"Well, anyway, all of you have glorious family histories, great ancestors, or perhaps immense wealth and many landed estates. Maybe five years ago, none of you knew what Heilberg was... Sounds like a new fruit pie invented by Mut's Half-Elf chef?" Heilberg continued to speak solemnly.

More than thirty new recruits burst into laughter, but Heilberg remained unfazed, glaring as he continued, "But now, I am Marshal Rick, and I don't care how influential your family is in the Imperial Court, how many Gold Marks are in your treasury, or how many military achievements your ancestors had in the past. None of it counts here with me!"

"Your families sent you here to me, so I have the responsibility to teach you well. Although, in my view, some of you are too weak, some of you are too stupid, and some of you... are too vain. I'm talking about you, Steiner! I can smell your perfume from dozens of people away!" Marshal Rick glared at a recruit standing in the corner.

Steiner von Beikafen, from the Ostmark Alliance, heard Heilberg's reprimand and bowed his head in shame. The young man was somewhat disgruntled, but he knew that if he were expelled by Marshal Rick for this, it would be a great disgrace to his family.

Fortunately, Heilberg did not pursue the matter further: "Alright, recruits, let's begin!"

"Today's first lesson is the history of the Rick Guard."

...

"The Rick Guard was established during the reign of Leopold Franz Friedrich, the Emperor after His Majesty the Savior Ludwig."

In the evening, at the Imperial Royal Hotel, in the dining room, Laine, sitting at the head of the long table, turned to Surya and Sylvia beside him, and across from him, Veronica and Teresa, saying, "After Leopold ascended to the throne, he was troubled by the Griffin Knight Order's reluctance to obey orders. Due to the privileges granted by Ludwig, Leopold found it difficult to easily command the Griffin Knights, so he established the Rick Guard."

"This move was considered highly effective. As the private army of the Franz family, the Rick Guard has always been the most trusted guard of the Emperor and his most elite force. The noble offspring provide excellent manpower, the Royal Armory provides the finest equipment, and after serving in the Rick Guard, these noble offspring emerge with far greater career prospects. The Emperor evidently prefers to promote those who have served in the Rick Guard to important positions."

"It sounds somewhat like a selection process, similar to how nobility in the Kingdom would send their children to the capital to serve as Ranger Knights for the Knight King, striving for a chance to become Kingdom Knights," Surya said.

Before they could continue, a strange voice came from the side, "Well, well, who do we have here? It's the Nord lad, the little champion of the lady in the lake, clinging to the Sharp Ears' thigh, and brazenly becoming an esteemed guest of the Emperor?"

Upon hearing this voice, Laine did not get angry; instead, he stood up to show respect, "Good evening, Your Highness Prince-Elector of Beikafen."

"Hmph!" A tall man with a long goat beard, dressed in expensive silk clothes, who looked to be not quite thirty, his face full of scars, and an imposing hooked nose, cast a disdainful look at Laine and then at the women at the table, before finally extending his hand, "You should learn to be grateful, Laine Macado. My distaste for Chaos Creatures and Green-skinned Orcs far outweighs my distaste for you."

"Ha, you really don't have to act this way, Lord Hedwig," Laine scoffed, extending his hand, "You could send your champion to duel with me, in this dark age, we could speak with our fists."

The newcomer, Wolfram Hedwig, was the Speaker of the Ostmark Alliance and the Beikafen Prince-Elector.

He was the first Prince-Elector to arrive.

The politics of Ostmark are governed by a council. Five hundred years ago, a Twin-tailed Comet fell from the sky, utterly destroying the capital Modheim of Ostmark. All the nobles and the Prince-Elector family of Modheim perished in the impact, and the remaining nobles formed the Ostmark Alliance, establishing its capital at Beikafen. Since then, the position of Prince-Elector of the Ostmark Province has been elected by nobles.

This Prince-Elector is most famous for a story called 'Hedwig's Folly.'

The noble-born Prince-Elector of Beikafen, Hedwig, became the Prince-Elector in his teens. During the Battle of the Dark Road, the army of the Ostmark Province faced an attack by Beastmen. Confident in his elite forces, the young and rash Hedwig refused the strategic advice offered by the Grand Master of the Eternal Light Knight Order. In response, the Knights withdrew to the castle, leaving Hedwig and his troops to battle the Beastmen without Knight support.

The final outcome was that Hedwig and his army still achieved victory, but at the exorbitant cost of over ten thousand casualties. This incident turned the Prince-Elector into the laughing stock of the Empire, and for many years, the Ostmark Province had to swallow its pride and seek military aid from other Imperial Provinces.

Nevertheless, Hedwig learned from the experience and gradually matured into an excellent general. More importantly, this Prince-Elector believed that 'the justice of the nobility is not the justice of the common people,' and thus leaned towards protecting the interests of commoners over the nobility. This gained him the affection of the farmers and Free People within the province. In recent years, the common people of Ostmark have lived well. The people here love life, horse breeding, and vodka, and firmly believe that a united human alliance and Empire is stronger than a divided Empire.

"None of my champions can beat you; otherwise, I would have sent them long ago to make you understand!" Wolfram Hedwig said unceremoniously, blowing his beard.

The Prince-Elector and Laine shook hands, with Hedwig intentionally adding more pressure.

Laine quickly reversed the situation, making the bones in the Prince-Elector's hand crack audibly.

"Mmm~ Hmph!" The Prince-Elector winced in pain as he struggled to pull away, then left in a huff with his retinue.

"This Prince-Elector doesn't seem to like you," Teresa whispered after Laine sat down. "He seems to resent you, only coming to greet you reluctantly because you're human—a human hero."

"I can't be liked by everyone; there will always be some who like you and others who dislike you," Laine sighed and shook his head, "Except for Gold Marks, no one can be liked by everyone."

Upon hearing this, both Surya and Veronica couldn't help but laugh, and Teresa's original worry was swept away. The female sorcerer chuckled, "Still, you should try to win over the majority of people."

"I'll do my best, even if I killed Red Eye Egil, it's still impossible to get all the Imperial Provinces to like me," Laine frowned as he saw Hedwig sit down with his servants far away, signaling for the waitstaff to bring food. "Not all Imperial Provinces face the threat of the Northern Barbarians. For example, the provinces to the east are more troubled by the Beastmen within their territories and the Green Skins of the Southern Evil Lands. Lord Tygris' proposal doesn't entice them... unless the High Elves are willing to help them deal with these internal threats."

"Lord Tygris only brought five hundred troops..." Surya began to say something, but a group of people entered through the dining room door again.

This group was the very same new recruits of the Rick Guard they had seen earlier—many noble offspring staying at the Royal Hotel upon entering the capital.

By this time, Laine and the others had finished eating. He nodded amiably at the recruits as they entered and left with his group.

"That's Laine Macado, the human hero who killed Red Eye Egil," Laurenz and Wagner said. "He came to the Imperial Capital with the High Elves, rumoured to intend on forging an alliance with the Empire against Chaos."

"Laine Macado... that's not what I am interested in," Wagner shook his head. "Let's have something to eat first; the Imperial Council meeting will be held in a few days, and whether to accept the alliance is the Emperor's business."

"By the way, Duke Weisen will also be attending the Imperial Council, and so will His Highness Prince-Elector Gani," Laurenz shifted the topic after noticing Wagner's lack of interest, "Oh look, there's His Highness Prince-Elector Hedwig over there."

"No! I will never acknowledge Gani as Prince-Elector!" Wagner shouted in anger.

"My family and I, we only pledge allegiance to Emmanuelle!"