It was a sleepless night.
Arthur sat in the main seat of the command tent in the camp outside the city, his eyes dark, leaning back heavily in his chair, exhausted.
Hakon and Lucien sat to the right of the command table, watching Arthur with strange smiles.
Bronn sat cross-legged to the left of the command table, meticulously trimming his nails with his short blade.
"That won't do, Lord Arthur!" Bronn looked up and grinned strangely.
Arthur rubbed the back of his neck, not answering.
"Is sleeping on a noble lady's soft bed more tiring than sleeping on this hard campaign cot?" Bronn grinned, blowing away the dust from his nails. "What a pity, I was planning to show you the sights beyond the Riverlands in the future."
Arthur still ignored his teasing and looked at the three of them: "I need someone to stay behind in Deep Valley City to serve as captain of the guard. Do you have any suggestions?"
Hakon and Lucien stopped smiling, bowing their heads deeply, afraid of being chosen. Neither of them wanted to be separated from Lord Arthur.
"Alas..." Arthur sighed, seeing their expressions, knowing they both didn't want to take on this responsibility, while the actively raising hand of Bronn was implicitly ignored by him.
"I need someone to stay behind in Deep Valley City. This person must be loyal to me and ensure my interests." Arthur looked at the two. "I plan to have Old Nicken come over."
"That person needs to obey Old Nicken's orders."
So he needed to leave some soldiers to help Old Nicken and avoid any accidents. The only ones he could trust were Lucien and Hakon. Dreadfort was too poor and would be abandoned for now, to be developed after land cultivation. In this world, it ultimately depended on land. Without land, there was no food, and without food, there was no population carrying capacity.
The most important thing was that this person must also have governing ability, to help with re-cultivation and restoration of production, and to provide logistical support before he could arm and cultivate land himself. He couldn't always rely on purchasing food from Lady Rona with spoils of war. Most importantly, he also had to bear the food supply for over a thousand people; it was only a matter of time before he went bankrupt.
"I have a candidate." Bronn, seeing Arthur ignore him, deftly spun the short blade between his fingers.
Arthur was greatly surprised. "You have a candidate too?"
"Tommen." Bronn's face twitched, highly displeased with Arthur's expression. "That kid's quick-witted, and he's truly loyal to you."
Bronn remembered when that kid had threatened him by falsely claiming Arthur's words.
"Hmm..." Arthur lowered his head in thought. He remembered that young man, who had originally planned to flee, but later actively fought and became a rider.
Then he looked at Lucien. "Find him."
Soon, Tommen lifted the tent flap and walked in. He looked a bit nervous, not knowing why he had been summoned.
"Lord Arthur!" Tommen bowed respectfully.
"Tommen, I plan to leave ten men in Deep Valley City, led by you, and you will manage the existing soldiers in the city, obeying Lady Rona's command and the orders of the steward who is about to take office." Arthur observed him, watching his expression.
"Yes, Lord Arthur!" A flicker of excitement flashed in Tommen's eyes. Was he being valued and promoted by Lord Arthur? And Lord Arthur trusted his loyalty.
Arthur observed him, slowly asking, "Tommen, if I entrust Deep Valley City to you, and there are unruly individuals in the city attempting to cause trouble, how would you handle it?"
Tommen's expression became tense. This was Lord Arthur testing him. "I will obey all orders from Lady Rona and the steward."
"I'm asking what you intend to do." Arthur shook his head. He wasn't very satisfied with that answer, but he gave him another chance, signaling him to answer again.
"Reporting, Lord Arthur! Secretly kill them!" A glint of ruthlessness flashed in Tommen's eyes. "I only obey Lord Arthur's orders!"
"Very good!" Arthur nodded in satisfaction, signaling him to withdraw.
After Tommen received his orders and withdrew, Arthur turned to Bronn, his gaze sharpening: "Bronn, I have one more matter to entrust to you."
"Just say it, as long as the money's good." Bronn returned his small knife to its sheath.
"Help me recruit mercenaries, the more the better. Money is not an issue."
Bronn's face showed a shocked expression upon hearing this, almost as if he had misheard: "Lord Arthur, what did you say? Recruit mercenaries? And the more the better?"
"With the spoils you have, those gold dragons are enough for a minor noble like you to build a good castle and live a comfortable, prosperous life forever!"
"Mercenaries are very expensive!"
"No matter how many gold dragons there are, they are ultimately external possessions that you can't bring with you in life or take with you in death, and they will eventually run out." Arthur's lips curved into a calm smile: "But land won't."
In his view, wealth was ultimately an external thing; it had to be used when needed. Wealth could only provide temporary security, while power and authority provided lifelong security.
"Alright, alright." Bronn finally squeezed out two words through gritted teeth, raising his hands in surrender, then sat back down. "Alright, Lord Arthur, how many people do you need?"
Arthur looked back at him. "As many as you can recruit, that's how many I want."
"My fee." Bronn held up five fingers. "I want half upfront."
"Also, the advance payment for recruitment, you'll have to give me half of that now too."
"Lucien." Arthur ordered Lucien, "Give him a bag of gold dragons, and bring over the best swift horse."
Lucien had no questions, turned and left, pushing aside the tent flap.
Soon, a heavy bag and a fine black horse were brought to the front of the tent.
Bronn weighed the money bag, a satisfied smile on his face. He swung onto the horse, his movements agile.
"Aren't you afraid I'll run off with the money?" He reined in the horse and asked, looking back.
Arthur stood outside the tent, watching him go, his expression unreadable, only smiling without speaking.
Bronn said no more, squeezed the horse's flanks with his legs, and the black horse neighed, transforming into a black lightning bolt, kicking up countless dust as it galloped into the distance.
Arthur watched Bronn's back disappear over the horizon.
"Lucien, Hakon." He turned and ordered the two. "Gather everyone at the assembly ground."
The order was quickly relayed.
Three hundred soldiers quickly lined up on the open assembly ground, their military bearing neat, filled with a killing aura.
Arthur walked onto the makeshift platform, looking at the soldiers, and the soldiers looked at him.
He took out a parchment map and slowly began to speak.
"Lady Rona gave me a piece of land." Arthur pointed to a marked area on the map, regardless of whether the soldiers could see it. "Right here."
The soldiers' puzzled gazes were all focused on that map, on the land Arthur was pointing to, not knowing what Lord Arthur meant.
"But."
"On that land, there's currently a small problem."
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