Induction Ceremony Mock Battle (2): The New Recruits

For the mock battle against Rays-sama and the Tenth Knight Order, I had devised as many countermeasures as I could in the short time available.

When I explained my strategy, the members of the Sixth Knight Order stared at me in bewilderment, Ryuzel and Frein looked exasperated, Nerphia and Sazaby watched me with interest, and Dick's stomach growled.

In any case, everyone was briefed on the strategy, and once the questions and minor details had been worked out, we left the tent. There was still a little time before the battle began.

I used that time to gather the new recruits. I needed to assign them their roles.

Dick, Nerphia, and Sazaby accompanied me as I stood before the recruits.

A huge man like Dick would be intimidating to the recruits, while having attractive people like Nerphia and Sazaby beside me might create the impression that I was someone important... or so I hoped. That was why I asked them to come.

To be honest, I would have preferred Ryuzel and Frein to be there, but they and the Sixth Knight Order's unit commanders had to brief their own troops on the strategy I'd given them, so they had no time to come along with me.

About five hundred new recruits had gathered. Rays-sama had the same number, so roughly one thousand new recruits would be joining this year.

Looking over them, I saw young men whose faces were stiff with nerves, as well as older recruits watching me with brazen expressions, as if sizing me up.

There are no particular age restrictions for joining a knight order. Basically, anyone is eligible to apply to a knight order stationed in their region.

However, whether an order accepts an application is entirely up to it. And acceptance of an application does not mean immediate enlistment; each order conducts aptitude tests to make the first cut.

Once an applicant was deemed suitable by their knight order, the documents were sent to the royal capital for a background check. They investigated whether the applicant had a criminal record or connections to another country, and if no problems were found, the local knight order put them through rigorous, full-scale training.

The training after the document screening was extremely harsh, and many people gave up at that stage. Since the people standing here had endured that ordeal, even these new recruits were fairly formidable soldiers.

Ryuzel had explained all that beforehand.

Incidentally, there are ways to join a knight order besides the official route. For example, someone like me can be admitted at a knight commander's sole discretion. That's quite rare.

The relatively common route is a special admissions channel for nobles.

Joining itself is considerably easier than enlisting as an ordinary soldier. After that, however, things get difficult.

Even noble sons are sent straight back to their families without mercy if they cannot prove their ability.

If they are utterly lacking in ability or flaunt their status, they end up disgracing not only themselves but their family name. If they incur the king's displeasure, they may even, in the worst case, put their parents' positions at risk. In fact, apparently there have been cases like that in the past.

What's more, nobles sent packing this way find their prospects for advancement in other careers severely limited, making enlistment a double-edged sword.

The Tenth Knight Order is particularly strict about admitting nobles. More precisely, Rays-sama is a believer in meritocracy who makes no concessions to social status.

For those reasons, the Tenth Knight Order has few noble sons, while people from all sorts of social backgrounds are well represented.

"In such circumstances, Frein, who holds a unit commander's post at such a young age, is incredible. That alone is worthy of respect."

"What do you mean, 'that alone'? Ryuzel, enough about that!" Frein brusquely cut the conversation short, his face bright red.

We'd gotten a little off track, but in any case, these people had made it through such a narrow selection process, so their individual fighting ability was naturally superior to mine.

Looking at me, they were probably all thinking that I looked like someone they could beat in a fight. They didn't say it aloud, but you can tell a lot from someone's eyes.

In any case, I had to make them listen.

They all looked dubious as I explained, but they listened attentively nonetheless.

After explaining everything, I watched the recruits disperse and let out a long breath.

"Good work, Roa-sama," Nerphia said. She narrowed her eyes as she watched the recruits' backs, then continued.

"I wonder how many spies there are among them this year."

I looked at Nerphia in surprise, but she seemed to be enjoying herself.

"Spies...? Aren't they supposed to investigate people before letting them join...?"

"Of course we investigate them, but a professional spy can get around something like that. If anything, that's where the real work begins."

"The real work?"

"Yes. This is just between us, but the king's scribes monitor the movements of the new recruits staying in the royal capital. Many people try to investigate all sorts of things while they have the chance, since they've come all the way to the royal capital."

"Eeeh..." What is that? That's scary.

"The most common are spies from Golbel or the Empire, but there are spies sent from other countries as well. We capture around ten of them every year," Sazaby added.

"Come to think of it, there were new recruits from Golbel and the Empire, weren't there? Are people like that watched more closely?"

"Not necessarily. Anyone who openly reveals their place of origin is investigated more thoroughly, after all. If anything, spies probably hide their origins."

"I suppose that's true."

Some people end up drifting to Ludeck because various circumstances leave them unable to stay in other countries. Some of the new recruits are like that, too. Rays-sama particularly favors recruiting soldiers from other countries, so the Tenth Knight Order has people from all sorts of backgrounds.

As Rays-sama put it, "Information from someone who lived there is more valuable than anything else." That is a major reason. I also know of plenty of victories achieved using information from the area.

Could that be why Rufa was brought here, too...?

As I was vaguely thinking about that, Frein came to call us. "It's about to begin!" he shouted, and I hurriedly refocused on the battle.