“Ding! A new day has arrived! You have gained 32,114 Faith Power in the town of Deherim! Since you cannot absorb this Faith Power, it has been stored in your Holy Relic, the Dragon Flag Fragment.”
Shen Mu did not stay outside for too long during the night. After checking the maximum range of the Holy Light Torch Tower, he confidently led his troops back into Deherim.
Of course, Bestour, as the general on duty tonight, still had to lead those Kujit Steppe Bandits, who moved extremely quickly and reacted swiftly, on duty.
After all, when the Kujit Steppe Bandits arrived in Deherim, their superior mobility was instantly recognized by Bandak and Fatis.
Previously, patrols in Deherim were handled by Swadian Militia and Swadian Light Infantry.
It was precisely because the Swadian Militia and Swadian Light Infantry themselves had good mobility that they could react quickly if anything happened, and the patrol teams they formed could directly provide reinforcement if they truly encountered something.
And even if they encountered real danger, they could alert the city walls by shouting, and then the general on duty stationed on the city walls would arrange what kind of soldiers to send for countermeasures.
Although the effect was obvious, there was always a sense of clumsiness. After all, no matter what, two-legged infantry, or even the classic heavy infantry and heavy cavalry in the Swadian Kingdom, reacted too slowly.
They were nowhere near as convenient and quick as these Kujit Steppe Bandits, who could fight directly once mounted and strike enemies with bows and arrows.
Therefore, when they arrived in Deherim, they were immediately appointed as a quick reaction force. Whenever there was a duty or reconnaissance mission, they would be sent directly.
Of course, these were no longer things for Shen Mu to ponder.
Deherim was now on the right track, and the generals he had acquired, such as Fatis, Bandak, James, and Manid, would all share a portion of his work.
This included the newly arrived Bestour and Lezalit.
All of them had joined the scope of work sharing.
For example, the arrangement of patrols, reconnaissance, and night watch duties were basically monopolized by Bestour and Bandak.
Bestour simply couldn't sleep at night; his energy was like that of a Kujit, quite excitable.
Bandak, on the other hand, was uneasy about others taking night duty, and he also secretly wanted to monitor this energetic Kujit Bestour, to make sure he didn't play any tricks.
After all, he had experienced the terrifying period when Undead Monsters roamed outside the city walls at night.
To completely hand over the night watch to a selfish, evil-aligned general would be to entrust his own life and the lives of everyone in Deherim to this Bestour, this evil-aligned general.
He was not at ease.
Just as during the day, Fatis was responsible for patrolling and guarding the castle and Town Area walls, while Lezalit voluntarily led cavalry to conduct reconnaissance and stand guard outside.
Although it was for Lord Shen Mu's sake in this Different World.
These good-aligned generals truly did not trust these evil-aligned fellows.
They felt they still needed to do some things themselves to truly feel at ease.
Of course, Shen Mu didn't need to care about these things. Anyway, whether they were good-aligned generals or evil-aligned generals, they were all loyal to him.
Just waking up from bed, rubbing his eyes, and regaining his spirits, he looked at the dialogue box that appeared before him, a smile gracing his face.
“As I expected, the Faith Power I gained today has increased again. It seems that as long as I manage these Blue Star Humans well, I will gain more and more Faith Power.”
At this moment, hearing the sound from the room, a Holy Tree Knight on duty at the door pushed it open and asked, “My Lord, breakfast is ready. Do you wish to eat now?”
“Arrange it in the dining room on the first floor. I’ll be down now.” Shen Mu nodded, instructing the Holy Tree Knight to make the arrangements.
However, at this moment, he also called another Holy Tree Knight and instructed him, “This morning, invite all the generals to dine with me in my dining room, and discuss some recent issues and future plans. And if there are no surprises, I hope they follow this procedure every day.”
“Understood, I will go and inform the other Lord Generals now.” The Holy Tree Knight nodded and then left to convey Shen Mu’s command.
Not long after, Shen Mu changed his clothes and quickly washed up before heading to the dining room.
His Mount & Blade Soldiers were already waiting there.
They were still whispering and chatting or laughing amongst themselves, but it was still the good-aligned playing with the good-aligned, and the evil-aligned playing with the evil-aligned.
And each group seemed to have their own friendships.
For example, Bandak and Fatis were chatting happily.
James and Manid were casually discussing everyday life.
As the only two evil-aligned individuals, Bestour and Lezalit naturally sat together, laughing heartily and boasting about past experiences.
It could be said that just one dining room subtly formed many small groups.
Of course, Shen Mu didn't care about this. As long as they were loyal to him, their so-called groups were irrelevant in his eyes, as their purpose was to serve him.
Calling them over for breakfast this time was also to hold a morning meeting, similar to the work meetings he learned about in large corporations in his previous life.
Any issues could be resolved directly in the morning, or if there were upcoming matters, they could be addressed in advance, which would make promoting work much easier later on.
The key was that Shen Mu would personally make the final decisions.
“My Lord, you’ve arrived.”
“Good morning, Lord Shen Mu.”
When Shen Mu arrived at the dining room, the Mount & Blade Soldiers all stood up and respectfully bowed to Shen Mu, placing their hands on their chests.
“Mm, good morning to you too.” Shen Mu nodded, motioning for the generals to sit back down at the dining table.
Then he clapped his hands, and the Halflings, who had already prepared the food in the adjacent kitchen, brought out the fragrant dishes. The Swadian Light Infantry serving as attendants also helped carry the heavier pots and pans.
The food was all quite delicious.
Both the vegetables and meats satisfied the Mount & Blade Soldiers greatly.
They also gave high praise to the Halfling's cooking skills.
After all, in the chaotic Calradia continent before, they had no way to eat such delicious food. Most of what they usually ate was just dry rations, more than the gruel or porridge eaten by ordinary people.
At most, they would eat some meat.
Things like soft white bread, baked crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, and even spread with butter—these were almost works of art, things only royalty could eat. They rarely got to enjoy such things in their daily lives. After all, no matter what, they were nobles or commoners, or even ordinary people, responsible for fighting. It was simply impossible to eat these on the battlefield.
Now that they could enjoy such delicious food in Shen Mu's Noble Residence, they were naturally very happy.
Therefore, during the meal, the atmosphere at the dining table was quite harmonious. They answered Shen Mu's questions one by one, and even offered suggestions on some matters raised by the good-aligned faction.
Bestour and Lezalit, being from the evil-aligned faction, also gave advice.
Bestour and Lezalit, who were on patrol outside, also offered some suggestions regarding the collection of Blue Star Humans. Bandak, James, Fatis, and Manid also gave their sincere thoughts on the matter.
This was quite unusual before, and it indicated that they could engage in some limited cooperation. At least they would not cooperate on major issues, but they could cooperate on relatively critical minor issues and would never drag their feet.
In Shen Mu's eyes, everything was flourishing, everything was moving in a good direction, which was excellent.
During the conversation, they basically discussed all the recent problems encountered by Deherim and then provided solutions.
At least, there is strength in numbers, and the conclusions they reached after discussing among themselves were also solutions.
“But speaking of it, this is really interesting, similar to a Round Table Conference.” Shen Mu also showed a smile in his heart, looking at these generals who were still diligently answering questions about work, he nodded with satisfaction: “In this way, even if I go outside, I can rest assured to hand over the town to the generals staying behind in Deherim and let them handle it.”
Sometimes, the dangers a town faces are not only external crises, but also internal administrative matters are extremely important issues.
Everyone working together to make Deherim better is, of course, what Shen Mu wants to see.
“But after a while, those Blue Star Humans should also be included in this Round Table Conference. After all, those humans have already started managing the Town Area, at least nominally managing the Blue Star Humans within those Town Areas.”
Shen Mu also thought of Zhang Caidong and the others at this time.
Nominally, he had given them a great deal of authority to manage those Blue Star Humans, and even nominally allowed them to manage the Town Area.
This was equivalent to making them executives, and executives no less important than these Mount & Blade Soldiers. After all, even Mount & Blade Soldiers could not command or manage tens of thousands of Blue Star Humans.
In a sense, the high-level management team composed of these Blue Star Humans was also Shen Mu's other hand. After all, to gain Faith Power, he had to rely on these executives to assist in management.
Mount & Blade Soldiers could only be responsible for the simplest combat and were completely incapable of management. In fact, they even needed Blue Star Humans to manage these Mount & Blade Soldiers.
The only advantage of Mount & Blade Soldiers was their absolute loyalty, which is why Shen Mu was so at ease with them. However, because their thinking was too rigid and lacked the flexible minds of Blue Star Humans, Blue Star Humans were needed to command these Mount & Blade Soldiers during combat and in daily life.
Moreover, as long as Blue Star Humans commanded these Mount & Blade Soldiers, Shen Mu could indirectly monitor these Blue Star Humans through the Mount & Blade Soldiers.
If anything happened, he could also stop it in time through the Mount & Blade Soldiers; this was also one of his small ideas.
It was also a trump card.
After all, those Blue Star Humans had no idea that these Mount & Blade Soldiers were actually still completely obedient to Shen Mu. The reason these Mount & Blade Soldiers followed those Blue Star Humans was entirely because of Shen Mu's enfeoffment to them.
And this enfeoffment was actually what those Blue Star Humans believed to be the transformation of a Spiritual Realm Commander. They had no idea that a Spiritual Realm Commander had absolute control over Spiritual Realm creatures followers. Their current absolute command over Mount & Blade Soldiers was merely a superior's command to a subordinate in an army.
It could not achieve the Spiritual Realm Commander's control over them at the soul level.
Therefore, if any situation arose, a single command from Shen Mu could immediately make those Mount & Blade Soldiers break free from the Ten-Man Commander's control and return to his side, making those Ten-Man Commanders who seemed to think they had become Spiritual Realm Commanders and were high and mighty, once again become isolated and alone, unable to do anything.
Sometimes, it was necessary to think about many things.
After finishing the meal with these generals, Shen Mu wiped his mouth and went to the meeting room next to the first floor.
It was time to meet those Blue Star Humans, and today he also needed to convert the remaining 7 male humans into Ten-Man Commanders, and by the way, hand over some Swadian Commoners units to them to help with upgrading.
“Now, please have those Blue Star Humans come over.” Shen Mu waved to the Swadian Light Infantry at the door, telling him to inform the executives to return.
The Swadian Light Infantry respectfully bowed and turned to leave the door. Not long after, those Blue Star Humans gathered at the entrance of the Noble Residence.
Led by Zhang Caidong, along with the other 9 executives who had already been enfeoffed as Ten-Man Commanders and each brought 10 Swadian Commoners, they then led the remaining 7 plus three new Blue Star Humans into Shen Mu's Noble Residence.
However, this time, Zhang Bo was not among the new three. Instead, he was replaced by Sun Zhiru's long-time, highly trusted partners. (End of Chapter)