Chapter 608: The #13 Northern Barracks

"Is something the matter, Uncle?" Christina asked, curious why this seemingly innocuous piece of information had caused such a grim reaction from Killian.

Instead of responding, however, the General continued questioning his aide, "Who made that decision?"

"Commander Charlotte," the aide reported.

"Damn it," Killian groaned, rubbing his temples before turning to Christina, "I’m sorry about this, Little Tina. I’ll see to it that it’s corrected, but it may take some time."

Now very confused, Christina asked again, "What is all this about?"

Letting out a sigh, Killian shook his head, "It would be best if I just showed you."

.....

About 10 minutes later, standing in front of the #13 northern barracks her unit had been assigned to, Christina understood why her uncle had reacted so awkwardly back in his office.

Calling the building ’run down’ would be extremely generous.

Rotting walls, overgrown weeds, broken windows, a crumbling chimney, a partially collapsed roof... it was basically a ruin.

"What is the meaning of this, General Roth?" Christina turned to the man beside her and asked. She still spoke politely, as decorum demanded given the fact that he was a General and she was a mere Captain, but the earlier warmth and cordiality was gone from her voice, even returning to calling Killian by his rank, rather than his name.

Had it been someone he was less familiar and less friendly with, Killian Roth would probably have reflexively defended his subordinate’s decision, framing this as an unfortunate but unavoidable reality; however, since it was a young girl he had once carried on his shoulders while running around the palace grounds, he could only frankly apologize.

"I’m sure you’re aware that there are some... tensions between the Raging River and Piercing Sword Legions," Killian explained, "this is a result of those tensions."

Having it spelled out this way, Christina quickly understood.

Simply put, most of the officers in the Piercing Sword Legion were Roth Family loyalists, while those of the Raging River Legion were primarily strong supporters of the Balfours.

The grudges between the two families had naturally filtered down to the ranks of the armies they commanded, leading to this kind of blatant, and in Christina’s opinion, childish insult.

As if to confirm her theory, her adjutant, Captain Cole, swiftly made his way over upon noticing Christina’s arrival and was about to launch into an expletive filled tirade when he noticed the imposing, dark-grey-haired man standing beside her.

Justin Cole may have been fuming about the treatment the Third Battalion was receiving, especially the dismissive and mocking looks the soldiers who had guided them here had given them earlier tonight, but he wasn’t foolish enough to lash out in front of the Piercing Sword Legion’s commanding officer.

Promptly fixing his expression, Captain Cole stood at attention and saluted formally, "Greetings, General Roth, Captain Rockwell."

"En, at ease," General Roth acknowledged the young officer with a nod, but said nothing more.

It was one thing for him to offer an apology to Christina, but even if this whole situation was the result of him being unable to properly control his subordinates, Killian still had his dignity as a General and Peak Spirit Adept to maintain, so he would not be lowering his head to a common soldier.

Everyone here knew what was happening, and understood why it had to be like this, so if they had any complaints, they kept them to themselves.

Turning to his little niece, Killian reiterated, "I will see to it that your unit is transferred to more suitable accommodations as soon as they become available. Until then, please make do with this... temporary situation."

"I appreciate your offer, General Roth, but that won’t be necessary," Christina replied flatly before a faint glimmer flickered across her eyes, "Instead, please grant my unit permission to perform some... minor renovations to this building."

Raising his brow slightly, Killian was wondering what Christina was up to, but since he saw nothing wrong with this request, he simply granted it, "Very well. Feel free to make any modifications you deem necessary; however, understand that the Piercing Sword Legion won’t be providing anything more than the already agreed upon support for your Battalion while you are in Amherst."

While his words sounded proper and formal, they really just translated to, "If you want to renovate this dump, be my guest, just don’t expect me to pay for it."

"Thank you, General Roth," Christina saluted, "Please rest assured, my Battalion will not bother the Piercing Sword Legion over such trivial expenses."

"Good, then I shall take my leave for tonight," Killian nodded, turned, and walked off. Truthfully, he was somewhat looking forward to seeing what kind of stunt Christina was trying to pull off here.

.....

Once the General had departed and was out of earshot, Captain Cole couldn’t hold it in anymore and snapped, "Damn that bitch! How dare she dump us here!"

"Relax, Captain Cole," Christina declared calmly, "take a deep breath, and start from the beginning. Tell me everything that happened."

Pursing his lips, Justin let out a long sigh before recounting, "It all started when we arrived at the base..."

5 minutes later, Christina had a general idea of what transpired, and it was basically as she had assumed.

A Commander with a grudge against the Balfour Family or Raging River Legion, that part wasn’t quite clear, had quietly arranged for her unit to be housed in the most remote and dilapidated barracks on the base, one that was apparently scheduled for demolition.

Contrary to what Justin thought his new temporary commanding officer’s response would be, however, Christina practically cheered, "Great!"

"Uh... Captain?" Justin Cole tilted his head in confusion, wondering just what it was about the story he told her, or the fact that the Third Battalion would essentially be camping out in the wilderness for the next few months, was ’great’.

Prompted for an explanation by her adjutant, Christina grinned fiercely and asked, "Don’t you understand? Since they were going to tear it down anyways, that means we can do whatever we want here without having to ask for permission!"

"And that helps us... how?" Captain Cole was still, understandably, uncertain why that was a good thing.

"It doesn’t," was Christina’s reply, a conspiratorial light flashing across her eyes, "At least, not immediately. In the future, however..."