Imperial Crown

The barracks are located on the west side of Eagle Castle, built on a flat ground on a high slope, surrounded by a two-meter-high wooden wall.

After entering the gate, there is a training ground the size of a football field. To the south of the training ground is a high platform built of logs for issuing orders, and to the north is a neat soldier dormitory.

It was already dark, but the gate of the barracks was still open - after all, no one would rush here.

The sun, which had completely set behind the mountain, was waving its last rays of light, casting two long shadows on the road. They were Raven on horseback and Volaf, who was guarding him.

He rode into the barracks and handed the reins to the gatekeeper. Raven motioned him not to make a sound and walked directly to the high platform.

Eric was directing the training from above. He was startled when he saw Raven coming and hurriedly saluted.

Raven shook his head and looked at the training ground filled with smoke and dust. Eric took a step back and stood behind the baron with Volaf on the left and right.

What was going on was a confrontation exercise, and the two square formations led by Gore and Mosingan were participating in the confrontation.

The former was a neat three-layer spear formation, and the latter was a well-prepared sword and shield soldiers. Both sides launched a charge at the same time across the spacious training ground.

The two sides walked faster and faster, and then collided like two walls - it should be like this.

But what Raven saw was a completely different scene.

Although their steps were neat, they did not have any momentum. When they were about to approach, the wooden spears used for training even aimed at the shields, gently leaving a gray dot on it, and immediately raised them again, making a crackling sound.

The sword and shield square formation used wooden swords to draw shadows around the spear shafts, symbolically slapped them twice, and then the two sides separated.

Raven could even see some recruits with giggling expressions on their faces.

Originally, he came with expectations, but at this moment, Raven's heart was filled with disappointment, followed by a kind of anger.

"Sir, this is the third training this afternoon..." Eric argued nervously.

"What do you want to say? Do you mean they are tired?" Raven laughed angrily: "They are here to serve as soldiers, not to go on vacation!"

With a serious look, Raven ordered: "Assemble!"

Eric looked embarrassed: "Understood, sir!"

After that, he turned around and shouted: "Assemble!!"

Under the command of Gore, Link and Mosingan, the recruits dragged and formed three square formations, and the distance between people was like cheese shreds.

Raven's face became darker and darker. He knew that town soldiers were not easy to train, but it had been more than three months, nearly twice as long as the training time of the first batch of private soldiers, and they even had problems with the most basic queues.

Only when they stood still did they look like that.

"Baron!" The recruits saluted and shouted in unison.

Raven returned the greeting with a gloomy face and said loudly: "Today, I am very dissatisfied."

"Battle formation training is like playing, and the basic formation is even more ugly!"

"I give you food and drink, give you holidays, and even give you military pay, and this is how you repay me!?"

"It seems that I am still too good to you!"

"From today on, there will be no holidays. All you have to do is train, train, and train again!"

Suddenly, a sarcastic voice came from the audience: "Yes~ You have to train~"

The voice was harsh, and the recruits held back their laughter. The three captains and Eric's hearts sank at the same time.

Raven's face became extremely gloomy: "Gore, the voice came from behind you. Who was talking just now?"

Gore was also confused. The team was dense, and the man was pinching his throat and said it, so he didn't know.

He glanced back with hatred: "Who did it? Stand up if you are a man!"

However, the only response to him was silence.

Seeing this, Gore's mouth twitched fiercely, and he took a step forward and knelt on one knee: "Baron, I am not strict with my subordinates, and I am willing to accept the punishment!"

Raven's face was livid, and he smiled, his eyes passed Gore and fell on the square behind him:

"According to the rules prevailing on the Middles Continent, this kind of behavior will be punished with flogging at the lightest, and beheading in war."

"But there is another rule, that is the so-called 'law does not punish the masses'. You think that I can't beat all of you into half-cripples, and think that I can't do anything to you, right?"

"Really smart."

"Unfortunately, it's just a little clever!"

"Gore!" Raven raised his voice.

"At your disposal, sir!" Gore accepted the order solemnly.

Raven asked: "The one who just spoke was the third team, right?"

"Yes, sir." Gore replied.

"Very good." Raven sneered: "Once we are on the battlefield, it is not the time to rely on personal bravery. If one person makes a mistake, the whole team will be punished."

"If one person is punished, the whole team will be punished!"

"Sword and Shield Brigade Third Squadron, get ready and run around the field in formation!"

"Aren't you unwilling to admit your mistakes? Then I will let you run until you know your mistakes!"

"Eric, Gore, as the superiors, you are to blame, run together!"

Eric hit his left chest heavily with his right hand: "Yes! Sir!"

He turned around with a frown and ran down the platform quickly. He saw the same shame and anger in Gore's eyes.

"Line up!"

The twelve-man team, led by Eric and Gore, lined up in two lines and started running around the training field.

The training ground is 450 meters in circumference, which is not very long for these recruits, but running is not just a lap.

The first five laps were okay, the queue was relatively neat and the pace was consistent.

But starting from the sixth and seventh laps, the queue began to become chaotic. In the cold wind, the sweat on their bodies evaporated into curls of steam, emerging from the gaps in the armor.

On the thirteenth lap, someone had been separated by a full circle. A recruit suddenly started to vomit, but couldn't vomit anything. After vomiting, he saw that there was no order, so he could only continue to run.

On the fifteenth lap, a recruit's thigh twitched and fell, but he was immediately picked up again.

Raven watched all this with an expressionless face, and the recruits who were standing in the training ground and watched indifferently, even a little gloating, also had fear on their faces.

On the twenty-third lap, the fourteen-member team was already disjointed. Four or five recruits were more like dragging themselves on the ground than running.

At this moment, a man ran under the high platform and knelt on the ground with his knees weak. He said feebly: "Lord Baron, I, I know I was wrong. I admit my mistake and accept my punishment! Don't let us run away again... …I really can’t do it anymore!”

His face was red, his lips were chapped and purple, and he had obviously reached his limit.

Raven asked expressionlessly: "What's your name?"

"Huai...White..."

"Well, good, I can still speak." Raven nodded: "I can speak, but I still have strength."

"The last three laps, rest after running!"

"It's... Lord Baron!" The recruit gritted his teeth, stood up on his legs as soft as noodles, and continued running.

Behind him were looks of hatred that could almost burn his back.

When the last three laps were completed, the recruits of the third team of the Sword and Shield Brigade fell to the ground one by one like deflated balloons. Only Eric and Goyle could barely stand still.

"Are you convinced?" Raven asked.

White wanted to sit up, but he had no strength at all. He could only turn to Raven while half-kneeling under the resentful eyes of his teammates and said: "Be convinced, sir..."

Lei Wen raised his voice: "It doesn't matter if you don't accept it. If you are in the military camp, I can convince you!"

He looked around the audience and glanced at the eyes of every recruit: "If one person makes a mistake, the whole team will be punished. I call it - consecutive sittings."

"Starting from today, the continuous training will be officially implemented in the military camp. You can try the consequences of not training seriously!"

A low exclamation sounded, accompanied by the sound of gasping for air. The unpunished recruits looked at the third team that was as limp as a dead dog, with fear in their eyes, and their eyes when looking at White were also filled with fear. complain.

Link and Mosingan looked at each other, and both saw fear in each other's eyes.

Baron Raven's words are not only for the new recruits, but also to warn them as captains!

They all started training at the same time, and there was no difference in the quality of the soldiers from the three groups. Today, it was just Gower who was unlucky, and they had better luck.

This time it was only Gower who was punished. If there is a next time, the two captains might also be punished!

Raven's voice continued: "Please remember one sentence for me."

"Sweat more in peacetime and bleed less in war!"

"Disband!"

The recruits returned to the camp separately, and the "culprit" of the third team and the eleven unlucky guys also supported each other back to the camp.

Eric and the three captains came to Raven. Before Raven could speak, they looked at each other and knelt down: "Lord Baron, we have let you down!"

"You didn't know how to lock the door until your home was stolen!" Raven looked at them and said angrily: "You are all fathers and husbands, and I don't want to reprimand you."

"But it doesn't matter if the recruits don't know the news, you always know!"

"The next step is to counterattack the Bloody Highlands. You have seen with your own eyes the cruelty and good fighting skills of those rogue bandits!"

"The action will begin in a month at the latest. With their current virtues, do you think they can fight?"

The heads of the four people hung lower.

The most embarrassing thing is Eric. Raven gave him full responsibility for the general camp, but it turned out to be like this. It was really embarrassing.

He gritted his teeth and said: "Lord Baron, don't worry, I will definitely train them to look good before setting off!"

Raven sighed: "You told me the same thing last time."

Eric's face turned redder and he raised an arm: "I am willing to swear to my ancestors. If I can't do it, I..."

"Shut up, don't take yourself so seriously!" Raven scolded: "Eric, you, Goyle, Link, and Mosingan, you are more important to me than all the new recruits put together. "

These words immediately made the four people feel hot, and at the same time they felt even more ashamed: "We will never betray the trust of Lord Baron!"

"I know." Raven said after patting several people on the shoulders one after another: "But a line is worth a thousand words. I trust you, and you must respond with actions!"

"For example, give these new recruits strength?"

The heads of the four people hung lower, and they said in unison: "Your will will be carried out, my lord!"

"Work hard!"

After saying that, Raven turned and left under the escort of Volaf.

At the same time, at the edge of the outer wall of the military camp, Nancy jumped off Jenny's shoulder with a hey, and a relaxed cry came out of the latter's mouth.

"Why, am I heavy?" Nancy asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No, I'm just too thin." Jenny lowered her head quickly.

"Hmph, that's good." With that, Nancy walked towards Eagle Castle with her hands behind her back.

Kicking away the gravel blocking the road, she pouted: "Hmph, this damn little bee is exuding his annoying charm again!"

"But this 'collective responsibility' system is very interesting and worth learning."

Not only did it punish the disobedient soldiers, but it also made everyone's resentment attributed to White. As a lord, Raven established his authority without causing resentment.

Thinking of this, Nancy's eyes showed a hint of smile: "Raven, Raven, you are still very talented in how to torture others!"

Jenny, who followed behind her, shuddered.

Nancy pointed her finger at her lips: "If your title was higher, I might really be tempted."

Damn guy, he obviously likes me, but he still wants 3,000 gold coins to let me live in Eagle Castle!

Oh, gold coins!

Her eyes lit up: "I know how to get Raven to take me to Bloody Highlands!"

In the blink of an eye, three more days passed, and Simon, who had been away for nearly two months, still hadn't returned.

And Raven, sitting in the study, was studying Elvish.

It is much faster to cast magic in Elvish than in the common language of the Empire. Improving the proficiency of Elvish is also improving his combat effectiveness.

"Huh..." Putting down the heavy book, Raven breathed a sigh of relief, kneading his eyebrows gently with his fingers to relax, and then cast his eyes on the Angel's Tears placed next to him.

Just as he was about to pick it up, Raven keenly discovered that the wine in the glass was gently fluctuating.

He raised his eyebrows slightly, stood up and walked to the window, and a smile appeared on his originally tense face.

Outside the Eagle Town, a herd of hundreds of horses rolled in like colorful clouds.

Ten minutes later, Old Gordon came to the study and knocked on the door gently.

After getting permission, Old Gordon pushed the door open and said respectfully at the door: "Baron, 120 war horses and 200 pack horses, except for the three pack horses lost on the way, the rest have been transported."

"Well, I know." Raven tapped his fingers on the table and said: "Mr. Gordon, send someone to notify Philip immediately."

"No matter how many magic cores he collected, send them all to me before noon tomorrow!"

It's time to start strengthening these war horses.

...