Filled with boundless excitement and anticipation for the future, Reiner gradually fell asleep. He slept until the following afternoon, when the angle of the sunlight was just right, pouring into his now much more spacious room.
The broken, mottled sunlight shone on his eyelids. Even tightly shut, his eyes could not block out the intense light. Today was a rare fine day; there had been only a few days all winter with such bright sunshine.
Reiner opened his eyes reluctantly. He had gone to bed too late the previous night, so he had only just woken up.
Sophie and Lisa, Reiner's personal maids, had been waiting since morning. The warm water in their wooden basin had already been changed at least five times. After waiting all this time, even boiling water would have turned cold.
"Mm..." Reiner grunted unhappily. At once, the two maids rose from their chairs and carried a warm towel and warm water over to him. One placed the warm towel on Reiner's face, while the other stood nearby holding the basin.
"Tsk!" His breathing gradually grew heavier, and his mood became extremely foul. He had brought his habit of being irritable upon waking from his previous life into this body. At first, the two little maids had been somewhat frightened, but after spending more time with him, they grew used to it. Reiner never took his temper out on anyone.
Although he had become a baron, the compulsory education of the new century had still taught him to treat everyone equally. Becoming a noble had made him just a little conceited, but he still could not bring himself to punish and whip people at the slightest provocation.
After being attended to by the two maids, Reiner felt much more refreshed. He was extremely uncomfortable without a toothbrush, but since he lacked the means, he could only endure it.
With the maids' help, he put on loose casual clothes. The trousers in this world had originally all been tight-fitting, but after Reiner's strong insistence, the tailor had made them in the style he wanted.
These clothes were usually made of linen. Since they were for the Baron, however, the fabric was woven more finely. Even so, they were still linen clothes in the end. More precious materials were exceedingly expensive.
Not to mention silk from the sea routes, which was so costly that even the great nobles had to treasure it, even the somewhat cheaper velvet was extremely expensive. A single garment made from it would probably cost the entire annual tax revenue of Morland Castle.
That was why Reiner could tolerate the coarse linen rubbing against his skin. At first, he had thought life would become comfortable after he became a noble, but he now finally understood what people meant by the limitations of an era and how the economic foundation determined the superstructure.
Even a baron of this era—not to mention a baron, even a count—could hardly match the quality of life enjoyed by an ordinary person in the twenty-first century.
Reiner left his room to eat in the castle's dining hall. Along the way, he discovered that although the castle's basic structure had not changed much, it had become considerably more spacious.
It was also much more suitable for defense. This was difficult to see inside the main keep, but many additional structures had appeared on the outer walls.
"Oh, good afternoon, my uncle. What are you going to do?" Reiner said to Sir Cord, rubbing his fluffy blond hair.
"I'm going to your pharmacy to gather several physicians. They are among the few people in the entire territory who know even a little medicine. According to your orders, if we are to treat the wounded soldiers, we must have their assistance!" said Sir Cord.
"Ah!" Reiner nodded, then said, "Have them do what I told them before! Don't try any strange methods!" During the previous campaign to suppress the bandits and rescue Count Rademacher, there had been quite a few wounded soldiers. When Reiner ordered the physicians to treat them, he had immediately sensed that their methods were wrong.
Only afterward did he realize that this world was much like the dark Middle Ages of his previous life. The fact that they had not used bloodletting on the wounded was already more than he could ask for.
Reiner had stopped them at once and taught them some of the most basic medical knowledge from the twenty-first century. Even so, two of the soldiers who had taken part in the previous campaign had still died of tetanus.
"Oh, right. Has anything about our castle changed recently?" Reiner asked, looking into Sir Cord's eyes.
The castle had undergone an upgrade and changed greatly. He was unsure whether these people's memories had truly been altered, so he asked this question.
"Uh... Do you mean that the castle has become much cleaner? Yes, the servants carried out a thorough cleaning, and it has become much cleaner!"
Although Sir Cord had answered a different question, Reiner was relieved. Their memories had indeed been altered. Otherwise, they could not have failed to notice such tremendous changes in the castle.
Time flew by, and three days passed in the blink of an eye. Wearing full chainmail and mounted on his warhorse, Reiner looked at the assembled soldiers.
At this point, the Moreland Family had fewer than sixty troops capable of taking the field. Many had died in battle, and many others had been wounded. Even if they recovered smoothly, the Moreland Family's regular army would number only a little over fifty and still fewer than sixty.
Reiner had also dismissed the conscripted serfs and sent them home. After all, nearly the entire force of Goer Castle had been brought out by Baron Lobean to besiege Morland Castle. Aside from those who had been killed, most had become prisoners of the Moreland Family.
In other words, Goer Castle was essentially undefended now. A few dozen soldiers and a dozen or so knights were more than enough to deal with such a territory.
To the serfs and freemen, it made little difference who ruled them. They had merely changed the person to whom they paid taxes and the person who exploited them.
Reiner led the army toward Goer Castle beneath the banner of the Moreland Family. He estimated that this expedition would encounter little resistance. At most, some members of the Gwen Family, to which Baron Lobean belonged, might resist. But they had no army, and he could not believe they would have any room to fight back before his forces.
It was another bright, sunny day. The plain was clad in silver beneath its blanket of snow. Occasionally, the wind blew snowflakes from the trees, like mischievous little elves rustling as they fell to the ground.
The entire army was in high spirits. They knew this would be a certain victory. Even if Goer Castle had some defenders, what of it? Baron Lobean was dead, and the castle's guards could not outnumber the troops that had once defended Morland Castle. Taking Goer Castle would be effortless.
The two territories were not far apart. After just over four hours, they reached the territory of Goer Castle. From time to time, they saw thinly dressed serfs along the roadside searching for food.
Because they had been taxed so heavily, the food they had left was not enough to last them through the winter until the next harvest. Thus, they had no choice but to brave the cold wind and search the wilderness for anything that could fill their stomachs.
When they saw the passing army, they fled in panic, terrified that they might attract its attention and be killed. One could not expect the armies of this era to possess any discipline or integrity. Many armies were nothing more than legally sanctioned bandits kept by the lords.
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