Chapter 606: Killian Roth

Half-an-hour later, Christina arrived at the Piercing Sword Legion’s base and dismounted the Cloud Treading Colt she had borrowed from the duke’s manor. Handing the reins to a nearby stable-hand, she asked the young girl for directions towards the officer’s building.

Strolling through the military complex, Christina noted that it appeared quite similar to the Raging River Legion’s headquarters in almost all aspects, even down to the how the barracks and warehouses were arranged.

Thinking about it for a moment, she quickly realized that this made sense.

5 of the Rockwell Kingdom’s armies, including the Raging River and Piercing Sword Legions, had been established during the founding king’s rein, and while there had been additions and upgrades over the centuries, certain organizational aspects remaining uniform was probably to be expected.

This was quite helpful to Christina, as the officer’s hall was located in basically the exact same place here as it was in Misty City.

Walking into the large, 3 story building, Christina made her way up to the front desk and asked the staff member on duty, "Is General Roth in?"

Looking up from the papers he was shuffling, the middle-aged administrator eyed Christina for a moment before nodding, "General Killian is in his office right now, but he is currently in the middle of a meeting, so you’ll have to wait here."

"Very well," Christina nodded, not finding this surprising. It was already quite late, and the sun had almost fully set, but that didn’t mean a general’s work just ended, especially considering the current circumstances.

A big military operation was about to commence, one that spanned 3 provinces of the kingdom and involved elements from 7 of the nation’s 10 armies. It would be odder if General Killian Roth didn’t have work to do.

Turning around, Christina found a seat nearby and sat down, closing her eyes and entering something of a light meditative state. She wasn’t cultivating, obviously, but she was organizing her thoughts and reviewing her schedule for the next few days.

As she had told Virgil Roth, she had only been promoted to Battalion Captain recently after Lana Gage suddenly sensed an opportunity to break through to the Spirit Initiate Realm.

That was less than 10 days ago, shortly after they had departed from Misty City.

Lana had suddenly woken all the officers of the Third Battalion that night, assembled them on the deck, and declared she needed to enter seclusion. She then told them to decide amongst themselves who would take over in her place before ordering the ship to make for the nearest port and returning to her chambers.

There were 8 other Captain-rank officers in the Third Battalion, and with the exception of Christina, they were all experienced veterans who had worked together for many years, so instead of trying to use strength or seniority to pick a new Battalion Captain, they decided to take a vote.

At the time, Christina hadn’t given it much thought, thinking any of the other Captains was qualified to take Lana’s place, so when it came time to cast her ballot, she simply wrote down the name of the person she was most familiar with, Justin Cole.

When the votes were tallied and it was announced that Christina had won, she nearly choked from surprise.

Christina tried to refuse, saying she didn’t have the necessary experience to do the job, but the other officers insisted, saying the way she handled the operation in Sabre Point was excellent and that given their current mission, which she had the most knowledge of, it made sense for her to take point.

After a few back-and-forth rounds of arguing, Christina reluctantly accepted the job while emphasizing she would be leaning on them for support. She also appointed Justin to be her advisor and second-in-command, a decision no one had any objections about.

To this day, Chrsitina still wondered how the hell she had found herself in command, but now that she was, she was determined to do her best.

Fortunately, the Third Battalion’s role in this operation was relatively minor, so while she felt a certain amount of pressure, it wasn’t enough to really make Christina nervous.

20 minutes passed like that, with a few soldiers and staff coming and going through the lobby until finally, an aide approached Chrsitina and announced, "The General will see you now."

Opening her eyes, Christina got to her feet and followed after the man.

A couple turns down a few hallways and Christina found herself in front of a pair of large double doors.

Motioning for her to enter, the aide sat down at a nearby desk and continued working on what appeared to be logistics reports.

Stepping into the General’s office, Christina noted that it was rather austere with few decorations or personal items, matching well with the plainly dressed middle-aged man sitting behind a very large desk covered in stacks of paperwork.

Standing straight and placing her right fist across her heart, Christina announced herself, "Battalion Captain Christina Rockwell of the Raging River Legion First Regiment Third Battalion, reporting as ordered."

Lifting his eyes from the document he was signing, Killian Roth gave Christina a stern looking over for a second before breaking into a big grin, "You’ve grown up, Little Tina."

Her brow twitching ever so slightly, Christina attempted to maintain her serious demeanor, "General Killian, please refrain from discussing personal matters while on duty."

"Pft," Killian, unfortunately, just slumped back into his chair and chuckled, "I really don’t know where you got that serious streak of yours. Your father certainly wasn’t anywhere near as up-tight as you are. As for your mother... let’s not even get started on what she was up to when she was your age."

Feeling her brow twitch even harder, Christina realized she wasn’t going to be winning this argument, so she allowed her right fist to drop and flashed a small smile, "It’s good to see you too, Uncle Killian."

"En, much better," Killian nodded, "So, tell me, how have you been? Are you enjoying life outside the confines of the palace?"

Fully accepting the relaxed atmosphere, Christina nodded, "Very much so. I’ve had so many new experiences this past year, some of them wonderful, some of them... not. But still, valuable none-the-less."

"Good good," Killian smiled genuinely, but his expression dropped in the next moment, "And what’s this I hear about that Balfour girl accepting you as her Disciple? Is she really paying enough attention to training you, sending you out here to deal with this minor matter?"