While Kulan was puzzled by Brand's strange proposal, Antitina and Qian arrived at an abandoned estate near Fir City. The ladies' carriage drove deep into the estate, where they were received by a few rcenaries who had been waiting for them. They got out of the carriage and imdiately saw a group of noisy young people not far away in the open space.
This estate had been renovated so months earlier. The dilapidated broken walls were replaced with wooden fences, and its scale was considerably expanded. Red pines were planted around the periter, which would grow lush and green by the following year, hiding everything inside the estate from view.
Secret sentries were placed in the pine forest, providing mutual support with the visible sentries along the wooden fence. It was heavily guarded—it was the secret camp chosen by Brand and the future training ground for the White Lion Infantry.
The estate was divided into two sections. The southeastern quarter was provided to Brand's rcenaries and adventurers as quarters. They were to protect and maintain order until the first batch of White Lion Infantry was fully trained. Eventually, Brand planned either to integrate them into the new army or to assign them elsewhere.
However, that depending on Krenxia's loyalty to the group.
The person in charge here was the silver-haired and handso middle-aged rcenary Group Leader.
At first, Krenxia was suspicious about Brand relocating him from Fir City, but once he understood the future significance of this place to Brand's group, he quickly realized it was a promotion rather than a dismissal.
The Great Commander's attitude imdiately beca proactive, organizing the camp's affairs ticulously. Brand's perceptiveness was quite accurate; Krenxia's combat command skills were diocre, but his ticulous nature made him exceptional in logistics and camp managent.
This was evident from the current orderly state of the camp. Everything was well-organized, and the sentries displayed much less of their previous bad habits. Only a month ago, they had been rcenaries or adventurers.
Of course, there were inevitably so exceptions—
After getting off the carriage, Antitina stood under the shade of a red tree by the carriage while Qian, her bodyguard, stood silently beside her. The tree species was a common evergreen hardwood in the Tonicel Region, capable of remaining green even in winter. The noble daughter stood under this green shade, observing the noisy commotion in the open space nearby.
There were about sixty young people there.
The rcenaries were maintaining order on the training ground, but most of those young people were local recruits who had never seen much of the world. When they saw a carriage stop under the shade with a noble lady stepping out, they beca restless.
"Look, there's a noble lady over there!"
"Why would a noble lady show herself in a place like this?"
"Is she the Lord's daughter?"
"No way, the Lord is quite young, I've seen him!"
"Then she must be his fiancée."
"That's possible."
The hushed conversations inevitably reached Antitina's ears. She listened quietly, then looked back at Qian with a glance. "What's wrong?" The girl with the red ponytail glanced back at this noble lady, slightly taken aback.
"Nothing," replied Antitina, and she turned her head back.
Gazing at the young people, she thought about the Lord's plans. The creation of the White Lion Infantry had been part of Tonyger's agenda from the beginning; but forming a powerful legion wouldn't happen overnight. Brand intended to cultivate a group of young people first, who would serve as the future backbone of the White Lion Legion—both as officers and as his own Personal Guard Knights.
These young people mostly ca from nearby regions—tenant farrs, craftsn's sons, or small rchant's children. So were from the estate, gentry heirs, or forr rcenaries and adventurers.
However, they all shared one characteristic: none were older than twenty, with so even being teenagers. They were like blank slates, full of potential.
Standing there, whispering and chatting, they were filled with anxiety and curiosity about the future. They had been here for only three or four days, undergoing basic training. Perhaps they had already experienced the importance of discipline under the rcenaries' whips, but they still carried an inevitable youthful naivety and restlessness.
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