There is a foundation day celebration banquet that will be held at the end of the week in the palace. The emperor was very insistent that Victor joins the banquet especially as he was the one who did not accept a debut banquet and the prime minister and the emperor thinks this is a good opportunity for him to meet all the nobles. They were still feeling guilty about the whole thing and still thought of ways to rectify all the wrongdoings that were done to him as the third prince has lost so much that most princes and princesses have undergone. Now everyone in the noble society wanted to come because the emperor also insisted the rest of his children be there, except for the nineteenth prince who is still an infant. Because of the high death rates for young infants, it is often not recommended for the mothers and the babies to meet other people until they are older. However, Victor finds the whole thing tedious. He has many things to prepare to overtake the duchy and he has no time to deal with these nobles since the isolated location of the duchy meant he never had to deal with them at all in the future.
One of the things has to prepare for is the slow transition of getting the position into his hands. He can't travel to his territory until after his marriage that was arranged for the next month so he has to send letters to the only vassal nobles who will be under him – a count who lived in the duchy and the magistrate that Victor doesn't trust. He was already aware that the magistrate was the cause of the corruption in this territory. But he can't exactly deal with him and what he has done until he meets the man.
Aside from the funds, he has access to his duchy assets in the capital which include two manors. It is common for nobles to travel regularly between the capital and their territories so it is better to have a place to stay that belongs to them. This is safer than staying at an inn or a tavern. Most of the time, nobles stay in the capital and their territories are managed by the right people who bring the income for them. This is something Victor does not have. He does not have all the right people yet (even his current housing requires some house management but he lacked the servants to help him) and he has no idea what is the current situation of his territory to assess what income he can use to build it up. Plus, he doesn't trust the magistrate to handle those affairs which is why he has communicated most of those issues with the Count and not the magistrate.
The one Victor is planning to stay in temporarily is one of the manors which has a large patch of land behind them. Because of neglect, there were no beautiful gardens like most noble manors, and the land behind them could be used for farming. There was a row of dormitories which is where the knights and other guards would stay. Although he was offered a place to stay in the palace, Victor declined. Living there would mean he will be in the vicinity of all hose nobles and the scheming concubines and a noble consort. He does not have the time to deal with all those dramas.
General Aster (because even though he is Marquis now, the Blue Rose and Prince Victor still call him General) also has his land and manor in the capital but even combined with the prince, they don't have enough land to hold all 500 soldiers so most of them are staying at the Blue Rose base. Thankfully, the emperor has allowed them to stay in the barracks even though they should have been dissolved already. They are just lucky that the emperor seems to be attentive whenever Prince Victor wanted something.
The army already knows that they are now the soldiers under the Velgras duchy (the name of the prince's new territory) and the new Marquis Aster. But the prince was not asking all of them to be a part of his army. He was willing to support other careers or jobs the soldiers are willing to take but only when they have to work on it in their territory. The general agreed with him that the Blue Rose will be divided between the two of them.
Victor at the start wanted Pietro to become one of his commanders however because he is now a Marquis. That position is better than being a general in the army. Plus, the man has a much more prosperous land than Victors being one of the hubs of agriculture in the capital. Most of the soldiers who followed the general are mostly those who stayed the longest with the general which includes Silas the second in command and those with families. Victor was the one who suggested that those with families stay with the general because his territory might not be suitable for those with families especially if they have children or elderly in the family.
Velgras is not only very far, but it is also very cold and currently in poverty and has limited access to many of the amenities that the capital offers. So, it will be very hard to live there if you have a family to take care of. Not to mention that it borders three countries that the empire does not have a positive relationship with so instability is also a problem. This was intentional since the emperor was not the one who assigned this to him after all but those assholes in the ministry who were out to get him. The soldiers and the general were very understanding of this even though Pietro suggested that the prince take in some of the experienced soldiers but they mostly chose his side and Victor did not like to force people. He has learned in his time in the army and running a multimillion construction company in his Earth life that it is better to have people willing to work for you over forcing them. Plus, it is not like he is leaving them alone. He is going to train them very well. Overall, Victor has at least 300 soldiers who are willing to follow him to Velgras and the other 200 follow the general.
Planning the training was not an easy one because there is no structure available to follow. Victor wanted them to be suitable as knights which is not an easy task because these are not just commoners but many of them were in the army for criminal reasons. Knights were reserved to nobles but Victor does not care about that. Once they are in the territory, he can name them as knights as he wants. With or without a criminal history, they are all good people. They work hard for their time and the fact that most of them were there because they were sold off by their families to pay off a debt or have to commit those crimes due to poverty.
After years of abuse and neglect from the capital, they were now able to gain access to resources they previously did not have, and this included access to better materials and food. With the help of that money, the prince is targeting to bulk up his soldiers and finally build the strength and health they needed. So aside from proper diet (Victor is still a little bit skeptical about Claesian food after years of health and wellness bombarded into him in his Earth life), he also introduced them to some exercises they have to undergo to build their health, and this includes stretching, pushups, jumping jacks, and much more before their regular training of swordsmanship, target practice and hand to hand combat. The soldiers were at first confused when it was introduced and it was funny when they try some of the exercises and fumbled when they try to do pushups. Rufus was not surprised at this. He has seen his young master doing this type of exercise every time he wakes up in the morning. Victor was also very clear about not forcing their bodies and it is important to try it one step at a time. For example today they have one push up maybe tomorrow they can go for two. They are also excused if they are doing heavy manual heavy work during the day as well.
"But what is this formation marching?" Jason asked. "This seems like for aesthetic purposes." He just entered the makeshift room that is currently used as an office in the camp. Victor look up at his best friend and blink and he tried so hard not to laugh.
"It's not funny!" Jason scolded Victor with a pout.
They have discovered how to shave their beards in one of the spellbooks they bought from the markets. But cutting their hair was still a challenge because there is no spell for that. Victor has access to clippers but those don't get out in his own dimensional space so he is the only one who has short, clean-cut hair. Because of his added exercises where most of the men don't require their armor (which includes not wearing their helmets) to do them, their hair became a distraction so they tried cutting their hair by copying their prince's style only it didn't go well. This includes Jason's green hair is currently standing straight like he was electrocuted. Jason used some sort of hair gel on his hair that was has a little jinx in it that made his hair stand all day.
"If I find that person who sold that hair gel, I will kill him!" Jason growled.
"That's what you get when you buy things from shady areas," Victor said still trying to stop himself from laughing.
"Just laugh already!"
Victor laughs and the others in the room also giggled. This is where Rufus and the other soldiers who were part of the administration team do their work so it is not unusual there were other people in the office. Victor finally stopped laughing, wipe some of the water from his eyes, and finally answered Jason's question. "To answer your question about the formation marching its purpose is to learn discipline, to watch out for each other, and to keep themselves composed. Besides it's not final yet, there are still so many things I wanted the army to undergo."
"Don't you think you are going a little overboard?" Jason asked looking at the notes at the table. Victor has written many things on the table with a pencil. He wanted to laugh at first about why he was using a pencil. Pencils were usually used for training to write but he recalls last time how his friend throw his quill out of frustration (this is because Victor didn't want to reveal the ink-filled pens yet).
In the notes, there were plans about classes and other training the army is required to do which include values, etiquette, and magic, and he wanted to also include a literacy class as well. Most of the people in the army are not literate which is not unusual for commoners but this is a barrier for communication that Victor wanted to solve because passing notes, for example, one has to learn how to read and write. Since he has plans to promote them in the future to become official knights of his duchy then they have to learn all of these.
There is also separate training for the different teams. Victor has divided his soldiers into teams each with their captains. He calls them "units", something he learned in his days in the army in his second life as Jeffrey. Jason is currently his sergeant and is the one who is managing the captains of the units.
Victor was surprised that Jason wanted to go with him. Basically, by choosing this path, Jason is sacrificing his heirship towards the Aster house and will no longer qualify for his family title. He has sent a letter of his separation from his family instead of talking to them face to face because he does not want to face his family and deal with his scumbag of a father. Jason was the first son and the only son of the official wife who is now dead. He was not treated very well in his own home which is why he was sent to the Blue Rose.
General Aster has no plans for marriage and was considering making Jason his heir but he decided to only put that in his will and let Jason explore his interest first. He believes staying with the prince would be helpful for him. He told Victor he will be the one who will deal with his brother if need be, so Jason can have a more peaceful life. Victor wanted to hug the man. The general finds the activities such as the exercises and classes very logical and also adapt them to his new army. The soldiers did not like these additional exercises scheduled by the prince which made them think the man is a sadist. They were lucky that the prince and the general have increased their monthly wage or they would have thought this was insane.
The prince also has a separate team outside for the purpose of the military which is the administration, the medics, the scout's unit, and the trackers. They still deal with many of the exercises as well but their training is different. Those in the tracker units were also the cooks in the army since they are also in charge of scavenging vegetables and fruits and tracking animals and beasts which can also be used as food. The medics were the ones in charge of healing (Rufus and Jason find this a unique way of calling their healers). Because they don't have light magic users, they have to rely on first aid, potions, and other means of healing which requires significant training and knowledge on their part. The prince asked the leaders of the medics to train those interested in entering the field. He wanted each unit to have its medics in the future.
The scouts were the ones in charge of gathering intel. They were great navigators and some are even good spies since many of them have shadow magic as it allows them to hide and take cover seamlessly. The administration team is the soldiers who trained under Rufus and they were the ones in charge of scheduling, purchasing, organizing, and many other administrative duties which include financial management and other paperwork. Most of the soldiers in this unit were mostly physically disabled. They could no longer work as a soldier if they have difficulty running and other physical activities. They were even placed as the teachers the prince has set up to teach the soldiers how to manage their finances (since many of them have not been to the markets themselves before), haggle and negotiate since they are also in charge of gathering supplies and know the market prices.
This is because the soldiers have finally received their remuneration and having that amount of gold would set them for life if they choose to retire now and manage their finances wisely. The amount given to them was the total amount of the missing funds as well as the additional bonus from the empire's neglect and divided between each of them which is a lot of money for the average commoners, but not so much for the average noble. However, the reason they stayed is mostly for safety. As the prince's soldiers, nobody in their right mind would mess with them. So even if they do have money, they would lose protection and safety if they leave. The last thing they wanted is to get kidnapped and used as ingredients in the magic tower. Plus, they also have to deal with thieves. They have money with them. The last thing they wanted is to lose it.
Victor did not sugarcoat anything when he told the soldiers about the realities they will be facing. He did inform the soldiers what the magic tower are like if they got ahold of them which is why Victor has made a policy that not one of them is allowed to leave the base by themselves. He just introduced the "buddy system". This was the first time they have heard that word. Jason thinks it sounds hilarious but the word caught on in the army and whenever they leave and introduce their partner for the day, they always introduce them as their "buddy". Aside from the buddy system, they are also having to inform them ahead of time whenever they leave so that in the event they don't come back they can easily track and search for them. Victor knows that the one thing people in power do not like are people asking questions. As long as someone is looking for you, there is a risk compared to taking someone who has nobody at all.
"You think it's too much?" Victor asked.
Jason looked at it and nodded. "You can't expect these to be done within the next month or two, right?"
"I was kind of hoping for it. But you are right that it is unrealistic. I am still looking for teachers to help train them with at least the basic magic skills." Victor muttered as he wrote that again in his notes.
Magic training is important because even the basics help enhance the magical gifts they have been granted. He always feels like it was a waste to just rely on informal training. At least learning the concepts might help the soldiers think out of the box with the different magic they were given. But despite his argument with his father that he will look for a teacher himself, he has trouble finding willing teachers. This is because most of the magical teachers in the academy belong to the magic tower and the magic tower doesn't like him because they were part of the sixth prince's faction.
"I wanted them to learn those because I am aiming for them to become knights," Victor answered straightforwardly.
"Wait. What?" Jason asked. Knighthood is not something one can easily get. While the prince now has the title of a duke and can now assign his knights, knights are still a title given to those with noble lineage, not commoners.
"I know what you are going to say, but I still believe that they can become knights. I don't believe that positions have to be earned through bloodlines but through merits and until they can become knights, they have to act like one which includes learning those classes." Victor said.
"The ministry will not be happy with that," Jason said.
"Of course, they won't," Victor muttered. Nobles don't like it when commoners achieve the same level of positions or status as them but Victor doesn't trust many of the nobles and he needs the right people to work for him. He is already lacking servants, secretaries, and many other people since he hasn't hired anybody yet. He was more inclined to hire commoners that has no connection to nobles at all and train them since a lot of the skilled commoners are often working under one noble or another so he can't just easily poach them if he wants. And Victor also didn't want to deal with spies.
"Your Highness? The palace just sent a message that the treasury is available for you on foundation day." Rufus said handing him the instruction that was just sent.
"The emperor is very persistent," Jason commented.
Even though Victor, the general, and Jason were invited to the foundation day banquet, it was already known that the prince did not like banquets at all which was a surprise, especially to Rufus since the prince didn't attend any banquets as a child. He always thought he would be more excited. But the emperor wanted him to be there so to ensure that the prince will be present, he intentionally scheduled his request to gain entry to the treasury on the same day as the banquet. This way he is already in the palace. This was going to be a high-security banquet with most if not all nobles will attend and all the princes and princesses will be present. He did not want to deal with all those wolves but he also needed the items in the treasury.