It was time to plan.
The first option was stay on and fight for his place as the rightful heir to the Fenchel. However, he didn’t like the very idea of fighting for a place which wasn’t rightfully his to begin with. Thus, he didn’t even consider this. When Emily asked him whether he wished to rule, she was indirectly implying that he should assassinate either Loukia before the baby was born or remove the baby once it’s born. She probably meant the former since it was killing two birds with one stone. As wicked as it sounded, such a method wasn’t entirely unheard of among nobles. Those who craved powers would do anything to get what they wanted. Thankfully, Ewald wasn’t one of them.
The second option was to gracefully back off and return to Laufeld. He did not have a problem with this. In this scenario, he’d become an adventurer and climb his way up. He felt confident in his ability to be able to start anew. However, there was just one issue with this: Flora. Her fate would become really uncertain if he were to simply leave his seat as the heir. He was fine with returning back to his roots. Flora becoming a commoner was something nobody would accept. Whether he liked it or not, she was indeed his responsibility at this point. Raem was also included in this to an extent.
Thus, the third option came to his mind: Becoming a vassal. He’d ask Edmund to grant him Laufeld which was a rather insignificant town, and he’d change his last name to start a new house. He’d remain a noble, and Flora would stay with him. Of course, he would probably have to tell her the truth behind his birth and ask her whether she wanted to go. He was fairly certain she’d agree to go with him and was also quite certain that Avina would fume.
He wanted to present his thoughts on the matter to Edmund before Loukia’s child was born. It was imperative that he did early to ensure that the path was clear. If he presented his idea to him after a son was born, it could give Edmund other ideas. However, there was time, and he was about to set off with a goblin hunt with Raem and Lara. The latter had a priority at the moment because Avina was indeed correct that Lara needed some sort of education. She was simply too unhinged.
“........”
It didn’t really strike him until recently, but he felt that Raem and Lara would make a good couple. They just knew each other so well. Their relationship kind of reminded him of his own with Fionara. Even with a marriage, his relationship with her was more of a friendship with benefits. He felt that Raem and Lara could turn out to be exactly like that. He smiled at such thoughts.
After donning his leather armor, he checked to make sure that his snake blade belt was functioning properly. With that done, he set off to the decoy house.
I suppose I will tell Raem about my decision as well.
He was going to ask him whether he’d follow him wherever he’d go. He was fairly certain that he’d agree because he didn’t have any connection to the Fenchel house itself. Yes, he was a bastard son of a Fenchel member but that fact seemed to have been completely discarded. His only connection to climb higher was with Ewald.
I am also going back to my old name, the one my mother gave to me.
To be honest, he never liked this noble name, Ewald. He liked Kamil far more. Vilma Fenchel was a brave woman; He came to realize that more and more. She was a noble woman from the Fenchel to actually dare marry down for her own happiness. As if rewarding for her bravery, she was blessed with sons. For noblewomen, especially first wives, sons were far more important than anything. Loukia was a sad example of that. Her ordeals were a direct result of failing to bear a son.
Yeah, I am pretty sure Gods are watching us, all of us.
It wasn't piety he had. It was a simple acknowledgement that there were higher beings with unfathomable powers.
When he arrived at the decoy house, Raem and Lara were already fully geared and ready to go. Karla was checking for backpacks for the last time to see whether anything was missing. Ewald noticed that Raem’s bag was a full-sized one. Since his growth spurt, his physicality was that of an adult. Thus, it came to no surprise.
“We ready?”
“Yep!” Lara replied gleefully.
“Ready as we'll ever be,” Raem agreed.
A few years ago, they set out to exterminate a goblin camp. They were rookies at that time. Interestingly, the circumstances were the same. They needed money back then, and they needed money now.
Their journey to reach the goblin encampment proved to be relatively easy. On their first night, they employed stealth camping which was camping without the use of a campfire. This was something Ewald knew as a hunter in his former life. Additionally, he had time to study this further during the war. Monsters were attracted by light and noises primarily. One would think that werewolves would track humans down by smells, given they were wolves in essence. But it would appear that their keen sense of smell was dulled in werewolf form. Great bears, another common monster one might encounter at night, seemed to be primarily attracted by the scent of food. Essentially, as long as they didn’t use fire, a lot of problems would disappear. At the same time, stealth camping was only possible in the Kingdom of Egra. It would get too cold at night to even attempt this method in the North.
The second night was identical to the first where they spent a night without fire at all. Raem and Lara were quietly munching jerky while Ewald was looking up at the night sky where countless stars were glimmering, providing a bit of light but not enough to lift the pitch black darkness that dominated the ground. It was so dark that he couldn’t even see his own hands, not even its silhouette. At this moment, he recalled Cezary’s comment about how hard it was to travel and that he hoped to change that with his newest invention, the floating bag thingy.
If people could travel to other locations easier…
He contemplated possible implications of such an invention. He dismissed the idea at that time because he was a little angry about him not actually doing what he was told to do. He wanted a way to keep perishables longer, not a new traveling method. As he gave it more thoughts from different angles, he started to see some potential.
If people could migrate easily, it could kick off steady migrations from the North to South simply due to the warmer climate. A location like Laufeld that had only 5,000 people was a good place to live without a cold winter. The only reason the town remained small was due to the lack of migration.
It may be possible to make Laufeld prosper…
Provided that Edmund was willing to grant him the town, it may be possible to make the settlement bigger with Cezary’s idea. But, for now, he had to keep this thought to himself.
It felt a little strange, but he found himself in a pot of ideas on the prospect of becoming an independent lord. Becoming a lord at just eleven years meant he would have time to see through projects a normal lord would not have time for. Of course, he had to make it happen first. Edmund wouldn’t let him go easily even if his own, biological, son was born. That was why he was coming up with the vassal idea. He would still be under his umbrella while gaining a lot of freedom. And, in the back of his mind, he loved the prospect of reuniting with his family.
This is the path I am going for.
For once, other than the king’s assassination, he felt strong determination for it. If he stayed as an heir, it would take at least ten more years before he would be granted the seat of the Fenchel house. For someone like him who had a mature mindset already, that was too long of a time. In other words, he wanted to spread his wings.
“There they are,” Raem pointed ahead at a crudely made encampment with three tarp tents along with a campfire encircled by equally crude wooden fences. Since goblins were the size of toddlers, the fences were equally low, making it easy for a human to jump over simply, rendering it useless. Perhaps it could deter or hinder wolves or boars, but they wouldn’t certainly stop humans which wouldn’t matter since they’d rarely run into humans.
Lara surveyed the surroundings; it was a good old plain with nothing to be surprised of, such as an ambush.
“Hmmm?”
There seemed to be a commotion in the camp. The goblins within were shrieking and were running loose in no particular order.
“Wolves?”
Apparently, about a pack of eight wolves were attacking the encampment. There were already several goblin corpses with bite puncture wounds.
“Well, that will make our job easier…”
Perhaps, he spoke too soon because he thought he saw a wolf casting a wind blade spell from its mouth. Narrowing his eyebrows, Ewald pointed at what he had just seen.
“Did you guys see that?”
“Yes, that wolf cast a wind blade spell,” Raem said with a nod while Lara was clueless.
Thankfully, only one of them appeared to be capable of magic. Still, there were seven of them and the magical wolf. The goblins stood no chance and were pretty much wiped out fast with remaining few scattering away from their own encampment.
The trio were hoping that the wolves would simply go away but they continued to stay within the camp while occasionally taking bites on dead goblins. It looked like they were going to stay for a while.
“We can’t waste time,” Ewald concluded. “Let’s get this over with.”
The wolves would eventually leave, but that may take hours to days. As long as there was food around, it looked like they were going to stay. Spending any unnecessary nights in the wilderness was out of the question.
“Get ready,” He said while summoning and drawing his magical bow. He aimed for a clear headshot on any wolf. His goal was killing it in one shot to thin their number. While he was confident that they could take on eight at once, it was always better to reduce that number.
As soon as he fired the magical arrow, it punctured through a wolf’s head, striking it dead in an instant. Because there was no physical arrow, the wolves were initially very confused as to what was happening. The remaining wolves surrounded the now-dead wolf that was bleeding from its head through a tiny hole on the side of its head. Not understanding that it was dead, they barked and kicked at it as if demanding it to wake up. Not missing this chance, he drew another arrow and fired, killing the second wolf in an instant. It was only at this moment the wolves realized they were under attack. They scanned the vicinity and spotted the trio from afar, like 50 meters away behind some random bushes.
“Here they come, get ready!” He warned the others while trying to pull off another shot which missed its intended heatshot but hit a hindleg instead.
Raem dashed in front of Ewald and readied his shield to protect him while Lara stayed a bit behind him to strike foes. She wasn’t going to randomly attack; They had a practiced routine where Raem should bash his shield against a mob that’d leave it dazed at which point Lara should strike its neck, striking a mortal blow. Even if anything survived a deep cut in its neck, sudden and massive blood loss would render it far less capable, not to mention sheer shock received from such an attack. This method worked against pretty much any opponents, even humans, but this was far more effective against creatures like wolves and boars where they had to charge with their head first because charging head first gave the ideal opportunity for him to shield-bash.
Thus, when the fastest wolf charged in with a jump, Raem did not miss that opportunity to bash his shield against the wolf sideways. With a loud dull sound, the wolf was thrown off and plummeted right onto the ground. Lara didn’t strike it with a spear because the fall looked pretty bad. The wolf fell with its head first at a very awkward angle and it looked like it broke its neck on the fall as its body went limp.
When the second wolf charged in with another jump, Raem did the same with his shield, bashing it sideways. This wolf skillfully attempted to dodge midair by twisting his body, but this time it was Lara’s turn to thrust her spear right into its neck, rendering the wolf’s attempt ultimately meaningless. Seeing two of them going down pretty much instantly, the remnant wolves seized their charge at once and began circling instead. One wolf wasn’t among this group; It was the magical wolf that was observing the fight from further away. Opening its mouth, it cast wind blades at Raem. About half a dozen scythe-shaped translucent green blades, that was the size of a dagger, flew forward at him. As expected, he attempted to block them with his shield. However, the very nature of wind blades meant that the aims of those magical scythes were loose. They were aimed at him, yes, but they weren’t hitting the same spot.
“Ugh!” He groaned with pain. A single scythe went a bit awry and had made a long cut on his thigh which wasn’t covered by his shield. He was wearing leather pants which didn’t prove to be protective enough.
“Hey!” Seeing Raem get hurt, Lara hissed angrily. Dashing toward the magical wolf, she pushed a powerful thrust at him which dodged it with ease. Meanwhile, Ewald fired an arrow to get rid of one of the wolves encircling them. With three wolves down, it was five versus three. The numeral advantage the wolves had was long gone. Recognizing the situation, the magical wolf howled which seemed to signal retreat.
As soon as the wolves were a distance away, Lara swiftly pulled out a bandage from her backpack. Before applying the bandage, she cast healing water on the wound.
“Elementals of water, hear my call, please grant me the powers of healing.”
A blob of water appeared right above his cut, and it slowly dropped down onto the wound. It stayed there for about ten seconds before progressively vanishing into thin hair. Then she applied the bandages. It wasn’t a lot, but he did lose some blood.
“You okay?”
“Just some flesh wounds. But, man, those wind blades are sharp. My armor was cut like paper.”
Lara was finishing up the first aid. When done, she slapped on the bandaged thigh and yelled, “Done!” Raem let out a painful groan which made her cover her mouth. “Uh, oopsie.”
Shaking his head, Ewald asked him. “Can you walk? Or should we camp for the day?”
They all looked at the location of the sun in unison. It looked to be late morning, close to noon. When Raem attempted to stand up, all it did was reopen the wound that had been closed by the healing water.
“Okay, we are camping for today. Lara, you cast healing water again and prepare a campfire. Grab a wolf and let’s cook it today.”
“Okay!” She replied enthusiastically.
“Meanwhile, I will go loot the camp.”
The day had plenty of time left, thus it wouldn’t be a problem at all to have some proper meal before doing stealth camping for the night. Walking casually to the goblin encampment, he looked for loot, mainly gemstones. There was a badly damaged wagon which must have been what the merchant was referring to, but he had little attention to actually grab anything heavy. Even if Raem didn’t get hurt, any load that would slow them down was a big no-no. The prime rule when adventuring outside was go out, do the job, and get back as soon as possible.
This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.
Still…, the request specifically mentioned bringing back anything we could…
After finding a small wooden chest that had some gemstones in it, he inspected the wagon. The cargo was mostly miscellaneous items, like small trinkets. Nothing seemed to be of any significant value. He dug deeper, thinking that there must be something of value if he was willing to put forward a reward of 5 silver coins.
Lo and behold, there was a small iron chest buried deeply under items at the bottom. It had a small lock on it.
“This must be what he wanted to get back.”
It felt heavy. Shaking it, he could hear metal.
“Probably coins, silver coins most likely.”
It was more than some silver coins. The weight alone told him that it was probably tens of silver coins, upward 50.
“I doubt the merchant is going to give half of this.”
He could claim that he never found the chest but he wasn’t going to do that. He needed money but wasn’t desperate enough.
“Oh, well.”
By the time he got back to Raem and Lara, they had a campfire going and she was skinning a wolf. Since they wouldn’t be able to eat the whole wolf, she was simply cutting off its limbs. Thigh of hind legs was the most delicious part. There was barely any meat on the leg itself.
“Should we carry the fur?” She asked.
“No, we will earn enough,” Raem replied.
“Okie dokie.”
They didn’t have vegetables with them, so roasted meat with salt was all they could do in this environment which was quite frankly enough.
With their bellies full, they relaxed casually. The sun was high in the sky, meaning they still had hours before darkness would come. Ewald figured that this was a good time to break the news that he may be leaving Lux for Laufeld.
“What?” Rightfully so, Raem couldn’t catch the message at the first time.
“You know that I am a legalized bastard, right? It looks like Lord Fenchel may be getting a son from his first wife.”
“What?” He repeated with an even more surprised voice. “But isn’t she in her late 30s or something?”
Ewald being a legalized bastard was a lie Elias came up with to piece together a fake identity for him. It worked well so far as no one really questioned its legitimacy.
“So, Lord Fenchel is going to kick you out? How does he even know that he is going to have a son to begin with?”
“He wouldn’t know. Nobody knows, but it’s just my gut feeling that it’s going to be a son. He has had six daughters. It ought to be a son this time, I feel.”
Raem frowned. He didn’t outright disagree with his superstitious claim because he couldn’t deny it.
“What’s going to happen to you then? I mean, after you go to Laufeld.”
“I plan to negotiate with Lord Fenchel to have him grant Laufeld to me. If everything goes according to the plan, I will be the lord of Laufeld and the head of an independent noble house.”
“Where… do I fit in?” Raem asked carefully as if preparing for the worst outcome. Without Ewald, he had no way of entering the nobility. His only ticket was being a guard knight. Should a son be born, it’d take at least five years for him to need a guard knight. By then, he would be a forgotten figure already and wouldn’t even be considered. After all, the Fenchel had plenty of other options from their three landless noble houses.
If abandoned by him now, he’d need to become a full time adventurer with Lara. Ewald was fully aware of what was going through in his mind.
“I do plan to take you with me if you are willing.”
“I am,” He replied right away without any hesitation.
“But you need to keep in mind that Laufeld is a town. It won’t be as glamorous.”
Living standards would go down a lot. There would no longer be anything fancy. Of course, for Raem and Lara, that meant absolutely nothing. They were already used to living on the standards of commers. Indeed, Ewald knew they wouldn’t care. What about Flora however? She was the daughter of the Flissing. He figured that their living standards in Laufeld would barely meet the minimum. He was pretty positive that the income for a luxurious lifestyle wouldn’t be there. Would she be able to adapt? From what he had seen, she probably could. She tagged along during the war and even ate a roasted wolf leg with bare hands. Avina would fume however. That was for 100% certain.
Now, if he had to decide between Flora and Raem, he would pick the latter. He valued a warrior more than a woman, the latter having no practical value to be brutally honest. She may be from the prestigious Flissing, but he wasn’t someone who cared about that. If she did decide to leave, he wasn’t going to stop her.
When they arrived back in Lux, they went straight to the guild to cash in.
“Oh, you are back,” Tama beamed a smile upon seeing them enter through the main entrance. It was noon at the moment. They had been away for about 5 days.
Raem handed over the iron box and explained, “We did find the wagon but there was too much to carry. We did, however, find this locked box which seemed to be valuable.”
As soon as Tama took the box from him, she let out a quiet grunt.
“This is heavy,” She remarked and guessed, “Coins?”
“Life Savings, probably,” Ewald said.
She blinked a few times. “I see,” She said eventually, understanding the very purpose of the request. The merchant had to get it back. Placing it down on the counter, she briefly inspected the lock.
“No signs of tampering. I am impressed,” She remarked.
“We are good kids!” Lara declared aloud.
She placed five silver coins on the counter at once. “This is the primary reward. The job is done clearly, so I am giving you that. Now, I am going to speak with the client and see how much he is willing to pay you additionally. He did state that he’d give you half of whatever you find.”
“I doubt he will give us half of what’s in there,” Ewald said bitterly.
“I … am going to have to agree, but I will do what I can. You held up your end of the bargain. He should hold up his own end, but it doesn’t always work like that. I am sorry.”
She stated that the client was staying at the guild already.
“It shouldn’t take too long,” She said as she took the chest in her arms upstairs.
And indeed it didn’t take too long. She came down soon enough. One could have had a cup of tea. Seeing she had a grim look, he figured that the outcome wasn’t satisfactory.
She placed three silver coins on the counter and explained what went down. Apparently, the merchant was not going to give them anything at all, claiming that they failed to bring an adequate account of cargo to entitle a payment. While the guy had a point, it was also indisputable that the chest was the real goal. Regrettably, the merchant insisted on his stance that they did not deserve any extra pay. She had to call the guildmaster to intervene, and he threatened to blacklist the merchant in which case he would not be able to hire any guild members as escorts in his travels. Hiring independent mercenaries was possible at some inns and taverns, but they were often unproven and scummy. His life as a traveling merchant would be over if blacklisted.
She said while sighing, “Very reluctantly, he agreed to pay you three silver coins.”
“Thank you, Lady Tama. It’s better than nothing at all,” Ewald said, beaming a bright smile. She seemed to be taken back by his cheerful and positive attitude. She was called “a lady” also, a rare title for a woman working at a guild. If he was older, it may have looked like he was flirting with her.
“Y, you are welcome.”
It was indeed better than nothing. Now, it was time to cash in the gemstones they collected.
“Here is the loot we found at the goblin encampment. We’d like to cash these.”
“Of course, let me have a look at them.” She nodded along as she inspected each of them. Now, by his own calculations, these were worth about ten silver coins maximum.
“Alright, I will give you 15 silvers for these.”
“I thank you ever so much, Lady Tama,” Ewald declared with shining puppy eyes which made her blush. Raem looked at both of them with amused eyes while Lara looked clueless as ever.
“Well, aren’t you sleek with women,” Raem joked as soon as they left the guild.
“Don’t patronize me. My actions earned you at least five more silver coins.”
“Really?”
Ewald explained, “Because I was extra nice to her, she overvalued the gemstones. I wager the fact that we were underpaid by the merchant had some influence as well.”
Even 10 silvers for the gemstones were pushing it, he felt.
“I see…,” Raem trailed off.
“Besides, it never hurts to be nice to ladies, Raem. You should keep that in mind.”
“I am a lady!” Lara barked.
“Sure, sure,” Raem said while patting her head.
Their earning in the end was 23 silver coins. With 7 set to be paid, that left them with 16 silver coins which was more than enough for months.
“This is a lucrative job…,” Raem whispered. He heard it and had to correct him.
“Raem, it appears lucrative because Lara and I are not being paid our shares. You also need to keep in mind that you didn’t need to pay for healing on your wound.”
23 silvers divided into three would be around 7.5 silver coins. A healer could cost at least a silver, leaving an individual with 6.5 silver. Other misc costs would need to be factored in, leaving a net profit of around 5 silvers overall. He would need to rest up for a week at least with the cut on his thigh. When everything was factored in, it wasn’t as lucrative as he made it out to be. He felt that it was important to make him realize this. Otherwise, he might be compelled to ditch his goal to become a noble.
“Yeah, you do have a point there,” Raem agreed.
Adventuring, when done right, had the potential to earn a lot of money. The main issue with the profession was uncertainty and early retirement age. A wound at a bad spot might force one to retire no matter how young and powerful. He felt Martin in Laufeld was a good example. He was a decent fighter but a bad shoulder wound forced him to retire. Additionally, adventurers retired early. The burden of spending years in the wilderness with an unbalanced diet would gradually wear one down. Evidently, all adventures he had seen were relatively young with no one looking over 30. There could be older ones out there, but he hadn’t seen them.
Once back at the manor, it was time for well deserved rest. Emily prepared a bath and a luxurious meal. She was acting normally as if nothing happened.
Do you wish to rule? She once asked him. Once he left, her fate would be uncertain as well. She was clearly aiming for a higher position. Once he was gone, she would become just another maid in the manor. Alas, that wasn’t his problem, and he had his own issues to deal with. With Raem secured, he needed to talk to Cezary and he wanted to talk to him alone.
“Emily, where is Flora?”
“She is in the study, Milord.”
“Would you mind calling Sir Waszak?”
“Right now?”
“After I am done with the bath. Tell him it’s rather important.”
Emily narrowed her eyes at once as if realizing what the talk was going to be. Regardless, she complied.
“As you wish.”
Raem and Cezary were the two people he planned to take with him no matter what. Between the two, the latter was more important. His invention of the floating bag thingy was going to be a crucial part of his plan to develop Laufeld. Additionally, the man was a good overall statesman. He felt he was going to need his advice to rule better.
When Cezary arrived and asked what the purpose of the summon was, Ewald made sure that no one was at the door, eavesdropping. Once making sure, he told Cezary earnestly what he was planning and why. Interestingly, he didn’t seem surprised at all and took the news well.
“A wise choice, I must say,” He said with a slight bow and a palm on his chest. “Even if Lord Fenchel lets you stay on as the heir, the man’s mind is likely going to change down the road. Removing yourself out of the equation before darkness begins to creep into his mind is a very wise choice indeed.”
“And I do wish to take you on as my adviser. What do you say?”
He froze for a moment.
“You wish to take me with you? May I ask why?”
“Do you see a future here if you stay on? Because I am not seeing it.”
Cezary grimaced weakly.
“I shall provide funding for your inventions but it won’t be much as Laufeld is a small settlement.”
Better than nothing was what he was trying to say. Surprisingly, it didn’t take him long to reply. In fact, he replied pretty much right away.
“I will accept your proposal.”
Uh…, that was easy?
He expected a tougher fight and was prepared to argue against him.
“But under one condition.”
“Alright, let’s hear it.”
“I am a reasonable man, sir. I know I won’t be able to take my three trainees. But at least allow me to take the maid, Marat, with me.”
“Any particular reason why you are choosing her?”
“Despite her low birth, she has the brightest mind of all.”
Aren’t you low birth as well?
Of course, he wasn’t going to tell him that.
“I see. I shall try but I cannot make any guarantees. I am sure that you are aware of that.”
In truth, both men knew it shouldn’t even be an issue. She was just a maid after all. If he wanted to take Rose or Amy, it would have been nigh impossible.
“Of course. Now…, I’d like to give you my first advice to you as your advisor. Actually, before that, I’d like to ask you something. When do you plan to make the proposal to Lord Fenchel?”
“As soon as possible, tomorrow if time permits.”
“I see.” Folding his arms, he stroked his chin while slowly walking around. “He is not going to let you go like this, especially when the child is not even born yet. Even if a son is born, you are an asset and even hold the unofficial title of the hero of the realm.”
“What do you suggest then?”
“You cannot simply inform him of your decision and expect him to comply. You are going to have to coax him into this.”
Ewald knew that much.
“I was going to ask him to make me a vassal under the Fenchel. Would that not work?”
“Do you not wish to rule?”
The same question again.
“I do not.”
“I see. I am sure you will change your mind soon enough.”
I will not.
“Anyway, moving on -”
Oi!
“You should make a sort of sales pitch. Do you know that Laufeld is mostly ignored?”
“It’s under direct rule, no?”
“Sort of. A mayor is there to collect taxes. That is it. The Fenchel does not draw any soldiers from the town. The place exists solely to provide the Fenchel some extra wheat.”
He certainly did not know that. He did recall the town being really peaceful and quiet. He also did not recall seeing any nobles other than those who came to purchase his father’s Macomaco tea. Speaking of which, he planned the tea to be one of the town’s major income.
“You should tell Lord Fenchel that it’s certainly possible to draw soldiers from Laufeld. If Tantan, a town of 3,000, drew 500 soldiers, Laufeld certainly can. It does mean it needs a proper governor which, in this case, is you.”
“Cezary, why should that pique his interest? The Fenchel will soon have more than 8,000 men.”
4,000 from Lux. And at least another 4,000 from Maiava, given enough time.
“Because we are on a very delicate balance at the moment. The Kingdom of Egra is very weak at the moment. It may have won the war but at a great cost. At a time like this, 500 men matter, especially to spies.”
He went on to explain that Staidone, the capital of the Siwen had a population of 80,000 and Puras, a city to its south, had a population of 65,000. It also had two smaller cities to the East and West.
“In short, the Siwen can still mobilize an army about equal to what the Egra can at the moment. Not a good looking outlook, is it? Our nation has a lot more lands to cover.”
When put it that way, indeed it did not look good. The Siwen now had a much smaller territory to look after although they needed to get rid of their internal corruption first. With so much they had lost, they could have woken up.
“That is precisely why Lord Fabian went to Maiava. The Fenchel can no longer take it easy. A retired head coming back to work is unheard of. But then a 11 year-old becoming a lord of a town is also unheard of. Pardon my statement.”
He bowed with a palm on his chest, asking for forgiveness on the remark.
“That’s fine,” Ewald replied, waving him off to tell him to ease up.
“In conclusion, it is Lord Fenchel’s interest to put Laufeld to its full use but he has no one to appoint as a governor. If he appoints someone from the Ros, the Brugg, or the Wallen, they will become landed noble and it won’t be easy to revoke the governorship without a valid reason. You, however, will be a different story.”
“Hold on a sec,” Ewald interjected. “If that’s the case, what’s the point of me going there to begin with if he can revoke my lordship at any moment?”
“If you govern well, he will lose his ground to take your fief back. And that is -” He raised his voice at this point and spun around with his arms open wide like he was performing in front of a crowd. “Why I am going with you, Milord!” His face displayed ecstasy while looking up. Ewald rubbed his temple, reminding himself again why he had to take him along. If it wasn’t for his brilliant mind, he would have ditched him.
Under the Kingdom of Egra’s codes of laws, there were two levels of fief ownership. The first was the king granting lands to his vassals. Let’s say this is tier 1. Under tier 1, revoking land was not possible without a valid reason, such as treason. The second tier was when a landed noble house granted fief to another. It was not the king granting a fief. Under this tier 2, the landlord noble house was free to revoke any granted land without a valid reason. For example, Noah Harga was granted Valet. This was a tier 1 fief ownership. Nobody would be able to take Valet away from him unless there was a valid reason. Now, if Ewald was granted Laufeld by the Fenchel, this fell under tier 2 where Edmund would be able to revoke his land at will without a valid reason. Any noble house under tier 2 would still be recognized as a landed noble house, and his loyalty should be toward the crown. He’d be allowed to participate in the royal party even.
“If you rule Laufeld well, nobody will be able to take it from you,” Cezary proclaimed with a broad smile on his face. “You will see my talents shine like the sun in the sky!”
Must I take this guy with me? I get that he’s smart but his sanity may be questionable…
Either way, he seemed to be really eager to go. The real hurdle was dealing with Edmund. And then he’d need to talk to Flora.
Two down, two to go…