Reiner enfeoffed six villages, and every knight without a fief was granted one. Those who were not granted a fief received financial rewards from Reiner instead. Of course, the amount was not very large, because they had obtained quite a few spoils of war on the battlefield, and what Reiner rewarded them with was not worth as much as those spoils.
Even so, every knight present was extremely satisfied. In such a harmonious atmosphere, with host and guests enjoying themselves, the banquet reached its climax, and everyone began attacking the food on the table.
The bonds between nobles deepened through this kind of gluttonous feasting. Banquets were one of the few social occasions of this era.
Nobles were nobles only at banquets, and only when conversing with people of equal status. Otherwise, shut away in their castles and estates all day, they were merely armed landowners with titles.
Reiner was also delighted and could not help drinking a few extra cups. Although all the alcohol here was low-proof malt liquor, drinking too much still left him somewhat tipsy.
The banquet continued until midnight. The knights' families had all gone back, leaving only a group of thoroughly drunken knights behind to revel wildly, venting their excess energy and boasting about their bravery on the battlefield. Even the affairs of the bedchamber became topics of conversation.
Reiner was staggeringly helped back to his room by a servant. The two young maids living in the side room hurried over, took him from the servant, and supported him to the bed.
His consciousness was hazy, but he had not lost it. He only felt his body come into contact with two soft, warm masses. A scent carrying a young girl's fragrance entered his nostrils, and Reiner could not help letting his imagination run wild.
With a forceful sweep of his arms, he knocked the two figures onto the bed. After all, how could two delicate young women possibly resist a battle-hardened warrior who trained year-round?
Amid two low cries of surprise, Reiner began undressing himself. However, his drunken, dizzy mind found the complicated clothes on his body utterly unfamiliar, and he could not undo them even after a long while.
In the end, it was the two girls who extended their slender hands and removed his clothes. Driven by animal instinct, he immediately pounced on the two frail maids.
The two little maids were like timid brides pressed onto a bed, too afraid to resist. Their pitiful appearance only made his blood surge hotter. A weak little rabbit would not make a great tiger moderate its movements out of pity; it would only make him more brutal.
The next morning, Reiner woke from his bed in a daze. He rubbed his aching head while the two maids still lay with their brows faintly furrowed, their bodies curled together and rising and falling slightly, like two delicate kittens that stirred one's pity.
He sighed. It seemed no one would help him wash and dress this morning. After becoming accustomed to that decadent lifestyle, he actually felt somewhat unaccustomed to having no one wait on him. But then again, he could not blame the two young maids. He had tormented them too severely the previous night, so it was only normal that they could not get up in the morning.
There was nothing he could do about it; he had brought this on himself. He quietly found some clothes and rose from the bed without waking the two exhausted maids.
Fortunately, the cooks knew Reiner's habits. In his previous life, as a shut-in, he had avoided moving whenever possible, so breakfast had already been placed on the table in the bedroom.
Today's breakfast looked quite lavish: a fragrant pot of meat soup that smelled as though it had been made from mutton, two strips of salted meat beside it, two pieces of white bread on a plate, and a small bowl of oatmeal.
Although these foods were indeed unimpressive in appearance and flavor, they were extremely rare delicacies in this era. Reiner was not picky, and he ate the food on the table with relish.
At that moment, the two maids also woke up. They hurriedly put on their clothes, then knelt before Reiner. For maids to rise later than their master was a crime that, in other nobles' households, would be enough to have them whipped to death.
Reiner looked at the trembling young maids and raised his brows. "Get up. I don't blame you!" Then he pointed at the food on the table. "Come eat too. I can't finish all this by myself!"
How should he put it? Reiner had thoroughly enjoyed the meal. He leaned back in his chair and let out a long, satisfied belch, then reclined comfortably on the bed and picked up a knight novel to read.
Not long afterward, someone knocked on the door. The maid named Qingshu went to open it.
"Good day, respected Sir Cord!" When the little maid Qingshu saw that it was Sir Cord, she immediately greeted him in a soft, timid voice.
Sir Cord nodded without saying much, then turned his gaze toward Reiner, who was lying on the bed. "Baron, the value of the spoils has been calculated. I also intend to report the amount of taxes we expect to collect next year!"
The two maids tactfully curtsied and left Reiner's room, returning to the side room that belonged to them.
"Ah, all right, Uncle. Please begin your report!" Reiner rose from the bed, walked to the table, pulled out a chair, and gestured for Sir Cord to sit.
After Sir Cord sat down, he looked at the parchment in his hand. "After calculation, the spoils belonging to you are worth approximately four gold coins. Since you obtained Goer Castle and its ten villages, and without including the iron mine in your territory, your income next year should be around fifteen to twenty gold coins!"
"Besides that, your property includes one hundred and thirteen sheep, ten oxen, fifteen plow horses, seven mills, twenty draft horses, and five warhorses. Five sheep were used at the banquet, and two others were too old and had to be slaughtered!"
Reiner nodded. "All right, I understand."
After saying that, Reiner hesitated, seeming to want to say something. In the end, he still spoke. "Uncle, do you think the people under me see me as a tyrant?"
Sir Cord was stunned. He had not expected Reiner to ask such a question. He smiled and said, "No, Reiner. I only want you to preserve the kindness in your heart!"
"I understand your actions very well. When I was still a young man, I received my first fief. I was extremely brutal toward my residents. I believed they had to fear me in order to respect me, so my whip was practically stained with blood every day."
"Everyone feared me. Whenever I appeared before them, they would always kneel at my feet in terror and praise me. I was very pleased. I thought that was what I wanted!"
"But later, when those ignorant children expressed their fear of me and said things like, 'It would be better if we could have another lord,' I finally understood. Rather than making everyone fear you, it is better to have them respect and love you. All of that requires your kindness. Of course, your authority must also be maintained!"
"Hmm, your father was much the same as I was back then, but he understood this principle very quickly. That is why the people in the territory still remember your father's goodness even now. What use is it if the residents fear you? When an outsider appears, they will gladly change masters rather than help you. I hope you can understand the principle behind this!"
Before you continue