The Battle of Dadir City had drawn to a close. The remnants of the Skull Society fled far and wide, going underground. No force remained in the two counties of Leighton and White that could stand against the allied army.
With a single order from Count Pierce, the campaign to recover the lost territories began in an orderly fashion. The situation could not have looked better.
As the war drew to its end, the subject of dividing the spoils gradually became the main topic of discussion. Ordinary loot was easy enough to handle: territories were divided by region, and how much one gained depended entirely on luck.
But once "fiefs" were involved, things became complicated. Unlike the barren frontier lands of the kingdom, the Southeast Province was prime fertile ground. No one was willing to give it up.
There was too little to go around, so some people were destined to receive nothing. The struggle behind this involved not only military merit, but also a contest of family strength and networks of connections.
The surviving nobles of the Fifth Army were all lucky men. Since this involved the politically correct stance of opposing the Church, no one dared to withhold their military merits.
Their merits were evaluated first. Although the results had not yet been announced, even the worst-off families could obtain a Knight's Territory, and quite a few would be elevated to barons.
As the leading contributor in killing Holy See Cavalry, combined with his other accumulated merits, Hudson was naturally ranked among the first tier of contributors. His achievements were second only to killing the Evil God's avatar.
No one knew the final result yet, but according to the news he had gathered, receiving a barony in actual grant was highly likely.
The outcome was even better than