Knight and Wand

Chapter 100: Selection of Guards
Along the dirt road in the countryside, more than eighty conscripts, carrying their own long and short weapons, followed their two lords in a long line. Together with a dozen caravan guards, they protected several horse-drawn carriages loaded with goods on the side of the mountain.

The first few carriages were loaded with supplies such as weapons and tools.

The carriages behind were carrying bags piled high with grain.

The two young knight lords in plate armor at the front were Azerien and Lohak, who had not returned for many days.

The team of about a hundred people moved forward slowly, bypassed the hillside, and soon entered the territory of Selva.

Leading a long team into the village of Selva, Azerien and Lohak counted the goods and supervised the soldiers moving the weapons, supplies and food into the village's large warehouse.

"Sir, do you think it's time for us to settle the remaining money?" The leader of the merchants bowed respectfully to the busy Azerien.

Seeing the merchants' eagerness, Azerien had no choice but to let Lohak go home to ask Leon for money to settle the balance with these merchants who came from afar.

If they didn't pay the money quickly, those merchants would be frightened by the large group of soldiers carrying spears and swords in and outside the village.

The troop of conscripts from the territory came to Selva along with the caravan, they just happened to be passing by at the same time.

However, the merchants were almost deceived and taken to a remote area, where they would lose all their money and lives.

Merchants have often heard from their peers that poor lords in some small places would occasionally do evil things like pretending to be robbers and robbing merchant caravans.

The so-called knight's oath at the enthronement ceremony of some noble lords is often just a nice word.
"Hey, why are you in such a hurry? We haven't unloaded all the things yet, and you will definitely get the money." Lockhak sighed to the businessman.

He complained a bit, but as he had lived in Longca for a long time and had not been back to Selva for a long time, he really wanted to see his friends and family for a long time, so he waved his hand and returned to Leon's mansion.

Finding his elder sister whom he hadn't seen for many days in the backyard, the tall young man excitedly picked up his family member who was looking better and better, and acted coquettishly for a while without any shame. When he remembered that he had important things to do, he put his sister down and quickly went into the house and ran up to the second floor.

When he arrived at Leon's room, he saw little Lina lying on the door panel stealthily, eavesdropping on something with her ear tilted, her little face full of suspicious blush.

Seeing the figure she hadn't seen for many days, the maid was surprised and whispered: "Ah! Brother Lohak."

But she immediately put her finger to her lips and whispered to him, "Shh~~~"

Lohak was curious and instinctively lowered his footsteps as he approached the girl with a questioning look in his eyes.

Little Lina waved her hand, signaling the tall boy to lower his head, then she tiptoed closer to him and whispered: "Brother Leon and Sister Olivia, and Brother Corvis, are all in there these days. They may be in there. Woo~"

Halfway through the conversation, the cranky little girl couldn't help but close her eyes, her face burning with heat from her unspeakable fantasy: "...but maybe she's doing something bad in there~!"

"!" Upon hearing this, Lohak was delighted at first, and then marveled at the rapid progress of his partner.

It's only been a few days since we last met, and yet you and Olivia have reached this point.

But then he reacted and was shocked again.

Leon and Olivia's relationship has developed so amazingly, and he is of course happy and blessed for his partner.
But what does it mean that Corvis is in there too!?

Could it be that Leon, who had been in constant contact with the young man, had also stumbled upon the same path that old man Pierino had taken?
Lohak felt deeply distressed and beat his chest inwardly.

His face became serious!
He immediately lowered his head.

He secretly stuck to the door panel with Lina.

Through the door, some ambiguous sounds could indeed be heard faintly from inside the house.

This made Lohak feel sad about his brother's degradation.

Ok?
wrong.

Why does this sound like Leon himself calling out?
Before he could listen carefully, Lohak's heavy body in armor and his considerable strength pushed open the door, which was not locked to begin with, with a creak.

"Ouch~!" Lina screamed and fell over.

Caught off guard, Lohak stumbled into the room.

"Ok?"

Olivia, who was sitting at the table, concentrating on flipping through the profound magic book, raised her head and looked at the two people who suddenly rushed in with confusion.

Leon, who was suffering from back pain after days of special training, lay on the bed, receiving professional massage and stretching by Corvis. When he heard the movement and looked up to see his partner whom he had not seen for many days, he could not help but feel happy.

"Lohak? When did you come?"

Luohak saw the situation in the house clearly and touched the back of his head awkwardly: "Ah? Oh, so you are... Hey, I just got back too."

The tall boy turned his head and looked at little Lina, who was scratching her cheek with her fingers while smiling awkwardly and looking evasive. He couldn't help but flicked her forehead with his finger in anger and amusement.

"Ouch~" Lina rubbed her forehead in pain, then turned around and walked away with a red face.

Lohak sighed, wondering what that little girl was thinking about all day long.

He pulled out a chair and sat down, wanting to chat with his partner, but he noticed something strange about Leon's hair and eye color.

Hearing Lohak's surprise, Leon pointed at his eyes and said helplessly: "Magic. It's just magic. I don't understand what's going on. I woke up like this."

Lohak nodded with an understanding expression, showing that he understood. There were too many secrets about his partner and he didn't want to delve too deeply into it.

After chatting for a few words, Leon heard that the supplies that Azerien had contacted the merchant to purchase had arrived, so he quickly got up from the bed and moved out everyone's small treasury.

After counting out a bag of golden crowns, he led everyone out of the house and rushed to the courtyard of the village community.

The cargo on the carriages had been emptied, and the conscripts gathered from Pleton and Lonka were following Selva's men to the empty houses prepared in the village to settle down and rest.

Leon and Azerien exchanged a few pleasantries, briefly explained the hair and eye color, and after confirming that the goods were correct, they readily paid the bill and let the merchants who were in a hurry to return leave.

"Thank you for your hard work these days." Leon watched the convoy leave the village and turned back to express his gratitude to his companions.

He had been busy leading Balf and the others to investigate the forest. Now, whether it was reorganizing the labor in the three territories or contacting merchants to purchase supplies, all the chores fell on his brother alone.

Azerien smiled and said, "Don't be so polite. Besides, I enjoy handling these matters by using everything I learned from my father."

As he said this, he patted Leon's arm and called everyone over: "It's a good opportunity for you all to come and have a look. The cloaks and flags we customized in the city during this period have been made."

Azerien led everyone into the village warehouse, walked around piles of shields, tools and stored food, and came to a wooden box placed alone in the inner room.

When you open it, you can see clean and new cloth products neatly stacked inside.

Leon took out a black robe, shook it open and took a look. When he saw the emblem of a red sword and white wings on the chest of the robe, a sense of satisfaction surged in his heart.

He had asked Azerian to go to the city to find a tailor to make these dozen black sword-wing robes in advance. They were not for himself to wear. His full set of three-layer knight armor was already very stuffy, and he really didn't want to put on another layer on top.

These sword-wing robes are actually worn by Corvis who are wearing squire armor, as well as the heavy armored guards who are expected to be recruited.

That would be the first standing guard that could follow him to the battlefield at any time, which was why he was willing to spend money to make a uniform with identification marks for it.

Of course, in addition to the black sword-winged robes he had ordered, Azerien and Rohak also made several gray robes with their own emblems for their future knights and squires. Rohak's emblem was simple, a red shield with a silhouette of a horse with its hooves raised high in the center.

Azerien's emblem is the most complicated of the three. The labor cost of drawing the colorful four-grid golden iris pattern must be as much as the dye money for those black robes.

In addition to these battle robes, the box also contained a swallowtail flag with the Farolis family emblem painted on it.

Although Leon had already sensed Baron Elliver's hint for him to prepare the square flag.

But after all, he is the only one who can be guaranteed to be promoted and given a title. In the future, Lohak and Azerien will probably have to remain ordinary knights for a long time, and they will still need to fly the thorn flower flag when they go to the battlefield.

The next day, Leon organized people to prepare a sumptuous meal full of various pickled horse meat for the young and strong men from Lonka and Pleyton who came from afar.

Then, around noon, all the young and strong people, including the local people of Selva, were gathered at the open space in the village market where the stalls had not yet been restored to their former glory.

A total of 149 conscripts of appropriate age were divided into three teams according to their hometowns at the command of their village leaders.

They were all armed civilians who had been properly trained in the Eastern Fortress. Although their formation was not very orderly, it was not too disorganized either.

Looking at the array of spears, lances, and harpoons, under the sunlight, at first glance, this dense array is indeed very intimidating.

Especially since these young men were adults who had served in the military camp for a long time and lived in an era with clear social status and stratification, their instinct to maintain quiet and order in front of lords and superiors was much more conscious than that of the ordinary people Leon had seen in his previous life.

Leon supported a dull-edged practice sword with both hands and inspected the soldiers he could now summon in front of him.

Of course, bringing these soldiers to Selva is not just to treat them to a meal.

Today's goal is to select as many soldiers who can meet the heavy infantry standards as possible from these one hundred or so people.

Behind him, Azerien, Lohak, Corvis, and Olivia, fully armed and in armor, were responsible for supervising the order of today's assembly.

However, Leon himself did not wear heavy plate armor. He only wore the leather-covered chain mail he wore when he first set out on the journey to Western Port, and stood in front of these young men.

After the crowd had completely quieted down and their eyes were focused on him, Leon spoke slowly.

"I am Leon Pendragon, Lord of Selva, and a knight of the House of Farolis."

He raised his voice as high as possible to ensure that the young and strong people present could hear what he said.

"Whether you are from Selva or the people from Lonka and Pleyton, you must remember me, Knight Lohak, and Knight Azerien as soon as possible. If there is a war in the future, you will be recruited and commanded by us, but we have another purpose for gathering you here today."

As he spoke, Leon pointed to one side of the venue, where the servants had set up wooden racks and arranged a row of armor.

"I am a newly promoted knight and do not have my own valet troops yet. But instead of recruiting mercenaries whose backgrounds are unknown, I would rather select qualified warriors from among you."

As he explained, Leon announced the treatment and requirements he offered: "As long as you become loyal to me and swear to abide by the rules I set, my guards will receive a monthly salary of two gold crowns, including armor, weapons, accommodation, and food, which will also be completely provided by me."

Before Leon finished speaking, the entire group of young men in front of him couldn't help but get agitated.

Many people's eyes widened and glowed red, wishing they could rush over and kneel down to express their loyalty to the young knight, even the young and strong men from the wealthy families in the village were no exception.

The salary alone is far higher than that of a skilled blacksmith. Blacksmiths of this era are not ordinary workers. Just look at Olivia's family, they are definitely wealthy.

This is net income excluding living costs.

If we have to compare, an annual salary of 24 gold crowns is equivalent to thirty-four times the annual income of an ordinary tenant.

For ordinary citizens, this is undoubtedly a step towards success, and it will allow them to completely turn their lives around for the entire family.

Of course, Leon also knew how generous the salary he offered was.

This money can be used for the long-term maintenance of the existing mercenary cavalry. It would be strange if the young and strong men in front of him were not excited.

Of course, Leon would rather train his own private guards from within the territory than spend money to feed those jackals who only care about money and not people.

However, in order to get this salary, he naturally set a high enough threshold.

Leon had thought of many ways and hesitated about how to choose.

But after much thought, he finally decided to use the most direct method and personally find a satisfactory warrior.

"My request is simple." He raised his voice and lifted the blunt sword from the ground with his right hand.

“Everyone has a fair chance. You can choose to wear the armor over there and pick any melee weapon from the weapon rack.

Anyone who can withstand five attacks without being hit in the vitals can become my bodyguard.

Of course, you can try to defeat me.”

Leon took the helmet from Corvis, not to protect himself, but to reassure the challengers who were eager to try.

"Don't worry about offending me today. No matter who you are, if you can hit any part of my head, neck, or chest before you lose, I promise that I will double your reward."

As long as you can hit the vital point, double the pay?
Forty-eight gold crowns a year?!
The crowd suddenly felt the air was filled with a dreamy sweetness.

Some of the veterans who had seen blood on the battlefield were already rubbing their hands in anticipation, and couldn't wait to show off their skills to the young overlord. The first-mover advantage that they could get without losing their lives was right before their eyes, so how could they resist?

Leon looked at the crowd in front of him, their eyes shining, each of them as excited as a wolf or a tiger, unable to control themselves.

He knew that these people were just in awe of his knighthood, and in fact, they didn't think it would be too difficult for them to survive a few of his attacks.

I am too young.

Including those young and strong men of Selva who heard that he had saved the village, even if they respected him, they only respected his righteous act and kindness.

This is actually true.

Under normal circumstances, Leon didn't think he was strong enough to defeat the enemy within five moves or remain undefeated within five moves in consecutive duels, especially when there were obviously veterans who were proficient in martial arts in the crowd.

But that's normal.

If it was so easy to defeat him, he wouldn't have offered such an exaggerated salary for the guard.

Today's move is not just to select personal soldiers.

It is also to establish his own authority in the hearts of these people and any warrior who can become a guard.

He didn't have the dark blue to add some points to himself.

There is a deep black one that can add some points to myself.

".So, who is the first one?" Leon asked in a faint voice, lowering his visor.

(End of this chapter)