Chapter 14: Rogue Lords (end)

 

I looked at the gold for a while then I received the pendant from the chamberlain and became the new owner of the riches.

The advantage of this secret place is that even if the territory is taken by another country, only I, with my pendant, can enter.

If I had my attendants move the gold, the location would become public knowledge. Still, only I, the pendant holder, would be able to enter the place where the gold is hidden.

I let them carry a tenth of the gold through the night. The amount is about one billion Renan. When combined with the original funds of the territory, it’s [1,025,000,000 Renan].

Improving the fiefdom with this would allow the population to grow and I’ll be able to recruit more troops, eventually becoming a powerful military force.

Initially, the Aintorians were a royal family. Therefore, they had a war chest prepared for generations their descendants to recover their glory.

So the day after I got my hands on the gold, I made an announcement in the territory. I had strategy to win the hearts and minds of the people!

“Citizens who have suffered from Viscount Boldt tyranny, I pretended to agree with him to get the proof of all his evil deeds. Now that he was caught, as an apology for all these years, I’m exempting the territory from all taxes for one year!”

Blaming Viscount Boldt for all my sins would improve my reputation. This is what bad lords do, but oh well, I have to use what I’ve got to raise the people’s spirits.

For a while, the terrified territorial residents could not understand what I was saying because they were afraid that I would enforce another outrageous policy, but it wasn’t long before they cheered.

The one-year tax exemption was such a tremendous windfall that it resonated the most with the citizens. Previously, they had been deprived of more than 95% of their crops even if they farmed, but now they could keep 100% to themselves. That should have been enough to change their impression of the rogue lord in an instant.

[People’s spirit rose to 70.]

And it really showed up in the numbers in front of my eyes.

***

Tutanka, King of the Lunan Kingdom, was in a bad mood. He looked terrified amidst the gazes of the nobles.

“Your Majesty, the Deran region, and even Luon territory are……”

Duke Ronen, who was the general-in-chief of the army, opened his mouth.

“The enemy army is coming! How long are you guys going to keep getting beaten up?”

The invasion of the Narja Kingdom, which began in the north, had caught the Lunan Kingdom unprepared. It had been losing a series of battles.

Of course, the territory on the northern border fell in vain. Now, the conquering army of the Narja Kingdom was advancing to the very edge of the capital. The incompetent King Tutanka, whose priority was his own safety, blamed the nobles, who were about to run out of patience.

“Speaking of which, was Aintorian territory invaded as well?”

Tutanka recalled the report of the other day with his bad memory. This was very surprising to him, as he usually forgets the report he received even an hour ago.

“Yes, sir. But Aintorian is safe, there was no secondary invasion, and the enemy forces are concentrated in the north.”

“So Lord Aintorian won his battle against the Narja Army?”

“Yes……”

Ronen wrinkled his brow. Because he had heard rumors about the Lord Erhin Aintorian, who had inherited the title two years ago, he had a reputation of being an incompetent lord.

“According to reports that have come up in the territory, a territorial army of 5,000 men stopped the 20,000-man force of the Narja Kingdom…….Honestly, I don’t believe it. It’s only a matter of increasing the war effort……”

“But he did stop them.”

“He was lucky. I think the enemy forces were only as big as a scouting party.”

At Ronen’s words, Tutanka shook his head. The capital city was about to be invaded at any moment; if he was a victorious lord, he must put him on the front line. Tutanka immediately shouted to Ronen.

“Winning experience is important on the battlefield. Send him to the front lines now to defend the country!”

“But Your Majesty, apart from Erhin’s abilities, the frontier lords have a mission to protect the kingdom borders……”

“What’s a border when the capital is in danger? That’s an order!”

Tutanka raised his voice. Ronen, in his position as a vassal, could only nod his head in the end, because if you disobey an order, it would be treason.

“Well, in that case, keep the border soldiers intact and send only the lord over.”

“Right. Leave the borders to his troops and let the lord prove his capabilities on the frontlines!”

Tutanka stood up and left the hall after giving the order.