Chapter 56 : Chapter 56
Chapter 56. Recruiting Soldiers
At dawn on the second day, the air in the Black Territory camp was especially crisp after the rain.
On the small square at the center of the camp, nearly a thousand territorial subjects had gathered in a dense crowd.
The eight hundred newly arrived slaves, carrying the bewilderment and stiffness of strangers in an unfamiliar place, were mixed in among the original residents, forming a silent, massive sea of people.
Eli Black stood atop a hastily built wooden platform, his white hair especially striking in the morning light.
He did not waste words.
“Everyone! For the territory to develop, defense must be its foundation! In order to answer potential threats and protect our home, beginning today, the Black Territory will recruit three hundred new soldiers.
Those who join the army will receive excellent pay and rations.
Any who earn merit will be given priority for elevation to freefolk, and be granted land and houses.”
The moment his words fell, the reactions across the square split at once.
The old slaves, who had already lived in the Black Territory for several months and long since grown used to Eli’s way of governing, erupted with irrepressible ecstasy.
“Soldier! I want to be a soldier!”
“The food is good! We can even earn freedom if we win merit! This is the chance of a lifetime!”
“Count me in! My lord! Count me in!”
They had lived through the hunger of slavery and knew exactly what serving as a soldier in the Black Territory meant: better food and steady income.
More importantly, it was a visible, tangible shortcut to freedom and dignity.
They waved their arms and shoved forward excitedly, as though they wished they could press their fingerprints onto the roster that very instant.
Yet the eight hundred new slaves who had only arrived yesterday reacted in a completely different way.
Most of them had come from even crueler places, and the words “lord” and “soldier” were filled, in their minds, with deep-rooted fear and distrust.
“A soldier? Going to war? Isn’t that just sending us off to die?”
“What good is better food if we lose our lives...?”
“This lord... he does seem kind enough, giving us food... but serving as soldiers means risking our lives...”
“Ah... there’s no avoiding it...”
They whispered among themselves in hushed voices, their faces full of fear and numb resignation.
As they looked at the fervent old slaves around them, their eyes were filled with confusion.
“Silence!”
Eli’s voice suddenly rose, and the noisy square fell quiet at once.
“I know what you’re thinking! You think this is me pushing you out to serve as cannon fodder?”
His gaze rested on the uneasy faces of the new slaves.
“The soldiers of the Black Territory do not exist to die for nothing!
Their blades are pointed at the wolves who covet our home, at the enemies who would drag us back into the abyss.
Their shields protect the land beneath your feet, the houses you built with your own hands.
They protect the food in your bowls and the peace of your children and kin.”
“When you join the army, what you defend is not some empty lordly glory. What you defend is the hard-won right to survive that you built with your own hands! It is the bed you can lie down on in peace after a day’s labor!”
“The Black Territory is our Black Territory!
It is not any one person’s private property. It needs every one of us to take up arms and defend it!”
“Tell me!” He suddenly raised his right arm.
“Are you willing to take up weapons and stand beside me, using your courage and strength to fight for a stable future for yourselves and your families?!”
After a brief dead silence—
“Fight for a future!!”
“Shoulder to shoulder!!”
“Protect our home!!!”
A thunderous roar of shouting exploded like a tidal wave.
This time, it was not only the old slaves. The fear and numbness in the eyes of many of the new slaves had also been set alight, shaken by that declaration.
They might not have understood every word, but they understood protecting their home, protecting their food, protecting their children!
Eli lowered his arm, and his voice returned to calm.
“The recruitment will be handled in full by Captain Buck and Lord Wolfgang! All who meet the requirements, step forward and enlist!”
Having said that, he did not linger. He turned and strode down from the wooden platform.
The next steps—selection, registration, and assignment into ranks—were Buck’s area of expertise.
Yet he had only taken a few steps down from the platform when a small figure rushed out of the crowd and threw himself around Eli’s leg.
It was Luca!
The little boy who had once stolen grain out of hunger, only to be forgiven by Eli, who had then adjusted the grain distribution policy.
Tilting up his little face, flushed red from running and excitement, Luca clutched tightly at the hem of Eli’s leather armor with his dirty little hands.
“My lord! Lord! Please let me become one of your warriors! I want to protect everyone! I want to protect the Black Territory!”
Eli looked down at Luca’s utterly earnest face, and his heart softened. With helpless amusement, he smiled bitterly.
He crouched down, rubbed the boy’s somewhat messy hair, and spoke gently.
“Luca, it is good that you have such resolve.
But a warrior needs a strong body and trained skill. You are still too young.”
He pointed toward the robust young men who had already begun lining up not far away under Buck’s guidance for preliminary selection.
“Do you see those older brothers and uncles over there? When you grow as tall as they are, as strong as they are, and can wield a real weapon, come find me again.
I promise you, there will be a place for you in the Black Territory barracks.”
Luca looked at those tall, powerfully built soldiers, then lowered his head to look at his own thin little arms.
His mouth twitched in disappointment, and a trace of unwillingness flashed through his eyes.
But he still nodded hard. “Mm! My lord! I’ll grow up quickly! You have to keep your word!”
“It’s a promise.” Eli lightly patted his shoulder, rose to his feet, and departed under Luca’s hopeful gaze.
Once he had walked beyond the noisy square, Eli’s steps slowed.
He looked at the camp’s corners, where the number of children running and playing had noticeably increased.
“There are more and more children in the territory now...” The thought rose naturally in his mind.
“Perhaps... I should find a place to gather them together and have them looked after?
That way I can ensure their safety, and also... teach them something?”
The idea was still vague, but it already seemed necessary.
He shook his head and temporarily set aside these scattered plans for the future.
Right now, there were more urgent matters to deal with.
“Estor!” he called.
The steward, who had been following not far behind him the entire time, immediately stepped forward. “Young Master!”
“Leave at once. Ride the fastest horse to Lucerne City and find Brandon.
Tell him about the abnormal situation in Nightsong Forest, and our speculation regarding the ‘beast disaster.’
Have him determine for himself how many soldiers need to be recruited based on Lucerne City’s defenses and the threats it may face!
Tell him that if there is a grain shortfall, the Black Territory will do its utmost to support part of it!”
“Yes, Young Master! I’ll go at once!” Estor did not hesitate in the slightest. He turned and sprinted toward the stables, swift and decisive.
After arranging matters concerning Lucerne City, Eli did not return to the lord’s keep. Instead, he headed straight for the mithril mining site in the southern canyon.
Steam billowed from the mouth of the mine, mingling with the incessant clang of picks and Master Glenn’s trademark barking shouts.
Eli found Master Glenn.
“Master Glenn, how is the mining progress?”
Eli asked directly, his gaze sweeping over the busy workers inside the mine.
Master Glenn turned at the sound of his voice, his face full of obvious irritability and impatience.
“Boy! I know you’re in a hurry! But the mithril vein is growing inside a goddamned seam!
It’s surrounded by Starvein Rock with chaotic energy! Did you think this was digging coal? That one swing of a pick would send it all pouring down with a crash?!”
With a rough finger, he jabbed hard at the alluring silver line in the rock wall.
“See that? You have to peel it away bit by bit along the nodes! Avoid those damned cracks!
One careless mistake, and you’ll disturb the surrounding layers. If you’re lucky, the vein gets damaged. If you’re not, the whole place collapses and buries us alive!
Output? This amount isn’t even enough to fill the cracks between my teeth! This is delicate work, damn it!”
Watching Master Glenn spray spittle in every direction as he ranted, Eli could only helplessly force down the urgency in his heart, urgency born from the looming threat.
He understood the master was right. Mithril extraction could not be rushed.
“I understand, Master. Safety comes first. We will proceed at your pace,” Eli said in a low voice.
After leaving the mine, he went to the wall construction site.
Old John was there, leading a large group of slaves and freefolk in feverish labor.
The trench for the foundation had already taken shape. Enormous cut stones were being hauled into place with ropes and rolling logs, while work chants, hammering, and pounding rang out without cease.
The progress was visible to the naked eye, but it was still far from being able to withstand a large-scale assault.
After making a full round of inspection, the abnormal gathering of wild beasts in the core region of Nightsong Forest, along with the eerie silence around its outskirts, weighed on Eli’s heart like a heavy stone.
Intelligence, legends, and the abnormal signs in reality... every clue pointed toward the depths of that dark and secluded forest.
A decision became clearer and heavier in his mind.
He needed to know the truth.
He needed to see it with his own eyes.
When he returned to the lord’s keep, Eli did not disturb Aila, who was handling internal affairs.
He went alone into the armory and carefully inspected his “Silver,” making sure it was as sharp as ever.
He put on his lightest, toughest black leather armor and stuffed several strips of dried meat and a small skin of water into his belt pouch.
At last, he picked up a rough map marked with the general terrain of Nightsong Forest.
He knew this was by no means a wise course of action.
To venture deep into the heart of that forest, now filled with unknown danger, was no different from personally walking into peril.
If Buck and Wolfgang learned of it, they would certainly oppose him with all their strength, perhaps even try to stop him by force.
But...
“I have to go and see it for myself,” Eli murmured softly, a firm, immovable resolve shining in his blue eyes.
Rather than sit in unease and wait passively for disaster to descend, he would rather take the initiative and tear away the veil.
Even if he only approached the edge and observed for a while, that would still be better than sitting inside the fortress and making empty guesses.
And so, he thought of that mysterious old steward.