Chapter 412: Officials
"And yours as well, Slya," Tiber said with a smile as he took back the warped artifact from her.
She snorted. "Well, that's true. But your qualitative change is just that visible compared to mine. Are you going to create your own Flag?"
He shook his head. "I'm afraid not. For now, I'll serve as the Strategic Commander of the Central Army of Athrimir. When I get to Master Knight, I will officially join the Lord's Flag."
"Oh? So I'm taking orders from you then?" Slya raised her brows.
"No, no, no. You'll be taking orders from the Lord of the Central Army of Athrimir. The Central."
"So technically...."
Tiber couldn't help the smile that bloomed on his face. Yes, technically, everyone would be taking orders from him! Even Master Knights!
The two Master Knights before them didn't feel uncomfortable, at least they did not show it. Besides, they still couldn't forget that they once opposed Vale under the former Lord's instructions, and it made sense that Vale would bring his own people to fill his core.
But what made them even more eager and accepting was the Flagbearer title that Vale was offering them. At first, they had been skeptical, but once they grasped the full intent behind the title, they naturally fell in line. Vale was ultimately making them independent, allowing them to build their own factions and power. Who cared if they had to take orders from the center? They even had the right to recruit from the common army!
Valtor smiled at Tiber. "Commander, I did not know that you were hiding such strength. When you reach the Master rank, we should have a spar."
"Then I can only look forward to that, Flagbearer Valtor. Have you thought of a name for your Flag?"
Valtor frowned at that before he sighed. "I haven't. I'm still thinking hard on it."
Tiber looked at Master Knight Eryndor to include him. "You should do that quickly, Master Knights. Lord Vale already sent word back to Athrimir for the rule of law books and the officials to come to Matsumoto. He said that every creation of Flagbearers and the Flags will be written into the law. He's also going to make the map and borders of the Athrimir territory official."
Eryndor nodded solemnly. "I should come up with a name before then... ehmm, Commander Tiber. What will be the immediate task of my Flag? I ask that I be given some time to recruit and stabilize before anything."
Valtor nodded his support for that.
Tiber turned to look at the gathered Knights. "Although Lord Vale said anyone can recruit as they want, he also gave an order that all 'new' Knights must be totally absorbed in an orderly manner. In the Central Army of Athrimir, every faction in it must not have more than thirty percent 'new' Knights. Our own Knights must outnumber them."
Slya, as the one with the most complete team and Knights made up entirely of Athrimir Knights, shook her head. "Will that work? We don't have enough Knights to fill seventy percent, do we? That means we need to stop recruitment once that thirty percent is filled up? Even when there are still too many remaining?"
Tiber smiled. "That's right. If you have ten members, our Knights must be seven and the others three. You said we don't have enough Knights, and that's true. We don't have enough to overshadow the new Knights. But the rest will remain in the common army, where they'll be broken up and sent into different territories.
"Lord Vale is also going to draw massively from the Knights of the Chiefs, so that should be enough balance. Also, he's going to charge you guys to keep a hard eye on those you accept. Flagbearer Slya, you have the largest number of Athrimir Knights. Your Radiant Sky will naturally have the highest number of new Knights as well. I hope you'll not let them undercut you."
Slya nodded sharply. "There will be nothing like that. You can rest assured."
Tiber nodded in satisfaction. "Good! Then let's start the recruitment. I'll start by saying, I'm absolutely taking Xuehan!"
"I'll take Fengzhi!" Slya quickly shouted.
Valtor grumbled. "But I want Xuehan!"
Eryndor sighed. "Don't worry, you said eight elites, right? I'll just search for others. I hope they're strong."
☆☆▪︎☆☆
Over the next few days, ships began to pour into Matsumoto. Most of them carried supplies and people, all the way from Athrimir to the city. Since Vale had refused to move away from the city, the administration of the three territories naturally shifted to Matsumoto City.
Officials, messengers, too many messengers, merchants, and such all came to the city. Important people who formed the backbone of the economy all came to pay homage one by one.
Since Vale knew there would be a massive shift in transportation, he ordered the Flag Radiant Sky to patrol from Akatsuki to Matsumoto, keeping the people safe from stray monsters.
Slowly, the new territories began to take shape. The first thing that Vale hurried along was the military. With the heavy recruitment by the Flagbearers, Vale's military was painfully small, but he didn't feel that bad.
Within the common army, he created two armies, the 1st Army and the 2nd Army. They are temporary names that he intends to change later.
Both armies are one hundred Errant Knights strong, making the two combined two hundred Errant Knights strong, with a Master Knight-ranked powerhouse—Vale himself.
The force of an army is usually measured by the backbone of its Errant Knights, but Master Knights are the pillars.
Vale's army could now be called two companies. But Vale wasn't really worried. The army was there to secure the ground for his territory. The first line of defense and offense would ultimately lie with the Flagbearers!
He had already dispatched the 1st Army to Athrimir to assist Takoda in guarding against the Ito Clan, while the other one remained in Matsumoto.
At the moment, five Flags had been created. Apart from Vale's own Flag, there were Radiant Sky of Slya, Hammer Hand of Valtor, Coiled Lumper of Eryndor, and Blightfur of Takoda. Each Flag, for the moment, if military terms were to be used, could be called a company as well since none of them exceeded two hundred Errant Knights.
Of Vale's own Flag, there were only Tiber and Georg. Even then, Georg was still a prisoner under scrutiny.
Vale dispatched the Hammer Hand Flag to Akatsuki. They were to hunt ruins and quickly begin building resources for themselves so that they would be able to build themselves up, while also being able to spend on enchantment tools and artifacts.
Radiant Sky remained at Matsumoto, doing rounds of patrols. Coiled Lumper was in Athrimir, hunting down the bandits and outlaws that had sprung up due to the effects of the war.
Tiber was busy as well, setting up the intelligence system. Already he had busted a lot of foreign spies, not only in Matsumoto, but throughout the territories! Sometimes he would send orders to the closest Flag on where to strike once he got the information.
Vale himself was extremely busy. There was simply too much to do as a lord! From setting up officials to look after the environment so people wouldn't build on land where they should be planting, and wouldn't plant where ruins would sprawl from, to officials for agriculture, health, finance, and food security.
There was simply too much. He had to set up the whole internal structure and the hierarchy that led up to him at the top. He had to look for competent people, interviewing candidates from all the way in Athrimir—basically the whole territory—so he wouldn't overlook any talent.
And everyone wanted his attention, from the Flagbearers to the merchants screaming in his ears about whether they could start trading with the Tachibana again, to the Enchanters Association and the Craft Association. And he had to listen to them all. It was really tiring.
And now, they were pressuring him to give a name to the three territories so that they could start using it in official matters, and he had to think of how he would carve up the territories among the different Chiefs.
But Vale began to see hope once he set up the different official offices and their branches. For example, the Coin Office, led by the Master of Coin, would meet with the Diplomacy Office and the Master of Diplomacy to discuss the merchant issue. They would come up with different solutions and then bring their suggestions to him for approval.
Vale approved that they reach out to the Elders of Tachibana who handled diplomacy to open discussions and learn their intentions.
The Environmental Office had just run a plan to build different drainage systems throughout the whole territory and expand Matsumoto City so there wouldn't be too many clustered buildings. This was to prevent flooding. They would work with the Craft Association and the Enchanters.
The branch Environmental officials in Akatsuki sent plans to the Master of Environment on how to manage the city and the surrounding areas of the desert.
Vale approved this as well.
At long last, he could sigh in relief since his new territory was beginning to function well on its own without his day-to-day involvement.