Reiner lay in the middle of the room. The flames in the fireplace leaped up and down, devouring the firewood they had been given, and occasionally crackling loudly. To the people of this era, however, that was the sound of warmth.
"System, conduct the monthly draw!" Reiner said to the system in his mind. Every month, the system automatically issued one draw opportunity, known as the monthly draw.
The available prizes were extremely varied, but in Reiner's opinion, most of them were useless things. In the more than three months so far, the best thing he had drawn was merely a fine short sword worth ten Merit Points.
Still, thinking that there was no harm in drawing for free, Reiner conducted one draw every month. What if his luck suddenly exploded and he drew something good?
"Your command, Baron. The monthly draw is beginning!"
Reiner stared unblinkingly at the draw wheel before him. Although it had disappointed him time and time again, he still retained a sliver of hope that he might draw something good.
"Congratulations. You have drawn a heroic character: Logan, chief spy of the Bar Empire's Resa regional office. He once helped the Bar Empire steal intelligence and successfully defeated a superior enemy force. Loyalty: 95. Personality: Brutal. Overall rating: Four stars. Materialize?"
Reiner stared at the system interface before him in ecstatic delight. The immense surprise nearly made him jump for joy. A four-star character like this was absolutely something one could encounter only by chance.
In the system shop, every heroic character was incredibly expensive. Even the cheapest one-star hero cost several thousand Merit Points.
Not to mention a four-star hero who had planned and executed famous events. Although Reiner did not know what the Bar Empire was, anyone who could serve as a regional chief spy for a country could hardly be an ordinary person.
These days, Reiner had constantly felt uneasy. Perhaps it was because he was living in a foreign land, but he always felt as if he could not grasp the overall situation. Although the circumstances of the other nobles were much the same as his, he still felt uneasy.
But things would be fine now. With this chief spy, he could finally relax. Not making use of such a heroic character would be a waste. Establishing a spy—or rather, intelligence—organization was absolutely necessary for him. He needed his own "Embroidered Uniform Guard" to monitor the territory!
"Materialize him immediately!" Reiner said.
"Yes, Baron. Logan has appeared outside your castle. Please receive him promptly!" the system's mechanical electronic voice rang out.
Reiner pushed open the door and said to the guard outside, "There's someone waiting outside the castle. Go and bring him here."
Although the guard was curious about Reiner's order, he had no choice but to carry it out.
Before long, Logan appeared in front of Reiner.
"May you sweep aside every enemy and remain victorious in every battle! My dear and great master, your most humble servant, Logan, offers you his blessings!" Logan spoke with exaggerated fervor.
His words made Reiner feel somewhat embarrassed. He was only a lowly baron at present and was completely unworthy of such praise from Logan.
"Er, very good. Logan, from today onward, you are my chief spy. You will also help me establish a powerful spy and intelligence organization. Unfortunately, my finances are a little strained at the moment, so you'll have to help me control the territory without any financial support for now!"
Even Reiner felt embarrassed as he said this. He had practically transformed into the unscrupulous bosses from his previous life, demanding that the horse run swiftly without giving it any grass to eat.
But there was nothing he could do. Reiner's financial situation truly was not optimistic. Although all the taxes in the territory had already been collected, they consisted only of goods in kind. Fortunately, the knights under his command did not need wages, as they possessed fiefs granted by the Moreland Family.
However, the ordinary soldiers and the livestock in the castle all needed grain to be fed. The warhorses in particular required high-quality bean feed, occasionally mixed with minced meat and eggs to maintain their strength.
Together with the occasional banquets, the Moreland Family's finances were actually rather strained. If not for selling iron to the empire's interior every year, they might already have been stretched to the breaking point.
Reiner had already materialized two Junior Blacksmiths earlier, and they had been working tirelessly to weave iron chainmail for him. Chainmail was extremely expensive. In the empire's interior, a single suit cost a full five gold coins. Moreover, with the empire's current tense situation—with the domestic lords poised for conflict and casting covetous eyes at the royal family—the price of iron armor had risen steadily.
However, Reiner had no intention of selling the chainmail. Winter had already arrived, after all, and the lords of the empire's Northern Frontier had to guard against the Krad Barbarians' invasions and raids every year.
The climate in the Frigid Forest was brutally harsh. Although it was less than a hundred kilometers from the Northern Frontier, the temperature could differ by more than ten degrees.
The Frigid Forest spent half the year in severe winter and was completely unsuitable for growing crops or raising livestock. Thus, whenever winter arrived, the Krad People would move south to raid the empire's Northern Frontier.
If they managed to seize food, it would be easier for them to survive the winter. If they failed to seize food, the resulting casualties would reduce the weaker members of their tribes, allowing them to conserve some grain.
Over the course of three months, the two Junior Blacksmiths, together with the two ordinary blacksmiths originally in the castle, had produced eighteen suits of full-body chainmail. Reiner had made the Moreland Family's guards compete for them, and only the eighteen winners were allowed to put on the chainmail.
The Moreland Family's army had already been equipped with leather armor, thanks to its proximity to the forest and the abundance of animal hides in the Frigid Forest. With the newly woven chainmail added to that, more than a third of the sixty armed guards were now equipped with iron armor.
Reiner had not been idle during those three-plus months. Organizational streamlining was something that naturally had to be done quickly. Based on what he knew from his previous life, Reiner divided the sixty soldiers into four squads of fifteen. Each squad was further divided into three combat groups. Although the group leaders and squad leaders had not yet been selected, they had already undergone three months of coordinated combat training.
For this purpose, Reiner had paid quite a price. He had spent fifteen Merit Points to purchase the Elementary Infantry Combat Manual, all to train their coordination and teamwork. By now, they had mastered quite a few combat techniques and formations.
However, since not much time had passed, they had only gained a rough understanding of them. Mastering them more proficiently would require more time to train.
The army was still small enough to continue operating as a single independent force. Once it grew larger in the future, Reiner would have to mix the various branches together.
To ensure that their nutrition kept up with the intensity of their training, Reiner organized hunting trips into the mountains for the archers every day. One purpose was to hone their shooting skills, while the other was to bring back meat and supplement the army's nutrition.
Otherwise, Reiner truly could not afford to provide three meat-based meals every day with the current provisions.
What irritated Reiner even more was that the system's previous reward had consisted of only fifteen fine Recurve Bows, while he had twenty archers. He had been forced to spend another twenty Merit Points to make up the difference, and he even suspected that the system was engaging in forced bundled purchases.
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