"To wage war, you need first of all money; second, you need money, and third, you also need money."
Raimondo Montecuccoli (Military leader, 1609 – 1680, Austria)
….
August 15th,4009 ASA (after species awakening)
Railius and his 1600 Pelican Guards and Protectors arrived in the vicinity of the ancient Nartook Fortress, while his men joined the new recruits in their training. Railius himself was on his way to an important meeting while musing about the cost of the upcoming war.
To make contributions and potentially use military merits to gain a landed noble title, Railius has pulled out every ounce of strength his noble house can muster.
Nearly 10,000 elite soldiers had been mobilised in total for the upcoming war by House Aurellion, if you consider the 8000 men from Sigismund Security Solutions to be within that number, despite many of them not knowing that their leadership secretly serves the exiled noble house.
And of these nearly 10,000 men, only the 1600 with him who had registered as soldiers in Nathia would be paid for by others being able to draw a salary from the coffers of the Kingdom of Nathia, the nation House Aurellion now serves.
This fact was not lost on either Ranier Lantier, the commanding general of Nathia's forces, the crown prince or the king that Railius was using their gold to help upkeep what is essentially a small private army for himself, but they all agreed that it was best for Railius to keep his presence unknown to their enemies for now so that he could appear suddenly at a crucial moment and shock the Nathian veterans and older generals.
As a result, to keep up this pretence, they had to act like Railius' men were nothing more than newly recruited soldiers, and so, as a result, had to pay them the salary of a soldier, conveniently allowing Railius to skimp on some expenses and save some money.
Railius was many things, but it is agreed by all who know him well that he knew how to make the most of a situation and milk his allies for all their worth; however, as soon as Railius reveals himself to the world, that money would stop as the kingdom does not pay the upkeep for a nobles private soldiers which is what the Pelican Guards are.
After all, no one would pay money for an army that is not theirs, which they don't want around, especially when that army is more loyal to a certain lord rather than the kingdom as a whole.
No good deal can last forever, but at least until the war hits a crucial point, and Railius has to reveal himself to the world, he won't have to pay for his men's salaries and other supplies. However, he had to spend money employing smiths he had freed during his anti-slavery operations to make his men customised Pelican Guard armour for them to wear for when House Aurellion finally revealed itself.
Though this was reduced heavily thanks to the 1500 sets of Pelican Guard armour left over from the noble houses' flight from Chavaria.
For nearly 10 years, this old Pelican Guard equipment has been kept hidden, waiting for the time for House Aurellion to return and announce its survival to the world.
Still, even with the help of old armaments, in total, 100 new sets of armour had been made, each costing 100 gold for a total of 10,000 gold.
This may seem expensive, but this armour was also some of the best money can buy, with only the best weapons being able to pierce it and giving the best protection and comfort possible, as nothing but the best was acceptable for the most stalwart protectors of House Aurellion.
Elite soldiers take years to properly train, so if Railius can spend some gold to give them a higher chance of survival and allow them to kill a few more enemies before dying, then he would spend this money without hesitation.
It was fortunate that over the past 10 years, Railius' House had accumulated a substantial wealth in various ways, allowing this substantial amount to become a pittance in the eyes of the fallen noble, as to most players, 10,000 gold was a fortune they would drool over not spare cash to be spent on upgrading their common soldier's armour no matter how loyal those soldiers may be.
The mercenaries' salaries and military supplies, on the other hand, all had to be paid for by Railius himself, and this is where the high reputation of his mercenary group, Sigismund Security Solutions, comes to bite him in the back.
In an effort to at least lower the connection between House Aurellion and its secret mercenary group puppet and to prevent any mercenaries who don't know the intimate relationship between the two from suddenly deciding to leave, Railius has to pay them salaries according to their rank and even their food too adding it as a an extra condition to make it clear to the world that hiring Sigismond Security Solutions to fight a war was more expensive than your usual ragtag band of mercenaries.
Each normal soldier received 10 gold coins per month, which included their food expenses, while junior officers received 50 gold coins per month and senior officers received 100 gold coins per month.
Darius, the leader and commander of the mercenary group, did not receive payment for his services, as he chose not to. In addition, due to the presence of Leon Mantalon, he temporarily handed over command for the upcoming war to the more experienced cavalry commander.
There were eight senior officers or captains under Darius in the mercenary group, all of whom commanded 1000 men each and were old Pelican Guards and subordinates of Darius, ensuring the loyalty of the core leadership to him and House Aurellion.
After all, the mercenary company was only independent on the surface.
Under each of those senior officers were ten 100-man commanders who acted as their lieutenants, and twenty 50-man commanders and 100 10-man commanders.
This means that in total, there were eight senior officers, 1040 junior officers, and 6951 normal soldiers who needed to be paid, costing Railius 122,310 gold a month for them to be deployed on the field.
When Malwin told Railius these numbers, the young university student neatly spat out blood, lamenting that war really was a bottomless pit!
All this gold was spent in an attempt to lower any connection between House Aurellion and Sigismond Security Solutions, though anyone who did a background check on both parties would find considerable suspicious overlaps between this would mainly stem from the fact that only a few months after House Aurellion disappeared from the public suddenly, a Chavarian mercenary company would in the same kingdom that House Aurellion would reappear in.
If it weren't for Railius paying them an exorbitant fee to fight for him, then people would have been able to confirm that Sigismond Security Solutions was House Aurellion's front, a way for them to build up their military strength without provoking the ire of the world, but as long as they were paid such a fee, then people may think that the connection may not be as strong as they initially thought.
These people may believe that Sigismond Security Solutions was a branch of ex-House Aurellion soldiers, helping their old liege's house one last time as a favour, rather than a puppet dancing to Railius' tune, since there would be no need to pay a puppet; they could simply march on your orders for free.
Even Leon's presence could be explained as a commander sent by Railius to oversee them and issue orders, as no noble would fully trust a mercenary group and would instead send a trusted individual to ensure they weren't betrayed, as mercenaries are not known for their loyalty.
Some would obviously be able to tell that House Aurellion controlled Sigismond Security Solutions, but as long as some people have this doubt, they will not look deeper into it for the time being.
It was likely a vain hope, but worth a shot, as Railius would if he could, like to keep Sigismond Security Solutions as a means of gathering information on nobles, town mayors and ministers, even if they did not have much influence or power beyond their local area.
In this mass mobilisation of House Aurellion's forces, even Baron Malwin Thornsworth, Railius' mentor and head of administration, nearly got conscripted; luckily for the 40-odd-year-old baron, he was too crucial to the running of House Aurellion's intelligence network and overall co-ordination of affairs to be moved to the front lines. Otherwise, the old administrator would be dragged right beside Railius in the thick of battle!
Upon entering the large ancient fortress capable of housing nearly a hundred thousand soldiers, Railius's mind quickly turned from his noble house's extensive war preparations to his surroundings.
After carefully observing the defences of Nartook Fortress, there was only one word that came to mind.
Terrifying.
The strength of its defences was terrifying even for a fortress guarding a mountain pass, as even its defences facing Nathia, which were far worse than those facing Chavaria, would put a typical castle to shame.
The fortress gates were massive, requiring four men to open each one, not to mention that it was only one of three, with one of these three being a portcullis that was slotted in the middle of the two sets of giant doors. Its walls seemed to have been built by giants, being just as tall as those of the Nathian royal palace and reaching nearly 40 feet tall. The walls on the Chavarian side were even higher, reaching 60 feet higher than even the greatest castles in Earth's history.
If one did not know better, they would have thought that a god erected this fortress, not man; such was the magnificent sense of safety it provided for its inhabitants.
Even an army of a million men would have to slowly grind this defensive structure down, let alone an army of a hundred thousand.
It only made Railius more guarded, as despite knowing what they were going up against, a fortress with towers that shoot up like mountain peaks and ballistas and scorpions that pier down the battlements like engines of doom, Chavaria was confident in taking this fortress.
This meant they had a plan.
A plan to deal with the siege engines that are scattered on the walls like sand in a desert, and the 60-foot-tall walls that even ladders would struggle to reach.
And this simple fact brought more worry, more fear, than even the hundreds of thousands of men that will soon be camped outside these walls in only a few months' time or maybe early spring next year if Nathia was lucky and Chavaria wished not to wage war during the winter.
Though given Railius's knowledge of Flavius's personality, the new Chavarian emperor would not wait until then and would instead start the campaign soon, likely having made extensive preparations should the war have to be fought through the winter.
But looking around at the people manning this ancient fortress, you wouldn't find any urgency or worry on the faces of the soldiers guarding the gateway into Nathia, nor in those of the newer recruits being drilled relentlessly in the courtyard.
As they were blissfully unaware of the storm that was slowly approaching them, promising to drown them in the fires of war, the crucible in which tens of thousands of them would die, never to return to their loved ones.
After all, only the most intelligent would be able to see the signs of this coming bloody storm, and only then if they had an intelligence network that spanned entire nations like Railius had.
The only issue Railius had was that he was unaware of this plan, as whether it was Archtorius or Amulius Lunaris leading this war, both knew how to keep their machinations secret from prying eyes.
It was likely that the many cogs that make up the machine of this grand plan didn't even know of each other, so if one was exposed, they could not reveal anything beyond their own role in the fall of this mighty ancient fortress, allowing the rest of their plan to remain hidden from their enemies.
They were grandmaster strategists.
And one should never underestimate a grandmaster strategist.
Eventually, Railius was led to the general's quarters, the most luxurious part of the fortress, a strictly guarded place that was guarded not by the soldiers of the kingdom but by Ranier Lantier's personal soldiers.
Men who were loyal to him due to oaths sworn to him as the Grand Duke of Bundo and not loyal to him due to oaths sworn to king and country, a small but significant difference as the army garrisoned at Nartook Fortress was officially 80,000 men strong however Ranier had brought 20,000 elite soldiers from his own domain bolstering its strength to the 100,000 strong monstrosity that intimidated every rebellious noble in the Kingdom of Nathia.
These were also the same soldiers that had been sent to pick him up so that he could attend this meeting with the Nathian great general, which Railius supposed was for Ranier to take his measure of the young lord.
As an essential part of the plan to allow Railius and his men to covertly enter the Nathian army, the grand duke was well aware of who he was and of his hidden identity.
An identity that was different from any other that he had used before, as Railius seemed to go through one secret identity a year.
Railius' new name, at least until he reveals himself in the coming war, was Edmond Palestone, not the most creative name in the world, admittedly, but it didn't need to be, as Railius did not intend to use it for very long.
A guard opened the door to what appeared to be the general's solar as the great general of Nathia himself was sitting behind a desk, only Railius' own footsteps and the scratching of quill against parchment could be heard in the room that was silent as a grave, even with another armoured man in the room.
Likely Ranier's most trusted subordinate if he were able to attend such a secret meeting, as few were even aware of House Aurellion's survival, let alone their potential role in the wars to come.
The silence lingered until the door closed behind Railius, the guard, being careful to make the least noise possible so as not to disturb his respected lord, locking the young noble in the room with the two older men, and it was only when the door closed that Ranier looked up.
He was not wearing his armour; instead, he was in a gold-trimmed, rich blue tunic embroidered with the golden eagle of his house, matched with blue leggings.
It appeared to be the attire he wears when dealing with the daily paperwork the army requires, a task that does not need him to be armoured, as armour can get quite heavy, especially if you have to wear it for an entire day.
While wearing armour for long periods is good training to build up endurance for someone like Ranier Lantier, who was both a grandmaster strategist and fighter, such training had long become obsolete.
The Nathian general was expressionless, though Railius felt the same chill he felt when facing the older man's gaze as he did facing King Luthers only a month earlier.
It was a gaze of quiet ice-cold judgement.
His eyes were a piercing blue, like his house's colours; his hair was long, greyed from stress and age, and was cut short so as not to interfere with his helmet, which was a stark difference from Railius' dark brown locks of hair.
The old general's eyebrows curl slightly upwards towards his forehead, his sword resting against the edge of the long wooden table that created his desk.
His body was muscled from continuous exercise and training, helping to stave off the ravages of time from weakening him.
Behind him, hanging on the wall, was the banner of a golden eagle on a field of blue.
The banner and sigil of the general's noble house.
But it was his aura that of a man forged in the fires of war, a god of death on the battlefield, that really made Railius feel fear and of an intelligence that rivalled that of even the greatest minds of the age.
His voice, while old, was booming, nothing like the weakened rasp of the king, even if that was a deception designed to mislead his opponents.
A voice used to giving commands.
A voice used to being obeyed.
A voice which sent shivers down the spine of any who heard it.
"So you are the young noble whose shadow has been plaguing the kingdom for the last 3 years."