Let"s roll time back a little bit.
Irudo has finally come back, with the soldiers that he had hired in Lelis in tow.
I"m watching them coming through the castle gates one by one, but their suspicious behavior catches my eye.
"Leiha, why are they all looking around so restlessly? Like they"ve entered enemy territory or something."
As I address her while looking out at the courtyard from my window, I hear soft footsteps from where no one had been previously.
I recently realized that that is her signal to me that she had deactivated her invisibility magic.
"Most likely, they saw the construction — the Forest Giants — on their way here."
"Ah, so that"s why."
At Leiha"s serious answer delivered respectfully while on one knee, I hit my hands together with a "pon."
It"s true that at the moment, the sounds of trees being chopped with giant axes are still reverberating like explosions beyond the castle walls. Seeing 27 Forest Giants as tall as the average house in Lelis working on civil engineering work under instructions from dwarves must be a shocking sight indeed.
They"ve probably already heard rumors about me before, but seeing something like that with their own eyes makes it much easier for me to talk to them afterwards, so I suppose it"s good timing.
♥♦♣♠
Irudo came to call me, so I descend the main tower and face the new arrivals.
" "Margils! Great Wizard Margils!" "
The moment I appear, the 30 soldiers lined up neatly in the central courtyard begin calling my name repeatedly in unison.
There are also some new servants that Irudo had hired, so the impact of the scene is quite something indeed.
Thanks to my experience handling the guards and crowds at Lelis, my voice comes out fine.
"I am Gio Margils, the lord of Jiiteias Castle."
A shiver runs through my abdomen.
These 30 young people in front of me, I do not even yet know their names. They are "soldiers." When we fight against Shadow Demons, I intend on standing at the front myself, but it is still a given that they will be in battles where their lives would be on the line.
I cannot a.s.sume the att.i.tude that "the lives of my earlier companions are precious, but the lives of these soldiers are light."
I powerfully slam the b.u.t.t of my Wizardry Staff against the ground, using it to support myself. Irudo is standing slightly behind me to my side, Leiha is kneeling at a distance away, and I can see Mora tightly clenching her fists on the other side of the soldiers.
I approach the young man standing at the head of the ranks. He looks only around 20 years old. His youthful face is dyed red with excitement, and his eyes are sparkling while looking at me.
"Your name?"
"Lend, sir! Margils-sama!"
"Lend, I place myself in your hands."
As I thrust out a hand, his eyes grow wide with surprise. Only after quickly wiping his hand on his pants does he grasp my hand with strength.
It is impossible for me to build a deep relationship with all of them, but the least I can do is remember all of their names and faces.
"And you?"
"Sir! I"m Daaz! Margils-sama! It"s an honor, sir!"
"And you?"
…………
After shaking hands with even the servants, I once again return to the stone steps in front of the main tower, and look over all of them.
"People have continuously been threatened by Shadow Demons, and that has been an unshakable truth. But we have gathered here to overturn that which was thought unshakable! Everyone, lend me your strength!"
" "MARGILS! MARGILS!" "
The shouts of acclamation echo around the castle.
♥♦♣♠
"Everyone seems quite…… enthusiastic? Or dare I say, fanatic?"
"I"m sure that"s the case."
After the troop inspection, I had Irudo come to my room to deliver his end of mission report.
When he went through the Council of Lelis to recruit soldiers, a whopping 300 people applied.
The current 30 were selected after Irudo personally interviewed and screened all of them.
"Experience and physical strength were indeed factors, but what I valued most was how much Margils-sama"s goal resonates with them."
As a result, those 30 spots were almost monopolized by those who"ve had family members killed by Shadow Demons. Naturally, those who are only blinded by revenge against Shadow Demons are useless as soldiers, so Irudo didn"t hire any of those.
"Which is why half of them do not have any actual combat experience…… I"m deeply sorry."
"Don"t worry about it. More like, that way is better. You live up to my expectations every time."
Though I say that, their pa.s.sionate loyalty does make me feel a little apologetic. It"s better than being made light of, but I wonder if the thought that blind acceptance is not so good either is merely a j.a.panese opinion?
Similarly, the ladies employed as servants are also mainly widows who had lost their husbands because of Shadow Demons.
"Here is a comprehensive list of the soldiers, the other people that were employed at my discretion, and the items that I purchased."
The memo that he proffers is as follows:
Employed Personnel
Soldiers: 30 (all male, in their 20"s to 30"s)
Servants: 5 (middle-aged females)
Barn Manager: 1 (prime-aged male)
Barn a.s.sistant: 1 (adolescent male)
Items Purchased
Equipment for the soldiers: 40 sets (spares included)
Tools & raw materials needed for equipment maintenance
Uniform, clothing, and bedding for the soldiers: 40 sets
Various livestock (dairy cow, pig, chicken)
Rideable horses: 5
Transport carriage: 1
"Mora and the others were about to reach their limit, so the increase in servants was a necessity anyways. What is this about a Barn Manager……?"
"He and his a.s.sistant will be taking care of all of the livestock and rideable horses. Pigs and chickens aside, a professional will be needed to take care of the horses."
"Your arrangements are perfect."
"I beg your pardon, but I disagree. To be honest, I also wanted to get ahold of a healer and an accountant. Unfortunately, I was unable to do so due to the limited amount of time."
"You"ve got a point. Hmm, speaking of which, we"ve bought the tools to maintain equipment with, but what about a blacksmith to do the actual repairing?"
"We do indeed need a blacksmith, but since we"ll need to go to Senpu Village anyways, I thought it would be better to hire a dwarven blacksmith."
Ohh, I see. The architect clan already is in possession of such skill, so I think I can hold quite some expectation for dwarven blacksmiths. I wonder if they can make things like mithril swords.
The expenses climbed up quite significantly due to the addition of 40 sets of equipment and the horses and what not, but even that amount seemed paltry after I went and signed the deal on a construction job worth 3.5 million gold coins.
As a more pressing concern, I realized that these new numbers have brought us above the capacity of the residential hall.
I ended up having to put Nocks together with Irudo, but we are definitely going to need to add a new wing or something if we are going to hire any more people.
♥♦♣♠
I have now filled my pressing need for soldiers and servants. It would not be much of an exaggeration to say that I"ve a.s.sembled most of the facilities and equipment and personnel needed for Jiiteias Castle to run as intended.
As such, I decided to have a meeting to facilitate the castle fulfilling its purpose. It was Irudo who advised me to do so.
"The very bare minimum of our duty is to maintain the public order of the area around the castle. Therefore, we will need to organize periodic patrols to the Road of Law and the three villages within the domain."
Irudo efficiently explained the main point.
"30 soldiers…… if we include those conscripted from Village of the Pond, then 33. Guess we have enough to somehow make do."
"I would like to focus on training them at the castle."
"Would it be a good idea to have the dark elves continue their policing in parallel with the soldiers" patrols?"
With everyone exchanging constructive opinions, the new arrangements were decided upon without me having to say anything.
Firstly, Jiruk will become the soldiers" Commander, taking responsibility for training and leading them. Ted will be the Vice-Commander, taking charge of small-scale squads to perform domain patrol as marching practice.
Sedam will be providing Ranger training to the 3 conscripted youngsters, but will generally be on standby at the castle. Fijika and Torad together are the reserves in case something happens during a patrol.
As before, the dark elves will remain in charge of security inside and outside the castle, and also help with maid work in shifts.
While on standby, Torad will be teaching Log and the kids how to read and write. If any of the soldiers or servants also wish to take Torad-sensei"s cla.s.ses, they may do so to the degree where their work would not be affected.
Irudo would, of course, be the Steward and manage everything that happens behind the scenes of the castle. He was quite happy about how able Nocks proved himself to be while in Lelis.
"But allow me to say this, castle lord-sama. I can somehow manage 30 people, but if the scale gets any larger, then I won"t be able to command them all."
"Umu……"
So said Jiruk while shrugging his shoulders.
If the castle expands any further in scale, then adding to the number of soldiers will be a necessity. As Claura had said before, we are still in need of a strategist, and I also need to continue gathering top echelon-cla.s.s companions.
"...... By the way, I seem to be the only one who wasn"t a.s.signed any role at all……?"
Indeed, Claura had already returned from her mission of sending out a letter to her grand-aunt from Lelis.
There seemed to be the slightest tinge of unease in Claura"s eyes as she glared at Irudo.
"Claura-san is already Margils-sama"s magic adviser and confidante, so I thought to leave you free from any other duties."
"There is no need for Okugata-sama to waste her time on any of the miscellaneous tasks."
As Irudo"s nonchalant explanation overlapped with Leiha"s earnest opinion, Claura sharply turned her head to the side.
"Well, with our castle lord-sama as ignorant of the ways of the world as he is, I understand how he would need an adviser like myself."
"That is exactly right. Which is why we immediately need Claura-san to accompany Margils-sama."
"Hah? Where to?"
"Senpu Village."
In order to open this trade route with the dwarves, we need to hold negotiations with them.
Though Irudo has already obtained basic consent, the finalities need to be settled between the actual people in charge.
On top of that, I also want to set up that anti-Shadow Demon alliance together with them. I"ve already witnessed their engineering prowess, and the strength of dwarven warriors in this world is the same as I had expected.
Then there is one last thing. That plan that is still only in my head — the establishment of a direct route stretching from Jiiteias Castle to the city of Filsand in the east — needs a proper evaluation, and to do that I would indeed need to visit the place in person.
The task of turning Jiiteias Castle into a solid foothold for myself has already been completed.
From here on will be the start of the huge project of expanding the alliance for fighting against Shadow Demons.
To get started with Disqus head to the Settings panel.
Chapter 67: Jiiteias Castle -
Medium Term
Volume 2
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