He heard belabored breathing. More snapping twigs. "I think I can rule out thieves," he said to himself, for these folk are not making any attempts to hide themselves. He searched the horizon and quickly found where the sounds were coming from despite the dark. The approaching figures came from the community.

  "Hail!" the newcomers said, clearly -- and loudly -- announcing themselves not only as people, but as morally upright people. By loudly calling, he knew they were not likely to surprise and overpower him in an effort to steal he and his party's items.

  "Hail! Come over by the fire," he replied.

  The newcomers came by the fire as he asked. He bade them to take seats or kneel and enjoy themselves. They did and after moments of verbal static -- "Why, thank you, young master,' and grunts and quick thanks for his hospitality -- he saw five hardy men from the village. I bet they are warriors training under that guy, what's his name, he thought.

  "Thank you for seeing us, young master,' the leader amongst them said, a man whose features were obscured by the darkness but who otherwise seemed fine.

  "No problem at all. Tell me, though, what is your purpose here with me tonight? Could your business not have waited until the day had yawned?" he asked them, not exactly irritated at their visit, just confused.

  "Sure. It is late. We are actually just starting our day. We wanted to drop by before our field work began. You've probably guessed as much by now, but we are from the village. Trainees at the village's martial program. We worked for you earlier and were wondering if you had or might have any future work for us?" the man asked.

  He thought it over. Then said, "Probably. Likely more manual labor. Getting our own fields going, maybe. We are clearing out the inside of the bunker. Lots of fae constructs are littering the place. If you've ever heard of 'em... while we are clearing the fae out, I could see how having some people tend our fields would be useful. I would have to clear this endeavor with my team, though."

  The leader appeared to blink, but he couldn't be sure. "Fae?" They asked.

  Explaining to them what a fae was, poorly, he thought, due to his tiredness, he summed up his explanation by saying, "And that's that. Fae are like weird automotrons but born from ancient technology. I guess they don't pose much danger to the weary, but the inexperienced should stay far away."

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  "I can't say I have ever heard of these 'fae,' but if they are hostile Life Forms then we can help put them down. We are warriors-in-training, after all," the man he was speaking with spoke.

  "That you all are!" he said. "As I said, I will keep your needs in mind. On a related note, are any of you opposed to joining a Martial Order? I am not asking you to join mine, but I am saying this, we have some accomplishment under my belt. And not to toot my own horn, but I am an up-and-coming autonomous commander of the royal army. You could do worse than to join us..."

  The group he talked with made a lot of noises. Some were against the notion of joining, especially if it was in exchange for work, but he made an effort to calm them of that belief, saying, "No, no, no. Don't get it twisted. You will still be able to work for us if you don't join the order. I am only curious what people's thoughts about this is."

  True to their word, their morning shift beginning soon, the group departed camp only twenty minutes or less after they came.

  Coming from his tent, Jiehong said, "I heard the bunt end of that. I'm surprised that didn't overstimulate you."

  "Me too, actually!" he replied, seeing Jie take his seat and prepare himself a cup of tea from the large communal pot. "Maybe it's because I am already overtired, so now my head is working extra-efficiently?"

  Jie merely smiled as his brother droned on about possibilities. It was the same look he always had when he was humoring someone. "Who can tell?" he said, but cheerfully.

  He caught Jie up to speed about what parts of the conversation between he and the village laborers Jie had missed before he woke up. He went over every point, just so Jiehong was updated on the situation.

  With the details covered, Jie said, "Yeah. That sounds great, honestly. We came in under budget with the excavation labor. Investing more of our raw funds in fieldhands would be a wise move, I think, especially if this bunker cleansing and mapping is going to be more involved than we thought."

  Ready to go to bed himself and catch some much-needed 'Zzzzs,' Zan was about to head to their shared tent when he said, "Can you imagine being these villagers? Getting up at this time to get ready for your work? We got up early at the lumberyard and mine but this early?! Isn't it crazy!?"

  His brother only shrugged. "Is it crazy? It isn't much different from our labors back then. Not from my understanding of it, anyway. As young people of a certain age, we were allowed to sleep in some. Had we been adults, though, we would have been up at a time comparable to these folk. Besides, I think these folk are only up as early as they are because they are trying to get their community service work done before that trainer starts on the actual reason they are here -- for martial skill. I am sure the fieldwork is a warm-up."

  "I didn't know that" he said, feeling slightly morose over the thought of getting up even earlier than he had back in their town. "Color me lucky the Expanse invaded..."

  Jiehong burst out laughing. "Finally! Some of that bleak humor! It's been a long time since you've cracked a joke like that..."

  "Has it? I guess comedy wasn't on the agenda while we were fighting for our lives," he said.

  "No. And that is fine. It's good to see your comedic timing, though. It's been far too long."