Chapter 113: Choosing Loyalty Over Strength

Cavalrymen with dispositions meeting the criteria followed commands well and had no gaps in executing orders. That’s why I’d excluded violent types who prioritized pleasure like the cavalry commander. As a result, coincidentally, only the more marginal cavalrymen within the unit remained.

In any group, there are those who can’t fit in and stay on the outskirts.

They were also bewildered about why they’d been picked.

"Are you serious? You’re taking those guys?"

"I need cavalrymen who follow orders honestly and diligently rather than strong cavalrymen who can’t be controlled."

"Honest and diligent? What exactly are you seeing in them?"

You can tell by looking.

Michael shook his head after hearing my answer.

Why was he acting surprised now?

"The military department will pay the wages, so brother-in-law, arrange the lodging yourself."

"Is that all right? I was planning to pay the wages myself."

"Are we strangers? I can handle that much out of the budget. Just classify it as a dispatch."

Indeed, the power of blood ties is great.

Duchy army wages come from state finances.

The Finance Department could raise issues about wasting finances for private use, but the matter was too trivial to pick a fight with the Military Department over 13 cavalrymen’s wages. Unless it was large-scale embezzlement connected to slums or merchant guilds, Michael was simply being considerate to family, and there was the justification of dispatch.

Having picked duchy army cavalrymen to assign under August, I went to Kisling Parish and made a vassalage contract with him. In the afternoon, the recovered Hilda and all my retainers assembled to serve as witnesses to the vassalage contract. The officiating witness was Priest Luben of Kisling Parish.

"The vassal will fulfill the obligation of service to the lord, and the lord will promise compensation to the vassal. This contract is announced to be sacredly concluded in the name of the Lord. Please swear."

"August von Einbeck swears as a vassal knight of Streit."

As always, I paid costs to the parish. August now officially became my vassal, and I gave him the formal title of Feuzen’s estate manager. He could govern the territory on my behalf and was permitted to mobilize the territorial people in emergencies and hold out until I arrived.

However, the military authority permitted to the estate manager was limited strictly to defense. This is specified in Germanic law, so I couldn’t bend the rules. That’s why I assigned the carefully selected duchy army cavalrymen under August. They would serve as August’s dedicated military force, separate from the territory’s levies.

"Since Baron Constance, I have a lord once more. The sword of Einbeck exists only for my lord, and I will prove its worth as a blade that cuts down enemies."

August, officially appointed as Feuzen’s estate manager, first assembled the 13 cavalrymen and dove into training to build coordination with them. A natural sequence. If they might risk their lives together, how could they trust each other without being coordinated? August was an excellent commander.

Michael arranged for us to use the duchy army training ground outside Breisburg. August seemed very pleased that the cavalrymen I’d selected coordinated better than expected and followed orders faithfully without any deviant behavior, because I’d picked them with exactly those traits in mind.

Thud thud thud thud!

We newlyweds were currently at the duchy army training ground.

"Sir Einbeck is quite the skilled cavalry commander."

Having stood on the battlefield with August, I naturally knew his abilities, but Hilda didn’t. So she seemed quite surprised seeing August handle his cavalrymen as a single unit. Come to think of it, I’d never shown Hilda my own commanding either. If she saw it, would she faint?

"If I were cavalry commander, he’s one of two knights I could trust to lead a squad."

"Is the other one Fiel of Steinhof?"

"Right. When the knightly order is established, I’ll recruit Fiel no matter what."

"Hehe, but right now he’s just a formidable rival."

Hilda smiled playfully and picked up a wooden sword. She wore an active cavalry tunic that revealed her slender figure and tight leather pants—I don’t know how she managed to look so cool and gallant. It was one of Hilda’s styles I loved. But these weren’t clothes she could wear often.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Because you’re so pretty."

"A woman in pants is pretty?"

According to Church law, women were essentially forbidden from wearing pants rather than skirts. It was illegal, and if violated, the patriarch paid a fine. But since Hilda not only made large donations regularly but was also high nobility, as long as she didn’t walk around the streets dressed that way, the Church looked the other way.

That’s how the world works.

Thanks to that, I could fully appreciate Hilda’s gallant appearance beyond just dresses.

Thwack!

"Huh?"

"Can’t let your guard down."

"I’m sorry, I’ll focus properly."

Hilda’s mounted combat was light and quick as a feather. How quick? Quick enough that merely reacting to her wooden sword when she got serious was a challenge in itself. I’d known since learning from Hilda in a crash course before the campaign, but she was faster, more precise, and smoother than any knight I’d faced.

Whenever Schatten and Mont Blanc clashed, the two horses fought and shoved each other, and Mont Blanc was naturally overpowered in strength. However, Mont Blanc was superior in agility and reaction speed. Having sharpened my skills through combat, I blocked most of Hilda’s attacks by using Mont Blanc to change direction or employ hit-and-run tactics.

"Amazing! I didn’t expect you to improve this much."

"I’ve definitely developed more than before the campaign, right?"

"Of course. But your reaction speed is still a step behind."

The moment Hilda’s wooden sword clashed with mine, it instantly curved inward and the tip aimed at my neck. It happened in the blink of an eye, leaving me dumbfounded. If this had been a real sword, I’d be dead. Of course, it was an attack that wouldn’t work against plate armor, but I was genuinely shocked.

"What was that just now? It’s incredibly fast."

"Handle the sword without excess. To attack quickly and accurately, eliminating unnecessary movements comes first."

"Eliminate unnecessary movements and handle the sword concisely."

Hilda’s instruction was undeniably valuable. It’s difficult to handle the sword concisely while fighting enemies. Most swordplay involves large movements, applying excessive force, or deflecting the opponent’s sword and counterattacking. But this technique of striking before the opponent could prepare, catching them off guard, was very useful for seizing the initiative.

Following my beautiful teacher’s guidance, I handled the sword quickly and accurately while maintaining conciseness, and finally completed the Stage 1 training quest of the Mounted Combat Manual. 1,000 points and 1 silver coin came as rewards. And Stage 2 began. As I’d expected, Stage 2 was the lance.

Thud thud thud thud!

Crash!

Hilda, holding a practice lance, drove the lance squarely into the shield held by the cavalry dummy. The practice lance broke easily. If the lance didn’t break, it could be quite dangerous, because the rider would absorb all the impact from the collision.

Hilda demonstrated using three lances.

"You have to keep the lance in a straight line and position yourself with the end of your line of sight aimed upward. The lance tip inevitably tilts downward because of its length, so the basic technique is to strike down from an upward position to hit the opponent’s shield."

"If the posture is wrong and the lance tip is aimed downward, the attack would be slower."

"Because the force of lowering and the force of raising are fundamentally different. That translates into a difference in speed."

I diligently studied the basics of lance technique that Hilda explained. The individual tournament competition was won by hitting the opponent’s shield first to knock it off, but enduring the opponent’s lance was equally important. So Hilda proposed that I wear plate armor and take her lance attack directly.

"...You’re going to stab me with a lance?"

"It’s a practice lance, so you’ll be fine."

"R-really? It’ll be all right, won’t it?"

"Trust me, Wolf. It’ll be over before you feel it."

Hilda smiled brightly.

She must have been looking for revenge for tormenting her too much every night.