42 – Preparing to part with the pig (1)

Biscuits and salted meat made with salt from the newly acquired salt mines were more popular than expected.

In particular, biscuits are ‘easy to preserve and easy to make’, so even serfs are making them using the village kiln.

It must be a positive thing for them to raise their income by selling biscuits like this.

Also, if you sell biscuits like this, you will of course receive the price for the goods in currency, and if there are serfs who think that they will pay taxes with that money…

Is it the beginning of the ‘payment of taxes in money’, which was the beginning of the formation of the free city in the early modern times?

After enjoying a moment of leisure while immersed in such trivial thoughts, Balt opened the door of the office and burst in.

Normally, that guy would have come in after knocking on the door…

Could it be that something urgent has happened?

“What is it?”

Balt, who heard that, replied by handing me the letter he was holding.

“Sorry for coming in so suddenly. An urgent call has been issued by His Excellency, Countess of Nantes.”

Why the hell is an emergency summons issued all of a sudden?

A few days ago, I received a message from the Viscount saying that although His Excellency Count Schwein is open to women and alcohol, there is no problem since I am assisting him well…

So I received the letter to find out what the hell was going on, and asked Balt fiercely.

“Emergency call-up order? What do you mean, just a few days ago, my father said it was all right.”

“I don’t know that either. I was also curious, so I asked the messenger who delivered this letter. ‘Just open the letter and you’ll know.’ I went like this.”

“Is this a confidential document? Damn it…”

I received and opened the letter that gave off an uneasy feeling of foreboding.

And sure enough, there were more disasters inside than I thought.

[When I participated in the royal ball, the count of Nantes, or Schwein von Nantes, wooed the lady of Count Gent, and Count Gent declared that he could not give his daughter to a fat and sloppy man like you. Therefore, I personally tried to break the nose of Count Gent, who insulted my honor by throwing ‘gloves’, but… Viscount Creutel, my loyal vassal and guardian, advised me, ‘If Your Excellency directly produces honorable results, the evaluation will change’ did (Omitted) Therefore, I, Schwein von Nantes, intend to attack the Countess of Hellsmann of France in the south of the Countess of Nantes for the sake of my own honor and your wealth and glory.

Unless, like me, he proved his tremendous ability from the time he was an heir, if he was just a kid who inherited the title of count, he would quietly play with a girl…

With what kind of spirit is that guy whose head is full of fat, going to war to make a great achievement ‘because he was kicked by a woman’?

Besides, the opponent is only Franchi’s health… This is a disaster.

I’m sure the other barons think so too, yes they do…

After reading this letter, I smiled and held Balt by the shoulder.

“Balt, our Balt… I think I’m in big trouble… After His Excellency has been openly kicked by a woman, he gets angry and fights with Count Francie Hellsman… What should I do…?”

Upon hearing that, Balt shook his head and said,

“How do I… Your Excellency?”

“There is a hole through which you can survive even if the sky collapses, so you have to get out somehow. Otherwise, it will be in big trouble.”

After those words, as the count’s vassal, I had no choice but to move to respond to his summons.

**

Normally, I would have taken a carriage, but since an ‘urgent call-up order’ had been issued, I rode a horse to get there as soon as possible.

If you take a wagon, it’s a bit more comfortable because you can sit down, but if you ride a horse, you have to drive it yourself, so what’s the trouble?

Thanks to that, I was able to cover the distance that took seven days by carriage in just four days, but I don’t want to do this again.

I was in a hurry on horseback, so I had to settle for all my meals with biscuits, salted meat, and some cheese…

The filthy hard biscuits couldn’t be chewed with human jaws and teeth, so they had to make soup with biscuits, salted meat, and cheese.

Of course, the taste was… It tasted like eating a thick lump of savory salt.

Occasionally, when I am homeless while sleeping, I make a bonfire under the shade of a tree and take turns with Balt and the guards to stand on watch…

Read at noblemtl.com

Just thinking about it makes me vomit.

Reflecting on those memories, we were on our way to the county of Nantes, when a bodyguard pointed forward with a joyful voice and said,

“I see a castle with a flag hanging from a white lily with a blue bird crest!! Arrived in Nantes. dismissal!”

Ha… Have you finally arrived in Nantes?

Even if you have to go overboard to buy a wagon when you return, you can get back comfortably in a wagon… And you should give the guards a special allowance.

“Everyone worked hard! Before entering Nantes Castle tomorrow.. Come to Balt.”

“Yes, Your Excellency.”

I handed Balt a pouch containing some silver coins and said,

“I’m going to have a drink with you guys, so… When I go into the count’s mansion, you guys take care of yourself. And you can say Balt you are shooting.”

Hearing that, Balt looked at me and replied in a very quiet voice, unable to hide his smile.

“Thank you, Your Excellency…”

**

That night, Balt, me, and the escorts packed our belongings at the quarters guided by the butler in the count’s mansion.

After packing everything, Balt took the guards and went for a drink.

Back in the days when he was the lord of Windheim, if he went out and drank like that, he could hang out with him…

If you hang out now, you’ll become the ignorant Baron 1.

I’ve been very tired so far, so I’ll just go to sleep.

As I was about to go to bed and go to sleep, I heard someone knocking on the door.

“Who are you?”

“It’s called Left. It has been sent by His Excellency Viscount Kreuttel. I’m sorry to wake you up during the break, but could you come quickly?”

The Viscount, not Count Schwein, is a person with proper common sense, but calling me at a time when he shouldn’t have been too busy…

It must mean that you want to have a deep conversation with me urgently.

“I will be leaving soon. Just wait 15 minutes.”

**

The room where Viscount Creutel, the second-in-command of the Count of Nantes, stayed was gorgeous and elegant.

Black lacquered wooden walls, a large bed that can accommodate 4 people, a silk duvet, a sofa made of lavish cowhide, and a huge fireplace set up to look great…

It is much more luxurious and luxurious than my mansion in Baron Creutel.

After looking around the room for a while, the door opened and the viscount entered.

The viscount whom he met for the first time in several years had become half of his face, as if he had suffered a lot from His Excellency Count Schwein, and his wrinkles had deepened.

When I first transferred, he was a proud middle-aged man, even though he had white hair all over his head…

Seeing the viscount who had aged so rapidly made me feel pity for nothing.

“Father… You are very thin.”

“Unlike Baron Creutel, there are many things to do here. I can’t even get 4 hours of sleep every night.”

No matter how strong a person is, if he works while sleeping for less than 4 hours a day, he will ruin his health.

“Father, then he dies… No matter how much work you do, you have to sleep for 6 hours a day.”

Upon hearing this, Viscount Creutel waved his hand in front of me and said,

“I would love to, but I have too much work to do. His Excellency the Count… doesn’t handle the paperwork well…”

When I put on a worried face, the viscount smiled and said,

“I’m having a bit of a hard time… But since His Excellency trusts me, I enjoy working.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes, I think the county of Nantes will be able to introduce a four-rotation method from next year if done well. I succeeded in persuading the village chiefs and the bailiffs…”

Considering that Baron Creutel introduced it several years ago and achieved results, it may seem late, but…

In fact, considering that in Flanders, private farming was known as a successful farming method, and only a few years later had it spread to Norfolk, England…

The fact that the viscount introduced this farming method to this place in just a few years must be on the fast side.

“You are amazing. Now the lives of the serfs of the Countess of Nantes are blooming. The voices praising the Count will grow louder.”

“Thank you, Ciel. Thanks to you discovering this farming method… We, Creutel, became wealthy, and we were able to repay the favor, albeit belatedly, to the late Countess of Nantes…”

Tears began to form in the eyes of the viscount who said that.

In the eyes of the 50-year-old viscount, there were various emotions, such as longing for the former Count of Nantes and pride in his success as a guardian.

Then the viscount wiped the tears with his sleeve and spoke again with a serious expression.

“Ciel, don’t ask directly. Do you think you have a chance of winning this war?”

Count Helsmann, who has ruled his territory well for decades and has gone through a hundred wars, and Count Nantes, a horny man who only reads chivalric literature…

Although the quality of knights and professional soldiers would be about the same, and the vast majority of infantry made up of serfs would be about the same anyway…

As the saying goes, a flock of sheep led by a lion beats a flock of lions commanded by a sheep, the army led by the incompetent Count of Nantes will be defeated unconditionally.

“no. I will definitely lose.”

“I guess so… if it’s not the other Counts, but only Hels…”

There was silence for a while between us.

And at this moment, an amazing idea popped into my head.

The current Count of Nantes has already violated his duty as a lord to protect me under a declaration of war, and even extorted reparations.

If that’s the case, now that we know that we can only have 3,000 standing troops, we can definitely do all sorts of tricks to weaken our forces.

As one of those proofs, I was now obliged to marry a ‘daughter of a vassal with a title similar to mine’, but by not guaranteeing it, I was trying to make sure my position was not solidified.

If that’s the case, in the future, if you keep hanging out with that kid, to be cool, ‘Kreutel’ will only suffer losses.

And in the beautiful Middle Ages, in the bilateral vassal contract, there would be nothing to say even if I betrayed that child…

If that’s the case, it’s legal if you don’t get caught even if you go back and blow the head with the Ohhamma after Count ‘Schwein’, who hit me hard in the back of the head beforehand.

In a cartoon, ‘It’s not a crime if you don’t get caught.’ Like I said…

then…

“Father, there are odds in this battle. Right now, Count Hellsman can’t use his full power to fight us.”

I will strike you in the back, but I will give you a glorious victory that will only leave scars on your Excellency, Count Schwein von Nantes, so that no one doubts me.