Three days later.
"Do you think it is working?" Thyra looked around to confirm that no one was looking at her before touching her own crotch, saying, "I can still feel that thing attached to me."
"My lady, please refrain from doing such an inelegant action," Hure almost cried out loud. She took a deep breath before explaining, "The amulet you are wearing is a magic item. It doesn't change your body. Instead, it creates an illusion spell around you to make other people see what you want."
"Okay." Thyra was now wearing a tunic made of cotton and a type of pant that knights' squires wear.
The outskirts of the city were now filled with people. From middle-aged men to teenagers, many gathered around the banner of Viscount Hoax. There were even a few girls there.
"My lady, it would have been better if you had told the viscount to recruit them first. Then you could have chosen a hundred recruits out of them."
Hure said with a worried voice. And the reason behind that was that the recruitment trial started about five hours ago. Yet only 27 people applied to join Thyra's army.
Also, 16 of the 27 people who signed up did so because they had tried to join another group but were turned down.
To begin with, there is a requirement for soldiers who want to join the guard army of the Viscount.
For one, they have to have a certain height, have at least one weapon mastery, and have the strength to lift the training rock.
According to Hure's assessment, they could only attract the army's rejects.
Above all else, it was Jhon Hoax who had driven her crazy. When Jenkins, the second son of Justin, heard that Thyra would recruit her own soldiers, he decided to do the same.
Although they had created another recruitment camp for Jhon, it was just a show. The veteran instructor of the Viscount army simply sent the best recruits to the camp of the second young master. Naturally, it decreased their options further.
"That woman might have planned all this," Hure whispered. And, Thya had no problem understanding who she was talking about.
The three recruitment tents were about twenty meters from each other. Although Jenkin's tent was about forty meters from Thyra's, she could see that about 40 or more had already joined Jenkin's army. Also, the main army had already recruited over sixty of them.
"Don't worry, my lady. This is the first day of recruitment. More people will come over the next few days."
Thyra simply smiled as she changed the page of the book containing the details of the empire's nobles.
"Did you gather what I asked you to?"
"Yes, my lady. A subordinate contract is not hard to buy, and it is also cheap. I have already gathered 40 of them. They would supply the rest of it within a week."
"And what about the criminals I have talked about?"
"I have already informed the Viscount. He told me he had gathered 36 of them." Hure hesitated for a moment, asking, "May I ask what the need is for that?"
Thyra smiled but didn't answer. Instead, she asked another question.
"What about the essence of a smile?"
"My lady, it will be hard. Although slime is a weak monster, many people are interested in it. Still, they were too expensive for us to buy a lot of them."
"Why?"
"To get one essence, one must kill more than 100 slimes. Even then, it isn't guaranteed. We can post a mission for the adventures, but it will cost a lot."
Hure hesitated momentarily, adding, "Should I ask the Viscount?"
"No need. Just find a few places where we can kill many slimes."
"What are you going to do, my lady?"
Again, she didn't answer. Instead, she simply turned the empty sandglass before standing up. She walked out of the tent.
A few of the twenty-seven were waiting in the morning. So, when they saw Thyra coming out, they quickly gathered in front of the tent.
"You have passed the first test." That was the first sentence Thyra spoke to them.
A wave of murmur arose amid the small crowd. Thyra ignored their reaction and continued, "There are three things I want in my soldiers. First is patience."
She didn't explain anymore. But the intelligent ones already understood that they passed only because they had decided to wait patiently. If they were like others who came but left because neither Thyra nor Hure spoke to them, they would have also failed to pass the test.
As they sighed in relief, Thyra continued, "For my soldiers, it doesn't matter if you aren't tall enough. You can work twice as hard to surpass your weakness."
"It doesn't matter if you don't know how to use any weapon. After all, you are here to train. So we will train you."
"It doesn't matter if you can't pick up the weights now. By the time you complete the training, you will be able to carry twice, even three times the weight."
A few of the teenagers became excited by her words. They had already taken the recruitment test and failed. They have nowhere to go back to in their villages or towns.
They were nothing but orphans. Due to a lack of money and food, they might die next winter. So, for them, it was a boon to join the army. It guarantees food and shelter during the winter.
After finishing the training, they would have a steady income. They wouldn't have any problem finding a girl to marry.
So they were easy to entice. However, the experienced one waited till Thyra completed her words.
"However, in order to succeed, you need something essential. That is determination. The second trial is to test your determination."
"You can see the field. Complete 20 laps around the field by the time all the sand falls." Thyra raised the sandglass and showed the time had already started.
A murmur rose between them. Thyra could hear them talking.
"How can I do that?"
"That is impossible."
However, at least two of them didn't waste any time and started running. One of them was a girl.
It made others hesitate. Three more joined them. The rest were still trying to figure out what to do.
Thyra remembered the faces of those who had started running before continuing, "Some might think it is impossible. Let me show you it is not."
All the wary eyes were glued to her. She simply smiled and said, "Out of all of you, I am the youngest one here. As an army commander, I shouldn't order you to do something I couldn't do. So, I will run with you too."
Thyra smiled at them and pulled up a backpack. And as she was about to start running, another one of the teenagers asked, "How do twenty laps around the field have anything to do with determination?"
Thyra simply smiled at him and started running. Most of them followed her.
As a group of recruits started running around the field, many eyes turned towards them. They said nothing as they sped off in silence.