Although His Majesty had allowed Lancer to continue staying in the palace guest room, once he officially joined the Imperial Guard, he moved out of the palace and into the barracks.
During that time, His Majesty tried several times to persuade him to stay, but Lancer politely declined each time. After all, no sensible person would take advantage of someone else's gratitude indefinitely. No matter how strong the feeling, gratitude faded with time. Instead of clinging to such a "favor," he figured it was better to leave a good impression by refusing.
He wasn't sure if this goal was truly achieved, but he felt the decision couldn't be wrong.
On another note, Lancer had originally expected trouble when joining the Imperial Guard. Rumor had it that all Imperial Guardsmen were either promoted from lower armies or recruited among renowned experts. Someone like Lancer—completely unknown and parachuted in—should've attracted resentment. But reality was surprisingly different.
Word of how he had single-handedly killed multiple Danger Beasts without a Teigu or Shingu spread quickly through the Imperial Guard, thanks to the captains who'd witnessed the event while protecting the Emperor. In an army, as long as your personality wasn't unbearable, strength alone earned respect.
Thus, when Lancer joined, not a single person gave him trouble. Everything went smoothly.
...
Time flew, and he had already spent more than a month in the Imperial Guard.
General Budo now stood by the training grounds, arms folded, face stern as he watched the troops below. No one knew what he was thinking.
Yet his eyes drifted to Lancer from time to time—because at this moment, Lancer looked far too "ordinary."
Truly, ordinary.
The Imperial Guard was divided into lancers, sword-and-shield fighters, and archers. Naturally, Lancer joined the spearmen. But during their initial drills, he had stuck out terribly—within a neatly ordered formation, even a single off-beat element stood out like a sore thumb.
It wasn't that Lancer lacked technique. He'd simply never been in an army and didn't understand formations, so he couldn't coordinate with others. Even when performing movements perfectly, something still felt wrong. Budo even spoke with him privately.
There was no doubt Lancer's strength was on par with squad leaders, maybe even higher-ranked officers. But without experiencing army discipline firsthand, Budo refused to promote him—this was his rule.
So he gave Lancer a challenge: "If you can properly integrate into this army, I'll approve your promotion."
Budo knew full well that keeping Lancer as a common soldier was wasteful. He expected it would take time—yet Lancer managed to blend into the Imperial Guard in just half a month.
How did he adapt so fast?
The reason was simple: at first, Lancer held resentment toward the Imperial Guard—after all, wasn't Night Raid supposed to be the protagonists?
But after spending time with them, he realized the Imperial Guard was just a group of ordinary people. They had no real political stance; they were simply obsessive fans of General Budo.
Indeed, just as Budo had fanatical loyalty to the Emperor, these soldiers had their own strange devotion to Budo. In Lancer's words: "They're just a bunch of guys without their own opinions."
Maybe someday in the "future" they'd become executioners. But right now, they were just normal soldiers keeping order. Given that, what was the point of holding a grudge?
Once he got past that mental barrier, integrating into basic spear formations was easy for someone with Lancer's natural affinity for the lance.
And so, inevitably, Lancer was promoted to squad leader within the Imperial Guard.
...
Although the Imperial Guard was stricter than other units thanks to General Budo, he wasn't without humanity. He disciplined fairly, understood reward and punishment, and knew when breaks were necessary. Imperial Guardsmen enjoyed generous leave, and squad leaders like Lancer could leave the barracks freely as long as they had a proper reason—such as tonight's celebration of Lancer's promotion.
Lancer had attended plenty of similar "social drinking" gatherings back at the CCG, so of course he didn't refuse. After all, he intended to spend quite some time with these people.
However, when someone asked what they should do after drinking, the expressions of the men around him suddenly grew strange.
"I know a new place that just opened. Discounts lately, and lots of fresh goods."
"Tch—Fresh goods? What's the point? They don't know anything, waste your energy, and you gotta be careful not to scare them off. Boring."
"You think everyone's like you? Whatever, go visit your usual mistress."
"Lancer-shōi, what do you think?"
What do I think? I think I'm standing here confused! How would I know?!
If Lancer didn't understand at first, it became crystal clear as the conversation went on. The group of men around him—each five or six years older—were discussing a certain…nighttime activity.
"Ahem. Sorry, I'm not very familiar with that."
The moment he finished, a soldier roughly his age lit up:
"Ohhh, Broooo, I didn't know you're still a virgin! No worries, no worries—it's on me tonight! A celebration!"
"Uh…isn't that a bit inappropriate?"
As an upstanding young man raised in the modern age, Lancer instinctively rejected such behavior. But as the old saying went—"the mouth refuses, but the body is honest." Though he refused verbally, he didn't shake off the friendly arm slung over his shoulder.
His comrades didn't expose his tsundere act. Instead, they exchanged knowing grins and cheerfully dragged him out of camp toward the slums…
However, on the way there, a dispute broke out regarding which establishment to take him to.
The older captain argued for his usual spot. His reasoning: "Your first time should be entrusted to someone experienced—man or woman."
Another soldier countered, "The girls at the new place are well-trained. It won't be that different. Young men should be bold and explore new worlds!"
Although the second man sounded far more passionate, Lancer felt his expression was way too shady.
And yet, somehow—
Why do I feel like his argument actually makes sense…?
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T/N: IS LANCER ABOUT TO POP HIS CHERRY