Marlene's return was a complete surprise for Rod, he never expected Marlene to actually follow him back to the guild, and of course, Marlene herself didn't explain much about it. However, Rod also knows very well that there must be something hidden in this, but since Marlene can return to his side, it is always a good thing for Rhodes, and of course he is welcome. But Marlene surprises Rod more than that.

"Who are they?"

Looking at the more than thirty young people standing not far behind Marlene, wearing mage robes, looking at him with uneasy and curious eyes, Rod couldn't help but raise his eyebrows, and asked suspiciously. Most of these people are women, only two or three male kittens are mixed in, and judging from their age, they are not much different from Marlene's age, and their faces are full of youthful vigor and youthful energy. In the face of Rod's answer, Marlene smiled proudly.

"They're your men, huh? Rod? ”

"My men?"

Hearing Marlene's answer, Rod was stunned, but soon, under Marlene's explanation, he understood the ins and outs of these people——— it turned out that they were all Marlene's classmates in the academy.

As the largest magical shrine in the Principality of Moon, the Academy has always held a high position in the hearts of the people of the Principality of Moon, not only responsible for the teaching and training of mages, but also responsible for cultivating elite talents for the noble family. Therefore, in the academy, people from major families like Marlene occupy the majority position. However, there are some people who do not have the status of nobility and eminence like they do, but for various reasons, the academy will also let them in. It's just that except for those who have high talents, they can study for free, and everyone else has to pay a lot of money to enter the academy. Due to the particularity of the college, many squires and wealthy businessmen are also willing to spend a lot of money to send their children to the college. However, a considerable part of them do not aim to let their children learn magic and become mages, but hope to take the opportunity to build relationships with the heirs of those large families, and aspire to enter high society. As for others, they hope to be able to change their fate through the study of the academy, and in the future, they will be much better than their parents to become stewards or retainers around those nobles.

As the best of the best. Marlene naturally has no shortage of admirers around her, before leaving the Golden City this time, she had specially visited the academy, and recruited more than 20 people who had a good relationship with her and had a trustworthy character, some of them were Marlene's classmates, and some were Marlene's juniors. Although after the celebration banquet, because of Lydia's performance, most of the nobles were respectful of Marlene. But these people don't care. They are basically from poor backgrounds, with no background and strength to speak of, and although they study hard in the academy, they are rarely able to enter the eyes of the nobility. And now that Marlene has come to recruit them to the Land of Atonement, these young people who have not yet left the gate of the academy naturally have no resistance to this, and they are very enthusiastic. After all, Rhodes's name had spread all over the Golden City before this, and when they heard that they were going to work for such a promising young nobleman, these young people naturally had no objection.

And Marlene's selection of objects is also very much in line with Rod's appetite. Most of these people are not qualified mages, but they are academic. In terms of politics, economy and alchemy, it has achieved good results. This is also the only way for commoners without background identity and talent to become nobles, mages need talent, which cannot be forced. But knowledge can be acquired through hard work, and in this respect, the starting line is the same for both nobles and commoners. If they perform well, they can be favored by the nobility. Charging to be a steward or a financial officer or something, it's all fat and poor, as long as you work hard, it's not impossible to enter the upper class society in the future. And even if the nobles don't like them, wait for them to leave the academy. Depending on your resume, you can also seek a job at the lord's mansion in various places.

For Rod, this is the gift he really needs at the moment, and in terms of value, these people Marlene brought to herself far exceeded the Holy Cross.

After all, at the moment, what Rhodes lacks most is internal affairs manpower.

Everyone else was envious of Starlight's growth and growth, but no one knew that it was not a day or two that Lu Dao Rhodes had a headache. To be honest, at the beginning, he didn't actually think that building a guild was a difficult thing, in Rhodes's opinion, just like in the game, he found a few guild members to discuss and discuss, formed a set of rules and regulations, and then adjusted and adjusted according to the actual situation. But when it came to actually doing it, Rhodes realized that he was thinking about it too simply.

There is only one reason for this——— and that is the level of education.

Rhodes ignored a very important thing, the earth he is in, the general level of education and culture is already very high, even if it is an online player, most of them are high school and college education level, of course, it is not for nothing that little bubble gum is limited to the second year of middle school because of its age, but compared with the Dragon Soul Continent, the education level on the earth and the information communication brought by the Internet age are completely heaven and earth. And compared to them, the group of mercenaries under his command is a group of quasi-illiterate people at all! Most of them can only read but not write, and being able to write their names is already blessed by the Holy Spirit. A lot of times Rhodes made things that other people couldn't understand at all. And these people can only do the simplest addition and subtraction, not even multiplication and division. In the past, this problem was not particularly serious, but when Starlight grew and watched the group of mercenaries under his command count back and forth one by one, Rod had an urge to flip the table and cut people. This is also the reason why the operation of the entire Starlight Guild has stagnated a lot after Marlene is gone, there are two-legged people everywhere in the fortress, but you have to find a person with a higher education like Marlene——— let alone higher education, even if you find someone who can write and calculate!

In front of him, under Rod, he counted the people who met this condition on both hands——— Marlene, Lijie, and Labis were already well-educated and high-level talents for various reasons. For some unknown reason, Christie has been able to write and count since birth, which is also one, Shanna used to be the head of the mercenary group. Simple spelling is still good, and it counts as one. Plus the old Walker and the newly-joined John. Grell (who naturally had to be able to write as a commander) was less than ten people in all. It is conceivable that just relying on these few people, the level of education is still uneven, and there are so many people in the territory fortress to manage. What a painful thing for Rod.

In fact, the cultural level of the Duchy of Moon is not too low, and there is naturally no way to compare it with the earth where Rhodes once lived, but in the towns, ordinary people can still read and write. But who called Rod chose a group of old mercenaries to start his business, and there was not even a town in the land of atonement where he was located, and all the peasants who came were illiterate. The merchants were shrewd, but Rhodes wouldn't be stupid enough to let a group of merchants help him manage the fortress.

Now the people that Marlene brought to herself can be regarded as almost a relief for Rod, not only can solve the problem of lack of manpower on Labis's side, but also can increase the manpower on his side. And for the loyalty of these young people. Rhodes wasn't too worried, they were innocent and had nothing to do with other powers, and these young people who had just left the academy were easy and suitable to develop a sense of belonging.

Thinking of this, Rhodes stepped forward.

Seeing Rod coming to him, those young people also moved. Although it was the first time they had met Rhodes, it was difficult not to hear the name in the Golden City. At this moment, he saw the rumored man come to him. Everyone immediately became nervous involuntarily.

Rod didn't speak immediately, but looked at the young people in front of him one by one with meaningful eyes. Several young girls curled up involuntarily under Rod's gaze. He hid behind his companions, while others watched him with curiosity and longing. But Rhodes didn't take a second look at the girls, instead, he quickly noticed the three young men on the other side.

Marlene was a very cautious person, and she had little experience with men in the academy and aristocratic circles. Because she also knows that she has a special identity, she is likely to be taken advantage of if she is not careful. So she spent most of her time dating female friends, and because of this, Rhodes wasn't too surprised that most of the people Marlene brought were women. But on the other hand, those three men were able to catch Rod's attention. The reason why Marlene recommended them was that it was clear that she had a lot of trust in these three young men. This is very rare for Marlene, which also shows that there should be something about these young people that is worthy of their own attention.

Different from the men that Rhodes had seen before, these three young men looked like typical academics, thin and weak, wearing wide mage robes and bachelor's robes, and at first glance they were the kind of powerless scholars, which made Rod feel a little more intimate. After all, in the university, there are many similar people around him, the result of exam-oriented education, everyone only pays attention to grades and does not pay attention to physical fitness, and as a result, in college, seven out of ten are wearing glasses, the other two are wearing contact lenses, and the remaining one naked-eye vision can have 1.5 is lucky. Rhodes himself is not a particularly strong person, so in the game he chose the image of such a rough muscular man to contrast. Seeing these three people now, Rod felt a little more close.

And under Rod's gaze, the three of them behaved differently.

The young man with thick glasses and a heavy book in his arms smiled at Rod a little embarrassed, then he grabbed his somewhat unkempt hair, and then lowered his head and stared at the ground with a look of cramped and uneasy. The brown-haired man beside him smiled, bowed slightly to Rod, and bowed, behaving very decently and politely. As for the person standing on the far right of the three, he stood quietly in place, facing Rod's gaze and scrutiny, he straightened his back and bravely looked at Rod. The two looked at each other for a moment, and finally, the young man instinctively lowered his head under the pressure of Rod's gaze, but soon he seemed to sense something, and looked up again, but by this time, Rod had withdrawn his gaze.

"It's a fun trio."

Although it was only a few minutes, Rhodes had already touched their personality traits, which made him raise his eyebrows curiously, and then turned to Marlene and spoke.

"How did you get them?"

"In the academy, they are a very famous combination. None of them have a high talent for magic, but all three of them can get through every magic exam. At first, I suspected them of cheating, so I investigated them with the academy, and later found out that they were really doing something tricky......... However, this is within the scope of the rules, so in the end it is only a warning. However, the three of them are indeed very distinctive, although they are not very strong in magic. But I don't think that's what you need for Rod. ”

Hearing Marlene's answer, Rhodes nodded, and then he stepped forward, looked at the people in front of him, and then spoke.

"I think you all know who I am, but I'd like to introduce myself, my name is Rod. Elant, now Lord of Glenbel, Earl. The leader of the Starlight Guild. I welcome you to join us. I believe in Marlene, and since she has recommended you to me, I believe that you must be strong enough to fulfill the mission and responsibility I have given you. But I must say here that Glen Bell is not a prosperous territory, and there are difficulties and dangers that you cannot imagine in the Golden City, and if any of you are afraid to leave, this is your last chance. ”

Hear Rod's words. Everyone was stunned, they had never seen such a noble lord before. There are also such statements. For a moment, the faces of several girls began to become uneasy, they looked left and right, and then looked at Marlene, obviously, Rod's words made these girls a little worried and afraid. The three young men were very calm, and they just stood silently. Didn't say a word.

Although Rod's words were unexpected by these people, in the end they did not choose to leave, they do not have a noble identity and background like Marlene and Lijie, and if they want to get ahead, it is inevitable to endure hardships. Although what Rhodes said they also thought about. But......... Fear and cowardice will not bring them everything they want.

In the end, no one chose to leave, they knew that this was the only chance to change their fate, and Rhodes was not a fool, he knew the truth of sticks and candy, he gave them a stick before, and then he would give them a candy to eat, he promised these young people that as long as they performed well, then they could become their own retainers, and it was possible to get a good harvest and manor land, which suddenly made those young people who were not deeply involved in the world excited again. Of course, they knew that Glen Bell was a new territory, and because of this, although Rhodes had told them that it was full of dangers, they also knew that this was also an opportunity. If they can hold on tightly, then they can change their lives and destinies.

In this way, Rod left the Golden City and returned to the fortress with Marlene, Lizzie, and Anne, as well as the new followers.

After returning to the fortress, Rhodes had a lot to deal with, first of all he had to separate the management. In the past, Rhodes was only the president of the Starlight Guild, and his territory was only the Land of Atonement, so at that time, for Rhodes, managing the Starlight Guild well was equivalent to managing his own territory. But not now, he is now the lord of Glenbel, and managing mercenaries is different from managing a territory after all. In the past, it was improvised if there was no manpower, but now that there are manpower, it is natural to manage it separately. Of course, it's not all at once, because even if Glenn Bell is really separated, there is not much to manage, but this management mechanism must be established, and then let these rookies first accumulate a certain amount of experience through the management of the Land of Atonement, and then wait until the later development and growth, it will be much easier. If you always use the same set of mercenaries to manage the territory, there will be chaos in the future.

Therefore, after discussing with Marlene, Rhodes decided to divide the current management system into three branches, one of which is responsible for the internal affairs of the territory, one is in charge of the mercenary guild, and finally his personal soldiers. As for the members brought back by Marlene, except for the alchemist who threw it to Labis, the rest of them were in charge of the internal affairs of the territory under Marlene, while the mercenaries were in charge of Lijie, with little bubblegum and canary assisting. From here, it can be seen that mercenaries are different from ordinary people, as long as your identity and status are there, most of them will not have any resistance. Mercenaries, on the other hand, only convince those who have a good reputation, who are born and die with themselves, and who are strong. Therefore, if you send those powerless academy members to manage the mercenaries, I am afraid that they will be overthrown by the mercenaries in a few days. As for the private army, John was in charge for the time being, because until now, Rod's private army was only such a cavalry team, and there was still a big gap compared to other nobles. Of course, it is Rod who makes the final decision, and when Rod is not there, it will be left to Marlene, and if Marlene is not there, then let the canary take over temporarily.

Of course, the specific details of the work are for Marlene and her subordinates to think about and discuss before making a decision, and Rhodes doesn't care, because he has a more important thing to do. So, the day after returning to the fortress, even before Marlene had arranged the group of young people, Rhodes had already called the canary and the little bubblegum to his study.

"Rod, what's the problem?"

"What's wrong? Head? ”

As soon as they walked into the study, the two immediately asked curiously, but Rod did not answer the questions of the two immediately, instead, he lowered his head and wrote and drew on the desk in front of him. In the face of Rod's strange performance, the two could only glance at each other curiously, then shrugged their shoulders and waited quietly drinking tea next to them. After a few minutes, Rhodes stopped his pen, and then he looked up at the two of them with a blank face, and then raised the parchment in his hand to them.

"Poof!"

Seeing the content on the parchment, the canary laughed out loud with a rare "poof", and the little bubble gum was even more exaggerated and directly squirted the tea in her mouth far away, and then she directly covered her stomach, turned to the ground and rolled directly with laughter.

"Commander, you are so talented! Leader, I can't stand it, hahahaha I took it............ Haha!!ha ”

In the face of the laughter of the canary and the little bubblegum, Rhodes was still expressionless, and he held up the parchment in his hand unmoved, on which was a line of dark and striking text.

"The rookie kneels and begs to bring a big brush to the monastery." (To be continued.) )