Preparation
After some time, the messengers sent to the castle returned.
They carried a letter from Folmers and a document sealed with the Valois family crest.
It was the official subjugation decree regarding the demonic beasts in Maleshov.
“Baron Auger, the situation here is also not good. With Joseph the mage present, the forces should be sufficient. Resolve the issue in Maleshov by any means necessary.”
Folmers’ letter was more blunt than his usual style, likely because he suspected the connection to the northern bear beasts.
“If we take about half, it should be fine.”
“Yeah, after training, it should be okay.”
Auger nodded at Arke’s words.
During their stay in the village, they had scouted the number of potential conscripts.
The next day, the recruitment officially began.
The location was in front of Joseph’s house, where the previous soldier test had been held.
The young men of the village gathered at the same spot.
Unlike before, their expressions were grim.
It was forced conscription, not voluntary recruitment.
I know that feeling well.
Forced conscription without one’s will is a harsh reality, and Joseph knew all too well how despicable it was.
Moreover, even in this rural area, everyone knew that Count Valois was at war.
It wasn’t hard to infer the meaning of the conscription in such a situation.
“Those who flee will be treated as bandits and punished severely.”
Auger had issued a stern warning for good measure.
The word “punished severely” made the residents shudder.
Recently, rumors had spread throughout the entire Valois territory about a “crazy mage” who burned bandits to the ground.
And the village residents already knew who that mage was.
Staying put meant conscription.
Fleeing meant being burned at the stake.
“I… I can’t farm well because my arms are weak…”
“You’re the one who applied for the soldier test last time, right?”
They couldn’t even make up a lame excuse.
After all, most of the people who had participated in Joseph’s soldier test recently were here.
Refn and the soldiers who had judged them were right in front of them.
“Hey, you bastard! You were fine yesterday! Hurry up and line up!”
“Where’s Dorian?”
“Probably hiding in Gapoi’s cousin’s place.”
“We should go grab him.”
Moreover, Joseph’s soldiers, who had been residents of the village until recently, knew all their personal information.
It was the worst situation!
They couldn’t make excuses and couldn’t flee—it was like a hellish situation had arrived.
When the young men of the village gathered in front of Joseph’s house, Auger stepped forward.
“The conscripted will go to Maleshov.”
The youths looked puzzled.
“Maleshov? Isn’t that the quarry?”
“…Did bandits come out?”
“Shut up!”
Arke shouted as the youths murmured.
The noise died down instantly.
“Demonic beasts have appeared in Maleshov, and we will subjugate them.”
A gulp echoed.
The word “demonic beasts” made someone swallow hard.
These were people who lived on the outskirts and had never fought properly.
Now they were supposed to fight demonic beasts, not even soldiers.
They were being sent to their deaths, and they couldn’t help but feel fear.
Auger ignored their reactions and continued.
“There will be compensation for the conscripted.”
He pointed to his carriage parked in front of the house.
In one corner of the carriage, several heavy-looking silver coin pouches were visible.
It seemed he was making money from bandits’ spoils like Joseph.
“Once the Maleshov subjugation is over, the conscripts will be employed as soldiers in the castle. I promise.”
The word “employed” made the residents murmur again.
The salary of castle soldiers was, of course, incomparable to what rural farmers earned.
Moreover, rural farmers didn’t even “earn” money. They only had enough food to feed themselves after storing what they needed, and occasionally sold to traveling merchants.
They couldn’t afford to be that well-off.
“Soldiers…”
“In the castle…”
Just participating in one battle would make them castle soldiers.
It was a new dream in a different direction from Joseph’s soldiers.
Of course, that was only if they survived.
Auger didn’t add that fact.
“This is the generosity His Lordship has shown you. Such opportunities are rare.”
Joseph, listening from the side, couldn’t help but chuckle softly.
It sounded very sweet to Joseph as well.
Quite generous.
If they were dragged off without listening, they wouldn’t listen properly.
So, by mixing in some carrots, they were pulling their will.
By surviving the fight against the beasts, their skills would be proven, and it would be natural to employ them as castle soldiers.
Soon after, Auger’s soldiers began to move.
With the help of the soldiers who had handled the previous soldier test, they quickly selected the usable ones.
Among them, some who were still dissatisfied tried to slip away, but Joseph’s soldiers beat them with clubs.
“Where are you running off to?! You cowards!”
There seemed to be some bias in Auk’s club swing.
Anyway, twenty youths remained.
Some had resolute expressions.
Others looked like they were about to die at any moment.
Auger divided the conscripts into four squads.
He assigned his own soldiers to manage each one.
This was also to develop the soldiers’ command abilities.
“Run!”
The conscripts ran through the village with shields and clubs.
Whenever a soldier signaled, they would form formations simultaneously.
After all, they didn’t expect great combat power from them.
What mattered was building up their stamina and will.
Most importantly, to break the will of the conscripts.
No matter what compensation was promised, they had been forcibly made soldiers.
In such a situation, if they had free time, they might develop other thoughts.
Even if not themselves, they might be swayed by those around them.
So, Auger didn’t give them any breaks.
“Hey! The one who is late forming the formation will be the first to die!”
When one conscript fell, the soldiers shouted loudly.
The conscripts had disgusted expressions on their faces at the soldiers who swung their clubs without any sign of fatigue.
Clearly, the level is low.
And watching this, Joseph realized anew that his soldiers were at a fairly good level.
From stamina to judgment, to reading the situation, the village boys were better than expected.
Despite being scolded by the soldiers, there were still those who made the same mistakes repeatedly.
If they had acted like that in the village, their heads would have burst from demonic beasts.
“Good job selecting the usable ones in advance.”
Joseph muttered quietly.
The corners of the soldiers’ mouths twitched as they listened quietly nearby.
It felt good to be acknowledged with such a casual remark.
While Joseph was busy disciplining the conscripts.
Joseph also began preparing to go to Maleshov.
Since they would stay in Doran Village for the winter, he intended to prepare thoroughly.
First of all…
Joseph turned his gaze to the soldiers guarding his side.
…Their appearance is not good.
They were wearing equipment that didn’t fit their bodies, and there were no undamaged ones.
In Auk’s case, his greaves were patched with cloth because he didn’t know when they would tear.
Does that even provide defense?
Joseph had worn stolen bandit armor before.
It was loose because the size didn’t fit well.
But he hadn’t been hit properly in that state, so he didn’t know.
Anyway, it was clear that he needed to raise the level of his soldiers to some extent.
“You all will need new equipment.”
The soldiers were shocked and waved their hands.
“No! We will prepare our own equipment!”
Those who had eaten from the sword prepared their own equipment to some degree.
Just as no one bestows equipment on mercenaries, even soldiers had to prepare their own to that extent.
Thanks to that, some of the newly minted mercenaries had only layered cloth on them.
After all, they would use it in the field and take it if they looted!
In fact, it was common to scavenge equipment in the field, and even knights collected equipment that way.
So, the soldiers who had already received equipment were grateful just for that.
But now they were being given new equipment.
It was shameless to the point of excess.
“Can you afford it with your salary? Especially Auk, you haven’t received any yet.”
But Joseph didn’t accept it.
This was for his own safety, after all.
The safer Joseph was, the safer they were as they grew stronger.
Joseph’s firm attitude made the soldiers’ expressions wavering.
It was good to be given new equipment, but they wondered if it was right no matter how they thought.
Joseph led the way, and they followed with wary glances.
“Um… Isn’t it enough to just requisition them?”
Derik asked cautiously while heading to the village.
Why not just tell the residents to make armor?
Unlike when Joseph visited alone, now he was with Auger, a vassal and noble of Valois.
Moreover, there was already an official subjugation decree, so conscription wasn’t even necessary.
Why go through all this trouble when it could just be ordered?
But Joseph shook his head.
It wasn’t a good idea to demand more from the residents now.
Forcibly taking was limited.
After all, they had already taken the most precious asset of this village: the manpower.
If they did additional conscription, there would be no lack of backlash.
If a revolution broke out, it would be bad.
The conscripts following was because they had properly divided the whip and carrot.
As long as there was pain and danger, the farmers had promised a reward they couldn’t easily obtain.
So they weren’t protesting much.
And most importantly, Joseph had rejected Folmers’ proposal to become the count’s mage.
So, the authority for conscription now belonged to Auger, not Joseph.
It was unreasonable for Joseph to boss the residents around.
It would be power abuse, not fabricating nonexistent power.
No matter what, even if they were Joseph’s mages, they couldn’t let them impersonate noble power smoothly.
Joseph went straight to the village blacksmith.
Actually, it wasn’t grand to call him a blacksmith.
Mostly, it was just making cheap iron farm tools purchased from merchants.
When there was no work, he farmed like everyone else.
“I want equipment that fits their hands.”
He was startled when he saw the mage who had come in winter, but more so when he heard Joseph’s request.
Not his own weapon, but equipping soldiers!
The expenditure was not ordinary.
And the money smell was thick as that.
“Weapons, you say?”
“Yeah, is there anything good?”
“W-well, there are some things, but…”
He went inside and after a while, brought out fairly good iron.
It was a nice item brought by a merchant, so he had bought it with a lot of money.
But of course, it wouldn’t be used in such a small village.
It was too precious for farm tools, so he had stored it in the house…
Here it is! Finally!
The blacksmith suppressed the urge to whistle.
“Hmm… The iron condition isn’t bad.”
“Ah, as expected, Mage! You have good eyes!”
Actually, he said that, but Joseph didn’t know how to distinguish good iron.
The blacksmith was just talking as if it was the stuff he had brought excitedly.
At least, it was better not to look like he knew nothing.
Like a customer trying not to get scammed at a phone store.
“What would you like to make?”
“Hmm… Can you make axes?”
He briefly thought of the swords the soldiers used, but it didn’t seem like a good choice.
From Joseph’s perspective, swords seemed easy to handle at first but hard to master.
Especially, to swing them while wielding a shield, specialized training was needed.
The soldiers weren’t knights, so there was no need for that.
Moreover, making a sword required several times more iron than other weapons.
Waste was waste.
Simply swinging is better.
Compared to that, axes are much easier to handle.
Moreover, even ordinary farmers had handled axes before.
It wouldn’t take long for them to adapt to new axes.
Cheap, easy, and powerful.
It was the perfect weapon for now.
“Can you make armor too?”
Auger’s gaze turned to the soldiers as Joseph spoke.
He understood the meaning when he saw the ragged ones.
But he soon shook his head.
“I don’t have the skill nor the materials.”
There were no materials even if he wanted to make them.
Iron, padding, leather—making armor required quite a lot.
But neither the blacksmith nor Joseph had enough to make several sets.
“Hmm… Then, can you repair these?”
Joseph pointed to the leather greaves wrapped around Auk’s legs.
“I can do something like that.”
“How long will it take?”
He hesitated for a moment, then answered while looking up.
“It should take about a month and a half.”
“That’s quite a long time.”
“I-I’ll try to rush it as much as possible.”
Joseph nodded.
After all, they would be in the village all winter, so that was acceptable.