Hospitable West Lyme Fortress Welcomes You

It was he who had notarized Henry's territorial claim back then. He had believed it would never succeed; if Henry hadn't practically thrown his noble crest in his face, he truly wouldn't have wanted to notarize it.

And yet, Henry had actually succeeded?

The notary was now almost fawning, afraid that Henry would settle accounts with him.

Fortunately, Henry paid him no attention. He was inspecting the newly acquired "Property Certificates."

Four brand-new Fief Contracts and a letter. The three Knight Territories had now, in legal terms, become Henry's lands as well.

Henry opened the letter and read it. It contained the King's commendation for him, along with the policy regarding his tax obligations.

Like West Lyme Fortress, the three Knight Territories were not newly conquered lands and still counted as territory within the Empire.

However, Henry could still enjoy the three-year tax exemption granted to newly enfeoffed nobles. None of his income needed to be taxed by the Crown.

That meant that for the next three years, Henry was a complete and utter local emperor!

The King's words made it clear that this was the Dean looking after him, and that he should stop exploiting loopholes.

Pioneer Nobles on the border ought to be fighting Foreign Races.

If he truly came into conflict with any noble, the King would not blame Henry for declaring war on them.

Henry did not particularly care about that. He had no intention of constantly exploiting loopholes; this time, it had merely been convenient.

Henry took out the reply he had prepared long ago from his sleeve and sent it back to the King.

Once those matters were settled, he took his people back to West Lyme Fortress.

Claude immediately came to report on the fief's progress over the past few days. The tailor shop, candle workshop, and blacksmith shop had been completed after a month of construction, while the three-story tavern was nearly finished as well.

Henry did not expect the tavern to make money. He simply wanted to give the soldiers somewhere to spend it.

It would give the roughly one hundred self-sufficient farmers and commoner artisans a place to enjoy themselves, making the finances look a little more normal.

Still, the tavern's location was excellent. It could become a future money pit.

Henry had built it to match the largest tavern in Autongard. It could easily accommodate several hundred people drinking at once. The guest rooms were in several small buildings, with large rooms inside and mostly communal sleeping quarters. They could house several thousand people, more than enough for passing Trade Caravans to stay in the future.

The three newly incorporated villages of Hernlai Village, Tishilai Village, and Tainlai Village had also reclaimed as much land as the serfs could possibly work.

"Master, I've also inventoried the grain and supplies. The army can assemble and depart at any time."

Henry told Claude about John's "generosity," leaving Claude greatly shocked.

People said the grassland nobles were generous, but surely not this generous? Claude felt there might be some sort of deal behind it, but he was still astonished.

After all, Henry was deploying more than two thousand troops this time. John, who had taken on Henry's Logistics Train, was in for quite a windfall!

Over the next few days, Henry greatly intensified patrols along the border. He continuously sent Grassland Warriors to Audoh to inquire with the traveling Trade Caravans about all kinds of miscellaneous news.

Then, a piece of bad news with a slight silver lining arrived before Henry.

"Large numbers of Downfallen Nobles and Exiled Nobles are flooding into the Eastern Border. Baltahan, Autongard, and Audoh are overcrowded, and the influx is spreading into the Lesser Noble territories farther east."

It was bad news. No one liked those rats crossing the street, especially nobles.

The reason it carried a small bit of good news was that Downfallen Nobles and Exiled Nobles often still possessed a little money and a few talents.

Just two days after the news reached Henry, groups upon groups began surging toward this place.

After thinking it over, Henry decided to let them in, but only a portion of them for now—at most one thousand people.

It would be a waste not to take money practically being handed to him for free!

As the order was issued, Henry's troops opened a gap, and countless Downfallen Nobles and Exiled Nobles from across the Empire poured in like a tidal wave.

Some wore wrinkled Imperial Robes, their faces haggard and their eyes filled with helplessness and confusion.

These people who had once held power and privilege had now lost their former glory.

They brought their remaining wealth and a number of rare items, hoping to rise again through development on the border.

The tavern, which had originally been little more than a showpiece, instantly became lively. The New Recruits temporarily serving as attendants busily conducted transactions.

Alcohol and food were consumed in huge quantities, exchanged for vast sums of money and plenty of jewelry offered as collateral. These people did not dare complain about West Lyme Tavern's high-priced service.

As for why the prices were so high, naturally, it was Henry's demand. This was the middle of nowhere—what was wrong with charging a little more?

Elsewhere, a small jug of wine cost forty-five Sou. Henry sold it for seventy Sou. Cheese that cost twenty-one Sou each elsewhere could sell for thirty-three Sou here!

A chicken that cost fifty-three Sou was sold for one hundred and thirty Sou once cooked, totaling one Denar and three silver. Seasonings, venue fees, processing fees—buy it or don't.

Expensive? How was it expensive? West Lyme had always charged these prices! Want to stay in the tavern and sleep in a bed? Pay more! Want a little drink and some meat? Pay more!

In short, pay more!

Once this batch of people had settled down, Henry would slowly let in another batch.

In just a few days, Henry brought those Downfallen Noble groups into the tavern batch by batch. By continuously robbing... earning money, he directly doubled his income.

How much had he paid for all that grain, alcohol, and everything else in the first place? This was pure profit!

As Henry had expected, the frenzy also brought a certain degree of chaos.

The already mediocre dirt roads became unbearably crowded. Sanitation and waste disposal became troublesome, while public security problems grew increasingly apparent.

The Exiled Nobles often clashed and fought with the relatively better-off Downfallen Nobles, lest others bully them.

Henry could not make heads or tails of it. Experts at infighting, were they? They were already in such a state, yet they still schemed against one another? Idiots!

Henry showed no favoritism toward these nobles who fought every day. He treated them all equally and simply fined them.

At first, some of the Downfallen Nobles refused to accept it. Even after learning that Henry was the recently famous Star of the Zhi Luo Campaign, they still refused.

They demanded a fair judgment!

But once the Downfallen Nobles saw Henry's thousand-strong, superbly equipped army make an appearance, they all submitted to his ruling.

It was far too fair!

In secret, Henry also had Tommy, Bain, Vasco, and the Soldiers entice those Exiled Nobles with few retainers.

They could buy a plot of land at a high price, or invest in a storefront. They could live perfectly well in West Lyme.

As for the Soldiers under the Exiled Nobles, they could trade their weapons and armor for a small plot of land and become independent farmers. If the equipment was not worth enough, they could become Tenant Farmers.

As for the Slaves, they were the private property of those nobles. How they were handled was none of Henry's concern.

In short, West Lyme was a wonderful place—warm and welcoming, and open to more exiles and Downfallen Nobles. Henry was willing to give them a warm home!