"Bandak, I've seen it, those militias are well trained, and in my absence, you did a good job. I have given them equipment for light infantry and guerrilla shooters, and their salaries have been increased, and they should really thank you. ”

In the renovated Peony office, Byron poured hot water for Bandak with his own hands.

"You've won the prize, that's what I'm supposed to do."

Bandak smiled a little coyly, put a glass of the gift Byron had brought him from Tulga, a covered helmet with gold trim, and took a sip of hot water. For Byron, this particular habit, he is also accustomed to now.

In Byron's absence, Bandak had been training the remaining soldiers, teaching the more skilled Nord soldiers the militia techniques, and spending a lot of time teaching bows and crossbows, and when Byron returned, 20 militiamen had become 15 inexperienced light infantry and 5 Swadian guerrilla marksmen. 3 Nord hunters, also upgraded to Nord archers.

Because there was a lot of equipment left over from before, Byron didn't spend much money on arming these soldiers. And after this upgrade, Byron finally has a large-scale long-range force, although there are only a dozen people, but it can still pose a certain threat to the enemy and weaken their combat effectiveness.

Byron also rewarded Bandak with an additional 50 dinars, which he spent to improve his life and his son.

His son has been born, and because of Byron's funding, the two of them are now living well. However, the woman also ate Bandak, and said that if the subsidy was cut off, she would go back to picking up customers, and almost sold the land that Byron had bought for her in Djerkhala.

In desperation, Byron had no choice but to entrust an old friend to help run the land there, as long as half of the proceeds were given to the woman.

Byron, on the other hand, began to use this method of operation to make money.

With Manid, Byron got rid of his life of running around and running merchants, and began to contact the powerful in the city, dealing with the daily affairs in a place he called "the office", going outside the city to see how his soldiers were training, training with Fatis, and returning in the evening to read a good book.

And the heroes now have a good place to stay. In fact, there is no work in this office, just so that the nobles and wealthy people in the city can have a comfortable place to sit when they are looking for peony mercenaries. So part of the first and second floors is used for reception and errands, and the rest of the rooms can be lived in except for the kitchen and a small storage room.

Fatis and Jamila already had their own room here, and Jamila decorated her room. Manid also lived here when he was in the city, while Alleyne was a bit unsettled, but there were rooms here. Kress didn't really have any requirements for where to live, but she didn't mind Byron giving her a room so she could hide her booty.

Only Bandak had been living on a farm outside the city for training reasons, but Byron had left him an empty room.

Byron now has a huge amount of money in his hand, and 38,000 dinars is simply an astronomical amount for ordinary people, and if he takes it out at once, even Alleyne and Fatis will be a little overwhelmed and feel dizzy.

But Byron also wanted to make more money, which sounds like a lot, but it would be able to arm fifty or sixty heavy cavalry and raise them for a year or two, which was far from Byron's requirements.

Even Rhodok, who has been weakened a lot by the Swadia Kingdom in recent years, can make up almost 20,000 regular troops from all over the country. If there were not hundreds of soldiers with outstanding strength and complete equipment, Byron wanted to be favored by high-ranking nobles and be knighted by the king, which was basically useless.

The previous Golden Hand family made Byron suffer a big loss, and after that, Byron's caravan always had to give them a little profit, which made Byron feel very embarrassed.

Byron was hoping to climb to the top and have the guys who had been chattering in front of him salute him in turn, and that would have been a good feeling.

And only by becoming a nobleman can Byron have his own territory and live the addiction of the lord in the novel. The life of these nobles was not unattainable for Byron, but every time he thought of the soldiers, civilians, and especially himself, having to salute them respectfully, Byron felt itching in his heart.

And the heroes and soldiers under his command must also serve this purpose.

Now Byron's life is not bad, and there is no deep hatred to deal with, so he has no other goals. It may be much more difficult to become a nobleman in real life than in the game, but sooner or later the war will start again, and at that time, the warring parties will need an army.

It is not unheard of in history cases of mercenaries who were recruited by the state and granted knighthoods because of wars.

How to use the existing funds, earn more money, and organize larger and higher-level troops, is now Byron's main problem.

Manid's vision is still very accurate, but he lacks funds. After Byron had made him the leader of the caravan and had sent Fatis with cavalry to guard the caravan, he began the journey he had envisioned as a caravan.

They traveled north, repeating the route Byron had taken before, plus a stop at Sagos. This was Manid's idea, and he believed that the price of linen products did not fluctuate much, and the profits were not high but stable.

Although the weather is raining a lot now, the snow fields in the south of Vekia have also melted a lot, the climate is warmer, and the trade routes are also smooth. The activities of the pirates have also been curbed to a certain extent, and the security problem is not so great.

Byron gave Fatis and Aren 20,000 dinars, and each of them kept a portion in case there were no problems. In fact, Byron can afford more, but the oversized purchase may affect the local market, which will offend people again.

In fact, Byron originally wanted to send Alleyne there, after all, he was from Vecchia and was familiar with it, so maybe he could rely on his influence to bring back a team of noble illegitimate children.

However, he is too arrogant, prone to accidents at critical moments, and it is difficult for him to listen to the advice of a businessman like Manid. The most important thing is that if the nobles of Vecchia had offered good conditions, he would have jumped ship to become a knight.

So he used Aryne's excellent ability and Jamila's temptation to keep Alleyne, who wanted to go back and see.

If all goes well, Byron will make a lot of money. He has already started his own investments, and he has plans to buy the farms outside the city and the bakeries and workshops in the city. The cooperation with the Golden Hand family brought him a benefit at this time, as long as the Golden Hand agreed, Byron could buy those places at a low price, which would later be used as his own source of funds.

He also told Manid to keep an eye on the blacksmiths in Kulau, and if he could dig them up, he could ask Dehrim to open a blacksmith shop, so that Byron could produce the right equipment for his troops, and it could be at cost price.

According to the plan that Byron and Manid Jamila worked together, if everything went well, even if Byron lay down and did nothing in the future, he would be able to earn money and feed an elite army of two hundred people.