Near a small village south of Uxhall, thousands of tents have been set up in a sprawling camp surrounded by a large wooden fence.

The road was filled with heavily armed Swadian soldiers, either in hundreds or in groups of twos and threes, led by an officer on horseback.

Farmers and merchants from all over the country drove to that place in horse-drawn carriages, escorted by soldiers. From the outskirts of Parabun to the out-of-town estates of Uxhall, all the towns and villages along the way were busy collecting military supplies and bringing food, cattle and sheep to the barracks. Of course, they are all for their own purposes. Merchants for profit, and farmers for the use of this grain to offset taxes.

Soldiers from all over the kingdom of Svadia entered the camp and pitched their tents.

Quartermasters counted supplies, and sergeants busied the camp with newly recruited soldiers. Everything seemed so busy that when Byron's peony mercenaries arrived, Byron waited for a long time without anyone to guide them.

In the end, Byron himself entered the barracks and found the baron who was in charge of inspecting the soldiers, and the other party patted his head, remembering that there was such a unit as the Peony Mercenaries.

However, although these nobles did not take Byron and them seriously, they were still shocked when they heard that Byron had brought 250 soldiers.

Many of the poorly paid barons were able to bring in no more than fifty or sixty soldiers, and some of them were newly recruited militiamen. And some counts who only have villages and towns as their territories bring only three or four hundred soldiers, compared to Byron's number of soldiers.

Of course, it must be admitted that these nobles generally do not bring too many soldiers, and it is often good to bring half of the soldiers. But even so, Byron outnumbered a wealthy baron.

And when the baron himself went to inspect Byron's troops, he found that there was very little moisture in Byron's troops. Even the women who did the odd jobs wore soft armor and carried crossbows on their backs, dressed as light soldiers.

The rest of the infantry and cavalry, the worst, wore chain mail and light chain mail, iron helmets and shin guards, and had a long weapon and a short weapon. This is obviously the dress of light infantry, and it is clear that this mercenary is also considered an elite unit among the kingdom's troops.

The baron immediately set aside a place for Byron to camp in, and gave Byron a note with which he could receive two weeks' supplies for three hundred men. If you run out, you can ask for more.

Byron set up a tent with his heroes and his men, and walked around the camp with Fatis and Kress for a while. Because the camp is huge, even if it takes more than an hour to walk, they are only halfway there. However, Byron was able to roughly estimate from the number of tents in half and the number of soldiers that each camp could hold about 20,000 soldiers. And now it is estimated that there is not half of it.

Because he arrived here half a month ahead of schedule, Byron originally planned to stay in the camp for a while, get ready, and by the way, get some information from other nobles, and see the general lineup of this expedition.

However, Byron's plan did not go as expected, because when Earl Greyward knew that such a group of mercenaries had come to the camp, he was also very happy, but it was not because of Byron's combat strength, because a battle of tens of thousands of people was actually not short of hundreds of mercenaries. He was glad that there were people to be sent out to work...

After all, he is a mercenary, and he usually does these jobs, so he can make use of them.

In the camp, the Earl of Greyward met Byron, and both made a good impression on the other.

The Earl of Greyward was a very strong old man who wore very modest clothes. There were a lot of wrinkles on his face, but he had an indescribable kindness, and when he talked to Byron, his tone was also very gentle, not using his authority to order Byron, but telling Byron that he could pay them for money.

But Byron saw a hint of eagle's eye sharpness in those somewhat cloudy pupils. To be able to stay in the position of earl for so many years, and to maintain the harmony and prosperity of the family, this good old man must have used many means. And in terms of political positions, the Earl of Greyward always likes to be in the middle, so there are not many people who offend. If you can befriend this adult, it will definitely be beneficial to Byron's development!

Byron agreed to all the work on the spot, and said that meeting the Earl of Greyward would be the best reward for him.

The Earl of Greyward, of course, knew what Byron meant, put away the dinar, and told Byron that if he needed help, he could come to him, and he would try to help Byron as much as possible.

As a result, as soon as the Peony mercenaries set up their tents, more than half of them were reassigned to tasks and given additional bonuses.

Byron also tempted them, telling them that if they went out on a mission, they would have the opportunity to go to the taverns in the town, even if it was to make money and find women, and Byron would not interfere.

In addition, most of these tasks are just collecting supplies in nearby villages, or running errands to deliver letters to other nobles, which is not difficult, so the mercenaries are also happy to do it.

The rest of the soldiers were also trained under the leadership of Bandak, Desayvi, and Kenrad. The light infantry were not skilled enough in combat, and they did not cooperate well with the other Svadian soldiers. If you want to be good on the battlefield, you have to be prepared.

For the next week, Byron's Peony mercenaries were doing odd jobs. And other mercenary teams hired by the kingdom also rushed to the camp, not as large as Byron's peony mercenaries. All the mercenaries combined, there are only more than 1,000 people.

The noble troops and the defenders who came in response to the call of the Earl of Greyward were now less than fifteen thousand, and there was still some distance from the number of troops that King Harlaus had recruited last time. According to some of the knights who had been acquainted with Byron, King Harauth had not yet come with his troops, but he was not very happy at the moment. In particular, the several lords led by the Count of Sweden, although they did not openly resist the king's order, each of them was as if they had discussed, and each lord only sent ten people to carry their own banners, which was a slap in the face than not sending a single person.

The troops of the nobles from all over the country are still rushing over, and the preparations on the side of Rhodok are getting more and more complete. Once again, the trade routes between the two sides were cut off, and more than 3,000 Rhodok soldiers had been stationed along the border between the two countries, planting wooden cones to stop the cavalry charge.

Byron was a little anxious, but the preparation of the troops was still not complete.

However, it is not without benefits, many nobles have privately asked Byron to entrust some work, and Byron can also take this opportunity to promote his name and make some extra money by the way.