Chapter 334 - 87: Reward Banquet
Chapter 334: Chapter 87: Reward Banquet
Not long after Robson left the swamp, he ran right into Ais, who had come to report. No, he should be called Knight Ace now.
"My Lord." Upon seeing Robson, Ais gave a standard military salute, which seemed to startle Gerard, who was standing to the side.
Robson, of course, noticed Gerard’s expression.
"I don’t stand on ceremony here. A military salute is the highest form of respect."
"Has everything been taken care of?" Robson asked.
"Not one got away. No losses... well, there might be some. I’m not entirely sure," Ais replied. He had wanted to speak with certainty, but his cautious habits made him hold back.
Robson wasn’t concerned with such details.
Listening to Ais’s reply, Robson gazed out at the plain before him, a thoughtful expression on his face.
The morning sun was just cresting the horizon, illuminating the distant, fire-scorched earth. Its rays spilled onto the nearby lake, and as a ripple passed over the surface, the water seemed to shatter into flecks of gold. It was a rather poetic scene.
He wasn’t sure if it was a coincidence or some sort of providence, but as Robson considered it, he realized today was the one-year anniversary of his transmigration. A year ago, he, Lord Robson, had led three hundred ragtag soldiers out of Feiying Pass. A year later, he had planted his banner on the soil of this Otherworld.
’March... that’s probably the second month of the lunar calendar,’ Robson mused. ’I remember, according to the calendar from my past life, there’s a festival right around this time. The second day of the second month... when the dragon raises its head.’
’How auspicious.’
"Knight Ace, I suppose the title is ’Lord’ now," Robson said, looking back at Knight Ace with a teasing smile.
After this battle, he, Lord Robson, had finally established a true foothold in this Otherworld. His journey as a lord was about to begin.
Knight Ace stared at Robson’s expression, taken aback for a moment. But having followed Robson for so long, he understood his lord’s nature and knew he was joking.
Knight Ace recalled the etiquette of the nobles he had seen before and, following his memory, performed an awkward bow.
"My Lord!"
"Ha! Look at that! Very convincing!"
Robson smiled. His leadership strategy didn’t rely solely on authority. After all, he wasn’t just commanding an army. These soldiers were less like subordinates and more like his subjects, his people—the very foundation of Lord Robson’s power.
A bit of humor and a personal touch were essential lubricants for the machinery of power.
....
"Is this our new homeland?"
Hans finished carving the last of the Magical Beast Meat with his sword, then slid the blade back into its sheath.
He then looked over at Odin, who was staring at the lake, completely mesmerized.
Odin’s reaction was understandable. Hans had worn the very same expression when he first arrived here with Captain Jason.
A tranquil lake and a vast plain, with mountains in the distance and a seemingly endless forest behind them.
It was a paradise straight out of an ordinary person’s dream.
"A peasant’s a peasant. Hasn’t even taken off his armor, and he’s already using his spear as a hoe."
Just as the two were lost in the moment, an unfriendly voice piped up.
Only then did Hans notice that Odin had, at some point, rested his palm on the butt of his spear, its tip planted in the earth. He was leaning on it just so, looking for all the world like a weary old farmer resting on his hoe.
"Jack?!"
Hans didn’t even have to look to know who that sharp tongue belonged to.
"Hey! How’s life in the Second Regiment? You guys didn’t get any of the action last time," Hans said, looking at Jack with a smirk.
Jack had seized a previous opportunity to get transferred to the Second Regiment, fulfilling his wish to become one of its squad leaders.
"It’s alright. All this managing is a real pain, though," Jack said listlessly.
Hans grimaced, instantly losing any desire to catch up with Jack.
"What are you all doing here? Jack? What brings you over?" Captain Jason walked up, holding a piece of paper, and looked at Jack.
"Perfect timing. Help me out, tell me what’s written on this paper," Captain Jason said, handing the sheet to Jack.
In front of Captain Jason, Jack didn’t dare act smug.
"Captain Jason... you got this from Captain Ace, right? I don’t need to read it; it’s about the preparations."
"Did you see earlier? The men from the Third Regiment were carrying over two big chests of Gold Coins. Lord Robson is going to hand out rewards to those who have distinguished themselves," Jack explained.
"You really know your stuff. It’s good to be educated," Jason said, looking at the paper in his hands. Captain Jason had learned to read a bit, but he wasn’t fluent, and the wording on the paper was still too complex.
"Rewards?! For real?!"
Captain Jason didn’t have much of a reaction to Jack’s words, but Hans got excited.
"Of course it’s true! And Captain Ace, did you hear? The Lord is going to make him a Knight Lord!" Jack said, his eyes filled with deep envy.
Rejoining the nobility was something Jason dreamed of day and night.
"Alright, let’s get back to work."
....
"My Lord!"
"My Lord..."
"Good afternoon, my Lord."
If cooked over a normal fire, the Magical Beast Meat wouldn’t be ready until evening.
In the meantime, Robson, not one to waste a moment, decided to personally visit the troops.
To be fair, Robson had always maintained the role of Commander. Aside from training alongside them in the past, he didn’t typically have much daily interaction with the men. Still, the simple fact that he had trained with them was enough to leave the soldiers in awe. Combined with the excellent treatment in his army and their constant victories, Robson’s prestige among the troops was extremely high.
As he walked through the camp, Robson even used his Mount & Blade panel to call out a few soldiers by name, sending another wave of excitement through their ranks.
Robson was a noble, after all, and nobles were a world apart from commoners. Moreover, an air of reverence for their commander permeated the army. For a soldier, being remembered by name by Robson was a great honor and something worth boasting about.
Whether it was because everyone was happy to have arrived at their new home, or because Robson’s encouragement had worked, the army’s morale jumped from seventy to ninety.
Previously, after the battle at Thermopylae, morale had been holding steady at around ninety.
But people are creatures who crave stability; no one enjoys years of constant warfare.
Even though they kept winning, morale had since dropped to around seventy and was continuing to decline each day.
This was a problem that gave every commander a headache, and it was also why the Beastman Empire couldn’t afford a protracted war against the Frank Kingdom.
Besides the threat of the Human Alliance, the Beastman Empire was, after all, the aggressor. If they failed to break through human defenses and were unable to plunder wealth, their morale would slowly begin to crumble from the bottom up. And that was usually when the Human Alliance would enter the fray.
Robson had a plan for this morale problem. He would take advantage of the upcoming award banquet and the promotion of the Tier Seven Soldiers to solve everything at once.