City Guard

Biodata

Organization

Hartland City's City Guard has roughly 200 personnel and operates from barracks near the North Gate. Its members train and fight on a large training ground, while routine squads conduct patrols outside the city. 5 27

Personnel

• Stephen Nolan — Captain of the City Guard; personally accompanies Gret when the Spring Goddess Temple summons him, declaring Gret to be his valued subordinate. 27 31
• Knight Flynn — Lieutenant Captain of Captain Karen's squad; approves Gret's access to a Guard horse and helps preserve his income while he studies magic. 27 43 48
• Captain Karen — Veteran squad leader who had long looked after Gret. Gret saves him after a severe abdominal injury during patrol. 5
• Grete Nordmark — Initially a new City Guard recruit. After demonstrating medical skill and gaining access to the Mage Tower, he is excused from regular duty and paid at a squad leader's rate. 5 43
• Grete's father — A former City Guard Lieutenant Captain who died in battle. 27

Duties and Operations

• Routine patrols — Grete's squad is on patrol while escorting Young Priest John when Captain Karen is injured. 5 8
• Field response — Squad members improvise a stretcher for Captain Karen and carry him after his surgery, while shielding Grete from heavy labor because of his perceived role as a healer. 8
• Training and combat readiness — The Guard maintains a large training ground where Knights spar; its approximately 200 men train and fight from the barracks. 27
• First-aid instruction — More than 100 Guard soldiers attend Gret's battlefield first-aid lecture, which covers excessive bleeding, cardiac arrest, and breathing failure. Officers and ordinary warriors request notes and demonstrations. 30
• Support for specialist personnel — Although Gret begins studying at the Mage Tower, the Guard keeps him on payroll, exempts him from routine duty, and assigns him a horse for travel. 43 48

Relationships

• Temple of the God of War — Its temple stands behind the City Guard barracks. The two groups cooperate during Gret's first-aid lecture, attended by the temple's Bishop and priests. 16 30
• Spring Goddess Temple — The temple can conscript City Guard squads for dangerous searches; its Roman Knight uses such a conscription against Gret's team. The temple later summons Gret over accusations made by that Knight. 18 31
• City Lord's Mansion — The Guard is technically subordinate to the mansion, though the arrival of mansion envoys to apprehend Gret causes open confusion among the soldiers. 30 33
• Mage Tower — Through Gret, the Guard indirectly supports the Mage Tower: Knight Flynn provides him a horse to reduce his travel time for study and book-copying. 48

Story Role / Major Arcs

Captain Karen's Injury

Grete is identified as a newly recruited City Guard soldier after he performs emergency abdominal surgery on Captain Karen during a patrol. The squad's trust in his medical judgment grows, especially after he takes charge of Karen's evacuation. 5 8

Temple Search Operation

The Spring Goddess Temple conscripts Grete's small squad into a search operation despite Captain Karen's condition. Grete joins rather than leave his comrades exposed to the Temple Guards' dangerous assignment, and the squad later returns to Hartland City to report after the operation's losses. 18 26

Battlefield First Aid

After Grete stabilizes Knight Xiluo's tension pneumothorax, the Guard hosts his lecture for its soldiers and War God priests. The troops respond enthusiastically because prompt treatment is usually more accessible to noble Knights than to common soldiers. 29 30

Defense of Gret Nordmark

When the Spring Goddess Temple moves to arrest Gret over Knight Roman's accusations, Captain Nolan, multiple City Guard officers, and a large group of soldiers visibly support him. Their intervention prevents Gret from being treated as an isolated common soldier during the investigation. 31 33