Oh, And Then? Do You Have Any Evidence?

In the era of the current King, Anikovalest XIII's great-great-great-grandfather, the royal family had already discovered this problem.

As the King's student, Henry naturally had to learn from him. Only worthless nobles whipped serfs! Real nobles chopped down Minotaurs!

"How many artisans do we have now?"

"About forty masons, carpenters, and stonemasons, plus two households of blacksmiths."

Henry nodded. "Claude, prepare the manpower and artisans. In a couple of days, I plan to claim the three empty plots nearby. I wanted to do it last month, but after thinking it over, I decided training the army came first."

When it came to claiming territory, Claude and Tommy supported it completely. It was perfectly reasonable.

More land, more rivers, more farmland, more pastures, more population...

After thinking for a moment, Claude asked, "Master, shouldn't expansion go outward? Why are we expanding inward instead?"

Henry swallowed his bread and said, "First, according to the current Imperial enfeoffment laws, the rulers of those three Knight Territories failed in their duty to defend the Empire's lands and automatically forfeited ownership.

Second, those three territories are ungoverned. In theory, they no longer count as Imperial territory. What I'm doing is reclaiming lost land.

Third, these lands aren't on the Border Line, so they're theoretically safer.

Winter is coming soon. When the great expansion begins next spring, I don't want to waste a huge amount of money on food. We need a stable rear area of our own."

As long as they hurriedly planted a batch of Autumn Wheat, got some Potatoes, Sweet Potatoes, and all sorts of miscellaneous garden vegetables in the ground, they could start seeing positive returns next year.

After taking a sip of the Black Tea Boman had sent over, Henry continued, "Most importantly, I'm the King's student. It's all legal and proper. The King won't make things difficult for me."

Don't worry about which direction I was expanding in. Just tell me whether I was expanding or not!

The three of them chatted about a few trivial matters of daily life. Once they were full and satisfied, they slumped in their chairs and idly talked.

"All right, now that you're full, head back. I need to rest too."

The two of them happily took their leave. They were butlers; being invited to dine with their Lord was already a great honor.

They were not superiors and subordinates, like bosses and employees, but more like partners in a family. Calling him Master was merely a term of respect.

The two maids immediately entered and swiftly cleared away all the plates, moving fairly briskly.

Henry returned to his room and asked Ailiya, who was helping him change, "How are the five maids we hired the day before yesterday? Are they obedient?"

Ever since returning to the castle, Henry had wanted to hire more maids so Ailiya would not be overworked. After all, she had been with him for over a year.

But there had never been any suitable candidates. They were either too old or too stupid, demanded too much pay, had unsuitable figures, or were simply unattractive.

And so it dragged on until now, when he had finally gathered five people.

Ailiya helped him take off his clothes and change into smooth silk sleepwear. "They're all right for now. Whether they stay that way remains to be seen. But the two new cooks are good. Oriana thinks highly of them."

"Oh? Looks like they're skilled cooks."

"I heard one came from a southern city. She was from a family of urban Free People, but something happened to her family, so she fled all the way here.

The other came from the northern snowfields, from a small Landlord family. Her father wanted to marry her off for an alliance, so she ran away."

Henry understood. The reason Oriana thought so highly of them was surely because they could prepare dishes in more styles.

"The Empire's talent market really is impressive. You can find people from anywhere."

Ellie did not respond. She was not in a position to comment on that.

"All right, good night, Ailiya. Tomorrow morning, I hope I can have your Lemon Cake."

"Yes, Master! What about Pigeon Pie?"

"Hmm... We can't eat that all the time, can we?"

Over the next few days, West Lyme, now running smoothly, began operating at high speed.

They assembled artisans, gathered supplies, and mobilized several hundred serfs.

After all, they only needed to build several dozen large row houses on those three unclaimed plots of land. Everything could be finished in about a week.

In fact, it took only four days for the three new territories to officially fall under Henry's jurisdiction, because one of them still had some houses on it, though no one lived there.

If no one lived there, didn't that make it mine?

The New Recruit Squad would garrison the land, the Grassland Warriors would patrol it, old serfs would be brought in to till the soil, and new serfs and Herding Serfs would be bought to farm it.

A mere three thousand Denar or so...

While handling these matters, Henry personally made a trip to the Imperial Office in Audoh to sign and seal the documents, register the land conquest, and submit a report to the King.

An unbeatable one-stop service. Love it or not?

The whole process flowed as smoothly as water and moved as fast as lightning. No one would drag their feet over claiming land, right?

Like West Lyme, these territories looked ordinary when viewed individually. But together, they were something else.

Vast lands, fertile farmland, abundant Mineral Resources, and dense forests.

That was "money"!

And then, the people who came to "rob" that money arrived!

That day, the sun was shining brightly. Henry took Ailiya, Tommy, Bain, and the others out to inspect his territory. Really, he was just bored out of his mind and had come out for a leisurely stroll.

Henry had been in high spirits and was planning a picnic when several Grassland Warriors suddenly rushed over, reporting that a group was approaching under a banner.

The right to fly a banner meant the group's Leader was a noble.

"Where are they now?"

"Our Cavalry has stopped them outside the territory. The two New Recruit Squads and one Archer Squad stationed in this area have also rushed over."

Henry nodded and led his men over to watch the show.

Before long, Henry saw the so-called noble's party facing off against his troops.

There were around seventy Serfs holding door planks and wooden spears, a dozen or so veterans in visibly outdated armor, several crossbowmen, and a young man with passable equipment...

Without that noble banner, Henry would have thought some Mercenary Group had switched careers and become a beggars' gang.

This "beggars' gang" was not having an easy time either. They put on a fierce, ready-for-battle front, but they intimidated no one.

Henry summoned the Officers from several squads and asked about the situation.

Then he rode forward a short distance and asked, "You're saying that land belongs to you? Where's the proof?"

The young man spotted Henry's Imperial Robe and immediately shouted, "Of course! This is the Land Deed! We even built houses here!"

Henry had someone take the Land Deed and inspect it, then casually tore it apart.

"Got anything else?"