"Thirty men?"

Losa scrutinized the soldiers, whose armor was disheveled and whose faces were dark and emaciated, and frowned: "A castle's defense force only has thirty men?"

Thirty defenders, and all of them were infantry.

At most, they could shrink back into the castle for self-preservation, but they had no ability to protect the surrounding villages from desert bandits' raids.

"It is a bit few, but we couldn't afford more, could we?"

The Guard Officer accompanied his words with a smile, his face full of guilt.

Such a powerful Lord, if discovering his fief was so impoverished, would surely be thunderously furious.

What if he took it out on me...

Although in name he was the Guard Officer and technically a retainer of His Majesty the King, he did not even have a title and was essentially just a servant.

If it weren't for bringing tax money every month to pay tribute, His Majesty the King might not even be aware of his existence.

"Is there not even a church in the castle for the vassals to worship at?"

The Guard Officer forced a smile and replied: "There's only a prayer room, located on the first floor of your Inner Castle."

Losa smiled slightly: "Good, very good, truly a place of utter poverty."

The Guard Officer's heart jumped into his throat.

Furinjira looked at the castle with some displeasure: "This place is so rundown, I doubt even rats would bother visiting such a hovel."

"The most dilapidated place I've ever lived in was a castle in Moldavia when I ran away from home, and compared to this, it was like a royal palace."

"Apologies, madam, it is indeed too simple here."

The Guard Officer said cautiously.

This madam had such an authoritative tone—could she be Her Highness the Princess?

Heavenly Father above, could she really throw the poor old Leonard out to be hanged because of the dilapidation here?

"I think it's quite alright; having nothing here makes it easy for us to rebuild, like this Inner Castle — I intend to tear it down and rebuild it as the Lord's Hall."

Losa said with great interest.

The Guard Officer replied with some trepidation: "Sir, if you stay here for a while, you will realize there's no need for large-scale construction. The annual tax income from Jorgelisburg might not even be enough to refurbish a Lord's Hall."

A Lord's Hall is basically the inner castle within a city or castle where the Lord, his family, and servants live; although nominally a "Hall," it would be at least three stories.

Losa ignored him and instead turned to ask the "giant" Marles beside him:

"Marles, what do you think of the blacksmith shop here?"

Marles was silent for a moment, then replied: "It's barely usable, but the efficiency is very low; I need time and materials to improve the tools and forge."

"No problem, I'll give you a budget of two hundred of the finest Suludes gold coins; please craft a solid and durable set of armor for me as soon as possible."

Marles nodded and said: "No problem, I guarantee you'll be satisfied."

"Soldiers, since Jorgelisburg now belongs to me, your allegiance has shifted from the Royal Family to me as of now."

"Now, in the name of the Heavenly Father, pledge your loyalty to me!"

Losa raised the Armed Sword in his hand.

The Guard Officer and thirty soldiers, hesitated only slightly, then all knelt to the ground, noisily swearing allegiance to Losa.

After His Majesty the King granted Losa the fief, all the land, population, servants, debt, and bond relationships on it would be transferred to Losa's name.

"Hans, you kneel too!"

Hans was startled for a moment, then without hesitation, knelt on one knee.

"Guard Officer, tell me, what is the name of the village to the west?"

The Guard Officer, kneeling on the ground, replied without thinking: "It's Sego."

"Then Hans, my loyal Attendant, to reward you for your brave battles, I grant you Sego as your benefice and promote you to a Knight!"

"Thank you, my lord!"

Hans was somewhat joyful, finally becoming an official Knight, but also somewhat confused.

He didn't understand why Losa would grant him a benefice, but when he saw the nearly glowing eyes of Laine and Model, he seemed to understand.

"Everyone, stand up."

"I, Losa of the Habsburg Family, swear in the name of the Heavenly Father—anyone who achieves sufficient merit shall be promoted to Knight, regardless of their origin!"

His gaze swept over the faces of the eighty-plus people.

On their faces, Losa saw desire and expectation.

And this was precisely what he wanted.

"Model, from today on, retrain the newly joined thirty soldiers in queues; Laine, you will be in charge of the daily drills of the fifty veterans."

"Hans, you are to serve as the commander of the Jorgelisburg cavalry team, and in the coming time, you can select from among them anyone who excels in riding skills or possesses extraordinary talent to become cavalrymen; there are only ten slots."

Model and Laine accepted their orders immediately, brimming with motivation, eager to immediately show Losa their efforts.

Hans, however, had a bit of a headache; determining who had cavalry talent wasn't that easy and could only rely on past experience.

"Guard Officer, tell me your name!"

The Guard Officer smiled and said: "My lord, you can call me Leonard."

"During this period, you are responsible for purchasing warhorses and pack horses; I need ten high-quality Arabian horses. The price doesn't matter—this is crucial for my recognition of you."

Leonard quickly pounded his chest to assure: "I guarantee, my lord, I will certainly procure some cost-effective excellent horses!"

"Alright, go do what you must; training is postponed today, go tidy up your accommodations."

Eighty armored soldiers suffice for defense, but fall short in offense and even in maintaining basic public order.

This era, after all, is the age of cavalry.

In the wilderness of the Holy Land, if one encounters desert bandits, one cannot expect infantry to outrun those swift light cavalry on foot.

But training a cavalry unit requires substantial time and effort.

Starting cavalry training from scratch, as now, is the most time-consuming and laborious method.

Moreover, summoning knights is restricted by the size of the fief... Without benefices, how does one amass a large number of knights loyal to oneself?

Leonard revealed that Jorgelisburg had only six villages, each with an average population of around two hundred, reliant on the Jordan River for sustenance.

In aggregate, he ruled over a population of over a thousand.

But these were all impoverished people struggling on the edge of subsistence.

With a ten-percent military draft, he could muster just over a hundred recruits—and even in Western Europe, where minor nobility abounded, such a force would be pathetically weak.

If he parcelled out the villages as benefices, he could gather six fully armed knights.

But relying on taxes to cultivate cavalry, a year's tax income from one village couldn't even buy the full armor of a single cavalryman.

This is why the feudal benefice system prevailed worldwide.

The Ayyubid and Eastern Empires could sustain a permanent large cavalry army because their territories were expansive and located at trade hubs, allowing them to collect significant commercial taxes.

As a Huaxia person, the craving for cultivation is ingrained instinctually.

But Losa had to admit that Jorgelisburg was fundamentally unsuitable for farming and fell far short of having the necessary conditions to become a starting base of operations.

No wonder Baldwin IV advised him not to spend too much effort on the fief.

Fortunately, Losa had his own unique advantages.

The system had been activated, and going forward, he would get a chance to draw cards weekly, which if all were retainers, would accumulate to over fifty a year.

These would be his best core team, each capable of serving as officers.

Additionally, he could achieve various milestones to expedite this process, and in a few years, he would wield significant power.

By then, whether to march south into Egypt or north into Asia Minor would be an option.

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