The Second Commander of The Pelican Guard. (Bonus Chapter)

"As I got older, I needed to offload more and more responsibilities to Aldorus and Darius as they would be around far longer than I."

"It is amazing that as one gets older, they start to care more about their legacy and how things will be when they pass away."

"But I only wanted one thing."

"The safety of my lord and loyal men by his side to allow his dynasty to sour again."

Leon Mantelon, Grand Commander of the Pelican Guards, Regent to Railius and Grandmaster of Loyalty.

….

Railius was trained by Leon throughout the day with only brief stops for breakfast and lunch even some of the Pelican Guards felt sorry for the young boy as he endured training that was as hard if not harder than theirs as many of them did not need to learn about complex military tactics and doctrine like their young master had too.

After a few hours of physical training, the exhausted Railius was then dragged by Leon to the command tent where he learnt about military tactics and played chess with the grandmaster of loyalty only for an hour later be dragged back to the training ground to practice his sword skill.

Throughout this whole process, Leon seemed to care little for Railius' young age or for the blatant distress his face showed as he struggled through the training of the loyal regent, believing this precious time when Railius was young and the best time to harden his muscles and body and create a solid physical foundation that will help him when he inevitably went to battle in the future.

Despite training his reluctant young master hard, Railius was fed well for his current circumstances where his noble house's resources were tight because Leon knew from his life and experience that citizens who become soldiers and are fed well from a young age have better physical abilities and foundation than those who are malnourished and so to help his young master grow up strong ensured he got all of his nutritional needs.

Unfortunately, all this meticulous care about Railius and his future was lost on the small boy who complained like a child forced to read or have to do homework when they would much rather play outside, which seemed uncharacteristic of the mature young noble who managed to persuade political powerhouses in the past.

Trying to get Railius to put extensive effort into anything other than board games, politics, or military strategy was like trying to draw blood from a stone. Even in the real world, Railius was lazy to the extreme, only ever putting in the minimum effort possible unless it was a game he was particularly fond of. Unfortunately for him, DO was not a game that could be played half-heartedly, especially if one wanted to succeed.

But no matter how hard it was, somehow, through either fear, resignation or respect, the Grand Commander of the Pelican Guards managed just this, and for the first time in a while, Railius put his full effort into something.

The training, however, was uncharacteristically stopped in the late afternoon when their small military-like refugee camp received a messenger instead of the usual pigeon from Darius, the Second Commander of the Pelican Guards that he was arriving that evening with 100 men, the first of 900 that would be coming to the camp soon over the next few months.

To avoid suspicion and detection from their enemies, House Aurellion's remaining loyal Pelican Guards and their families would not come to their new haven in Nathia altogether; instead, they would arrive in smaller groups that would look like small groups of migrants while the Pelican Guards would arrive as the guards of noble caravans before staying in the Duchy of Detarnor.

This way, no big waves are made, and House Aurellion can silently migrate to Nathia without any of their enemies knowing, which is the best outcome that Railius could hope for as it would allow them to develop relatively peacefully in the early game as even the Duke of Detarnor himself and his government would not know that House Aurellion was secretly living there due to how low profile they were being.

With Railius's confirmed successful escape from Chavaria, the emperor turned instead to putting the exiled noble house out of his mind and focusing on the many internal issues that Prince Flavius had left in his successful bid to become crown prince. Even if many of the corrupt nobles had been purged by the emperor previously, the way that he did it made many Chavarian noble families wary of the imperial family's power as they did not know who would be the next to end up on the chopping block as cracks began to form in their once harmonious relationship.

As a result, as long as House Aurellion kept their heads down, no one would bother to deal with them, for no one wanted their loyal grandmaster fighter to go rogue and start an assassination spree.

This is where the true power of grandmaster fighters lay and was the reason why they were feared and respected throughout the world because all it takes is for you to let your guard down for one moment, and the next, your throat may be suddenly slit.

Armies may be able to stop grandmasters, but if one manages to infiltrate a palace or castle where only a few hundred to a thousand guards are scattered about, then it is perfectly possible for a grandmaster to sneak in and kill you. It is also why many noble families put grandmasters in charge of protecting their seat of power.

It's worse if the grandmaster has an unreconcilable grudge, as they may burn their life force to gain more power in an attempt to kill you. In that case, even if you had a grandmaster of your own protecting you, there is no guarantee of survival.

You may even lose one of your powerhouses as grandmasters have an extraordinary amount of life force, and if they have no regard for their own lives and use it all, then even the greatest experts in the world would have to take even the newest grandmaster seriously.

For these reasons, it is advisable not to offend a grandmaster, or you may not even know how you died!

Either way, Leon, as regent and current steward of the House Aurellion, would be needed to help put everything in order once Darius arrived, and so could not continue his gruelling training of his young lord, much to Railius' relief, who believed he might finally have a break away from his slave driver of a trainer.

Darius rode into their small camp, still having his distinctive goatee from 10 years ago at Brunag. His sharp eyes darted around the camp, inspecting every part of it. Whether it was the men guarding its entrances or other small details, he made sure to check every little thing and nodded in satisfaction, happy with Leon's arrangements, who had half a lifetime of experience when it came to setting up these small secure camps.

Beside him rode another man whom Railius did not recognise, making the small boy reflexively put up his guard against the newcomer as he tried to make his exhausted brain work. The middle-aged man's cunning turquoise eyes flashed with intelligence as he sighed when he saw what the once powerful and feared House Aurellion had been reduced to, having come a long way to keep his oath of loyalty to the house.

A sharp nose and charcoal black hair finished his facial features, but unlike the others who were clad in mail and plate, he wore nothing but a set of fine clothes, though they were ragged and worn from many days of travel, and it seemed he even managed to bring a mule with some baggage and two servants with him on his long journey from Chavaria to Nathia.

From his looks, it was evident that this was no ordinary man likely coming from a noble background, and to be able to even bring a few servants and a mule while being hunted down spoke volumes of the man's abilities, which only put more fear into Railius' heart as he wondered what this man had done to win the trust of Darius enough for the loyal soldier to bring him here.

Clack, clack, thunk!

Sensing the new arrivals, Leon quickly finished the little sparring session he and his young master were doing, using a precise flick of his wrist to disarm the young master of his wooden training sword held in the boy's small, unsteady hands. As the boy got older, they would use dull blades instead of wooden swords for training so that his young master could get used to wielding steel. But for now, Leon opted for the much safer and cheaper option of wooden swords that he had made himself from a few strong oak branches, meticulously carving them, so the swords were both practical and beautiful, using even his time on the road to do something productive.

It is unknown why the young lord of Aurellion did not run away, but it appears that either pride or stubbornness not to give in to Leon drove Railius to continue with the spartan-like training. The Grandmaster of Loyalty seemed to finally find a way to motivate the lazy young boy.

The two men dismounted as they approached the sparring pair, arriving just in time to see Leon's unsurprising and overwhelming victory. Darius signalled to the small team of vigilant Pelican Guards who acted as Railius' personal guard that the noble with him was trustworthy as they reluctantly stood down but still held a hand on the hilt of their steel swords, ready to move at any second to protect their young lord.

"My lord, I, Darius, Second Commander of the Pelican Guard, have arrived with 100 men to serve the lord! The other 900 loyal troops who escaped Chavaria will arrive in the coming months."

Darius said while giving Railius a respectful salute, knowing that even in the presence of House Aurellion's regent and most powerful person, Railius' status was still higher as the young lord and, so, greeted him respectfully first.

In other cases of regency where the regent is not loyal, even small things like greetings can have a lot of impact and meaning as the first person you greet usually is an indication of who you respect more and an acknowledgement of where true power lies, so someone who greeted a young emperor first was showing his loyalty and obeisancy to the authority of the emperor, not the regent.

Darius did not wear his customised Pelican Guard armour because it was too flashy and recognisable; instead, he wore a simple coat of mail given to him by Duke Ancel, who wanted to show his appreciation to House Aurellion as he already had 5000 men training under Aldorus and so was not stingy in his gratitude to the now exiled noble house providing a much more incognito lighter mail amour for each Pelican Guard.

While nowhere near as protective as the customised armour made for them, it was far less imposing and recognisable, which was essential if they wanted to move around without attracting the attention of their enemies.

Ancel also wanted to put House Aurellon more in his debt to learn more from them and gain more benefits for his dynasty, as a favour is often worth more than gold.

"Grand Commander."

Darius said after acknowledging Railius; he then nodded respectfully to the Grand Commander of the Pelican Guards and regent of House Aurellion, showing everyone where his true loyalty lies, though this was not surprising as it was likely only Aldorus Leon's most trusted man and few others would rebel if Leon did with how loyal the Pelican Guard was to Railius and his family.

Someone who thought that the only reason these troops were so loyal to House Aurellion was that the Grandmaster of Loyalty brought them up and they were veterans who had served Lucius for a long time was wrong. While this did have an impact, the real reason why they were so loyal to the noble house was because it was benevolent and looked after the people under it.

Even now, when it was exiled with no land to speak of or gain revenue from, the first thing on the mind of the lords of House Aurellion was not how to escape alone but how to get as many of their loyal soldiers and their families to safety as possible. Even wounded veterans and the families of dead soldiers were cared for well when other nobles would discard them as House Aurellion ensured their livelihood and would even help the children of the veterans find a trade or job of their choice.

Such a benevolent lord who was also competent was hard to come by as many virtuous lords get sidelined in politics when the cunning ones go after them, using their honourable nature as a weapon to force them out of their nation's court or parliament.

"Darius, there is no need for formalities between us brothers of arms. After all, we all are doing our best for the peace and prosperity of House Aurellion."

Leon said as the two men firmly clasped each other's arms, both respecting the other as they had worked together for a long time.

"I see you're putting the young lord through his paces. The sweat is dripping from him in buckets! Just how hard have you pushed the poor lad!"

Darius said, feeling sorry for Railius, who was obviously in distress, but his trust in the Grand Commander forced any doubts out of his mind. This person had led House Aurellion in their escape from the empire after all and, like him, was willing to fight hundreds of thousands of troops as long as their young lord was safe.

"He needs it. He will be going into battle in the future and needs to learn to defend himself. I'm getting old and won't be around forever to protect him."

"More pain suffered here is better than losing an arm then!"

Leon said gravely he was 46 by now, and in 8 years, when Railius came of age 8 years later, when he was 18, he would be 54 and far past his physical prime. Even now, he could feel the age creep up on him as his hair slowly went grey and his bones got more brittle, clear signs of the effect the ravages of time have had on his body. The only thing that he could do was ensure that his old lord son, who was born in the later years of his life, was prepared for the vicious field of battle.

As he got older, he started thinking more and more about the future and how House Aurellion would survive once he was gone and the protective halo of a grandmaster was missing from the noble house.

Currently, as long as he lived, everyone would tread carefully, but what happens when he is gone? Their old enemies will use his absence as an unparalleled existence to try to strike at his beloved young lord and so would do his best to set up House Aurellion for success when he was gone.

While no one could spare a grandmaster to kill Railius, people had plenty of masters that they could send after him, and if one got lucky, then his lord's bloodline would be destroyed.

"Who is this?"

Leon said, looking suspiciously at the cunning man who calmly watched the interaction between the two Pelican Guard commanders and then turned his wise, insightful eyes onto the young lord of Aurellion.

"Of course, you would not know him Grand Commander. You were assigned to the capital to look after the young lord by the time he took office."

"This is Baron Malwin Thornsworth! He is one of the old lords' most trusted administrators and has controlled the Marquisate in Lucius' absence for the past 8 years. He is known for his integrity and shrewd political manoeuvres. I believe he has even learned a bit of our old lord's cunning ways, and so he is a perfect candidate to teach the young master in administrative matters that you are unfamiliar with."

"We also would not have been able to escape from Chavaria so successfully without him."

Darius said it was apparent that whatever trials the two had faced resulted in a mutual respect forming between them as the Pelican Guard Commander motioned to the man who knelt down on one knee in front of the small boy and said in a loud, firm voice.

"Baron Malwin Thornsworth, the old lord of Thornscross, pledges loyalty to his true lord, Marquis Railius Aurellion."