Chapter 246: Act 13 – Territory (7) (Second Update)
When Crenshia lowered her head, the leader of the Female Mercenary Band flicked her fiery long hair and cast a displeased glance at this fellow. She thought to herself that he shouldn’t drag them into his subservience, but as she tried to say something, she couldn’t find a fault in his words. Although she didn’t appreciate what the silver-haired middle-aged man said, she had to admit that it seemed to be true.
In fact, ever since they took that step that night, they understood how today’s outcome would be. But Brendel was right; having offended one lord, how could they dare to offend another? They could only blame their impulsiveness that afternoon when they were suppressed by Grudin, which left their adversaries with an excuse.
She couldn’t help but let out a soft hum, but then she couldn’t resist glancing at him. Earlier, when they heard about the new tax policy announced by the young lord, the other mercenaries exchanged uncertain glances—nobles in Vaunte didn’t need to appease people like this, and moreover, they understood that such actions were not very meaningful. If Brendel could rival Count Rendener, then even if he did nothing, the populace wouldn’t dare to rebel against such a powerful lord; conversely, if it were otherwise, everything would be in vain.
Yet if they collected more taxes, they could at least obtain more immediate gains—having money would allow this young lord to raise more private soldiers.
“Doesn’t he understand this?” she thought. But of course Brendel understood. In fact, the young man had a considerable grasp of territorial operations within the Amber Sword. The triangular relationship constituted by capital—resources—development, where funding came from trade and taxes, as well as income from mines; while resources and population were the focus of local development. Toniger was rich in timber and silver; there were nine logging areas and a silver mine in the Firburh Barony alone, in addition to two quarries and numerous estates and workshops—yet, aside from silver, this wealth was scarce in most areas of Erluin. If it weren’t for Schafflund’s silver mine, this lord might appear no different from a beggar in the eyes of most nobles.
But this was precisely what Grudin looked down upon; even being so inferior, he was unwilling to change. Under his management, the entire production method in Toniger had nearly stagnated at half a century behind Erluin. The vast Firburh city had fewer than twenty blacksmiths, even counting apprentices—additionally, according to the records left by the previous lord, Firburh’s monthly production limit would not exceed ten sets of chain mail or leather armor. It should be noted that Erluin’s magic and technology were trivial compared to those of the true peak empires, but Toniger was considered subpar even within this kingdom, and one could imagine how barren this territory located on the southern border of Rendener County was.
As Sir Sempar of the Lantonrand Geographical Society mentioned, the only thing worth mentioning in the southern part of the kingdom was silver. However, this silver could not all fall into Grudin’s hands; besides Count Rendener, the royal family and the Temple also needed to split a portion, leaving only a small fraction for their poor baron.
However, Brendel knew that if he acted quickly, he could control the output of Schafflund’s silver mine for about two to three months. He couldn’t imagine how huge that sum would be, as he had never been a lord even in the game, let alone managed a mine—those had long been monopolized by large guilds, and before those truly massive, professional entities, even RMB fighters and face fighters would tremble in fear.
Brendel guessed that a sum of ten to twenty million Tors should be feasible.
With that money, the Baron’s annual tax revenue of no more than 270,000 Tors would certainly be nothing in his eyes. He instructed Antinna to start drafting a new tax policy, essentially exempting taxes to win over people’s hearts, but his real considerations went far beyond that. Since he had already stood against most nobles, he had even more reason to win the support of ordinary subjects—but compared to this, Brendel was more optimistic about long-term benefits. He needed not only the people’s hearts but also the population; lighter taxes would be conducive to rapid population growth, and he needed more subjects to develop the still desolate and ignorant territory.
This was a long-term gain. Not to mention Juliette and the others, even Grudin might not have the patience to achieve all of this. For him, having silver was enough.
Brendel lowered his head, looking at Crenshia respectfully bowing before him, and simply replied, “Let’s survey the territory. Each of you, take your people.”
“Hmm?”
Flour, who heard this from behind, couldn’t help but blink in confusion. She knew Brendel was likely about to face a battle he had to win. Yet even at this moment, it seemed he still wanted to take the mercenaries back to reclaim the logging areas—which were occupied by an entire tribe of cave dwellers—and as the lowest class of residents in the Jotungrund underground world, the average warrior among the cave dwellers was at least of black iron level. Even if Brendel was confident in winning, how could he avoid casualties?
Were those logging areas really that important?
“Survey the territory?” Not only Flour, but Crenshia was also taken aback.
“The assets subordinate to Firburh include four logging areas and two quarries,” Brendel replied. “Today, our mission is to make them our assets.”
Juliette was startled, “My lord,” she quickly raised her head, “we all know those logging areas have been occupied by cave dwellers; are you not asking us to take them back?”
Brendel did not answer but simply looked at the group.
The expressions of Juliette and Crenshia grew somewhat grim. They had been here for some time, and they were certainly aware of those cave dwellers in the forest who particularly favored nighttime combat; their individual strength was strong, and if a fight broke out, who knew how many brothers would be injured. It should be noted that they had already paid a considerable price in the recently concluded battle, and perhaps another grueling fight would arise before long.
But at this critical moment, Brendel still wanted them to join what seemed to be an unnecessary battle; they found this hard to accept.
“My lord…” Crenshia finally raised her head, “the cave dwellers… those guys come from underground, and their individual combat capability can almost match our strongest members. If a fight breaks out, we might suffer losses…” He licked his lips, “Of course, that’s not the issue, but… I’ve heard news that Lord Mintai’s army is also gathering…”
His voice lowered at this point, thinking that Brendel should understand what he meant.
Antinna shook her head, “Lord Mintai, Grudin’s vassal, why would he attack us?”
The three were shocked, pondering if this noble lady was foolish or slow-witted. “Isn’t that obvious, Miss Antinna?” Juliette replied. “That guy is Grudin’s vassal, and we have taken down Grudin—” she paused, adding, “Moreover, he has Count Rendener backing him. Even if he doesn’t want to act, that old fellow would surely pressure him—”
Antinna nodded. “Well said. So, our real enemy is indeed Count Rendener, while Lord Mintai is merely a pawn to test the waters.” She replied expressionlessly, “But do you think we, as we are now, are a match for that lord?”
The three exchanged looks; this was precisely what they were most worried about, and the noble lady deliberately overlooked the information from the Druid and the princess, leaving them feeling uncertain. The three mercenary leaders couldn’t help but cast their gazes at Brendel, and if Brendel were to sacrifice them as scapegoats, it didn’t seem entirely impossible.
Brendel glanced at Antinna, thinking that his aide finally seemed to be catching up with his thoughts. Since the battle of Shubli, her growth had been astonishing. He raised his head, and the noble lady’s thoughts aligned with his—if he had to expand to a degree that even Count Rendener wouldn’t dare to risk a total showdown within a month, doing so based on what appeared at this moment to be a barren Toniger seemed like an impossible task, but in fact, it was not.
He knew he still had Valha, the Druids, and many more variables behind him, not to mention that Antinna held the power of magic.
But the prerequisite for all of this to work, aside from time, was resources. Regardless, restoring the operations within the territory was something he must do at this moment, especially for the four logging areas and two quarries around Firburh; he needed to get them back into production as soon as possible. Rebuilding the walls, training the militia camps, setting up the magic workshops, and various workshops all required materials, and once Romaine’s plans commenced, Brendel needed to have all these things operational before his own merchant association could be established.
Therefore, he also had to end the war with Lord Mintai before the harvest season. Once this territory was on track, there would be many things he could do.
Time was of the essence.
“Miss Antinna is my aide, and her words represent my words,” Brendel replied, causing Antinna’s expression to soften a bit. “My family can assure my safety in this struggle, but you are different. I am not one to abandon my subordinates; once a limit is reached, if I fail in this struggle, the outcome for you would be predictable.” His voice lowered, “Therefore, we are in the same boat, but this boat’s path is not only fraught with storms; there are also opportunities and treasures—”
“At least compared to Grudin, I consider myself a lenient lord,” he continued, “As long as you don’t disappoint me, I won’t let you down either.”
Seeing Crenshia still in a daze, he added, “As for the cave dwellers,” Brendel paused, “You know, the Black Tower wizard Karasu once fought a ten-year war with the underground residents over the resources underground.”
Vurn raised his head in surprise, “My lord, do you have a plan?”
“I always have a plan.” Brendel replied nonchalantly, then added in his heart—though it had nothing to do with the Black Tower Wizard.
……(To be continued. For what happens next, please log in for more chapters, support the author, and support legal reading!)
