While Griselda and Tie Longkun took the task to find a suitable place for their future headquarters, Lei Zhen and Howard made their way to the outskirts of Yors Castle.
The outskirts of Yors Castle was where the armies usually resided to train and prepared themselves for combat.
It was also a restricted area that prevented any citizens from entering without authority or permission.
However, that was not the case for Lei Zhen when he arrived at the restricted area.
"W-Welcome Chancellor." The imperial guard that was guarding the entrance hurriedly bowed its head and greeted Lei Zhen with the utmost respect.
"Hmm, am I that recognizable?" Lei Zhen asked in a muttering tone.
He was going to show off the military tally to give them a fright and announce his arrival. Yet that doesn't seem to be necessary at all.
Meanwhile, Howard calmly whispered to his ears and explained why the imperial guard acted so nervously.
Apparently, the imperial guard here was one of the soldiers that worked for him before during wartime.
Thus, it was obvious why the soldier would be so afraid and solemn at the same time.
"I see…" Lei Zhen nodded his head, clearly a bit disappointed. He went all the way to Kate's office to ask to borrow some soldiers, but it was pointless to do so.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtThese soldiers had long been tamed by him in the past and would already respect him with or without the military tally.
"I'm here to inspect the army, so be the guide." Lei Zhen commanded.
"Of course, Chancellor." The poor soldier didn't dare to refuse the command even if it meant leaving his post and assigned duty.
Who would dare to slight the Chancellor when he requested you to do something?
That's a one-way ticket to ask for death if you dare to slight the popular and reputed Chancellor.
Sometime later, as the poor soldier became the guide for Lei Zhen, everywhere they went, the soldiers' training would temporarily stop for a moment and greeted him.
Even the training commander would personally head over to chat with Lei Zhen.
"Is there anything you need here, Chancellor?" The training commander, Evan, asked, his face full of smiles and sunshine.
"Cough, I'm here to inspect the armies and see which one I will bring along with me to an expedition." Lei Zhen faked a cough. He was not used to seeing the stern soldiers in his mental image be all smiley and sunshine.
"Inspecting and picking an army camp?" Evan was astonished for a second before smiling.
"You've found the correct person, Chancellor. I'm the training commander in this army camp so I can tell you all the details you wish to know for each platoon."
"That's fantastic then. I wish to borrow at least five platoons." Lei Zhen said.
"Uh, five platoons?" Evan held a complicated expression.
"Is there a problem with that?"
"W-Well, kind of… Chancellor, you are eligible to borrow three platoons maximum, and any more than that would be problematic."
Lei Zhen nodded his head. Despite being the chancellor, there should have been a limit on the number of platoons that he could control or mobilize.
After all, it would have been unrealistic if the chancellor could just come in and borrow the whole platoons.
What would the royal family do if the chancellor became a traitor?
"Rest assured, Training Commander Evan." Lei Zhen chuckled softly as he retrieved the military tally.
And upon seeing the military tally on his face, Evan quickly went on to his knees and apologized.
"I'm sorry, Chancellor. I didn't know you were the holder of the military tally." Evan said, his forehead practically sweating like a waterfall.
"You don't have to be that courteous…" Lei Zhen twitched his brows, clearly didn't understand why he would suddenly get on his knees.
"The Chancellor might not know this, but those who hold the military tally are the commanders of all soldiers. It's offensive for me to try to doubt you." Evan explained, still nervous.
"Relax, I'm just here to borrow platoons, and not trying to establish any form of authority." Lei Zhen replied, storing his military tally.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmOnly when the military tally was not in plain sight did Evan regain his composure.
'Chancellor is really a dangerous man. I almost shat my pants alone for that unexpected moment.' Evan thought to himself.
Along the way, Evan brought Lei Zhen to inspect numerous platoons that were separated into different classes.
Such as those in the Knight classes, training with their shield and sword at the same time, Mage classes, firing their spell at the dummy target.
In addition to those, there were also combat arenas where soldiers got to spar with each other.
"This combat arena is extremely popular with the soldiers. Whenever there was any dispute, they would come here to spar. Also, it's a great method to discuss who's stronger." Evan introduced the combat arena.
"Not bad indeed. This is a good way to increase the soldiers' morale and their faith in being the best in their own platoon." Lei Zhen smiled briefly.
These were all the common strategies one would use to improve the soldiers' motivation to become better instead of just training with their weapons which usually bored them out.
Of course, occasionally a soldier would notice him walking around and the surrounding soldiers would stop their activities.
"Relax yourself, I'm not here to nitpick or anything. Just continue your usual activity." Lei Zhen had to say to have the soldiers not get distracted.
"Yes Chancellor, we shall oblige to your words."
With that said, the soldiers resumed their training and no longer minded Lei Zhen's presence.
Time slowly passed by, and the sky had already turned dark by the time he finished inspecting all the different kinds of army platoons available.
ραпdα nᴏνa| сom "Did you find any suitable platoons, Chancellor?" Evan asked.
Lei Zhen nodded his head.
"Later, I'll have someone send you an official document about borrowing the platoons I wished to mobilize." He said and left the army camp.