"Sir, yes, sir"
Oriana wasn't a military type of person. She could be pretty lazy and laid-back, and only really cared about having fun and causing chaos. The only thing that she had that could be considered somewhat militaristic was the effort she put into achieving her goals.
Such as the fifty press-ups she was in the middle of doing.
"Twenty-four, twenty-five. Keep that back straight. Twenty-six."
The taskmaster hovering around her must enjoy forcing others to do things like this. The smile on his face as he watched the new recruits said it all.
"Thirty-three, thirty-four. Come on, faster. Once you're done, you have ten laps to run. And I do not want to still be here when it's time for lunch."
Oriana while lazy, was pretty fit. She had to be for all the running she had been doing. Running from guards is what she was referring to. There was no way she could have got this far if she wasn't.
But while she thought that, apparently, she was nowhere near the level of what a peacekeeper should be.
Looking to either side of her, she saw a couple of the other recruits. She didn't know their names yet. Although she would probably only need to learn a few of them if they made it through this.
That was attested to by how the man on her left had been stuck lying on the floor since press-up number fifteen.
"Yeah, he won't be here for long." She thought to herself.
"Fifty. Good, now get up! Ten laps of the courtyard. Move it."
Even after being told earlier, it was still a shock to hear. The collective groan, to which Oriana joined in, told you just the same for the others.
But all she could do now was continue the exercise… and hopefully not die in the process.
The only other sounds around her as she ran were the other recruits' feet hitting the ground, swords clashing from other people training, and the taskmaster calling someone to take away the man who had collapsed during the press-ups.
"How did this all happen?" She thought to herself as she ran.
---
Getting into the Peacekeepers' headquarters had not been too difficult, surprisingly.
She picked out a new persona, Beatrice H. Oats, which she chose as a play on the word "hoax" without being too obvious. It was the peacekeepers' main base after all.
Then, finding her way to the pristine building in the middle of the city, surrounded by all sorts of propaganda supporting the peacekeepers, she found the main entrance.
There were all sorts of banners, tapestries, and posters dotted along the building, showing the Peacekeepers' motto, which was something about 'keeping the peace', unsurprisingly. There were also a few showing Peacekeepers taking down monsters, working with the heroes, all sorts of things to try and promote the group.
Moving to head in, she found that, while all the patrols coming and going from this place had a mage in the party, there didn't seem to be any in the immediate vicinity of the building. There were a few nearby, with the goblet on her chest giving her a chill, but she was able to keep her distance.
She would have to be careful of any mages in patrols that were inside or leaving the building, but other than that, it seems like she could just walk right in.
Was it too expensive to get mages for the main entrance? They only had so many in the patrols, and not all of them had mages with them anyway. Did they prioritise having mages in the patrols to search for her rather than keep them at the Peacekeeper hub?
That may have been the case. It was also possible that hubris and ego were involved. Who would be stupid enough to attack the Peacekeepers' base? With the number of peacekeepers inside, you would not win that fight. Maybe they considered that the case for someone wanting to infiltrate it as well.
Putting her good luck on the matter to the side, after checking there were no patrols heading in or out, she headed on in.
The look she had was that of an unassuming farmer. Someone with muscles from hard labour, clothes showing some damage from that labour, and a lack of funds. Along with the dirt smudges on her face, sun-kissed skin, and black hair that only brought out the shine of her amber eyes, she looked just like someone wanting to join the Peacekeepers.
Someone who could keep up with whatever training they would put her through, and was looking for a change in career to try and make a difference, but more likely, to earn more coin than they already did.
"Excuse me, I want to join the peacekeepers."
The woman at the front desk smiled upon hearing that. But once she saw Oriana, a slight frown graced her face.
"Are you sure…it's going to be tough work?"
Oriana made sure to look like she was actually contemplating things before she answered.
"Yes, I'm sure."
"Okay, don't say I didn't warn you. Now, can you read and write?"
"Mostly. Pa taught me."
"Good." The woman reached down for something. "Here, fill this out, and bring it back to me. You can sit over there if you want."
Taking the piece of paper over to the seating area, she pointed out, Oriana got to work. She filled in her fake name, hometown information, and all sorts of stuff, most of which was just lies, but she did add some truth here and there.
It's possible they would look into this stuff, but she hoped that the tragic backstory she created, plus her home village being tiny and far away, would dissuade them from prying and lead them to expect little information about her.
Handing it back, the woman then pointed to a nearby room, where she could see a few other people inside. So, she headed over.
She did get a little fright on the way when she felt the chill on her chest again. She jumped a little and looked around, but failed to find the mage who was probably causing it. She did, however, notice that the chill disappeared as she moved towards the building's entrance.
Which, unfortunately, meant whoever it was was deeper inside the Peacekeepers HQ.
For now, she was fine. They weren't right by her, so she just had to be more careful when talking around the building.
Reaching the door the receptionist mentioned, she saw that several people were inside the room and appeared quite varied in physique. A few looked like skin and bones, but the rest were generally either quite well built and fit. If anything, she was probably in between the two.
"Ah, the other applicants."
It had to be.
Heading in, she wasn't greeted. All she got was a few people looking up as she entered, then they went back to either sitting in silence or chatting in the small pair or group they probably came in with.
Thankfully, there wasn't a lot of time sitting in silence, as shortly after she entered, an incredibly muscular man entered the room.
"Right then, applicants. Time to see what you are made of."
The grin on his face frightened her for a moment. She should have realised then that things were not going to be easy.
---
Ten laps. Ten laps around the courtyard, after fifty squats, fifty sit-ups and fifty press-ups.
It was horrible. She had to imagine that this was close to how torture felt.
She did all this imagining from the floor, having collapsed at the finish line…along with the other applicants.
"Well done. You lot managed to pass. Welcome to the Peacekeepers."
She wanted to cheer. As did the rest of them. But all they managed to get out was groans.
"Ha, well, when you're feeling up to it, head inside, and get some grub in you."
At that, the muscular man/taskmaster/torturer left them to pant and gasp for air.
They were not alone in the courtyard; there were many others training. And from the looks on their faces, while they seemed to feel sad for them, there was a hint of enjoyment in having seen someone else experience the pain they likely did on their first day.
---
It took a little longer than she thought it would before she managed to pull herself off the floor. Only a couple of others had managed it before her, and there were still a few left cradled on the ground.
Heading into the building, she could smell the lovely aroma. Saying that, anything would probably taste good at this point. She just felt so hungry.
Everyone queued up for food, so she joined, and soon walked away with a tray covered in an assortment of grub, and, finding a nearby table that had just emptied, got to work scoffing it down.
She was just about to finish munching on the piece of chicken when a shadow crossed over the table.
"I know how you feel."
Two trays landed on the table, as two of the applicants, now Peacekeepers, sat opposite her.
Looking up, she found a man and a woman. Although with their age, it was probably fairer to say a boy and a girl.
This, though, was offset by how fit both of them looked. They must have undergone some serious training to look the way they did at their age.
"Michael."
"Sarah."
"…Beatrice ." She had to finish her mouthful before she could respond.
They probably would have continued talking after that, but with how exhausted they were, just introducing themselves was enough to tire them out, so they focused on the nutrients in front of them.
Scoffing down the soup, pieces of chicken and vegetables, Oriana was left with an empty tray, like the two in front. All of whom were now leaning back after the very enjoyable meal.
"You got room and board here, Beatrice?"
Beatrice looked over at Michael and saw his choppy red hair, covered in sweat, practically sticking to his face.
This was mirrored in the way Sarah's dark red hair, in a ponytail, was glued to the back of her head and neck.
"…No, I live just in the lower city, so I didn't see a point."
Plus, she liked it at the Inn. It was nice seeing Robert and his family each day.
"Lucky. We're from a village quite far from here," Sarah said.
"Well, not very far. But still way too far to be travelling there and back each day." Michael tacked on.
Oriana just nodded.
"Oh, and before you ask, we're brother and sister. Not a couple or anything like that."
"You would not believe how many people have asked if we were together. I don't know why people can't tell we're siblings."
Oriana looked up at the two. Aside from their red hair, which did have different tones, there were a few similarities. Their skin tones had a nice, natural tan, and their noses were quite petite but still well-defined. But other than that, they looked quite different.
Sarah's amber eyes contrasted with Michael's grey, almost silver ones. They both had sharp features, but Sarah's was just a bit softer.
Then there was their build. Michael was muscular. Enough that you could see his muscles just pushing against his clothes, but not enough that it looked odd…too much. She wasn't sure how best to describe it.
Sarah, on the other hand, looked incredibly fit. She had muscles, but they were not as pronounced as Michael's. She was clearly strong, yet it also added to her womanly attributes as well.
It made her realise that people asking if they were together were more likely to be asking because they wanted to know if they had a shot at dating one of them. They were probably so struck by how they looked, they hadn't even realised or thought about whether they were siblings at all.
"That is odd, I mean it is clearly obvious you're brother and sister. I mean, look at your hair."
"I know." Both Sarah and Michael said at the same time, almost comically, to prove the point.
Both of them laughed at that, and even Oriana found herself giggling at the absurdity of it.