Recruitment System

At the same time, upon completing the second weekly quest, which unlocked the recruitment system and granted five veteran Nord archers, a new quest was activated:

"The Path of a Knight: Have twenty subordinates recruited from the recruitment system.

Rewards: Guardian Template, Guardian Standard Armor, Slayer Greatsword, Armored Warhorse."

After Ronan collected his reward for completing the second weekly quest, he already had five subordinates. Therefore, completing this quest only required recruiting fifteen more people, which was relatively easy.

Snapping back to reality from the system panel, Ronan looked at the five veteran Nord archers standing beside him. They had appeared suddenly after Ronan received his quest rewards, without any prior warning or indication. This was something to note; he would likely need to be discreet when claiming rewards in the future.

These five archers were all men, sporting Nord-style beards and strong bodies, with an average age of around thirty. They wore short-sleeved leather armor, iron bracers and leather gloves on their hands, and only leather protective gear on their legs. On their heads, they wore simple conical helmets with iron caps, and they carried longbows in their hands with quivers on their backs. A short-handled battle axe was sheathed at their waists. Their equipment didn't appear particularly refined. However, this was understandable. The Nord Kingdom was known for its formidable infantry, and the country didn't even have cavalry. Their archery units were also neglected, making them weaker compared to other kingdoms, but they compensated with affordability and ease of upgrading.

"Do you have names?" Ronan asked, looking at them.

"No, my lord," said the archer closest to Ronan, bowing his head.

"Alright then, I'll call you by number from now on. You're number one, you're number two. You guys can come up with names for yourselves too; it'll be useful when we enter towns." Ronan could only assign them numbers to make commanding them easier, as he suffered from severe naming-related anxiety.

"Deal with the nearby corpses. Bring anything useful over. After you're done, we'll move on. We don't have much food or fresh water, so I'll have to trouble you all for food and water going forward."

"Yes, my lord!" The five soldiers bowed in unison and then dispersed to busy themselves.

Ronan, meanwhile, continued to sit on the tree root, studying the recruitment system. The five troop types refreshed by the system that day were all basic units, and there were no fantasy units like in the mods. They were two groups of Nord recruits, Rhodok Tribesmen, Vigjian Recruits, and Swadian Recruits. Once recruited, soldiers would occupy Ronan's already limited troop numbers. Therefore, Ronan didn't plan to recruit these basic units just to fill the quota for the quest, as these troop types required considerable time and effort to train and couldn't provide immediate combat effectiveness.

Basic troop types were not expensive, costing only 5 copper coins to recruit per person, with a weekly salary of just 1 copper coin. Ronan currently had only the 10 gold coins from the quest reward, along with 12 silver coins and 136 copper coins he had found on the Eagle scavenging team, pursuit team, and Amuda. According to his memory of the exchange rate, 1 gold coin was roughly equal to 10 silver coins, 1 silver coin was roughly equal to 100 copper coins, and 1 copper coin could be exchanged for 5 copper horns. The minting of coins varied by country, and the exchange rates were slightly different, but they were generally similar. Ronan's predecessor, as a squire to a low-ranking knight, only earned 1 silver coin per week. Meanwhile, 1 gold coin, if spent frugally, was enough for a common family's living expenses for half a year.

After collecting the useful spoils gathered by the five Nord archers into his inventory, Ronan prepared to find a water source to properly clean himself once daybreak arrived. He hadn't taken off his armor for several days, and the mixture of blood and sweat on his body made him extremely uncomfortable. Ronan, who had been an ordinary person before his transmigration, couldn't tolerate his current state at all.

There was a reasonably sized savage tribe living nearby, which meant there was definitely a water source in the vicinity. Ronan was eager. He had the five Nord archers spread out around him to protect him, and Ronan stood up from the tree root, preparing to walk a bit further to find a place to spend the night. After all, so many people had died here; predators might arrive soon, and those savages might also pursue them after extinguishing the flames. Ronan was already very tired and didn't want to fight another battle.

About two miles from the battle site, in an open area, Ronan and his five companions stopped, started a fire, and set up tents. The five archers took turns on watch. Ronan finally didn't have to handle all of this himself, and with people on watch at night, he could rest peacefully. Ronan couldn't help but marvel inwardly at the convenience of having subordinates.

The Nord archers were basically veteran hunters. It didn't take them long to set up a temporary camp. Lying in the tent, Ronan soon fell asleep.

The next morning, Ronan was awakened by a fragrant aroma. Yawning, he walked out of the tent and saw that a simple rack had been set up over the campfire outside. On it was an iron pot, also captured from the Eagle pursuit team, simmering with chunks of meat and wild vegetables. The white broth bubbled and emitted a fragrant scent. The fifth Nord archer was standing nearby, stirring the pot with a branch, occasionally adding spices and salt.

Number One saw Ronan emerge from the tent and quickly walked over, handing Ronan a roasted bird on a stick. "Here, my lord. This is a bird that numbers three and four caught this morning. Number five is stewing dew collected from leaves this morning and a rabbit caught by number two. It should be ready soon, so please eat this first."

Ronan took the roasted bird, which looked like a pigeon, and without ceremony, blew on it a few times before breaking off a leg with his hand and starting to eat. As he ate, he walked over to the large pot and sat down next to Number Three. Before long, the meat soup was ready. Number Five served Ronan a bowl using a wooden bowl also captured from the Eagle pursuit team, then called his brothers over to get their soup. Soaking the hard, dry flatbread into the meat soup to soften it with the broth, Ronan ate a piece of bread, then a piece of roasted bird, and drank some meat soup when he was thirsty. It was the best meal Ronan had eaten since arriving in this world.

After eating his fill and cleaning up their belongings, Ronan and his five companions set off on their journey again. As noon approached, Ronan and the others finally found a water source – a small stream. The water was very clear, with few fish in it, about a meter wide and half a meter deep. Ronan filled the prepared waterskins to the brim and planned to boil the water in the large pot that evening to sterilize it before drinking, as his modern education had taught him that drinking raw water from the wilderness was very dangerous.

After filling the waterskins, Ronan had numbers three, four, and five keep watch around the area. Then, he had numbers one and two help him take off his armor. He stripped naked and jumped into the water with a splash, happily bathing. Downstream from him, numbers one and two were washing his armor and clothes. Looking at the reflection of the young, fair-haired, blue-eyed man in the water, Ronan knew he couldn't go back. The only consolation was that in this life, his appearance was quite handsome, likely enough to fool many young girls.

After happily washing in the water for about half an hour, Ronan got back on shore, put on the spare clothes he had obtained from Amuda, and then put on his armor, which had been washed and dried by Number Two. Ronan prepared to set off again. It wasn't that he didn't want to wash longer, but the longer he stayed, the less safe it became. Besides, it was almost noon, and they still needed to find food for lunch. Although the roasted meat without any seasoning tasted ordinary, it was much better than the hard, dry rations.