Chapter 406: Strategic Commander
His potential should be about the best there was, so he was quite confident in reaching the Master rank soon if he started on his cultivation again.
They spoke some more, but in the end they still had to leave. Vale was feeling satisfied with the information that he got and that he had now secured a way for future information gathering that wouldn't take much effort.
Before long, Slya returned to give a report. "Currently, there are no Master Knights in the city except for those from our side. From what we have been able to gather, a lot of people, Master Knights and others, ran away when they heard of the Company Captains' defeat.
"Only Knights and Errant Knights remain, all of them still split into six Companies. There are currently one hundred and seventy Errant Knights and about two hundred and fifty Knights in total. Then there are thousands of Squires and ordinary people."
Vale's eyes widened. "That much? The Matsumoto have indeed been preparing for a while. I've only slowly amassed that amount of Knights."
He asked the next important thing. "How strong are they?"
"Out of the Errant Knights, we can only count about eight to be elite."
"Apart from the Radiant Sky's new ship, we are now in control of ten flying ships of the Knight rank. Each ship has been remodeled as a warship, and they will do. They have the capacity to hold one hundred Knights, one hundred and thirty if you want."
Remodeled meant the ships were not originally built for war, but they had been tampered with. Although they wouldn't work as well as the originals, they're still far better than ordinary ships.
A smile broke out on Vale's face. "This is an impressive haul. Not bad at all, Slya. Not bad."
"My Lord. What are we to do with the new forces?" Tiber asked.
Vale didn't hesitate. "I need to build up my army. I will break all existing structures and absorb all of them into my main forces."
Tiber nodded solemnly. "That is indeed a good plan, My Lord. But you already said you'll build your Flagbearers. Shouldn't they have the pick of things as well?"
Vale hesitated, then he sighed. "You are right."
Slya's eyes lit up as she heard that. "Vale....I want the Radiant Sky to be a Flag as well, but as you know, only one hundred Radiant Weapons were made. If I want to expand the power of my Flag, then I would need to get my hands on more Radiant Weapons."
Vale thought about it. For Radiant Weapons to be made, he needed to participate. "You can start recruiting. It doesn't stop you from getting competent people for yourself at the moment. We'll build you the weapons when we get to Athrimir."
Slya said her thanks.
"Tiber, have you discussed the Flag matter with both Valtor and Eryndor?"
"I have. I also passed a message to Takoda, and as a former Flagbearer of the Borderland, he was the first to show his agreement, and he already began recruiting for himself. Valtor and Eryndor have yet to give a reply."
Valtor and Eryndor are the Master Knights that belong exclusively to the Athrimir Clan. They never held any formal positions as they were more like guards for the capital, but right now, they can't guard Vale. They need to put their strength to new places.
"Ask them again. I'm sure they've given it enough thought and want to join instead of the standard army."
Slya pointed out, "What about your Chiefs? Are they allowed to build Flags?"
"No," Vale said flatly. "The Chiefs will have lands and the right to build their own forces. I will call them to war and reward them according to their contributions. I will empower the Chiefs, but only within reason. I won't intentionally make them more powerful than they should be."
Just then, Vale's eyes turned gloomy. "And what of my Master Knight, Pomora?"
Tiber became solemn. "Takoda already received your orders to open dialogue with the Ito Clan concerning this. From all the clues gathered, Commander Garran captured her and sent her to Ito, where we lost all contact. We haven't heard anything from the Ito Clan about it."
"I must reward her well when she gets back."
"Very well, Tiber. You'll be the Strategic Commander of my new army. With the new power boost and the artifact that I'm loaning you, your powers should be close to that of a Master Knight."
Tiber snapped to attention, and his hand went to the pole-like covered thing on his back. It was the artifact that was made out of Akatsuki's throne by Tong. Vale was loaning it to his new Strategic Commander. "I will live up to your expectations, Vale Athrimir."
Vale smiled. "Out of everyone and everything, if I can't count on you and Slya, there's no one else in the world I can turn my back to."
Slya also saluted, her right hand slapping her chest with a loud clanging force.
Tiber asked then, "What are your orders, My Lord?"
Vale nodded in satisfaction. "I want to mop up my gains. I want to know the amount of wealth I have in the three territories: weapons, artifacts, food, my army, my Chiefs, and nobility. I want to know about my Rifts, the number of ruins, the natural resources, and the boundaries of my new lands."
Tiber's eyes widened. As a Strategic Commander, he knew he wouldn't necessarily be the one to lead the army; even the term was made up by Vale on the spot. The day-to-day workings, the logistics, the calculations, spending, feeding, and all of that would fall on him, though. In fact, he would be Vale's hand in everything. That meant he was also Vale's right-hand man.
"That's a lot," Tiber said.
Vale smiled. "I know, and I think that will take months. Right, we're done here. Have Valtor create his Flag and send him to Akatsuki to hold it in a military capacity. He should be enough. Although the desert is big, the places capable of sustaining life are not that many. Everything is concentrated in the capital.
"Come, Tiber, let me introduce you to the army you will lead."