Chapter 5: Commission

New Delhi, Residency of Delhi, British Raj

March 29th, 1859(a day after the incident)

{Jonathan’s POV}

Much has happened after the attack by the unknown otherworldly forces yesterday. The attack itself was truly one unique event that got engraved in the history not just of the British Empire, but also the world. Unique as its occurrence is one, not any experts, philosophers, or scientists can explain how it can happen and why it happened as the context is out of the world. The stories of how it happened in the Raj reached the ears and eyes of the world and most of them received and reacted to the event with utter shock and disbelief. I cannot blame them though, this is quite an unusually rare occurrence

On the other hand, the damages on the town square are still being repaired. It’s quite severe damage that ruins the Delhi town square. Much of the structures in the town have either been damaged or wrecked b the impact of the attack. The Royal Engineers along with their equipment stationed in Manipur and Lahore were dispatched to help in rebuilding those that were wrecked and repairing those that were damaged. But it’s a lot of work to be done even with all the technology we have

But, besides all that… the most significant impact of the attack that we needed to focus our attention on is the death toll. The attack by the otherworldly enemy forces killed both innocent civilians and brave personnel of the Empire’s military. Though it’s not that much compared to the death toll of the defeated otherworldly army, it lingers in my mind how cruel and tragic it is to be having your life suddenly taken away by such an unusual event

There were about 100 European and Indian civilians killed including women and children along with 300 military personnel, both from the small band of soldiers and policemen that I lead during the initial stage of the attack and the latter counterattack of the combined relief forces. After the enemy forces have been routed and their remnants, a group of elven archers who had surrendered to us and put them in our custody, we gathered the bodies of those fallen in this attack

After we gathered their bodies, we buried them all together in a mass grave with a monument to remember them and to commemorate the event as an attack on the British Empire and the whole wide world. Hindu monks, Islamic clerics, and a few Christian priests arrived at the burial site to give prayers and final farewell to the dead, not caring whether the people who have been laid below the Indian soil are Hindu, Muslim, and Christian. Of course, we sent the bodies of fallen European citizens and personnel back home to their respective families

And as for tens of thousands of dead dark knights, horses, and beasts? They somehow vanished without leaving their trace on Indian soil but they did leave their armor and equipment behind as their bodies were the only ones that disappeared and of course, that bloody mirror that brought these invaders into our world from their world is still standing at where the Conquest of India monument should have been. I thought with their attack failed, they should have closed it after that. They probably don’t have any control over that mirror and it probably didn’t belong to them in the first place

So in anticipating another attack from the world beyond that mirror, the civil authorities in the city ordered for the Delhi town square to be closed until further notice and that the military to take over regarding the situation. The Royal Engineers set up a circle of makeshift barricades surrounding the mirror and planted ground mines around the mirror, creating a field of mines. A huge number of soldiers and policemen, about ten thousand strong are stationed at the town square behind the perimeter of the otherworldly mirror. They all came from all over the Empire and even from Britannia itself. And they are the ones who are helping to rebuild the town square alongside civil personnel

And here I am right now, sitting on an armchair in my uniform white shirt and my bluish-green coat draped on the armchair’s backrest while facing the window to watch the town square under reparation and military patrol from my room on the third floor of an apartment near the town square.

Apparently, besides high ranking officers are not the only ones given VIP treatment. But heroes as well and they counted me as one. Though I don’t know whether I deserved it or not. I also have been given absent after helping with the reparation of the town square from my superior, Colonel Kingston. He told me to get some rest before meeting up with him and the other higher-ups at the temporary forward base near the town square. When the time has come, he will contact me via SteamCom

*sigh* I wonder what the higher-ups have in mind. I knew that the higher-ups were planning something following the incident yesterday. I’m not sure what they were planning but I suspect that it will be a grand one

*RING!* *RING!*

The portable telecommunication SteamCom that I have in my trousers pocket rings four times. I quickly pulled it out from my pocket to pick up the call from the Colonel. It’s a rather small device for something with intricate and complex parts inside that it was made out of. It’s shaped like a rectangular box with an oval-shaped receiver that receives the voice of the caller, some buttons consisted of numbers and functionables to dial a call and accept or decline a call. It also has a short wire with a small transmitter to transmit the user's voice to the one they’re calling. It’s quite a handy device to have anywhere as it can reach Europe from here in India

I hold the device’s receiver part close to my ear using my left while holding the transmitter close to my mouth using my right hand “Hello, this is Jonathan Marlborough speaking. Who am I speaking to?” Even though I know for sure that this is Colonel Kingston speaking, there’s no indication on the SteamCom that it was indeed Colonel Kingston calling me. It’s the etiquette of SteamCom communication to ask someone who’s calling you who they are

Then came the voice of the expected British Army Colonel from the receiver, beginning with a chuckle “You know who it is, Lad” The Colonel said in a half-joking tone before continuing “It’s time, General Hulls of the Raj Army and the others are already here at the designated meeting location. Oh and also your trusted companions from the Rifles are here. We’ll be waiting for you, Lad”

I nodded in understanding and answered the Colonel’s order through the transmitter “Order received, Sir. I shall immediately depart for the designated meeting location”

“That will do. See you at the location, Lad” The Colonel dismissed the call as the receiver went silent

I put the SteamCom back into my trousers pocket as I got up from the armchair. I then grabbed my uniform coat as I wear it back. Now, I’m back in full uniform but this is not exactly a battle dress that is worn when we, the Rifles are in duty. The only component missing to make it a battle dress are the ammo pouch chest belt, visor cap of the Rifles, combat goggles, and of course my Rifle. All of them were stored back in the Rifles barrack and can only be given when heading to our duty but an officer or NCOs are allowed to maintain the carrying of their sword and sidearm to distinguish them from the enlisted men

I then exited my room at the apartment and locked its door twice like a normal person before heading downstairs. After I arrived downstairs which is the Apartment’s reception hall but there was no one at the receptionist table, I quickly exited the Apartment. And just like when I observed from my room at the Apartment’s third floor, the area around and in the town square, or at least how it is now due to the attack of the otherworld is crowded by soldiers, policemen, civilian workers, and Royal Engineers

The soldiers and policemen were helping the Royal Engineers carrying equipment and materials needed to repair the town square but they also patrol the areas, especially around the perimeter of that parallel world mirror. The civilian workers, handymen, and hard laborers accompanied by Royal Engineers are busy repairing the damage on the town center. Those handymen and hard laborers are tasked with repairing small and intricate parts such as sculptures and park benches with their hands and handheld tools along with other small menial tasks like cleaning.

The Royal Engineers on the other hand are tasked a much more heavier tasks like repairing the pavements but they are helped with the heavy equipment equipment they brought in to make their work much more efficient and faster. And to make their task much heavier, they were the ones who built the barricades and landmines around the perimeter of the otherworld mirror. So yeah, those people have a lot more work than us active combat personnel

I continued to walk towards the meet-up location with the higher-ups which is supposed to be nearby. The temporary forward base is a former office of the East India Company as its trade administration center near the Delhi town square at a line of business buildings across the town square’s north side and just a few walks away from my Apartment which is located across the town square’s north-east side. And indeed I found it within just a few minutes, less than five minutes of walking. Actually, it probably took 10 minutes at maximum but because I was walking so quickly, it only took five minutes for me

When I found the temporary forward base, I stopped in front of its front door. The building is not that big, just two stories. Its design is European just like most buildings here near the town square which was an empty wasteland before the Conquest by the combined Imperial and crumbling Company forces. It was built using both European materials brought in from Britannia and Indian materials excavated here, particularly Roman concrete and mango wood. It retained its natural color from the materials used to build this building which were grayish white and medium light brown

The front door is guarded by two Sikh soldiers wearing a turban instead of a tropical pith helmet or visor cap and standard Raj redcoat uniform. They are armed with standard-issued rifles of regular infantry regulation. When I walked up to the front door, they stepped in right in front of me to stop me but not in an intervening way as they didn’t point their rifles at me seeing that I’m wearing uniform

“Are you Captain Jonathan Davis Marlborough of the 96th Rifles brigade?” One of them asked me in English but in their Indian accent which got me a little bit baffled by how they sounded no matter how good his pronunciation is for a non-native English speaker. I mean, Madhav speaks like these guys but his way of talking is much more bearable than these two. Though, I don’t want to judge so I’ll leave it at that

Shaking away from my thoughts, I quickly gave them a reply “Yes, Colonel Kingston summoned my presence here”

The Sikh soldier nodded “Indeed, the Colonel informed us that they are expecting for Captain Marlborough to arrive at the meeting with the Colonel and His Excellency the General” Then he and his compatriot got back to their original post, paving the way for me to enter the base “Please, they are waiting for you, Sir” He said as they both gave me a salute

I smiled and gave them a salute in return “Thank you. Have a nice day, gentlemen” I thanked them before entering the base

After I entered the base through the front door, I found myself in a hall, similar to that of the one my apartment has but this one has more splendor than my apartment’s ordinary hall. The hall’s wall is painted with a pattern of texture art in brown, black, and white zig-zag lines in which each of them formed a row of diagonal shapes and these intricate illustrations that mixed both Anglo-Saxon culture with Indian culture here. There are also various paintings ranging from British historical figures like the Duke of Wellington and nature hanging on the wall.

Compared to the wall, the floor of this hall looks rather ordinary as it’s only a flat surface made out of light brown colored ceramics. And just like my apartment’s hall, there’s also a receptionist counter with a big insignia of the Crown’s coat of arms but no one behind the counter, just like the one at my apartment today. Aside from receptionist counters, there’s also some floor decoration like potted plants and standing electric lamps

These all look old yet at the same time, carefully maintained for the past years since its construction. Color me impressed East India Company, the ruler of this land before the Crown took over, really looks after their properties. But they failed to accommodate the people living here and pay their debts to the Crown which caused the Sepoy rebellion and EIC downfall simultaneously. I hope that now we can make the people here happy despite us colonizing their land and let them gain their freedom one day later after our duty here is done. Just like how this building is sa

“Ah, there you are, Captain Marlborough! Glad that you made it here!” The voice of a familiar middle-aged Colonel from the SteamCom called me

I searched for where the voice of Colonel Kingston came from and I found the Colonel along with General Hulls at the left corner of the hall with twelve other people of which only four of them are actually high-ranking officers while the others are NCOs. including General Hulls and Colonel Kingston standing around a medium-sized round table. But there are also four other of them who wore the same uniform as me I recognized. This is because these people have been part of my brigade, the 96th Rifles and have fought alongside me for a long time now

First is the cool-headed Sergeant Blake Cyril Turner, the Australian that I was with when the otherworldly attack transpired and he’s also one of the four Sergeants in the 96th Royal Rifles Brigade that I command as Captain. Second, is a noble Englishmen just like me but from Manchester with blonde hair, diamond blue eyes, light skin, and masculine medium-built and he’s Sergeant Thomas Howard Harding. Third is a stunning Englishwoman who is also from the nobility with white hair, violet purple eyes, and feminine slim-built named Sergeant Elisa Florence Nigel. And last but not least is a buff Scotsman from a Highland clan with red ginger hair, emerald green eyes, and masculine well-built named Sergeant Franklin Oswell Stevenson. Besides Blake, they were all supposed to be away from New Delhi during the festival and the incident but I guess they got called back here today in the event of yesterday's singularity

These are the people that I’ve fought alongside with and the ones that I trusted the most. I couldn’t imagine the 96th Royal Rifles Brigade without them in it. They are the ones who lift my strength to be able to lead the 96th Royal as, dare I say the best Skirmish unit of all times, prevailing over our predecessor the famous 95th Rifles of the Great War against Boney or known to people outside Britannia as the Great Conqueror from France and uncle to the current dictator of today’s France, Napoleon Bonaparte

The moment I see my comrade-in-arms and friends minus Blake, I quickly walked up to them “You guys are here! Since when did you all get here?” I asked them as I gave them a quick hug one by one

“Good to see you again, Captain eventhough it’s not that long. We just got here early this morning” Elisa replied after we let go of each other

“Yeah, Blake had us filled on everything that had happened yesterday when we were away from New Delhi” Thomas added

“It’s really hard tae believe that such a literal out of the world occurrence could happen right under our nose. But when they showed us the recorded footage of the incident and the reality on the field, we know it’s freakin’ real” Frank remarked in his light Scottish accent that even an antipodean English speaker like myself and the others here, even Blake here can understand “Blast it though that we missed the chance fighting against those basterds” He added with a joking tone

Blake, who’s behind Frank, slapped the Scotsman on the back before telling him “Oh trust me, my Scottish friend. It ain’t something that’s worth waitin’ about. I mean sure mounted knights in heavy armor and humongous beasts are rather easier targets than lightning speed field trampling Emus during harvest”

“Emus? Really? You compared bloody otherworldly dark medieval soldiers with nimble wingless birds?” He asked Blake with an unamused expression. But then, suddenly it turned into the opposite “That’s a braw illustration! Thick skinned big otherworldly beasts and easy to miss Emus makes quite a lot of sense to be compared as similarities!”

“Uhhh, I’m not really sure about that, Frank. It’s like comparing apples and oranges” I commented

Blake let out a ‘pfttt!’, playfully dismissing me “Aw, come on, Captain! Don’t you really get it? When you are faced off against those freakin’ huge beasts or hunting thousands of Emus, you need to empty your guns again-again until they all die”

I sighed “Well, I understand about that aspect. But still, it’s an odd comparison. Use logic and common sense please…”

“You two can all tell the jokes that you want to convey. But please, refrain from doing that during meetings, especially with the high-rankings around. Honestly you two…” Elisa reprimanded them, both hands on her waist “And you too, Captain. You’ll make them going on and on about that”

“Wait! Me too!?”

“No no no, it’s quite alright, Lady Nigel. There’s no need for that level of formality otherwise the atmosphere in this hall would become nothing but tense” Colonel Kingston interjected while holding out his hands at her

General Hulls nodded in agreement to what the Colonel said “Besides… it warms my heart to see a good relationship, bonds, and camaraderie between comrades-in-arms. Especially young men and women like you…” He then turned to the ceiling above that has a big ceiling painting of young soldiers forming a square against a Cavalry charge with a countryside background, possibly from Waterloo or Crimea “…ahhh, how nice it is to be so young and full of hope” The General then turned to us again but now with a slightly serious expression. And with that, we along with the other NCOs turned our attention to the General, the Colonel, and the other two high-ranking officers

“You youngsters can have your own time of respite together for later after this briefing of commission. We have discussed this commission over the SteamCom with the Secretary of State for War, Sir Jonathan Peel and Chief of Combined Forces, Lord Alexander Howe after they got their approval from His Excellency the Prime Minister and Her Majesty the Queen” The General began

“In taking account of the disastrous incident yesterday and the mirror that brought those monsters into this land, they proposed a preventive and retaliatory action in facing this conundrum in case of attack by those otherworldly enemies” One of the other two high-ranking officers in red uniform with the badge of the Raj, indicating that he’s part of the Raj Army. He then turned to the other high-ranking officers in light blue uniform, indicating that he’s part of the Air Corps “Over to you, Flight Colonel Hogan”

“Of course, Colonel Raleigh. I shall make it to the point about what the Commission is all about. The statement of ‘preventive and retaliatory act” is literal but there’s also a demand from the civil side who also wanted to be involved in this matter. So, In coordination between Central and Regional command along with civil representation, we planned an expedition to the otherworld to find out about this world and to punish the ones that are responsible for the attack yesterday”

“Yes, and the signed official Commission have been over to us by them through the Telegram from London” Colonel Kingston said before pulling out a scrolled piece of paper from his fanny pack and scrolling it out “And the Commission is for none other than you, Captain Marlborough or should I say…” He paused for a second as a smirk formed on his face which makes me quite a little bit nervous about what he's going to say next “Major Marlborough”

My heart skipped a bit and my whole body got paralyzed a moment there when the Colonel said that. This commission is for me? And they’re making me a Major? I can’t believe my ears. They gave me a commission, an exclusive commission to become part of this soon to be launched expedition to the otherworld? That’s another big thing and probably an important one

Well, they called me a Hero before and now I shouldn’t be surprised by such a thing anymore given my circumstances. But I need to know what this commission is all about if it’s related to our otherworld problem in which they decided to launch an expedition to the otherworld. And given that I in particular have been given the commission, it must be part of the planned expedition but I don’t know what exactly

I suppose I can just continue to hear about from the four senior officers

“While it is an honor to receive a sudden promotion and a commission, I must ask why is it me in particular that you needed in this commission? And what is the exact details of this commission as while I know it will be part of the expedition but I’m not sure about what exactly I’m supposed to do” I asked them

“Glad you asked, boyo. We were just about to go at it” General Hulls said with a smile before turning to Colonel Kingston “If you would please, Colonel”

“Righty O’, Sir” The Colonel nodded as he gave the commission paper and pulled out another paper from his fanny pack. It’s also a scroll of paper but this one is bigger than the one he gave to me “Before that, I wanted you to read that paper out loud first, Lad” He told me

I nodded “If you say so, Sir” I said before looking down on the paper as I began reading the words imprinted on it ”Following the extraordinarily abnormal incident in Delhi Townsquare in India on March 28th 1859, In accordance with Her Majesty’s blessing and the Parliament’s approval of both the ruling parties and opposition parties, we of the Military High Command and with the consent of Civil representation decided upon a punitive and scientific expedition to the otherworld through the mirror at the park that connected our worlds together” I paused for a bit to take a quick short break after reading it out loud and then I continued

“Seeing that you achieved numerous achievements in many of our Empire’s campaigns across the world and to enable you to lead such a force, It is only right that we give you this promotion. And so, we bestowed upon an immediate promotion of Captain Jonathan Davis Marlborough to a Major in Her Majesty’s Army and a commission for the newly gazetted Major Marlborough to lead a small sizeable reconnaissance force of 6000 civil and military personnel and to provide his force with adequate supply and equipment to assist them in a reconnaissance mission. Your mission is to scout out the world beyond the mirror, find out what is going on in that world, and also search for any possible collaborators and allies in that world and afterward, report your findings to the head of the operation in Delhi, and find a suitable location to set up a base and to set up a temporary base as a basis for the main expeditionary forces that will be sent into the otherworld”

And that’s the end of the commission letter. Well… not really. There are also the names and signatures of the ones who gave the promotion and commission to me: Secretary of State for War Sir Jonathan Peel and Chief of Combined Forces Lord Alexander Howe but I don’t really need to read them too. Oh, and there’s also the stamps from Her Majesty and the Prime Minister. So, I only thanked them in my heart for giving me this honor

This commission that came along with the promotion for me is quite mind blowing. They want me to lead a reconnaissance force to scout out ahead of the main expeditionary force and report what I will find in the otherworld to the commander of the expedition. This is quite a big responsibility for me and the people that I will lead. That’s why they promoted me to Major, not just to acknowledge all of my achievements serving in the Army but also to enable me to lead a force that big, even attaching civilian personnel. And while this is a huge privilege, this mission is a dangerous one. I mean we’re talking about entering an unknown world that probably no one in this world has ever entered with unknown possibilities of what’s out there

After that, I looked back and forth at the General and Colonel who have a pleased smile on their face then at my friends from the Rifles who looked at me, their commander that got both a sudden promotion and an important commission “Look at you, Cap- I mean Major. It seems that the higher-ups finally gave you such a privilege after just a year and a half in the Queen’s Army and leading the Brigade” Thomas said with an amused smile and arms crossed

I chuckled nervously “I shouldn’t be surprised about myself anymore then for getting this much recognition” I replied. Then I turned back to the General and Colonel “I beg your pardon, Sir. But, am I deserving such an important task in this operation? I’ve only been in the Army for not that long eventhough yes I did receive several awards and even got called a Hero. But this is something different” I said to them

The General smiled before he approached me and put his right hand on my shoulder before telling me “Yes, you’re one of our best so it’s natural to expect important tasks to be given to the bests. Though… we’re a bit reluctant in sending young officer to such a dangerous task like this one”

The Colonel nodded in agreement to what the General said “Indeed, as your commanding officer I too felt that. But I have my trust in both you and the 96th Rifles that you will succeed and be safe doing your duties for Queen and Country” He told me before

“Thank you, Sir. I- I mean WE won’t let you all down” I thanked them, putting my hand on my chest as a sworn to an oath or rather, duty in this case

“That’s my boy! I’m counting on you for this mission, Lad. Now…” He then stepped closer to the round table as he lay the big piece of scrolled paper on it and scroll it out to show what I assume are the diagrams and list of the units that will be under my command for the reconnaissance in the otherworld “Let’s get you all up to speed on the force that Major Jonathan Marlborough will lead into the otherworld”

We all nodded as we all turned our focus to the paper with diagrams and lists on the table “As per what the commission telegram has instructed, 6000 civil and military personnel will join this endeavor of reconnaissance to the otherworld. This will become a joint civil-military operation so that means the purpose of this cooperation is purely to find out what is out there in the otherworld, not to involve yourself in a clash unless if necessary to resort to retaliatory use of force, and to set up a temporary base there. The civilian non-combatant personnel of 500 men and women will consist of journalists, civil engineers, scientists, philosophers, archaeologists, historians, and explorers from all around the world. You must protect them at any time, especially when faced with uncertainties or possible threats that may endanger them. Is that clear, Major?”

I nodded to reply “Loud and clear, Sir”

“Good, next up the Military personnel. Before we get into detail about the unit composition, I would like first to present you with your transport unit that will carry your people around the world. We know that they have beasts like nothing we have ever seen before that could possess a severe immediate threat and they also have dragons but we are able to neutralize them with the help of the RAC” The Colonel then turned to the Air Corps senior officer, Flight Colonel Hogan “If you would please do the honor, Sir Hogan” he said to the RAC officer before stepping back from the round table

“Of course, Sir Kingston” Flight Colonel Hogan replied as he took the place of Colonel Kingston “We of the RAC assigned the Airship HMA Victorious to help you carry out this mission. She had just arrived early this morning at the RAC airfield in North Delhi and ready to sail or should I say…fly”

Huh!? Did I hear him correctly? Do they want to add HMA Victorious, one of our most prided airships into the force? Good God! That’s a huge addition to the force and might as well be the main contributor to this operation. With this, it will be easy to scour a large area without worrying about being spotted easily. But they also have dragons which poses a significant threat to the Airship but HMA Victorious is equipped with several high caliber maxim guns that can help to repel the dragons. They also have a wide space for aerocraft that can store up to 50 aerocraft and provide adequate space for take-offs and landings

“Along with HMA Victorious, a total of 1000 RAC personnel has been assigned to the force. And in addition, 50 aerocraft on board the Victorious that includes 40 interceptors and 10 devastators” He continued

After the RAC officer finished about the assignment of RAC units, Colonel Raleigh of the Raj Army now stood beside Flight Colonel Hogan and he immediately began his part “And as for the Army addition to your force, the Royal Army assigned 1500 troops, including the Rifles that you originally led and the Raj Army assigned 2000 troops along with 500 Commonwealth troops from Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. And along with them, 25 Armored Tractors, 50 Artillery pieces, and 25 Maxim guns. These will be the troops under your command and you will have some subordinates to help you manage them and those from the RAC” He then turned to the other four officers, NCOs with ranks below me, a Royal Army officer in red coat but with the Crown’s badge, a Raj Army officer also in red coat but with the Raj’s poppy badge, a RAC officer in blue coat, and a Royal Engineer officer in blue almost dark

The two seniors then stepped back as General Hulls spoke once again “And one more thing, Major. There’s another element in your that is not written in that commission telegram you have in your hands nor the one on the table” He then turned to a door behind him “You all can come out now”

I looked at him with a questioning look as the door behind the General opened and five people came out from that door. The presence of these five people in here got me caught off guard. One of them turned out to be someone that I recognized from the otherworldly attack yesterday, a Raj Dragoon whom I had ordered to send message to the HQ to send the Relief force. Without him, I’m not sure that I can stand here today. I really need to thank him for that

As for the four people with him… Let’s just say it’s quite odd for them to be here as they should’ve been in custody as prisoners of war from the otherworld. Their physical features are similar to humans with just a few differences with the pointy ears and rather slim-built. They wore some sort of sleeveless half-cut tunic with exposed midriff with forest-ish patterns, brown short pants, and yellow boots. That’s right, these are the Elven archers of the otherworldly army that we defeated yesterday and all of them are women who had surrendered to us after the remnants of our defeated foes fled back to their original world and left their Elven comrades behind.

Or at least I assumed them to be mutual comrades-in-arms until I found out that these Elven archers were actually slave soldiers that those monsters treated as their… toys. Before they had shackles on their necks, but we managed to break those shackles that held their freedom than with us holding them prisoners. I’m glad that they decided to surrender and not join their slavers. Their presence in this room surprised both me and my friends from the Rifles

“Hey, it’s you! you’re the one that I send to deliver relief message to the HQ aren’t you?” I asked the Raj Dragoon

The Raj Dragoon nodded and saluted me “Yes, sir that’s right. My name is First Sergeant Edwin Lake of the Raj 17th Dragoon. Apologies for not introducing myself early during the middle of the incident”

“Stand easy, Sergeant. You don’t need to apologize. In fact, I should be thanking you for delivering the message. It saved many lives” I told him. I turned my attention to the female elves with him “These are the elven archers of the otherworldly army who surrendered to us, correct?” I asked him

“That is correct, Major Marlborough”

That got me startled. The one who replied to my question is not Edwin but instead, it was one of the elves, a beautiful middle-aged woman in her thirties with fair white skin, ruby red eyes, white hair, and pointy ears who suddenly answered my question in such a perfect English with an ordinary British accent. I thought that they can only speak in Latin or was there someone with a very good Latin that taught these elves to speak English

The elf woman smiled in amusement “Let me introduce myself, I’m Captain Thalia Magnesia. Hmm? Are you also surprised by this, Major Marlborough?”

“Actually yes, I thought that you people only speak Latin” I replied

“So I’ve heard. You called that language as ‘Latin’ but we know them as ‘Romatin’ and this language is commonly used by the demons, those who you defeated yesterday and our former owners” When Thalia said that last part, she gritted her teeth. The other elves turned to the floor, feeling uneasy about their slave past. I can’t imagine what it’s like to be them, It’s not their fault for acting like this, afterall… they went through so much “…sorry, I just remembered some horrible things that those monster had done to us”

“No, it’s all right. It must’ve been painful for all of you to remember” I told her

She smiled and nodded “Thank you, kind Sir” She then let out a cough before continuing what she was saying about the otherworld language “Anyway… the language that you people use, ‘English’ is similar to the language our people use, humans and elves called Holinian which is used in almost all countries in our world except for some few other, including the Demonic Kingdom and the words used in our language are just as the same as the ones in the language of your people"

“Is that so? Well, this will make it easy when we encounter people from your world. Just when I thought that I would need the help of Irish Catholic priests just to help with interpretation” I remarked

Thalia looked at me with a questioning look “I don’t know who you’re talking about. But I suppose you don’t have to” She replied

I chuckled “I suppose so” Then something clicked in my mind. This will contribute greatly to our mission: preliminary Intel “Thalia, there’s something I need to ask of you. But before that, have you told everyone here about your world?” I asked her

She shook her head in response “No, I haven’t. I’ve only told about my world to Sergeant Lake over here and my comrades probably have told the same thing to the ones that held us in custody” She glanced to Edwin who only nodded as confirmation to her statement

“Uh-huh… if you would indulge in my request, May I know everything about your world? Countries, factions, creatures, religions, anything at all about your world. All of the information from you and your comrades would prove crucial in our mission” I asked her

In turn, everyone in this room including General Hulls and Colonel Kingston but minus Edwin and the other elves turned their attention to Thalia. They looked at her, waiting eagerly for her to tell us everything that she can tell us about her world that is still unknown and mysterious especially as we have yet to enter this world. Yes, preliminary information is indeed important in almost every aspect of our life. But learning about something that is clearly new to us, even unknown is something that many people in this era yearned for

“If that’s what you think, then I shall tell you everything about our world”

And so, Captain Thalia, the Elven archer from another world, our future partners, began to regale the tale of her world, the otherworld where soon we will set our foot there and mark a new history in both our world and the otherworld

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***