33- Gentleman, let's go to work

-Damn liar! Samirse shouts trying to escape. YOU WILL ROT IN HELL!

They drag the woman to the prince's chambers and when they knock on the door he opens it immediately.

—Good job soldiers, this doesn't come from the three of us, understood?

—I understand her highness. —both respond—.

—You can rest.

The woman cries and screams, but the prince closes the door, and Ferzan and Emens return to the restrooms.

—Do you think the prince will hurt him more? —Ferzan asks with a lot of remorse—.

—Maybe I'll kill her and end her suffering, that would be the best.

—The life of a soldier is not so nice, it seems. —Ferzan says disappointed—.

—The only positive thing about this is that the Prince can now take us into account.

-You think?

—Of course, these scandals cannot leave the palace or they would damage her reputation. If that woman escaped, rebels could rise in Teresville and they already have a lot of problems with everyone in the other villages.

-I see.

—Let's rest, maybe tomorrow will be a more productive day for you.

-I hope so

With those words they both enter the restrooms, but Ferzan is very sad about what has just happened, in a way he wants to help this girl and that she will escape from him. But meeting Emens made him panic and betray her. With that remorse, he has no choice but to rest, cursing himself until the next day.

At dawn, loud gunshots are heard and all the recruits and soldiers quickly get to their feet. They walk in order towards the training room. The shots are a kind of alarm. King Toslan XI said that you should always be prepared for a surprise attack, so he traumatized his men with these shots every dawn so that they would be ready for any event while they slept.

Ferzan wakes up a little disoriented but quickly joins the rest of the soldiers. Once in the training room, they separate the veteran soldiers, the regulars, and the recruits and each group goes to the dining halls separately. Ferzan notes that Emens is a regular soldier, so they wouldn't be able to interact much, so he tries to make conversation with those around him.

How's the food for our recruits?

—Because of you, today will be shit for all of us. —answers one of the recruits grumpily—.

-Because it is my fault?

"You fell asleep, you damn idiot!" —screams another of the recruits from a seat far from Ferzan—.

—I know you, you worked with the merchants. —Said the recruit next to him—. With reason so delicate and unconscious, what is a spoiled child like you doing in the palace?

—My dream is to be part of the king's ranks, and no matter how difficult it is, I will achieve that goal to protect my people.

—Good luck with that, I don't think you'll last a week.

"I don't care what you believe," Ferzan murmurs under his breath.

There is tension between all the recruits and Ferzan. If someone made a mistake, everyone paid the consequences, it was a way to make them work as a team and make everyone think as one.

The cooks arrive and for the group of veterans, they put a turkey with potatoes and beer on each plate. After a few minutes, a well-cooked rabbit with water to drink is placed on their table for the regular soldiers. About an hour passes and the recruits with their empty stomachs begin to get impatient and look at Ferzan with even more hatred. All the other soldiers had already retreated. Finally the cooks approach and put some pieces of bread on their tables, perhaps gnawed by rats, with some leftovers from yesterday's meals.

Ferzan, quite sad and embarrassed with his companions, has no choice but to eat what they had served him while he thought about how to remedy his mistakes. At the end of the meal, they go back to the training room and start training. Each group of soldiers had a commander guiding them but the recruits' commander had not arrived, so they began to grab some wooden weapons so that they would not be penalized for inactivity. Ferzan quickly picks up a somewhat worn greatsword and at that moment Commander Octavio appears.

—Drop that weapon, sleepyhead, you could drop it if you get too tired like yesterday, here. —He tells her as he throws the uniform—. Gentlemen, today thanks to his new friend we will train outside and help the king in a special task.

All the soldiers look at each other and at Ferzan with suspicion, however Emen comments

—It will be an honor to do a task for the king, sir.

—I like that enthusiasm, drop everything and follow me.

They leave the palace behind the commander and at the entrance, the prince is on a steed waiting for them.

—Here I brought the recruits as his highness ordered me.

Very good commander, listen carefully, we are having a dirt problem in several artisan and seamstress neighborhoods in Teresville. —comments Prince Toslan XII with great impetus—. Too many drunks leave their shit, children urinate in the streets and A large part of the citizens of nearby districts throw their garbage there. This has brought many plagues that have made our people sick and as you know, my father will have his birthday soon, so I need those seamstresses and craftsmen alive and healthy so that my father can wear his beautiful suits for the Big Day! —says the prince enthusiastically—. So his task is to clean everything so that these people stop dying from this plague.

—Well, gentlemen, you heard, let's get to work.

All the indignant recruits, seeing Ferzan with even more hatred, had no choice but to comply with this royal order.

They headed to the dirtiest neighborhood, which was the artisans' neighborhood. Rats everywhere, vomit, and homeless people with shit in the alleys. Entering this sector made many people feel a bit nauseous, so they began to look for buckets to fill in the wells and clean all that. Emens and Ferzan help each other a little.

—Well now we are a cleaning squad. —Emens says between laughs—.

-Excuse my imprudence.

—Don't worry, royal orders are often disappointing. I'm sure you didn't fall asleep, I was indifferent. They used it as an excuse but anyway, they were going to make us do this. The commander takes the opportunity to see your reactions and to put pressure on his squad.

-I see. —says Ferzan impressed—.

While they clean the whole place in disgust, a wandering old man shouts:

—Leave my rats alone! They keep me company and protect me from evildoers.

"By royal order," says one of the recruits. We must clean up all the plague from here. So get away.