Knight with Wand

On the east side of Selva, at the busy logging site, listening to the creaking sound of trees being chopped down by the young men with axes, Old Brian looked around, then turned to look at Leon and others.

"Sir, how many soldiers do you need to build a barracks to accommodate long-term garrison and training?"

"Although I can only maintain a standing staff of 30 people at present, in the foreseeable future, it must be able to accommodate at least 200 elite soldiers for daily life and training." After estimating in his mind, Leon gave the old blacksmith a relatively redundant number.

Knowing that the young knight in front of him might be given a higher status, Old Brian is not surprised that he will have the need and power to build an army and lead an army in the future.

Lifting his slightly lame steps, Brian walked towards the direction of the river.

A group of people followed closely behind, even passing by the place where Olivia killed Baron Doson. They strolled a long way around the woods in the east before returning to the logging site.

"The area you have envisioned is too small. A long-term barracks is not just a place for soldiers to sleep in the barracks. Soldiers need more spacious space for training, independent cooking areas, warehouses, stables, medical camps, and defense facilities, outer stake trenches, walls, and arrow towers.

The previous site selection was not ideal. Although it was close to the river, the wind direction was not good."

Old Brian recalled the familiar terrain and the climate of Selva in different seasons over the years. He roughly pointed to the location he suggested for the lord who was now officially serving, and then gave a rough estimate of the area.

Leon listened carefully to his plan and simply converted the total area given by Old Brian. The barracks for two hundred soldiers are expected to occupy about 23 mu, which is indeed nearly twice the area originally envisioned by Leon and Azerien.

".After removing the three villages, the remaining 100 or so laborers are more than enough for the troops you will send to Longka, but the number of construction craftsmen is insufficient. If you want to complete it as soon as possible, it is too inefficient to rely on only seven or eight carpenters and a few roofers to process materials and assist in construction.

I am afraid that according to what you said, the construction period will definitely not catch up with the subsequent war, and we will have to abandon it halfway. Not only carpenters, but also a group of stonemasons and livestock for transporting building materials are needed in the current team."

Old Brian explained everything to the young people in detail, and at the same time took out a complete set of construction schedules and estimated expenses.

Olivia looked at her old father who was talking and teaching everyone how to build a military camp and train soldiers, and she couldn't help but feel a little strange.

It's not that she has never seen her father's serious look.

But she has never seen him like this now, with a temperament and eyes that are completely different from his civilian identity.

Leon, who always felt that the old blacksmith was not an ordinary person, did not feel the same way as the girl.

He listened attentively to Old Brian's proposal and learned that if he wanted to quickly complete the construction of this military camp, in addition to the craftsmen hired from the local young and strong laborers, he still had to go to the town and nearby villages to recruit more than a dozen carpenters, at least ten stonemasons, and some handymen.

The village did not have enough animal power, so he had to buy five more cows and five transport carts.

Fortunately, most of the forest and stone resources around Selva can be obtained locally.

The cost of hiring workers, purchasing ox carts, tools and equipment, and food supply for all workers

After calculating the miscellaneous expenses, the total construction cost of completing this fortress military camp with complete supporting facilities in more than two months is estimated to be 146 gold crowns.

Fortunately, this is a one-time expense, and it can be afforded now.

Leon lamented that money came and went quickly, and secretly calculated the funds on hand.

The Cantadar gold coins obtained from the earliest spoils had been completely spent after sending Azerien to buy basic weapons and reserve grain.

At present, I only have 500 gold crowns that Boss Elliver gave me.

The daily life of the people in the three territories plus the raising of horses and livestock costs 24 gold coins per month.

The newly recruited heavy guards and archers, the current 26 full-time standing soldiers, have a monthly maintenance fee of about 36 gold coins for military pay, food, and training.

The total long-term monthly expenditure is about 60 gold coins.

Now, it is February 5, 673 of the Orland calendar.

There are still five months before the tax collection cycle of the three territories this year, which is early July.

By July, Leon knew that he would only have about 54 gold coins left in his pocket.

However, by then, the income of the territories will naturally continue.

According to the statistics compiled by Azerien's previous investigation, the total annual income of their three territories this year is about 220 gold crowns.

So after the income from the territories in July continues, the funds can last for more than four months.

Even if they raise soldiers and horses, this is far from achieving a balance between income and expenditure.

However, even if nothing changes, they will not have to worry about money at least for the next eleven months, that is, until mid-January next year.

Of course, Leon knows that after Baron Elliver's army is mobilized and begins to move, it is impossible for no earth-shaking changes to happen this year.

Otherwise, why would he rush to recruit soldiers and build barracks?

At noon, except for a few laborers who stayed to take turns to guard the materials in the logging camp, Leon and others dismissed the young and strong and returned to Selva for lunch and meals.

After eating at the mansion, Leon summoned everyone around him to his hall to discuss matters.

After everyone sat down, Leon looked at Azerien on the left with some apology: "I'm afraid I'll have to trouble you to go around and run around the town a few more times to recruit craftsmen. If I didn't have something important to deal with as soon as possible, I would definitely go with you. I will let you rest at home after this trip."

Back and forth, Leon felt guilty for asking his good brother to help him run around the territory. However, the daily magic training has just begun, and it is not appropriate for him to interrupt it unless there is something important.

"Don't worry, it's not a big deal for me. I benefit a lot from being able to contact all kinds of people." The noble boy smiled lightly and didn't feel tired. He liked the feeling of being in charge of the affairs of the territory.

Leon temporarily kept his gratitude in his heart and turned to look at Lohak next to Azerien.

This kid always felt that Selva was safer, so he didn't want Ms. Elena to move to Longka to live with him.

Leon thought about it and made the arrangement: "In the afternoon, you will lead ten archers and the remaining Longka militia, bring more shields and weapons back to Longka. With them stationed there, ordinary undead will not threaten the village.

After the arrangements are made, come back and have a good reunion with your sister. If there is chaos in the future, we will have to run around."

After Lohak happily agreed, Leon looked at Old Brian.

"Uncle Brian, I now appoint you as my military advisor and centurion of the Selva troops. From today on, the construction of the barracks will be fully entrusted to you."

"Please rest assured, I will not let you down." Old Brian stood up and held his chest.

Leon nodded, and suddenly continued: "Although you said you don't need to be paid, one thing is one thing. Since you work for me, I can't not give you a salary. Don't refuse. Even if you don't want it, I will force it to Olivia."

Old Brian had to swallow his words of refusal.

Although he had hidden a lot of treasures elsewhere and was not short of money, that was the family foundation prepared for his daughter in the future when she encountered difficulties, and Old Brian was not easy to say.

Seeing her father being officially appointed as Leon's officer, Olivia knew that this also meant that she would never have to move away again. She blinked happily and looked at Leon.

"What about me? Is there anything I can do to help everyone?" The girl asked expectantly.

"Of course, and it's very important." Leon smiled at her.

I'm not trying to make the girl happy. The value of Olivia's martial arts is not just that she can fight.

The unique swordsmanship concept and body skills are not a miracle that cannot be replicated.

Whether it is himself, Lohak or Azerien, their martial arts have been rapidly improving under their guidance and communication during this period.

Hawke, who unexpectedly stood up yesterday, is the best example, which is enough to prove the great value of Olivia's skills.

In his previous life, Leon had come into contact with some excellent martial artists in his exchanges with sword halls across the country.

But most masters are really strong, but even if they want to teach, it is difficult to organize their martial arts experience and skills that are different from ordinary people into clear words.

They can fight, but they may not teach. Many bodies understand but cannot express. The indescribable force principles and instincts comprehended during practice can only be attributed to talent and perception.

It is extremely rare for a smart girl like this to not only be able to fight, but also have a deep understanding of the skills she has explored.

Considering her age, even without the physical strength given by the blood inherited from the ancients, her miraculous little head is also an unimaginable genius.

Therefore, Leon was reluctant to waste the girl's wisdom in martial arts during this period.

Every night, he would take a short time, even if he was too tired to move, he would let Corvis write for him, and write down the martial arts skills, principles, and experience after the actual training and oral communication with Olivia during the day into manuscripts.

And repeatedly take time to discuss and correct the understanding of the text written on paper with the girl.

The so-called "Olivia School" martial arts in his mind is not a joke.

It is still in the drafting stage. After all, Olivia has never thought about how to describe her skills in a book.

But Leon thinks that if this set of manuscripts is completed and bound into a book in the future, and a painter is found to add detailed illustrations, this martial arts book covering the girl's swordsmanship, spearmanship, body skills and other skills will surely be passed down through the ages.

Of course, even if this valuable martial arts book has not yet been published in front of the world, Olivia herself is in front of him, and it is obviously not a problem to ask her to train a few elite warriors under her command.

Leon has already made a preliminary plan, and he will try to change the method in the subsequent special training.

While training his martial arts and perception ability, he also wants to let the six outstanding guards join in.

Not just one-on-one combat with Olivia as before.

The six guards who passed the test also had to join the sparring under the guidance of the girl and besiege him in the boiling heart state.

After telling Olivia about this idea, Leon suddenly felt ashamed when he saw the girl selflessly agree to his proposal.

He felt that he really had the talent to be a black-hearted boss, and it seemed that his partners were about to be squeezed out of every bit of surplus value by him.

He secretly vowed to compensate his companions for their dedicated help in the future. After discussing the last trivial matters of the territory with everyone and announcing the end of the meeting, Leon looked at his companions for no reason.

Azarian, Rohark, Olivia, Uncle Brian, Corvis... and counting myself.

Among the six people, there were three knights, one was a former knight, and a prince who would have definitely had the status of a knight if his family and country had not been overthrown.

besides

Thinking about this, Leon looked at Olivia.

The thought that had been on his mind since he confirmed with Knight Balfe came to mind.

Leon made up his mind to realize his subtle "idea" soon after he could fly the square flag.

Then we might as well replace the long dining table at home with a round table.

After assigning their respective tasks, Lohak led Longka Qingzhuang and ten archers to return to his territory that afternoon.

Uncle Brian began to officially take over the young and strong team, reorganized and arranged the labor force, and began to build the barracks according to his own plan after many years.

Azarian brought enough gold coins with him the next day and took the remaining ten archers with him as his escort, and went to the surrounding areas to recruit craftsmen and buy livestock.

Leon called six guards and asked them to work with him and Corvis to receive Olivia's martial arts instruction every day.

At first, the five guards from other places, except Hawke, did not understand why the lord asked them to ask a delicate and beautiful girl for martial arts lessons.

But after picking up weapons and receiving a "severe beating" from the girl one by one, no one had any dissatisfaction in their hearts.

Leon worked tirelessly to teach the seven masters the martial arts every day. Leon looked at the girl with great interest. It seemed that he was really addicted to being a trainer of the Forbidden Army.

However, although there were more people to teach, Olivia's burden became lighter with the help of additional guards and high-intensity sparring with Leon who was in a boiling state.

However, the backyard of the house, which was originally quite spacious due to the increase in the number of people, immediately became smaller, so Leon had to take the guards to the pasture outside the village for training every day.

And whenever it was Corvis's turn to recuperate for a few days to recover his magic power, Leon would not be idle. He would take the time to lead the guards on their horses and train their riding skills.

Thanks to the memory of his previous life, Leon was better at equestrian than Olivia, and he finally had the opportunity to be the girl's teacher in this area.

The days went on step by step.

Apart from occasionally leading soldiers to exterminate sporadic undead beasts that invaded the territory, there were no major fluctuations.

The first to return was Lohark.

Not long after that, Azarian also returned with the craftsmen he had recruited.

A team of about thirty craftsmen, under the command of old Brian, the Centurion of Sevar, was in full swing into the construction of the barracks.

Leon felt more and more excited as he watched the wooden walls, building foundations, and tunnels taking shape day by day on the construction site outside the village.

A few days later, an unknown knight from the Thorn Flower family came to the village with his troops to look for a local guide.

After the interview, Leon read the letter from the baron handed over by the other party, and immediately sent people to cooperate with the Farolis family and guide them to the east outside Selva to select a site to build a transit camp.

When these vanguard troops passed by the Selva Barracks under construction, the knight was not surprised at all by this seemingly transgressive move.

Within the Thorn Flower Family, all those worthy of the Lord's trust already know more or less what the status of the young knight who was granted a fief at the age of sixteen or seventeen now holds in the family.

On the morning of February 18th, just as Leon was activating the power of boiling as usual, he was enjoying the full siege of the more and more decent heavy-armed guards.

But the daily rigorous special training was suddenly interrupted by Little Lina who arrived.

It turned out that there was a messenger from the Farolis City Chamber of Commerce asking for an audience.

When he returned to the mansion to meet the messenger, Leon raised his eyebrows when he saw that he presented a lacquered letter with the coat of arms of the Kantadar nobles.

When he opened it, he was delighted with the contents inside.

It has been a full two and a half months since the letter asking for ransom was sent in Dragonmaw City.

Mam'r's relatives have come to Kossos County with cantadar gold coins worth a thousand Oland gold crowns to wait for redemption.

Leon couldn't help but be happy thinking that the villagers of Selva could finally receive this huge ransom.

It is true that the money does not go into one's own pocket, but the people in the territory become rich, which is obviously a good thing for the territory in the long run.