The matter of Sabah was taken care of, and Byron went home after purchasing a large amount of food and replenishing enough fresh water. He spent a total of 27,000 dinars here, spending most of his working capital. But in the end, the result was not bad, and he finally gathered enough troops.

Because Byron was one of the few big customers, the elder personally sent them out of town and gave them a lot of snacks. At the time of their separation, he also told the story of Sabah before his conquest by the Assasins, when the oasis, which was five times larger than it is now, was built in the center of a Salander-style castle and inhabited by thousands of inhabitants and soldiers.

The ruler of that fortress is called "Kant", a mysterious and eccentric lord. It is said that he built a magnificent fortress in the desert within a few months, and the soldiers who followed him surpassed any of the Salander chieftains of the time. But the most incomprehensible thing is that this lord obviously has the strength to compete with the Sultan for the country, but he has to stay in his fortress and make a lot of plans that are actually completely superfluous, and he is not close to women at all.

Finally, one day on a whim, the lord took his army to the heart of the desert to find the ruins of antiquity, and never returned. Because he had no heirs, his generals started a civil war that destroyed the entire city. When the Assasin sect arrived to seek refuge from Lord Kant, they saw only bones and ruins all they could find. And Sabah is also a small town built in the corner of the former ruins.

The elder also told Byron that the sand dunes near the town were the remains of the original fortress, and that the Assasins had abandoned them because of the sandstorm and left them to be buried in the yellow sand, which became a barrier to the town.

From the height of the dunes, Byron could tell the size of the fortress. He marveled at the strength of the lord, but also regretted the destruction here. But either way, it has nothing to do with him.

He thanked the elders for their willingness to share the story with him, and then left Sabah with his army and set out on the return journey.

On the way back, he met another team of the logging team. The soldiers had similar combat experience to those Byron had hired before, but were better equipped and had uniformly colored burqas, the result of the management of the former aristocratic officers. Good looks are also good, and when their teammates are waiting for business in Sabah, Sharitz's officers say they want to hire this unit that looks good.

Captain Luch and Byron met under a dead tree in the desert, a man in his thirties, with a face and body that was distinctly characteristic of the southern Rhodoc, with brown hair and black eyes, and was not tall but very stocky.

He wears a black coat with velvet trim, somewhat old but clean. Let him retain his aristocratic characteristics without being obtrusive among a group of mercenaries.

He politely greeted Byron in an aristocratic manner, and then went straight to the point.

He hoped that Byron would accept the allegiance of him and his more than 300 men, lead them back to Rhodok, return them to their homeland, give them land, and pardon them in the name of the lord.

The other captain of the logging team also walked over and walked aside with Luqi for a moment. At first, the captain was not very happy, and seemed to be unhappy that Lucci did not ask for his opinion. But soon, they came to an agreement.

The entire logging team declared allegiance to Byron, who did not recoup the commissions he had paid, and provided them with food, better weapons and armor, and guaranteed that they would be treated fairly in the ranks. After a year of service, they were able to stay on their own and get their own land.

If they win.

At this point, in addition to the 200 cavalry he brought, Byron's men also had 150 desert light cavalry, 50 Kugit riders who could ride and shoot, 15 rogue knights who were better armed than mercenary cavalry, and about 80 Rolf and other scattered mercenary cavalry, all of varying levels. The 500 cavalry had a total of 572 fighting horses, 170 camels, and 30 camels. In order to feed the horses, half of Byron's marching supplies were horse feed.

As for the infantry, in addition to the 683-strong Rhodoc Lumberjack Brigade, there was a team of 60 Salander archers, and more than 300 light and heavy infantry under Rolf, half of whom were armed with javelins.

1,500 fully armed professional soldiers, plus the remnants of the Peony Mercenary Regiment stationed in Dehrim, totaling more than 2,000. In Byron's time, this was also an ordinary regimental unit. But in the current Calradia, this is a force that no one can ignore, a force that is enough to start a regional war.

Byron is planning to use this force to reclaim his fiefdom and expand it!

……

A few days later, at the Peony Mercenary Office in Dehrim.

The door was pushed open with a hard blow, and then slammed shut. Fatis sighed deeply and hung his coat on the door, even though it wasn't a good place to put his clothes.

Jamila walked over

, took off the tunic and put it in the right place, and asked in a very ordinary tone:

"It seems that we still haven't gained support at this banquet."

"No surprises."

Alleyne sat in his chair and shrugged his shoulders as he looked at the tired Fatis.

"We sympathize with Baron Byron, but we have to think about it."

Fatis imitated the tone of the nobles at the previous banquets and the way they spoke, and he rolled his eyes and tried to amuse everyone in the audience.

With a helpless face, he sat down, took the bottle from Bandak's hand, and poured himself a glass of ale.

"From Harrungosburg to Deherim, no lord will help us along the way. They mocked us for abandoning our territory, believing that we could not succeed. As for the other noble squires, what they could offer was about the same. ”

Fatis had just attended a banquet before, but at this time he still drank all the wine in his glass, and his face was very unsightly.

Aryne nodded, rarely agreeing with Fatis's words.

"Count Claes said he could lend me some troops, but he would like to speak with Mr. Byron to see what he has found, so we can't be sure how much assistance he can provide."

"What about Baron Chico and Baron Phyllis? Wouldn't they be interested if we could retake Serendil and let them reclaim their territory? ”

At this time, Bandak interjected.

"The two of them? They don't matter. Baron Phyllis is arrogant and lacks strength, and Baron Chico is a mercenary speculator who can't help much. Fatis vetoed the suggestion very bluntly.

"Our best hope now is that the mercenary leader of Kenrad can really find us a sufficient number of experienced troops, but it will be difficult."

Several people chatted about this topic for a while, until the door was pushed open very quickly.

Everyone looked together and saw Manid appear at the door, holding a letter with a peony seal in his hand.

"It's Mr. Byron's letter!"

Everyone else stood up, and Kress immediately opened the windows and back doors, carefully watching for anyone eavesdropping.

When she told the crowd that they were safe, they gathered around the table, knocked off the ink, and opened the letter.

The letter reads as follows:

To all my brave and fearless followers

My friends, the problem of mercenaries has been solved, and I have gathered 300 cavalry and more than 1,000 infantry from Salander, most of whom are armed and experienced enough to be of use to us.

Therefore, I hereby request that His Excellency Fatis and His Excellency Ellenn, as well as the captain of Bandak, immediately assemble all the men and horses of the Peony mercenaries, as well as the convoy loaded with grain, grass and wine at Dehrim Manor, and hurry to a place in the west of Sevan called and the manor garrison to be temporarily handed over to Mars and the escort team. Mr. Manid should use the dinars stored by the mercenary group to purchase sufficient quantities of dry bread, flour, wheat, dried meat, ale, and other promised goods in the vicinity of Dehrim for later use. Kress traveled south with the army, making sure that the news would not spread too far. Jamila is responsible for taking care of my property while I am away.

Written by von Byron in the Salander Desert, March 27, 1259]