"Remember, how so ever you are played..."
"or by whom, your soul is in your keeping alone..."
"Even though those who presume to play you be kings or men of power."
"When you stand before God, you cannot say..."
"But I was told by others to do thus"...
"or that virtue was not convenient at the time."
This will not suffice.
"Remember that."
King Baldwin IV of Jerusalem from the Kingdom of Heaven movie
….
"A security company? What's a security company? Is it like some sort of mercenary company?"
Malwin asked as everyone in the tent looked at him with puzzled expressions, as none of them had heard of a security company before. There were many mercenary companies around that protected caravans and were hired by lords to help pad out their armies when at war, but this was the first time any of Railius' loyal subjects had heard of a security company.
"Yes, it is a sort of mercenary group. Just like a normal mercenary group, you will pay to hire our security services, but instead of regular mercenary groups that normally take on a variety of jobs, the security company will specialise in protecting people and merchant caravans."
"We have some of the best bodyguards in the world at our disposal, so why not use them to make some money? And if we can get close enough to people in power, then we can control their life and death if an emergency happens, and they need to turn from bodyguards to assassins."
Railius said with a cunning glint in his eye he had gotten this idea partly from the Chavarian Emperor, who had used his royal knights not only as a trump card for his commanders and generals to use but also as a failsafe to kill any general that harbours any sort of treasonous intentions.
The only difference between what the emperor did and Railius' plan is that while the emperor's men and intentions were out in the open while, the young lord of Aurellion's were not allowing them to be much more useful than the royal knights that Chavaria used to deter treasonous thoughts. These men could be used to turn the tide of a major conflict if needed, assassinating or sabotaging his noble house's enemies, but this would only be in an emergency because then their allegiance to House Aurellion would be exposed. As such, it would be far better for them to stay near their noble employers and provide information that House Aurellion can use to its advantage.
Who knew what these bodyguards could find out? From simple illegal dealings to tyranny and murder, all sorts of crimes could be found out, and if evidence were found, then Railius would have that noble in his pocket, using their crimes as blackmail to achieve his political goals.
If Railius can gather enough information, he may be able to become an information broker in the game, which he can not only use with other NPC lords to gain in-game resources but also trade with players to have a source of real-life money, allowing the young player to exchange less gold with the system for his living expenses and as a result have more resources to use for his in-game endeavours.
'Cunning little bastard!'
Malwin thought as only when he heard of this scheme was it that Malwin realised just how devious his young lord was and was no longer surprised that he managed to get Duke Ancel and the Free Brothers on his side. As a veteran politician who had managed a marquisate, it was easy for him to see through all the uses this organisation could have.
'He was not targeting the landed nobles or those with a large amount of influence but the smaller noble families and members of the merchant class such as mayors and city council members who did not have the background to be able to have skilled bodyguards unless they had the backing of a powerful family.'
The baron thought as his keen mind jumped from one conclusion to the other as many council members or mayors just had city guards to protect them who were nothing compared to the Pelican Guards who could go toe to toe with the best of soldiers.
As long as a master assassin was not after them, then these strong soldiers could defend them from almost every other physical threat that came their way. Many mayors and administrators would jump at the chance to have skilled bodyguards at their side, and once they built up trust between their clients and the organisation, they would become frequent patrons, giving House Aurellion a reliable, much-needed source of income.
Controlling and influencing these smaller people of power, while not as good as influencing their lord, still had its uses, as these were the people who could help them gain access to the city in times of strife and, more importantly, forge documents for them.
Railius wanted to stay low-key, at least in the early stages of the game, so forging documents through these local connections to change his and his trusted men's names was a must because if he started going around calling himself by his actual name, then his enemies would be able to easily find him which is something the young player wanted to avoid as much as possible until he had the power or influence to be able to stand on his own two feet in Nathia without fear.
"It is an excellent idea, my lord! Not only will this give our men a job that can retain their fighting capabilities, but also gain vital contacts that will help us in the long run."
Baron Malwin said, after thinking over the idea for a bit, he then decided to come up with his own and start to contribute to the good of House Aurellion.
"My lord, we should also consider setting up entertainment establishments throughout the kingdom and even the world when we have the funding."
"Not only does this give our men a livelihood, but we can start to build an intelligence network where all we need to go is to our tavern or bar in a city or nation to get all the information we need on the goings on in the local politics and the kingdom as a whole."
"If our taverns become popular, they can pay for themselves and even help maintain our intelligence network with its funds, as such networks are not cheap to operate."
"In fact, many nations and lords use and establish these kinds of places of pleasure and entertainment that they have secretly set up as bases and hubs from which to gain information and conduct secret operations."
Malwin went on to say, bowing to Railius.
"Good, now that we have come up with ideas, Leon, what is our manpower situation."
Seeing that he was addressed, the loyal regent bowed respectfully to his lord while giving Railius a comprehensive guide to their forces."
"Our current forces make up 1,500 Pelican Guards and nearly 8000 civilians that make up their families and the families of those who were lost. Many of our men have 1 or 2 offspring which we may mold and train as we wish, whether that is to become managers, soldiers or something else."
"Thanks to our agreement with Duke Ancel, we do not need to find accommodation or pay for the 500 we will leave under his command to train up his troops, which leaves us with 1,000 Pelican Guards that we need to find work for."
"And once we find work for them, it is likely the money from this work will be enough to sustain both them and their families, meaning they will no longer burden our already limited resources."
"But we still need to find the funds for their families as paying for them was not In our agreement with Duke Ancel."
"100 of our men are eligible for retirement. The other 900 can be assigned as we wish."
Leon said, reporting to his lord the initial numbers they had at their disposal.
After thinking about it for a bit, Railius decided on a course of action.
"Give our men all the options and see which ones they want to take, as I don't want to force anyone to do anything but make it clear that those who want to become barkeepers will have to wait until we have the funds to build and maintain a tavern that we will use as bases in our future operations."
"In addition, anyone who wishes to go their own way may do so without our interference and with our blessing, as I only want people who are loyal and want to stay with us."
Railius decreed benevolently, to the surprise of his subordinates, as this was quite rare for a lord not only to give people options but also to let them go if they wished, as humans and population are a valuable resource from which a lord not only collects tax from but also form their armies form.
"My lord, are you sure you want to do this?"
Leon asked, as they were already low on men and losing anymore, especially Pelican Guards, who were veteran soldiers.
"Believe in our people more, Leon. Someone who has decided to follow us to Nathia out of loyalty would not leave us like this, and anyway, I have no use for anyone who cannot endure a little hardship and leaves the moment things get hard."
Railius said as what he really wanted was the reputation amongst his subordinates that he was a benevolent lord who let them leave as they please and the psychological effect this would have on their motivation to serve him and at the same time get rid of any deadweight hitting two birds with one stone something that he has made a habit of as of late.
"One more thing I want us to offer the families of those who remain with is opportunities for their children to be educated. Leon can teach those who wish to learn the ways of war, while those who are interested in reading, writing and administrative affairs can be taught alongside me in my classes with Malwin."
"I trust either of you won't have any problems with these arrangements?"
Railius asked his two loyal retainers, and it was Malwin who was the only one to object slightly. Leon was more than happy with these arrangements as he was close with many members of the Pelican Guards and wanted their families to be looked after well.
"My lord, your intentions are honourable and benevolent but are not completely practical. We will have to be selective with whom we choose to teach administrative affairs to as I cannot handle hundreds of students at the same time."
"But quite a few of our military officers are literate, so we can at least offer these loyal soldiers' children a basic education in reading, writing, and basic maths. That alone is an opportunity for them to grasp as it is fundamental in gaining opportunities in the future and will help strengthen those who serve House Aurellion."
Baron Malwin said, not contradicting his lord's orders but instead giving advice on how to get them done in practice with the very limited resources they had to work with, showing his ability to adapt to his lord's intentions while not offending him.
Just by his answer, Railius could see he had gained a talented man to help him. For while he is good at figuring out and dealing with the overall strategy and management of a noble house, sometimes his ideas are not feasible, and so he needs someone talented enough to help him make them practical and pick up on more minor problems that he tends to overlook.
The Baron realised that he wanted to help educate the children of the families of his loyal Pelican Guards and gave him ways to do it instead of stopping him as he is not from a noble background, and so unlike other nobles, had no issue educating people of low background in such a way allowing them to become more than farmers or heirs to their father's crafts.
Unlike House Aurellion's military and Pelican Guard training, which has the help of a training manual and many veteran soldiers as a foundation to help teach the new recruits, the training of our administrators is different. This is because they only had Malwin to teach matters such as governance, politics, and philosophy, and on top of that, he also had to manage the noble house. To say that he was busy would be a gross understatement.
Understanding this, Railius gave in and took the baron's suggestion.
"Thank you, Malwin. While it is not an ideal solution, I am aware of our short supply of manpower at the moment and accept your proposal. If you get more applicants than you can handle, then you may test them and make a preference for those who already know how to read and write, as they will be easier to teach politics, philosophy and administrative affairs to than those who are illiterate."
Railius said, relieved that he no longer had to think about all the small things that could go wrong with his plan and was thankful to have someone like the baron with him who could help to deal with these problems without any input on his own part as it helped save his brainpower that would be constantly needed in his future lessons.
"Good. I'll leave it to the three of you to do a census for me on which path my subjects wish to take, after which we will meet again to discuss ways to accomplish them."
After finishing the meeting, Railius dragged his exhausted body to his tent to rest. Jordis, who is far physically stronger than the young lord despite being nearly a year younger was waiting outside and helped his young master to his tent, where Railius flopped onto the bed and went to sleep almost instantly, his breathing still a bit rugged from Leon's relentless training.
Unlike the lazy young lord of House Aurellion, Jordis was a conscientious man, putting in his all every day into his training and becoming stronger so he could take the place of his father as Aurellion's most loyal protector in the future.
This diligence has led to his body becoming strong and his fighting skills far surpassing Railius'. He was also more intelligent and observant than his father but less than Railius, which would greatly help him when he needed to command troops and execute his lord's commands in the future.
After settling his young lord and friend into bed, he waited outside for 30 minutes before returning to his own tent to get some rest, as his training regime was no different than Railius the only difference was he had more endurance than the lazy lord, and so was not near collapse like Railius was.