After suppressing the deserter band that had crossed over from Euz, a new concern arose. The war tax that the Lord of Murbach had been collecting, as the beekeeping family had told me, was a clear sign of storm clouds gathering over Euz.

Since the Euznirk family had been favorable enough to compensate me for my losses, I had a duty to repay their goodwill. The fact that my fief bordered Euz played a major role too.

I couldn’t let the territory I’d worked so hard to obtain be reduced to ashes by stray sparks. So I sent letters to Fried and Count Euz asking for news. Honestly, there wasn’t much I could do at the moment.

Since invasion by an enemy nation was a shared concern of Beren, sending support was only natural. But if civil war erupted over an internal fief matter, there would be no grounds for outside intervention—unless there was some form of connection.

Unless one possessed authority on the level of the royal family, asking Count Euz, "I heard there’s trouble in your territory—would you like my help?" would be an extremely presumptuous act.

So until an official request for aid came, all I could do was monitor the situation, train the forces under my command, and wait.

And so, training was in full swing on the plains of Feuzen.

"Dummkopf! You’d be more useful as a sausage, you damned Dreckschwein! Move faster!"

I’d selected a standing army from young volunteers among second sons and below in commoner families. It was only ten men, but for a village with fewer than three hundred residents, ten standing soldiers was a significant ratio.

The moment I confirmed that the levy was below par, I used the points earned from the suppression to purchase the Strong Soldiers (10%) passive in the military category. It was an unavoidable choice. If the army wasn’t strong, you couldn’t protect anything.

"Can you protect your wife and daughter like this?! You can’t, you bastards!"

Due to the social structure where the eldest son inherited everything, second sons and younger had no choice but to live at a disadvantage. The standing army system was an excellent employment opportunity, and they jumped at it.

Up until now, Feuzen’s defense had been handled by rotating shifts of the militia, but the creation of the standing army pushed the militia down to a secondary role. And the new soldiers were deeply impressed by the Gale Knights.

"You want to be cavalrymen? Halt die Fresse! I could ride a horse faster than any of you!"

They were filled with the dream that if they trained hard, they too could become magnificent cavalrymen. I didn’t know how long that enthusiasm would last, but the bigger the dream, the better. With limited manpower, I couldn’t afford to screen them by disposition.

Some of them might be capable of war crimes.

So I had no choice but to instill strict discipline to keep them from getting any ideas.

"The lord is watching! You damned kindlich! Show the lord the strength of Feuzen!"

In that sense, discovering Ted’s talent as a training instructor was a significant find.

He was running the recruits much harder than I’d expected. Oscar’s gentle nature was a drawback for this kind of work, but it seemed to suit Ted just fine.

It had been Ted who’d whipped Hans, who had never received military training, into shape too.

Now Hans was the captain of the manor guard.

The recruits were having the souls beaten out of them. Since training equipment was currently lacking, only physical conditioning was being conducted, but everything they were doing was what I’d taught Ted and Oscar from what I’d learned in the army.

Winter was busy selecting the site for the horse ranch with builders from Breisburg and Feuzen carpenters and beginning construction, and the training was taking place right beside the construction site.

The laborers couldn’t take their eyes off this bizarre training.

There were only ten recruits, but they were making their presence known by shouting commands with vicious intensity.

"We will perform the calisthenics drill! You damned Dreckschwein! Starting with exercise number one, jumping jacks! You all know that the count doubles if anyone shouts the final number, right? Starting at ten reps. How many?"

"Ten reps!"

"Is that the loudest you can shout?! Twenty reps! How many?"

"Twenty reps!"

"Verdammt nochmal! How dare you embarrass the instructor in front of the lord! Thirty reps! How many?"

"Thirty reps!"

"Begin!"

"...What is that?"

"It’s calisthenics drill—a training method I came up with for physical conditioning."

PT exercises had somehow become a method I’d invented. Honestly, aside from squats and push-ups, I didn’t know any other proper conditioning methods. The only thing engraved in my muscles was PT exercises.

Even the retainers who had trained with me believed it was a training method I’d created.

What Hans hated most of all was definitely Exercise Eight, the full-body twist.

Michael, who had come to the training ground for the first time, seemed to be experiencing culture shock. As a high-ranking duchy army commander with a knack for running his subordinates hard, he observed the exercises with great interest.

"This is pretty good. Mind if I apply this to the duchy army? It’s perfect for whipping recruits into shape."

"Ted knows it well, so I’ll dispatch him as an instructor later."

The time had come to show those duchy army boys the true taste of calisthenics drill.

Unlike Oscar, who was rising as a commander, Ted—his contemporary—didn’t have any particular specialty, so he’d actually been the most idle among the retainers. I was glad he’d finally found work that suited him.

"By the way, things at the center are turning out interestingly while we’ve been away."

"I never expected the Finance Minister would be placed under house arrest and forced to take responsibility, with the Inspector General taking over."

"From where I’m standing, Adelbert was definitely waiting for this opportunity."

I’d been so busy playing lord of Feuzen that I hadn’t paid attention to the central government, but events were unfolding in interesting ways. The royal tax embezzlement case implicating the Administrative and Finance Departments had developed into an enormous scandal.

The Grand Duke had held the Finance Minister responsible and placed him under house arrest. Imprisonment would have been excessive, so he’d issued a lighter punishment. As a result, his heir, Inspector General Adelbert, had taken control of the Finance Department.

The heir, who had been kept in check by his father, didn’t miss his chance. The poor relationship between father and son was an open secret, so most high-ranking nobles had predicted Adelbert’s move.

"The Finance Minister is being guarded by the duchy army at his residence, and any visit requires permission from the Military Department. Even I think Father is humiliating him properly."

"The biggest factor was joining hands with Adelbert. This is just my speculation, but Elsheimer must have been pulling strings behind the scenes."

"Elsheimer? What influence would the family that controls the tax collectors have in something like this?"

Michael dismissed the involvement of the tax collector family, but it was definitely Deputy Inspector General Mort who had crafted the plan that allowed Adelbert to seize control of the Finance Department. On top of that, no one else knew how dangerous Mort truly was.

"Is he really someone to be that wary of? He’s just a man who married into the family."

"He’s no ordinary man. The fall of Deputy Inspector General Rüdiger and my fight with Frost were ultimately his schemes."

"You’re not the kind of man to take things lying down, brother-in-law. You must have left him alone because there was no evidence."

"You see right through me. I had only suspicion, no proof, and the justification was lacking."

"Hmm, Mort. So he’s a man to watch out for. I’ll keep that in mind."

Even if I claimed to others that I suspected Mort, they’d think I was deliberately framing him. Justification was paramount in noble society. That’s why I couldn’t bring Mort down on suspicion alone.

And at the time, I’d been nothing but a powerless duchy knight.

By forging friendly relations with Adelbert, our conflict had ceased, but I never let down my guard against Mort. He could stab me in the back at any time and place, depending on what suited him.

"Until the Finance Minister returns, the Finance Department’s power will be weakened for a while."

"They’ll be too busy consolidating internal control. A reduction in influence is inevitable."

Even with control of the Finance Department, Adelbert was, after all, only acting in his father’s stead, and he needed external support. And from the Military and Judicial Departments’ perspectives, Adelbert was far easier to deal with.

"Your instructor is disappointed in you. Embarrassing me utterly in front of the lord. Exercise Eight, the full-body twist, begin!"

"Begin!"

"The more I watch, the more I want this drill."

"It’s easy, simple, and doesn’t cost a thing."

"That’s what I like most about it, heh heh."

Michael enjoyed watching the recruits’ training at the makeshift parade ground.

Having confirmed that Ted was conducting recruit training splendidly, I returned to the manor.