Proud Melly (Please Bookmark and Vote!!!!!

After the four knights delivered the news to all the villages, the youths of suitable age set out from their homes and headed for Nafu City.

In the darkness of night, sparks of light could be seen converging on Nafu City from every direction. They were youths hurrying through the night.

Those who lived close to Nafu City traveled on foot through the night, while youths from more distant villages shared carriages to make the journey. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for them. They could not possibly miss it.

Training at the military camp not only cost nothing, but even came with pay. It made even some youths who had never wanted to become knights feel tempted. Even if they helped out at home, they could not earn five hundred Copper Coins in a month. Besides, going to the military camp meant one less mouth for their families to feed.

It was a win-win situation. As long as they met the recruitment requirements, every youth now wanted to become a knight of the viscount's territory.

Early the next morning, Nafu City was packed with youths from all over. The scene was even grander than when Claire had recruited maids last time, with far more people present.

Claire did not show himself in person. He entrusted the selection entirely to Knight Captain Hant. After looking down from the castle at the sea of people below for a few moments, he returned to the basement to continue his experiments.

"Two more days... and I can make the next trade," Claire murmured thoughtfully.

Even while distracted, his practiced hands quickly produced a blue potion in the beaker. It was the Basic Healing Potion he had used in the previous trade. A potion of this level was easy for Claire to make even when his mind was elsewhere.

What he needed to do now was find the optimal formula for the Basic Healing Potion and see whether it could be mass-produced.

Normally, only mages could make magical potions. If he could mass-produce them himself, then the viscount's territory would never lack Gold Coins again. A potion that cost less than three Silver Coins to make could sell for nearly three Gold Coins in a magic shop. The nearly hundredfold profit was truly tempting.

However, things did not go as planned. Even though Claire had reached the point where he could make potions with his eyes closed, potion brewing did not seem so easy to mass-produce. Different reactions often occurred when magical ingredients were added. Without enough experience to balance the changes within the potion, the entire bottle would become useless. It seemed mass production would still require a long time.

Claire was not in a hurry. He tossed the potion he had made into his Spatial Ring and continued researching.

The knight recruitment ended at sunset. Knight Captain Hant wore a pleased smile. He had discovered quite a few promising candidates this time. They were the sons of ordinary villagers, so they looked somewhat thin and weak, but once they entered the military camp and their nutrition improved, they would have a good chance of becoming knights!

A total of fifty-seven youths had been recruited this time. Including the original four of them, there were now sixty-one people in all.

The youths who had not been accepted could only return to their villages in disappointment. The recruitment process had been extremely fair, so even though they had not been selected, they accepted it willingly.

Hant led the recruited youths back to the military camp, issued them knight uniforms, and told them some of the rules knights had to follow.

The youths' faces were filled with excitement. Even the boring regulations fascinated them.

"Congratulations, you are now knight candidates! But becoming a knight depends on your own efforts. If you do not work hard, you will be eliminated by Lord Viscount just like the previous batch. Is that clear?" Hant shouted.

"Clear!" the youths shouted back, their faces flushed red.

Hant nodded in satisfaction. "Very good! Now, I have some good news for you! Tomorrow, Lord Viscount will personally inspect you. Make sure you perform well, understand?"

The youths were all thrilled upon hearing that. Though they had never met Lord Viscount in person, they had heard of everything he had done, from reducing taxes to his outstanding appearance.

"Understood!"

Infected by the youths' enthusiasm, Hant felt as if he had returned to his own youth, back when his father trained him. A happy smile appeared on his face as well.

"Good! Then get some rest. Tomorrow, you will get up at five thirty sharp!" After saying that, Hant swept his gaze over the youths below. Not one of them raised an objection.

If they had been his former team members, they would surely have stepped forward to protest, saying things like, "Why do we have to get up so early?"

But getting up at five thirty was nothing to these youths. When they helped with farmwork at home, they sometimes rose even earlier than that. Not to mention they were getting paid to train.

Only then did Hant continue, "After getting up, run thirty laps around the training field. Then come back, make your beds, and eat breakfast! Actual training begins at eight!"

"Understood, Captain!" the youths below shouted in unison.

Hant smiled faintly and exchanged glances with his three colleagues. This was a real military camp. The place they had stayed before had simply been a lawless pigsty.

"Then go to sleep. Turn in early, and do not end up unable to get up tomorrow," Hant said, lowering his voice.

After Hant and the other three left, the youths did not sleep. Instead, they grew even more excited. Though their bodies lay on the beds, their heads kept turning as they greeted and chatted with the people beside them.

They were too excited to fall asleep. Only after who knew how long did they gradually drift off, all of them wearing happy, blissful smiles.

At dawn, a carriage drove out from the Baronial Manor. This time, Regan was finally not the coachman. During yesterday's knight recruitment, he had picked out a rejected youth who knew how to ride horses to become the driver. As the steward of the Baronial Manor, he finally no longer had to drive the carriage himself every time.

The youth who had become the coachman was also delighted. Four hundred Copper Coins a month was not as much as the knight recruits earned, but it was not far off either, and he did not have to train so hard every day.

The carriage passed through the market. When the pedestrians saw that it belonged to Lord Viscount, they consciously stepped aside to make way for Claire.

Even after the carriage had gone far away, the people behind it were still standing on tiptoe to look after it. Lord Viscount had been here for nearly a week, yet they had not seen him once.

The military camp was not far from the Baronial Manor. They reached its vicinity in just a few minutes.

Suddenly, Claire caught sight of a familiar figure from the corner of his eye and called out, "Stop!"

"Whoa!"

The carriage was forcibly pulled to a stop, leaving several meters of white skid marks.

"What is it, Young Master?" Regan asked anxiously.

"Nothing serious." Claire waved a hand. "I ran into someone I know..."

"Someone you know?" Regan was baffled. Did Young Master have acquaintances in Nafu City?

Melly walked toward the military camp in little hops, a bamboo basket balanced on her head and supported by her chubby little hands.

Suddenly, Melly felt the bamboo basket on her head become much lighter. She stopped and raised her head to look.

There was a face. It seemed familiar, but from this angle, she could not make out who it was.

Melly turned around and took a few steps back. When she saw the person in front of her clearly, her eyes lit up. "Big Brother! You came to Nafu City too!"

"Yep." Claire lifted the bamboo basket Melly had been carrying. It had some weight to it.

"What are you doing here?" Claire asked with a gentle smile.

"I came to find my brother!" Melly puffed out her chest and said proudly, "He is a knight now! The wish he told you about last time came true!"

As she spoke, it was as if she herself were the one whose wish had come true.

"Oh!" Claire pretended to be surprised. "That is amazing."

"Of course!" Melly proudly tilted her head back so far she nearly toppled over.

There was nothing annoying about the simple, unpretentious pride of a little girl like her. Claire smiled and rubbed her little head.

"Hehe." Melly giggled happily. "Big Brother, where are you going?"

"Never mind where I am going. Your home is not close to Nafu City, is it? Did you come here all by yourself?" Claire asked with narrowed eyes.

"Ah, well..." Melly immediately grew nervous. "I... um..."

"Did you sneak out without telling your parents?" Claire continued.

Melly's little face had already turned bright red, like a criminal caught red-handed. But in her panic, she came up with a good excuse. "I brought food for my brother! Yes, that is right! Even though Lord Viscount provides meals, I was worried my brother would not be used to the food, so I brought delicious things from home for him! Look if you do not believe me!"

In truth, Melly had not seen her brother all day and suddenly missed him, so she ran out from home. Fortunately, everyone she met along the way had been kind and even pointed her toward the military camp. Otherwise, she would still be wandering around Nafu City.

Claire lifted the cloth covering the bamboo basket and saw wheat bread inside, along with a charred piece of roasted meat. The corner of his mouth twitched.

At the same time, inside the military camp, the youths looked at the fist-sized chunks of meat before them and the bread giving off the fragrance of flour, their faces full of disbelief. They had never seen food like this, not even during major festivals.

The youths froze. None of them dared to make the first move, and they stared blankly at one another.

"Eat! Food is made for you to eat! How will you have the strength to train if you do not fill your stomachs?" Hant roared.

Only after that roar did the youths pick up their knives and forks and begin dealing with the food before them. Watching the youths wolf down their meals, Hant's appetite was stirred as well, and he lowered his head to eat.

This breakfast alone had cost at least two Gold Coins, Hant thought. But that only showed how determined Lord Viscount was to build up the military camp!

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