I Was Reincarnated as a Marquis in Another World

“All weapons have their basis in the spear. Therefore, today we will start by learning how to handle the spear. Hold the end of the spear with your right hand, which is the farthest from the spearhead, and with your left hand, grab about the width of your torso!”

Hearing those words, the serfs awkwardly grabbed the spears in front of them.

At first, I thought the spears would be heavy, and that the serfs would drop them or struggle, but it was surprising that not a single one became tired from merely holding the spear.

After confirming that the serfs were all holding their spears, Helmut pointed at the mercenary in front of him and said, “Alright, now you will follow Mark over there. Don’t hold it flat like you are now; hold it at an angle like that guy. Then when I say one, thrust; when I say two, withdraw the spear. And be careful not to stab the person in front of you!”

The serfs, upon hearing those words, angled their spears to about 15 degrees.

Seeing that, the mercenary named Mark turned while holding his spear, extending his right arm outwards and twisting his waist to the right.

Then, he suddenly turned to the left, thrusting his right arm forward.

The long spear, over four meters in length, moved swiftly, as if a bird was flying by.

The serfs, who were showing disinterest, seemed to find this impressive, as a few of them exclaimed “Ooh!” in admiration.

“Now, try to replicate that. One!”

The serfs, upon hearing that, twisted their waists to imitate Mark’s impressive handling of the spear.

Next, they had to turn their arms to the right to prepare, but…

Several of them twisted their waists too much and ended up falling over, while the others were floundering about, trying not to trip.

Though it was absurd momentarily, I almost laughed but managed to hold it in.

Observing the comically awkward appearance of the serfs, Helmut once again spoke with a stern expression.

“Again, return to the original position!”

The serfs obeyed and returned to their original stance of holding the spear.

“Your enthusiasm to emulate Mark is good, but you are still like chicks! Don’t try to fly. Just slowly match the movements even if they are a bit larger. Pay close attention to what I do!”

Then Helmut seized the spear of the serf at the front and took up a prepared stance.

Slowly, he extended his right arm outward while turning his waist and then gradually thrust the spear.

He maintained an exact 15-degree angle, and the movements, assuming there was an enemy present, looked impressive even to someone like me, who knew nothing about spear fighting.

After finishing the thrusting motion, Helmut planted the end of the spear on the ground and said, “Let’s try this at this pace. One!”

In response to that command, the serfs twisted their waists to prepare for a thrust. This time, without any of the serfs falling over, they all aimed their spearheads at the imaginary enemy.

“Two! Thrust!”

Imagining that they were planting the spearhead into an enemy, the serfs extended their spearheads towards the invisible foe.

Though there was no sound of slicing through the wind, and the trajectory of the spears was rather chaotic, everyone successfully managed to thrust them.

The serfs, who had successfully thrust with their spears, albeit clumsily, looked a bit commendable.

“Balt, what do you think? Is this decent enough?”

“Yes, it’s pretty good. It’s nice to see the quick demonstration of thrusting followed by practicing slowly. Once they become proficient, showing them this helps them identify where they’ve gone wrong while thrusting.”

“I see. Then how long will it take to get them to a level suitable for battle?”

Upon hearing that, Balt gave a thoughtful look and replied, “To do it like that mercenary over there, they would need to practice daily for at least one to two years. And to become proficient enough that it’s not a waste of bread in the battlefield, they would need to practice about once a week for about four months. Otherwise, even with good equipment, they won’t be able to make any use of it.”

That statement left me with a question.

No matter how inexperienced the soldiers were, I had heard that just handing them weapons and armor would be significantly better than not having them at all, as noted in historical texts about the Three Kingdoms or Joseon era.

Especially in battle during the Imjin War, there were instances where even untrained volunteers managed to repel the Japanese troops.

However, it was clear that Balt, who had experienced war, knew much more than I did.

Thus, I decided to inquire further about the nuances of war that I didn’t understand.

“Why is that? Isn’t having a greater number of soldiers more advantageous? Regardless of how elite the troops may be, wouldn’t they lose against ten serfs?”

“As you said, if ten serfs were to fight with elite troops, under normal circumstances, the serfs would win. However… I think it’s better to show you.”

Then, Balt approached Helmut and had a conversation with him, after which Helmut called to stop the soldiers’ training and said, “Everyone, take a break!”

The serfs, who had been swinging their spears for merely a few dozen minutes, laid down their weapons and slumped down, looking as if they were about to pass out.

“Ugh, I’m dying.”

“Yeah… oh dear… what a fate, and we’re told we need to continue for a few more hours.”

“At least on days like this, we get meals. Didn’t the young master say he would prepare something delicious for us…?”

“What do you think will come out, bread?”

“Maybe meat? Whenever it’s something the young master requests, we always get good food.”

After granting the soldiers about ten minutes of chitchat time to rest, Helmut ordered the soldiers to assemble once more.

The serfs hurried over to the location Helmut called out to, likely eager to avoid getting scolded.

Once the serfs were lined up, Helmut issued another command.

“Attention, get your spears and prepare for training!”

With annoyed expressions, the serfs held their spears and got into position, but Helmut suddenly smiled and said, “I was going to go on, but I’ve changed my mind! Thus, this week’s training will end after a mock battle!”

The serfs’ faces brightened at the mention of the end of training.

“You seem to dislike training; fine then! If you can defeat me and two mercenaries with you 30, today’s training will end here! However, if you lose, you will have to train for an extra two hours. What will you do?”

“We will do it!!”

Upon hearing that, Helmut had a significantly meaningful smile on his face and said, “Alright, from the front, the third row forward!!”

**

A moment later, preparations were made for a match between the 30 serfs and two mercenaries, including Helmut.

The two mercenaries held short wooden swords and shields, while the serfs had 20 with pikes and 10 with wooden swords and shields.

It was apparent that both sides were hiding a confident feeling of “There’s no way I would lose to my opponent!”

As the two sides formed their lines, Balt, standing next to me, raised a flag to signal the start.

After a brief standoff, the serfs slowly moved forward with their spears, clearly planning to push through with their numbers.

Though only 30 were clumsily advancing, from a distance, it looked like a wall made of spears was marching forward.

Then, Helmut and the mercenaries closed ranks, presenting their shields.

“Mark, Smith! Lower your shields slightly and hit them first with your wooden swords! Don’t waste time, just take down three of them first! Don’t hit their faces!”

“Yes, Captain!”

“And be sure to call me Sir Helmut!”

Once they got about close enough, the serfs gradually closed the distance.

Ten steps, five steps, three steps from the spear tips… As they got closer, Helmut suddenly shielded himself with his shield and slapped away the spear tips before charging.

The serfs, surprised by the mercenaries suddenly entering their area, panicked, and the serfs holding swords and shields were confused about how to respond.

In the meantime, Helmut struck one serf wearing cloth armor hard with a wooden sword.

Then the other mercenaries, who took advantage of the dazed serfs, began hitting them wildly with hands, feet, swords, and even shields.

After about five minutes of overwhelming the serfs, the group of 30 completely lost their will to fight and surrendered.

The other serfs watching this scene could only stare blankly at Helmut and the mercenaries.

Even though it was a match between trained individuals and regular serfs, I couldn’t have imagined that it could be won so easily with more than a tenfold difference…

While I was lost in thought, Helmut turned towards the other serfs with a serious expression and asked, “What do you think?”

Even though the mercenaries were professionals of war, the fact that they lost when the difference was over tenfold made the serfs feel humiliated, and none could respond.

In response, Helmut smiled and said, “It may be absurd. However, if this were the battlefield, all of you would have died here. Wouldn’t it?”

The serfs nodded reluctantly at his words.

“Therefore, you need training. Otherwise, you will die. And you may ask me, or even ask the young master, why you must train so rigorously.”

After posing the question he had asked himself, Helmut provided the answer.

“To protect this territory, to protect your families. You’re already eating better than the citizens of the town and living a prosperous life. The phrase ‘famine’ has likely already vanished from your children’s memories. And everyone around you wants to covet and plunder this abundance. That’s why. Nonetheless, if there are those who are still dissatisfied, step forward.”

However, after some time passed, no one voiced their discontent.

Just as Helmut was about to continue, I intervened and continued the conversation.

“Helmut, you said if someone has grievances, they should step forward, but honestly, who would step forward to say anything? Am I wrong? If the Count Nante asked me this, even if I had complaints, I wouldn’t be able to voice them. Isn’t it the same for you?”

Once I finished speaking, everyone nodded affirmatively.

“However, bear with it a little longer. To protect your belongings and families and to survive even a single battle, you must train diligently and be able to endure in warfare. If you cannot endure in war, your wives and children will be pillaged.”

At those words, the atmosphere turned solemn, and the serfs’ eyes sparked with a glimmer of resolve.

Seeing that I had elicited the desired response, I smiled at the serfs and said, “It’s nice to see your efforts in protecting your belongings. This also means your loyalty to me, so as a sign of my gratitude, I prepared a delicious meal for you today. And in the future, I will at least ensure that there’s food when we train, so even if there are grievances, I hope you will follow along diligently.”

Then, I passed by the serfs’ area and returned to where Balt was standing.

Not long after, a cart filled with dinner for the serfs arrived.

Inside the cart, there was rice for the serfs along with cheap beer to drink.

The serfs enjoyed the food and beer, and while they complained about the training, thankfully, perhaps due to my persuasion, they held no resentment toward ‘me.’

I was relieved that persuading the serfs to go to war turned out to be easier than I had thought.

**

The next day, shocking news arrived from the territory of Croilet Count.

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