The appointment was made rather hastily, giving Unas only one day to prepare. He got up early the next day, and although he had only slept for three hours, he was still full of energy.
The first priority is to get the Royal Guard up and running, but now is the time when all departments are recruiting men on a large scale, and the competition is fierce. Unas is very doubtful that he can recruit a few people.
The lone commander insisted on doing everything himself. He first went to the headquarters of Argent Dawn and asked the clerk to write a few recruitment notices. He then casually posted one on the notice board, hoping to get lucky and perhaps poach someone from his own ranks.
After riding around the Monastery and posting all the recruitment notices, Una went to the Argent Dawn's recruitment office in the Residential District. He took the appointment letter and asked the staff to add a seat for him, and then waited.
Tyrosus agreed to support him with ten men, which was already a very favorable offer. The Argent Dawn's recruitment efforts, caught between several armies, were not going smoothly.
Unas needs to fill the remaining twenty vacancies himself, but he's not really confident because Venomspider Gorge is really unattractive. Everyone might be eager to go to the Eastern Plaguelands to fight the Scourge and reclaim their homeland, but going to a place overrun by Poison Spiders to protect alien races? Hukel!
Therefore, he set the requirements very low: as long as one is healthy, has all four limbs intact, is no more than fifty years old, and is of either gender, one can apply.
But he waited all morning and not a single person came. With his reputation Demon Slayer, how could he not even have a single admirer? Sometimes reality is just that cruel, Unas couldn't help but feel a little discouraged.
He ate some dry rations, which tasted bland, for lunch and continued to sit in meditation. Before long, a group of people came from afar. The leader was Erigor, whom Unas recognized all too well. Unas could recognize him just by his gait and figure.
After a morning, the news of his appointment as Warden should have spread by now, Unas was still wondering when the guy would arrive.
"Lord Unas!" Erigor stepped forward and gave a formal military salute, just like a subordinate greeting a superior.
Unas punched him hard. "I'm not in the mood for jokes right now."
Erigor rubbed his sore shoulder and said jokingly, "Getting promoted has certainly increased your temper. I won't dare do it again."
Both men were actually second lieutenants, but due to the special circumstances of the Venomspider Gorge, Unas was promoted to Warden, a rank higher than Erigor's.
This guy was teasing him, Unas ignored it and instead said, "The Brotherhood's motto is to help each other. Now that I'm in trouble, the Brotherhood Master must help me."
"Of course," Erigor waved his hand, and the men behind him puffed out their chests in unison. "Can't recruit enough people, huh? I knew it. I've brought the brothers to save face."
"You've all come to join me?" Unas looked at the several imposing and strong young men with surprise; they were definitely elite soldiers.
"Dream on, it's him who wants to join you," Erigor said, pulling over the curly-haired boy who had been standing alone to his left. "This is my distant cousin Raphael Pike. He's fourteen, just old enough to go to war. Let him be your Knight."
It was a tradition among nobles to send their sons or nephews as Knight to friendly families, so Erigor's actions were understandable; he probably wanted to build a deeper relationship with Unas. However, Unas had no time to act as a babysitter right now. "Venomspider Gorge is too dangerous; sending such a young child..."
"Sir, I am not afraid of any danger, and I am not a child. According to the kingdom's laws, I am an adult who can go to the battlefield!" The slightly immature, hoarse voice interrupted Unas loudly, and the curly-haired boy argued righteously with him.
Unas wasn't angry; instead, he found the kid rather interesting. Erigor leaned closer and whispered, "This kid's got a head full of Knight. Going to the Eastern Plaguelands is even more dangerous. Don't worry, he won't be a burden. Don't underestimate him because of his age; his swordsmanship is no worse than yours."
Hearing this, Unas thought for a moment and decided it wouldn't hurt to fill a spot, so he said, "Alright then, Raphael, welcome to the team."
"I, Raphael Pike, will serve Lord Unas to the death!" The boy immediately knelt on one knee with his hand on his sword and swore an oath.
Unas quickly helped him up, feeling very pleased. Although his first subordinate was just a teenager, he seemed to have great potential and was worth nurturing.
With the help of Erigor and his group, who were shouting and recruiting everywhere, they managed to recruit seven people by dusk. They were all decent young men. Unas regained his confidence and thought that if he had a few more days, he would definitely be able to fill the quota, but today might be the last day.
But a moment later another woman came along, with dazzling silver hair and a graceful figure. Apart from Whitemane, there was no other woman in the Monastery as outstanding as her.
The silver-haired prosecutor stood before him, appearing to outsiders as if questioning the unfaithful man, "You insist on going to Venomspider Gorge?"
"..." Unas nodded. "It's my mission; I have no choice but to go."
"Then I'll go too." With that, Whitemane turned and walked away, her long silver hair streaking through the air like a shooting star, dazzling in the afterglow of the setting sun.
Unas felt like a million grass mud horses were galloping through his mind. What's with the arrogance? This bitch is just pretentious. If you want to learn the Resurrection, you'd better follow me!
You can't really blame Whitemane for being arrogant. She clearly rejected Unas's confession in front of everyone, but then she suddenly started clinging to him, making people wonder if the two were having an affair. But the way she acted this way only made things more strange, leaving those who didn't know the inside story completely confused.
"What's going on between you and her?" Erigor asked on behalf of the gossip-loving crowd.
"Sigh, it's a long story." Unas looked weary, yet still maintained a pretentious air.
As for Darian, that kid hasn't been seen since the Consecration Ceremony; nobody knows where he went.
As darkness approached, Unas led his newly recruited guards to the Argent Dawn's headquarters to report for duty and fill out various files. Since Whitemane was not present, Unas filled them out for her. He also fabricated a fake file to cover up Natasha's identity.
The seven newly recruited men, plus Raphael and two female Priests, made a total of ten. Therefore, they could only collect equipment, supplies, and rations for ten men from the quartermaster. Unas wanted to try what it was like to receive a salary without working, but unfortunately, there were too few of them, and others could see through it at a glance.
The ten new recruits that Tyrosus had assigned to him had also arrived. Unas gathered these eighteen men together and temporarily appointed Raphael as the captain of his personal guard. If this kid was really as capable as Erigor said, he should be able to keep things in order, since the others were all greenhorns.
After giving them a brief reprimand, Unas ordered them to temporarily encamp in an empty military camp of the Argent Dawn.
If he could deal with Natasha and the Gnomes woman tonight, he could escape this oppressive Monastery tomorrow. With that thought, Unas's steps became lighter.