The armory manager was also in his forties.
Originally a middle-aged man with more beard than hair, he was now about to scratch off the few strands he had left.
The culprit ruining his hair follicles was none other than Alicia.
The armory did have some spare armor stored.
Of course, given Alicia’s build, heavy armor was out of the question.
Because of her height, wearing a full set of armor with an extended skirt would make her move like a penguin.
She could wear small-sized armor meant for younger people, but it was tight in the chest.
In the end, they had to temporarily modify a set of padded arming clothes with bracers, then pair them with a custom leather vest and hardened leather helmet.
Lai En also specifically had the craftsmen add a thin iron plate to the front of her leather armor.
At least with this set, Alicia could still move with the army.
As for horses, when Alicia hemmed and hawed that she couldn’t ride, Lai En’s look of “What else can you do?” could burn a hole through her supposedly thick skin.
There was no help for it.
Riding was a noble’s course for the rich in modern society.
She was just a fresh graduate worker, being ridden like an ox or horse by her boss.
When did she have the time or money to learn to ride?
Considering that squeezing a little pony into the tall and sturdy attendant squad would harm military prestige, Lai En had to let her ride double with another attendant.
As for weapons?
Lord Lai En graciously assigned Alicia as the banner bearer.
All she had to do was lift his banner and follow behind him.
Wasn’t that a living target? Alicia wanted to cry but had no tears.
She only prayed that the attendant brother riding with her would sit in front.
For now, they were just preparing for war.
Lai En’s foolish younger brother, Lemeng, had not yet issued a formal declaration of war.
Lai En obviously didn’t intend to strike first and give others a handle to criticize him.
Before the fighting started, Alicia brazenly asked her boss for leave.
“I have amnesia,” she lied with a straight face.
“So I need to relearn some common sense. Lord and Master, please be merciful and give me a few days off!”
“Amnesia? Which part of you looks like you have amnesia? Is a proposal for a professional army something an amnesiac could come up with?”
Lai En laughed in disbelief.
“You wouldn’t be trying to desert, would you? Even ordinary militiamen face heavy penalties for desertion. You’re the banner bearer—desertion means beheading!”
“I… I just lost part of my memory!”
Alicia tried to be difficult.
She had no choice.
Yesterday, the boss’s single sentence “I’m sure you have a good plan too?” had put immense pressure on her!
Having just arrived in this world, she didn’t understand it yet.
Even if she wanted to copy the armchair strategies she’d seen in games or books, she needed to understand the social structure and technological level first!
Unfortunately, the body’s common-sense memories were fragmented.
She didn’t even know the name of this empire or who the emperor was.
Study.
She never imagined that after graduating from school, she’d have to study again in another world.
So it’s true that “books have their own golden houses, books have gold!” Gold!
Lai En was baffled.
How could someone have such thick skin?
Maybe he was annoyed by her noise, or maybe he wanted to see what she could come up with.
He waved his hand impatiently and tossed a brass key at her.
“Take it! This is the key to the castle library! If you want to study, go study there and stop bothering me! But I warn you—if I can’t find you when the war starts…”
Alicia caught the heavy brass key as if it were a treasure, and her face instantly bloomed into a smile.
Flattery poured out like the Yellow River’s endless water: “Thank you, Lord and Master! Your wisdom is brilliant! As they say, a sea voyage depends on the helmsman, and all things grow by the sun…”
“Get the hell out of here, now!” Lai En finally lost his patience, pointing at the door.
So Alicia scurried off.
She had to admit, although Lai En seemed young, like a rebellious problem teenager, the castle library was quite impressive.
Tall bookshelves reached the ceiling, densely packed with all kinds of books covering history, geography, folklore, and crafts.
The variety was complete.
In particular, the thick leather-bound history books were stacked in piles.
The empire she now lived in was called the Hanover Empire.
About three hundred years ago, it had conquered the most fertile core regions of the continent, sweeping away all enemies and unifying the world.
This glory had established the empire’s martial foundation.
However, as the saying goes, “long divided, must unite; long united, must divide.”
In the past hundred years, the empire had rapidly declined.
Without external enemies, enemies sprouted from within.
To reward meritorious officials and consolidate rule, the founding emperor had carried out large-scale enfeoffment.
Apart from the core area around the capital, which was directly under the imperial house, the vast majority of land was given to local lords.
These lords were roughly divided into three levels:
Guardian Grand Duke: stationed at the borders, with numerous fortresses, tasked with defending against barbarians outside the empire.
They were the strongest military nobles.
Hereditary Grand Duke: Their territories contained one or several cities, with extremely high autonomy.
They formed the mainstream of the empire’s nobility.
Regional Count: Subordinate to Hereditary Grand Dukes.
Their territories had no cities but contained many towns and villages.
They were the grassroots rulers with real power.
As for knights, and insignificant small nobles with only a village or even just empty titles without any land, they were countless.
It was not hard to guess that such a feudal system would inevitably cause a lot of internal conflict.
And the breaking point arrived suddenly.
About a hundred years ago, the empire’s fourth emperor was ill and had no sons.
So several great nobles decided to take the opportunity to implement the Elective System—the emperor would no longer be hereditary but would be elected from among the Guardian Grand Dukes and Hereditary Grand Dukes.
Only great nobles who simultaneously held important imperial positions—such as Grand Chancellor or Grand Marshal—were qualified to become Elector Princes.
But the emperor planned to pass the throne to his younger brother.
Among the great nobles, there were those loyal to the imperial house.
Thus, the nobles quickly split into the “Electoral Faction” and the “Royalist Faction.”
The two factions escalated from verbal battles in the court to large-scale real-life PVP.
In the end, no one won.
The war became a mess.
But while the big brother (the emperor) was fighting fiercely with his main army outside, the usually insignificant younger brothers in the rear seized their chance to pull off a spectacular revolt.
Many great nobles woke up one day to find their homelands taken by their juniors, their wives had become someone else’s, their sons were killed, and the foundation their families had built over a century became someone else’s dowry!
From then on, warlords carved up the empire.
As long as you could raise an army, make up a noble title for yourself, and forcibly annex a territory, you could become a legitimate (self-proclaimed) Hereditary Grand Duke!
Well, it was truly a chaotic era.
But chaos gives birth to heroes!
In Alicia’s view, this world—ravaged by war, with no firearms yet, and backward in all industries except military—still had great potential!
The top priority was to quickly jot down the memories still fresh in her mind just after transmigrating.
If she waited a few more years, she’d forget everything—just like the calculus formulas her teacher taught her back then.
So Alicia got into a writing frenzy.
Combining all the crazy brain teasers she’d read online and the governing strategies common in strategy games, and integrating her preliminary analysis of the current state of this other world, she began writing furiously.
After a full day of intense writing, a Treatise on Strengthening the Nation was born!
Although she shamelessly gave her “masterpiece” such a lofty name, the content was still vague, mostly consisting of framework ideas and wild speculations.
Perhaps after some time and refinement, she might actually produce a shocking work worthy of a transmigrator? Alicia surprisingly felt confident.
But!
Writing—especially using an unfamiliar quill pen on rough papyrus—was very tiring!
After a busy day, Alicia’s hands ached.
Plus, the castle’s lighting wasn’t great.
To save her wrists and eyesight, she decided to slack off.
She went to the castle terrace to get some fresh air and simultaneously experience the honest folk customs of Blaine City.
It seemed Lai En was quite approachable as a lord.
Even next to the castle walls, the residents didn’t seem restrained.
Children chattered and played, women carrying buckets of water and hurrying passersby flowed back and forth.
Occasionally, loud voices could be heard causing a disturbance.
“Stop right there, you bastard! How do you know there’s a mole on my wife’s left breast?”
“This is a misunderstanding! Nothing happened between us!”
“Shut up! I’m going to skin you alive today!”
Ah, the folk customs were quite honest, quite honest!
Let’s look the other way.
“You ungrateful wretch! I bust my ass raising your kids, and you go to the brothel for fun? Get over here!”
“No, dear! It was just a fling! Good son, save your dad!”
“Come, my dear husband, let’s go over there and have a nice chat…”
Ah, folk customs… indeed!
Alright, I can’t write anymore.
Maybe I’ll go down and watch the drama later?
But going down from the castle required climbing a long staircase.
Thinking of those steep and narrow stairs that were almost anti-human, Alicia got lazy.
So she continued lounging against the railing, overlooking the vibrant city below.
Watching the bustling crowd, listening to the chaotic yet lively noise, an indescribable surge of ambition quietly grew and spread within her.
In the future, could I also have a city of my own?
Driven by this strange ambition, she wanted to recite a poem…
No, she couldn’t.
She was a science student and lacked literary talent.
So she settled for belting out a song!
“Ah~ah~ah~ah—”
“Slap!”
“Ouch!”
A sudden smack on the head made Alicia hold her head in grievance.
She turned around and saw Lai En’s disgusted face immediately.
“Shut up! Don’t pollute my city! You have a nice speaking voice, but singing sounds like a pig being slaughtered!”
Who’s like a pig being slaughtered? I’m just a bit off-key…
“Lord and Master, why are you here?”
Alicia quickly squeezed out a smile.
Lai En raised an eyebrow.
“What, it’s my castle. Do I need to report to you where I want to go?”
Fine, since you said that, what can I say? Alicia pursed her lips and made a “please yourself” gesture.
“Then, Lord and Master, is there something you need from me?”
Lai En didn’t respond to her banter.
He turned around and leaned on the stone railing, gazing at the seemingly peaceful city below.
His eyes gradually grew deep and serious.
“I came to tell you. Lemeng… has officially issued a declaration of war against me.”
“What?!”
Alicia was shocked.
Only two days had passed!
“And,” Lai En’s voice dropped low.
“He has gained the support of lords from several surrounding towns. According to scout reports, the total force he can mobilize may reach six thousand.”
Three thousand against six thousand?
Heaven and Earth!
This is the end, the end!
“Get ready, Alicia. We’ll set out to meet them tomorrow.”
The girl was dumbfounded.
Three thousand against six thousand.
Not defending the city, but going out to meet the enemy?
Had her boss lost his mind?
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
Lai En frowned in displeasure and flicked her forehead again.
“Lost confidence in your sovereign again? They only have a thousand more militia. Even so, I still have a sixty percent chance of victory!”