Chapter 14
A little over a month after they began construction, in January, year 1660, the city had made a lot of progress building itself back up. With the techniques and fine eye of Jean La Mechanique, as well as the sheer number of people working on the reconstruction effort, the repair of the city had progressed very smoothly.
Around 80% of the people in need of a home had more or less permanent housing, most of the roads and bridges were fully repaired, and all the gatehouse mechanisms were fixed, allowing the portcullis to lift, and normal, regulated traffic had resumed, which helped to prevent smuggling.
For the most part, all the work that needed heavy oversight was done, so the Baron decided to allow the native Holensburgers to do the rest by themselves. He wanted to foster an attitude of local participation in government, and the Holenstadter's wanted to be free from the Empire, so they would most likely be amicable to the idea. The thing that worried the Baron was that, in his absence, the noble families might begin to victimize the Ironworkers Guild again.
The Klarwasser mercenary company was in the process of packing up their supplies to prepare for the march home. Since they were working in Holensburg for close to six months, their housing was much more permanent, and therefore the process of dismantling everything was quite slow.
They needed to take everything apart, their housing was unnecessary and it blocked a major road into the city. Their plan was to ship materials to Bickenstadt and use it for their own infrastructure. The Baron was sitting at his desk, tapping his fountain pen and thinking about what he should do before he leaves.
“So...how should I go about this…”
He was idly writing down things he could do to keep the families from revolting again before he was ready for it, and to tell them that he was on their side without directly saying that he planned to rebel against the Empire in case their side of the plot ever got found out. He had been trying to come up with something for several hours now, but nothing he had thought of was acceptable.
“I’m not getting anywhere with this…”
The Baron said out loud to no one in particular. The Baron sighed heavily and stood up from his desk. He realized that he hadn’t eaten in hours, he had woken up and immediately gotten to work. Bothering the chef seemed like a good idea, he most likely had something for the Baron to eat. The Baron barged into the kitchen and knocked down a chef’s assistant holding a tray covered in food, sending it everywhere. A short, stout man wearing a chef’s hat and coat looked over at him and began to scream.
“Che cazzo pensi di fare!? Thata food wasa supposed to go to the Baron!”
The Baron apologized profusely to the servant he ran into and helped him pick up the things he dropped.
“Vaffanculo Stronzo! You hava done enougha! Nowa the Baron will go hungry!”
The Baron stood up straight and turned to face the man who was berating him in a thick Italian accent.
“I am the Baron, I apologize for…”
He turned to look at the man yelling at him and saw nothing. He looked around the kitchen for a moment, confusion written all over his face.
“Downa here youa dim brute!”
The man was as tall as a child, though about twice as wide, and sporting a thick black beard. He was wearing a chef’s hat and wore a beard net to keep his hair out of the food. His skin was tanned and leathery, covered in countless burns and boils from oil that had splashed onto his face.
“You’re...a Dwarf?”
“What!? Youa never seena a Dwarfven chef before?!”
“No, uh, I mean of course I have, It’s just...nothing. I apologize for destroying the meal you made for me.”
It was beginning to sink in that this Dwarf in front of him was Italian. He had a very exaggerated accent, he would sound like Mario were his voice an octave lower.
I don’t know why, but Italian Dwarves was just…not expected?
“I just came down here to see if there was food, I’ve been working since I woke up and have not had the chance to eat just yet.”
“You’rea the Baron? Whya you coma down to my kitchen? Eh? Andare via Go away! Be gone with you! You’va ruined the meal I was gonna send you. Go on, bidea your time and staya the hell out of my kitchen.”
The Baron’s eyes widened and he inhaled sharply, a small smile emerging on his face.
“Say that again please! The part before telling me to get the hell out.”
The Dwarf went back to mixing the soap he was preparing.
“What? Bidea your time?”
“Yes! That’s perfect! Thank you so much!”
The Baron excitedly ran out of the kitchen, leaving the bewildered kitchen staff to clean up the rest of his mess.
“Buona liberazione-Geta back to work everyone!”
|
|
After a couple more days had passed, the Klarwasser Mercenary Company was ready to march home. After spending nearly a year in total away from home, the men were eager to get back to their families. Jean was speaking to the Baron, asking about what he will do when he gets to Bickenstadt.
“Baron...Do you ’ave ‘ousing for me? Where will I live while I am working for you?”
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.
“Oh. Right. I never really thought about that. All of my men already have housing, being native Bickenstadters, or having one custom built for them at my expense. Uh, you can just live in Castle Bickenstadt for the time being, at least until I can build you a good and proper home. I’ll have the servants prepare a room for you when we get back.”
“Bon! And what will I do when I get to Bickenstadt?”
The Baron shrugged.
“We are on vacation when we get back, we have been campaigning for almost a full year now, after all.”
“Well...I ‘ave no been campaigning. I wish to continue working. Is there something for me to do when we reach Bickenstadt?”
“Oh, well, I guess we can do some public works projects. Our roads are in need of repair as of late, and we need to extend our docks and shipyards, build another factory for textile production, as well as generally fixing up infrastructure around the entire province. I believe those are the projects I left behind.”
The Baron scratched the back of his head.
“Not sure if anyone took the initiative to do it without me, however I can’t imagine they finished all of it if they did. I can appoint you as the head of the task force handling all of this if you want.”
Jean’s eyes began to sparkle. He looked at the Baron like a child who had just received a new toy from their father.
“Truly!? You would do that for me!?”
“Of course! It needed to be done anyways, and since your work in Holenstadt lives up to the tales of Elven infrastructure outside of the Empire, as our government mostly just lies about your people, then I would want it done as soon as possible. All I ask is that you learn the architectural stylings of Bickenstadt and the surrounding towns and villages and keep your buildings as consistent to the surrounding projects as possible.”
“I love nothing more than learning about new styles of architecture! This is the best assignment I ‘ave ever been given!”
Jean embraced the Baron like a child hugging their parent. The Baron smiled awkwardly and patted Jean’s shoulder.
“Glad you are pleased with your assignment, Mon ami.”
|
|
After the Baron’s forces had finally left Holenstadt after months of occupation, the great families and a representative of the Ironworker's guild met to discuss how to move forward. They had purposefully excluded the Komorowski family from their discussion, which was fairly difficult as of late as they were becoming increasingly prominent in the city. Because Holenstadters are starving and dying of exposure, far more people were willing to take money and aid from collaborators than before.
They were meeting in the same room they had met with the Baron all those months ago. They all sat at a round table, which the Ironworker's guild representative insisted on as a matter of principle, as in Bszerci culture a round table is meant to symbolize that everyone attending were negotiating as equals. The first person to speak up was Alecsandr.
“We are all adults here, and I am sure you are as busy as I am, so will just open with what everyone is thinking: We must cecede from the Empire, for the preservation of our culture, and the safety of our people. We were already very angry, and then the Empress allowed mercenaies to fill the hearth of the Bszerci people with lead, blood, ash, and excrement. We must respond to this.”
Everyone present nodded in agreement. Krysia shot up and grabbed the hilt of her saber as she yelled, the passion in her voice overflowing.
“We should revolt! And we should do it soon!”
Alecsandr nodded.
“Krysia, I completely agree, but I believe we should be a little wary for the moment. Let us wait until the Empress has mobilized the Grand Imperial Army elsewhere. It takes roughly a week to ride from Leibenstadt to here. It will be harder for her to respond to us before we can get a foothold, giving us even more time to prepare and solidify control. Does that sound like a plan?”
Everyone in the room nodded, with the exception of the Ironworker's Guild representative, Krakowic.
“I do wish to leave the Empire, but what guarantee do we have that you will not destroy our guild? The Empire is incentivised to keep us around, we take power away from you, and you spend time trying to destroy us instead of the Empire. Do you have any interesting proposals for me to mull over, Alecsandr?”
“We can revolt against the Empire with or without you. You folks wish to take our power away from us. From our perspective, you are only slightly more tolerable than the Empire. Why should we work together here when we can easily manage to raise enough men to fight, with or without your help.”
The Ironworker’s representative smiled slyly.
“Because if we receive no guarantee of our safety we are prepared to throw our lot in with the Empire, cultural assimilation or not. Even if many of our members defect, we still command the respect of the common people of Holensburg. We have certainly done more for them than you guys have.”
The nobles all scowled as the Ironworker continued.
“We should work together on this, as Bszerci, no class distinction. We are more popular than you, you just have all the weapons. And if you refuse to set aside your hate of the working man, we will make your revolt completely untenable. And we could inform the Empress that you plan on revolting. Unlike you people, if you kill me and the other representatives, we’ll just vote in new ones. Over half a million men represented, you can’t kill all of us nearly fast enough.”
The other representatives looked at each other and quickly discussed what to do in hushed whispers.
“...Well…”
“Don’t worry! Take as much time you need! It’s not like we’re discussing treason or anything, we've got all the time in the world!”
Alecsandr frowned and spoke through gritted teeth.
“...Fine. We will guarantee your guild’s safety. Meaning we will not destroy you as soon as we get the chance.”
“We will have to discuss terms at a later date, specifics to write into law that'll make sure you will not go back on your word.”
“Fine, fine. But let it be known, you will receive no preferential treatment. And now, we shall discuss stra-”
A servant entered the room, making Aleczandr pause. He looked over at the servant angrily, but quickly caught himself. He smiled pleasantly, but the smile never reached his eyes.
“My good sir, what could possibly inspire you to interrupt our meeting?”
“We-we just received letters from the Baron! I-I-I w-was told to deliver them to all of you immediately! It is of utmost importance is what they said!”
The servant passed around the letters and quickly shuffled out of the room. The representatives opened their letters.
“Does...does yours say what mine says?” Aleczandr showed them his letter. The other representatives nodded their heads and showed each other their letters.
|
At the moment, your plan is untenable. Holenstadt is in no shape to reorganize the state, at least not by itself. Things are too chaotic in your beautiful province, improving things requires people to agree and work with each other. I believe in the future you will be able to make radical change, but first, there is work to be done. If you wish to improve the lives of your people, I advise that you cooperate with me, and that you
Bide. Your. Time.
Solidarity with the Bszerci,
Baron Johan Bleichröder von Bickenstadt
|