Host becomes the guest?

After William let them finish speaking, he said with deep emotion, "They are all scoundrels, and so are you.

There was no difference originally.

But if you accept the young master's rules, and when the Baron arrives, you maintain order and good combat strength, who do you think the Baron will appreciate more compared to those scoundrels?

The Baron still has several villages without lords under his command, like this Tewain Village."

This immediately made their eyes shine brighter.

Although they knew this was just empty promises, becoming a true fief wasn't that easy.

But whether the Baron favored them or not was related to their daily stipends as court knights.

Thus, whether they wanted to just go through the motions or genuinely improve their situation, these knights followed William and trained in mounted combat.

On the uneven path, wooden frames were erected at different positions, with papayas placed on them.

The knights had to maintain their horse's speed and pass through them, using any method such as shooting with crossbows, picking with spears, slashing with swords, or whipping to eliminate the targets.

When they actually saw the knights of Tervain Village easily accomplish this, the eight of them, led by Sir Ramai, were stunned.

"Knight Adena is indeed a famous instructor of the Northern Legion. This method is clearly something left behind by the Northern Knights, isn't it?"

Sir Ramai's words exposed his ignorance. The training of the now-decayed Northern Knights was far more difficult than this.

Only after experiencing it did Ergons understand why the Holy See wanted to restore the glory of the Northern Knights.

It might be for power struggles, but it was more likely to increase the combat power of Newbury Province.

The Northern Knights originally fought for their creed and the Holy Light. Due to the recruitment by those great nobles, many knights became nobles or became court knights of nobles.

They did not leave the Northern Knights' roster, but after taking on other roles, much of their effectiveness was lost.

At this time in the Duchy, every lord was like an absolute King in their territory. This was true feudalism, and it was difficult to mobilize a centralized knightly order.

After the Northern Knights lost their ability to mobilize in a unified and rational manner, their prestige had already plummeted. Now, they were only propped up by the Northern Legion.

The so-called heavy infantry of the Northern Legion were simply infantry wearing padded leather armor, without even iron helmets.

They were inferior not only to the Tewarin Light Infantry but even to the Tervalin Militia.

Sir Ramai's twelve "heavy infantry" were like this, unable to withstand even a single charge from a knight.

"Don't think that just because you're wearing armor, you can gallop among pirates and slaughter the starving and poorly clothed rabble at will.

We should raise our standards and aim for similarly armored knights. Of course, the current training still targets refugees.

This training method truly left them no room for pretense; if you could do it, you could do it, and if you couldn't, you couldn't.

For a pampered knight like Sir Ramai, saying he couldn't swing his weapon while riding a galloping horse would be an insult.

But to expect him to eliminate more than a dozen targets on horseback at speeds over 30 yards per hour was asking too much.

However, these knights could actually achieve this with a little training, so the difficulty of the training gradually increased. The court knights, spurred by their interest and pride, began to take it seriously.

After all, even Ergons himself could do it easily, so they couldn't afford to lose face.

Within three days, more fief knights arrived with their retinues. Under the completely controlled environment, they could only submit to Ergons' leadership.

So, they continued to build watchtowers and camps, emphasizing hygiene for everyone, not dumping waste buckets randomly, and participating in training.

And when the fifth fief knight was trained to exhaustion by William, Sir Ramai also noticed the significant changes in his 12 peasants.

Including the later three knights, they all discovered that their "heavy infantry" had become stronger. When arrayed with spears, they began to show the signs of a strong army.

After all, not every knight was willing to equip his soldiers with swords, but at least they would all be equipped with a spear.

Even if the spear shaft was bent like a snake.

After calculating the Baron's travel time, Ergons organized another briefing. This time, there was no noise when he appeared.

He was actually training the knights and court knights. As for the peasants temporarily serving as soldiers, they only needed to be told what to do. They might be lazy, they might not do it properly, but they just needed to be beaten.

There was no need for any formation or posture-perfecting artifacts. These ignorant, simple, yet cunning peasant soldiers were truly unenlightened in their thinking, and quite base.

Seeing that everyone could remain quiet and wait, Ergons was very satisfied. This time, William and Adamson, the two enforcers, were rendered useless; they didn't need to clear the field.

"The results of the short period of training are very significant, and I am very pleased. According to statistics, 17 court knights were expected, and 7 are present. 7 fief knights were expected, and 5 are present.

I brought 12 court knights and 2 clergy. Sir Ramai, Sir Peruzzi, Sir Biyong, and Sir Willham each brought 12 heavy infantry and 5 auxiliary soldiers, totaling 48 combat troops and 20 auxiliary soldiers.

The Chancellor dispatched 3 accompanying stewards and 15 heavily armored soldiers."

Closing the parchment in his hand, Ergons paused, his gaze sweeping across each of their faces.

"In other words, we have 22 heavy knights, including myself, and 86 spearmen (combat and auxiliary), and two accompanying clergy.

Excluding the two other fief knights who joined the Baron and the court knights by the Baron's side, we are already a very powerful force."

When he said this, he revealed the hidden thoughts of many people.

At the beginning of the joint training, some of the seven court knights had voiced their opinions, believing that the Baron's son was the true heir, even though his frail health might lead to his early demise.

"Sir Davis" was only the second heir, and it was inappropriate for him to manage the Baron's army.

As the training group grew larger, the later fief knights, forced by the established situation, had to join. The number of people with ulterior motives increased.

Sir Ramai was the first to align himself with him, whether out of sincerity or for other reasons.

Sir Ramai had two sons who were nearing adulthood. By convention, the younger son should have been a court knight at Tevalinburg.

However, Sir Ramai stated that after his second son arrived with the Baron, he hoped to have the honor of receiving William's tutelage and becoming a true knight.

As for the seven court knights, it goes without saying that Toby, with his full beard, and the youngest, Josev, were the first to side with him.

They were originally the second sons of nobles from outer territories. If they continued to serve as court knights for the Baron, they could be said to have no chance of receiving a fief.

Among the remaining five, some had their own little schemes, while others feigned ignorance. They successively declared their support for him in matters of inheritance.

Then came the promises of sons from Sir Peruzzi and Sir Biyong. Of the fief-holding knights present, only Sir Willham, who arrived last, had yet to show him goodwill.

What was this? Was he being crowned emperor?

Of course, he wasn't naive enough to believe that sending his second son to him as a squire or court knight was an act of surrender.

In the end, it was merely a political investment. When the winds of change truly blew, would a second son really matter that much?

Moreover, everything said now was merely verbal.

And if the Baron could expose that he was not Sir Davis Tevalin but Ergons Tevalin, he could easily dissuade these opportunistic individuals.

Of course, whether the Baron could expose his identity was another matter entirely.