Chapter 219 - The First Military Cut
"By order of the count, his entire town will be sold as slaves due to the attempted murder of an envoy of the count who sought to collect taxes.
Surrender peacefully or ... "
The count's envoy could not continue with his words when a stone hit his head, causing him to fall to the ground, where blood began to cover his face while his body trembled.
The guards who had seen the attack by the locals raised their shields, and their leader shouted.
"That only the children live, all the others must die next to this town that will be reduced to ashes."
Aiken, who was barely a five-year-old, just blinked silently as he watched all the people he knew die.
But despite the massacre, little Aiken did not move because he could not because the corpse of his mother was holding his hand while the corpse of his father was lying in front of him.
Which prevented him from running, but despite this, he could only see how the count's guards and mercenaries murdered everything in their path.
When he blinked he realized that a wooden stick was heading towards his head, so he closed his eyes and then he could hear the noise of a drum.
Opening his eyes, Aiken tried to regain his composure because he was quite upset by the dream he had.
Putting his hand on his face he swallowed a little saliva 'To think that I would dream again about my parents and the situation that led me to be a slave.
I guess it's something I'll have to live with my whole life. '
After this, he quickly got up from his bed and went to a bell that was in the room to wake everyone up.
He did that according to the explanations Einar had given at night. Since he was the sergeant, that was one of his duties.
"It's time to wake up we have to go to the kitchen to get our hair cut. We have only 10 minutes or I will have to impose punishments.
Remember to make your beds because if I found out that one of you did not do it, you are going to suffer the consequences. "
All the slaves, upon hearing Aiken's words, opened their eyes and started to get up. Drew, who had some dark circles, could only stretch his hands.
Before you get up and start fixing your bed, when everyone was ready.
Drew arranged everyone in a line and marched them to the kitchen tables so they could get their haircut before they could start their morning workout.
When the Beta team left their barracks, they realized that for the moment they had been the first to leave, so they rushed to their destination.
Einar, who was drinking some pine tea, looked at how the entire Beta group was advancing in a row. So a smile formed on his face.
'Just as I thought the Beta group could become the first group of special forces of the tribe.
Even if there are only 10 people, I will make sure that each of them can kill at least 100 enemies before dying.
But I shouldn't get ahead of myself and get carried away for just one day. I need a lot more time to be able to draw a conclusion. '
When Drew arrived in front of Einar, he put his feet together and gave him a military salute "Herald Einar, introducing the Beta team for the haircut scheduled for the morning."
Einar took a sip of his pine tea and stood up "You can rest Lieutenant, I want you all to cut your hair using this tool."
From the table he took a wooden box which he opened, revealing an iron tool that seemed to have two handles which seemed to move some blades that were on top of the tool.
"This is a manual hair clipper. It is something that I have been working with for the last few weeks in order to create it.
Fortunately for you, the day before I was given this functional prototype which you must learn to use because in the camp it is completely forbidden to have long hair or unshaven beards.
I'm going to show you how you should cut your hair and beard only once, in the same way that I do it, you should teach the next team to come.
It understood slaves! "
All members of the Beta team put their feet together and saluted, while shouting in unison.
"Yes, Herald Einar."
Einar then looked at Aiken and motioned for him to take a seat in a chair.
Aiken, obeying Einar's orders, sat on the wooden chair and began to listen as he gave directions to Drew to closely observe the haircutting process.
The first thing he did was place a kind of leather apron around Aiken's neck which completely covered his shoulders, back and chest.
When he finished, Einar looked at Aiken seriously "When I tell you not to move, you will have to stay completely still because it is dangerous for you to move your head.
If I move your head, you will have to stay in that state until I move it again.
I hope my orders are clear to you, Sergeant Aiken. "
"Yes, Herald Einar."
After hearing Aiken's confirmation, Einar started using the hair clipper. While doing so he began to explain to Drew how the tool should be used.
Aiken for his part just relaxed as much as he could as he felt strands of his hair fall.
"You must remember to be careful when cutting hair, because you can damage your partner's scalp. This is always done seriously and without any jokes.
Also, Lieutenant Drew, you must remember to be careful when cutting near the ears, as they are quite sensitive and a bad cut can cause a real problem. "
As time went by, he could feel his head begin to feel less heavy and somehow he felt much more comfortable than normal.
When Einar finished cutting Aiken's hair, a smile formed on his face as the machine worked perfectly for a military-style haircut, he remembered.
"This was the way to cut the hair. It is important that after using the machine you must use a brush to clean it.
Also, with that same brush you should clean the head of the person whose hair you have cut as best you can.
Now it only remains to teach you how to use a razor to be able to shave correctly.
Sergeant Aiken, keep your face completely steady and don't move it as cutting off your beard is dangerous if you move. "
After finishing saying those words, Einar took a wooden jug that had water in it. Then he put some powdered soap on it.
"It is important that for shaving you always use bar soap which has previously been converted into scratches, as this will create a sufficiently thick lather.
With which you can shave without damaging the skin so much. "
When he finished mixing the soap and after forming a kind of thick foam, Einar used a rounded brush to take a little foam, which he spread all over the part of Aiken's face where there was a beard.
When he completely covered his beard with foam, he took a dagger and showed Drew how to properly grip the dagger.
Once he was ready, Einar proceeded to cut Aiken's beard, which began to slowly fall along with the foam, to the leather apron where the cut hair was.
When the dagger was sufficiently full of hair, Einar used a piece of leather to clean it, after which he continued with the cutting of the beard.
At the end Einar nodded and looked seriously at Aiken "Now that your beard is trimmed I have to fix the back of your hair and your pills with the dagger.
Lieutenant Drew always remembers to outline the contours of the hair, after shaving as it is the last thing left for last. "
Using some Einar foam, he covered the sideburns and all the places where he was to outline the hair.
When he finished covering with soap, he began to use the dagger to cut the hair, moving Aiken's head from side to side.
When he finally finishes cutting, he uses a rag to wipe off the excess soap and takes some rubbing alcohol from a glass bottle; he wet Aiken's head and beard.
Who only bit his lip from the pain he was feeling. Einar just patted him on the shoulder.
"Alcohol is mandatory after using a dagger to shave, otherwise you can get infections from some cuts that cannot be seen with the naked eye."
After this, he handed Aiken a bronze mirror so that he could see his face.
Aiken, when looking at his face, could only caress his cheek as he realized that he looked much younger, not to mention that in his face he could see the figure of his mother.
A tear fell from his eye and he returned the mirror to Einar, but not before giving him a military salute.
"Thank you for this, Herald Einar ...
It is the first time in years that I can see my face completely rejuvenated; I was beginning to forget how it looked. "
Einar, who was curious to know why Aiken had shed a tear, only nodded silently, as there was plenty of time to know the stories of each of them.
Removing the leather apron that covered it, Einar shook it on the floor and handed it to Drew.
"You should teach Sergeant Aiken so he can cut your hair and beard. While you guys work on it I'll start preparing for his classes after breakfast, training and his mandatory bath. *
When Einar left, Drew motioned for one of his companions to take a seat in the chair so he could start cutting his hair.