''silas" Null called seemingly to no one
"Your grace" replied a whisper like voice from the corner of the courtroom that
obscured by shadows, though none of the occupants of the room seemed surprised, already aware of the spymasters presence in the room.
Silas vane walked out of the shadows with a silent gait, he greeted the king with a bow.
He was a lithe looking man 5ft7 with physique that screamed mind boggling agility, shoulder length dark hair and a scar running across his face from his right eye to his left cheek, he regarded the occupants of the room with a level stare that seemed to be his default
'' give me an update of the kingdom forces" Null voiced while holding up his glass for a refill from the maid while valen and varyn turned their attention to the spymaster anticipating his words
"Each duchy has a standing army of between 2500-3000
With the counts having a standing army of 900 - 1200
The viscounts having a standing army of 200- 400
Each barony having a standing army of 100- 150
"Although the are some landed knights each having a army of a maximum of 15 in their estates I believe they are inconsequential "
Came the spymasters succinct reply
Null couldn't help the slight twitch at the corner of his mouth, without a doubt he was happy. When his father died at war a large part of the royal army died with him living, Null with an army of about 10,000, of which only 5000 could be considered veterans
As such he had always felt unsafe, if not for the presence of varyn there was nothing stoping the noble from attempting to "assist the crown" prince until he comes of age.
As such hearing that his own standing army could effortlessy match the combined might of the kingdoms noble made him very happy.
As for why he believes it would be effortless,
That is because only the army of the dukes, counts and few of the viscounts could be called an elite army, for the barons their army s might as well be considered wealthy bandits
The blackfyre kingdom could be considered a small kingdom and new kingdom starting from Null's great-grandfather,as such it doesn't have many nobles just 3 dukes,5 counts,7 viscounts and 21 barons.
With this the total combined army of the noble would be 25,000 approximately which is less than obsidian hold's 30,000 standing army, although the nobles can also summon their levies this can only be done on the orders of the king anything otherwise it would be considered treason.
As such Null couldn't help but break into a laugh,after 60 years in the military in his past world he had learned the simple truth. that no matter what you call yourself emperor,king,president,God,without the bigger fist it is all meaningless this is why he didn't even bother becoming king earlier.
Just as he was about to speak to his prime minister
"Your grace" Silas interrupted " it has come to my knowledge that house frostfield has been developing an army in secret
"How am I just learning of this"Null frowned his voice rising an octave" army's don't just appear out of nowhere"
"It was a calculated move my lord"Silas breath hitched from the feeling of impending doom he felt from the young king, as a late stage aura awakening warrior himself Silas could be said to have experienced a lot, he had been in the presence of peak awakening warriors before, hell not even the the prime Minister a true iron core stage warriot gave him this sense of impending doom 'dorian what sort of monster did you sire ' he couldn't help but think
" Lord frostfield ordered young boys of 16 year old to be assigned to a warriors discreetly this has been going on for years.
We only put the pieces together when they recently started learning army formations"Silas continued" somewhat like the mentorship programmes your highness proposed in the obsidian hold "
"Is that so" Null relaxed more amused by than anything "what do you make of this valan"
" Count braken has always been a fool who couldn't read between lines, but still this is pushing it" valen intoned "I believe we should take into the account the possibility that he might have achieved a breakthrough
"Possibly that would also explain his absence from my coronation with the death of my father and his general he must believe that you are the only iron core stage cultivator in the obsidian hold althought its not conclusive we will proceed with this believe" Null lampooned
"Your grace why don't I pay Lord bracken a visit to correct his misinformation" came the gravely voice of varyn the battle intent in his words unmistakable
Silas almost dropped to his knees from the sudden pressure that filled the room the moment the mountain of a man spoke,this shocked him cause even a peak stage iron core shouldn't have such capabilities
Silas as the chief spymaster of the kingdom had searched far and wide for even the slightest whiff of information about the mountain of a ma, but he found nothing not even with his contacts in neighboring kingdoms, it was like he just came into existence 16 years ago in the kings chamber
This terrified him to no end.
"Give it a rest varyn" ordered Null regarding the grizzled general a leveled stare,varyn huffed withdrawing his killing intent, yes that was killing intent which was something he developed from wherever the system got him from.due to the low quality of warriors in the blackfyre kingdom although some if not all had killing intents they are just not skilled in utilizing it as varyn "besides I want to handle this personally" hearing this varyn who just lost interest perked again with a booming laugh
'HAHAHAHA'
"YES GREAT BOY all this training is meaningless if you are not blooded so you think you are ready?" varyn asked with a crazed grin on his face all honorifics and decorum thrown out the window "it's a big step you know
"Your grace there is no need for you to do this yourself It would be the perfect test for the ar-"
I've decided" Null in interrupted valen focusing on varyn he answered " yes I'm ready
He knew very well how a leader who doesn't understand the battlefield ruled, he wasn't going to be one of them when they sing his songs they'll know he was the god of war before he was king