk assumed.

"Yes, that is correct. I hear I will be staying with a fellow comrade?" He stated more than a question.

"Yes," Captain Derk said, "you'll be staying with one of the new officers, I'd appreciate it of you gave him your thanks, he offered to do this after all."

"Of course, I'll be sure to do that." Gilbert nodded.

"Great. It's only 7:19 AM so you have an hour or so to settle in your temporary space."

Gilbert nodded.

"Conrad! Can you come here, your new roommate has arrived." Captain Derk called over.

Then, a man stood in front of them. This man is not that young anymore, but he isn't what you'd say old. As Gilbert had guessed, he would say the man was only in his mid-40s or so. The man called to and identified as 'Conrad' stood quite tall for his age, standing at about 5'8 feet tall, just a tad shorter than Gilbert.

"Conrad, this is Master Sergeant Bougainvillea, but you can just shorten it to Sergeant. He's the one who'll be staying with you for a month." Derk introduced.

Conrad was about 3 meters away from Gilbert. Conrad saluted to his new superior.

Gilbert simply nodded and spoke.

"I'm your new Master Sergeant here at Station XX, my name is Gilbert Bougainvillea, I'm from Leidenshaflich."

'I swear I heard this name before.'

Conrad nodded, dropping his hand to his side, before slightly bowing- he introduced himself.

"I will be working alongside you, I am Conrad Fernandez, just a Private here." He added.

'Conrad?'