BXBX NOVEL Chapter 144 Satisfaction
The efficient Dale didn\'t disappoint. Within a couple of hours, what Quaid had requested for came in.
By noonday the next day, Quaid, Dale, Xzavier and ten soldiers arraigned themselves at a secret location on the outskirts of the city. The training ground for shooting practice had to be far away from the prying eyes and spying ears of nosy people. The general public just wasn\'t prepared enough to handle the loud report of several pistols going off at once.
Quaid had chosen a very peculiar location, it was a small patch of land, a clearing that was located deep in the womb of the forest. No one would bother them there.
The ten soldier lined up themselves in a horizontal file. Xzavier stood before them like a training officer. His powerful eyes bore into the eyes of the young soldiers. The soldiers in turn dared not look Xzavier in the face. They knew him as the fearsome Baron who was untouchable. They knew him as the man who had single handedly killed orcs and goblin alike. They knew all this and respected him for his reputation.
Xzavier knew that respect and willingness to learn was the key factor that determined a decent turnaround in any teacher/student or in this case, trainer/trainee situation. As he looked at the faces of the young soldiers, he knew he had no problem in the area of respect. It was clear that they were in awe of him. So, in his best leader\'s voice, he addressed them;
"I don\'t know what you have been told, but you are not here to play!"
He started to walk back and forth, with his hands crossed behind him, he continued to yell at them.
"If you get distracted, you die! If you hesitate, you die! If you even as much as gloss over a single step, you do what?"
"DIE!!!" They chorused collectively.
Xzavier smiled, they were professionals. He had half expected them to chorus the words \'you die\' back to him. Cleverly, they had escaped his trap by omitting the \'you.\'
"Alright then, let\'s get started!"
The soldiers in this Isekai were made up of mages. There were different levels of mages, but at the end of the day, they were still mages. So, any fighting or attacking technique outside of magic was foreign to them. They absolutely had no access to modern weapons, so, Xzavier knew that he had to start from the basics. As he handed each of them a pistol without bullets, he proceeded to enlighten them on the nature of the weapon in their hands.
"What you\'re holding in your hands is no toy. In your hands is the power to end a life in an instant!"
The soldiers looked at the black object unsurely, they weren\'t even sure of how to hold it. Xzavier watched their facial expressions before deciding to give them a little display. Without warning, he pointed the gun in his hands at a target just a few feet away, and squeezed the trigger.
The thunder-like bang of the pistol caused several reactions amongst the soldiers. The suddenness of the whole thing, the loud bang, and the destructive power of the pistol shocked the mages to their bones. There hadn\'t been a single incantation! There hadn\'t even been a discharge of mana! And yet, the impossible had just happened!
They all looked at the target and saw a smoking hole in it. This little display completely changed the way they viewed the weapons in their hands. It was as if Xzavier had managed to trap thunder in the pistol. He must have also managed to trap lightning as well, otherwise what could possibly explain the blast that had struck the target?
Quaid watched with excitement as the demonstration! He was very much pleased with the results. He imagined an army of mages and muggles equipped with this weapon, storming his enemies\' cities, completely obliterating anyone who dared to stand in his way! He was satisfied. Xzavier was an investment that had paid off tenfold.
Beside the governor, standing right next to him was the blank faced Dale. The Silver Knight hadn\'t even as much as blinked when the pistol went off. His face was as emotionless as a statue. He didn\'t seem to have been fazed by what might have otherwise been the greatest display of modern day weaponry in this era. In fact, his mind seemed to be somewhere else. It was as if he was thinking about some other serious issue. Whatever it was, it appeared to be of great significance.
Victoria City was a city that thrived on the old ways. Misogyny and bigotry were the order of the day. Asides from the oppression of the lower class, there was also the primitive domineering influence of the patriarchy. In a city and era where males were seen as the superior gender, and the females were expected to be nothing more than baby making instruments that looked after the male folk and the children, women hardly ever got into positions of power.
Having a woman as a government official was rare. Even those of noble heritage weren\'t considered worthy enough. Basically, not having a penis set the tone for the rest of their lives. This was just how things were.
But in every exclusive system, there is almost always that one who defies the norm. in this case, Babara was the exception. Looking at her, one would have thought that the basis for her being in government was spawned from the fact that she was either \'connected\' or from a rich and noble heritage. But alas, neither was the case in her situation. Babara was actually from a pretty humble background. She came up with literally nothing. While she was young, (too young really), life dealt her a hard hand. She didn\'t realize it then, but that difficulty was going to be the cornerstone of her grit and ambition.
Babara didn\'t remember much about her childhood. The details about her upbringing were fuzzy, and whenever she tried to dig deeper, she came up against a blank wall. It was as if her subconscious was actively trying to keep her from accessing her childhood trauma. This was actually a good thing for her, because even though she knew that her parents had died young, she was spared the pain of having to remember the painful memories of their faces But one thing she remembered was the hardship that followed.
For as long as she could remember, she had been alone. Members of her family either had either died off one by one, or had mysteriously disappeared over the course of time, abandoning her to her own . It was a terrible situation for a female child to find herself in, but nonetheless, that was her origin story. The homelessness and loneliness were a bit bearable, but the one thing that had plagued her as she trotted through the city was hunger. It had been a constant companion. All through the rainy nights l and the butter storms, it had remained with her. It was all she ever knew. It was all she had.
But her doggedness prevailed. Every single hardship she faced, she overcame, adding layers and layers of wisdom and experience to her knowledge bank. This hardened her resolve over time and consequently made her the person she was. Right from a young age, she gained a useful trait from the streets- the ability to read people instantly! She could spot a liar from a mile away. She could tell a fake just by looking at them. Babara realized quickly that she wasn\'t a great beauty, she didn\'t delude herself. But the one thing she had was her sharp mind. And she used it deftly.
Through sheer grit, after several denials and rejections, Babara finally clawed her way into a meager position at city hall. At first, she had started with no pay. But she didn\'t allow that to deter her. She knew where she was going, she knew what awaited her. So, she put in twice the work and twice the effort, making excellence her theme and totally outshining her male colleagues. It took awhile, but finally, her hard work and exceptional work rate attracted the attention of the Silver Knight.
Dale was also a shrewd person. Though he tended towards the flamboyant part of life, he retained a craftiness that was akin to that of a serpent. He studied Babara very closely for sometime and then decided that she would be a great asset to him. When he approached her, he didn\'t insult her integrity by patronizing her. He went straight to the point and told her that if she worked for him and remained loyal, they would both thrive together.
Babara still remembered that day. That was the beginning of the turn of her life. She accepted Dale\'s offer and began to work for him assiduously. She both sacknowledged and respected the Silver Knight, and thus served him well. Dale took advantage of her loyalty and her work ability. Together they achieved a lot and maintained their professional relationship, while doing big things. Dale had never given her any reason to doubt his judgement so far. Up until this Xzavier issue.
Babara attained her position because of her efficiency. She was hardly ever wrong about anything or anyone. She didn\'t see what anyone else saw in Xzavier. It was as if he had cast a spell on the entire town, even her boss seemed to be enamored by him. It was baffling. Why was she the only one who could see this?! Was everyone else really that gullible? Babara really wondered. She suspected and still maintained her suspicions about Xzavier. But she still retained her manners and acted on the orders of her boss.