Adrian had intentionally chosen not to buy horses for this unit. He wanted his new knights to focus entirely on regular training. After all, two to three months were not enough for them to learn horse riding while also practicing sword and shield. He’d rather have them learn one thing properly, and for war, fighting was more important than riding a horse without knowing how to use a weapon.

Marching in full plate armor for days was just another form of physical conditioning for them now.

Their first major stop was Baron Kaldwin’s territory.

Adrian walked right up to the massive gates of the Kaldwin estate and the guards let him through immediately.

Baron Kaldwin greeted him in the courtyard. "Ah, Adrian. You are here! Why don’t you travel with my son instead of marching alone?"

Sebastian walked out of the mansion. The Baron’s eldest son looked sharp in his armor. Sebastian was a C rank knight. He was incredibly strong and had plenty of actual combat experience.

Sebastian looked past Adrian and scanned the small group of sixty men.

Sebastian frowned. He had no idea these men were actual knights. All he saw, was just sixty guys in overly expensive armor.

"You only brought sixty soldiers?" Sebastian asked. He sounded completely unimpressed.

"I prefer a small, manageable group." Adrian said smoothly.

"Fine." Sebastian sighed. "I am bringing eight hundred men. You can just tag along behind us."

Adrian did not argue. Eight hundred soldiers was a massive force. Baron Kaldwin’s territory was famous for its military obsession. The whole place was basically a giant boot camp and they had a standing army of almost three thousand men. The royal family even sent raw recruits here for basic training. The Emperor trusted Kaldwin enough to grant him tax exemptions just to keep this military hub running.

They rested in the Kaldwin estate for one night.

The next morning, Sebastian’s army moved out. Sebastian did not force his men to march on foot. Instead, he had massive wooden carriages pulled by heavy draft horses, with each carriage holding twenty soldiers.

Sebastian offered Adrian a luxury carriage.

"I will ride with my people." Adrian declined the offer.

He took a standard troop carriage. It had some basic cushioning and was nothing fancy, but it was much better than the carriages that the other soldiers used, which didn’t even have seats. They’d have to stand instead.

Adrian sat inside the carriage with Claire, Celeste, and the five kids.

While the carriage rocked and bounced over the uneven road, Adrian looked at Celeste. "You are the only one here with medical knowledge. I am leaving the health of my unit entirely in your hands. Prepare medicines in bulk. If you need any rare ingredients, just tell me and I will get them."

"Understood, my lord." Celeste nodded seriously.

Adrian turned to Claire. She sat near the window with her sword resting on her lap.

"How is the training manual I gave you?" Adrian asked. "Are you making progress?"

Claire smiled, and she actually looked incredibly happy.

"Thanks to you, I broke through last week." Claire said proudly. "I am a C rank knight now. I am finally at the same rank as my brother. Though he has been a C rank for four years, so he still has more experience and is also much more skilled than I am."

"That is great news." Adrian grinned.

He looked at the five kids who were sitting quietly in the back of the carriage. Their weapons were safely stored away and they did not wear their armor right now. They just wore plain travel clothes.

But their entire demeanor had changed over the last two months. They did not look like broken slaves anymore and they sat with straight backs. Their eyes were sharp and they looked like predators waiting for the cage to open so they could prove their worth.

But Adrian knew they had a massive psychological barrier blocking their path.

They had never killed a human being. Killing dungeon goblins was one thing, but taking a human life was completely different. He knew they needed to cross that line soon, but he did not bring it up. He just let them rest.

Three weeks of bumpy travel later, they finally reached the eastern frontier.

The war camp was massive, with thousands of tents stretched across the plains.

This land belonged to Marchioness Vaneira, Adrian’s ex wife.

In this empire, the title of Marquis or Marchioness was specifically given to the nobles who guarded the borders and they possessed overwhelming military might. Dukes had more money and political power, but the border lords had the most hardened, bloodthirsty veterans in the world.

This was exactly why Adrian had wanted to avoid this place. He knew he was only called up this early because Vaneira wanted to make his life miserable.

Adrian walked into the main command tent while Claire followed right behind him as his army’s general.

He looked around the large wooden table and recognized the faces from the novel’s descriptions and also from his own memories.

General Vekar stood at the head of the table. He was a massive, scarred man who commanded Vaneira’s forces. Vaneira herself was nowhere to be seen. She was a political snake, not a battlefield tactician, so she left the actual fighting to Vekar.

Count Frankenstein stood to the right while Viscount Alexander’s son, Tristan stood to the left.

Alexander’s son had brought one thousand soldiers, Count Frankenstein brought fifteen hundred and Sebastian had his eight hundred.

General Vekar looked at the map on the table. "The Kingdom of Avarice has mobilized fifty thousand troops."

Adrian frowned. "Do you not have thirty thousand soldiers under the Marchioness alone?"

General Vekar shook his head grimly. "That is our total capacity on paper. But we have suffered heavy casualties over the last year. The Emperor recently pulled back some of his support due to reasons I do not know, and we currently have twenty thousand combat ready troops. Many of them are fresh recruits."

Vekar pointed at the map. "Combined with your forces, we have roughly twenty three thousand men to hold this border."

The General looked up and locked eyes with Adrian.

"I received reports that your territory has been expanding rapidly."