Magic, steel, heavy industry

Chapter 70 Conscription and Caravans

"Good heavens, Lord Vilan is recruiting soldiers again! Isn't the guard enough to protect us?"

In front of the bulletin board, literate free citizens erupted in exclamations.

Iron Anvil Territory was just a small territory with no enemies, so they didn't understand why Vilan still needed to conscript soldiers.

But that doesn't matter. Upon hearing the news, the young people all breathed heavily, and longing quickly rose in their eyes.

"I want to sign up! I'm definitely going to join the guard team this time!" A young freeman clenched his fist and ran home excitedly.

He went to the last conscription, but was rejected because he didn't follow the rules. He regrets it every day because of this, especially during the victory parade a few days ago, he wished he could have been one of them.

For him, the high salary was secondary; what he longed for was the glory of becoming a hero.

"May we register?" a timid voice asked.

The literate free man looked over and saw that it was a ragged refugee.

The freeman immediately pointed to the notice and said, "It says below that all citizens of Anvil Territory can sign up, so you should be able to too, right?"

"Great! I've always wanted to do something for Lord Vilan, I'll sign up right now!"

The recruitment announcement immediately caused a huge sensation, and many young people rushed to sign up.

Seeing this, even Mad Cat couldn't help but sigh, "It's unbelievable. In our Eastern Territory, no one is willing to serve in the army; they are all captured."

Mad Cat and Steel Cable stood at the edge of the playground, observing the crowd pouring in.

Hearing Mad Cat's sigh, Steel Cable laughed and said, "Not everyone wants to be a mercenary. If all armies were like the Guard, with their excellent discipline and strong combat capabilities, I believe everyone would want to join."

"That's impossible. Only Lord Vilan is willing to give soldiers such good treatment. They have milk, eggs, and meat every day, and a monthly salary of 1 gold coin... I swear, he is the greatest warlord I have ever seen."

"Hey, Lord Vilan isn't a warlord, he's a great lord," Steel Cable corrected.

Mad Cat smiled. "Yes, I have never seen a lord like this before. Only someone like him is worthy of my following."

Looking at Mad Cat's wistful expression, Steel Cable could roughly guess that the other person must have been recalling those terrible experiences again.

He patted Mad Cat on the shoulder. "Friend, isn't this our good fortune? Besides, Lord Vilan entrusted us with the Ranger mission. We can't let him down."

"certainly."

Mad Cat straightened his chest, and the melancholy on his face instantly turned into determination.

Vilan's recruitment plan was divided into two parts: one for the Guard and the other for the Rangers.

The Rangers are led by Steel Chain and Mad Cat, and currently consist of only four mercenaries plus one Bear Eye.

The rest were selected from the Casalan refugees.

Among these refugees are many deserters like Mad Cat, who have a wealth of experience and, with careful selection, can quickly become excellent cavalrymen.

This was also Vilan's idea. After all, cavalrymen are too delicate, and there is simply not enough time to train them from scratch. It would be better to recruit experienced warriors directly. That way, as long as enough warhorses are purchased, a ranger force can be formed immediately.

The only problem is, we don't have money.

While the conscription work was underway, Vilan was receiving an important guest in the workshop.

This is a gentleman as elegant as Llorente, named Klein. He is Madeleine's manservant and has come on her behalf.

Twenty days have passed since McKinley met Madeline in Silverflow City. He thought Madeline would arrive later, but he didn't expect her to be so impatient so soon.

This morning, Klein arrived in Anvil Territory with a large caravan.

Vilan naturally couldn't be negligent, so he even entrusted such an important matter as conscription to Llorente and Carreras, while he personally met with Klein.

There was no other way; he was just too poor. After the conscription ended, he had to pay 130 gold coins a month just for the soldiers' wages. Adding the monthly salaries of the craftsmen and miners, he had to spend at least 200 gold coins a month.

This is just the salary. If you include the cost of training soldiers and purchasing supplies, the monthly expenses are already close to 300!

Moreover, they need to buy warhorses soon, which will be an even bigger financial drain, and Vilan's gold coins are already running out.

Therefore, the massive Madeline is now Vilan's lifeline, and he must ensure the success of this trade route.

Behind Vilan were McKinney, Baum and Miles from the blacksmith workshop, and several newly recruited members of the merchant guild, demonstrating how much Vilan valued this matter.

He showed Klein around the blacksmith's workshop, while also showing him the inventory of the day.

"Mr. Klein, this warehouse is full of magic powder weapons. There are 50 magic powder daggers, 30 magic powder longswords, 30 magic powder short knives, and 20 other types of weapons. In total, there are 130 magic powder weapons here."

Vilan pushed open the warehouse door and saw rows of weapons displayed on wooden shelves, gleaming with a chilling light.

These weapons all have a uniform design and a simple, unadorned appearance. Apart from the Vilan Works logo on the handle, there is nothing fancy about them.

Klein frowned and politely inquired, "My lord, I recall Mr. McKinney saying you would place a large order. Is the current quantity a bit too small?"

Vilan shrugged helplessly. "As you can see, our workshop has done its best, but we don't have many craftsmen. Perhaps McKinney spoke to Ms. Madeline and asked if you could send some blacksmiths over."

Klein nodded. "It was mentioned, but frankly, this isn't something Ms. Madeline should be considering. After all, we haven't officially started working together yet, have we?"

"Of course, but although there aren't many magic powder weapons here, they are all guaranteed to be top-quality. You can give them a try," Vilan said with a smile.

Klein did not refuse; he randomly selected a dagger and a longsword and went to the testing room.

The effects were self-evident; the sharpness and toughness of the magic powder weapon far exceeded Klein's expectations.

Without a doubt, these magic powder weapons will become the best-selling products in the Silver City market.

He nodded and said, "Thank you for the introduction, Lord. I am very honored. Please allow me to meet with my caravan companions first, and then we can proceed with the transaction this afternoon, shall we?"

"Of course, I'm always available. If you have any questions, you can contact Mr. McKinney; he's my agent."

After saying that, Vilan left first, and Klein also left the workshop immediately and returned to the town gate.

His caravan was parked there. Klein walked directly to one of the inconspicuous carriages and said in a respectful tone, "Master, I'm back."