"Lord Baron, you're violating ancestral laws!" Old Gordon, who had always obeyed Raven without question, rarely lost his temper. "Giving these wretched peasants gleaming silver coins is simply inviting disaster!"
Raven smiled and placated him. "All right, Mr. Gordon, calm down. It isn't that much money. If not for them, we might not even be sitting here holding a meeting in Eagle Fortress."
Old Gordon still wanted to argue. "But my lord, this has absolutely no precedent. If you do this, all the nobles will..."
"Just do as I say." Raven forcefully cut him off. "Fifty silver coins for every person who died in battle; twenty silver coins for each person who was severely wounded and disabled; and five silver coins for every survivor!"
"As you command, my lord..." Old Gordon pushed up his monocle and resignedly accepted Raven's order.
Not only the Cairns Empire, but every human kingdom across the Middle Continent treated serf soldiers as less than human.
Dead was dead. Compensation? What a joke. Serfs weren't entitled to such things.
But Raven had his own considerations.
His territory was too small, and he had too few subjects. He could only pursue an elite route, organizing an army whose loyalty and combat prowess far surpassed those of ordinary nobles' private soldiers. Only then would they be strong enough to protect themselves.
Besides, fifty silver coins wasn't much to him. Using them to win people's loyalty was an excellent bargain.
The money wasn't for the dead. It was for the living to see.
"Next are the costs of rebuilding the castle." Old Gordon opened his notebook. "The great hall wasn't badly damaged. We only need to buy a new carpet, which should cost around seven gold coins. Besides that, there are the rooms for the maids and manservants on the first floor..."
Only Raven and Gordon were speaking, but there were three people present. The remaining person, Eric, sat beside the table, rubbing his waist and grinning foolishly.
He no longer needed his hand-and-a-half sword. Two enchanted weapons now hung from his waist: Anderson's morningstar and Belly's longsword. He was also wearing the enchanted plate armor stripped from Anderson.
That outfit alone was worth nearly eight hundred gold coins on the market.
It really is great following Lord Raven. In just two months, I've traded up completely, and my combat power has soared!
"Eric—"
Old Gordon's slightly displeased voice jolted Eric awake. "What is it!?"
"My lord is asking you how much it would cost to fully equip all the private soldiers," Gordon repeated helplessly.
Eric awkwardly scratched his nose. "We suffered heavy losses in this battle. Eleven died in battle, three were severely wounded, and twenty-two remain."
"We seized sixteen sets of common chainmail, one set of enchanted chainmail, and one set of enchanted plate armor from those bandits. The enchanted plate armor is on me now, and the enchanted chainmail has been set aside for Lord Raven. The set I took off can be given to Simon. That leaves a shortage of five sets of chainmail."
"However, Lord Raven killed three Blood-Eyed Warhorses earlier. If we send their barding to the blacksmith, we only need to pay a few silver coins in processing fees to turn it into five sets of chainmail that people can wear, with some material left over."
Listening to Eric's explanation, Raven slowly nodded. Although this retainer was somewhat simple-minded and blunt, he was highly perceptive and insightful when it came to everything related to the army.
"We also captured twelve ordinary warhorses this time," Raven asked. "Do you think we can organize a cavalry unit?"
"It'll be difficult, my lord." Eric answered honestly. "Unlike infantry, cavalry requires much higher standards. Whether it's horsemanship or using weapons on horseback, both require a considerable amount of time to train."
"To be honest, my lord, although I can ride a horse, mounted combat isn't my specialty. Even with a mount, I'd only be mounted infantry."
Raven awkwardly rubbed his nose—because he couldn't even ride a horse.
There was nothing he could do about it. On the Middle Continent, riding horses was essentially a privilege of the nobility. One had to be at least a knightly lord to have the opportunity.
Horses couldn't survive on grass alone. High-nutrition crops like black beans and soybeans were indispensable. Otherwise, they simply couldn't run, and a horse could eat more than twenty copper coins' worth of food in a day. Its annual upkeep cost at least sixty silver coins—ordinary families simply couldn't afford one.
"Talented people are hard to come by..." Raven sighed again and added learning to ride a horse to his future plans.
Setting combat aside, if he ever encountered danger, four legs would always run faster than two.
Raven said, "Eric, take the horse armor to Shining Gold Town and have it remade into chainmail that people can wear. Meeting adjourned!"
"Not yet!" Denise pushed open the door and entered. Today, she wore a simple blue dress. Its straight neckline fell at shoulder level, clearly revealing her shapely collarbones and giving her the air of a capable career woman.
"Raven, when are you finally going to find enough maids for this place!?"
Although the bandit invasion had ended in Raven's victory, Eagle Fortress had suffered considerable losses. All of its original servants—the three maids recruited earlier, as well as the coachman and servant Denise had brought herself—had died at the hands of the bandits.
The captured bandit had died as well. Although he had revealed the truth that Weston had betrayed Denise, neither Raven nor Denise would acknowledge it.
Perhaps because she was unwilling to face reality, Denise had fallen into a strange state of agitation and developed a powerful aversion to all men.
Even the carpet in her room had been dragged outside and burned simply because Simon had stepped on it while carrying a corpse.
"Whoa, whoa, don't get so worked up, Aunt Denise." Raven spoke calmly. "The people of Eagle Town aren't of a high enough caliber. If you want to find suitable maids, I'm afraid you'll have to wait a few more days."
Denise gave a mocking laugh. "The maids in Eagle Town aren't good enough? Then where do you want them from? Are you expecting me to spend money hiring people from Monen City?"
Raven said, "Of course not. There are servants in Shining Gold Town who should be usable."
"Baron Raven, surely you haven't forgotten what just happened at Eagle Fortress?" Denise gave him a sarcastic smile. "More than a dozen servants died. How much money will you have to spend before anyone is willing to come here?"
Raven countered, "They're all my subjects. Why would I need to spend money?"
"Shining Gold Town is still in the hands of Viscount John," Denise said. "Don't tell me you intend to take Shining Gold Town back from him?"
Raven nodded confidently. "Of course!"
Denise burst out laughing. "Ha! That's the funniest joke I've heard all month. What are you going to use to take Shining Gold Town back? The twenty-odd 'elite' soldiers under your command?"
"Baron, think this through carefully." Eric spoke from a military perspective. "Viscount John has the three-hundred-man elite Snow Maple Legion. He also has fourteen Enfeoffed Knights under his command, all of whom are at least First-tier Transcendents. With Eagle Territory's current military strength, we absolutely won't be his match!"
Gordon also urged him, "Lord Raven, according to imperial law, attacking another lord's territory is a serious offense. You could very well be stripped of your Nobility Title..."
Raven surveyed everyone and said with a smile, "It seems you all think I can't take Shining Gold Town back, don't you?"
Gordon and Eric lowered their heads, tacitly admitting it.
Denise went even further and openly mocked him. "Judra publicly promised to return Eagle Beak Mountain and the Thousand Needle Jungle to you. And what happened? Where's the land?"
"The Worton Family is only a baronial family, and now you're saying you intend to pry Shining Gold Town out of a viscount's hands! Don't tell me a small victory over some bandits has gone to Baron's head?"
A confident smile tugged at the corner of Raven's mouth. "That's not something Aunt Denise needs to worry about."
He raised one finger.
"In one week, Viscount John will be begging me to take Shining Gold Town back!"
Before you continue