ALL NOVEL chapter 3
3 – Defense Preparations
“That doesn’t seem like a very wise idea, Sir Gerard,” said Master Gerard.
“We’ve already submitted our shields, and if we issue another conscription, they will have no choice but to be very disgruntled. This time’s defense seems like an extension of the attack on Westburn initiated by the late Count Leon, so refusing the conscription or, worse, possibly even siding with Westburn could happen,” Master Gerard said with a gloomy voice, after looking around the room and bowing his head for a moment.
“The Silverwood count’s family is not in a very stable situation right now. It’s a shameful thing, but if news of the passing of Count Leon and his two sons reaches the believers, it will not look good for Count Edric, and there will definitely be scornful believers. Lord Edric did not teach me properly.”
Hearing Master Gerard’s words, Sir Robert paused to think before replying. “In that case, there’s only one other option.”
“What option… no. What method is that, Sir Robert?” I unconsciously changed my address to Sir Robert in haste and corrected myself.
“Mercenaries.”
“Mercenaries…”
“We need to hire mercenaries just as Westburn has hired a foreign mercenary. In a situation where we cannot rely on the power of the believers, there is no other solution.”
Hearing Sir Robert’s words, I suddenly had a question. “But where do we find mercenaries?”
“Usually, mercenaries are introduced by traders who visit the territory, or they travel around looking for employers themselves. Mercenaries who visit the territory like this are not the kind of people who are welcome, as they often cause trouble for the local people, from minor incidents like simple assault to large-scale looting.”
Sir Robert pointed to a part not far from the Silverwood count territory on the spread-out map with his index finger. “Right now, in a situation like this, it can be said that they are a more precious force than anything else. It’s been said that the ‘Red Rose’ mercenary unit is looking for employers in a place half a day away from here. It seems to be a new unit, as I haven’t heard the name before, but in a situation where we don’t know when the enemy will arrive, the Red Rose mercenary unit is the only one we can hire in a day or two.”
Hm… A mercenary unit with a short history… It’s a unit that’s hard to trust, but in this situation, we need to borrow even the paw of a cat…
“Very well. Send someone there immediately. But what about the payment for hiring the mercenaries?”
Bang!
“Don’t worry about the cost.”
“Mother!”
Before I could finish speaking, my mother appeared, slamming the door of the reception room and holding a small box with Eileen.
“Eileen, put the box on the table.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
As Eileen put the box on the table as her mother said, my mother opened the box wide and showed it to us.
“Oh…”
“So many gold coins…”
My mother said, looking at me and the housekeeper.
“In this chest, there are a little over 300 Lemir coins. If we had this much, we could employ 200 mercenaries, buy enough food to survive for a month in the castle, and still have plenty left over.”
Lemir coins are commonly used in this country and are issued in the Republic of Lemir, located in the south of our country.
Each Lemir coin holds a value close to one million won, based on their previous life. How do I know that? Because I once accidentally lost ten Lemir coins when playing a game of building a tower with them as a child, and my father beat me until my body was marked. If Eilen hadn’t been able to quickly find the lost coins, I might have died that day after being beaten by my father.
Anyway, as my mother put out close to three hundred million won, I was taken aback and asked, “I didn’t know we had this much ‘cash’ in our house. We have a large estate, but we rarely deal in currency, except for when we make large transactions with merchants.”
“Mother, where did you get all this money?”
“I saved some from the land’s income and your grandfather occasionally gave me pocket money. Originally, this money was saved to use as ransom if your father or brothers were captured as prisoners of war…”
After holding onto my mother’s coins, I had a messenger hire the Red Rose Mercenary Band.
Unaware of my mother’s recent coin purchase, I gathered all the people from my estate for a council meeting to inform them of the current situation and to prepare for war.
“Why are we being called when we should be working in the fields? What’s going on?”
“Don’t you already know about it?”
I approached the group of people and Bernard, the prime minister, and Gerald, the teacher, stood next to me.
“Now, quiet down and listen! Lord Edric, the Earl, has an important message for you!”
Despite the prime minister’s message, the estate workers didn’t calm down, but became more confused amid all the noise.
“Lord Edric? Are you telling me the young master Edric is the Earl?”
“That’s right, even though young Master Edric loves to joke, this is not the kind of joke he would make…”
Unable to control the situation, Gerald slammed the longsword he was holding on the ground.
Thanks to Gerald, in a moment of silence, I was able to speak up.
“Workers, today I have shocking news for you. My father, Lord Leon, and my brothers, Candrick and Bendrick, have all been killed by the wicked Westberians.”
The workers were shocked by my words. Gerald was too petrified to speak, but it was clear that they were all shaken by the news.
“As of today, I, the only child of Lord Leon, have become the Lord of Silverwood. From now on, all hunters in the estate will be conscripted as archers, and all adult men will be conscripted as defenders, after the emergency harvest is complete.”
Since the enemy would only come to loot or burn all the crops in the estate, I had to expedite the harvest, even though the grain was not yet ripe.
The people of Yeongji were greatly shocked, and for a while, there was silence until suddenly a woman sat down and began to sob.
“No! Hans! Darling! What will happen to our child…”
The wailing woman was the wife of a man named Hans, whom her mother had mentioned before. Even though the people of Yeongji were not fools, they could easily guess what had happened based on the words of the soldiers who had been conscripted under the count and now died.
Starting with Hans’ wife, one by one, people began to sit down and cry. As the surroundings turned into a sea of tears, I felt the weight of their lost lives, even though I had no responsibility for this situation.
I finished my speech with a bitter heart.
While walking away from them, the sound of their weeping pierced my ears and wounded my heart.
**
On the way back to the castle, I spoke to Sijongjang.
“Sijongjang, release the remaining soldiers in the castle to help the people of Yeongji harvest crops. We need to prepare as quickly as possible since we never know when they will attack again.”
“…I will do as you commanded.”
After Sijongjang replied, he moved to fulfill my orders. Still walking silently beside me, I asked my teacher.
“Teacher, is it alright for you to stay here? After all, you are not a part of our Silverwood family.”
My teacher pondered for a moment before answering.
“…It’s true that I am not from here, but I made a promise to Lord Leon to train Count Edric to become an excellent knight and receive payment until then. As someone who became a knight thanks to Lord Leon’s generosity, I cannot betray him.”
Suddenly, my teacher placed a hand on my shoulder.
“And Edric is still far from being an excellent knight. When the war with Westbern is over, he needs to be prepared. From now on, I won’t go easy on him.”
Normally, I would have been terrified, but strangely, I wasn’t scared at the moment. Instead, I felt relieved.
Although I don’t respect every aspect of my father, I can’t help but be grateful for attaching Gerard to me as my teacher.
“Thank you, teacher.”
As we walked into the castle, my teacher and I smiled warmly at each other.
**
A day had passed. The hunters had been drafted as archers and were being trained, carpenters were building barricades, and soldiers were helping farmers harvest wheat.
The “Red Rose” mercenaries arrived at the count’s command.
“Hello, my lord! I am Satricia, leading the Red Rose mercenaries… Oh, well, you look different from what I heard. They said Count Silverwood was quite an unpredictable person.”
“””…”””
“Well, it doesn’t matter! Actually, I quite like your current appearance! Thank you for hiring us! We’ll do our best from now on!”
As the redhead mercenary captain came forward, grabbed both of my hands, and shook them up and down, my mother, Sijongjang, and I thought to ourselves.
This feels like we’ve been scammed with false advertising.