Truth and Justice

"Do you know what to do now?" Claire asked softly.

"Understood, my lady!" Hant replied loudly.

He immediately stood up and turned to face the squad members who had been egging him on earlier. Hant's expression was cold and stern. In that moment, he had been completely transformed; he was no longer the Hant he had been before.

"Captain..." one squad member called out softly.

"Now! You have three minutes to get the hell out of the barracks, or don't blame me for being rough!"

A faint red battle aura emerged around Hant, and an invisible pressure bore down on the squad members who had yet to cultivate battle aura.

The squad members were horrified. They could not understand why their captain had changed so drastically in less than a minute.

Someone still tried to persuade him. "Captain, we've worked together for more than ten years..."

"Shut up! From now on, I am no longer your captain! And you are no longer knights of Griffin Barony! If you want to become knights again, advance to Apprentice Knight first and wait for recruitment!" Hant shouted harshly.

Seeing that no one had moved, Hant flicked his greatsword and sent out a faint red sword aura, splitting open the ground before him with a massive crack.

"Boom!"

Everyone jumped in fright and hurriedly backed away, staring at Hant in astonishment.

"You have two minutes left. If you still don't leave, don't blame me for being rough!" Hant said again.

The faces of the squad members opposite him stiffened. They had not expected this former vice-captain to be so heartless. Yet though that was what they thought, their hands did not pause in the slightest. They immediately ran back to their rooms in the barracks and gathered the valuables they had kept there.

After coming back out, a few of them still could not swallow their anger and cursed at Hant. "After all these years of friendship, I never thought you'd treat us like this just for the captain's position! Hmph! Let's see how long you can stay proud! You're just the lord's dog!"

Before Hant could react, the man ran out of the barracks as though fleeing for his life. He was good at talking tough, but in an actual fight, he would not last a single move against Hant. He had better get away quickly, lest Hant seek revenge on him.

However, Hant paid no attention to him. He simply stood still with his greatsword in hand. Only after the dismissed squad members had all left did he turn around and drop to one knee.

"My lady, they have all left as you instructed."

Claire nodded in satisfaction at Hant's actions. She finally had someone useful in this barony.

"How is the recruitment of new knights coming along?" Claire asked Hant.

"Those who came to register have already been arranged in the hall. Please follow me, my lady."

Hant led the way and brought Claire into a building within the barracks. It was the barracks hall, where the knights usually held meetings, though it had not been used in a long time.

Claire entered the somewhat dilapidated hall with a frown, and her brow furrowed even more tightly once she was inside.

There were fewer than twenty applicants standing before her, and their physical condition was not particularly good. Claire even spotted a fat man covered in flab.

After sweeping her gaze over them, Claire did not even see the youth named Kellan whom she had seen that day. That sixteen-year-old was over six feet tall and sturdily built, far stronger than the people before her. His dream was to become a knight, so why had he not come to register?

When Hant saw Claire frown, he hurriedly explained, "These are already the most qualified people in Nafu City. The rest of those who wanted to register are worse than them."

"In Nafu City?" Claire caught the key phrase. "Why weren't people from the nearby villages recruited as well?"

Hant looked somewhat troubled, but he still forced himself to answer. "My lady, the youths in those villages simply do not have enough food to become knights. Knight training is extremely arduous, and they need to eat a large amount of food every day. The families of village youths are generally very poor and simply cannot afford the food needed for their training on the path to becoming knights."

"Huh?" Claire was confused. They were recruiting people to become soldiers here, yet they expected them to bring their own food?

"I remember that knights receive a fixed salary, and it isn't small. They earn several Gold Coins every month."

"That is true, but before a knight becomes a noble, all the preparations must be paid for with their own money..." Hant explained.

Claire clicked her tongue inwardly. Tsk, tsk. This damned noble class doesn't even want to invest in training knights in the early stages. They just want something for nothing.

Claire waved her hand. "Send them home."

Hant's eyes flickered in surprise, but he still dismissed them according to Claire's instructions.

"Issue a new recruitment notice. The recruits will be all youths of suitable age throughout the barony. Remove the requirement that they bring their own food. I will provide free meals, as well as a monthly salary of five hundred Copper Coins. Once they advance to Bronze Knight, their monthly salary will be five Gold Coins."

Hant's mouth fell open in shock. The next moment, he said excitedly, "Yes, my lady!" He was not stupid. He knew just how many promising knights this change would bring to the barracks.

Claire patted Hant on the shoulder. "I'll leave the selection of promising candidates to you. Don't let my five hundred Copper Coins and food expenses go to waste."

"I guarantee I'll complete the task, my lady! I'll train the strongest knight squad for you!" Hant said excitedly.

Claire turned and walked out, saying softly, "This hall is old and should be repaired. The damaged equipment at the training grounds should also be replaced. Go see Butler Regan for the money later. Save where you should save, but don't spare a single Copper Coin where money needs to be spent."

Hant's body trembled. Looking at Claire's back, he could sense that this new baroness seemed to possess ambitions unlike others, as well as foresight different from that of other nobles.

The blood in his heart was completely set ablaze. "I guarantee I won't disappoint you, my lady!"

Claire looked back at the barely contained excitement on Hant's face. "I'll come again the day after tomorrow."

Hant stepped forward, intending to escort Claire back to the Baronial Manor, but Claire stopped him. "No need to see me off. Just focus on the tasks I gave you."

"Yes, my lady!"

After leaving the barracks, Regan followed behind Claire, looking as though he wanted to speak but could not bring himself to. He had worn that expression the entire time they were inside.

"Go ahead. You don't need to hold it in," Claire said, noticing Regan's hesitation.

"Young mistress, this will cost a great deal of Gold Coins," Regan said with heartache.

"Isn't money meant to be spent? I just said it: save where you should save, but don't spare anything where money needs to be spent. Why do you think I dismissed all those knights who hadn't cultivated battle aura?"

"They were too weak?" Regan guessed.

Claire gave a soft laugh. "No. It's because they have been in the barony for so long. Even if they have no connections with those noble merchants, they still cannot fully trust me, their new lord. I need to build a knight squad that obeys only my orders. So I need to reshuffle the barracks and stamp them with my own mark."

Regan nodded repeatedly.

Suddenly, Claire stopped and looked at Regan. "Do you know what truth and justice are?"

Regan froze. "What are truth and justice?"

Claire smiled lightly. "The bigger fist is truth, and the victor is justice."

"What about Hant? Can he be trusted?" Regan asked.

Claire merely smiled faintly. She climbed into the carriage without answering. "Let's go back."

Regan drove the carriage back toward the barony, thinking that he would need to recruit a coachman later. Otherwise, as the butler of the barony, he was somehow still doing a coachman's work.