There wasn't much time for Byron to prepare, and King Harlaus was not too demanding. On the scroll of paper left by the envoy when he left, there was a long list, from the number of various types of troops to the supplies to support the king, the troops were accurate to the man, and the supplies were accurate to the pound, and it was like treating him like a cow who didn't need money, and wanted to squeeze out the last drop of milk.

"Here's what's in the list"

"In accordance with the laws of the kingdom and the traditional duties of the local lords, the noble king of Swadia, the leader of the Varangians, the nemesis of the northerners and the border people of Rhodok, the expeller of the nomads, the sole lord of Paraven,"

Byron had greeted King Harlaus a thousand times in his heart, but he still could not show his dissatisfaction with the king, at least not in public. He ordered his vassals, knights, village representatives, and senior officers of the army to sit around a long table and discuss carefully how to gather the troops and supplies requested by the king.

"My lord, I am glad to go with you in search of glory. But there were not many troops I could call up in this little time, and I could take with me five of my men and the thirty horsemen who had followed me before, and thirty of the infantry. ”

Alleyne was the first to stand up in support of Byron, who nodded his head in favor of his troops. The soldiers under Alleyne inherited the characteristics of the Peony Mercenaries, except for the five minions he brought to the south and were judged by the system to be undertrained Vekia riders, the rest were all mercenary series. Thirty riders were judged by the system to be caravan guards, and those infantry were actually mercenary sentries and mercenary halberders, all of which were level 2 or 3 troops. He also organized a Rhodok peasant conscription, but mainly to maintain law and order in the countryside. It sounds like a lot, but compared to the size of Aren's fiefdom, this force is close to the limit of what he can sustain.

"If you need me, it's my duty to have my troops at your disposal."

After Aren, Fatis stood up and saluted Byron, and the elders of the villages under his control also stood up to show their support for their lord.

"Very well, Fatis, very well."

Byron returned the salute and motioned for them to sit down. He knew very well about Fatis's troops, it was a very elite small force, and its members were almost all retainers and old friends of his family. When he returned to the family, his venerable father supported Byron several times and organized a cavalry of members of the nobility and yeoman farmers looking for a better way out to follow Fatis. Twenty-five men, almost all Swadian heavy cavalry, equipped with their own horses, and the maintenance of the usual was undertaken by Fatis, and Byron did not need to spend a little more energy to have such an elite army.

In addition, Fatis quickly gained favor with the local population in the way he managed his territory, and the people had forgotten his status as a Swadian nobleman and regarded him as one of their own. Even when it was time to deal with pirates in the north, there were still some retired and cash-strapped spearmen who were willing to follow him and form a solid line with his cavalry.

Next, Bandak, who has been training his troops, also reported on the current level of training of recruits, as well as the number of battles they can play.

Bandak is a real Rhodok, still from a civilian background, and he still gets along well with his fellow countrymen. In the small town of Pegonde alone, there were sixty people willing to join the army, and most of them became qualified spearmen and crossbowmen after a period of training.

Like the rest of the Rhodok forces, they were equally reluctant to fight for King Harauth, which would have made them traitors to their countrymen when they returned victorious. So Bandak had to lure them with good payrolls and booty, which worked well for the poor, and most of the time your friends and fellow villagers would envy the wealth you possessed and ignore the source of it. But on the whole, the combat effectiveness and morale of this team are very worrying.

Rolf and Desaivi were not present at the meeting, the former busily extorting the caravanserais, while the latter actively co-opted the bandit forces. However, they still sent competent officers to bring some troops, they are all integrated bandit troops, and the system determines that few of these soldiers can exceed the 3rd rank, and most of them are militia level.

After the heroes had reported to him, Byron asked the village elders and the sergeants in charge of the local defense how much they could provide him with. Their answers were vague, saying that the threat of bandits was still very high, and the number of soldiers they could provide was basically in the single digits. After a meeting, all the soldiers that Byron could recruit from his own territory were no more than three hundred, and the quality was uneven.

All Byron could rely on was the old mercenaries who had been following him. He thought that after having a fief, his troops would be larger and it would be more convenient to do anything. But in fact, because of the continuous division of land, so that his heroes have their own power and interests to choose, they can no longer fight for him wholeheartedly. And the recruits who were transformed from the peasants could not make up for the combat strength of the mercenaries who had saved enough money, had their service expired, and had resigned and returned to their hometowns. Although the cost of the entire army has decreased, he is really not short of money at present, and the huge savings of the Mateas family are still enough for him to squander for a long time.

Whether it was the Rhodoc nobles who had been robbed of his territory, or King Haraus's father and son, they all wanted to kill him and rob him of his wealth and land. Therefore, he could no longer take the vast majority of his troops to fight in another place as before, and once Pegang and Serindil were out of garrison, it would not take them a few days to become the territory of others, and it would be meaningless for him to return victorious. The count, who had an empty title, was still a commoner, and in the eyes of other nobles he was nothing more than a clown in fine clothes.

After much thought, he decided to take the recruited soldiers and half of the Peony mercenaries north to respond to King Harlaus's call. As for the generals who went with him... After much consideration, he brought with him the most loyal Fattis, and the old mercenary Kenrad. Alleyne wanted to go with him, but Byron asked him to stay and manage the fiefdom in his place.

This was decided by Byron after careful consideration, and it was not a small risk to hand over the power to Ellen, after all, this young nobleman of Vecchia had always wanted to have his own territory and establish his own merits, and when Byron was poisoned before, he wanted to replace him. But in the same way, Alleyne attaches great importance to honor and is quite far-sighted, and he believes that following Byron will bring him greater benefits, so while Byron is alive, he will not betray Byron. And if something really happens to Byron, he will be the first to think about making himself bigger. Even against the will of the king. Fatis, on the other hand, is not, if something happens to Byron, he will probably abandon his territory to avenge Byron, or be loyal to a Swadia nobleman under the family factor, so that Byron's inheritance will go to someone else.

Had it not been for the conflict of interest with the king, Byron would have given this task to Fatis. But the situation is special, and then special means must be used.