Extreme Cold Era: Shelter Don't Keep Waste
Chapter 116: Winning Over the Military’s Heart

Chapter 116: Chapter 116: Winning Over the Military’s Heart

Although Captain William was envious of the steam knight armor, even though Perfikot had emphasized that the system was inactive, he still wanted to try it on.

After all, for a grand knight, this set of steam knight armor, while heavy, was not an unbearable burden.

However, Perfikot did not grant his wish; instead, she had Andrew pack all the other parts into the warehouse, then used alchemy to fuse the doors and walls of the entire warehouse together, sealing it completely.

Before confirming the loyalty of the Knight Order, Perfikot was not so foolish as to distribute such powerful equipment just like that.

Moreover, she had the same attitude towards the guard brought by Colonel Richard.

Under the pretext of inviting them to her ceremony of being enfeoffed as the Northern Guardian, Perfikot brought Colonel Richard and Captain William back to Eagle’s Beak Cliff together.

As for the Knight Order and the guard, Perfikot divided them into two groups, with the Knight Order stationed at Eagle’s Beak Cliff and the guard left in the fjord, entrusted to the old butler Foster for training and reorganized with the previous company.

The Brandlis Clan could be said to have a deep-rooted tradition. Though Perfikot hadn’t shown any talent in military affairs, she had read some notes left by the old Baron Brandelis.

Although it didn’t teach Perfikot how to command troops in battle, it helped her understand that a military unit assigned under you won’t necessarily fight for you or remain loyal to you.

As the commander of a military force, it’s possible to have no military talent and just bide your time for seniority and achievements, but one thing you must learn is to win hearts and command the troops.

If your subordinates are disaffected and uncooperative, commanding them becomes impossible, no matter how strong the army is, it would be meaningless.

If your people support you, are devoted, and willing to die for you, then even if they are a group of incompetents, they are your troops, and your greatest asset as a commander.

So for these theoretically ’own’ troops, Perfikot didn’t take their loyalty for granted, nor assume she could trust them completely.

Instead, she let Foster handle them first, establishing their basic loyalty towards her before discussing anything else.

Perfikot trusted Foster enough because the old butler had served the Brandlis Clan for three generations, and his loyalty was well-proven.

Moreover, he was currently Perfikot’s only competent choice for leading troops; after all, he was the knight-attendant of the old Baron Brandelis, having followed him into numerous battles, and even if he couldn’t command a whole army in war, he was competent in maintaining morale and managing a military’s internal affairs.

Once the old butler had control over this regiment of guards, Perfikot could then manage the 17th Guard Division through its officers.

While according to Foster’s introduction, the 17th Guard Division was actually within the Brandlis family’s sphere of influence in the military, and the old baron was its first commander, who had earned the title of the Guards Division, Perfikot still planned to be cautious.

Just like Colonel Richard, who was indeed her grandfather’s distant grandnephew and had changed his surname to affiliate with the Brandlis family, Perfikot’s trust in him was limited.

As the saying goes, when poor, even in the crowded city none ask; when rich, even in the deep mountains far relatives appear. Whether it was this distant grandnephew, Colonel Richard or her distant cousin Major William, they had all kept distant during the Brandlis family’s decline.

Even if their advancements in the military owed much to the shadow of the old Baron Brandelis, during the three years when Perfikot upheld the Brandlis family alone after her parents’ passing, they offered no assistance.

Hence, Perfikot had a very limited trust in these people. Even if they were nominal relatives, to a certain extent, as long as Perfikot remained in power, they’d still seem trustworthy.

But Perfikot thought it best to observe a while longer before deciding whether Colonel Richard was worthy of significant responsibility.

While the 17th Guard Division and the guard could be handled by the old butler or even Colonel Richard, Perfikot had to manage the Knight Order she obtained herself.

Theoretically, persuading the Knight Order’s loyalty was straightforward, as by the knightly code, once they swear allegiance, they mustn’t betray their oath.

So theoretically, Perfikot just needed the Knight Order to swear allegiance to her, and these knights would offer their loyalty to her.

To knights, oaths indeed carried great weight, and ordinarily, few knights would violate their sworn vows.

But to Perfikot, who came from a world where oaths were frivolous vows like toothache spells, while there were still those who honored promises, many treated their words frivolously, swearing vows was as easy as eating or drinking.

Thus, Perfikot believed more in practical matters rather than an oath reliant solely on personal moral integrity.

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Before returning to Eagle’s Beak Cliff, Perfikot also met with Oliver.

"Lady Baroness, congratulations on being enfeoffed as the Northern Guardian!" Oliver first congratulated Perfikot before saying to her, "The 150 steam cores you commissioned me to produce are all completed. Do you need to inspect them?"

"I trust your work, so I won’t check them. Afterward, find Foster and deliver everything to the sealed warehouse. I assume you know how to open it?" Perfikot looked at Oliver, clearly pleased with the chubby man.

When entrusting Andrew to produce the steam knight armor parts, Perfikot had secretly instructed Oliver to produce the matching steam cores as power sources.

And she hadn’t told anyone of this, except for Oliver and herself, only the loyal old butler knew.

"Rest assured, I’ll handle these matters well," Oliver agreed readily, but after speaking, his facial expression showed some hesitation and after a pause, he asked Perfikot, "Lady Baroness, now that you are the Northern Expedition Count, may I ask what cost would I incur if I wanted to obtain the title of Pioneer Knight?"

Hearing Oliver’s question, Perfikot wasn’t surprised but she seriously looked at Oliver before saying, "You want to become a Pioneer Knight? Even with our collaborative relationship, giving you the title of Pioneer Knight isn’t an issue, but..."