The rooms and hallways of the garrison were as opulent inside as its exterior was beautiful.

  Chandeliers hung in the rooms, and ceiling murals from a long-forgotten era adorned the corridors.

  San and the others could hardly believe that this was supposed to be a garrison building for the army.

  Compared to this, even the army headquarters in Kaisan—which was itself an enormous and breathtaking complex—was nothing.

  With mouths agape, they walked through the halls, drawing laughter from some of the soldiers passing by.

  "Impressed, are you?" someone asked them.

  They stopped briefly.

  "You should be. This building dates back to the time before the Nyd.

  It's at least 300 years old.

  We don't know exactly what happened back then or what purpose this building served, but it seems like life was better for people back in those days, don't you think?"

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  San found this an intriguing question.

  While most of the others simply nodded absentmindedly and continued walking, he pondered whether life really was worse now than during the pre-Nyd era.

  As he mused, he gazed at a wall painting depicting a battle between humans, angels, and demons.

  "San! Are you coming?" his comrades called out behind him.

  He quickly snapped out of his thoughts and ran to catch up with them.

  They didn’t want to risk being late for their meeting with the commander.

  A few minutes later, they arrived at the commander’s office.

  It was their duty to report to their superior officer immediately upon arrival.

  In their case, that was now him.

  Just as San was about to knock, the door swung open, and a tall man with a full beard and a long black leather coat stepped out.

  He gave San and the other recruits a stern, grim look before walking away.

  They watched him for a brief moment when—

  "COME IN!"

  At the sound of the voice from inside, they hurried through the door and lined up in front of the commander’s desk.

  Seated on the other side in a large leather armchair, the commander had his back turned to them.

  He spoke in an irritated tone:

  "Who are you? What do you want?"

  "We’re the new recruits from Kaisan! Reporting for duty, Sir!" they shouted in unison.

  "The new recruits?"

  At that, he turned to face them, his expression dark and clearly annoyed.

  "It’s about time! Took your sweet time getting here, didn’t you?"