Chapter 111

"As expected, the Peretta family has petitioned to become our vassal house."

"Would it be too much to extend this to Percival and Lufman as well?"

"...Well, their territories lie beyond our borders, and their main forces have already pledged allegiance to the Second Prince's faction. They dispatched troops early when the civil war began. It would be difficult to interfere."

"Fine. We should be satisfied with this much for now."

Logan had no intention of simply accepting Peretta's surrender with just tax payments after they had already bared their fangs once.

'I'll slowly bleed them dry and absorb their entire military strength.'

Imagining the future, Logan smiled contentedly.

"This is already an overwhelming success. The previous lords would be overjoyed."

"Who knows? They might be cheering us on, saying it's still not enough and demanding more."

"..."

The air grew momentarily chilly at Patrick's dry joke, but the lord's office was filled with a warm atmosphere for the first time in a while.

Though unresolved issues remained, they were matters for the future.

For now, all immediate threats had vanished.

And so...

"It's time for the party we postponed."

At Logan's words, everyone laughed.

The ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠war was over.

With the civil war raging and the entire kingdom in turmoil, it wasn't something they could openly declare.

Thus, it became an open secret, spreading quietly among them.

MacLaine would no longer wage war.

And as if to prove this rumor, Logan generously rewarded his knights and soldiers, even hosting a grand banquet for the returning troops, allowing them ample rest.

Morale was already soaring from recent victories, but the condition of the troops themselves wasn't ideal.

While the siege of Vifros Castle had incurred minimal losses, the earlier capture of Tomodo Castle had exacted a heavy toll.

The numbers made the disparity starkly clear:

Moreover, MacLaine's most effective method of replenishing troops—converting captured knights—was no longer viable.

Though a handful of knights had surrendered at Tomodo Castle, as long as their original lord remained alive, switching sides would only brand them as traitors.

Of course, some had been sent to Roger Vifros as a gesture to appease the Second Prince's faction.

Thus, it was all the more necessary to celebrate this victory and boost morale as much as possible.

So, in addition to the banquet for the soldiers, Logan prepared a separate party for the knights—the core of his forces.

And it came with an extraordinary gift.

"Sir Heinkel, step forward."

"At your command!"

"In recognition of your leadership in securing victory for the knight order, I hereby grant you a reward of one million gold and lands of equivalent value."

Gasps erupted from the onlookers.

An unprecedented reward, surpassing anything from the past—and on top of that, land.

It was Logan's way of sharing the spoils from conquering a wealthy earldom without reservation.

'If only the artifact vault had been intact, it would've been even better.'

The twenty-some artifacts had vanished without a trace, likely taken by the Vifros forces.

Though that was disappointing, Logan smiled and applauded enthusiastically.

"They say the Young Lord emptied the vault completely."

"Then what about us?"

"Tch, we're not on the same level as the captain."

Despite their words, the knights held onto a sliver of hope.

And that hope was soon fulfilled.

Though not on the same scale as Heinkel's reward, every knight received at least 100,000 gold.

While all the knights rejoiced, Ellen stood out the most in her jubilation.

"Are you that pleased? The Floyd family isn't exactly poor."

"This is the first money I've ever earned myself! And such a huge sum at that..."

"Ah..."

"In this kingdom, women rarely get opportunities to earn money like this. Just this alone feels like a small part of my dream coming true."

Tears welled in Ellen's eyes, and Logan could only smile wordlessly and pat her shoulder.

But the greatest reward of this celebration didn't go to the knights.

"To the Golem Tower, whose contributions in the defense of Tomodo Castle were paramount, we grant perpetual ownership of the Golem Tower site within MacLaine Town, exempt from taxation, along with a reward of ten million gold."

Before Patrick could even finish speaking, Clayton dropped to his knees.

"Th-thank you! From this day forth, the disciples of the Golem Tower will grind their bones to dust in service of MacLaine!"

Even the First Disciple Grick's joke—"Why are you grinding our bones without asking?"—couldn't dampen Clayton's overwhelming gratitude.

A reward equal to their annual subsidy of ten million gold.

The days of the struggling tower elder, forced to send his disciples to labor like common workers, were over.

'Now, as a proper tower master, we'll receive fair compensation for our labor... No, wait—we're mages now.'

Though something still felt off, Clayton's mood couldn't be better.

"And to the families of all fallen soldiers, we pledge compensation double that of the survivors."

The final declaration by Lord Patrick sent the atmosphere soaring to its peak.

Thus, the party lasted well into the night.

Without exception, every attendee raised their glasses in toast, praising Logan and the MacLaine family.

"Long live MacLaine!"

"We pledge eternal loyalty!"

"Loyalty to the eternal flame!"

At that moment, the morale of MacLaine's forces reached its zenith.

And Logan?

'Who knew showing off with someone else's wealth could feel this good?'

Standing before the thoroughly looted vault of Vifros, he raised a glass to its absent owner.

Not long after that joyous occasion, Logan issued another recruitment order.

This time, it was a large-scale conscription spanning the entire MacLaine territory—Vifros's five castles, Tesron, Silvan, MacLaine Castle, and MacLaine Town.

"Two thousand... initially?"

"Does that mean more later...? Haha."

"Each of the nine castles has over two hundred candidates. Whew."

"The finances are going to take a hit..."

"Now, now, why the long faces? If the Young Lord commands it, we obey! The administrative staff has been replenished, hasn't it?"

The grumbling officials fell silent at Dwain's booming voice.

Fortunately, unlike Silvan and Tesron, most of Vifros's administrators hadn't embezzled from the people.

Thus, aside from Vifros, Tomodo, MacLaine Castle, and MacLaine Town—the ancestral seat of the MacLaine family—the other castles could be staffed without severe shortages despite the expanded territory.

And since Dwain had been entrusted with overseeing the entire process, his word was absolute law to the administrators of the conquered regions—their livelihoods and positions depended on him.

However...

"But isn't this selection criteria a bit odd, Lord Dwain?"

"Exactly! A tactile sensitivity test? What does that have to do with soldiers?"

"And the method is downright bizarre... This is just..."

Any rational person would raise questions.

But...

"Just do as you're told! Our Young Lord is heaven-sent! Do it first, and everything will fall into place!"

With the fervor of a cult leader, the fanatical finance administrator brooked no dissent when it came to the Young Lord's orders.

Thus, the recruitment notices plastered across all nine castles—now part of MacLaine's domain.

But the response wasn't as enthusiastic as Logan had hoped.

"Wouldn't being a soldier be dangerous? The kingdom's in turmoil, with wars everywhere..."

"Right. The whole country's in chaos..."

"But wouldn't it be different under our lord's army?"

"An army is an army! I won't let my child die in some noble's squabble."

The wars raging across the kingdom had spawned all sorts of ominous rumors.

Despite lowering the age limit to fifteen, the number of applicants fell far short of expectations.

Ironically, MacLaine Town—where Logan had poured the most effort—had the fewest volunteers.

They barely scraped together enough candidates to fill the quota, let alone have any to filter out through testing.

And even that had an absurd backstory.

"They were so afraid I'd get angry that the locals conspired to forcibly conscript people? Just to meet the numbers?"

"...Not all of them, but some, yes."

"Ha... What is this...?"

Logan could only laugh incredulously.

As soldiers, they'd have a slim chance at social advancement through rigorous training.

But realizing that this hope paled in comparison to the immediate desire for safety was bitterly amusing.

Despite his past life as an independence fighter who'd risked everything for a cause greater than life itself, he couldn't comprehend the mindset of ordinary territory folk.

The five castles ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠formerly under Vifros rule—where taxes had been relatively light and life peaceful—showed similar reluctance.

Ironically, only Silvan Castle saw over five times the required number of applicants.

Having suffered under tyranny before finding stability under MacLaine, its people were the only ones who chose opportunity over safety.

Thus, instead of the intended two thousand, nearly three thousand candidates underwent testing—but the results were far from satisfactory.

Logan's new soldier suitability test consisted of just two parts:

"You won't even try to dodge? Why did you apply?!"

The examiners were understandably furious.

The result? After ten days of testing across MacLaine's entire territory, only about a thousand recruits were selected—far below expectations.

Even after lowering the standards and accepting borderline candidates.

"You lowered the criteria and still only got a thousand? That's it?"

"Is the number of test passers really the issue here...?"

"..." ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"Ahem. My apologies. At any rate, over half the applicants from Vifros territory and MacLaine Town showed no will whatsoever."

"Sigh..."

This was a more serious problem than it seemed.

This test wasn't just about selecting soldiers for immediate threats.

On a larger scale, it was about finding future knights—the pillars who would repel the Empire's invasion.

With such lack of cooperation...

'This is troublesome... Should I postpone it?'

One option was to recruit minimally for immediate use, quell the kingdom's chaos swiftly, and then propagate new standards nationwide.

But even if everything went perfectly, it could take one or two years—uncertain in the face of the Empire's invasion, now just seven years and a few months away.

A year or two could mean the difference between raising thousands of knights or not.

'We need to do this properly, starting now.'

Yet forcibly conscripting and training unwilling recruits wouldn't produce knights capable of enduring the harsh regimen.

A true dilemma, with no clear solution.

Then—

"Why such deep worries? There's a simple solution."

"What?"

Dwain smirked and made his proposal.

"Throw money at it. Offer a thousand gold to anyone who passes the test above the baseline. Families with sons will swarm like locusts."

A thousand gold—life-changing money for ordinary territory folk.

"Ah..."

"Even if two thousand pass, that's just two million gold. Pocket change for our territory now."

'Two million gold is pocket change now? Never thought I'd live to see the day.' ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

As Dwain tap-danced internally in celebration—

"Do you really think that'll work?"

"Hm? What do you mean?"

"Territory folk who refused to apply because it's dangerous—do you think they'll budge just for money?"

"Heh. Didn't I tell you? There's nothing money can't solve."

"No, but still..."

"Minister Dwain. With utmost sincerity, I reiterate: engrave this in your mind."

"What...?"

"If money can't solve a problem, it's only because there isn't enough of it. This is truth! Gospel! More certain than any scripture!"

"..."

Though Logan nodded under the weight of Dwain's inexplicable conviction, he didn't truly believe it.

Not until, a mere week later, he received reports of two thousand additional recruits passing the test—all thanks to the promised reward.