Although the mansions of the twelve noble families were within the old city walls, their military structure was outside the capital. These soldiers, placed at strategic points in the kingdom, were the first protection shield of the capital and were there to buy time for the royal army.
…
The horse carriage, which set off from the capital in the early morning and headed south, was able to reach Autumn Mountain in the afternoon. This mountain was not very high, but the trees on it were worth seeing. These trees, carrying all shades of yellow and red in their leaves, looked magnificent as if they were heralding autumn.
Just as there is a hidden danger in every beauty, there was also a danger in this beauty. The Padraig family's military camp.
Although there was no fence around Autumn Mountain, they had to use the designated roads to get to the military camp. These were safe roads that allowed you to reach the military camp safely. Otherwise, if you were not very lucky or strong enough, it was inevitable that you would die on this mountain.
The horse carriage stopped in front of one of the safe roads. The soldiers guarding the entrance to the road were on their guard, but when they saw the emblem on the carriage, they relaxed a little. After all, this was the Padraig family's horse carriage, and the danger level was quite low.
The carriage door opened, and then Eren and Han got out of the carriage. They had to walk the rest of the way. Because no carriages other than the royal carriages were allowed to enter the Autumn Mountain.
After saluting the soldiers, Eren told the horse carriage driver to wait. Then he and Han set off towards the camp. They had gone a little further into the forest when Han's nose began to smell scents other than the scents of the trees. He muttered quietly as his senses began to warn him, just like during the ambush.
- There are strange smells around us. I'm sure they're not animals. We'd better be careful.
- I know... They're the Padraig family's special military unit. It's their job to watch everyone who comes. For now, there's nothing we can do but proceed calmly.
- It would have been better if they hadn't taken our weapons at the entrance. I feel unprotected.
- Calm down. They can't touch us unless their commanders give the order.
After about an hour, they reached the military camp surrounded by log fences. These log fences extended to the right and left and disappeared into the forest. It was obvious that this was a very large military camp.
The soldiers at the entrance of the camp greeted them and then they came to the gate commander's room under the control of two soldiers on duty. When the middle-aged and large gate commander saw Eren, he stood up from where he was sitting and greeted him with a smile.
- Welcome Eren. How long has it been since we met? You almost made us forget yourself. If the head of the family hadn't told us, we wouldn't have known you were coming.
- Hello commander.
- Come here, how can you say hello from so far? (He hugged Eren and shouted to the soldiers waiting at the door.) Children! (At the same time, the soldier at the door knocked on the door and entered.) Bring something cold... Our guests came a long way. (He turned to Eren.) If there's anything else you want to drink, tell him, the children can bring it.
- No commander, let's not drink anything now. My grandfather is waiting. Let's talk to him first. After our work is done, we will stop by again on our return.
- Okay. It's not right to keep the commander-in-chief waiting. (He finished his sentence by looking at the soldier.) Son, take our guests to the commander-in-chief. Grab something cold from the canteen on your way there.
- Yes, commander.
- (Eren) Thank you, commander.
- No problem. I'm waiting on your return.
- Okay, if nothing goes wrong, I'll definitely come...
Eren and Han followed the soldier in front of them and left the entrance control building and headed towards the commander-in-chief's location, deep inside the military camp. It was very quiet around. There was not a single soldier walking around. The only evidence that showed that this was a military camp was the uniformed soldier walking in front of them.
They adapted to the quiet environment and came to the commander-in-chief's office in the far corner of the camp, under the guidance of the soldier. Eren was excited to see his grandfather, but his grandfather was not in the office. He had gone to the training field. Naturally, they followed their grandfather to the training field.
As they approached the training field, the voices of the soldiers could be heard. After a while, they came out from between the yellow-leafed trees and came across a lot of soldiers training. It was certain that all the soldiers in the camp were here and training.
This was a wide and flat training field. The soldier who was guiding them gave information about the training field. "This is one of the flattest places on this mountain. There used to be a lot of trees here. We cut them all down and uprooted the remaining roots to level the ground. We used the cut trees to build fences around the camp."
Eren and Han leaned on the log railing surrounding the training area and watched the soldiers training for a while. In the meantime, the soldier on duty guiding them got permission from Eren and left to find the commander-in-chief.
Some of the soldiers were running around the training area. Some were doing warm-up exercises as a team. Archers, cavalrymen, spearmen… Everyone was training in a corner under the supervision of their instructors.
Han's eyes were shining as he was seeing a military training for the first time. If he hadn't been able to control himself, he would have jumped over the railing and gone to the soldiers training and trained with them.
While Han was looking at the soldiers training with enthusiasm, the crowd on the right and the sounds coming from there caught his attention. These were ordinary people in civilian clothes without any organization. What were they doing inside the military training area?
The majority of the group of twenty or twenty-five people were sitting and chatting while those standing were shouting at each other as if they were going to fight.
While Han was looking at them carefully to understand what these people were doing, a mission statement suddenly came before his eyes. "Go to the Arena of the Brave…" And then circles appeared pointing to an area right next to the civilian-dressed group.
When Han looked where the circles were pointing, he saw a small flatness surrounded by a log railing. The circles in front of his eyes kept pointing to this small area.
Han had to go there somehow, but how. If he jumped from here and went there now, would anyone stop him? After hesitating a few times, Han suggested to himself. "No problem. Since nothing happened to the civilians there, nothing will happen to me either. If the soldiers were angry, he would be angry with first them."
There was no news about the guide soldier who went to look at the commander-in-chief. Eren was also immersed in watching the military training. Han took this opportunity and said to Eren, "I (pointing to the small flatness with his finger) I will take a look at the small flat area ahead and come back."
Eren was absorbed in watching the soldiers training. That's why he didn't hear what Han said. In order not to spoil the pleasure of watching the soldiers' training, he said "Okay, okay..." and ignored Han.
Han, who got permission from Eren, approached the duty station by walking from the edge of the railing without going inside. When he came to the closest place to the duty area, he passed through the railing of the training area and came to the small flatness. The circles in front of his eyes showed the center of the flatness.
Han couldn't resist and passed the side railings of the small flatness and came to the center of the flatness. There were no circles left in front of his eyes anymore. He waited for a while in the middle of the flatness for a new task or a new instruction to appear before his eyes.
When he didn't receive any new notifications, he started looking left and right. But he didn't see any mission notifications. When he finally came back to reality, he noticed that some of the civilians he had seen earlier were leaning on the railings and watching him carefully.
Some were laughing while looking at him. Some were looking as if they were going to kill him. Han wanted to leave the flatness as soon as possible to escape from these strange-looking people, but as soon as he started walking, the area around the railings suddenly became crowded.
After a while, all the civilians who were left behind surrounded the railings and did not leave any space for Han to leave the arena.
- (One of the civilian soldiers found this incident funny.) Hahaha… Where are you going? If you've made a decision, you should stand behind it, right?
- (Another soldier's words were angry.) We are all waiting for him here. He wants to leave. This is not possible.
- (Another soldier praised Han for his courage.) Almost the entire battalion is here… I swear, I will never have the courage you have in my life.
- (The team leader approached the arena with the few people who were left behind.) Don't provoke the kid, calm down. Everything will be as it should be. There is no problem. Come and line up.
Hearing the words "line up", most of the civilian soldiers gathered around the team leader. The others were watching Han so that he wouldn't run away.
Although Han was nervous about the people gathered around him, he couldn't understand why most of them gathered around the man who had just shouted. As he looked at the crowd in surprise, the team leader wrote the weakest members of the team in the first rows so as not to scare the boy.
After a while, when the ranking was completed, the team leader entered the arena of the brave and came to Han. There was no threat in his behavior and movements.
- (He spoke loudly.) Today, there is a candidate here who wants to open a new page in his life and join our group. As you know, courage is the greatest virtue. We congratulate our friend for his courage.
As you can see, the challenger does not have any weapons. This is another dimension of his courage. A challenge that should be appreciated.
All fights will be unarmed. So take a good look and make sure you're not carrying any weapons. Now you can come to the arena in order of numbers…
- What fight are you talking about? I just…
- (He raised his hand to silence Han and then his angry gaze surrounded Han.) You must be kidding. You are the one who challenged us. And now you say "what fight"?
Look around you… The entire military saw that you had entered the arena of the brave and challenged us. If we don't confront you now, or if we leave you without a fight, won't we become a laughing stock of the military tomorrow? How can we allow such a thing?
Now, whether you want it or not, you won't be able to leave here without fighting. Since you have entered the arena of the brave, you have to continue until the end. They don't call us the hawk's claws for nothing. You are now our prey. Don't lower yourself any further. Prepare and protect yourself… (He turned to his men.) Whoever is in the first row, come in…
Han was confused about what to do because of the events that suddenly happened. What kind of a mission is this? He couldn't believe that he came here believing in a text. Just like before… He got angry with himself for risking his life by believing in a text. Then he directed his anger at the team leader who was pushing himself.
If that's the case, if I have no choice but to fight here, then I should fight in the way I know best, right? He took a deep breath, then puffed out his chest and stopped the team leader as he was about to leave the arena.
- Wait… You just said unarmed combat, right? So, it is done in armed fights here. If so, I want to choose a weapon for myself.
- A weapon? Are you sure?
- Yes.
- Okay.. Let it be as you wish... (pointing to the building in the distance where the training weapons are located) You can go and choose the weapon you want from there. (When Han left the arena and went to choose a weapon, he turned to his men with a big smile on his face.) The previous ranking has been canceled. Go get your weapons and come back for a new ranking. Hurry up…
(He called out to the shortest and weakest man on the team.) Verm, you go after the boy and help him choose a weapon. The guard there won't give him a weapon unless he's with one of us.
Verm accepted the mission and ran after Han, while the others went to take their weapons...