Chapter 82 - End Of A Cruise
Chapter 82 – End Of A Cruise
"Del, here's your coffee," Clark gave the cup of coffee from his hands to Del.
"Thanks, sir," Del retrieved the coffee.
Clark was his commanding officer. Although his rank was way higher than Del, he still pretty much respected and, for military standard, spoiled his own men. Del also didn't know why, but it was probably because most of his Clark's men were only six years younger than him, but well, Del had no idea about it.
They were sitting on the starboard side of the ship alongside with other six men who were serving the same night shift. They were sipping on their coffee together as the battleship sailed through the dark night. Del hadn't seen Anna, Cassandra, nor Cole since he had been onboard that ship for straight sixteen days. Maybe because he worked on the night shift.
"Well, for a kid originated without any military background, you're doing good so far," Clark complimented.
"Thanks, sir," Del said.
"I meant, even this boy right here, Andrew, needs me to shout right on his ear right every afternoon just to wake him up," Clark said.
"Well, I have to admit that it takes time to get used to it," Del said.
"Boy, I think you've done enough for someone whom I expected to be a refugee that would only stick to us as a parasyte. Look, don't get me wrong, being nice to civilian is a responsibility of a military personnel, but liking someone is not. I can give you smile even though I despise you," Clark said.
"I see," Del nodded.
"Is that right, boys?" Clark asked.
Lenz added, "Well, truth to be told, Del had helped me cleaning the guns during his free time or cleaning the upper deck. Overall, he's quite dilligent. Mate, if you want to visit my house in Ilbistirum, go ahead."
"Thanks, Lenz," Del said.
These six guys, Clark included, was the people that stayed in the same cabin as Del. To put it simply, there was simply no secret between those six people. The only privacy that they had was the curtain that covered their bunk bed when they were asleep and nothing more. Del was the most junior among them all.
As a result of that, he was the most spoiled one among them all for a good reason. He wasn't exactly a military personnel, but he wasn't a full civilian either. He was still the person that crushed the Elbanian military with his own gunship.
"Del, thinking about it, where were you coming from?" Clark asked.
"I don't want to talk about it to be honest," Del answered.
"I will just assume that you're formerly Elbanian then. Anyway, Del, when you arrived in Ilbistirum, what would you do? You want to enter an academy or something? Or do you want to enter the military service?" Clark asked.
"I think I will work at the guild or something, honestly speaking, I don't really know," Del answered.
"That's some hardcore jobs that you're going to take. I heard that it's quite a dangerous job. Still, it's not like that we are not doing anything dangerous. Del, be careful if you really want to do that," Clark commented.
Andrew looked at the watch on his hand. "Well, I think it's time for me and Del to go back walking around, see you all later."
"Hahaha, alright, see you all later," Clark said.
====================
Del and Andrew was on guard duty on the back side of the ship. They had gone to the open ocean now. Their duty shifted radically from watching the shoreline for any scientists that looked for a ride to Ilbistirum to keeping an eye out for a pirate or separatist force.
It raised another question for Del. That battleship was still vulnerable to pirates? Well, the pirates could be stronger, or they might have some sort of strong ships. Well, Del couldn't find out. About the separatist force, Andrew was the one that told him about the current state of Ilbistirum.
"Andrew, can you tell me more about the separatist force? I meant, Cole only told me about the current politic of Elbanian but he never once told me the current affair of Ilbistirum."
"Basically, Ilbistirum underwent a very radical change about sixty or seventy years ago. It was a revolution to abolish the absolute monarchy. You know, Ilbistirum used to be a country that was just like any other country, under the rule of monarchy and authoritarian government," Andrew explained.
"And people weren't satisfied by their own freedom?" Del asked.
"It was not that simple. There were two groups, the side that wanted the abolishment of monarchy, and the side that wanted to keep the monarchy," Andrew explained.
"Why do they want to keep the monarchy?" Del asked.
"Well, for the most part, it's the people that used to be in a higher strata of society. However, now, with the establishment of Constitutional Monarchy, the higher strata of society is gone. You can't get something just because you are a duke's son, you need money for that," Andrew said.
"It seems like that you have replaced something bad with another bad thing," Del said.
"Hey, if I were born seventy years ago, I won't even have a chance to enter school, much less the military," Andrew said.
"I see," Del nodded, "So you are saying that your country is under a civil war and a threat from the automata?"
"Yeah, but don't worry, you'll find living in here way easier than living in Elbanian. Heck, not many people can enjoy the same comfort as our military in Elbanian. Believe it or not, a warm shower is not something that any average Elbanian could have."
"I see," Del nodded.
Del and Andrew continued walking around the ship. The freezing breeze of the night hit them right on their faces as the ship sailed to Ilbistirum. Their short cruise was coming to an end.. It was the time for a whole new life for Del.