Farming in the Magical World

Early summer of the 287th year of the Kingdom Calendar!

Today is the day the security guards are being recruited.

After finishing his daily morning training, Tim wiped the sweat off his body, quickly changed into his knight's uniform, and went to the small square.

Somewhat surprisingly, Lenny had arrived even earlier than him and was already sitting there, talking quietly with Frank.

This small square is located in the open space in front of the castle gate. A little further down there is a small slope. If roadblocks and barricades are set up on the slope, together with the small slopes that already exist on the three sides behind the castle, it will resemble a castle defensive perimeter.

It seems that the Wells family ancestors who built the castle here originally intended to do just that, but they simply didn't have the money to continue.

Lanny had previously arranged for two small houses to be built here, and the ground had been leveled by the villagers. Now the training ground is quite well-maintained.

Good morning, Uncle Tim!

Lenny spotted Tim approaching early on, turned around to greet him, but didn't seem inclined to talk further. He was frowning, deep in thought.

"What, worried about not being able to recruit anyone?" He didn't seem to care about Lanny's furrowed brows and casually sat down in the middle seat.

Today, he will be in charge of the recruitment, Frank will be in charge of recording, and Lenny is just here to observe because he doesn't trust him.

“Your security team is provided with food and lodging, and they get at least two silver coins a month. How could there be no one here? You should be worried about too many people coming.”

Unlike his confident demeanor, Lanny was not as optimistic. August had recently led over a hundred of his people into battle, suffering heavy casualties; recruiting soldiers now would likely not be easy.

Although, according to Frank, some of them returned sporadically afterward, the casualties among the people in the Battle of Dragon Ridge were definitely more than half.

And what human being is not afraid of death?

To prevent a lack of response to the call to action, he specifically instructed Frank to lead a group of people to go from village to village to spread the word.

In order to distinguish this recruitment from previous forced conscriptions, he specially named the recruited team a guard, offered them a salary, and vigorously promoted the significance of the new team to Caster.

But when he actually arrived at the scene, he was still uneasy and not very confident.

As for why he didn't force recruitment, it was mainly because this team would be responsible for the territory, the castle, and his safety for a long time to come, and he didn't want to make the same mistake as August.

But if very few people actually come today, he will have no choice but to resort to forced conscription. The security situation in Castel Ridge is becoming increasingly dire, and he cannot afford to be sentimental.

According to information brought by some merchants, Count Enno's army has now pushed the Grummans back to the Andes Town area. If they want to break out, their next target will likely be Castel Ridge.

If the rampaging Grummans cannot be stopped outside Castel, Count Enno's army will inevitably follow them into Castel, and based on his understanding of these noble soldiers, Castel will suffer two wars in a short period of time.

Nodding, Tim was very familiar with the habits of noble soldiers and agreed with Lanny's concerns. "So you plan to let these recruits train for a few days and then go and wipe out the Grummans who have been on the run for half a year?"

He didn't say what he was going to say, but his expression clearly showed that he was naive.

“Not exactly!” Lanny shook his head.

Lanny's idea was to let these people train for a while, and then deploy defenses in the direction of Caster Ridge. As long as the scale of the operation was large enough, the Grummans would most likely detour.

This wasn't just wishful thinking on his part; it was a conclusion drawn from combining recently obtained information with an analysis from the other party's perspective.

The reason why they were still fleeing everywhere even after the count had been chasing them for almost half a year was not only due to the slow mobilization and sluggish response of the nobles, but also because of their sufficient caution and flexibility.

This changes people's preconceived notions of the Grummans as rude, ignorant, and barbaric; they are more like a cunning fox, leaping and bounding in the North, making it impossible to catch their tail.

Lanny guessed that there was likely a leader among this group, and a very intelligent one at that.

If such a person truly existed, he would be well aware that once they were entangled with someone, they would face a predicament of being surrounded on three sides, and their annihilation would not be far off.

Therefore, Lanny's core idea is two points: "intimidation and rejection".

Listening to Lanny slowly explain his thoughts, Tim couldn't help but put himself in her shoes. He had to admit that, if analyzed from the enemy's perspective, Lanny's ideas were very likely to be correct.

"Who taught you this? I don't remember ever teaching you any of this." Tim looked at Lanny with a strange expression, his face clearly saying, "Don't tell me this is your own idea, I definitely don't believe you."

Uh... I was so focused on analyzing things that I forgot Lenny wouldn't have access to learn these things, and now I don't know how to answer.

Fortunately, a few people who suddenly arrived interrupted Tim's questioning.

In the distance, on the main road below the slope, a group of people appeared, walking towards the castle.

The group that arrived consisted of about ten adult men. Because of their large number, they weren't particularly timid and walked straight to the table, asking questions all at once.

"This is the security team, are you recruiting?"

"Will they really give me the money?"

"Should we conscript an army to seek revenge against the Grummans?"

The scene was chaotic and noisy, leaving Tim unsure of whose question to answer. On the other hand, Lanny was left undisturbed, likely because his clothes were more luxurious. Despite the large number of people, no one dared to directly confront the nobleman.

"Quiet, quiet," Tim replied a few times, only to find himself bombarded with more questions, which annoyed him so much that he yelled.

After everyone quieted down, he continued to shout, "Ask questions one by one. No one else is allowed to speak until the previous question is finished."

After saying that, she pointed to the man at the front and said, "Starting with you, what's your name? Where are you from? What do you want to ask?"

"Sir, we are all from Black Mountain Village. My name is Black Tiger. May I ask, sir, is this conscription of soldiers to seek revenge against those Grummans?" This man named Black Tiger was tall and strong, like a tiger. His voice was also very loud. With his dark face, he looked exactly like a black bear. I don't know why he was named Black Tiger.

"Black Mountain Village?" Tim didn't answer Black Tiger's question immediately, but looked at him thoughtfully. "I remember there's a guy named Black Bear in Black Mountain Village. Did he come today?"

Lanny thought to himself, "There really is a bear called Black Bear. I wonder what it looks like."

Upon hearing Tim mention the black bear, Black Tiger's eyes reddened, and his face was filled with grief. "My lord, Black Bear is my brother, but... but... my brother went to Fallen Dragon Ridge and never returned!"

Upon hearing that this person's brother had actually sacrificed himself in the Battle of Falling Dragon Ridge, Lanny was lost in thought when he was startled and instinctively shrank back. His own father had caused the death of this person's brother; could this be a pretext for trouble?

"Are you trying to avenge your brother, Black Tiger?" Tim stood up, looked at Black Tiger, and said sternly, "You should know that people die in battle. Are you afraid?"

"I'm not afraid!" Black Tiger shouted at the top of his lungs. "I came here to find the Grummans and avenge my brother. I'm not afraid to die."

"Okay, Frank, you take notes. Black Mountain Village, Black Tiger, accepted."

Most of the people who came after him said they were there for revenge, and only a few showed interest in the monthly salary offered by Lanny.

Lanny was completely bewildered, but after Frank explained in a low voice, he finally understood what had happened.

It turns out that Black Mountain Village is very close to Black Pine Ridge. Most of the villagers make a living by hunting. They are strong, skilled in attack and shooting. Most of the more than one hundred servants that August took away last time were recruited from Black Mountain Village.

“Oh, no wonder…” Lanny suddenly realized. No wonder he had met a lot of people recently, but rarely heard anyone talk about those who sacrificed themselves last time. It turned out that most of the people who sacrificed themselves were concentrated in Black Mountain Village.

Frank had assumed that no one from Black Mountain Village would come to the conscription, but to his surprise, they were the first to arrive. Now he realized that they were there to seek revenge.

Lanny suddenly remembered that Candy had mentioned that Tiffany had sent some things to the families of the victims in Black Mountain Village, but he had forgotten about it.

Leaving aside Frank and Lenny's casual conversation, Tim's selection method was quite simple. Except for those like Black Tiger who were obviously too strong, and regardless of their purpose, he would first have them run a lap around the field. Those without defects and with decent stamina were kept.

Unlike Heishan Village, the surrounding villages of Hexi, Hedong, Beilu, and Mofang received far fewer visitors, and those who did come were noticeably thinner and weaker than the residents of Heishan Village. They were more concerned with practical matters such as what to eat, where to stay, and whether they would actually receive a salary.

These people all seem to be looking for a meal.

However, Tim didn't react in any particular way. He treated everyone the same, making them run a lap, keeping those who passed and sending those who didn't.

The recruitment process wasn't completed until the afternoon, with a total of 33 people ultimately remaining, just a few more than planned.

Once Tim had gathered everyone in the center of the square, Lanny, as the baron and lord, had to make his appearance.

"Welcome, members, to the Caster Security Guard. In this guard, there are no civilians, no farmers, no hunters. From this day forward, we are simply members, members of the Security Guard. Just as our name suggests, the purpose of this guard is to protect our people, our homes, our brothers and sisters from harm..."

Looking at the loosely packed, disorganized crowd in front of him, Lanny felt like he was facing freshmen undergoing military training for the first time.

I wonder how long it will take before these people look even slightly like soldiers?

As he delivered his first speech in the security force, he was wondering how long it would take for these people to start to look like soldiers.

It won't be like military training, lasting three months, right?