Chapter 9: Three Attendants

To increase his strength after having transmigrated, Lann ran everywhere to perform system missions. In the eyes of today's people, this is 'accepting commissions'. In order to gain more experience, it is natural to pursue a higher degree of task completion. Compared to bounty hunters who usually prey on common people, Lann is well-liked among the people and has also earned the title of 'Lannister, a promise worth a thousand gold pieces'. 

But in any era, there are dishonest people, and some are even malicious. In The Witcher Saga, a villager commissioned a witcher to hunt monsters, and then in order to get rid of the commission fee, he tricked the witcher into a barn and attempted to kill him. 

The same thing happened to Geralt, who also encountered defaulters on more than one occasion. There were even cases where the villagers were eager to sell their horses and divide their luggage while the witcher was still hunting the monsters. 

Many witchers start out with the mission of killing monsters and protecting civilians. The Witchers of the Griffin School even pursue chivalry. But after a long time, everyone turned into 'emotionless mutants'. The reasons are not clear to outsiders. 

As a nobleman of Cintra, Lann naturally has not encountered malicious people in Cintra who dare to attack and kill him, but there are always cunning people who want to pretend to be pitiful or act dishonestly. 

In this case, if the family is really ruined and cannot come up with money, Lann is not so hard-hearted. He carries out these assignments more for the experience than for the money he could earn. In this situation, he will even help the other party within a reasonable range. 

Getting one or two heartfelt thanks can be regarded as receiving emotional services, right? 

As for those real scoundrels, Lann always has a way to recover his own 'remuneration'. Only occasionally this process is accompanied by other 'collateral damage'. 

'Lannister, all debts must be paid' spread like that. Lann was happy to hear this. 

At three o'clock in the moonlight, Lann returned to his mansion. The courtyard and building were brightly lit. 

To his astonishment, the ten assistant candidates were still standing in the courtyard. Most of them were already drenched in sweat. Catching a glimpse from the corner of their eyes that the Count was back, the few lazy guys who had bent their bodies straightened up again and assumed an upright posture. 

Lann glanced at them, turned to Hardy who came out and asked, "Have they been standing here all day? I mean the ones who are motionless." 

After hearing this question, the assistant candidates' already pale face became even paler. Several of them, who might have interacted with Hardy on a daily basis, were pleading or winking at Hardy from a perspective that Lann couldn't see. 

Hardy ignored them and replied firmly: "No, there is no one who has stood still all the time." 

Lann nodded, as expected. Without systematic training, no one can stand at attention for a whole day without moving. He just wanted to try his luck in case he met some extraordinary person in this fantasy world. 

Turning around, Lann pointed at the three people who had the most dust on their bodies and whose clothes were so soaked that the ground beneath them was almost wet and said: "These three will stay, and the rest can return from where they came from." 

The originally pale-faced teenagers could no longer support themselves and fell to the ground. They did not have the courage to say a few more words and dejectedly left the mansion while dragging their tired bodies. 

Only the three remaining teenagers stood up straighter as if they had been injected with strength. 

Becoming a 'servant' does not mean entering the aristocratic level, but it definitely breaks away from the civilian class. Even many 'Knights' are promoted from among a noble's servants or guards who have achieved great feats in battle. 

Although almost all the 'servants' are just pebbles under the feet of the real nobles throughout their lives. But becoming a squire was, in a sense, half a foot in the upper class. 

Children of nobles who do not have family inheritance rights will choose to become attendants of the children of big nobles in order to become true nobles. Even many heirs with the right to inherit would choose to become attendants of Kings or Dukes for training and to expand their connections. Of course, the latter will return to the family and inherit the family business after a few years of working. 

Hence, most of the young men who are qualified to become attendants are from good backgrounds and have flexible minds. Sometimes they are unintelligent or like to be lazy. For example, the teenagers who were just eliminated by Lan. 

The crisis of annihilation of the Kingdom is approaching step by step and Lann has a strong desire for every bit of power he can accumulate in the meantime. That's why he was willing to spend a lot of money to treat the city guards to drinks at night, in order to be able to turn them into his own people in the shortest time. 

You must know that in this era, most officers or nobles are very picky. It would be good if they do not squeeze money from soldiers. In many places, recruits even have to bring their own equipment. Why? Because the materials provided by the Kingdom have become the private property of officers. 

It is even more impossible for them to mix with people they consider below their status, although this may increase military cohesion and morale. 

Lann only hopes to gather some warriors through his own method, so that they can become his own strength when the Kingdom is destroyed. Currently it seems that the results are good, and it all depends on the trust that his soldiers give him. 

And Lann's 'assistants', who will be his direct subordinates in the future, are forces destined to carry out tasks of extreme importance. Therefore, they must obey his orders absolutely. 

Lann didn't have the time to personally eliminate those unstable factors that were playing tricks. In order to avoid being stabbed at the critical moment, he simply didn't admit them in the first place. 

Lann looked at the remaining three attendants and said, "Now you can tell me your names." 

The three remaining young men excitedly introduced themselves to Lann. 

A tall, broad-shouldered young man named Ace introduced himself as the third son of a knight and was good at using crossbows and bows. Good crossbowmen are rare, and Lann plans to give him a try sometime. 

There was a thin young man named House. His father was the King's stable boy. Every knight had such a squire. 

There is another young man who is the only young man with a sword. This also makes him bear more pressure than others today, but his face and body trembling are no worse than those around him. It is obvious that he is practicing diligently. 

Lann also has an impression of this person. His name is Swade. His father was once a non-commissioned officer under Lann's father and died on the battlefield early. Lann's father found the young man a job as an apprentice in a blacksmith shop. 

Now that he heard that Lann was recruiting servants, he gave up his work in the blacksmith shop and came here. 

"I will be a sword in your hand, just as my father followed your father!" 

The young assistant Swade shouted excitedly with a hoarse voice because he had not drunk water all day. The enthusiastic look even scared Hardy. 

Lann nodded with a smile, initially accepting the three people. He then asked Hardy to take the three of them to the room prepared for the attendees to rest.