If Cain didn't already know the general culture of Militaria, the swap from the bookish and fanciful styling of Akashia to the militaristic infrastructuring of this territory would have likely given him whiplash. The territory was a powerful military back when the Godking was establishing the kingdom that it now found itself a part of. It was so powerful a military presence, the Golden Empire, Imperium of the Dragon, and Knightdom were incapable of even establishing a foothold in the nation. When looking at a map, Militaria was placed in a way that directly bordered the three empires, however, the mountainous nature of the border line made traversal difficult. Militaria was used to logistical movements in many types of terrain, granting them the resource management advantages. In fact, the territory had invented roads several centuries before the Godking's rise to power to allow for easier movement throughout. Eventually branching out to their allied nation of Akashia, which was reportedly how the Godking was able to keep his troops fed while warring with the near superpower of the time.
Even the palace of the high noble lady was more similar to a military barracks from the look of the outside alone. Soldiers running drills in the courtyard, everything from marching, practical combat, and magic combat. Cord couldn't help but notice a stark difference in the way the last was taught to the Militaran troops compared to the Akashian. The former having a higher focus on countering and stopping the opponent's spellcraft as opposed to using spellcraft to enhance their combative abilities. Between Akashia and Militaria, Cain was actually unsure whose troops were better trained in comparison. Agria had nothing on either, he was sure of that. These memories from his previous studies filled his mind as he walks the courtyard behind his escorts.
No matter how he looked at it, the fencing of each soldier here was much different from that of the Akashian magic knights. Prioritizing simple practical movements over the flashier style that Akashia was known for. This was primarily due to the incorporation of magic into Akashia's general fighting forces, the fanciful flourishes have been proven to help Akashians focus their spellcraft, comparing their most base fencing styles to said magic. At times, other, less knowledgeable swordsmen and women had been known to call these displays almost artistic. Though, they did still practice some regular fencing styles in case an opponent gets too close to use magic against in such a way or if the attacker was trained to counter combative spellcrafting.
Moving deeper into the courtyard there was a scene that caught his eye. A girl, his age, maybe a few months older, with hair red as crimson and eyes to match, holding a wooden practice sword against three men wielding spears. Cain was mesmerized by her, hair longer than seemed practical, loose for the breeze to slowly allowing the hair to flow, almost mimicking a flame flickering. He wasn't sure why this girl was given three practice partners while everyone else in the palace seemed to stay with single partners, but he had the suspicion that the answer was soon to come, especially after hearing what a seeming onlooker yells to the four of them.
"Begin!" The deep voice of what Cain suspected was some sort of referee resounds. Without any fanfare, the three holding the spears move first. The spearman closest to her opens with a thrusting motion, the girl sidesteps the attack and quickly returns a strike forward in response. Thwack! A clean hit to the spearman's shoulder, followed by an unconventional blocking maneuver, smacking the bottom of the pommel of the practice sword into the second spearman's spear tip to redirect his thrust, causing it to miss. She then turns quickly and swings her weapon towards the unprepared third. Thunk! She strikes at the man's head, quick, clean, simple, hitting flush to his unpadded skull and causing him to fall to the ground and roll in pain. Cain winces in sympathy. Then, back to the second spearman, a strike already launched to the girl's leg, swiftly countered with a stomp down, pinning the spear in place. The man, realizing that his primary weapon has been made unusable, instinctively reaches for his side arm while attempting to back away from the girl. Expecting this, however, and knowing that he doesn't have one for the practice fight, she chases. Thump! The strike was quick, hitting the padded belly of this one, causing him to click his tongue as the referee raises his hand to end the bout.
Cain couldn't help but be amazed at the spectacle he'd just seen. Not just anyone could defeat three spearmen with just a sword and no magic. In fact, defeating a single spearman with a sword and no shield was quite the ask for even the most skilled fencer. It was obvious this girl was special, which made him immediately think she was Militaran nobility. Another young girl ran over with a cup, handing it to the red haired one with a smile. She seemed excited that the redhead won the bout. Admittedly, Cain was rooting for her as well, if for no reason than he wanted the seeming underdog of the bout to win.
"Rocksalt!" Cain jumps at the sound of his name harshly loosing from the soldier escorting him. He'd realize he was staring and quickens his pace to catch up with the woman escorting him. He wasn't particularly happy that they were using his last name over his first, but he understood this was just normal for military groups to begin with. Militaria generally used last names to refer to one another unless attempting to separate familial members or speaking with and about close friends. This was a result of the territory's focus on being a military state. This would still take some getting used to however.
The palace was what you'd expect it to be, prioritizing practicality and military enforcements over what might be considered pretty or aesthetically appealing. Cain was even taken aback by how simple all of it was. He was sure that the floor plan would be so basic, he'd memorize it in an hour, compared to the couple of days it'd take at the previous two palaces he lived in. Even the room where the high noble lady was seemed to scream less "I'm a noble!" and more "maximum efficiency." It made Cain feel a bit out of place, all things considered. He'd spent a little over four years in the palaces of people who at least somewhat had a preference towards the more fancy parts of high society. He noticed the child's drawing on the noble lady's wall, framed, but chose to keep his mouth shut about it.
"So you're Cain Rocksalt?" The woman states in a deadpanned tone. Business, no pleasure in this at all it seemed. Cain didn't particularly mind this, it was different from the previous high noble women, but it was probably better this way. "I am general Shara Militaria." The red eyed, red haired noble says to him with a bow. Cain bows in return.
"Thank you for hosting me, my lady." He straightens to see an annoyed expression on the woman's face. He turns to the soldier, her left hand straight and tucked against her side while her right is pressed to her chest. Ah, right, it would make sense that he was supposed to salute to his superior here, her bow was likely just her acknowledgement of his status more than anything else. He copies the salute the soldier was giving quickly after. "Apologies, general! I did not intend to come off as rude!" The woman waves him off, seemingly deciding to forgive the boy for his mistake.
"At ease Rocksalt. You as well, Lorstalt." The woman soldier behind Cain releases her salute, Cain following soon after with a heavy sigh. She holds her arms behind her back, looking over the boy for a few moments with a tinge of disappointment in her face. "I expected you to be taller."
"I'm… twelve…" The woman shrugs at the boy and waves him off. As though his statement didn't interest her in the slightest. Instead, a clicking of her tongue makes him flinch, had he annoyed her again? Probably. He wasn't too familiar with Militaria's culture, so he wasn't sure how to act compared to Akashia or even Agria when he first became a noble. Those two territories weren't nearly as militaristic as this one is. The books on it tended to brush over the actual etiquette of the nobility therein. "Well, all I have to say is thank you for allowing me to stay here. I appreciate the chance to learn from the Militaria soldiers."
"Yes, yes, my daughter was quite irritated to find out she'd have a man in her platoon." Confusion crosses Cain's face for a moment. The woman takes a second to realize that the boy had no clue about the situation within Militaria. "Ah, I see, so you truly were acting out of ignorance rather than attempting to disrespect me. Apologies, there's just some conflict in our nation between sexes."
"What?" This was a strange revelation. The most worshipped being in the Kingdom of Heroes had made it clear that male and female were to be treated equally. The fact that the majority of the macronation was based on meritocracies was evidence of this in the minds of the majority of people.
"Before the Godking conquered Militaria, men were soldiers, women were housewives." She states to the boy with a sigh. She knew the other territories had little information on the political climate of Militaria, but she didn't realize that even in the modern era it was so well hidden that they didn't even realize that there were political parties within the territory that revolved around sex based discrimination. "Our military tends to be divided between men and women for that reason. Nowadays it tends to be petty slights and annoyed resentments, but it's still a problem."
"So, then, why place me in your daughter's platoon?" He asks, "Wouldn't that risk further conflict?"
"Simple, the brat pissed me off." The two stare at one another for a few moments in silence, Cain blinking a couple times, waiting for her to elaborate. "She said that she knew better than me, so now I'm forcing her to train you. Something she's going to hate, at least at first." Cain couldn't help but think this was an odd way to punish a child. "Besides, there's a very real chance you'll end up getting married to her one day."
"Right, politics, got it." Cain didn't want to be reminded that he was basically a stud horse to some extent. Being the only male noble in the kingdom of heroes since the death of the Godking, a union between himself and another noble family would be nothing but a status boost for the family. The look on his face causes the woman he was speaking to wince a bit. She'd never thought about how often he's probably heard that, enough to either get annoying or make him feel like less of a person.
"Anyway, she's likely out training in the courtyard. It would be a good idea to report to her and at least introduce yourself." She says with a nod to the soldier behind Cain. "Dismissed!" The woman turned away from the two of them, allowing the soldier to tap on Cain's shoulder and directing him out of the room.
Cain was taken out into the hallway and began walking towards the courtyard with his escort. It didn't take them long to see a small group of people arguing, Cain recognized them from the courtyard earlier. The redheaded girl, who looked exactly like the woman he'd just spoken to, the girl who excitedly handed her a drink after her practice match, as well as the three men who ganged up on the smaller girl and lost. There were two unfamiliar male faces, making the group outnumber the women, five to two. He wasn't quite close enough to catch what the argument was about, but he'd expected it had something to do with the practice fight. He also noticed that the three men who fought the girl seemed younger than the two new men that were at least a couple years older. All five were older than the two girls they were ganging up on though. Cain's eyes drifted to the hand of one man, slowly drifting towards the sword at his hip.