Chapter 79

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Raidor, using the town of Urfin that he had occupied as a base, began his operations to purge the remaining traitors of the "Eight Families of the East."

The first thing he did was to reorganize the army.

Originally, Raidor led a small army of a thousand soldiers under the command of the centurion Daren Galst.

However, by recruiting mercenaries and volunteers in Urfin, the number of soldiers had swelled to three thousand.

The issue that arose with increasing the number of soldiers was, of course, funding.

An army consumes money even when it does nothing.

Soldiers' wages, food, weapons, and armor, housing, fodder for warhorses, clothing, and other daily necessities—increasing the number of soldiers only increased the consumption of supplies.

Raidor, who was already out of favor with the king, received only the minimum funds from the palace.

Securing funds for the army was an unavoidable issue in reorganizing it.

"Still... that problem was easily resolved. I'm grateful the viscount had saved up so much."

In the former residence of Viscount Urfart, at the center of Urfin, Raidor said this in a carefree tone.

The funding for the army's expansion was easily resolved by the hidden wealth found in the viscount's basement.

One had to wonder how and how long it took to amass such wealth. The basement of the Urfart residence was filled with an amount of gold, silver, and treasure that was unimaginable for a mere border noble.

"Viscount Urfart seems to have engaged in various shady activities to amass his wealth. It must be quite a blow for him to have all his ill-gotten gains seized by Your Highness."

Raidor, sitting on a sofa, was answered by Sven, who sat opposite him.

Currently, Raidor and Sven were sitting across from each other, clearing away the mountain of documents on the table.

Having taken control of a town and increased the number of soldiers to three thousand, the amount of paperwork had also increased exponentially.

Currently, the only ones capable of handling the administration and finances of this army were Raidor, who had received a princely education, and Sven, his strategist.

Naturally, the increased burden of paperwork fell heavily on these two.

"According to the secret ledger found with the hidden wealth, it seems that Urfart had been in league with the empire even before the war began. He was involved in the illegal trafficking of information and supplies, the illegal drug trade, and even human trafficking of his subjects."

Raidor grimaced at Sven's explanation.

It seemed he had uncovered a part of the kingdom's hidden darkness.

"I see... So Viscount Urfart was a complete scoundrel from the start. Still, to have allowed such a worm to thrive for so long... our king's eyes were completely blind."

Sven smiled wryly at Raidor's criticism of his brother, the king.

"King Granado is quite excellent in domestic affairs, I think. Perhaps he just couldn't see to the ends of the kingdom."

While conversing with Raidor, Sven continued to go through the documents on the table.

By defeating Viscount Urfart, Sven was formally welcomed as a vassal of Raidor.

Originally, those under Raidor's command were mostly military officers and soldiers, with a critical lack of intellectual laborers capable of handling internal affairs.

In this regard, Sven was a valuable find.

Born as the third son of the Earl of Arveil, Sven was supposed to support his elder brother, who would eventually become the head of the family.

Thus, he had been educated in domestic affairs and economics from a young age and was also knowledgeable in history and military matters.

While Raidor had also received a decent education before his exile, he was naturally less skilled in domestic affairs compared to Sven.

Still... the amount of work for the two of them to handle was overwhelming.

Raidor sighed in exasperation at the mountain of documents that showed no sign of decreasing.

(Shortage of personnel is a challenge for the future. Even with more soldiers, we lack commanders, and we need to find more capable people through this war.)

One of the reasons Raidor had obediently followed his brother's orders to purge the "Eight Families of the East" was the potential to discover talent through the conflict.

One of the pledges between Raidor and Granado concerned the "life and death of captives."

This gave Raidor the right to do as he pleased with those he captured.

He planned to use this to recruit capable individuals from the "Eight Families of the East" and build a force to stand against his brother.

(I have a capable strategist, spies, and three thousand soldiers. Now I need military officers to command the army and civil servants to handle internal affairs...)

Recruiting military officers and civil servants was difficult within the Urfart viscounty.

The viscount's soldiers had experience fighting bandits and mountain bandits but lacked practical combat experience and were hard to command in battle. Newly hired soldiers would take over a month to become useful.

Moreover, the civil servants had all been corrupt, aiding the viscount's illegal activities and were not trustworthy.

(To recruit more widely, we need to look beyond the Urfart viscounty. However, the reorganization of the army is still in progress, and it's too early to launch an attack...)

Raidor furrowed his brow in thought.

Sven, sensing his lord's concerns, looked up from the documents.

"Right now, it's a time to build our strength gradually. We mustn't rush. Fortunately, the rumors we spread have unsettled barons like Eladin and Oigist. They might make a move without us having to do anything."

"…A move, huh. What if they band together and come at us?"

"In that case, it will be a matter of Your Highness's strength to sweep them away. Your Highness is one person. If the enemies act separately, it will be difficult to deal with them, but if they come together, it will be easier to crush them."

"…You're a truly terrifying kid. You really are."

Raidor shrugged in exasperation.

Thanks to the rumors spread by Sven's spies, there was considerable confusion among the "Eight Families of the East."

If they surrendered out of fear, it would be a victory without a fight.

If they banded together and attacked Urfin, they could be defeated with the power of the holy sword.

The strategy of the young strategist, who had anticipated this, sent a chill down his spine.

"…How long will it take for the enemy to make a move? Let's be patient and wait."

"Sure, sure. For now, let's focus on what we can do. Like the paperwork in front of us, for example."

"……"

Raidor sighed and, as Sven suggested, turned back to the documents on the table.