Making the Best Use of Everyone

The sound of orderly footsteps rang through the corridor. Eric and Simon entered the meeting room one after the other, pounding their fists against their chests and giving a standard military salute in unison. "Lord Baron!"

Seeing Eric arrive as well, Raven's lips curled into an amused smile. He knew exactly what this vassal of his was thinking.

Raven had been extremely busy lately, leaving most military affairs to Eric. The two had few opportunities to meet, and even fewer chances to talk.

Although Eric seemed rough and straightforward, he had clearly developed a sense of crisis. Now that Raven had summoned Simon, he naturally wanted to take the opportunity to make his presence felt.

Raven had no objections to this. Eric's actions showed that he was utterly loyal to him; otherwise, he would not have bothered with such little schemes.

Raven nodded in greeting and looked at Eric. "How are the soldiers from Shining Gold Town progressing with their training?"

"Under your wise and brilliant training methods, their progress has been rapid, my lord!" Eric first flattered him, then added, "However, they are still not ready for deployment."

"Still the same old problems?" Raven asked.

"Yes, my lord." A trace of shame appeared on Eric's face. "They've trained for the same two months, but these soldiers from Shining Gold Town are far inferior to the soldiers from Eagle Town."

Raven was not particularly surprised by this.

The soldiers from Shining Gold Town came from a town and were accustomed to slacking off and cutting corners. Although they were smarter than the soldiers from Eagle Town, they also had more ideas of their own, valued their lives more, and were far less diligent during drills.

"This isn't your responsibility. Don't put yourself under pressure." Raven consoled Eric before turning to Simon. "You look like you have something to say?"

"Yes, my lord." Simon stood ramrod straight, his eyes fixed on the space above Raven's head. "I believe there are some problems with our current training methods."

Eric cast Simon a displeased glance. Clearly, he had heard this complaint long ago.

"Don't be so nervous. I'm not going to whip you over a word or two." Raven smiled gently. "Take your time and tell me."

"Yes, my lord!" Simon's gaze relaxed slightly, though it remained bright and focused. "At present, the main reason this batch of soldiers has achieved poor training results isn't that they lack ability, but that they're homesick."

"Homesick?" Raven froze for a moment, then became interested. "Explain."

Seeing Raven's attitude, Simon felt relieved. He swallowed and said, "My lord, when we trained before, we also had nighttime drills, but we could still return home every few days. Since we were close to Eagle Town, we could sometimes even go home during the noon break."

"But this batch of soldiers spends every day training in the barracks, with no time to rest at all. You also ordered that gambling was forbidden after nightfall, so most of them have developed some... resentment."

"Then they haven't been beaten enough." Faced with what could almost be called an accusation made over his head, Eric's expression darkened. "My lord, this is my failure. Starting today, I'll strengthen the nighttime patrols."

Raven raised a hand to signal Eric to be quiet, then lowered his head and began to think.

The reason he had not given these private soldiers any leave was to temper their wills and cure them of their "pampered habits."

Especially gambling.

As everyday entertainment, a little gambling was harmless enough. But in the army, it was the source of disorder that corrupted the atmosphere of the barracks and severely damaged the relationships between soldiers.

As far as Raven knew, both in his previous life and in this one, large-scale brawls—and even deaths—caused by gambling were far from uncommon.

It seemed now that he had overcorrected.

Everyone needed entertainment and relaxation, and soldiers were no exception.

Even the armies of his previous life had regular leave. After resting, soldiers could pursue their own entertainment, such as watching television, reading, or playing games.

What was more, the quality of the soldiers in this world could not compare with the troops of his previous life.

It was normal for them to harbor some resentment after prolonged pressure went without release, and it was only natural that their training efficiency had failed to improve.

"This was indeed my oversight." Raven thought for a moment before saying, "How about this? Starting next week, give them one day off every weekend."

Eric voiced his objection. "Lord Baron, wouldn't that be too frequent?"

"Let's try it this way first." Raven did not completely dismiss Eric's concern. "We'll see how it goes. If their training results decline instead, we can make adjustments then."

Eric sensed that Raven respected his opinion and replied respectfully, "Understood, my lord."

"Simon, you did very well this time." Raven wore a satisfied smile. "Mr. Gordon, make a note of this. Simon can receive double his usual salary this month."

Simon's eyes widened, his voice filled with excitement. "It's my honor, Lord Baron!"

Eric's expression, by contrast, was far less pleasant. He looked at Simon with deep displeasure.

"Since you're both here today, I might as well speak my mind." Raven's gaze swept over them as he said solemnly, "You should know that I've been very busy lately."

"I've just become a mage, so I need to meditate, cultivate, and practice spells. On top of that, I also have to oversee product development in the workshops."

"And as a baron, there's even more that I currently lack: Elven, imperial history, and the major noble families and their members in Nord Province. All of that requires me to study, memorize, and understand."

"Not to mention commercial activities, territory development, the resettlement of the people, and military training. All of them require my time and energy."

Raven spoke sincerely, and both Old Gordon and Eric flushed slightly.

Nobles had always taken pride in being skilled at eating, drinking, playing, and indulging in luxury, while considering practical work beneath them.

As vassals, allowing Raven to bear so many burdens on his shoulders was truly shameful.

Raven raised a hand and stopped the apology that was about to leave Old Gordon's mouth, then continued slowly. "I also know that both of you have already done very well, but I hope you can be... more meticulous."

"Just as Simon was today. Help me discover problems in advance. Every problem you find will lessen my burden a little, and our Eagle Territory will grow better and better."

Eric's face was the reddest of all. As the person currently responsible for the barracks, he had allowed Simon to discover the most important problem instead. Although Raven had not mentioned him once, there was no doubt that he was using this to warn him.

"Lord Baron, I have indeed been somewhat negligent lately. I often went home at night." Eric straightened his body. "Rest assured. Starting today, aside from regular meetings, I won't leave the barracks even once. Whenever they're given leave, I'll take leave as well!"

There was no need to strike a resonant drum with a heavy hammer. Raven was very satisfied with Eric's attitude. "You don't need to go that far. Just pay more attention in the future."

As he spoke, he turned to Simon. "How has your horsemanship been coming along lately?"

"I'm still working hard, my lord!" Simon replied. "At present, I can only ride at a gallop. I still can't use weapons skillfully while on horseback."

Raven asked, "How many soldiers can currently reach your level?"

"Besides me, there are four." Simon listed the four names one after another.

"That's enough." Raven nodded. "How did you do with this week's 'assignment'?"

At that, Simon opened the belt around his waist and handed over a folded sheet of Parchment.

The sheet was spread across the table. It was covered with neat grids clearly drawn in ink, along with various dots and lines inside them.

In the upper-right corner, a cross-shaped arrow marked the four directions: east, west, south, and north.

Eagle Town occupied a single grid at the very center.

A slightly curved line extended eastward. After crossing four grids, it marked the location of the riverside workshop.

To the south was a winding double-dashed line running from northeast to southwest across nearly the entire sheet of Parchment. It represented the Golden Sand River.

To the west was a slightly curved double solid line representing a road. After ten grids, it extended to Shining Gold Town.

Three grids to the north stood Eagle Fortress.

This was a map—a map of the current Eagle Territory, drawn according to Raven's specifications and personally drafted by Simon. It was already the eighth version.

Double solid lines represented roads, double-dashed lines represented rivers, mountains were drawn as large rocks, forests as trees, and circles represented cities and settlements. The grids had been drawn by Raven beforehand to serve as a scale. Each grid represented an area of two hundred meters by two hundred meters.

Back when he was in Shining Gold Town, Raven had realized that the crude ordinary maps of this world were virtually useless. Thus, he had come up with this shortcut and trained Simon in mapmaking.

Although it lacked the contour lines essential to modern maps, it was already quite practical.

Eric had known about this for some time, but he still clicked his tongue in admiration when he saw Simon's finished product. "My lord, this could practically be used as a military map!"

"Indeed, it's very good. You did well, Simon." Raven spoke with satisfaction. "It seems I can safely entrust this task to you."

As he spoke, he took a stack of Parchment from a drawer. Grids had already been drawn on all of them. "There are ten blank maps here. Three have smaller grids, with each grid representing one kilometer; seven have larger grids, with each grid representing two hundred meters."

"I need you to lead those four excellent riders, with two horses each and enough food and water, to the Bloody Highlands for reconnaissance. Draw me a complete map of the routes there and back. Use the larger ones to map the overall terrain and the smaller ones to map the details. The more detailed, the better. Can you do it?"

Simon seemed not to know the meaning of fear. He thumped his chest and said, "Your will shall be carried out, my lord!"

Eric immediately thought of Raven's earlier plan, one that could only be described as insane:

A counterattack against the Bloody Highlands.

He had thought it was merely a joke, but he had not expected Raven to have started preparing long ago. The reason he had trained Simon in mapmaking was precisely for this purpose.

Old Gordon also sensed that something was wrong. "Lord Baron, please think this through. There are simply too many unknown dangers in the Bloody Highlands."

"Everything carries risks, and the bandits of the Bloody Highlands won't come just once." Raven said, "Now that we've reclaimed Shining Gold Town, there are more places that need protection. Surveying the terrain in advance will also benefit our future defensive operations."

This reason was so high-minded that Old Gordon had no grounds to object. Even Eric was speechless—for from a military perspective, it was indeed something they ought to do.

Seeing that the two of them no longer objected, Raven's gaze returned to Simon. "This time, remember: you must not reveal your objective to anyone, nor can you reveal your identities. Therefore, you may only wear Leather Armor without the Griffith Family insignia on this trip."

"I don't care how you accomplish the objective, but the map comes first. As long as you remain safe, make it as detailed as possible."

"Have I made everything clear? Any questions?"

Simon shook his head. "No questions. I understand completely!"

Raven walked over to him and gave his shoulder a heavy pat. "Good. Go make your preparations. Get a good rest today, report to Eagle Fortress tomorrow morning, and then set out."

Simon saluted and turned to leave with firm steps.

Although the mission was arduous and carried the risk of death, he was not afraid. He knew that even if he truly died during the mission, Lord Baron would never mistreat his family.

Only after Simon's back disappeared did Eric ask in a low voice, "My lord, are you planning to train Simon as a scout?"

Raven sighed. "Yes. I hadn't made up my mind before, but now it seems this is the best direction for his development."

"Lord Baron, you truly know how to make the best use of people." Eric spoke from the heart. "Simon is smart enough and loyal enough. It's just that his nature is still too... weak."

"Rather than weakness, I'd call it kindness at the wrong time." Raven corrected him.

Simon must have been unable to withstand the soldiers' pleas, which was why he had gone over Eric's head and reported the problem to Raven today.

As the saying went, compassion could not command an army. That did not mean a general had to be cold-blooded and heartless. It meant that a commander had to be prepared, when necessary, to cut off a limb to save the body and send his soldiers to their deaths.

Simon could not even stop himself from sympathizing with the soldiers' complaints. He had even disregarded Eric's authority to do so. This was enough to show that he was still too softhearted.

That was a person's innate nature. It could not be changed by a word or two, or one or two events.

If he continued commanding troops, he would cause major trouble sooner or later, harming both others and himself. Yet his abilities in every other area were excellent. Abandoning him would be a waste and would also damage morale.

After thinking it over, Raven decided that scouting was the only role truly suited to him.

"Next, transfer Moxigan to the recruit camp and have him temporarily take over Simon's position. Improve his treatment as well."

"Understood, my lord," Eric said. "Then I'll return to the barracks first."

Eric turned and left. Raven leaned back in his chair and rubbed his neck. "Mr. Gordon..."

Seeing that the old vassal did not respond, Raven asked again, "Mr. Gordon?"

"Oh, my lord, I'm sorry." Old Gordon came to his senses and hurriedly saluted.

Raven did not mind. He waved his hand and asked, "Mr. Gordon, what were you thinking about just now? You were completely lost in thought."

Old Gordon had been thinking about everything that had happened that day.

Simon had gone over Eric's head to report the problem, which was like giving the latter a crisp, resounding slap across the face. No matter how upright this vassal was, he would inevitably feel some resentment.

Yet the problem Simon had raised truly existed, and Raven could not punish him for it.

If Simon remained in the army, then as the matter continued to ferment, he would keep damaging Eric's authority within the military. It would also create a rift in Eric's heart.

By sending Simon away and ordering someone to replace him, Raven had effectively removed him from the army's chain of command.

The soldiers did not know where Simon was going. They would certainly assume that this was a form of punishment.

As a result, the soldiers would understand Eric's importance in Raven's eyes. They would respect Eric more, and Eric would feel even more grateful to Raven.

"Lord Baron, I was thinking about what Eric said—that you know how to make the best use of people. That isn't quite accurate." Old Gordon praised him sincerely. "In my opinion, you've truly achieved the ideal of making the best use of everyone's talents."

"Ha, 'making the best use of everyone's talents'? You're exaggerating." Raven chuckled. "But since that's the case, shouldn't we also make the best use of everything?"