The Villainess Is My Cute Daughter

Then one of the minor barons slowly stood up from his chair.

His hands were shaking as he turned to look at Adrian.

”I... I am sorry,” the baron stammered. ”My territory is right beside the royal capital. Siding with you will put my entire family in immediate danger from the royal army. Please... please let me go. I will leave without causing a scene.”

Adrian just shrugged.

”You can leave. But your soldiers will stay back here with me.”

The noble gritted his teeth in frustration, knowing he was essentially losing his entire military force, but he quickly nodded.

”Yes. I will leave immediately.”

He practically ran out of the tent without looking back.

Seeing that Adrian literally did not murder the man, and only demanded he leave his drafted army behind, a few of the other terrified nobles suddenly felt emboldened. They quickly stood up from their chairs, frantically said a few polite, stammering words of apology, and immediately scrambled out of the tent.

It was a complete contrast to how arrogant they had been just a few minutes ago.

Adrian quietly watched as they scrambled out one by one.

Once the tent flaps finally stopped moving, he looked at the few nobles who had actually stayed behind.

There really weren’t too many of them left. It was just Baron Kaldwin, his son Sebastian, and two other minor nobles.

All of them were, in fact, direct neighbors of Adrian and Frankenstein. One of the nobles owned a small patch of land right in between Oreswell and Frankenstein’s territory, and the other one was completely surrounded by Oresfall, Oreswell, and Frankenstein’s borders. Baron Kaldwin’s town was the only one that had direct trade contact with Oresfall itself, and his territory was also the furthest away from the Emperor’s capital compared to everyone else in the room.

Adrian looked at them.

He locked eyes with the two minor nobles whose names he didn’t even remember.

”What are your names?” Adrian asked.

The two of them nervously looked at each other.

One of them looked like a genuinely pretty good knight. He wore a set of high-quality, polished plate armor, had a very well-maintained longsword resting at his hip, and his posture up until now had been perfectly straight. Just looking at how the man carried himself, Adrian could easily tell that he was a dedicated knight; someone who trained rigorously every single day at the very least.

And then the guy just completely shattered Adrian’s expectations.

The first guy looked pretty handsome and he nodded at Adrin as he spoke.

”My name is Julian,” the man said. ”But I am not actually a warrior. I am really good at dancing and playing music for the royal court.”

Adrian just stared at him.

His expectations were definitely shattered, and in a really bad way. But he still managed to give the man a slow, polite nod.

Then he turned to look at the other noble who actually looked like a real knight. After all, the second guy was also wearing a really good set of armor, and he had a well-maintained sword and a shield resting at his side. But after hearing Julian speak, Adrian’s expectations weren’t exactly high.

”And you?” Adrian asked.

The second man cleared his throat and puffed out his chest.

”I am Baron Elric,” he said proudly. ”I am an F-Rank Knight. Though... it has been almost two decades since I have actually fought in a serious battle.”

Adrian just nodded flatly.

”Okay, since it’s just us here right now, I’ll go and talk to the remaining armies outside,” Adrian said, turning toward the tent’s entrance flap. ”I am going to need a lot more soldiers on my side for what comes next.”

He walked out of the tent and headed straight to the massive gathering of soldiers. He immediately ordered his men to split the crowd into two distinct groups. The first group consisted of the men who were officially under Draven and Frankenstein. Every single drafted commoner from every other minor territory was put into a separate, massive group.

Adrian walked up to the second group and looked out at the thousands of nervous, exhausted faces.

”I just had a talk with your lords inside,” Adrian announced, his magically amplified voice echoing across the camp. ”And we have come to an agreement. If you guys choose to join Oresfall and become official citizens of my territory right now, then you can bring your entire families there to live with you.”

The crowd immediately started murmuring.

”I will guarantee your families’ safety,” Adrian continued loudly. ”And none of you will ever be forced into the army. We do actively recruit people to fight for Oresfall, but we do not force anyone into the army if they don’t want it. Our local economy is booming, and you will be given free meals if you work in the different jobs. And even if the meal is only free for one shift, you will still get access to extremely high-quality food at incredibly affordable prices.”

He smiled warmly at the men.

”You must have already heard the rumors about Oresfall by now. This is a real chance that I am giving you right now to formally join my territory. I will personally send a few people to safely escort your families from your old homes to the city.”

Adrian paused and pointed to an empty space on the left side of the camp.

”But for those who do not wish to head over to Oresfall, please walk over there to the left and make a separate group. I will be sending you back to your old territories with your noble lords. As for the rest who stay here, I will welcome you to Oresfall with open arms.”

He crossed his arms and watched.

Out of the massive crowd, only a very small handful of men quietly broke off and walked over to the left side. Most of these guys looked like older, experienced veteran soldiers who had probably already done a lot for their local lords over the decades and had secured a few minor perks back home which they clearly did not want to lose.