“I have heard nothing but praises of your performance in patrolling my lands whilst I was away campaigning.” Braydon greeted Roan as he entered his main army camp. When he had it set up to protect the mines, it had been a somewhat temporary camp for his men to rest in between patrolling the borders and apprehending bandits at said borders. Now it was more permanent with proper barracks for the men to rest in instead of tents. And if Braydon had not read the report incorrectly, there was an office for Rhydian to do his work in when he spent time in the camp, amongst other things.

“When you do a job for a while, you learn to do it properly.” Roan replied humbly.

“Even so, I must thank you for keeping things in order whilst we were away keeping the King’s things in order.” Braydon was glad that he had convinced Roan to join him, since without him he would have had to leave Rhydian behind to maintain border security.

“For the most part they calmed down after a while. It only takes so long to learn that an effort is futile. That and the main rebel army moved further east.” There was no need for the bandits to try and find other places to prey upon when the thing they were running from left.

“That is good then, shall we move to the office to continue our conversation.” Braydon gestured towards Rhydian’s office. There was no need to have the nearby troops standing to attention when they didn't need to be.

“Is there something that you wanted to talk to the both of us about?” Rhydian asked since Braydon had specifically asked for him to accompany him to meet with Roan. And now that he was asking to talk in a more private area, he assumed that the topic was at least somewhat important.

“Well yes, implementing plans for the future and all that.” Braydon said as they were entering the office. He waited for the door to close before he started speaking again.

“There are two things that I want to talk about. First I want to expand our numbers so that my standing army numbers 500. Not including garrisons. And on that note, once a wall is built around Midbury we will need a garrison there too.” Braydon said in his first piece. If the garrisons of Mapjess and Cliforge castle were included then his men numbered over 600 but he was not about to empty his garrison whenever he wanted to use his army.

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“Not including the garrisons it already stands at just over 400 or so. Even with the new men that the refugees bring we would be pushing it to make up 500. 450 would be a more reasonable goal in the short term.” Rhydian had a tight grasp over the numbers since he had been the one to oversee Braydon’s army since it had been properly formed. Whilst it might technically be possible to find enough young men to levy, it was not a good idea if he wanted those same young men to form families.

“That is to be expected, Which is why I want to consider hiring mercenaries again, though not until after I return from Narabun.” Braydon had his own plans for the future, and having a somewhat decent army was a must. That was especially so now that he was officially an earl. Even if his territory was not the largest earldom, it would not do him any good to have a small army, not with a still powerful Duke to the south and a new Marquess to the north.

“You have something planned, Sire?” Since Braydon had specifically mentioned his return from Narabun, Rhydian could tell that he wanted to pull something. There was no way that Braydon was not hinting at something.

“It depends, it is more a long shot but I want to see if I can get it to pay off.” Braydon shook his head. It was true that he had an idea that he wanted to try but it was nothing quite as formal as having a plan. It was closer to a shot in the dark.

“Then will we still hire mercenaries if it fails?” Roan asked.

“Some, but less than if it is successful. I may be richer than I was but mercs are not cheap.” Braydon complained. His wealth was enough for maintaining his lands and having a healthy profit at the end. But that was if he did not try to do anything other than that. A noble’s life was an expensive one. Even more so when mercenaries were involved. And he had not been in his position for many years like his peers or inherited great wealth like his brothers. Everything in his coffers was basically made from scratch.

“Which part of the army should we fill out first if we are to be recruiting more men?” Roan asked a slightly more pressing question. They had two hundred man units that were partially filled, one was the archers and the other was the fourth infantry unit.

“The archers first. We already have three melee units. It would be better if we had more men in the only supporting unit. It is still a long way off when we can field cavalry after all.” He could dream but unless he could somehow afford to get a large amount of warhorses that would not be a reality for a long time.

“Seems like I know what I will be doing whilst you are in Narabun.” Rhydian smiled, causing Braydon to feel sorry for whomever the new recruits would be. At least he knew that regardless of how traumatised they were they would be well trained once it was over.

“Do remember to go easy on them, we cannot afford dead recruits if we are to increase the army size.” Braydon half joked.

“I never killed you did I, Sire?”