[INDEF. HIATUS] Regrets and Wishes: One More Chance

Chapter 25 - First Military Gathering

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第25章　最初軍事集会

(Rimuru's Perspective)

Looking at the east, the sun is already more than a few degrees above the horizon. The orange-yellow light is warmly illuminating the vastness of this field grown with nothing but grasses. To the south of field are dense trees of the Jura Forest, spreading as far as the eye can see.

Here, an assembly of people numbering no less than five hundred have gathered. Sound of swords clashing each other is resounding from various directions, giving off a vivid feeling as though in the middle of a battlefield.

Ciel and I are standing on the northern edge of field, watching over the entire progress of selection for our military units' prospective members. In front of each unit is their respective instructor and commander (if they already have): Benimaru with Kurio, Shion, Hakuro, and Shizu-san.

The first group is Benimaru's future elite unit. Many kijins are ambitious to become members of this unit. In majority, the reason why they want to join is because I have explicitly stated that it is going to be the best of elite units, meaning that they can get as close to me and Ciel as possible. To serve their masters while being directly led by their prince would truly be one of the highest honours for them.

However, since this unit is expected to have the best members of all, entering it is clearly not an easy thing to do. The number of admissions is limited and the requirements are very strict. Out of twenty-eight who wish to join, twelve names have already been dropped. And even now as we speak, more and more competitors are getting eliminated.

The second group is Shion's future special unit. Different from Benimaru's, Shion's unit has a far looser requirement. All it takes for one to be accepted there is to have enough strength to swing one's sword as one pleases. Yep, just like Shion herself, really.

And because all kijins were basically raised as swordsmen back in their village, everyone is basically eligible to at least join Shion's unit. As a result, four kijins who weren't confident in their abilities to join under Benimaru decided to immediately list their names for this unit from the very start. It is also where all of the dropped candidates from Benimaru's unit end up in.

The third and fourth groups are the Goblin Riders and the non-rider branch of security force. These units have basically existed since the first days of our town, so they don't need any selections for new members. What they're doing right now is watching either of two fights in front of them.

The first fight involves Gobta, Rigur Nisei, and Hakuro himself. Its objective is to determine who suits better for the position of captain for the Goblin Riders. Instead of having Gobta and Nisei fight each other, Hakuro challenged them to attack him together.

The second fight, on the other hand, involves two people engaged in a hand-to-hand combat, supervised directly by Shizu-san. Its objective is the same as the Goblin Riders': to determine who suits better for the position of captain.

Unlike the Goblin Riders, this branch unit didn't have any standing-out captain candidates from the start. And since it also had significantly higher number than the Goblin Riders, Shizu-san decided to choose sixteen possible candidates based on her quick judgement and a few suggestions from Ciel.

The multi-round elimination is currently being done. In any case, we've told Shizu-san that it's okay for the non-riders to not have any captain yet at the first official gathering. We can't just carelessly pick a captain candidate, after all. Hopefully, Shizu-san will take the time as needed.