"My lord, this is the village where I was born. Thanks to you, I have saved a lot of dinars. I plan to buy some land and marry the daughter of a businessman or landlord, so that I can spend my life safely and securely. For the rest of my life."

John pointed to the village not far away and said with some emotion.

In order to send John a ride, Byron deliberately spared a section of the road and passed by the village of John's hometown.

"You are a good soldier, and your mind is very bright. John, I believe you will be able to run your own business well."

Byron got down from the horse and took John's hand, feeling a little bit reluctant. As Byron said, John is now very good as a mercenary cavalry and very competent as a standard bearer. And he has more foresight than ordinary mercenaries, so Byron was relieved that he would help him purchase supplies and let him command a dozen mercenary cavalry around Byron.

He has followed Byron for the longest time and is Byron's first soldier. The two have a great friendship, and Byron has always regarded him as a friend. When he was injured, Byron helped him find suitable medicines throughout the Swadia Barracks so that he did not have to be amputated.

"I wish you could stay, John. Follow me and you will be as beautiful as those knights in no time."

Byron shook John's hand and said sincerely.

"No, sir, I thank you for your kindness, but I am afraid I can no longer fight, and you are not short of me as a soldier."

John smiled and shook his head, and declined Byron's stay.

"It is my honor to be able to fight with you. I still remember when I first followed you you were just an ordinary mercenary, and there was no one under you. Now, you are the official baron of the king, the lord of the party, and the status. Noble and so rich. I am afraid that no one else in the entire Calradia continent has this kind of experience."

"It is the glory of my life to have this kind of experience, and I don't have to worry about having no boasting capital in the second half of my life."

Both of them laughed, then let go of their hands.

When John was leaving, Byron stopped him and brought a military horse.

"Remember it, John. We killed the counterfeit together and got this good horse. Now it belongs to you, John, you will need it. And those equipment, all belong to you. In addition, I still have a bit of dinar, which is the reward you deserved in the last battle and the compensation for retirement."

The reins of General Byron's horse were handed to John, and he handed him a cloth bag containing a large sum of silver and gold worth 200 dinars.

"Oh, Holy Father, you are as generous as ever. Thank you, sir, thank you very much. If you pass by here one day, I will do my best to entertain you."

John respectfully paid a respectful salute to Byron, put away the coins, mounted the army horse, and went to the village under Byron's watch.

"Goodbye, John."

Byron waved at his back, and then returned to his army with his soldiers.

When Byron returned to Serendil with his army, he also sent someone to inquire about John's news. It looks like what John said before. He bought a few houses in the village, transformed it into a tavern, hired a few locals who could do the job, and became the boss. The people in the village gave him a good opinion, thinking that he was one of the richest people in the village, and the local militia organization would also ask him to help train the troops.

He leads a decent squire life, eats white bread and bacon at every meal, and is close to the daughter of the local miller.

John's retirement life is good, and his departure also made a dozen other mercenaries want to go home. Some of them, like John, saved enough money for their own lives, planning to return to their hometown to live a stable life. Others are simply tired of the life of running and fighting all day, or the damage left by previous battles makes them unable to keep their lives on the battlefield.

Byron gave them some money and asked them to leave with their equipment. Of course, these people cannot be the ones who pledge allegiance to him, and their pensions are not as high as John's.

But after they left, Byron also found a new source of troops in his territory.

Serendil has initially recovered to its pre-war state, and most of the buildings in the town have resumed operation. And because of the influx of refugees, the number of homeless people has increased, and more people are willing to join Byron's army. When Byron's call was initiated, dozens of people in the town responded to his call and joined his army.

These southerners belonged to the Rhodok recruits in the systematic judgment, and after being armed, they were the Rhodok spearmen or Rhodok crossbowmen who lacked training. When these soldiers are ready to face war under Bandak's training, Byron's infantry strength will be strengthened.

A group of veterans left, and another group of recruits filled their vacancies. Although it seems that this kind of behavior is not cost-effective, the salary requirements of these local Rodok soldiers are much lower than those of mercenaries, and many people have higher loyalty than mercenaries because of their families.

As for the disadvantage of combat skills, it is not difficult to make up for Byron's training bonus. In about three months, these recruits can become good level 3 soldiers, form a phalanx of spears on the battlefield, and use Rodok's infantry tactics to deal with the enemy.

Rodok's infantry phalanx and upper Swadia's heavy cavalry unit will complement each other very well. Of course, it will take a long time for the tactics of the two sides to work out. In particular, Byron intends to use the pike and wall cavalry offensive of the musket era. This tactical surpassing this era not only requires training, but also depends on actual combat tests to ensure that it is sufficiently effective.

In addition to these ill-trained militias, some local wealthy people and landlords could not put down their property and returned to Serendil and expressed their loyalty to Byron. Of course, Byron does not believe in their loyalty. For these people, the most important thing is not who their allegiance is, but whether their property can be adequately protected.

However, there are indeed some of them who can fight for Byron. They can prepare their own equipment, even the more expensive horses in the south, to follow Byron.

Byron had talked with these local squires. Byron could give them certain concessions in taxation and other places, and they had to be loyal to Byron and obey his call.

Of course, the premise is that Byron still has to speak effectively in Serendil, so that his promise can be fulfilled smoothly.