One-Week Pact

"Lord, this goes against ancestral tradition!" Old Gordon, who had always followed Raven's words without question, rare lost his temper. "Handing over gleaming silver coins to those lowlifes—it's a travesty!"

Raven smiled and placated him: "Alright, Gordon, calm down. It's not that much money. If it weren't for them, we might not even be sitting here in Eagle Fortress holding a meeting right now."

Old Gordon wanted to argue further: "But Lord, there's simply no precedent for this. If you do this, you'll be condemned by every noble..."

"Just listen to me." Raven cut off Old Gordon's words firmly. "Fifty silver coins for each man who died in battle; twenty silver coins for each severely wounded or disabled; five silver coins for every survivor!"

"As you command, Lord..." Old Gordon pushed up his monocle and reluctantly accepted Raven's demands.

It wasn't just the Cairns Empire—across the entire Middle Continent, no human kingdom treated serf soldiers as people.

Dead was dead. Compensation? What a joke—that wasn't something serfs were entitled to.

But Raven had his own considerations.

His fief was too small, his subjects too few. He had to take an elite route, building an army with far higher loyalty and combat power than the average noble's private soldiers, just to ensure his own survival.

Besides, to him, fifty silver coins wasn't much. Using them to buy loyalty was an incredibly good deal.

Money wasn't for the dead; it was for the living to see.

"Next is the cost of repairing the castle." Old Gordon flipped open his notes. "The hall isn't badly damaged, but the carpet needs replacing—about seven gold coins. Then there are the rooms for the maids and footmen on the first floor..."

Only Raven and Gordon were speaking, but three people were present. The third, Eric, sat by the table, grinning as he patted his waist.

He no longer used a hand-and-a-half sword. Now, two enchanted weapons hung at his waist—Anderson's morningstar and Belly's longsword—and he wore the enchanted plate armor stripped from Anderson.

That outfit alone was worth nearly eight hundred gold coins on the market.

It was good to follow Lord Raven. In just two months, he'd traded in his old gear for new and seen his combat power soar!

"Eric—"

Old Gordon's slightly displeased voice snapped Eric awake. "What is it!?"

"The Lord is asking you, roughly how much would it cost to fully equip all the current private soldiers?" Gordon repeated with a sigh.

Eric scratched his nose awkwardly. "The private soldiers took heavy losses in this battle. Eleven dead, three severely wounded, twenty-two left."

"From those bandits, we captured sixteen sets of common chainmail, one set of enchanted chainmail, and one set of enchanted plate armor. Right now, the enchanted plate armor is on me, the enchanted chainmail is set aside for Lord Raven's use, and the set I swapped out can be given to Simon. That still leaves a shortfall of five sets of chainmail."

"But earlier, Lord Raven killed three Blood-Eyed Warhorses. If we take their horse armor to the blacksmith, for just a few silver coins in labor, it can be completely remade into five sets of wearable chainmail, with some material left over."

Listening to Eric's account, Raven slowly nodded. This retainer, though a bit straightforward, was very sharp and insightful about everything military.

"We also captured twelve ordinary warhorses this time." Raven asked. "Do you think we could organize a cavalry unit?"

"That would be difficult, Lord." Eric spoke honestly. "Unlike infantry, cavalry demands much higher quality. Both riding skills and the use of mounted weapons require a long time to train."

"To be frank, Lord, I can ride a horse, but mounted combat isn't my specialty. Even with a mount, I'd just be a mounted infantryman."

Raven rubbed his nose awkwardly—because he couldn't even ride a horse.

There was no helping it. On the Middle Continent, riding was basically a noble's privilege. At the very least, you had to be a knight to have that condition.

Horses didn't just eat grass. High-nutrition crops like black beans and soybeans were essential, or they couldn't run at all. A horse could eat over twenty copper coins' worth a day, and the annual feed cost was at least sixty silver coins—ordinary families simply couldn't afford it.

"Talents are hard to come by..." Raven sighed again, adding learning to ride to his future plans.

Even if not for combat, if real danger came, four legs were always faster than two.

Raven said, "Eric, you're in charge of transporting the horse armor to Shining Gold Town to be remade into wearable chainmail. Meeting adjourned!"

"Not adjourned yet!" Denise pushed open the door and walked in. Today she wore a simple blue dress, its boat neck clearly revealing her shapely collarbones, projecting an unmistakable air of a strong woman.

"Raven, when exactly are you going to get proper maids for this place!?"

Although the bandit invasion had ended in Raven's victory, Eagle Fortress had also suffered considerable losses. The castle's original servants—the three maids hired earlier, along with the groom and servants Denise had brought herself—had all died at the hands of the bandits.

The captured bandit had died anyway. Though he revealed that Weston had sold Denise out, neither Raven nor Denise would acknowledge it.

Perhaps unwilling to face reality, Denise had fallen into a strange state of agitation, developing a strong aversion to all men.

Even the carpet in her room—because Simon had stepped on it while moving a body—she had dragged out and burned entirely.

"Whoa, whoa, don't get so worked up, Aunt Denise." Raven said calmly. "The quality of the townsfolk in Eagle Town isn't that high. If you want suitable maids, I'm afraid you'll have to wait a few more days."

Denise let out a scornful laugh. "If the maids in Eagle Town aren't good enough, where do you want them from? Do you expect me to spend money hiring people from Monen City?"

Raven replied, "You certainly don't need to spend for that. There are usable servants in Shining Gold Town."

"Baron Raven, you haven't forgotten what just happened in Eagle Fortress, have you?" Denise smiled sarcastically. "Over a dozen servants dead. How much money would you have to spend to get anyone willing to come?"

Raven countered, "They're all my subjects. Why would I need to spend money?"

"Shining Gold Town is still in Viscount John's hands." Denise said. "Don't tell me you plan to take it back from him?"

Raven nodded confidently. "Of course!"

Denise laughed. "Ha, that's the funniest thing I've heard this month. What makes you think you can take back Shining Gold Town? With those twenty-something 'elites' under your command?"

"Lord Baron, think twice." Eric spoke from a military perspective. "Viscount John has three hundred elite soldiers in the Snow Maple Legion, plus fourteen enfeoffed knights—every one of them at least a First-tier Transcendent. With Eagle Territory's current combat strength, we're no match for him!"

Gordon also advised, "Lord Raven, according to imperial law, attacking another lord's territory is a major taboo. You could very well have your nobility title stripped..."

Raven looked around the room and smiled. "So, you all think I can't take back Shining Gold Town, is that it?"

Gordon and Eric lowered their heads, both silently conceding the point.

Denise directly sneered, "Judra publicly promised to return Eagle Beak Mountain and Thousand Needle Jungle to you, and what happened? Where is the land?"

"The Worton Family is only a barony, and now you say you want to pry Shining Gold Town from a viscount! Has a small victory over bandits gone to your head, Lord Baron?"

A confident smile tugged at Raven's lips. "That won't require your concern, Aunt Denise."

He raised one finger:

"In one week, Viscount John will beg me to take back Shining Gold Town!"