As a Reincarnated Aristocrat, I’ll Use My Appraisal Skill to Rise in the World (LN) - Volume 5 - Chapter SS1

Side Story 2: A Day in the Life of Braham and Zaht

One day, Braham’s squad of elite soldiers was hard at work running through exercises in the Canarre military’s training grounds. The squad’s members were elite in more than name alone─only the most exceptional soldiers in the military were selected to join the group. That meant that, by and large, the squad’s members were already quite capable at the time they began working under Braham…but there were some exceptions.

“Hey… Do you really think that guy has what it takes to keep up with the squad?” Braham asked his second-in-command, Zaht, as the two of them watched their men run through their exercises.

Braham didn’t need to specify which soldier he was talking about. One of them, a rather slender and short young man, was conspicuously inept. His name was Kuura, and he was not only unathletic but also all but useless when it came to wielding weaponry.

“Good question,” said Zaht. “It’s pretty hard to believe, just watching him…but apparently, he’s got talent buried deep down somewhere, and we’re supposed to find a way to drag it out of him.”

“Okay, but do you believe that? Just look at him! I’ve never seen anyone with less talent,” said Braham. He just couldn’t believe that a man like Kuura could ever manage to toughen up.

“The count’s power claims otherwise,” Zaht said with a shrug.

“Hmm… But even Lord Ars has to get stuff wrong every once in a while, right?” Braham countered.

“It’s possible, but it also doesn’t make a difference, as far as we’re concerned. He told us that Kuura has talent and asked us to train him, so that’s what we have to do, one way or another.”

Braham sighed deeply.

“Yeah, true ’nuff. We’ll just have to put him through the wringer and tell Lord Ars if it doesn’t look like he’s gonna shape up,” he said, confident that within a few days at most, he’d be reporting to Ars that Kuura was a washout. “Anyway, training him’s in your hands, Zaht. Good luck with that.”

“Wh-What?! You want me to do it?!”

Zaht wasn’t even slightly excited to hear his new assignment, but unfortunately for him, he also wasn’t the sort of person who would ever disobey a commanding officer’s direct order. And so, Zaht begrudgingly took over Kuura’s martial education.

A few days later, Braham’s mind was blown.

“I-I don’t believe it,” he muttered, his eyes as wide as dinner plates as he watched Kuura run through his drills.

Braham had known that Kuura and Zaht had been training together, but what he hadn’t anticipated was how quickly those sessions would bear fruit. Kuura’s lack of athleticism hadn’t been remedied, to be clear. He looked as weak and emaciated as ever. What had changed, however, were his results in battle. Kuura had just engaged several far larger and stronger soldiers in practice duels, and had defeated each and every one of them in sequence.

“Wh-What the hell am I looking at? How is he this good all of a sudden?” Braham asked Zaht, the man who was presumably responsible for Kuura’s explosive growth.

“He’s got good eyes,” Zaht flatly explained. “I’m not just talking about his vision, though that’s good too─I mean he’s one of the most observant people I’ve ever met. He can more or less tell what his opponent’s about to do, just by watching the way they move in anticipation of it. He’s still weak, of course, but that’s offset by his incredible knack for swordsmanship. He may not have much muscle, but he’s incredible at bringing out the full potential of what he does have.”

“I guess that’d do it. Speed and power are the most important factors in a fight, usually, but if you’re observant enough you can make up for not being fast, and if you’re good enough with a sword you can make up for not having much power,” said Braham. “But wait a sec─he has a knack for swordsmanship? I thought he was awful at that.”

“He was, until I started training him,” said Zaht. “Once he picked up the fundamentals, he started improving at a breakneck pace. Most people with talent show it from the very start, but I guess he needed a little boost first. He’s a rare breed.”

“He really improved that much…?” muttered Braham in disbelief.

“His strength and stamina still have a long way to go, so he has his limits. Put him up against a tough enough opponent, and he won’t be able to win even if he can see through their movements. Once he’s put on some muscle, though, I have a feeling he’ll be a force to be reckoned with.”

“Ugh… More than anything, I’m shocked that I couldn’t pick any of this out at first,” Braham groaned as he watched Kuura engage in yet another practice match.

“I’d say this is less a matter of you having no eye for people, and more a matter of Lord Ars’s power being something else,” said Zaht. “If Kuura had asked to join a unit I was leading, I would’ve given him a test and then turned him down on the spot. I certainly don’t think I would’ve guessed that his swordsmanship would improve this quickly. Some people have talent hidden away inside them, and in Kuura’s case, all of his talent was hidden so deep, it might as well have been buried. The fact that anyone could pick it out is a wonder.”

“I guess Ars’s power really can see through any talent, no matter how hidden it is, and he’s gonna keep picking people out for this squad…” Braham muttered. “Just how incredible are we gonna be in the long run?”

“I’d say that depends on whether or not you can shape up, Captain.”

“Hey! What’s that supposed to mean?! Ars is the one who picked me to be the leader, you know?!”

“He really is impressive, isn’t he? If you’d come to me and asked to be my retainer, I would’ve turned you down without a second thought.”

“Could you at least pretend to have some respect for me?”

“I was kidding. Anyway, if we want to be the elites people keep calling us, we’d better get back to training,” Zaht said, then set off to join his men in their drills.

○

The next day, during one of Braham’s unit’s scheduled breaks, Braham and Zaht were strolling through the streets of Canarre together.

“Why do I have to spend my day off walking around town with you, Captain?” Zaht sighed.

“Why’re you making it sound like that’s a bad thing?” Braham shot back. “And anyway, I told you about how I figured it’d be good to get some bonding time with my second-in-command, didn’t I?”

“Actually, no, you didn’t. You dragged me out here without a word of explanation,” Zaht said with a roll of his eyes.

“Oh.” said Braham. “Really? Well, whatever! That’s the goal, so let’s have a blast!”

“What kind of goal is that even supposed to be…? And where are we going, anyway?”

“The market, to start! Figured we’d get something for lunch afterward, then play it by ear from there.”

“So you don’t even have a plan. Fabulous. I’ll tag along, but I hope you’re planning on paying for the meal.”

“Huh?! Y-You mean, like, for both of us?”

“Isn’t it a captain’s job to provide for his men?”

“Ugh… F-Fine, sure! Grub’s on me today!” said Braham with a grimace. “Anyway,” he continued as he looked out across the city street, “Canarre sure has changed a lot, huh?”

“It’s certainly more crowded these days,” Zaht agreed.

It hadn’t been all that long since Braham and Zaht took up residence in Canarre, but the change was still striking to them. The city was far livelier than it had been when they’d first arrived.

“I thought this place was pretty quaint compared to Velshdt back when I first got here, but I think there might be as many people here now as there were back there,” Braham mused as he thought back to the last city he’d lived in.

“My understanding is that Velshdt is the third largest city in all of Missian, by population,” said Zaht. “If you’re right about that, then the change might be even more incredible than I gave it credit for.”

“I mean, I’m just judging by looks here! No clue how many folks are actually around. But anyway, more people’s a good thing for sure! Means we’ll have an easier time finding recruits, for one thing. No wonder we’ve been getting so many new faces in the unit!” Braham said with a grin.

Before long, Braham and Zaht arrived at the city’s marketplace. Canarre’s main street had been bustling, and the market was even more packed. The area was practically overflowing with people.

“Yikes,” muttered Braham. “We’re gonna have a rough time buying anything, huh?”

“Were you looking for something in particular?” asked Zaht.

“Huh? I mean, nothing super specific…”

“Then there’s no point in bothering. Let’s leave.”

“W-Wait a second! I, uhh… Right! I wanted to see if they had any weird weapons in stock! And books! I wanted some of those too!” exclaimed Braham.

Zaht gave his captain a blank stare. “The weapons are one thing, but books? Can you even read, Captain?”

“Yes, I can read, dammit! Say that again to my face, I dare you!”

“R-Right, sorry,” Zaht said, flinching in the face of Braham’s rage.

Braham took a deep breath, then continued, “We’ve been getting more merchants in town lately, and that means a bigger variety of stuff in the market─and that includes stuff that’s never been available in Canarre before.”

“That would make sense,” said Zaht. “I’ve never been much for crowds, so I’ve never been to a place like this before, but if there’s that much available here then maybe this visit wasn’t such a bad idea after all.”

“Why, are you looking for something?”

“I could be… I wouldn’t turn down some nice alcohol.”

“You’d better not pull a Mireille on me, Zaht.”

“I’m not nearly as much of a drinker as she is, don’t worry. I just enjoy a nice drink as much as the next person.”

“I’m kinda surprised, honestly,” said Braham. “Don’t think I’ve ever seen you drinking before.”

“That would be because I haven’t, lately,” replied Zaht. “Not to mention that even when I do, the alcohol never seems to have much of an effect on me.”

“Huh! Well, I’m pretty sure there’ll be plenty of booze for you around here. I hear some of the guys in our unit brag about how they picked up a bottle of some rare drink or another in the market, every once in a while.”

Braham and Zaht walked through the marketplace, searching for stores that stocked the items they were interested in. It wasn’t long at all before Zaht found a store with alcohol that caught his attention, which he purchased on the spot. It was a rare import from the Duchy of Ansel that he’d sampled before, and he purchased it in no small part out of nostalgia.

Braham, meanwhile, found a weapon that caught his attention: an unusually narrow variety of sword that was used for thrusting attacks called a rapier. Zaht had been rather skeptical of the design and asked if Braham actually meant to use it in battle, and Braham had replied that he just thought it looked neat, and bought it anyway. It didn’t seem like he had much interest in actually using the weapon at all. As for books, Braham wasn’t able to find anything along the lines of what he was looking for, and didn’t end up making any purchases.

“All right, I’m getting pretty hungry! Let’s go find somewhere to stop for lunch,” Braham eventually said.

“Works for me,” agreed Zaht with a nod.

“More restaurants these days too,” said Braham. “This city’s just getting nicer and nicer the more people show up and the more it grows!”

“You have a point…but not everything a rising population brings is for the better,” noted Zaht.

“Ahh, yeah, I know what you mean,” Braham agreed as he glanced at a beggar who happened to be sitting by the wayside.

As the population of Canarre grew, so too grew the population of poor and unemployed residents. There was just no way to build enough houses for all of the new people flowing into the city, which inevitably led to a ballooning homeless population.

“We’re gonna have to do something about that eventually, huh?” Braham mused.

“If by ‘we’ you mean Rietz, then yes,” said Zaht. “I’m sure he’s already hard at work coming up with a solution. Considering how abrupt the population boom has been, though, I have to wonder if he’ll be able to keep up.”

“It’s a tough problem, all right,” Braham groaned.

“Not to mention that a larger population means more crime.”

“True enough…and keeping the peace is part of our job, since we’re in the army and all,” said Braham.

No sooner had the words left his mouth than Braham noticed a somewhat young, obviously impoverished man approaching a well-dressed woman who was walking along further down the street. Something about the way the man was acting struck Braham as suspicious, and sure enough, the moment he was close enough to the woman the man snatched the bag she was carrying and set off at a sprint.

“Thief! Thief!” the woman screamed.

In an instant, Braham took off in pursuit of the man. The thief had a substantial head start, but Braham was a much faster runner and closed the distance between them in the blink of an eye.

“Wh-What the─Who’s that?! How’s he so fast?!” the thief yelped as he glanced over his shoulder and saw Braham bearing down on him. He wasn’t a slow runner by any means, but even compared to him, Braham’s pace was downright unbelievable.

The thief decided to shake Braham off his trail by ducking into a back alley, but he didn’t even manage to make it that far before Braham caught up to him. That must have made the thief panic, because the next thing he knew he’d tripped over his own feet and slammed face-first into the street. Braham didn’t let that opportunity slip past him, and pinned the fallen thief to the ground.

“L-Lemme go!” the thief shouted. He struggled wildly, but Braham’s grip proved far too strong for him to shake off.

“Oh, calm down! You’re a thief, right? You just stole that bag, didn’t you?” shouted Braham.

“No, I didn’t! It’s mine!” the thief yelled back.

“I saw you take it from someone,” Braham sighed. “If you can’t think up a better excuse, you might as well not bother.”

It wasn’t long before the woman the bag had been stolen from and Zaht came running.

“Th-Thank you so much for catching him!” said the woman. The thief had dropped her bag when he fell, and the woman quickly scooped it up again. “I must do something to thank you…”

“No need for that! We’re with the army─all in a day’s work,” said Braham. The woman thanked him profusely once more, then went on her way. “Question is, what’re we going to do about him?” Braham said, looking back at the fallen thief.

“We should turn him over to the guards who’re in charge of this district,” said Zaht. “For all we know, this might not be his first offense.”

Each district of Canarre was watched over by a squad of guards, who were in turn associated with the army of Canarre. Braham ended up bringing the thief to the local division, where he turned him over to the proper authorities.

“Phew! Guess we ended up being on the job today after all, eh? Sure didn’t see that coming,” said Braham once the handoff was complete.

“Crime’s on the rise, so it’s not too shocking,” said Zaht. “I’ve heard they’re hiring more and more guards, but there still aren’t enough on patrol to keep the peace yet.”

“Seemed like the guy we caught turned to crime because he couldn’t make a living any other way…” Braham mused. “Do you think that if we can make Canarre more and more prosperous, crime will start to go down, too?”

“That’s hard to say,” said Zaht. “I’ve been to bigger cities than this, and in my experience there’s always a stark gap between the rich and the poor, no matter where you go. It’s easy to talk about bringing in wealth and prosperity for everyone, but making it happen never seems to be quite that simple.”

“That so? Well, one way or another, I’m sure it’ll all work out in the end. House Louvent’s in charge, after all, and they’ve got all the right people to sort this stuff out!”

“True enough. There’s Rietz, to start, and also Charlotte, Rosell, and Mireille. Every one of them is a genius in their field─and of course you can’t forget Lord Ars and the power he wields that brought them all together.”

“H-Hey, aren’t you forgetting someone?” said Braham.

“Hm?” Zaht grunted. “Oh, right─Thomas. He may not be in House Louvent’s formal employ yet, but he’s still a remarkable man.”

“Not him!”

“You mean the Fujimiya siblings? They’ve only just come into the picture and haven’t achieved anything yet, but judging by what few interactions I’ve had with them so far, I’m expecting good things.”

“Not them, either! Dammit, Zaht, you’re doing this on purpose! There’s another handpicked genius right here with you!”

“Right here? Oh…do you mean me? I hate to say it, but I know that I don’t measure up to the others. I’m more capable than the average person you can find on the streets, though, I’ll give you that much.”

“I said with you! Of course I didn’t mean you!”

Zaht let out a lengthy sigh and replied, “You do know how conceited people who call themselves geniuses in public come across, don’t you?”

“I knew it! You were doing it on purpose!” Braham exploded. Zaht’s shoulders shook with barely repressed laughter as he watched his commander devolve into a rage. “I’ll have you know that Lord Ars specifically told me that I have what it takes to be the greatest commander in the whole world! Making fun of me’s the same thing as making fun of the count himself!”

“Fair enough─I must have been mistaken. My apologies,” said Zaht in a profoundly insincere tone.

“Not sure I buy that…but an apology’s an apology, so you’re off the hook,” Braham said, somewhat reluctantly.

With that, Braham and Zaht set out to find lunch, then made their way back home again.