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Knight’s Land (4)
I asked Hannibal’s descendant what weapons he was skilled with.
“I learned this and that by becoming a Ranger, but the most familiar thing is the ax.”
Before becoming a ranger and wandering the world as a peddler, Hansen’s face looked awkward for some reason when he said he had been a lumberjack for a living.
As time passed, the ranger said, he felt ashamed for never getting rid of his wood ax. But I took it for granted; his ancestor had been no different. Hannibal’s most beloved weapons had been his two wood axes. Even after the harsh training and becoming a ranger, the ax was still most familiar to Hansen. This was simply because of the aptitude inherited from his ancestors, and it was not a shameful thing.
“From today on, you will drop everything else and practice handling the ax.”
“What do you mean by that…?”
“From this point in time, you are no longer a ranger.”
Hansen looked at me with a hard face. When I saw his expression, I knew he expected something bad to come, having firmly misunderstood my words. He probably thought he was being punished, expelled from the rangers for his blasphemy.
I immediately corrected the misunderstanding.
“From now on, you serve directly under the Crown Prince, not as a Balahard Ranger. Your position is that of knight trainee, and your exact post will be determined once I appoint one to you.”
“Ah?”
Hansen opened his mouth and looked at me. As I watched his stupefied look, I burst into laughter. He took to his ancestor, who had also been innocent. Hannibal had been just as clumsy with hiding his facial expressions as the young man before me. Even after he had raised himself up as a Blood Lion and became one of the best in the kingdom, that aspect of Hannibal had remained unchanged.
Of course, it didn’t matter much when he wielded his ax.
Looking at Hansen, who still stared at me with a distracted and stupid face, I guessed that he was unaware of his family’s history. It wasn’t surprising.
I had already learned through Gallahan and Boris that the Empire had decided to remove all mention of the Blood Lions from Leonberg’s histories. Of course, they had not forgotten the teachings of their ancestors, even facing such suppression, but there was no law saying other descendants would be the same. Even Adelia had been unaware that her ancestor was a great knight named Agnes and that she had been a Predecessor. Instead, Adelia had lived as a maid.
“If you don’t know, I can teach you from now on.”
“Your Highness?” Jordan involuntarily expressed doubts on behalf of Hansen, who was still enchanted.
However, Jordan’s expression was really worth seeing — he looked like a bedraggled dog as his gaze shifted between Hansen and me.
“Jordan.”
“Yes, your Highness?”
Jordan’s desperate expression quickly became a shining one when I called his name. But unfortunately, what I was going to say would counter the ranger’s expectations.
“Again, I’ll pray for your ass to be fine.”
I merely expressed my sympathy, and Jordan looked at me as though he had been betrayed.
Figuring that I had finished my business, I gestured for the men to leave.
“That’s it for now. I know you will be calling again soon.”
Hansen’s face became filled with anticipation, and Jordan’s became even more gormless.
The contrast was so funny that I could no longer hold in my laughter.
After letting them out, I immediately found Vincent, then asked him to transfer Hansen Hannibal to my command.
Vincent stared at me, sighed, and said, “It looks like you like him.”
I knew that he could see my anticipation for Hansen’s future in my eyes.
“So, will you allow it or not?”
“What the hell are you going to use him for?”
“I am going to make him a knight.”
“You’re thinking of seeing Jordan get his ass kicked.”
“It’s not what I want, but it will happen.”
Vincent burst out laughing and told me I could do whatever I wanted. He didn’t even ask me if I wanted to raise the ranger into a knight after seeing his potential. Vincent already knew that I would do that, and that was it. Seeing his trustful glance, I felt sorry that I had slipped away from the fortress. Looking at me, Vincent expressed sudden dislike, saying I had to get rid of my expression before it got stuck like that.
Then, Vincent asked me something, as if just remembering it.
“Just how much will you grow your forces?”
It was a question that was ambiguous, but it was not difficult for me to understand its meaning.
“I’m going to gather as many as I can as soon as I can.”
“Will the kingdom’s finances survive? Even if they had been treated as insignificant mercenaries, they can’t be paid like regular soldiers. They are mana handlers.”
It was as Vincent said: our country was on the outskirts, and it was rare for anyone to visit it because there was no special produce to lure them.
Put simply, the kingdom had no money, and the army was a money-devouring phantom.
All the goods confiscated from Montpellier and the traitors have been liquidated to pay for the cost of war. The enormous reparations received in return for ending the war were also being rapidly exhausted to pay for the expansion and management of the troops.
If it went on this way, the treasury would run dry before next winter.
Accordingly, the nobles of the kingdom had suggested several times that they reduce their current troops. After the riots of the ancient things started, they said this less. Anyway, it was certain that the kingdom’s finances were in disarray.
And in this situation, I was conducting a massive recruitment drive, so it wasn’t strange for Vincent to be worried. I was very aware of the facts, so I had asked for patience from the marshal and the prime minister before distributing my decree.
I told them we needed forces to support our rear, and after a few days, I received permission to do what I intended to do.
After explaining this situation to Vincent, he still said to me with a fearful face, “Neither the prime minister nor the marshal would have guessed that your Highness would have done so much.”
He said that if they had foreseen the current situation, they would never have supported my will.
“By now, they are also suffering from headaches.”
When Vincent said he was sorry for them, I laughed.
“They’ve been comfortable with the money I’ve earned – it eased their worries. Will they resent me for this?”
I wasn’t just saying it. I was the one who confiscated Montpellier’s property, and I had the plan to behead the traitors and reclaim their property.
I forced the enormous reparation funds from the Empire and earned quite a bit of money by fighting as a mercenary for Dotrin.
“No matter what anyone says, it is undeniable that it is me who has fed the kingdom’s coffers until now.”
As I spoke, Vincent sighed and shook his head.
“So how much will you grow the army?”
“I told you, I’ll take as many as I can.”
“So I’m asking you to tell me how much that is.”
I frowned as I watched Vincent speak as if frustrated. What I was saying wasn’t so difficult to understand. However, I couldn’t be annoyed after causing Vincent worry, so I explained my intentions so he could more easily understand them.
“If a hundred people come, I will accept a hundred. And if a thousand people come, I will accept a thousand.”
In short, I was thinking of accepting everyone who came.
Of course, before that, all those with serious flaws in their personalities and past actions will have to be filtered out. But basically, my idea of accepting the maximum number of troops has not changed.
“But what if there are too many people to handle?” Vincent said as if finding my plan absurd. I just laughed.
In a world filled with chaos after the old ones’ return, and when the fees of mercenaries have soared to great amounts, how many people would come to this underdeveloped country at the end of the world?
I wasn’t sure, but there would be more mercenaries who have gone to the Empire or other places where funds are abundant. I thought so, I believed it, but it was not so. Some time passed.
Then, one day after Hannibal’s descendant created his mana heart, just like his ancestor, Bernardo Eli returned.
However, The number of people who followed him far exceeded my expectations. Even by a quick estimate, they were no less than a thousand.
I tilted my head. “I ordered you to send them in separate groups. Why did you bring them all at once?”
At first, I thought the southern commander had changed his mind, ignoring my order of dividing the mercenaries into separate groups to make their recruitment easier to control.
“We correctly send them out in divisions.”
That was until I heard Eli’s explanation.
He said that thanks to me, every fortress along the border was filled. The mercenaries who have arrived with him were just a fraction, less than a tenth.
Why? If they wanted work, the Empire would be overflowing with mercenaries. I couldn’t readily understand why so many mercenaries had migrated to the cold north.
“It seems that the mercenaries who went to Burgundy’s capital have been rejected one after another.”
Eli reported the situation across the border to me.
“At first, I thought that all their contracts were rejected because they were not worthy to serve in the eyes of the imperial family.”
But that wasn’t it.
The rejections of contracts occurred regardless of the size, capability, and reputation of a mercenary company. It was said that among those rejected were companies that everyone knew by name. It was rather strange that the Burgundy Empire had no intention of hiring mercenaries. Still, another question remained.
“Even if not by the imperial family, why didn’t the sneaky imperial lords hire them to bolster their forces?”
“There wasn’t one who did.”
Eli’s answer was very different from what I expected; it wasn’t common sense. It was said that unlike the kingdom, which predicted the chaos and responded swiftly, the Empire had completely failed in its initial response.
If they found hiring mercenaries undesirable, it was rather strange.
“The mercenaries were even banned from entering estates. Some lords sent enlists and knights to expel the mercenaries. Some even scattered the mercenaries found in their territory by force.”
I laughed at actions I would only do were I insane.
And, of course, not all the imperial nobles could have gone crazy at once. There was only one truly insane being in the Empire, and I knew him well.
“The third princeps intervened.”
Hearing my words, Eli’s eyes had widened.
“How did you know? It is said that the princeps has issued an official decree in the imperial family’s name from early on. If there is anyone who expands their troops, the Burgundies judged that they would be disobedient and would face severe punishment. Following the example of the northeastern rebels, it seems that there is unease that other nobles will revolt.”
It was as expected: the imperial aristocracy was the group targeted by the unscrupulous actions of the third princeps.
“Ha.”
My expectations were proved correct, but I wasn’t happy at all.
Obviously, I have been waiting for a day like this. I have been looking forward to the moment when the ruinous traits of the idiot princeps fully bloom and lead the destruction of everything around him.
I had looked forward to it, but not anymore.
“The mercenaries who couldn’t get jobs unavoidably scattered in all directions, and most of them said they were coming to our kingdom.”
I was now sure that we would get caught up in the princeps’ idiocy, ending up in a crisis where the kingdom’s finances are destroyed. It was absurd, and I had to laugh. After drawing breath for a while, I felt someone’s gaze and turned my head.
Behind Eli, the lined-up mercenaries were watching me — some with expectation-filled faces, some already looking discouraged, and others with faces full of curiosity.
As I looked at them, I sighed a little, then muttered within my mind, ‘Judging.’
‘Hwaak!’
At that moment, a great number of information screens appeared in the air.
As I watched the sparkling letters, the disturbance in my heart faded away like a lie. After seeing such sights, I changed my mind.
At first glance, the image of majestic, fully-armed knights awaiting the assault overlapped upon the sight of the mercenaries suffering from the harsh clime and looking like beggars after their long trek.
I raised my head and smiled.
“Your Highness?”
Seeing my sudden change of expression, Eli turned and followed my gaze. He tilted his head. His eyes seemed to ask what I was looking and laughing at. I didn’t answer; he wouldn’t be able to see it anyway — the dark clouds over the world and great perils facing the kingdom. But to me, it all seemed so clear.
The countless victories of this tiny nation over a grand empire, which ruled half the world for four centuries, and the kingdom’s glorious past shined so brilliantly.
Leonberg’s bright future will finally dawn again after today. The first name of our glorious kingdom will be reclaimed, forging a brilliant tomorrow.
Recalling its glorious old name, I stepped forward, facing a thousand mercenaries.
“Welcome to Leonberg, the Land of Knights.”