Weeds had begun poking their heads through the training ground again, but before they could grow any further, the thundering hooves of warhorses tore through them and crushed them into pieces.
Compared to the wasteland it had once been, the training ground was now considerably more orderly.
White chalk lines had been drawn across the ground to mark distances, and all the humanoid training dummies had been repaired.
Using the white markings beneath their feet, the soldiers could accurately gauge the distance between themselves and their targets.
“Ha!”
Rogett drove his spear forward with all his strength, striking the target squarely and knocking it to the ground.
He looked around the training ground.
These cavalrymen, who had once been little more than glorified stablehands and odd-job laborers, had undergone a complete transformation after more than half a month of training.
They no longer had to spend every day rushing between several different jobs just to scrape together a living.
All they had to do was follow Aegon’s arrangements and concentrate on their training.
Their meals were regular and their training was properly structured.
Most importantly, they no longer had to spend every waking hour worrying about their debts.
Their mental burdens had been greatly reduced, and some men had even noticed that the gray hairs on their heads were beginning to recede.
Rogett looked toward Aegon, who was training alongside the others not far away.
It could be said that every single change in this cavalry force had been brought about by Aegon.
At first, many of them had assumed that this wealthy young master had simply been carried away by a burst of youthful enthusiasm.
They were certain he would lose interest before long.
Yet more than half a month had passed.
Not only had Aegon continued training alongside them, but his training intensity was consistently higher than theirs.
That had gradually earned their respect.
“All right.
That’s enough for today.”
The soldiers were still a long way from Aegon’s standard for a truly capable fighting force, but compared with the ragged collection of men he had first encountered, they had improved enormously.
At the very least, when they stood together now, they finally looked like a proper military unit.
Aegon opened the system interface, and the progress of the Army Development side quest had changed.
[Quest Progress: (100/23)]
The training during this period had also improved his Horsemanship considerably, raising it to Level 3.
He could now be considered proficient at riding.
Aegon understood that if he wanted to continue improving the army’s rating rapidly, he would next have to focus on two areas: equipment and manpower.
He summoned all the soldiers together and announced, “Everyone will have tomorrow off.
But I have one task for you.”
The moment they heard that their commander had another assignment, the soldiers immediately pricked up their ears.
This young commander had always been generous.
Not only had he paid off part of their debts out of his own pocket, he had also spent his own money improving the food at the military camp.
Every man now received sufficient eggs, fish, and meat each day to replenish his strength, along with unlimited quantities of staple foods such as potatoes and corn.
It wasn’t exactly a lavish diet.
But in an age like this, being able to eat one’s fill at every meal while maintaining a reasonably balanced diet was an extraordinarily rare privilege.
“At present, we don’t even have one hundred and twenty on the rolls.
I want all of you to look around after you return home and find honest men with some experience riding horses who might be willing to enlist.
Their treatment will be the same as yours.”
“For every man you successfully recommend, I’ll give you one silver coin as a reward.”
The generous referral payment immediately caught someone’s attention.
“My lord, if I bring in one man, I really get one silver coin?”
“That’s right.
As long as the man you recommend passes my inspection, you’ll receive one silver coin.
But there are strict requirements.
He must be honest and dependable, and he must have experience riding horses.
More importantly, he must know how to ride a warhorse.”
“You aren’t merely recommending him.
You’re guaranteeing him as well.
If he commits a serious offense during wartime, such as refusing to obey orders, the man who recommended him will be held responsible.”
“Furthermore, if someone manages to recommend five qualified soldiers, I’ll increase his military pay.
If he recommends ten, he’ll be promoted directly to squad leader, and his pay will increase accordingly.”
Someone asked curiously, “My lord, what if I can recruit twenty?”
“Then you’d better pack your things and leave as soon as possible.
I hate useless layabouts who only know how to inflate the numbers and make up the ranks.”
Aegon was joking with them, and the training ground immediately erupted into laughter.
“For the first batch, we’re only recruiting one hundred men.
That’s all.
Dismissed.”
After giving the order, Aegon turned and left the training ground.
The soldiers watched him disappear, then gradually gathered into small groups, whispering among themselves as they began calculating where they could find suitable recruits.
“Why do you think the lord is in such a hurry to expand the force?
Where is he getting all this money?
Don’t tell me he’s actually paying for everything himself?”
“Of course he’s paying out of his own pocket.
Wasn’t it the lord who paid off the debts we owed before?”
“Then we’d better treat this lord well.”
A sly voice suddenly spoke up.
“We absolutely can’t let him get away.”
The remark immediately earned agreement from those around him, followed by a burst of suppressed laughter.
Their intentions were obvious.
A commander willing to spend his own money to treat his soldiers well was exceedingly rare.
The previous commanders had all been interested in one thing: squeezing whatever profit they could from the common soldiers.
Aegon was the exact opposite.
He seemed determined to pour money, supplies, and resources into the military camp.
He couldn’t understand what Aegon hoped to accomplish by spending so much.
Could it really be nothing more than youthful enthusiasm—a rich young master who simply wanted to experience the novelty of commanding troops?
But as the most senior man among the cavalry, Rogett sincerely hoped these peaceful days would continue for as long as possible.
At the very least, since Aegon’s arrival, the warhorses no longer went hungry.
The soldiers finally had something to look forward to as well.
They no longer felt like millstones, endlessly grinding away day after day without rest.
“Then you’d better train properly.
Anyone who falls behind in training had better watch out.
The lord might throw you out!”
Rogett stood and warned the others.
The soldiers who had been laughing and joking moments earlier immediately became serious.
They realized that Aegon really might do exactly that.
Even so, considering the current strength of this force, it was still far from ready for actual combat.
If they were sent onto a battlefield now, they would be nowhere near capable of fighting a proper war.
Aegon could roughly guess what was going through his soldiers’ minds.
There were many different ways for a army to come into existence.
Some armies were inherited.
Others were raised through recruitment.
Some were assembled by incorporating and reorganizing local forces.
The origins of an army could be completely different, and so could the desires of the soldiers within it.
Mercenaries cared about nothing except earning more money.
Forcibly incorporated troops spent every day worrying that they would be thrown into battle as cannon fodder.
Inherited veterans, meanwhile, would quietly judge whether their new commander actually possessed the ability to lead them to victory.
As for the men currently under Aegon’s command, they didn’t consider themselves soldiers at all.
They were simply ordinary people who wanted to live stable lives and get through each day without too much trouble.
But regardless of where an army came from, the thing that could truly shape its identity and unite the hearts of its soldiers was always the same:
One genuine victory after another.
At present, the soldiers’ flattery toward Aegon outweighed their genuine recognition and respect for him.
The latter could only be earned through victory.
Aegon’s plan was extremely clear.
First, he would complete the Army Development side quest and obtain the army rating provided by the system.
Afterward, all he needed to do was personally lead these men to victory in several battles.
Their sense of belonging would naturally undergo a complete transformation.
And the man who repeatedly led them to victory would gradually become someone they trusted and relied upon like a father.
Of the money he had previously obtained from Illyrio, Aegon had set aside enough to keep the military camp running for half a year.
He still had more than two thousand Pentoshi gold coins remaining.
Now, he intended to begin working on another side quest.
One related to his Domain.