Alforien Arlford, a few hours later

After I had finished debriefing Arlun, he’d gone to sleep. I suppose his encounter with the fog hadn’t been restful enough. I on the other hand had to deal with one horde of maybe-barbarians. How nice that they waited for me to come out just to glare at me. It had taken quite a bit of talking to convince them that Arlun was more important.

In the end they just agreed for the extra food I offered them.That and the opportunity to hunt the wildlife. Bloody barbarians. But after a few hours of planning, I did have a plan to get things done. Though my little list had grown a little, my work had actually reduced.

Heal the injured. Partially done, should be done by the end of today Establish chain of command. Done, Quartermaster relays all my orders. Battalion leaders will be promoted to be actual battalion leaders (why weren’t they already) Secure food.Hunting is allowed, should further bolster the reserves a bit. The reserves will likely be reduced by today’s drop Check Armaments.Done, No Solution Get the mission and strategize how to do it. Strategy Meeting scheduled Train Arlun and Carmil. Will get Mana Sight soon, I hope… Teach some hygiene .Quartermaster on it Get Discipline in the army. Quartermaster on it Get a Camp guard established. Barbarian battalion leader Gustar has taken it up Establish a Messenger system. Done Get moving towards Iselgaurd.

Setting up the Messenger System wasn’t even that hard. The army had several dozen underage boys that had been deemed ‘unfit’ to fight. It always made me laugh that some civilizations thought that judging minors by the same criteria as adults was a good idea. It was a fantastic idea that led to these minors killing you in your sleep.

After all, there were very few minors that were brainwashed and dejected enough to just accept the unfairness. Most would just decide to take revenge at every little thing. And I suppose I am a minor too…But who should I kill? Myself? I laughed at my own joke as I entered a very big tent.

It had been brought by the prince, and was apparently his ‘office’. It had never been used however, and had occupied space that could have been used to store food. It was in use now though, the only other tent big enough to fit all the different commanders and a decent sized table with a few chairs was the Healer’s Tent.

As soon as I entered I was acknowledged by a voice saying “Prince Alforien!” it was from a lanky man that seemed to be standing alone in the tent. There were only two others in the tent at the moment, making it quite abnormal.

“Yes, Commander…” I said

“Quarin, your highness” he said, I just remembered him as Commander sharp nose. It was accurate. “I must ask why the 7th Battalion was given the right to guard the camp! The 9th Battalion is so much better!”

I was now sure that this was the Commander of the 9th Battalion, a Ranger-esque Battalion that disagreed with the Barbarians on several matters. Like whether one should charge headfirst into battle or snipe at opponents from a distance. It was actually an interesting argument.

“The 7th Battalion volunteered Commander. Perhaps next time you and your battalion should answer a call of aid.” I said, I had no need of people that only made trouble day and night.

“But we were on our way, your highness! The 7th “-teh c one of the other commanders suddenly interrupted and said, “ Oh please, Thaddeus, just shut up. You and everyone else knows that your Battalion moves too slow to do anything. It's not as if you are ever awake at your posts.”

Huh, I did not know that things were this bad. This would have to be addressed later. Now I wanted to know who everyone was.

“May I know who you are, good sir?” I asked the man who had interrupted

“Your highness, I am Korin, commander of the 6th Battalion and your humble servant” The man said, bowing low. Quite a polite one wasn't he? “My battalion is focused on siege warfare and are quite good at building trenches”

Building trenches. Siege warfare. What a suitable battalion, yes? It then turned to the other Commander, waiting for him to introduce himself.

It took a few minutes for him to realise that I was expecting him to do something, but he did realise eventually.

“Um…I am Barlin, Commander of the 13th Battalion.” the man said, “My Battalion…uh, doesn’t really focus on anything…” I took a deep breath in at the man’s statement. A green horse Battalion. What was that prince thinking? Was he even thinking?

“Very well, we shall wait for the rest of the commanders to come in and then start the meeting.” I said before sitting on a chair. Why stand when you can sit?

An awkward silence consumed the tent as the commanders seemed too nervous to talk in my presence. Well, a little fear was needed.

About ten minutes later, the commanders started trickling in. Tane,commander of the 21st Battalion. Surun, commander of the 5th Battalion. Meril, commander of the 3nd Battalion. Vastur, commander of the 17th Battalion. Forel, commander of the 18th Battalion and

Those were the newly minted officers of my army. They couldn't have been commanding battalions that were sequentially. No, they had to command the 3rd, 5th, 6th ,7th,8th,9th,13th,14th,17th and 21st. After all, it was not like the numbers helped organize or anything. And they definitely didn’t confuse people.

“Officers”I began the session. “Are all of you aware of the mission that this army is tasked with? “

“No”

“Nope”

“We have a mission?”

Were the answers I received. What did the last guy think? That there was no reason for the army to be heading out into enemy territory? For fun? Guess, It was a briefing now.

“The mission is this: in the Valurien Mountains, there is a mountain known as Iselgaurd. Within that mountain lies an artefact known as the Realmwatch. Our mission is to retrieve that artefact. Understood?” I said to a room that was already whispering away.

It took a while for them to realise that it was time for them to say something. Finally, it was the sharp-nosed commander of the 9th Battalion said, “ But your highness, Iselgaurd is covered in -” I suddenly interrupted him by saying, “Covered in blue flames I know, I will cross it. You lot can remain outside protecting me.”

The commanders seemed to be uncomfortable about the prospect.

“It is something I believe, the king ordered my brother to do also. The Relamwatch is not to be beheld by any of you. So now that you all know what we are to do, perhaps we can plan how to reach Iselgaurd.” I said as laid the map on the table by using magic.

The commanders immediately started examining it. At least they knew that much. Now for the next part. Actually finding out what each of them was good at.

I teleported over to where the Quartermaster was. It was a waste of mana but if I wasn’t going to be making food anyway… “Quartermaster, can you please give me a breakdown of the way the army is divided” I said as I appeared on top of a little stack of wood. Judging form the surroundings, the Quartermaster wwas having wood collected likely for tonights fireplaces. I hadn’t thought of that.

At least it seemed to be easy to get if the amount of it was any indication.

“Your highness!” The Quartermaster exclaimed, surprised by my presence. “Why…uh…the breakdown, yes. I think I have a little list in here. After some searching through his clothes, the Quartermaster had a list for me.

3rd, Battalion- 33 men

5th, Battalion- 57 men

6th Battalion-30 men

7th Battalion-63 men

9th Battalion-51 men

13th Battalion-43 men

14th Battalion-27 men

17th Battalion-41 men

18th Battalion-31 men

21st Battalion-17 men

Oh, great. Another thing to do.