As the people in the Moscow underground tavern began to move, Dir climbed out of bed in Moscow's Red City.
For some unknown reason, Dir had been restless all night, unable to sleep at all. He tossed and turned in bed for a while before finally deciding that since he couldn't sleep, he might as well get up.
He planned to inspect the troops, treating it as a surprise inspection to see how these new recruits were doing, and also as a test for them.
Recently, due to the heavy taxation work imposed on them, the morale of the Rostov Camp soldiers had become increasingly low. They didn't even train well on weekdays, with many even dozing off during training, and some even deserting.
Considering their situation, Dir was not overly harsh. He understood these men well, so he simply turned a blind eye to some of their slackness, pretending not to see it.
However, this was an army after all, and such a state could not be maintained indefinitely. Dir intended to use a surprise inspection tonight to wake these boys up, to make them assemble in the middle of the night and rectify their conduct.
Dir quickly put on his clothes and his insignia. Just as he was about to open the door to leave, Dir's hand suddenly stopped.
His hand stopped because he saw the chainmail on the clothes rack and the longsword hanging next to it. Normally, Dir would never have looked at them. It was just an inspection, what danger could there be?
But, as if by some strange coincidence, an unknown force seemed to be pushing him, urging him to put on his armor, wear his sword, and even grab his helmet.
Dir understood his subconscious actions this way: since he was going to do a surprise assembly, he should definitely dress more formally, so it would look proper.
Dir walked out of the room and saw the moon in the sky. It was a crescent moon today. For some reason, looking at the crescent moon, Dir began to feel restless again.
Should he find a priest?
Dir thought to himself, perhaps confessing to a priest could alleviate this state, but he would only be able to do so tomorrow.
Although it was deep into the night, this late hour had no effect on Dir.
Dir was not like those farmers who couldn't see anything at night due to poor nutrition. Wasn't the moonlight bright enough?
The Rostov Camp's barracks were located next to the Red City's personal guard dormitory. Dir easily made his way there, encountering a few personal guards on night patrol along the way. Dir signaled them not to make a sound, and they naturally cooperated. Most people in the Red City recognized Dir's face.
However, as he approached and entered the camp, Dir suddenly had a bad feeling.
He didn't see the night watch soldiers who should have been there, and the entire camp was much quieter than usual. This was not a normal phenomenon. On weekdays, when he came at night, he could hear many snores, but now there were only a few such sounds.
"Could it be a mass desertion? Damn it, if so, that's too bad. Have these people become so lawless? It seems I shouldn't have relaxed at the beginning. These guys are really taking advantage."
This was Dir's first reaction. He thought these people were gone because they had deserted. As for other possibilities, they hadn't even crossed his mind at that moment.
This made him much angrier. "I made so many concessions to take care of you guys, and you take an inch and ask for a mile? You really want to die, don't you?"
Thinking this, Dir walked straight into the camp, encountering no overt or covert sentries along the way. The more this happened, the more furious he became. "Damn it, what are they doing? They're completely disregarding his authority!"
He had repeatedly ordered that overt and covert sentries be placed every night, ensuring there were always enough guards, but now he hadn't encountered a single one. This clearly meant they had ignored his words.
Arriving at the assembly bell, Dir rang the bell with all his might. As the bell rang, a flurry of hurried sounds immediately came, and then the disheveled soldiers rushed out, many still adjusting their armor as they ran.
The sound also woke up many people in the personal guard dormitory. They came to the windows, watching the Rostov Camp assemble, muttering curses. "What are these people doing in the middle of the night? Can't they just sleep properly?"
The reason the Rostov Camp soldiers were so quick was mainly because Dir often made the Rostov Camp soldiers conduct night assemblies. This was a tradition passed down from the Moscow Camp.
Rostislav believed that as a standing army, their tasks, besides holding the line on the battlefield, also included a crucial one: timely response to potential riots and rebellions that could endanger the Prince.
The Moscow Prince's definition of this army was clear: they had to be able to fight and to protect. Rostislav knew about the many rebellions in Slavic history, and he had to take precautions.
Therefore, night assembly was also a key training item, precisely to allow soldiers to quickly put on their armor and assemble under any circumstances, and then set out to deal with those emergencies.
Although the training intensity of the Rostov Camp under Dir had decreased, night assembly had never been relaxed. It was also thanks to this assembly that this army still maintained the appearance of a military force.
If one did not wear armor and carry weapons during a night assembly, the entire hundred-man company would be punished. The same was true in the Rostov Camp. Gradually, after being disciplined a few times, night assembly was also mastered by these soldiers.
As Dir looked at the soldiers assembled before him, he felt his head was about to explode. The reason for his fury was simple: why were there only a little over a hundred soldiers in front of him?
This was utterly absurd. In Dir's estimation, a hundred or two hundred absentees would be acceptable, three hundred would require severe punishment, but what did four hundred mean? Half the camp was gone.
Prince Rostislav entrusted the Rostov Camp to him out of his trust, but with something like this happening, half the camp's men simply ran off in the middle of the night. How was he supposed to explain this to Prince Rostislav!
Just as Dir was about to erupt, suddenly, he thought of something else.
Dir had been keenly observing Moscow's sensitive situation lately, which made him very alert to things around him. And no matter what, so many people disappearing at once was simply not normal.
Dir began to pay attention to the details within the camp, and he quickly noticed many things: there were no signs of disorder in the entire barracks, indicating they had left in an orderly fashion. The silence of the soldiers before him suggested that they most likely knew something about all of this, but they chose to remain silent.
Dir had a bad feeling, but he didn't speak immediately. Instead, he continued to watch in silence. Now was not the time to speak. He would first see if these people below would say anything voluntarily.
"Does anyone know what's going on here? Does anyone know where the others went?"
Dir shouted at the soldiers, but they just looked at each other, not saying a word.
Dir instinctively thought these people were covering for each other. Whether this cover-up was due to fear of retaliation or camaraderie, there was only one way to solve it.
Then Dir looked at the soldiers, putting more pressure on them. This was his most common method of intimidating soldiers; few could withstand it.
As he watched, Dir couldn't help but look more closely at these soldiers. Suddenly, he noticed a commonality among them: crosses. Most of them had crosses on their chests.
"Is there anyone here who is not Christian? Those who are not, raise your hands."
Dir felt he had grasped the core of the problem, and a look of horror involuntarily appeared on his face, because if it was truly as he imagined, then...
Only a few people raised their hands, meaning that most of the soldiers here were Christian.
"God, I hope it's not what I imagine."
Dir continuously made the sign of the cross, hoping things weren't as he imagined, but as the saying goes, what you fear most comes true.
"There's a fire outside!"