Late 278 AC

Mid day came.

Levi sat beneath the shadow of his home. The ink was still drying on new district lines and patrol routes of bogwater. looking out his home, the curling like smoke between the houses, and the scent of wet moss drifted through the window. His mind was set on one thing: the guard force.

Not just the 300 he planned to have but also the ones already in place thanks to ser sedge.

The door opened.

Kell, Arl, and Munty entered, each bringing a group of recruits behind them. Boys and young men filed into the yard outside, many of them already dressed in simple tunics or leather, eyes alert with uncertainty.

"Fifty-four," Kell said, arms crossed.

"More than I expected, I thought many would not want to join in." Levi replied.

Arl grinned. "I had to promise one lad's sister a sack of onions and another lad's mother a bundle of firewood just to get them to let the boys come. Those peoples families will want more since they are only here to count the numbers first."

Munty just gave a short nod. He said nothing, but his group stood taller and more orderly than the others.

Levi nodded in approval. "Send them to the training ground. Have them run the drills. No weapons yet just like the rest of us when we started wooden weapons first. Keep things light for now and keep them fed you can get food in my storage there are still some in it, I will also be putting in armor there."

"Aye," said Kell, turning to lead his group. Arl followed, already shouting half-serious insults at the slower boys. Munty left with his usual quiet self.

As the yard cleared, Jory and Lyle arrived.

Jory was out of breath. "We talked to the current guards. Counted them ourselves. Sixty-five currently in service."

"Spread thin across the town," Lyle added. "Mostly stationed near the walls and gates. None of them trained like us."

Levi sighed. "That needs to change but the question on the other hand is will they follow me?"

He tapped the bogwater town map in front of him. "We'll need the first 100 to complete the first 100-man rotation but with the current sixty-five men with the addition of the currently trained fifteen that's only eighty, need twenty more with the question, are some of them even willing to stay. "

"We've got the armor, some should want to stay and we just need to train them along with the current recruits they brought just now." Jory said. "But what about weapons? Spears, swords, bows?"

Levi stood and rolled up the map. "Time to talk to them. Lyle go and talk to the current guards is they are willing we will feed, pay, train and give them armor, as for the weapons that will have to wait for now."

Levi looks at jory. "help him jory, try to convince them since they are willing to guard bogwater they would want to stay."

As both Jory and Lyle left so did Levi.

The forge was hot and loud, the clang of hammer on metal ringing through the streets.

Timor, a old man and two other men were deep in their work. Iron bars lay stacked nearby, and already half a dozen short swords glinted on a rack, along with Bows and arrows lay near each other.

Timor looked up first. "Levi. Just the man. This are the two men i told u about. Killi and Will. This is also my father Tim. "

Levi says his Greetings to them.

"I need Swords ,Bows, Arrows, Spear, Shields." Levi said bluntly. "Enough to outfit three hundred men."

Killi let out a low whistle. "You want to arm a lot of men, are you going to war?"

"No. I just need to be prepared, I need weapons, I already have armor in stock but even with armor if there is no weapons its all useless cant defend ourselves with nothing but our fist."

Will grunted. "Blades are slow to make. You'll get spears faster. Wooden shafts and iron tips. We can get a hundred done within the month if the iron holds. as for bows and arrows, Killi can do the work his good at making those things."

"I'll take the first hundred spears for now," Levi said. "Prioritize spears, then short swords. Shields after that. As for bows and arrows i hope u Killi can make as many as you can."

"Bows and arrows for more than three hundred will take a lot of time with just me." Killi asked.

"Make as many as u can, get help if u need it someone around here should be just like u," Levi said. "We've got some bows who'll train with their own for now. Its when we truly need them all is what worries me."

Tim wiped sweat from his brow. "Then we'll get started today. Might want to ask the carpenter crews for shaft wood. We're running low."

"I'll handle it. As for your iron, I have many stocks in my storage Timor knows where to get them if you need them."

Timor nods. "I know, but Levi know this we have only been working for many moons now but we are no experts so what we can make and give would be the only one you can truly use. unless you would go so far as to buy them from other smiths."

Levi nods in understanding.

Levi turned to leave but paused. "I will talk to Lysa and Wren to lighten the burden of making them if we can buy them."

The Four smiths nodded. Work resumed.

Levi went home, went to his storage and placed more than four hundred armor in crates, hoping to keep some of them for extra use, placed more than 300 iron near them.

Night has come and it was time to rest but tomorrow more work needed to be done.