" Well men… I think… that's enough."

I breathlessly said before sitting down on the ground, father had been right. Training in a group was more effective, and even if it was hard, it had been fun.

With a collective sigh the men lay down on the ground breathing hard. Two of the castle staff went around with water, I looked up and happily accepted a cup. Captain Anders made his way over.

"Good exercise Elric, but I think the sparring and skill testing will have to wait until tomorrow."

I looked around myself and could only agree with him. I had gotten carried away, and the men was paying the price.

"Don't worry about it my Lord, it was one of the best exercises I been through in quite some time."

I looked to the voice and saw that Bjorn also had made his way over. There was a hint of respect in his voice. Maybe Thorgrim was on to something when he had told me, that leading from the front and being willing to go through the same thing as the men under one's command helped build loyalty.

"Thanks Bjorn, I was starting to worry if you would all resign after this."

I flashed a small smile, then I felt my stomach roar. It was time for breakfast, I looked around and motioned a servant over.

"My Lord?"

"Sorry but where could I clean up before breakfast?"

About an hour later, I was back in the study but this time Bjorn had joined me Anders.

"Well let's get down to business. Bjorn, do you know who's in charge of the city guard?"

"That would be Marcus, he is a tier two warrior and he has had a worse time than me, keeping his men together."

I remembered the sleeping guard by the gate and could only agree.

"His biggest problem is that there has been no way for him to reinforce the law. Any punishment for the more serious crimes can only be handed out by the ruler of the territory or by a judge appointed by the ruler."

"But how has he dealt with the more serious crimes then, like murder?"

Bjorn looked like he didn't want to answer at first, but then he took a deep breath and answered.

" Violence my Lord, when they make an arrest they try to make sure that the criminal makes resistance. Then they cut him down in self-defense. If that is not an option they lock him up for a week or two, and fine him for up to one gold. The maximum fine the guards are allowed to give."

I was stunned by what he said, and I could see that Anders was as surprised as I was. But he recovered faster than me.

"Well I guess that's one way to keep crime down."

"But that's murder, and it can't continue! We can't allow the city guard to run around and kill people."

Bjorn gave me a faint smile and nodded in agreement.

"It's just as you say my Lord, but now that you are here they will have someone with the authority to judge the harder cases."

I shook my head at the idea of me giving fair judgement in any kind of dispute or case of crime

"But is there no temple or church in the city dedicated to Ledis?"

I knew that my own education on the matter of law was sorely lacking. But my father had informed me that when in doubt I could always seek help from the church of Ledis, the god of law and justice. They were widely respected as a fair arbiter of justice, and they had the most knowledge on the subject.

"There is a small chapel in the city not far from here."

"Okay, let's do it like this. Bjorn I want you to locate Marcus and summon him here. Then after informing him about my appointment as governor of West Island, we are all going to walk over to the chapel of Ledis."

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Anders raised an eyebrow and gave me a questioning look.

"We will ask them to act as judges, and after that I will take Belinda and we will ride home. I need to ask my father if he knows anyone who can act as a steward. Failing that, I will continue on to the garrison and ask my uncle."

I had realized that I needed people, men and women that had the necessary skills and experience to make most of the decisions. It was probably the only way for me to make this work. Since I really didn't have any idea of how to run a city, much less a whole county. My idea was to have a small council, that I could ask for advice and delegate most of the work to.

If it worked I would hopefully only need to be involved in the major decisions.

I already had Anders who could take care of military matters. And if I could make a deal with the church Ledis, they could probably run the whole law thing. Then I would get myself a steward to dump all the problems on, and I would go on and live happily ever after. It would probably not happen but the thought was nice.

Bjorn rose from his chair and nodded to me and Anders.

"I will go and find Markus, he will probably be relieved to hear the news. I know that the last few years have weighed heavily on his conscience."

He left us and closed the door after himself. We were silent for a moment before Anders spoke.

"It's a good idea to involve the church of Ledis. But you will be giving up a lot of power if you make them in charge of passing judgement."

I knew what he was talking about, many nobles used the law to further their own agenda. But from what father had told me, both the dwarfs and the elves had separated the courthouses from the rulers in all but the most severe cases. And I hoped we could accomplish something similar.

"Yeah I know, but I think that as long as the crime is not directly a threat to me or the county. For example spying, assainaton or sabotage. That it should be handled by a court of law, but I will still keep the right to overrule the verdict. At least something like that is what I'm looking for. "

The Captain seemed to think it over before giving me a nod.

"I think it's a good idea as long as you let the court's verdicts stand and don't overrule them unless you must. Otherwise it would all feel like a sham, and none would respect it."

Ander was right in what he said. I would have to trust that they did their jobs and not interfere.

" And now talking about jobs, have you started to give any thoughts about the two companies of soldiers you are to set up?"

"No, not really… What are my options?"

"Well for starters you can forget cavalry, there are not enough horses on this island. Two you could form some sort of militia, they are cheap but won't stand a chance against the soldiers of the empire. But they would meet the requirements."

I listened while Anders spoke, militia… well father had talked about them mostly in contempt. Under trained and always short of armor and weapons. The kind of troops only cheap nobles would send.

Speaking of father…

"How about the dwarven soldiers, but a human variant?"

He gave me a look of confusion.

"What do you mean, dwarven but human?

What was it father had said about the dwarven soldiers, a wall of steel and anger?

"Well, heavy armor, tower shield, and arbalest?"

"Oh you mean the veteran soldiers of the dwarves, yeah that would be something. But it would cost a lot to train and arm your soldiers if you want that. But they would be a terror if they survive the first battles and gain some experience."

Sure the cost would be great, but the thought of sending people into battle and not investing in their survival just seemed mean. And besides I had a shit load of money that I didn't know what to do with.

"But it could work right?"

He seemed to give it some thought, before he shook his head.

" Well it all comes down to money and logistics, the kingdom will provide either food for the soldiers or you will get the equal in money. But then you will have to feed them yourself. And it's not a big sum, only a silver for a ten day, and any extra needs to come from your own money. Let's say you send five hundred men and you equip them with swords and shields. After a skirmish a sword and two shields need to either be repaired or changed. So do you send a blacksmith with them or do you have spares? If you have a blacksmith, great but he needs to have his tools and a forge wagon. And this is just the start my Lord, who cooks the food, cleans the cloth, are you sending a healer?"

I had never used a forge wagon but Thorgrim had described the concept for me. From what Anders told me I began to see the picture, to keep five hundred men in the field you were going to need a lot of supplies and support personnel.

"All this is needed for an army, sure the king and some other Nobles do send some craftsmen and healers, but you will have to pay for their service but remember that your soldiers will always have to wait for their turn."

Yes, I could see how you will want to make sure your soldiers get healed first.

" So what I want to say is that, the more you pay for training and equipment the more important the supplies and camp flowers become."

"Okay, I think I understand. But what would be reasonable then? I want my soldiers to be well trained and armed, and of course we will make sure we have everything we need in the field."

He just stroked his beard and gave me a smile.

"How much money are you willing to invest and this is important do we only recruit men or are women also welcome?"

"What? Of course women are welcome, why shouldn't they be?"

I remembered the beatings I had received from Dame Erika all in the name of training. If someone can throw such a punch they sure as hell are welcome.

"Good answer lad, and to answer your question. Some nobles believe that women need to be protected and don't have a place on the battlefield."

"Well they could always head over to the monastery and tell that to Dame Erika, I'm sure she could reeducate them."

He raised one of his eyebrows in question.

"She's a paladin at the monastery, she was the one who trained my equestrian skills."

"Oh, then you must introduce me to this Lady. But back to topic, how much money are you willing to invest in your soldiers?"

" Well I don't want to take any money from the county, so how about two million gold for training and equipment and five hundred thousand for salary and the expenses?"

The look on the captain's face when I gave him the number was priceless.

"Are you mad boy? Are we raising your own army?"

"But you said that it would cost a lot, and if I remember correctly from my father's shop. Then a standard chainmail with a breastplate and helmet should cost somewhere around a hundred and fifty to two hundred gold. If we included greaves, bracers, good leather shoes and padded clothes. We should land around three hundred gold for one set."

I could see how he almost face palmed in frustration.

" Elric you forget that your father is a grand master, everything he has crafted or had a hand in making you can raise the price by almost five times and sometimes it's ten times if he does the fitting."

Now it was my time to be surprised, and I realized that I had a skewed view when it came to armor and equipment in general. Then I remembered the chainmails me and Tova had made and suddenly realized that if Thorgrim had not done the fitting, we would probably never have gotten enough money for the horses.

"Say Anders, how much does a good riding horse cost?"

"Well I would say that a good riding horse around five years old would cost twenty five to forty gold. And a good warhorse cost somewhere around sixty gold. Why do you ask?"

"Oh just wondering…"