CHAPTER 266: MILITIA LEADER

That afternoon, Dominic went to meet with General Alator at his family’s farmstead, looking for a trainer for their militia force.

The old man came out to greet him at the door, and Dominic went straight to business.

"It has come to our attention that with the monsters in the area, and possible threats from Dagos loyalists, we are going to need a Militia or Guard force as soon as possible, and I was hoping that you would be willing to come out of retirement to help train them." Dominic began.

The old General chuckled and looked around at his crowded family home. "Well, if it’s a paying position, I don’t see any harm. We’re doing better than expected, but there still isn’t too much work in town."

They weren’t experienced farmers, but they were doing well enough, Dominic noticed. Nobody wanted to look bad in front of the boss, but there were new curtains in the house, and the yurt was built up on a wooden platform, to prevent muddy ground from damaging belongings or inviting pests.

Not glamorous, but functional.

"I can offer you a standard wage as a weapons trainer. It might not make you rich, but it’s something." Dominic offered.

The Alator Family elder nodded. It would be enough to provide the basics for his family, even if they were living in town. With the farm acres, it would be enough to start really living comfortably.

"Alright, I will agree to do the training. But who are we even going to train? Are you going to draft militia members?" He asked.

Dominic shook his head. "We’ve got plenty of soldiers in town, I will ask for volunteers. Plus, we will do some training with the Huntsmen so that they’re fully equipped to deal with small groups of monsters."

The old General laughed, and ran his hand through his thin white hair.

"Don’t forget that we all came from Dagos. Not a one of us but the sheriff has a magical weapon, even if we’ve been trained for combat." He mentioned, speaking slowly.

Dominic nodded. "I understand. But I have weapons. Plenty of weapons. There were some in the Manor, and I have more. Plus, I’m a gunsmith by trade. I will equip the militia with pistols and swords, the huntsmen with magitech rifles, and I will ensure that there is a supply of spears available in case of attack."

General Alator chuckled. "Well, now that is a whole different standard than they’re used to. All they would need after that would be armour and a tabard to be a proper militia."

Dominic nodded. "I will get to that eventually. But first, we just need to get enough of them trained to keep the area safe."

"That should be easy enough. But I would recommend at least getting some cloth from one of the caravans so you can make them all matching coats. It makes them feel more official and gives them courage."

Dominic nodded. "If you’re free, I’m headed into the village to set things started. We can inform the other farms on the way, but I will need to swing by the hunters houses."

"Then I will meet you there. Most of the villagers know who I am already, if they didn’t know me before. I will get them organized if you can inform the hunters.

How much equipment did you have for them today?"

Dominic shrugged. "I’ve got swords and spears. I will make them all pistols in the next few days, and then I will start on the rifles."

It was going to be a very long few days.

Making a half dozen rifles for the huntsmen out of spare parts wasn’t a big deal, but even if he was using [Clay to Steel] it still took time to make a new mana revolver, and they would need to arrange at least a dozen men who were competent with them.

Dominic jogged off to the huntsmen’s houses, and informed the men he found there that they were training a militia, which would include the hunters, as they would effectively be the village’s scouts because of their jobs.

The majority of them understood very well, though a few of the woodcutters were more interested in simply using a good whistle to call for reinforcements than actually learning to stand and fight.

After explaining that the majority of the trouble was likely to be Goblins and other roaming monsters, or wild boars, they understood that having proper weapons would make their lives safer.

Though they were just hunters and woodcutters, they wouldn’t turn down a good weapon, even if it meant taking the training that the Duke was insisting on to form the militia.

It was actually fairly uncommon to have a training regimen. Many Lords would simply assume that everyone would figure it out when they were called up to fight.

That naturally led to insanely high militia death rates.

But, they only took young men, so the women left at home could just make a new generation to replace the one lost to war.

Of course, Dominic wasn’t going to mention that all the magical swords he was planning to hand out were obtained from the battlefields in the Duchy. The old owners didn’t need them, and putting them all in the crypts just wasn’t space efficient.

There were a lot in the village crypt already, but Dominic hadn’t buried any from the outlying areas or the Baronies.

Once everyone had been notified, with most planning to come the next day, as they had work to finish, Dominic returned to the village and stopped at the tailor’s to order coats.

"Ah, Lord Dominic. I was expecting you to be here soon. Will you be ordering uniforms for the militia?" The older of the two Tailors working the shop asked.

Dominic sighed and looked at the number of men on the training ground. It looked like every family sent at least one person, and there were close to fifty gathered in the middle of town.

"Yeah, coats and pants. You can make the pants loose fit with a tied waist. No need for a perfect fit, and then when we get armour for the regulars, they won’t need a replacement." Dominic agreed.

"But coats will need to be fitted. That’s not an issue, we will get them all to come in for a quick fitting, and we’ve got templates for military coats. We just need to know what sort you want made."

That was a good question. Should they be Cygnia Royal Army colours? Or should he make them a local pattern to mark them at town guards?