The bearded man stepped closer, and the stench of sweat went straight up Su Li's nose.
"Since you're a commoner, this'll be easy."
He stretched out a big hand covered in black hair and slapped it hard on Su Li's shoulder.
"Congratulations, kid."
The bearded man grinned like a wolf that had spotted a fat sheep. "You're in luck. One of the officers from our patrol picked you."
Su Li raised an eyebrow.
"Picked me?"
He dusted off his shoulder as though there were dirt on it, his voice flat. "Picked me for what? A beauty pageant?"
"Picked your ass!"
Su Li's nonchalant attitude infuriated the bearded man.
He slammed his spear against the ground. "Picked you to join the army! Head to the front lines and serve the kingdom!"
The tall, thin man beside him came over too, his hand resting on the hilt at his waist as he eyed Su Li with an amused expression.
"What? You don't want to?"
The thin man sneered. "This is an honor from the kingdom. The front lines are in dire straits, and every freeman in Grey Gull Port has a duty to... to serve the country."
Su Li understood.
They were press-ganging people.
These two were out rounding up bodies.
Su Li had originally planned to fight.
Against these two, he wouldn't even need to draw his sword. Two fingers would be enough to punch clean through them.
But just as he was about to act, a thought suddenly flashed through his mind.
He hadn't yet figured out the power system of this world.
In his previous life, he'd spent sixty years as a blacksmith, dealing with farmers and pig butchers, and at most a few wandering knights passing through.
He'd never even seen the true powers at the heart of it all—the so-called Breathing Methods and battle aura.
Although the [Sword Spirit Root] was domineering, allowing him to absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth directly, this was a low-magic world. Its spiritual energy was so scarce it might as well not exist.
If he could get his hands on that Knight Breathing Technique...
Even the lowest-grade one might give him something to learn from. Perhaps he could draw parallels and break through the bottleneck he'd been stuck at for forty years.
Besides,
Joining the army and keeping his head down beat wandering around aimlessly. They'd provide food and lodging, and he'd get to see the world's military forces up close.
At that thought, Su Li let the wisp of energy he'd gathered in his hand dissipate.
He pretended to be afraid and shrank back.
"Sir... do I really have to go?"
Su Li's handsome face took on a suitably frightened expression. "I... I can't even hurt a fly. I'd only be going to my death."
"Who cares whether you die!"
Seeing the pretty boy cower, the bearded man grew even bolder.
He grabbed Su Li by the collar and yanked him close.
"Either you join the army, or I'll charge you with treason right now and hang your head on the city wall to dry!"
The bearded man threatened him viciously. "You choose!"
Su Li shuddered.
"Th-then, do I get anything out of it?"
Su Li asked timidly. "I heard soldiers can learn the... the skills of those knightly lords?"
The bearded man and the thin man exchanged a look, then burst out laughing.
"Ha ha ha ha! This idiot wants a reward?"
The thin man laughed so hard his eyes nearly watered. "All right, all right, there's a reward! If you survive three battles on the front lines, we'll teach you more than just knightly skills. We'll even teach you that Breathing Method thing!"
Of course, that was utter nonsense.
A precious Breathing Method would never be taught to cannon fodder like him.
But Su Li acted as if he believed it.
His eyes lit up, and he put on an impressively convincing display of greed and stupidity.
"Really? Do they feed you, too?"
"Sure! White bread with every meal!" The bearded man promised the world.
"Then I'll go!"
Su Li gritted his teeth, looking as if he were steeling himself for the worst. "If I can learn those skills, I'm in!"
The bearded man patted Su Li's cheek in satisfaction.
"You know what's good for you, kid."
He let go and pointed toward the west side of town.
"Report to the training ground over there. Don't even think about running. I've got your papers. Run, and you'll be an unregistered nobody. Get caught, and they'll chop your head off."
After saying that, the bearded man glanced at the black horse.
"Nice horse."
He unceremoniously yanked the reins from Su Li's hand. "Confiscated. Consider it your enlistment fee."
As Su Li watched the horse he'd bought for ten gold coins get led away, he put on a pained expression, though he didn't feel a thing inside.
"All right, then."
Su Li tucked the empty money pouch into his clothes, slung the bundle containing his little hammer over his back, and obediently headed west.
Watching Su Li walk away, the thin man leaned in toward the bearded man.
"Boss, the kid's so pretty. Sending him to the new recruits' camp... something's bound to happen."
The thin man grinned suggestively. "Those old soldiers haven't seen someone so fresh-faced in ages."
The bearded man swung himself onto the black horse and chuckled.
"What the hell do I care?"
"He's just cannon fodder, anyway. Let him go relieve those big shots' pent-up urges. Might as well put him to good use."
The western training ground.
It had once been a vegetable market, but it had been requisitioned as a temporary assembly point for new recruits.
Rotten vegetable leaves had been trampled into the mud, and the air reeked of sweat and despair.
Several hundred ragged, unfortunate souls were squatting on the ground, surrounded by overseers armed with whips.
Among them were lanky teenagers and white-haired old men. Every face was ashen, every gaze vacant.
When Su Li walked in, the training ground fell silent for a moment.
Everyone looked up at the young man who seemed completely out of place.
Clean.
Far too clean.
Like a swan that had landed in a pigsty.
The man in charge of registration was a one-armed old officer.
He was drinking behind a battered table when Su Li handed over the wooden token—the temporary pass the bearded man had tossed him. The old officer's cloudy eyes narrowed.
"Name."
"Su Li."
"What can you do?"
Su Li thought for a moment.
"I can forge metal."
The old officer's pen paused.
He looked up, a strange expression crossing his scarred face.
"Forge metal?"
The old officer looked at Su Li's long, fair hands, without a single callus.
"Kid, lying will earn you a whipping."
The old officer's one cloudy eye fixed on Su Li's hands, as if he expected a flower to sprout from them.
Those hands were unbelievable.
They were fair and delicate, with long fingers and neatly trimmed, rounded nails. Anyone could believe they'd held an embroidery needle, let alone a hammer.
In a training ground full of grime and calluses, those hands were so clean they seemed like a provocation.
The old officer said nothing. His one cloudy eye swept over Su Li's face, then took in those delicate hands, and finally settled on his robe, which was dusty but still made of decent fabric.
He was weighing his options.
In peacetime, he'd have had a liar like this dragged outside and beaten.
But what time was it now?
Orders demanding more recruits came down from above three times a day. They didn't just send blacksmiths. Anyone who could castrate a pig would do—as long as he was a man.
Before you continue