"My lord, this is the village where I was born. Thanks to you, I have saved a lot of dinars, and I plan to buy some land, marry the daughter of a merchant or a landowner, and live the rest of my life in peace. ”

John pointed to the village not far away and said with some emotion.

In order to give John a ride, Byron deliberately spared a certain distance and passed by the village of John's hometown.

"You're a good fighter, and you've got a lot of brains. John, I'm sure you'll be able to run your own business. ”

Byron got off his horse and took John's hand, feeling a little reluctant. As Byron said, John was now excellent as a mercenary cavalryman and very competent as a standard-bearer. Moreover, he had more foresight than ordinary mercenaries, so Byron was relieved that he would help him procure supplies, and let him command a dozen mercenary cavalry around Byron.

He followed Byron for the longest time and was Byron's first soldier, and the two had a close friendship, and Byron always regarded him as a friend. When he was wounded, Byron helped him throughout the Swadia camp find the right medicine so that he would not have to be amputated.

"I wish you could stay, John. Follow me, and it won't be long before you'll be as beautiful as those knights. ”

Byron shook John's hand and said sincerely.

"No, my lord, I thank you for your kindness, but I'm afraid I won't be able to fight, and you don't lack a soldier for me."

John smiled and shook his head, politely declining Byron's offer.

"It's an honor to fight with you. I remember when I first followed you, you were just an ordinary mercenary, and you didn't have a single mercenary. And now, you are the official baron canonized by the king, a lord of one side, with a high status and so wealthy. I'm afraid that no one else in the entire continent of Calradia has had this experience. ”

"It's the honor of my life to have this kind of experience, and I don't have to worry about not having the capital to brag about for the rest of my life."

Both laughed, then let go of their hands.

As John was leaving, Byron stopped him and brought a military horse.

"You remember it, John. We killed the imposter together and got this good horse. Now it's yours, John, and you're going to need it. And those equipment, it's all yours. Also, I have a bit of a dinar here, which is the reward you deserved in the last battle, as well as compensation for retirement. ”

Byron gave John the reins of his horse, and handed him a cloth bag containing large silver coins and gold worth 200 dinars.

"Oh, Holy Father, you are as generous as ever. Thank you, sir, thank you very much. If you pass by one day, I will do my best to entertain you. ”

John bowed respectfully to Byron, put away his coins, mounted his horse, and went to the village in Byron's eyes.

"Goodbye, John."

Byron waved at his back, then returned to his unit with his men.

When Byron returned to Thrindir with his army, he sent someone to inquire about John. It looks like John said before, he bought a few houses in the village, converted them into taverns, hired a few locals who could work, and became the owner. He was considered one of the wealthiest people in the village by the people in the village, and the local militia asked him to help train the troops.

He lived a decent life as a squire, eating white bread and bacon for every meal, and walking close to the daughter of a local miller.

John's retirement was good, and his departure made the other dozen mercenaries want to go home. Some of them, like John, had saved enough money to live on their own and planned to return to their hometowns to live a peaceful life. Others are simply tired of running around and fighting all day, or the damage left from previous battles has prevented them from saving their lives on the battlefield.

Byron sent them a little money and let them leave with their equipment. Of course, these people could not be people who had sworn allegiance to him, and their pensions were nowhere near as high as John's.

However, after they left, Byron also had a new source of troops in the realm.

Serindil has returned to its pre-war state, and most of the town's buildings have returned to operation. And because of the influx of refugees, the number of homeless people has increased, and the number of people willing to join the Byron army has increased. When Byron launched his call, dozens of people in the town responded to his call to join his army.

These southerners were systematically judged to be Rhodok recruits, and after being armed, they were untrained Rhodok spearmen or Rhodok crossbowmen. By the time these soldiers had been trained by Bandak to be ready for war, Byron's infantry would be strengthened.

One group of veterans left, and another group of recruits filled their vacancies. While this may not seem like a good deal, these Rhodoc natives are paid much less than mercenaries, and many are more loyal than mercenaries because of their families.

As for the disadvantage in combat skills, it is not difficult to make up for it with Byron's training bonus. In about three months, these recruits will be able to become good level 3 soldiers, forming a spear phalanx on the battlefield and using Rhodok's infantry tactics against the enemy.

Rhodok's phalanx of infantry combined with the heavy cavalry units of Upper Swadia would be a good complement. Of course, the tactics of the two sides will take a long time to be honed. In particular, Byron intended to use the musket era of the long lance phalanx and the wall cavalry offensive, a tactic that surpassed the times and required not only training, but also actual combat testing to ensure that it was effective enough.

In addition to these untrained militiamen, some of the local wealthy and landowners could not leave their possessions and returned to Serindil and pledged their loyalty to Byron. Of course, Byron did not believe in their loyalty, and the most important thing for these people was not who they were loyal to, but whether their property was adequately protected.

But some of them were able to fight for Byron, and they were able to bring their own equipment, even the more expensive horses in the south, and follow Byron on the expedition.

Byron had spoken to the local squires that Byron could give them certain benefits in taxes and in other places, and that they would be loyal to Byron and heed his call.

Of course, the premise is that Byron still has to speak in Serindil so that his promise can be fulfilled.