In the courtyard.
Aside from the two members who had already left with Adele for Don Quixote's fief, the remaining seventeen members of the Bloody Hand Mercenary Company were all present.
Don Quixote stood by the door for a moment, waiting for the men in the yard to quiet down before he spoke:
"It is your fearless courage in the face of death! It is your unyielding spirit in suppressing your own restless hearts! That is what made almost everyone in White Harbor know the name of the Bloody Hand Mercenary Company in such a short time.
"I have always believed that true knightly spirit is born among hedge knights. Only when a man has absolutely nothing, yet still holds fast to his principles, can you see the true spirit of a knight.
"Even though some of you are not anointed knights, the only thing separating you from them is a title.
"In my eyes, every single one of you is already a knight. A true, worthy knight!"
Pausing for a moment, Don Quixote suddenly smiled. "I don't think I've ever told you why I wanted to form the Bloody Hand Mercenary Company in the first place.
"Well, one of the reasons—and a crucial one at that...
"Is that I wanted to help those who live and die by the contract. Those who could perish at any moment from starvation or injury, yet still possess the true spirit of a knight! I wanted to help them!
"And who are they? They are every single one of you! And me!
"Do you still remember our motto?"
"We remember, My Lord!" The seventeen members of the Bloody Hand, who had grown quiet and visibly moved, roared in unison:
"No home but the sword!"
Don Quixote's smile faded, his voice turning solemn.
"Exactly. Men like us spend almost our entire lives wandering.
"I've spoken with each of you. About your pasts, about the things you still cling to even when you're down on your luck. I know where every one of you comes from.
"Some of you lost your lands. Some were exiled by nobles. Some simply refused to live a mediocre life. And so on.
"To survive, we didn't choose any other path. We chose to become hedge knights and free-riders.
"Why?
"Because you are all searching for something important, even if you haven't fully realized it yet yourselves.
"But I believe you will understand soon enough.
"Remember this!
"We may rely on the swords in our hands to survive, but we never point them at the innocent.
"We may hustle for Gold Dragons and Silver Stags, but coin hasn't bought our souls.
"We all want to forge our own destinies with our own hands. We have sworn oaths in blood.
"We are the same breed!
"And men like us exist everywhere—in the North, the Vale, the Stormlands, the Reach, the Riverlands, across all the Seven Kingdoms. Even across the Narrow Sea in the eastern continent.
"There is no shortage of our kind in this world!
"Caught in the cracks between mercenary work and honor... I wanted to do something for these people. To help them!
"That is one of the main reasons I founded the Bloody Hand!"
Pausing again, Don Quixote delivered his final point:
"Even though I have now been fortunate enough to be named a sworn sword by Lord Wyman and granted my own fief, I have not forgotten my past. And I never will!
"The Bloody Hand Mercenary Company... I don't want it to just quietly disappear tomorrow or the day after.
"I want the Bloody Hand to endure. I want it to become not just the most reputable mercenary company in White Harbor, but the most trusted in all the Seven Kingdoms.
"More than that, I want the Bloody Hand to become a sanctuary for all those who seek honor!
"When that day comes, perhaps we won't be called a mercenary company anymore. We'll be the Order of the Bloody Hand.
"When that day comes, history will remember every single one of you. You will be the heroes in the tales every wet nurse tells the children!
"But for any of that to happen, we must keep the spirit of the Bloody Hand alive. We cannot abandon it!"
As Don Quixote's words fell, Warren was the first to speak, dropping heavily to one knee almost instantly.
"My Lord, I am willing to stay in White Harbor! I will never let the Bloody Hand disappear, and I will never let its reputation be tarnished in the slightest!"
Immediately after, Zachary dropped to one knee as well.
"My Lord, I also wish to stay in White Harbor and defend the Bloody Hand's honor!"
One by one, the rest of the men followed suit, dropping to their knees.
"My Lord, I wish to stay in White Harbor too!"
"I am very glad to hear your choices," Don Quixote said, a sudden smile breaking across his face.
"However, if all of you stay in White Harbor, I'll have no one to accompany me to my lands.
"Previously, I turned away many honorable men like yourselves because I worried that growing our numbers too quickly might draw the wrong kind of attention.
"Because of that, I will soon be inviting new blood into our ranks.
"I plan to select ten of you to remain in White Harbor. Your job will be to train the new recruits while upholding the company's reputation.
"Furthermore, starting today, Warren is officially the Vice Captain of the Bloody Hand. When I am not in White Harbor, he will be in charge of all company affairs!"
Afterward, Don Quixote gave a few more instructions and chatted with the men for a while. During this time, he selected the other nine men who would stay behind with Warren.
Among them were Tom and Shane.
Tom and Shane's treatment within the company was no different from anyone else's—at least on the surface. As long as the price was right, they were highly effective tools.
Beyond that, Don Quixote hoped that being surrounded by the others might rub off on them, helping them understand true loyalty and stopping them from being pure opportunists whose morals were highly flexible.
Of course, if they couldn't be influenced, that was fine too. As long as they followed the rules and completed their contracts in White Harbor, it didn't matter.
In the short term, it was highly unlikely they would betray the company while in the city. And even if they did, the fallout would be minimal.
As for the long term, they only had three paths: understand loyalty and truly earn Don Quixote's trust, be marginalized by the rest of the group, or choose betrayal and be swiftly dealt with by a well-prepared Don Quixote.
With these thoughts in mind, Don Quixote picked up the food and ale that Cole and Alden had bought from the tavern earlier, eating, drinking, and laughing with his men.
After a while, he excused himself and returned to the study to handle some remaining administrative tasks.
Watching Don Quixote's figure disappear, someone chuckled and whispered to the man beside him:
"Zachary, weren't you absolutely dead-set on following the Lord to his fief earlier? What made you change your mind so fast?"
Zachary took a massive gulp of dark ale and burst out laughing.
"Hell if I know! I just heard the Lord talking, and suddenly I wanted to stay in White Harbor.
"Either way, no matter where I am, I'm working for the Lord.
"But what about you, Jeremy? Weren't you the one constantly muttering about wanting to go to his lands and become one of his sworn swords?"
Jeremy grinned, taking a sip of his drink before sighing contentedly.
"Like you said, it doesn't matter where we are, as long as we're serving the Lord.
"None of us really wanted to stay in White Harbor, and the Lord probably didn't want to force anyone to stay against their will. That's why he gave us that speech.
"But after hearing him out... it actually feels like staying here and continuing as a hedge knight isn't a bad choice at all!
"Haha, honestly, even if the Lord hadn't said a word and just ordered me to stay, I wouldn't have complained.
"Ever since I started following him, my life has only gotten better. I trust the Lord!
"Ah, whatever! Why are we thinking so hard about this? We're working for him either way.
"Drink up! Eat!"