Medieval Knight System: Building the Strongest Empire Ever!

Chapter 316: Give the Marquis My Regards

When Radensdorf became part of the royal demesne, the region’s defense forces were placed under the command of the duchy army. As a result, the Military Department took control of Radensdorf’s defense and came to wield enormous influence.

This shift also became the catalyst for the sudden rise of the Baron Sinclair family, into which Margareta, a daughter of the War Minister’s family, had married. On top of that, Margareta was a decorated veteran of the civil war, recognized by the grand duke himself.

Now able to overpower the eastern nobles, who had never welcomed a woman in power unless that power came through inheritance, Margareta established herself as a formidable political force in Radensdorf, backed by the Military Department and a prince.

Her ascent had nothing to do with the family head’s wishes, but Margareta’s ambition knew no restraint. I worried she might be needlessly multiplying her political enemies, but she was full of confidence.

Even the noble world, which prizes legitimacy above all, is ultimately ruled by the logic of power.

So I borrowed Margareta’s connections and posted a recruitment notice for the Gale Knights. During the first recruitment, there had been almost no applicants from the east, but since I happened to be staying in Radensdorf, I saw this as a good opportunity.

If the grand duke hadn’t been hounding me to fill out the Gale Knights’ ranks, I would have taken my time selecting them, but in the end the matter had landed squarely at my own feet. Around 250 men answered the notice, which ran for three days.

Far more people flocked in than I expected.

"Doesn’t it just show how many cavalrymen admire your renown, Baron?"

"Don’t flatter me. I’d say it’s more that there are plenty of noble second sons with nothing better to do."

"Hahaha, that’s probably the biggest reason, honestly. The east has plenty of nobles without posts too."

Brian was an aide Margareta had assigned to me. During the siege of Radensdorf, he’d helped me open the side door of the east gate, and he’d lent his strength when we tracked down Antonio.

And he was quite skilled. I heard he was formerly a duchy knight.

He was like a zealot who worshipped the goddess called Margareta.

Perhaps men like Brian embody one of the corrupted forms of that spiritual love, the courtly adoration of a noble lady. And Margareta works a man like that without batting an eye. Then again, she’s hardly in a position to be picky.

Neeeigh!

Aaargh!

We held the recruitment trials at a ranch on the outskirts of Radensdorf. The goal was to filter out the ones who’d shown up with nothing but a horse. Before we even consider disposition, a man should at least know how to ride. A perfectly natural step.

Half the participants fell from their horses trying to clear the obstacles. Some were badly injured, and some begged and pleaded for another chance, blaming it on a slip. But I threw them all out.

"Is that the Gale Knight?"

"He looks much younger than I imagined."

"No kidding. You don’t think that’s his son out here, do you?"

When people learned that the great Gale Knight, the man who had achieved legendary victories and risen to stand as a prince, was a boy who’d just turned sixteen, it tended to provoke indescribable shock and misunderstanding.

I was used to it by now, so let them misunderstand all they liked. I observed the participants’ riding skills, and compared to the first Gale Knights recruitment, the overall level seemed higher. There were especially many noble and knight participants.

The Gale Knights’ renown had risen that much, so second and third sons pushed far down the line of succession in noble families had taken an interest too. For provincial knights, it must have looked like a land of opportunity as well.

"Baron, are you really allowing even those beggars to apply?"

"Anyone who owns a horse may participate, regardless of rank."

"With those pack horses and that shabby look, anyone can see they’re peasants’ sons."

Brian had initially advised accepting only nobles, knights, and former mercenaries, but I wanted to give commoners a chance too. Just as with the first recruitment, I didn’t particularly care about status.

Just as Arzt became a fine physician and an indispensable man in Feuzen, I’ll take on anyone with a good disposition and ability, even an executioner. Not that Brian would understand.

"And what will you do about the ones who can’t even equip themselves?"

"We can issue them equipment from the spoils of war. We’ll just deduct the cost from their pay."

"And if they sneak off with it, wouldn’t that be a considerable loss for you, Baron?"

"I don’t pick men like that in the first place. Don’t worry."

And just how do you know that?

Brian’s eyes were asking exactly that, but I didn’t answer. There was no need to. I simply watched the riding skills of the grubby boys who’d come up from the countryside leading pack horses.

To my surprise, they rode better than expected. Not outstanding, but easily a passing grade. These kids seemed to have more talent than I’d thought. Beyond them, there was even a gravekeeper and a butcher.

"Oh, Lord! Isn’t that a gravekeeper?"

"Even the gravekeeper rides well."

The gravekeeper rode the pack horse that usually pulled his cart with considerable skill, and the butcher’s hands, gripping reins instead of a cleaver, were far from ordinary. Brian recoiled, saying their station was far too lowly.

The riding trials, which ran through the morning, came to an end.

There were 255 participants, and 135 of them were cut.

After weeding out the riffraff, the next step was the disposition screening. I could tell a person’s disposition just by looking, but I preferred to interview candidates whenever possible.

Someone might be a Hungarian speaker like Ivan, and the scouter alone can’t determine what abilities a person holds. The peasant boys, the gravekeeper, and the butcher left an especially deep impression on me.

They were mocked and looked down on by the other applicants, but I could feel their desperate hunger to rise in the world. Then some of the participating nobles began to voice their displeasure.

"He’s not actually going to pick those lowly things, is he?"

"Surely not! What business do creatures like that have being cavalry!"

"The recruitment notice did say there were no restrictions on rank."

The nobles seemed confident that a place in the Gale Knights was reserved for high blood like their own, but was that really so? I’m the kind of man who will launder even an executioner’s identity to recruit him, so long as he has ability.

Recruiting such men might tarnish the Gale Knights’ reputation, but I couldn’t have cared less. Renown solidifies with every great feat on the battlefield anyway.

And my renown had become legend in the east. It was the result of the Gale Knight’s heroic ballad combining with the tall tales of the cavalrymen who’d fought beside me, distorted into utterly absurd rumors.

Young men bewitched by those rumors had come flooding in.

That was why they’d gathered like storm clouds despite such short notice.

The screening continued into the evening, and the first round weeded out those with seriously negative traits: cruelty, lust, envy, and the like. Extreme people like that inevitably cause trouble, so I had no choice but to exclude them.

"It’s an honor, Baron. I am a noble of Garten, er, a third son."

"Isn’t the usual order that the second son becomes a knight and the sons from the third onward enter the clergy?"

"I could never become a clergyman! P-please accept me!"

There were plenty of third and fourth sons of noble families who’d applied because they didn’t want to enter a monastery. They’d received a theological education with their family’s support, but who’d want to spend a horrifically boring lifetime in a monastery?

Still, being sent to a monastery isn’t such a bad idea. In these brutal medieval times, few places are as safe as a monastery. Call it insurance in case something happens to the heir.

I interviewed the next noble.

Hm, here we go again.

"I participated in the civil war, but I never saw battle."

"Why didn’t you see battle? I doubt you had the luxury of avoiding it."

"Because our commanders were so terrified of you, Baron, that they all fled."

"I see. Then tell me, sir, do you fear me, or do you fear Marquis Offenburg?"

"Pardon? Wh-what do you mean by that?"

In the early days of the Gale Knights, all sorts of factions had sent waves of spies with hidden identities to meddle, but I’d filtered them all out with the scouter.

I’d assumed circumstances had changed enough that no faction would bother planting spies in the Gale Knights this time, but it seemed Marquis Offenburg had taken an interest in us.

"Give the marquis my regards. Tell him I appreciate the interest, but I must decline."

"...Understood."

The noble, dripping with cold sweat, beat a hasty retreat.