Chapter 932 Unexpected request


    Erik straightened and nodded respectfully at Sergeant Markham as the man approached. He prayed he had fooled the officer with his performance.


    "You fought well out there, Fink," Markham said. "When did you learn to fight like that?"


    Erik shrugged. "I was just mad, sergeant. When those beasts came charging at the gate, I wasn''t thinking much."


    Sergeant Markham eyed him. "Perhaps. But your strikes seemed practiced and efficient. I know rage when I see it, and that wasn''t it."


    Erik hesitated, but in the end, he doubled down on his previous statement. "I don''t know, sir, but I was certainly enraged. I wasn''t really thinking about what I was doing."


    Sergeant Markham watched him a moment longer, then nodded, satisfied.


    "Well, you held your own. That''s all that matters."


    He sped Erik''s shoulder. "You might get a promotion if you keep this up, Fink."


    Erik nodded, giving a small smile. "Thank you, Sergeant."


    With ast nod and squeeze of Erik''s shoulder, Markham turned and moved away, continuing his inspection of the soldiers, hoping his team was still alive and well.


    Erik let out a quiet sigh of relief as the man left. It seemed his performance had convinced the sergeant, at least for now.


    He would need to be more careful from now on to avoid raising the man''s suspicions. But, of course, Markham wasn''t the only one he had to pay attention to.


    Erik then headed to the walls. An officer directed him to stand guard on the walls for the rest of the day.


    …


    …


    …


    As night fell, Erik still stood watch with his fellow soldiers. The hours had passed slowly, with little to upy their minds besides scanning thendscape for signs of attack.


    A soldier pulled out his ration bundle and began eating. Erik followed suit, opening up his own provisions.


    "You fought well out there today," one of the men said to Erik. "I was terrified to die today, but thanks to you, I''m alive."


    "Aye," another said. "The way you took down that big bear thing, I thought for sure it had you. Good to have you watching our backs."


    Erik nodded. "Thanks," he said. "d I could help."


    The men returned to eating infortable silence; thepliments easing some of the tedium of their watch. Erik nibbled at his food, his mind only partially on the meal since he was considering the day''s events.


    As Erik finished his meal, two ckguards approached the group of soldiers.


    "Who is Ben Fink?" one asked.


    The other soldiers turned to look at Erik, who froze, his mind racing.


    "That would be me," Erik said, rising to his feet and making a military salute. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    The first ckguard eyed him. "You muste with us," he said.


    "What? Why?"


    "That''s ssified."


    Erik, at that point, could only nod. Erik was already thinking of killing the two ckguards and steal another dude''s identity. For that reason, he followed the two men, but once they were alone, the two turned to look at him.


    "You are not in trouble, young man. Our superior wants to talk to you. We couldn''t say it in front of the others, but we can''t tell you why."


    <Ah… fuck… That''s a surprise. >


    Erik nodded again, following the ckguards as they left the wall. As they walked through the garrison grounds, Erik remained calm while considering what the fuck was happening.


    The ckguards led him to a small office, where a man sat waiting.


    The captain sat behind arge wooden desk that was stacked with papers and reports. He was a middle-aged man based on the voice, but his face was hidden by the ckguards'' usual mask.


    As Erik entered, the captain looked up and scrutinized him through narrowed eyes, but Erik couldn''t see it. After a long moment, he gestured to the chair across from the desk.


    "Sit," he said in a stern tone.


    Erik moved towards the chair and sat. The captain studied him for a few beats more before speaking again.


    "I understand you fought well outside the gates today," he said. "Sergeant Markhammended your skills, even."


    Erik nodded and sat up straighter as the captain spoke.


    "My men have seen you fight on multiple asions over the past month. It is no small feat to impress a ckguard, yet you have done so multiple times." The captain paused, fixing his gaze on Erik. "Would you consider joining our ranks?"


    <What?!>


    That was unexpected. Erik stole the identity of Ben Fink to gather intelligence primarily about Volkov''s men and then about the ckguards.


    But if he joined the dreaded ck-d guys, the amount of information he was going to gather was bound to be even better than whatever he would have learned from Volkov''s soldiers.


    On the inside, Erik felt a surge of triumph. Outwardly, he remained calm and collected as he responded. "I would be honored to join your ranks and serve the ckguards."


    The captain nodded. "Good. I expect grand things from you, soldier. Report to the barracks tomorrow at dawn for you to fill some paperwork and get briefed about the situation, and, most importantly, to get your ck suit. Since for now you will be stationed here in New Alexandria, what you are going to do won''t be different from what you did until now. The only difference will be from whom you will take your orders."


    The man paused. "Don''t bete; you will have a lot of papers to sign."


    "I will be there, sir," Erik said.


    The conversation continued afterward until the captain dismissed him and Erik left the office.


    As he walked across the garrison grounds toward the wall where he had been posted, Erik allowed a small smile to appear.


    Things were falling into ce better than he nned. Now inside the ckguard organization, the information he was going to provide to the rebels would be of high quality.


    If he yed it well, Ben Fink was going to be someone who would stay among the ckguards for a long, long time.


    Erik returned to his post on the wall, acting the part of a dutiful soldier while his mind spun with the possibilities that had just opened up.