The elite troops and regular soldiers who supported the 54th Firearms Division were also called knight trainees.
Those who train to become knights and serve as soldiers in charge of security in the territory.
Not only in McLane, but in most fiefdoms, boys who were about to become adults were tested for physical strength, and only those whose physical strength exceeded a certain standard were accepted as soldiers and trained.
It was a process to develop force users through intensive training that tested human limits rather than simple training.
Among those selected as soldiers, those with talent awakened the Force in the process and became knights.
Of course, most of them gave up that path and remained as regular soldiers, but even so, they became a force with combat power that far exceeded that of regular conscripts on average.
‘To endure the arduous training to become a knight, physical strength is essential. ‘Because that’s what they think.’
In fact, the majority of the knights who were selected that way dramatically awakened their power after overcoming ten years of arduous training.
Of course, there were children of traditional knight families or noble families who awakened the Force through training from a young age within the families that were not soldiers.
They received systematic training from a young age, but without special vision, the probability of awakening the Force was not greatly increased.
The words themselves were evidence that the existing theory was wrong, but it was a time when most people did not yet have that awareness.
However, at this time, the empire was already making new attempts with new theories.
– Excellent physical strength and Force awakening are two different stories. Rather, sensation is more important.
‘Currently, there will be a lot of backlash from the Empire…’
A fact discovered through dozens of years of research at the Empire’s Imperial Magic Tower.
A theory deduced by collecting information from those who trained better than those who became knights but failed to awaken the Force.
The empire accepted this as its official view and changed the process of selecting regular soldiers.
As a result, regular troops were selected mainly from children with excellent senses and reflexes.
In a war that will take place 9 years later, rather than 10 years from now, the empire tramples on neighboring countries with an overwhelming number of knights, as many as 50,000.
And of course, after that, the imperial standards became known throughout the world.
‘In fact, just looking at Ronian or Viktor, it is clear that selecting soldiers based solely on physical strength is foolish.’
But at this time, no one paid attention to that fact.
I just think that geniuses are different because they are geniuses.
Thinking about the legions of imperial knights crowding the horizon, I felt sick even now.
‘Then I can do it too. Even if only in the territory controlled by the family. Nine years would be enough for talented guys to become knights.’
That is why they purchased weapons and paid attention to the expansion of regular soldiers to the extent that it seemed excessive.
And in order to utilize it properly, we had to set a good standard from the beginning.
“What is the situation of the regular soldiers now?”
“Of the 502 people who survived the last war, 402 of them, excluding 100, are dispatched to Tethron Castle on a mission to maintain security along with Commander-in-Chief Vector.”
“…are all the knights in Macline?”
“You said you can’t separate the knights who are the main force…”
Logan barely suppressed a snort.
‘It’s probably because of the knights who converted. What a useless excuse….’ There were
a whopping 32 knights from Tethron who converted, a number that was not much different from the 41 surviving knights of the existing Macline.
Even if there was a high-ranking knight, or now a top-ranking knight, Padric Macline, it would not have been possible to let them move separately just yet.
‘Well, it worked out better.’
In any case, there was no space within McLane to provide lodging for more than a thousand regular soldiers.
That’s why there was a limit to the number of soldiers recruited.
“We are taking the trainees to be recruited from McLane Castle to Tethron. We will use Tethron as a base for soldier training from now on. Only the 50 most senior soldiers will remain in McLane Castle. Notify all soldiers.”
“…yes?”
“There are over 70 knights here, so we don’t need many soldiers.”
“But then, the knights do guard duty…”
This was a problem that could arise if the number of knights exceeded that of soldiers.
but.
“Well, father will continue to train the knights. Just tell the remaining soldiers to work harder. Don’t you think the most senior soldiers have had an easy time so far?”
Anyway, the only thing McLane Castle is proud of is stable security.
There would be no problem if some soldiers were missing.
As if in response to that thought, a loud voice was heard from the training hall inside the castle.
“Vixel was wrong. Start again from the beginning!”
“Hey, you son of a bitch….”
“Someone blow their mouths off during training! Double it again!”
“Ugh!”
‘I don’t know if there will be trouble with the knights.’
Logan smiled faintly as he heard a voice that he couldn’t tell whether it was a cheer or a scream.
“It’s nothing bad.”
* * *
“Where are you from?”
“And you?”
“How old are you?”
“losing!”
“What man?!”
Buzz.
The soldier testing site set up at McLane Castle was crowded with people applying for recruitment.
“Stand straight in line!”
“Everyone stop chatting! The Archduke is coming!”
“Stop talking! You bastards…”
The soldiers tried to maintain order by force, but it was difficult to control all the immature boys who had gathered close to a thousand people.
As soon as Logan entered the exam room, the boys began to calm down a little, but the commotion did not completely subside.
The sight made him sigh, but since it was something that had to be done, Logan composed himself again.
“How did you pull it off before?”
“We just had them run all at once and cut them in order.”
It was literally an ignorant selection method based on physical strength alone.
Moreover, in order to maintain the total number of soldiers, only a small number of those who had just reached adulthood were brought in and selected when soldiers retired after turning 40, so it could not have been efficient.
‘The method was wrong and the number of people was small. So the number of articles rarely increases.’
Previously, MacLine had the ignorable problem that the financial burden increased as the number of drivers increased, but the situation was different now.
‘We should select all those who have the slightest chance of becoming knights and train them.’
In the short term, it was to expand the number of soldiers, but the fundamental purpose was to select trainees for the more distant future.
However, there was no intention to blindly increase the number of regular troops.
It doesn’t necessarily have to be a small number, but the goal was to be an elite unit.
“You have to pick it right.”
“Of course.”
“Choose kids with good eyesight, kids with good ears, and kids with quick reactions.”
Children with excellent senses are more likely to become force users.
It may be common knowledge in the future, but in the kingdom at this time…
“…Yes?”
This is just a dumb reaction.
“Didn’t you hear?”
“Then, after making them run…”
“Not like that! There are many children who grew up without food. We have to take into account cases where they can’t run because they are hungry.”
“But Logan, we’ve been recruiting soldiers like that all along. But now…”
Dwayne stepped forward to replace the embarrassed Ferran, but Logan shook his head.
“From now on, this will be the standard. What are you doing? Not moving?”
“…Yes, I understand.”
that day.
Applicants who were considering a test of strength or stamina had to take an absurd test.
First exam.
Look far away.
When the examiner stood holding a piece of paper with letters written on it, the applicant approached from a distance and stopped at a distance where the letters were visible.
The farther the distance, the higher the ranking.
“Oh? That’s innovative. As expected, Confucius!”
Dwayne was impressed, but not without problems.
“I don’t know letters!”
Thanks to this, the letters are turned into pictures.
“It looks like a bird or a pig. The picture is so strange!”
Because of the idiot examiners, simple symbols were used instead of pictures.
“I can’t see the pole clearly!”
“How many? Tell me what you see!”
“Confucius, you are very handsome!”
There were too many absurd things that had no answer.
“I don’t need a guy who’s already flattering me. Fire that bastard.”
but.
“Three and a half. One is a bit short. Does that make it four?”
There was even a monster that did not have any special abilities, but could see the number and length of finger-sized sticks from a distance of 200 meters.
Second test.
Listen away.
This is a test where Dwayne and Rugel repeat a predetermined word and then have to stop the moment they hear the word.
Just like in the previous experiment, the farther the distance, the higher the ranking, but as expected, it was not without problems.
“The volume of your voice changes from time to time!”
Problems with the examiner’s body control ability.
“That person’s pronunciation is strange! I don’t know if it’s the world or the bastard!”
“What are you bastard?!”
Problems with innate oral structure.
“The correct answer is a sparrow. But…”
“Tell me what it is.”
“That person just said that the Archduke is a bastard… Is this also a test?”
And even human issues.
“Dwayne! Fuck his head!”
“Huh? Confucius, I can’t hear you!”
“Dae. Go Lee! Fuck me! Shall I plant it with my hands?!”
Although the test was delayed a bit due to various problems, the monster that heard the soft curse from 100 meters away was also discovered.
When the two tests were over, Logan couldn’t help but whistle in admiration.
‘No matter how much we only test vision and hearing, there are so many people whose eyesight and hearing are far above the standard for either of them?’
Among the more than 1,000 people gathered, more than 250 people were discovered to have sensory talents.
Some of them had truly monstrous eyes and ears, but there was no guarantee that they would become knights.
The standards based on sensory abilities were also not perfect.
As can be seen from the fact that among those selected based on the unreasonable standards of the past, there were definitely some who became knights, and it is not completely clear in the future which people will become Force users.
‘Still, including the applicants from Tethron Castle, we have to hit 1,000 people.’
A total of 500 people were selected based on their rankings in the two tests.
When I looked up and saw the successful candidates with a proud feeling, I saw that many of them looked particularly shabby.
There were many children who looked much younger and smaller than the age they applied, perhaps because they had not yet been fed well, but that was something that could be done by feeding them well and training them.
‘Like Victor…. Of course, it would be impossible to reach his level.’
At least he did his best within his current knowledge.
I just hoped that these things would accumulate one by one and become the strength to prevent the worst disaster to come in the future.
‘Now that I think about it, I guess I should go see that guy, Victor, too.’
Now it was time to let him be active outside in earnest.
* * * Damn.
The sword cutting through the air seemed powerful even to me.
Neither too much nor too little strength and perfect posture.
The basic swordsmanship of the kingdom, which has been repeated hundreds of times every day for the past year, has now become quite established.
At this rate, I thought it would soon be possible to repeat what Logan said 1,000 times without getting distracted.
However, Victor’s expression was not that good.
‘That doesn’t mean it becomes an article.’
Mr. Logan simply assigned a visible goal to himself, who knew nothing.
I knew that fact very well now.
Also, to become a knight, it is not a matter of casting a thousand swordsmanships, but rather, you must achieve the awakening of the Force.
But it still didn’t make sense.
I no longer felt the sense of accomplishment of progressing day by day.
A feeling of frustration, as if I were endlessly spinning in place.
It felt like there were invisible shackles holding my ankles down.
But I could never give up like this.
‘I must become a knight. certainly!’
Even today, for the sake of my younger brother who is waiting on the other side of the training ground with a water bottle and towel.
He was well aware of the jealous looks the servants in the mansion had on him and his younger brother.
Even though he was a slave, he only learned swordsmanship, not work, so it was natural.
That’s why he couldn’t stop here.
‘I don’t know how long Logan will give me.’
I received help without any compensation.
They say they believe they will become knights in the future, but on what basis would they show such favor to a slave?
Although he was clearly grateful to Master Logan, the years of hardship he lived as a slave were making it difficult for him to fully trust his benefactor.
‘It could be a ploy to raise me and use me somewhere.’
For example…gladiator slaves.
When I remembered the worst memory, my face naturally darkened.
During the time of slavery, I saw a crazy nobleman who used his family as bait to tell his slaves to fight and kill each other.
‘Did you say it was for fun?’
When I glanced to the side, I saw my younger brother looking at me with a bright face.
My younger brother, whom I must protect no matter what.
No matter what happened to me, I had to protect my younger brother.
No matter what his benefactor told him to do, he had to come back alive.
‘But it can’t go on like this.’
The longer Viktor felt that his skills were at a standstill, the more impatient he became.
“Aaaaaaaap!”
Paaang!
He deviated from the established swordsmanship format and swung his sword with all his might.
It was a method that started some time ago.
When I swung the sword with all my might without thinking about posture or swordsmanship, I felt refreshed inside.
however.
“What are you doing now?”
The moment when I wake up to a low voice.
The reckless and violent sword slashing, which was not a swordsmanship, stopped and Victor unknowingly lost his grip on the sword.
