Chapter 21
Chapter 21: Episode 010 Lost
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6 min read
The food in the forces was always superb. Even the soup was well-cooked, thick and nutritious, which was a major reason why the soldiers loved the cafeteria so much.
However, soup spilt onto a face was not an appealing sight.
When Rowdy Brightwill felt something dripping onto his handsome face, it instantly darkened.
"Ah, sorry about that."
Upon seeing Rowdy Brightwill’s distorted face, Flossie Wright stepped forward and started placing her own food onto the table, then insincerely started to apologize.
Seeing Flossie’s uncaring demeanor, Rowdy’s face darkened, his gaze gradually sharpening. He dared to bet that this outcome was within Flossie’s expectations or even orchestrated by her.
"Need a wipe?"
After Flossie Wright sat down, noticing that Rowdy petrified glance was still on her, she raised her brows, plucked a napkin from the table, and handed it to him.
Being in the spotlight, he couldn’t lose his temper. After reevaluating Flossie’s bad temperament, he gratefully accepted the napkin she handed over, forcing out a smile and said, "thank you."
"No need." Flossie replied casually, then immediately picked up her chopsticks and started eating her meal, showing no intention of touching their table’s delicious meal.
After wiping his face, Rowdy Brightwill looked at Flossie, who was eating so collectedly, and suddenly felt his chest a bit blocked.
Although his motive seemed a bit childish, inside he just wanted to lure Flossie with a table full of food. However, she didn’t fall into his trap at all, leaving him feeling somewhat helpless.
Abram Phillips, who had been watching all of this, shook his head helplessly while filling his beer as he mingled with the troops. Rowdy Brightwill, no matter how disciplined, still carried a bit of the soldier’s rampant persona.
And Flossie, trained by Drake Easton, seemed even more neck-and-neck with these soldiers.
"What are you all gawking at? Don’t you want to eat?!"
In the meantime, Drake’s stern voice echoed around the now silent cafeteria, instantly scaring the recruits who were watching Flossie and Rowdy. They all quickly withdrew their gazes and speeded up to get their meals.
Although the lunchtime kicked off with a hiccup, it continued peacefully afterward. Most recruits wolfed down their food, although some female soldiers couldn’t help but steal glances at Rowdy and speculate about the handsome new instructor.
As for Flossie, she was in the grip of a silent and subtle tension, making sure to eat all her food without giving Rowdy a chance to complain.
Rowdy was quite depressed.
Combat training was still on the cards for the afternoon, and Rowdy was again responsible for imparting the training.
The training method didn’t differ much from this morning’s session. After a cursory review of the moves learned earlier, he allowed them to practice freely, occasionally weaving through the crowd to observe their combat conditions, only stepping forward to correct or advise any deficiencies he saw.
𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖
Although Rowdy appeared friendly and approachable, he took training very seriously. If he caught someone making a mistake, they were in for a rough half an hour under his watchful eyes. His brutal directness was in line with Drake’s style, causing fear among the soldiers.
His stern methods ensured a surprisingly good training atmosphere among both male and female soldiers that even passing Abram Phillips commended the new instructor.
It wasn’t long before all this training came to a halt.
Two hours later, Rowdy blew his whistle, signaling the assembly.
Once everyone was in line, he had two male soldiers bring two boxes that were prepared earlier.
"Now we’re going to have a game. The game is simple, male and female soldiers each draw ten names at random, then we’ll draw lots to decide who competes against who." Rowdy started pacing slowly, with a deceptive smile on his handsome face, "Of course, a game without punishment is boring, so whichever side loses, they can forget about sleeping tonight."
There was a moment of silence across the field.
Then both groups of soldiers erupted.
Was he joking about male and female soldiers competing against each other? Female soldiers couldn’t compete with the strength of males. Naturally, the uproar was larger among the female soldiers, but the male soldiers too were in a dilemma. How could they go all out against the ladies when they clearly had the upper hand?
Nevertheless, when Rowdy began sternly calling out names post the beep of the whistle with the ledger still in his hand, nearly nobody thought it was a joke anymore.
For a moment, the entire field was filled with a sense of tension and helplessness.
"Jamson Eldeanor!"
"Calvin Ramos!"
After calling out the very last male soldier, Rowdy slowly switched over to the female roster while continuing to call names leisurely.
"Isabella Turner!"
"Janice Wood!"
"Jocelyn Carrington!"
His gaze moved across the entire roster. After the ninth name, Rowdy paused on an eye-catching name, and immediately lifting his eyes, he called out, "Flossie Wright!"
In that moment, Drake Easton, who was observing not too far away, furrowed his brow. This kid was acting recklessly again.
"All the names I’ve called, step forward!"
Having read out all the names, Rowdy announced decisively. At once, twenty soldiers bellowed "yes" and endeavored forward. He gestured them to proceed and draw their match numbers.
Two boxes, each containing ten numbers, those who drew the same numbers would compete, and the sequence of competition was also determined by these numbers.
"Calvin, did you draw ten?"
Just as Flossie glanced at her number, she overheard a voice from the crowd of male soldiers not far away. She furrowed her brows, finding the name "Calvin" somewhat familiar.
"Who drew ten on our side?"
Soon enough, the female soldiers mirrored the reaction. Each began searching for the soldier who drew the number ten.
Flossie gave them an inexplicable look. And once they began suspecting her after confirming their numbers, she held up her number tag.
Instantly, all female soldiers looked at each other in dismay. The atmosphere seemed to stagnate.
Even Janice Wood was taken aback upon seeing her number, murmuring resignedly, "Darn it, we’re doomed."
— End of Chapter 21 —