Prologue

Military enrolment day. Just another day not having to do physical work. Everyone waiting to enrol is always the same. Even their looks are all similar, large built bodies, emotionless faces, and soulless eyes. However, I happened to notice something different. There was someone towards the back of the line who stood out as if they weren't supposed to be there.

They had beautiful violet hair, aqua blue eyes, standing out like no other. They had soft-looking face, however, they were constantly looking down and kicking the stones on the ground. Their body looked weak, making them stand out even more. Despite them bobbing up and down, they seemed to be shivering and avoiding any eye contact.

Standing by the enrolment desk, the unusual person had made it to the front and they seemed to be shaking much more. There was sweat rolling off their faces as if it was extremely hot. Then the enrolling officer began to ask them questions.

"What's your name?"

Clearing their voice, they replied with a forced sounding tone.

"Kato Mito, s-sir"

It was obvious they were nervous, they stuttered on basic words. It could be that they weren't used to this, or something was bothering them.

"How old are you?"

"16, s-sir"

"Where are you from?"

"I'm f-from Kunan, T-Tasmethu.., sir-r"

"And finally, why are you here?"

"I-I'm here for the e..enrolment... tests, s-sir"

"Alright, please sign here and follow the guard to the carriage"

"O-Okay, s-sir"

They signed the papers and followed me to the carriage. Along the way to it, despite being nearby, they were scooting towards it like they were trying to run away from something without bringing attention to themselves. They got onto the carriage, and I went back to the enrolment officer.

"Is the carriage full yet?"

"Yes, it is, sir!"

"Alright, go with the carriage to the area grounds at Borwon.

"Understood, sir!"

"You may go now"

I returned to the carriage, let the driver know that we were allowed to leave for Borwon, and the ride began.

As we left the village, I was able to admire the beautiful, clean countryside. The sky was clear, and the sun was right above us. Along with the light breeze, it was truly a great feeling. While enjoying the relaxing ride, I overheard the recruit, talking about something.

"Hey, don't you seem a little young to be here?"

"You seem like the type that wouldn't last too long in a fight"

"Are you trying to use this as a free ride to the capital?"

It was now clear who they were talking about. They also had noticed that Mito-san stood out. They seemed to be shivering slightly, and sweat was dripping from their face. I wanted to put some input to calm things down, but it was too late.

"I'm here to take the enrolment test, just like the rest of you. Just because I may not look like any of you, doesn't mean that in any different skill-wise, looks are the irrelevant part when it comes to the test."

"As correct as you may be, it does mean you need to have skills"

"I'm just as skilled as all of you here, if not even more. I can easily do better than all of you in the examination."

All the other recruits stopped and looked at Mito-san for a moment and burst into laughter. They began to slowly back down but then paused for a moment.

Under their breath, there was a silent chant.

"Die Klinge meiner Seele ist die Zugehörigkeit meines Lebens"

A bright blue light appeared within their hand and within an instant, everyone at the back of the carriage was covered in glistering clear ice, up to their necks.

"W-what just happened?"

"Why... why are we covered in ice?!"

All the recruits began looking around, trying to process what happened. Soon they all set their eyes on Mito-san.

"How about this then, I bet 5 gold to each of you, that I will beat you in the examination. How does that sound?"

"No, no, we get it, no need"

"I insist, it's easy money for you guys right?"

"No, no it's fin-"

Before anything got out of hand we stopped the carriage and interrupted.

"Now, all of you calm down, save that energy for the examination"

"W-we didn't do anything!"

"Y-yeah, it was all that monster, it just froze us for nothing"

"It was starting to get rather hot here, all I did was cool things down a little."

"How, kind of you to do so, but that's not what is expected from someone who's trying to enrol into the army. You will need to be disciplined for what you have done"

"And what is this discipline going to consist of?"

"You will be running by carriage till we reach the next town."

"How far is it?"

"It's a few hours away"

"And you expect me to run along with the carriage?"

"That is what I said"

"Huh, quite the challenge, I'll do it"

"You weren't going to have an option, but glad you agreed to it"

I went ahead and used my blade to unfreeze the other recruits, and we continued the ride to the capital, with of course Mito-san running beside the carriage.

Surprisingly, they managed to last longer than I expected them to, but they still did pass out halfway. Now that they were quiet, the ride to the capital continued without interruptions.