It was barely a week since they Prides had ventured into the enemy’s land and Seulgi already had a bad impression about this country called Wei’Ya. The people whom they have met en route was none like that of Qi’An. They were all scheming, mercenary, and petty. Twice, their inn-keepers had tried scam them by charging them exorbitant rates for their rooms. One of the workers at the inn had even tried to steal their horses. Fortunately, Jongin had spotted the attempted theft while going for a stroll in the night and had given the thief a deep gash on his face. A mark of shame.     

It was fortunate that she had volunteered herself and her band of brothers for this mission because the Colonel of Qi’An could sense that this was a land that was not easy to navigate through and survive in.

The five spies learnt that military recruitment in Wei’Ya takes place every two weeks and the next would be the day after. All five of them were nervous but pumped up, eager to get started with this mission. Seulgi was no different. The former Colonel of Qi’An was already missing her Strategist and wished to go back as soon as she could.

Seulgi had overheard many conversations between hot-blooded youths eager to enlist into the military and felt nostalgia seeping through her while reminiscing about the time when she had first enlisted into Qi’An’s troops.

The recruitment process was easy, the only tricky part was in the medical examinations where Seulgi had conveniently bribed her way through. To many, the difficult part would come in the mandatory enlistees’ training that would come after. They were usually focused on physical workouts and Seulgi expected the procedure in Wei’Ya to be no different.

With the obscenely massive amount of money they were given by the Crown of Qi’An for travelling expenses, Seulgi, and perhaps even all five of them could easily bribe their way through. To avoid suspicions however, Seulgi had arranged for Baekhyun and Kyungsoo to enlist into the Wei’Ya troops in the next round whilst Chanyeol, Jongin, and herself would enter first.

True to her expectations, Seulgi had easily passed the medical examination with a single tael of silver given to the greedy medical officer. She came out untouched. Greed sometimes makes things easier to accomplish, especially when you are abundant with money.

However, contrary to her expectations, in the country of Wei’Ya, there was another round of test, a test of their physical abilities. There was no way anyone could bribe through this stage because overseeing the tests, were ranked soldiers and on this day, one of the Colonels of the Wei’Ya had personally came down to watch.

Murmurs broke out amongst the potential enlistees and Seulgi soon found out the reason for the unrest. The Colonel, Colonel Zitao, would be the one overseeing the tests this day. Colonel Zitao was known to be the most promising soldier in the army and the reason was mainly because he hailed from a prestigious family. Seulgi tried to mask her discomfort. If that was the case then this Colonel might have been somewhat similar to her yet Seulgi found out that she was entirely mistaken in her thoughts.

The first time Seulgi crossed path with this Colonel Zitao, she knew that they were predestined to be enemies. The Colonel had cruelly opened a wound on a fellow enlistee’s shoulder with his blade when the male had not gotten out of the Colonel and steed’s way quick enough.

Jongin was so riled up that he had almost gotten out of the line to stand up for the injured enlistee. Fortunately, Seulgi knew Jongin’s temperament well enough and held onto her fellow comrade’s arm firmly in time.

“Don’t forget where you are,” Seulgi whispered fiercely.

Seulgi could feel the sinews in Jongin’s arms as he clenched his fist hard. Then after taking a few deep breaths, Jongin had finally calmed down, and removed Seulgi’s hand. However, the slight scuffle between the two of them had caught the attention of the Colonel.

With her heart drumming fast, Seulgi tried to put on a calm front. Unlike when she was back in her homeland, Seulgi easily felt vulnerable when faced with such a situation. The Colonel stopped right before Seulgi.

“You… are enlisting?” The Colonel directed the question to Seulgi in a scathing tone.

Seulgi made sure to keep her head down and look submissive as she replied, “yes.”

The Colonel burst out into a laughter. “You won’t go far, enlistee. With that body built of yours, you had better give up earlier.”

Swallowing the lump that had formed in , Seulgi could only nod and accept the humiliation. There were bigger matters at stake and she knew that she must swallow her pride. She could only pray that Jongin who was beside her could reign in his anger as well but he could not. Jongin’s face was as dark as the storm clouds and he had clenched his fists so tightly that his arms were quaking.

The Colonel then directed his attention to Jongi