Volume Two: The Iron-Blooded Baron Chapter 111: Are You In For The Business?

Finally, the second volume has begun. Its title is "From Knight to King," chronicling the protagonist’s gradual ascent to the throne. The first volume covered the stage of knighthood, the second focuses on becoming a baron, followed by viscount, count, duke, and ultimately king—each stage corresponding to a separate volume.

This is my first time writing an online novel, so many aspects are still immature, and there have been issues like confusing character names. Some fellow readers have pointed these out, which embarrasses me greatly. I will strive to be more careful in proofreading and remain committed to continuing the story, updating it steadily. I’m just an ordinary person, not particularly clever, and I don’t expect to make money from writing. I simply wish to fulfill a personal dream and commemorate the days of playing Mount & Blade back in my university years.

In the game, without using cheats, the early days were full of trial and error, with plenty of frustration and even a few times when I slammed the keyboard in anger. Of course, the book won’t depict such scenes—otherwise, no one would want to read it. While the story is primarily a feel-good tale, I try to keep it reasonable and grounded in common sense. There won’t be absurd moments like one person singlehandedly wiping out an entire army.

Though the book is niche, it has a decent readership, and I am genuinely grateful to all the good readers—famous ones like “The Peaceful Sword,” “Garin’s Little Fan,” “Reader 60197064,” and “Si Nian A.” Thank you for your support. Even if the book reaches a million words with fewer than a hundred bookmarks, I will persist to the end—for you, and for myself.

Everyone here has experienced battle. What Balian has been explaining, they were not unaware of before, but they had never thought about it so systematically or so deeply. Now, with Balian’s guidance, everything becomes clear.

Rochil looked at everyone’s enlightened expressions and smiled, saying, “Truly, outstanding people excel in every way. We’ve fought for nearly half our lives and still haven’t explained these principles so thoroughly.”

“Well, well, Uncle Rochil, you don’t need to flatter me so much,” Balian replied with a smile. “We’ve rested enough now—let’s head back. The sun is almost setting.”

When Balian finished speaking, both groups rose and walked back side by side, chatting and laughing. Before entering the arena, the two factions still kept their distance, but after this friendly match, they had merged into one team.

Though it was still clear they were originally two groups, walking together and sharing jokes meant Rochil, Grimbert, and the others no longer rejected becoming soldiers of Norlandenburg. On the contrary, they were now eager to join.

Since Balian and Gamlin needed horses, they lagged behind slightly as their mounts were brought over, but they caught sight of the united group from afar.

Seeing Balian deep in thought as he watched the team, Gamlin chuckled and said, “Brother Balian, you’ve succeeded in recruiting cavalry this time, but I still haven’t found any myself.”

Balian shrugged helplessly and replied, “Brother Gamlin, who can blame me for having such good luck? But don’t worry, it’s still easy to find caravan guards.”

Before Balian’s words had even finished, several armed men blocked their path. Hack and Bran were startled; they quickly drew their swords and stepped forward, questioning the newcomers’ intentions.

One never knows what could happen until one asks, and this time it was good news. These men were caravan guards who had been training in the arena earlier that day. They had watched Balian’s match with Rochil and his group and were impressed by the skill of Balian’s soldiers. They wished to join Balian’s ranks.

Balian sized them up—they were fairly well-built—and asked their leader, “How many are you? Can you all ride horses?”

“We are twelve in total, sir. We can all ride, but our mounted combat skills are not well developed yet. We mainly fight on foot,” the leader answered earnestly.

“Hmm,” Balian nodded. “Here’s the thing: I’m recruiting cavalry—riders skilled in horsemanship and combat. You don’t meet those requirements.”

Their faces fell with disappointment; they had come with high hopes only to receive this rejection.

But their disappointment was short-lived. Balian continued, “However, I do have a place I can recommend to you. Would you be interested in trying it?”

Surprise replaced their dejection. Their eyes widened as they looked at Balian. Being stared at by half a dozen large men felt a little awkward for him.

Balian scratched his nose and smiled. “The place I’m talking about is still caravan guard work. The pay is not bad, the boss is a good man, and the trade routes are safe—no bandit troubles.”

“If that’s so, we’d be willing to give it a try,” the leader replied.

Seeing their agreement, Balian gestured toward Gamlin and said, “This is Mr. Gamlin, vice president of the Amondin Trading Company, a powerful merchant in the Brick Northern Territory. He’s currently recruiting caravan guards for his trade caravans. If you’re interested, you can speak with him.”

Balian winked at Gamlin, who immediately understood the hint and leisurely said, “Yes, what Sir Balian says is true. I do need to recruit some caravan guards, but I want Sir Balian to test your skills before deciding.”

“No problem. We accept Sir Balian’s assessment,” the leader replied confidently, clearly trusting in their own and their men’s abilities.

Balian first asked Bran to lend his horse so the five men could take turns riding and prove their horsemanship.

Though not expert riders, they could handle escorting caravans on horseback adequately. Expecting them to fight mounted was unrealistic.

After testing their riding skills, Balian asked the leader and two of his men to spar with him to test their combat abilities.

Fortunately, the arena was surrounded by empty fields; otherwise, their noisy sparring might have drawn the city guard’s ire and fines.

After the trial, Balian found that except for the leader’s barely passable fighting skills, the others were average at best—likely weaker than ordinary soldiers in the Norlandenburg infantry.

Balian pulled Gamlin aside to share his honest evaluation. Whether to accept them or not was up to Gamlin.

Having lived two lives, Balian deeply understood one truth: the better friends you are, the less you should make decisions for others. Even if your choices are meant to help, others bear the consequences.

If the outcome is good, they may not even thank you, believing it was their own wisdom. If bad, they blame you entirely, and the friendship boat is bound to capsize.

After hearing Balian’s objective opinion, Gamlin thought it over but decided to accept them. As a shrewd businessman, he planned to use these men to bolster his caravan quickly—they were urgently needed.

He also had a deeper plan. He intended to recruit from his family’s lands some wealthy farmers and younger sons of craftsmen who had no inheritance rights. These young men had no means of livelihood and would sooner or later need to venture out.

Gamlin aimed to recruit those with respect for his family and whose relatives remained under his house’s control. He would then hand them over to Balian for training, confident that under Balian’s guidance, their combat abilities would improve greatly.

He hadn’t yet told Balian about this plan but intended to discuss it once these few men were sent on their way.

Gamlin told the leader he was willing to recruit them and gave them the address of his warehouse, asking them to come the next day to finalize salary and contracts.

After settling these men, Balian and the others mounted their horses and rode on. Balian, in high spirits, said to Gamlin, “Brother Gamlin, see? You said it was hard to recruit caravan guards, but here they are. So no need to rush—Vulcan will watch over you.”

Gamlin smiled and shared his plan with Balian to see if he agreed, also mentioning he was willing to pay a fee.

Balian pondered before responding, “Brother Gamlin, I have no problem training soldiers for you, but I can’t have them train alongside my own troops. You understand, my secret training methods were stolen once already. If they’re exposed, I’ll suffer on the battlefield.”

“No problem, Brother Balian, I understand. Training them alongside your militia is fine,” Gamlin quickly agreed.

Balian waved his hand and smiled, “My idea is that we treat this as a business.”

“Ah!” Gamlin exclaimed, surprised. “A business? How would that work?”

Balian nodded and explained, “Yes, a business. Let me explain.

After winning the Battle to Reclaim Maple Manor, some lords approached me to help train their soldiers. After wiping out the two major bandit gangs south of the Carl River, even more lords sought my training services. Viscount Merry even wants me to train an elite infantry guard.

I believe as my reputation and achievements grow, more will come with such requests. Since there’s demand, why not set up a school to train troops? I would assign people to train and occasionally visit to supervise. I provide the expertise; they pay for the service.”

Hearing this, Gamlin stroked his chin thoughtfully and nodded. “That does sound feasible. Hey, does this business involve me? Clients come for your reputation.”

“Ha ha ha!” Balian laughed. “Brother Gamlin, I don’t have time to handle this business myself. I want to entrust it to you. You bring in clients, and I’ll pay you a commission. If you refer more than a hundred soldiers to me annually for training, I’ll train ten caravan guards for you free of charge. How’s that for a deal?”

Gamlin tightened his reins and stared at Balian. “This training business probably doesn’t make as much profit as selling colored pottery or soap. You’re not in it for the money. What’s your real goal?”

“Heh heh!” Balian chuckled. “I knew I couldn’t hide it from you. I’ll tell you the truth, but please keep it between us, Brother Gamlin.”

“Mm-hmm! Don’t worry. We’re what did you call it? Ah yes—a community of shared interests. There’s no benefit for me to reveal your secret and make things hard for you.”

Balian nodded. “I trust you. Actually, I have three main reasons, and I’ll explain them one by one. By the end, you’ll understand.

First, of course, I want to make money. Don’t think these training businesses don’t generate income. Especially for lords like Viscount Merry, who care deeply about their safety and want a highly skilled elite force, they’re willing to pay handsomely for professional training.”