At daybreak the next morning, even more badges were delivered to the Black Castle. To keep things on schedule, Mulan recalled the trainees from the camp outside the city to help with the engraving, while he prepared to leave for the Digo Grand Cathedral.
It was still early morning, but the Digo Grand Cathedral had already announced that there would be no prayers in the main hall that day. A grand investiture ceremony was to be held instead, and nobles and officials now filled the cathedral hall and the square.
There were plenty of commoners around, too. Crowds had already gathered along the edges of the square and in the streets, all waiting to watch the Forward Legion receive its rewards.
Many prominent nobles and officials from the Digo area had attended, and those who could not come had sent representatives. The Forward Legion's senior officers had also arrived by carriage. Nobles themselves, they chatted and laughed with their families, recounting the brutality of the battlefield and its more amusing incidents.
Lately, even their families had rarely been able to see the sons who served as officers in the Forward Legion. Although they had arrived in Digo, the camp was heavily guarded and outsiders were forbidden entry. This was a rare opportunity to talk.
"Father, cousins, look!"
An officer took an exquisite wooden box from his coat pocket and opened it before his relatives as though presenting a treasure. Inside lay two thick fangs and several glossy black claws, frightening just to look at.
"Ah!" "What are those?"
"A werewolf's fangs and claws. It was the first werewolf I killed together with the soldiers in close combat, during the river-crossing campaign!"
The officer proudly recounted the experience, his hand unconsciously clenching into a fist. It had been their first time