After successfully inspecting two of his private holdings that morning, Su Qin returned to the castle.
With Yira attending to him, he ate lunch and took a short nap, then had Luke come to the study that afternoon.
For now, Su Qin lived only in the study. He needed to read some books to fill the gaps in his knowledge.
In the study, candlelight flickered on the stands. Su Qin set down his quill. He had been jotting down some knowledge on paper, and his trusted aide Luke had arrived.
Su Qin looked at Luke, who wore leather armor and stood ramrod straight. He thought Luke was starting to look something like a guard.
Sitting in his chair, Su Qin closed his book and said to Luke, who had just entered, "Luke, you don't need to stand watch at night. What you need more right now is to join the training at the manor's training grounds!"
"You don't need to worry about my safety at night. I believe my experienced personal guards can still protect this little study of mine."
Luke waited for Su Qin to finish before saying, "Understood, my lord."
Seeing how reserved he was, Su Qin smiled, stood up, and patted his shoulder, whispering in his ear, "I'm paying you and Nack one gold coin a month, the same salary as my ministers. Don't tell that lad."
"Also, I require you to go back and study the written language of Westeros every afternoon! This is your lord's first order to you!"
"When it's just the two of us, there's no need to be nervous or call me 'my lord.' You can sit across from me and talk!"
"We're friends, Luke!"
One gold coin a month! That really was a lot. Rye flour only cost five copper coins a pound!
A monthly salary of one gold coin was ten silver coins! A thousand copper coins! That was among the highest salaries in all of Gulltown!
A workhorse only cost five gold coins. In half a year, he could afford one! Luke stared at Su Qin's retreating back, stunned!
At the same time, a message came from the system:
[Luke: Loyalty +3, 95. Became a diehard loyalist. Chance of betrayal extremely low!]
Hearing it, Su Qin thought, Loyalty changes according to what the lord does. Reaching 100 loyalty is probably difficult. Everyone has their own little thoughts, but with 95 loyalty, he can definitely be entrusted with important duties!
Turning back, Su Qin looked at the still-stunned Luke and smiled. "Come on, let's take a look at the training grounds."
With that, he left Luke looking at his back. Though it was not broad, Luke found it both reassuring and somewhat frightening!
His fear came from personally witnessing Su Qin pick up an axe in the tavern and split an attacker's head open. It had been too brutal! He immediately followed!
Yira, who had been standing outside the room, slowly approached the desk after Su Qin left, then went over to shut and lock the open window. Finally, after carefully inspecting the study, she left the room and closed the door.
Her duty was to look after Su Qin's daily needs. At night... she did not need to attend to him.
Nor did she dare think along those lines. She was not good-looking, and the gulf between their stations was like an impassable chasm. All she hoped for was to see Su Qin every day!
Besides, some maids had already begun gravitating toward her-maids who usually performed fairly well. She could not forget what Su Qin had told her: "Yira, help me see which maids and servants I can use."
Su Qin wanted her to give him a list within three days! He believed that, as a former outsider, she could do a good job helping him weed out some unstable elements!
Afternoon soon came, and it was necessary to check on the training. On the training grounds, a group of young men and middle-aged men were sparring with wooden spears.
Luke was there too. Su Qin first called him over, then took him along toward Aila, the captain of his personal guard.
It was the Long Summer, and the sun shone high overhead, but Gulltown was not hot. It had a temperate maritime climate and was close to the sea, so the highest temperature never exceeded thirty degrees throughout the year.
Seeing Su Qin approaching with an iron sword and Luke carrying a spear, Aila gave a few brief instructions to the personal guard beside him, then walked toward Su Qin.
When Su Qin saw Aila coming, he stopped where he was and waited for him. Luke stood ramrod straight behind him, spear in hand, without moving.
Once Aila drew near, he gave Luke a slight smile, then looked at Su Qin. "My lord baron, the militia have finished making their wooden spears and are sparring now. Would you like to take a look?"
Su Qin waited for him to finish, then nodded. "Thank you for your hard work, Captain." He glanced at Luke. "By the way, I've found you an apprentice. Would you be willing to teach him?" Su Qin tilted his head toward Luke behind him.
Hearing this, Aila first studied Luke's face, then went over and gave his shoulder a hard slap. Luke immediately jolted.
He then moved behind Luke and kicked his calf with the sole of his foot. Luke stumbled forward several steps and fell flat on the ground.
Luke had barely raised his head when Aila hauled him up. Aila nodded and said, "A good foundation. I'll take this apprentice!"
Looking at the somewhat ashamed Luke, Su Qin told him, "Luke, I've found you a good teacher. From now on, you'll study and train under him. You need to get up earlier and go to bed later than he does. Ask plenty of questions about anything you don't understand. Got it?"
Luke knew his abilities were nowhere near enough to shoulder important duties and that he needed to study hard, so he answered, "Yes, my lord!" He walked over and stood beside Aila.
Soon, Su Qin began observing the training. Many of the personal guards serving as temporary instructors were calling out instructions.
"Your reactions are too slow!"
"You, you, you! Thrust with your spear! Put some force into it! Don't be afraid. The spearhead is wrapped in cloth. Just don't stab him above the neck!"
"And you..."
There were only five personal guards on the training grounds at that moment, each training his own team of twenty men, no more and no less.
Of the remaining personal guards, some were on duty at the manor's watchtowers, while others patrolled the castle. There were actually not enough men at present. The manor was quite large!
The various miscellaneous buildings and storerooms, farmers, gardeners, gardens, pools... all added up to quite a lot.
Su Qin kept walking among the five teams in training, sometimes nodding, sometimes shaking his head. There was no one beside him now. Aila and Luke, master and apprentice, had gone off to train together.
Watching these teams, Su Qin thought, This training method is far too outdated. The most important thing for an army is to obey orders without fail!
Something so important seems to have been absent from the very beginning!
Little did Su Qin know that all martial skills in this world were awakened through a combination of innate talent, bloodline, and training.
Some people could hit the mark with every arrow from a very young age, while others could spend their whole lives without reaching even the threshold of spear-fighting techniques. It was through prolonged instinctive training that noble knights achieved minor mastery of martial skills, or even major mastery.
Speaking of talent, some people could become top assassins of the Many-Faced God in a month or so!
Some trained from childhood to adulthood, yet still could not withstand attacks from a girl who had only trained for a few years! That means you, Arya's senior sister!
Thus, the ordinary levied armies of this world were not very strong in battle. A true regular soldier in iron armor was worth several, or even a dozen, levies!
After walking around for a while and getting a rough understanding of the situation, Su Qin returned to the castle study. Sitting in his chair, he thought for a while, then took a sheet of yellow paper riddled with impurities from a drawer and wrote a few things on it.