Chapter 87

The Medieval-Modern Man With A Gamer Mindset 87

87. Long-term Investments Take Over 10 Years

No matter how outstanding a person may be, there is one field in which they can never be sure of success.

Personally, I don’t think they should be confident in it either.

This is because it is a cruel field that requires one to take on a heavy responsibility and offers no chance to try again in the event of failure. It is a really tough subject where being too cautious will lead to failure, and being too bold will also lead to failure.

War and the military.

Right after my performance at the audience chamber, King Aethelstan and spymaster Lord Oberth, who had been friendly toward me, expressed their concerns. As soon as the meeting was over, I was summoned by King Aethelstan and was met with a worried voice.

“Narva, the absolute command authority is a power that has very few precedents. It goes without saying that even the kings of the mainland cannot act recklessly when dealing with vassals who support them with a large number of troops.”

“It can be interpreted in different ways… My lord, um. The fact that the Bishop will have the authority to punish knights and their lords regardless of their superior-subordinate relationship will be perceived as an act that infringes on the rights of the vassals.”

In most countries of this world, the reason why knights respect the king is because he is the lord of their lord.

They are certified by the church and followed by the people, and they only serve the lord they serve, but if their lord quarrels with the king, they had to join the rebellion for their honor.

Of course, if a knight or lord was granted a fief or manor by the king, he would prioritize the royal family.

However, most of the knights under the vassals were mostly those who were directly invested by the vassals who divided their own land. Among the vassals, there were also those who had their own territory inherited from generation to generation, not a fief granted by the king.

Count Phaeton of Barasta, Count Oduard of Deban, and Count Gaitan of Ronister are typical examples.

The fact that these three could pressure King Aethelstan or easily gather other lords was largely due to the fact that they were relatively free from their oaths of allegiance. Because of this, a strong backlash was expected.

If you command and punish the knights you have invested in by dividing your own land, they will be angry.

Of course, if the authority of the supreme monarch is strong, they cannot talk nonsense and spit it out obediently. Even the words that the kings of the mainland are considerate of are very different when examined closely. Sёarch* The Novёlƒire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

The reason why the kings are considerate is because they highly value the loyalty of their vassals, and our vassals, who have no loyalty at all, were somewhat okay with being beaten.

However, only those who are good at beating people can beat them to death.

Having played [Fantasy Monarch], I was a pseudo-expert who was good at beating vassals moderately. According to a cyber thesis based on the user community of [Fantasy Monarch], vassals are wolves who have only been beaten by humans.

If you feed them and raise them like pets, they become dogs, but the country becomes a mess, and if you beat them as if you were going to kill them, they die together like they are together and die with the country.

So I focused on euthanizing the vassals slowly.

The first button for that was the reform of the abolition of private soldiers, which was set up with the military service exemption tax and fortress rights as bait.

The [absolute military authority] that is now being enforced was a foreshadowing for this.

“The church has absolute authority and command only when it comes to confronting pagans. It is a moment when you can face the secular monarch as an equal. The rights of vassals are nothing compared to the cause of protecting humanity.”

“Hmm…”

“Of course, that’s the principle. Hmm… But Bishop… No. The principle is the principle.”

King Aethelstan and Lord Oberth reluctantly nodded at the orthodox theory that emphasized the principle. Yeah. I know that reality is different.

Even if the vassals understand it with their heads, they must be seeing inside, saying that they don’t like the church in their hearts.

…Maybe they didn’t even understand it, but the important part was different.

“If you say that you will mobilize troops for the cause of the Holy War, you will never be able to refuse. The moment you refuse, you will be accused of heresy and be destroyed before the pagans. Of course, you have to keep your breath. There is only one way to avoid this.”

It was then that King Aethelstan’s eyes sparkled and he opened his mouth.

“Are you talking about the shield tax?”

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Shield tax. Usually, the military service exemption tax is called that way.

Originally, when vassals who had to respond to their lord’s summons due to defensive battles or vassal contracts could not respond to the summons, they instead paid money. Usually, they had to respond to the summons, but in cases where the burden was considered too great, there were many who quietly paid the military service exemption tax.

It was also the part that I was aiming for when I saw the poor finances of our duchy.

“After seeing my attempt to absorb my soldiers by taking over the military authority as a bishop, and after confirming that the pagan invasion will become more intense, I will feel burdened to continue raising soldiers. Even if you do not necessarily target our duchy, I will ask for a unified command, saying that I must save other duchies. As time goes by, there is a high probability that it will be better to pay the shield tax.”

“But in order to prepare for small-scale looting or raids, we cannot help but raise soldiers…”

King Aethelstan confirmed the loopholes in my plan and began to worry with his chin hidden in.

To be exact, that’s what he was trying to do. Thanks to the fact that his aide, Lord Oberth, immediately gave a model answer, his worries did not last long.

“Your Majesty, it seems that the Bishop is thinking of the fortress rights.”

“Fortress rights…”

At those words, King Aethelstan closed his eyes tightly. It made sense considering the meaning of fortress rights.

Fortress rights are the right to build the walls of a castle to a certain level, as the name suggests. It may sound ridiculous from the perspective of a modern 21st-century person.

You might wonder why you have to get permission to live safely. I thought so too until I was harassed by Edelred. But everything in the world has a reason, no matter how trivial it may be.

These fortress rights were also a desperate measure with their own hardships and sorrows.

Suppose that the vassals built an impregnable fortress. And then, relying solely on the fortress’s sturdy walls, they revolted.

What is the lord who must quell the rebellion to do?

He would have to wage a siege against the fortress that the vassal built, draining his finances. Every now and then, he would launch an attack, starving the seeds of rebellion until they surrendered. Then, just as he was preparing to send a report on the situation, a foreign army would cross the border, forcing him to swallow his tears and negotiate.

That is why the right to a fortress is a privilege among privileges, not easily granted to any vassal who is not truly trustworthy.

For an orthodox medieval man, it was a very important right that required much deliberation before being granted.

However, any tool made by man can be used differently, depending on the intentions of its user.

Just as a law can become an evil law when used by an evil man, even madness can become utilitarianism when practiced by someone like me, who is prudent and benevolent, and seeks to save more people.

King Aethelstan seemed to understand the true meaning behind my argument.

After much deliberation, he suddenly opened his eyes wide and stared at me intently.

“…Even if a vassal with the right to a fortress becomes powerful, if he does not have an army to repel an invasion, he will lose the trust of the people or have to rely on another army. If he could raise a trustworthy army, rather than raising soldiers themselves…!”

Finally, our King Aethelstan seemed to understand my plan.

“By granting the right to fortresses to the strongholds and vassals of each region, we can have them serve as a delaying tactic, while we use various sources of income, including the shield tax, to finance the creation of a central army that ultimately submits to Your Majesty’s authority. This is the future of our duchy that I envision.”

“But Bishop, without the vassals, it will not be easy to raise an army strong enough to fill the void during the time it takes to raise that army.”

“Until then, we will have to grant the shield tax to the vassals who are loyal to Your Majesty, emphasizing the significance of the right to a fortress. Until now, they have been forced to serve in the military.”

Authority is most effective when it calmly suppresses its opponents rather than threatening or coercing them.

It is easy to condemn a heretic to death, but it is easy to incur resentment if one were to seize the heretic’s property for oneself. On the other hand, if one calmly exerts pressure on them, giving them a reasonable explanation, and makes them give it up themselves, there will be less trouble in the future.

“Of course, Lord Aubert’s point is also valid. Therefore, I intend to use the authority of the church to maintain a central army for the time being to deal with the invasion. In that case, it would be better to thoroughly prepare and face the battle head-on.”

“But Narva, if you move too slowly, the voices criticizing you will grow louder.”

“Perhaps their goal will be achieved.”

“Instead, won’t they feel the need to create and maintain a stronger army?”

“…?”

“The most efficient and sure way to deal with a threat is not to prevent anyone from being sacrificed in the first place.”

King Aethelstan and Lord Aubert are too kind and gentle.

In order to save more people, sometimes one must know how to abandon others.

Even if it is a cruel and terrible act…

“We will give the people a short respite, just enough time for them to perceive the threat as a danger.”

The need for reform. The desperate will to change in order to survive.

I knew of no other way to instill these things.

***

April 1, 1213.

It had been over a month since the pagans had set foot in the Duchy of Powys. During that time, they had burned and pillaged no less than thirteen settlements.

The strongholds, centered around the monasteries, had bought them time, but that was all. The pagans had learned to ignore or bypass such strongholds. Instead, they showed their ferocity by plundering the surrounding villages with even greater cruelty.

Their leader sat on an altar made of a pile of headless torsos, humming as he wiped the fat and flesh off his axe.

“Even a river bends, but it carves away the rock.”

Clack, clack.

He proudly shook his elaborately braided beard as he sharpened the notched blade of his ax on a whetstone.

Some of the warriors who had expressed concern about bypassing the monasteries asked him,

“Chieftain, will this be alright?”

“Are these not the places that the Great Chieftain told us to aim for? Chieftain, are you sure this is alright?”

“Hmm.”

At that moment, the man called the chieftain lowered his axe.

“We cannot waste the lives of our warriors. It would be a loss if even one of our warriors, who are to be revived by the gods, were to be injured fighting mere peasants.”

“But even so…”

“If we sweep past, they will crawl out on their own. We can just loot the empty place on our way back. Anyway, it would be better if a few peasants died and they just cleared the way for us.”

“Ah…!!!”

Indeed, the evaluation of “chieftain” came from all sides.

The warriors, relieved of their worries, quickly exchanged sly smiles.

“See, the chieftain thinks of everything?”

“Heh heh. After all, what guts do mere peasants have to stand their ground there? While we’re at it, why don’t we throw some peasants?”

As they all burst into hearty laughter, a roaring voice suddenly echoed from the outskirts.

Before long, the chieftain could see another warrior who wanted to meet him.

It was a somewhat awkward-looking warrior with a strange expression, his eyebrows furrowed and his hand scratching the back of his head, lifting his severed head.

“Um… chieftain… no matter how I think about it, it seems like an important matter.”

“…”

“That… before I cut his head off, he inspired.”

The awkward warrior said so and lifted the severed head.

The owner of the head, from which blood still dripped, was a knight who had been killed while defending the village. His last cry, as he lamented his own feeble skills and succumbed to evil, was.

“The great warrior chosen by the stars of another world is gathering soldiers.”

“…!!!”

Even the composed chieftain was so startled that he dropped his whetstone.

The other warriors, who had remembered that infamy for generations, were equally shocked. All of them, their previous margin gone, began to look at the chieftain with anxious eyes.

“A great warrior… of the stars of another world?”

“I thought there was no such great warrior among the peasants here…”

At that moment, the chieftain stood up from the altar and declared to the warriors.

“From now on, looting is prohibited, and we will retreat to the villages we have already captured.”

“…That’s all?”

“The Grand Chieftain told me. The stars of another world. Do not treat those great warriors lightly when you face them. Use everything you have.”

The chieftain held an old box that was rattling in his arms.

He barely pulled himself together, recalling the remains of the great warrior inside, and then said.

“If necessary, even with the remains of the nameless warrior king.”

Urphson.

He had planned this raid with the trust of the Grand Chieftain and had been given the right thumb of the nameless warrior king.