The Expansion Plan!

"If there is one thing our Lord can do."

"It is finding ways to bind people to him loyally."

"He gives opportunity, trust and purpose to the purposeless."

"To the poor."

"To the underprivileged."

"And in return…."

"He gets their undying loyalty. Men who would go to the fires of hell for him."

Baron Malwin Thornsworth, Teacher of Railius Aurellion.

….

Time quickly passed as Railius slowly got used to long rides and hours in a saddle that came with travelling in Dynasties Online.

The first few days were torture for him. He got increasingly bored and had very little to do except ride slowly next to the carts that made up his caravan.

Monotonous and repetitive hour after hour, he had to do the same thing over and over again with nothing but his thoughts to accompany him as if it was actually a full-time job, which was what the game dev intended in the first place, so even if people hated the travel times with little else to do and few job prospects they still played the game as the game company ignored their constant complaining.

The only good thing was that he was now being left alone enough by other powers to start training up some of his skills by doing horse races with his friends until he could pick up a bow that he could wield effectively, which happened when they dropped off Alicia and Declan in Detarnor with Leon to look after them.

Over the week or so that it took to get back to their base in Detarnor from the royal capital, alongside writing introductions for his daughter to his contacts around the world, Delcan and Kaila were considering how they wanted Alicia to be educated as Railius gave them many options.

Alongside expanding their information network, House Aurellion had invested in this private education system, having 3 or 4 teachers alongside Malwin teach people various topics, from politics and philosophy to governance, law, and agriculture. Even Leon's dojo had been expanded many times to allow them to take in more people.

"So, what have you decided to have Alicia study?"

Railius asked Declan as he sat on a black leather chair while sipping on a cup of tea, letting out a relaxed sigh in the house that was strictly guarded and that his character had lived for the past 8 years even though on the outside, it looked perfectly normal, enjoying this momentary comfort they were to stay in for 2 days before leaving and carrying on to the south of the kingdom to conduct their first trading mission.

Railius had invited the old merchant to his house, which was one of the few places where they could talk privately with no one eavesdropping.

"I don't know, but I would like her to be able to defend herself without being forced, as that usually gets you nowhere and stifles a child's development."

Railius coughed slightly, spitting some of his tea back into his cup, knowing that Leon trying to force him to train was one of the reasons why his martial arts training struggled so much—at least, that is the in-game reason. The real reason was that until he entered the game, Reginald did not need to learn to fight properly.

'Tell that to Leon, that damned overprotective workaholic!'

'Not that he was wrong, though. I really need to improve my own combat abilities as the Pelican Guards can't be with me all the time, and nothing is more reliable than your own strength.'

Railius thought, remembering the devil-like training that he had to endure during the Dynasty History System and his cold, uncompromising training who would chase him, firing fake arrows at him that hurt like a damn paintball shivering slightly from the training, somehow developing PTSD because of it.

Though compared to what he would see in his long career in DO, this could be said to be barely the tip of the iceberg, but he was young and inexperienced right now and so was used to dealing with such issues.

"Are you ok, my lord?"

Declan asked as he looked at the young noble curiously, not expecting such an odd reaction or knowing that he had hit a sore spot of House Aurellion, which attempted to do just this with their young lord only to fail spectacularly.

"Fine, fine, anyway, back onto the topic at hand."

Railius said, naturally moving the conversation away from potentially exposing his character's rather embarrassing past.

"I can get her into Master Zhou's dojo, and she can train in a weapon of her choice; however, I would like to stress that the master of the dojo specialises in the spear, sword, and bow so the guidance he can give with other weapons will be limited. He can also teach her a range of magic if you desire, which will serve her well unless, for some reason, she decides to go to war."

Railius offered, for he was not a man to demand something without giving anything in return. If he wanted Declan and his family to serve him willingly and loyally, he had to treat them well, unlike many other players; he had long treated NPCs as humans as soon as he saw that some were as competent as him or even more so and not as loyal drones or chess pieces with no autonomy once loyalty had been game.

'Though the differences between some of the more fanatically loyal Pelican Guards and drones could be few at times.'

Railius thought but quickly put such thoughts out of his mind, focusing on his conversation with Declan. Despite appearances to the outside, Declan was very important to the young player who needed his contacts to begin trading and setting up his spy network in other countries.

"Thank you for your generosity, my lord. I'll get back to you with her decisions by the time you leave."

Declan said respectfully, making Railius smile as the player noticed the subtle change in how the old merchant referred to him. It appeared that the old man already saw himself as Railius' loyal subordinate, using the same form of address that Leon, Aldorus, and the rest of them use.

"I take it you have given Kaila all she will need to be successful."

Railius said, tapping his finger on his chair. Whether it was undiagnosed ADHD or something else, from a young, Railius had struggled to sit still, only doing it in his younger days because he tended to daydream when he got bored, finding that it was not worth getting into trouble at school.

"Yes, my lord, she has letters of introduction to all my old contacts. I hope they will serve her well in her new role."

Declan let out a sigh of worry before smiling slightly.

"Sooner or later, she would have had to go out into the world herself anyway, and only her own capabilities can help her there, as this old man won't be around to protect her forever. I would once again like to thank you for saving me and my family."

Declan said, bowing his head, sincerely thankful to this mysterious young noble who had given his family a new lease on life and had the power to stop his brother from eliminating them.

"Good. I hope you enjoy your life here. I will do my best to make it as peaceful as possible. I appreciate your help, which will allow me to advance my plans years in advance."

Railius said as Jordis, who was standing next to him, whispered something into his ear, making the young lord nod as he set his white porcelain teacup on a table next to him.

"Thank you for your time, Declan. We will have to end it here tonight as I have an urgent meeting with some rather impatient people."

Railius said politely, gesturing to the door, implying that their meeting was over as he had some urgent business to attend to.

Declan got up from the brown couch and bowed once more, but his footsteps stopped just as he was about to leave the room.

"Quinten Amberguard and Captain Delron are both fake identities, aren't they? May I ask for your real name, my lord?"

Railius sighed as Jordis stood behind him as he had throughout the entire conversation, only leaving if the young player wanted something. But now he glared at the old merchant with a vicious gaze who didn't seem to notice it in the slightest as Jordis silently moved his hand to the hilt of his sword.

"Jordis, there's no need to get so worked up. It's a valid question."

Railius said as even he would ask a similar thing in Declan's position, and now that he was entirely under his power, he had no reason to be suspicious of the old merchant or his family.

"It's better if you don't know who I am. Just knowing it will put you in more danger than you are in now, and I don't want your daughter to be harmed because of it. As long as you stay as far away from me as possible, Alicia should be able to live peacefully. It is also for this reason that I have tried my best to separate myself from the company."

"But if you're interested, feel free to investigate, as it will be known to all sooner or later. I won't stop you, but even without my interference, only two people managed to figure out my true identity, and one of them is a genius who is likely to be the ruler of Nathia in the Future."

Railius said but talked with admiration when he thought about the crown prince of Nathia Kodjis Kendari, taking another sip of his tea as Declan left him with one last thing to ponder.

"That Nathian crown prince he has your respect, doesn't he."

"Don't take too long to make a decision, as no one waits forever, and everyone needs a home."

Declan said, looking over his shoulder and retaining his smile as he left, stunning Railius, who once again had to take another look at the old cunning merchant who was far more insightful and analytical than he initially thought.

Railius just sat silently until the door opened, and two men entered. One went to the couch, and the other nodded at Jordis and remained standing.

"My lord, why were we summoned here?"

Malwin, sitting on the same couch Declan was sitting on, asked as he reached over to a low table and poured himself a cup of tea, letting out a relaxed sigh as the hot liquid streamed down his throat.

"Now that we have established a sturdy foundation in Nathia with multiple income streams, a basic education, and an information network, we must focus on developing our military and international spy network."

Railius announced what he had long decided to do and began giving orders that would allow them to expand faster. He was no longer playing as a child and so did not need to stay as low-key and out of the way as he grew up.

"As I am sure you have noticed since we arrived here, the last 8 years have been for creating a sturdy foundation to build on, and neither of you has disappointed me in your contributions towards this goal. I would also like to use our now bulging coffers to expand our operations and military capabilities."

"Malwin, how has Sigismond Security Service done over the last few years? As I understand it, they have 1000 members now."

Railius asked his loyal advisor after he had praised them for their work.

"Sigismond security service currently protects 50 politicians throughout Nathia. Of these, our men have seen half commit some crime while in their presence. We have evidence of these crimes that you can use at your discretion, my lord and our men are ready to take any action against them if you wish to…."

Malwin paused, trying to think of an appropriate way to say his dark thought for a second before continuing.

"Dispose of any problematic ones sometime in the future."

Malwin said ruthlessly, reporting the security companies' efforts over the past few years, which had built up an extensive network of people whom they could influence in one way or another, as none of these local mayors or influential people had any idea that their death was only one order away.

"Good, they have done well considering our current numbers. Are there any notable local politicians we are protecting of particular interest?"

Railius asked, as House Aurellion has infiltrated several low-level officials over the last eight years for many reasons. First, nobles and higher officials usually have their own protection and do not need specialised bodyguards. Second, many clues can be found in the orders given to mayors about events happening in the local area.

"Yes, my lord, we currently protect the mayor and majority of the council members in our current town and, thanks to them, have managed to gain an avenue to secure official false documents for our people to settle down thanks to our trustworthy reputation that we have built up over the years."

"You made sure that each person paid for themselves and that there were no connections to us, right?"

Railius asked, just checking that Malwin was as thorough as ever because if the same person asked again and again, the officials would start to ask why, but if it were different people, even if someone suspects something, it would be much harder to detect something was off.

"Of course, my lord, you don't need to worry. Our identities have not been compromised, and we can end the mayor's career if we need to, if we need leverage against him for any reason."

Malwin said in a cold tone, more than familiar with the cutthroat world of politics. Railius then turned to Leon to address the situation with the Pelican Guard that Railius wanted to expand.

"We have done well to keep our Pelican Guard numbers up and even gain 100 men despite the deaths during our operations."

This was an evitable cost of Sigismond Security Service protecting people and caravans for money, as the slight 2 or 3 casualties they could take in these missions slowly added up over time. Of course, many missions succeeded without any casualties at all, but House Aurellion did not have too many people in the first place, and so even minor casualties like these added up, slowly draining House Aurellion of its loyal soldiers.

Just in the ambush that Railius encountered on his way here, had taken 3 of his Pelican Guard recruits to the underworld as these new soldiers had a much higher casualty rate than the veterans, but the other recruits gained some much-needed battle experience that would serve them well once they had to accompany their lord to war.

"Leon, until now, we have only taken recruits into the Pelican Guards that we could trust, such as the sons of the current members, so as not to expose ourselves to the public or to any of our many enemies. This practice will stop from now on."

"Alongside recruiting from these loyal families, we will also begin looking for people down on their luck. This includes orphans, poor families, or those like Declans who are down on their luck, and other vagabonds that we can rescue from the chains of poverty."

"We choose these people because they are more likely to be loyal to us, and as they gain more and more of our trust, we can tell them more about my true identity that initially will be kept hidden from them."

Railius said in an authoritative tone, giving his orders to his subordinates that sooner or later, they would need to recruit more Pelican Guards from the commoners of Nathia to bring up and maintain their numbers. While they are elite soldiers, it does not stop them from dying on the battlefield. In fact, because they are usually willing to fight to the death for their lord, they are much more prone to taking casualties rather than soldiers who are more predisposed to running away.

Railius knew that once he decided to join a kingdom and its military, the casualties his men would take would skyrocket. So unless they recruited more men from the local population, it would not take long for him to run out of loyal men when he led them into one vicious battlefield after another.

"We should not underestimate the gratitude these people will feel toward us. Also, if there are any slavers around, buy or liberate their 'merchandise', take them in, and train them. We will give them freedom and treat them better than any potential master could."

Railius said, laying out his plan to recruit loyal men.

"But make sure everyone serves us voluntarily and give people the option, including any slaves we buy, or free, a chance to leave and have freedom as what we need is the loyalty of willing people, not those bound to us by a chain."

"As they are far less to betray us than a slave or indentured servant would who is forced to and are likely to go far and beyond what would typically be expected of them."

Some would say that the lord of House Aurellion was taking advantage of the people's poverty to gain their loyalty, and they would be right. He was using his benevolence to gain people's hearts. However, with few other options available to them for advancement in the world, serving House Aurellion that would give freedom, wealth and education to these people and their families is a far more pleasant prospect than serving a lord who sees them as no more than pawns or even less than human.

While they would still be pawns to Railius, it was better to be a pawn of someone who treats you well and looks after your family in the event of your death than one who does not and would throw you and your family away without a second thought.