For the Glory of Azan!

"Little Lin Ke, what's wrong?"

From inside the ox cart, Lin Ke's mother poked her head out, looking at him with curiosity and a touch of worry.

"Mother, there might be enemies nearby. Thieves, bandits, that sort of thing," Lin Ke said gravely.

"Ah!"

Lin Ke's mother cried out and immediately rushed forward to hug him, as though afraid arrows might come flying out of the woods.

Then she nervously looked all around. "Where? Where are they?"

Her small hand kept patting Lin Ke's back to comfort him.

Warmth welled up in Lin Ke's heart. "They haven't appeared yet. It's dangerous outside, Mother. Hurry back inside." He wasn't sure what sort of enemies they were, either.

"What about you? No, you're coming inside with me!" As she spoke, she tried to pick Lin Ke up and take him back into the cart to hide.

She didn't ask how Lin Ke could sense enemies nearby. She had already grown accustomed to trusting her son.

But when something like this happened, her first instinct was still to find somewhere to hide.

"Mother, I'm not going inside. I'll command the guards from the rear."

Lin Ke gently reassured her. "Don't forget, I'm the future Viscount Azan. The blood of warriors flows through my veins, and one day, it will fall to me to carry on Azan's glory."

His mother paid no heed to those words and insisted on taking him into the cart.

She didn't care about glory. Her son's life mattered most!

Helpless, Lin Ke said, "Mother, trust me. If you keep doing this, we'll all die!"

We'll all die!

Those words frightened Lin Ke's mother.

"So, Mother, put me down now and let me command the guards." Lin Ke reached out with his milky-white little hand and patted the back of hers.

In truth, he didn't know whether they would die, or what sort of enemies were coming.

Still, they had to give it their all. Underestimating any enemy could very well get them killed.

Lin Ke's mother slowly put him down. "You must be careful!" Her eyes were full of worry and unease.

Lin Ke nodded and gave her a few nudges, finally ushering her back inside.

"Y-young master, did you say there were enemies?"

John, who stood beside the guards, asked in a trembling voice.

More than three hundred guards stood in rows nearby, their attention focused entirely on Lin Ke.

Enemies!

There were enemies! And they were guards!

After surveying the guards' expressions, Lin Ke sighed inwardly.

They were called guards, but in truth, they were merely farmers without a shred of martial courage.

"Of course there are!"

Lin Ke's little face hardened.

Before they could start discussing it, he leaped down from the ox cart and went over to a guard.

Clang!

In a flash, Lin Ke drew the guard's slightly rusty iron sword.

"If anyone intends to run away during the fight, I'll execute him right now!"

The sword was a little heavy, requiring both hands to hold steady. It wobbled when Lin Ke raised it with one hand, but he could still swing it.

That didn't stop him from delivering his words with firm conviction.

The guards were startled by Lin Ke's declaration. Some servants in the carts ahead and behind seemed to have heard that enemies were approaching, too, and began whispering among themselves.

Looking at the guards' varied expressions, Lin Ke softened his face.

"Don't worry. These enemies are only thieves and bandits. They're no match for you! You are the guards of the Azan Family!"

Azan!

The name seemed to possess a kind of magic, abruptly silencing the guards.

This was an age when information did not travel easily.

In Azan's territory, almost everyone took pride in living in Azan, especially because of Viscount Azan, their invincible lord!

And the one leading them was Viscount Azan's extraordinarily intelligent eldest son, Young Master Lin Ke, who had shown remarkable gifts since infancy.

In this world, some people were born extraordinary, and that usually came from an extraordinary Bloodline...

Their young master Lin Ke was just such a person!

A child blessed by heaven, sheltered by the glory of Azan!

Unlike in his previous world, where a precocious child might be taken for someone possessed by a monster and beaten to death with clubs.

"That's right! We're protected by the glory of Azan!"

"The ancestral lords of Azan will protect us!"

"And we have our brilliant eldest young master! He's the future of Azan!"

Undisciplined chatter was strictly forbidden during training, but Lin Ke didn't stop them this time. Instead, he let them talk for a while before speaking again.

"Also, anyone who performs well in the coming fight will receive fifty copper coins from me!"

One copper coin could buy roughly a meter-long loaf of rye bread, enough to feed an adult slave for a day.

Fifty copper coins equaled five silver coins, or half a gold coin!

The currency system here was both very simple and rather chaotic, with a straightforward ten-to-one exchange rate.

One gold coin equaled ten silver coins, or a hundred copper coins.

Thus, the moment he announced the reward, the guards' breathing grew noticeably heavier.

First came the threat of death for deserters, then the hope of victory, and finally the lure of a generous reward.

Lin Ke had mastered tactics like these in his previous life, and plenty of people had been even better at them.

Unfortunately, few people were watching now, and hardly anyone understood his methods.

Back at Azan Castle, probably only the first lady, Steward Billy, and a handful of others would understand.

After all, there were no nine years of compulsory education here. Most people could barely keep themselves fed and clothed. They had little access to information and lacked a well-rounded education.

What a shame. No one to play along.

"All right, squad leaders, take your teams on patrol, from the front of the convoy to the rear... keep a close watch on the woods! The enemies will definitely come from there. Don't overlook even the slightest movement!"

"Our mission is to keep everyone safe... if necessary, abandon the valuables! Your lives are what matter most!"

Lin Ke shouted as loudly as his still-developing vocal cords allowed. Fortunately, the guards had gathered around, and they could all hear him.

"Yes!" "Yes!" "Yes!"...

Their replies came at different times, lacking the force of a perfectly unified response.

Even so, their shouts helped reassure the inexperienced servants in the carts.

Of course, what mattered most was Lin Ke's declaration that their lives mattered most. It stirred a deep, quiet gratitude in the servants' hearts.

And Lin Ke apparently wasn't finished.

"For... the glory of Azan!"

In a flash of inspiration, Lin Ke suddenly raised the sword over his head with both hands and shouted.

Beside the cart, before the guards could react, John raised his fist high as well. "For the glory of Azan!"

This time, the guards caught on. One after another, they drew their swords and shouted with all their might.

"For the glory of Azan!"

"For the glory of Azan!"

"For the glory of Azan!"

The cries grew louder and louder. By shouting, the guards vented their fear, and their morale rose considerably.

Even some servants in the carts poked their heads out and shouted a few times.

Sight and sound generally affected people more strongly than smell.

Moreover, they were part of a group, and a group could often dispel much of the fear a person felt alone.

Lin Ke nodded slightly.

Their morale would hold!

As for Lin Ke's mother...

Watching Lin Ke's back and listening to the guards' somewhat uneven shouts, she fell into a daze.

So alike. So very alike...

Then she pulled her head back inside and quietly wiped the moisture from the corners of her eyes, as though wiping away the pain of longing.

Lin Ke had no idea what his mother was doing behind him. He was keeping watch himself, his eyes fixed on the woods.

I'll have to train a few scouts in the future, Lin Ke decided as he looked at the dense forest ahead.

Still, in a world of Professionals, there might be professions better suited to reconnaissance than scouts.

Ten minutes passed, and Lin Ke was still considering the forces essential to battle or war.

Scouts, for instance, as well as priests, tanks, warriors, assassins, archers...

But just as he was sinking deeper into an increasingly fruitful train of thought, something unexpected happened.

"Look over there! Hurry, look over there!"

Startled cries came from behind.

Lin Ke snapped alert. His small body sprang up as he turned to look behind him.

A squad of guards was pointing at the weed-choked woods and crying out.

Lin Ke followed the direction of their pointing fingers.

Were those... enemies?!