The Guardians' Throne - The First Magic Swordsman

After Zaos was back on his feet and could train for three hours straight, he decided to work on his next task: building his unit. As the captain of such a unit, he will receive one hundred gold coins per month, and he had the right to name up to five lieutenants for his army. Each one would receive forty gold coins monthly. As for the ordinary soldiers, they will receive fifteen. The problem was: Zaos had no idea how to recruit his soldiers. He couldn't just go offering a job. Things in the army didn't work that way. Zaos could always talk with Laiex, but it was hard to maintain a conversation with someone like him, who Zaos barely could refer to him as his father…

With that in mind, Zaos decided to talk with some of his acquaintances who had experience dealing with soldiers and mercenaries and probably knew a thing or two about those subjects. The first one Zaos visited was Halamar.

"Hey, it has been a while, young captain," Halamar said. "Two weeks, right? My business has been booming thanks to you."

"Is that so… Well, I have come to talk about something else," Zaos said. "You already know that I am a captain now and that I need to build a unit from scratch. Do you have some tips for me?"

"Why don't you ask your father?" Halamar frowned. "I mean, he is one of the military leaders of this country."

"I don't feel like talking to him," Zaos said. "Anyway, I don't have experience with that stuff, and I would rather not talk with the big figures of this country."

"Well, I don't mind helping you with that," Halamar said. "But I believe that I know some people that will do a better job than me."

"Who are those?" Zaos asked.

"Let's wait for a while longer, they have been visiting my shop since the tournament pretty much every day, and I have some gear to deliver to them today as well," Halamar said.

Zaos didn't like waiting for others, but he decided to wait and see what the blacksmith had in mind. Fortunately, he didn't have to wait for long. After half an hour, two familiar individuals appeared. They were the big guy Zaos defeated and the woman that Drannor defeated in the tournament.

"Those are Melisse and Cohnal, a couple of mercenaries that have been making their names in the battlefields and in many other types of missions for ten or so years," Halamar said.

"Yeah, I remember them," Zaos said.

"You are… Zaos Sielders," Cohnal said and then offered a handshake. "It is nice to meet you again, young hero."

"You can call me just Zaos," Zaos said and then offered the handshake and then tried to greet Melisse as well, but he changed his mind since she was in a bad mood.

"Sorry, she has been like this since the tournament," Cohnal said. "Anyway, it seems you were waiting for us."

"Zaos here is a captain now, and he has to build his unit from scratch," Halamar explained. "He asked me for some help since he doesn't want to rely on the authorities of the kingdom with that. However, I assumed you two could help him more than me."

"We know the process of how a mercenary army is created, but we aren't familiar with how a proper unit is," Cohnal said.

"I don't mind in hearing both processes," Zaos said.

"I think things will be easier if you start building your unit by selecting the subordinates that will directly answer to you," Cohnal said. "Once you do that, you can delegate some of the work to them. Do you have anyone in mind?"

"Just one person, she is kind of young, but I trust her, and she has some magic skills," Zaos said.

"A magician? It is rather unusual for them to join any unit unless the king summons them," Cohnal said. "Who else?"

"I have some friends who are officials, but I don't want to call and make them give up on their current positions," Zaos said. "To be honest, I was planning to select some that looked reliable once I began the recruitment. Do you two want to become lieutenants in my unit?"

"… You should take this more seriously. In this line of work, you need subordinates that can ease your worries, and you have total confidence in them," Cohnal said. "Their failures will be your failures, after all."

"This might be a bit troublesome… Still, I have a good feeling about you two, so I don't mind," Zaos said. "Do you want to become officials in my army? I have already received the payment for the kingdom for the next two months, so you can be paid right now. If you have some friends that might have some interesting skills, they can also be paid immediately."

"You are a bit weird… I thought you were stiff with rules just like other kids from noble houses, even more so considering that you are from Sielders family," Cohnal frowned. "Do you want to make a unit out of only mercenaries?"

"No, I didn't plan that, but it wouldn't be better if we mix some mercenaries and trained soldiers from the kingdom as well?" Zaos asked.

"You might try, but those two types never get along," Cohnal said. "We are freer, and the guards look down on us."

                                          Zaos didn't know many mercenaries, but as if they were as laid back or bad-humored like the ones he saw in the tournament, he could imagine what Cohnal was saying. Still, Zaos didn't know many proper soldiers who would want to follow him, nor experienced ones who would lead both types of warriors. He might as well try and work with the mercenaries.

"Well, I will try to hire both and warn them both types are welcome, but they will stay on different squads," Zaos said. "In any case, do you two want to become officials in my unit or not?"