landbeastnovel Chapter 1: Private First Class Reborn
Chapter 1: Private First Class Reborn
"Here is your pay for this month. Take it and don't lose it."
After receiving the bag containing his monthly salary from the quartermaster, Gerns gripped it tightly and walked to a secluded corner. He held the rope tied at the top of the bag and pulled it open slightly. Four silver coins lay quietly inside, gleaming silver.
"Only four silver coins? I guess the pay will only increase after I'm promoted to private first class and become a company commander?"
After glancing briefly at the money in the bag, Gerns sighed softly, tightened the bag again, and stuffed it into his pocket.
According to the original owner's memories, Gerns, as a private first class in the Kingdom of Collington, had already been serving in the military for three years since he started at the age of 17.
Unfortunately, the original owner was shot in the abdomen with an arrow during the siege battle half a month ago and fainted due to excessive blood loss.
This gave Gerns the perfect opportunity to take over the body.
Today is payday. As a private in the kingdom's army, in addition to the three silver coins he receives every month, the baron also provides an extra two silver coins as a bonus for his soldiers. In theory, Gerns should receive five silver coins.
The reason why one less was received was because the military would embezzle a portion of the pay every time the state distributed military salaries.
This is standard practice.
"The military pay is only this much. I need to find a way to get promoted to private first class and become a company commander. Fortunately, this body is that of an orphan, so I don't have to send money home. I use one silver coin to treat the brothers to drinks, and save the rest for peacetime expenses."
As Gerns walked towards his squad's tent, a transparent, azure attribute panel appeared on his retina with a thought:
[Name: Gerns]
[Rank: Private First Class]
Age: 20
【attribute】
【Strength: 7】
[Agility: 5]
[Physical Fitness: 5]
【Intelligence: 5】
【Perception: 5】
【Charm: 6】
[Martial Arts]:
Basic Swordsmanship lv5 (MAX): Strength +1
This is Gerns's cheat code after transmigrating. It's not particularly special. Among the various attribute values, his strength, physique, and charm are slightly higher, but the other attribute points are quite ordinary and have no highlights.
So why did the cheat code only add 1 point to Strength, but the Strength value on the attribute panel was 2 points higher than the other attributes? Gerns guessed that the other point might be due to the original owner's years of fighting and daily training.
"The original owner of this body has been in the military for so many years, yet her stats are still those of a standard weakling. I really don't know how she survived five years of war and even became a private first class. It's a pity there's no 'luck' stat; if there were, perhaps her luck value would be higher than these numbers?"
Looking at the various data on the panel, Gerns couldn't help but sigh.
In Gerns' view, the original owner was somewhat blessed with good fortune, because the original owner actually survived on the battlefield for three whole years with his weak combat ability and even rose to the rank of private.
Without the element of luck involved, it would be somewhat unreasonable to rely solely on the data on this panel.
But then I thought about it again. They had fought desperately in the war for three years, and finally rose from a soldier to a private. They were just one step away from being promoted to a private first class, but they died in the siege battle half a month ago.
Well, it wasn't really that lucky.
"Could it be that the original owner overdrawn his luck in the battles of the past five years, which is why he was seriously injured in the recent siege, allowing me to take advantage of the situation?"
Gerns sighed, shook his head slightly to bring his thoughts back, and walked towards his squad's tent.
Searching through the original owner's memories, as a "somewhat capable" private, he was also the squad leader of a ten-man squad. His brothers were not doing well either, and their monthly military pay was less than his.
Gerns knew that his men were even more miserable than he was; privates received two silver coins, and servants received even less, only one silver coin.
Even if it's a cup of malt juice that costs one copper coin, the little money he has is only enough to drink ten to twenty large cups, let alone buy himself a better set of clothes.
Gerns had seen that even ordinary armor cost fifteen silver coins, and a decent longsword cost ten silver coins. He would be embarrassed to even open the door to a woman with a good appearance if he didn't have at least one silver coin.
Fortunately, the original owner of this body was an orphan and didn't need to worry about sending money home, plus his brothers were also struggling.
Unlike Gerns, most of them still had families. They not only had to stretch their money to spend, but also had to send money home every month, which simply wasn't enough.
Therefore, Gerns never hesitated to allocate a portion of the military pay to reward his men, not only for the sake of unity in future battles, but also so that someone would be there to take a hit for him in critical moments.
Gerns walked back to his squad's tent and watched his ten men sitting in small groups playing cards and bragging. He was also infected by the relaxed atmosphere.
He glanced around at his men, then fixed his gaze on Enzo, who was playing cards with his back to him.
This guy is the squad's swordsman and shield bearer, a private third class. He's a big guy with a very easygoing personality, which fits the image of a swordsman and shield bearer.
He, Gerns, and the squad's scout Kroger were the three closest members of the squad.
According to the original owner's memories, the two of them initially served as servants in other teams until the siege battle a week ago, in which the original owner's team was wiped out except for himself, who was seriously injured and unconscious.
Unfortunately, in their original teams, everyone except the two of them had also been killed in battle.
Although Gerns didn't know the two people in front of him half a month ago, in the half month that he was assigned to a team and spent time with them, Gerns learned that the two of them came from the same village near the same small town as him, and the three of them quickly became familiar with each other.
They are no longer just his subordinates, but comrades-in-arms who will fight alongside him in the future.
"I'll take you guys out for drinks this afternoon. Now go get your lunch and stop fooling around here."
Gerns walked straight up behind Enzo and kicked him in the backside.
"Boss, could you please stop kicking my butt? What if it gets swollen and gets noticed during the next battle?"
"Don't worry about the swelling. I'll get some mint leaves to apply to it, and it'll be better by the next day."
Korogh, standing nearby, jokingly teased Enzo.
Korog was a well-known gay man in the camp, and he was needed to personally interrogate the toughest prisoners. The mint leaves were also prepared to reduce swelling after some kind of activity.
"Get lost, are you asking for trouble? How dare you flirt with me? Watch out, I won't hold back on the training field."
Seeing the two laughing and joking around, Gerns had become used to it.
During peacetime, these ordinary soldiers spent their days playing cards, bragging, and joking with each other, and basically everyone developed a silver tongue.
Gerns was also pleased with this phenomenon, as it could subtly enhance the cohesion of their team.
"Stop with the banter, Enzo, go get your food, and take mine with you," Gerns said with a laugh to his men. "And don't you dare steal any of my meat, or you won't get any drinks this afternoon!"
"No way, boss! I promise no one will steal any food! I'll chop anyone who does!" Enzo patted his chest before leaving, making a solemn promise.
In order to motivate soldiers to fight bravely and strive for honor and merit, a whole host of hierarchical systems were established in the military camp, which can be seen even in the way they eat.
Privates ate bran cakes and potato soup at every meal, third-class soldiers ate black bread and potato soup, and second-class soldiers had a more substantial meal, with a piece of wheat cake, a piece of meat, and a serving of potato soup.
As for the privates, all Gerns knew was that they ate every meal with the Baron and the battalion commanders in the military tent in the center of the camp, and that they ate white bread and meat soup.
Gerns had been looking forward to enjoying the white bread for a long time.
However, this treatment was not available to ordinary soldiers. Out of more than a thousand men in the entire battalion, only a mere fifteen could eat there.
This included dozens of company commanders and deputy commanders, plus the Baron, his son, and his steward.
After reluctantly pulling his thoughts back, Gerns sighed silently: "I wonder if I'll receive the same treatment after being promoted to private first class. Given my current rank, I should be able to get promoted after my next campaign, right?"