Medieval Knight System: Building the Strongest Empire Ever!

Given the nature of medieval folk, who considered watching torture and executions a form of entertainment, this was simply one more amusing spectacle. Regrettably, raw and brutal violence was this era’s idea of fun.

"People from other areas may come to watch too."

"Would they really come all the way to Feuzen to see a special trial?"

"Wolf, people are thirstier for spectacle than you think."

Hilda stressed that the crowds drawn in that way could easily cause trouble, and that the patrol force needed to be increased even further. In the end, bowing to my lady’s command, I doubled the patrols.

And now that Fiel had returned home, someone was needed to manage the Gale Knights in peacetime. The most senior man in the order at present was Viktor von Falkenheim. I invited him to a casual dinner and sounded him out.

"You have served with unwavering devotion, and I’d like to entrust you with the post of acting commander. What do you think?"

"May I take that to mean you want me to lead the Gale Knights in your stead, Commander?"

"That’s right. As you know, I have much to do and little time, so it’s difficult for me to run the order properly in peacetime. I’d like to leave its peacetime operations to you."

Fortunately, Viktor showed real interest in running the order. I would need to raise his standing by granting him authority over the order’s training and territorial patrols, so that he could lead more proactively.

"It is a position beyond my merits, but I will do my utmost to live up to your expectations, Commander."

"Now I can leave it to you with peace of mind."

Having assumed the post of acting commander, Viktor rose in stature as the order’s second-in-command in both name and substance. So I prepared a special gift for him. A set of plate armor.

It was plate armor worn by the knights we’d fought in the Bavarian vanguard, and I had picked out the finest piece in the best condition. The moment Viktor laid eyes on it, the armor stole his heart completely.

"What a magnificent suit of armor."

"They say it was made in Brandenburg. The quality is every bit as good as Italian work."

"Commander, may I truly accept something this precious?"

"You may. I took it off a knight who couldn’t pay his ransom."

For reference, when we clashed with the Bavarian vanguard, most of the knights died at my hands, but the ones lucky enough to survive couldn’t pay their ransoms, so some handed over their armor and horses instead.

The problem is that I still haven’t been paid the ransom for the vanguard commander captured back then.

Even though the grand dukes agreed between themselves that Grand Duke Konrad’s side would pay on the commander’s behalf, they’ve done nothing but drag their feet. The promised ransom is 100 gold coins. Are they putting off payment day after day because they have no money?

So at one point I pressed the grand duke about the matter.

"Konrad may be called the Handsome King, but there’s no greater miser in this world."

"Er, Your Highness? You brokered the deal knowing I’d never be paid?"

"This too can serve as a justification. Breach of agreement, you see."

"Justifications matter, but is there truly no chance of being paid?"

"None."

The grand duke told me to forget about collecting and to use the broken promise as a justification instead. He said it would be worth far more than 100 gold coins, but does a mere duchy baron like me really need that kind of justification against a foreign grand duke?

I should have dragged that vanguard commander straight to the rear the moment I caught him.

In the end, I gave up on collecting. I’ve no idea what the grand duke is scheming, but he insisted it wasn’t a losing trade, so all I can do is hope it comes back around as profit in some form later.

If the day ever comes to collect that unpaid ransom, those Bavarian misers will regret this day. I’ll run the Searcher Scouter at full tilt and shake them down for every last coin stashed in their underpants.

Anyway, Viktor was thoroughly pleased with the title of acting commander. With the whole order gathered at my command, he donned his new armor and held his head high.

The veterans acknowledged Viktor, but the new recruits weren’t happy about his appointment. To them, the supreme commander was, first and last, the Gale Knight.

Hmm, this was a development I hadn’t anticipated.

But Viktor didn’t make much of it.

"If we train together and sweat in the mud together, they’ll come to accept me too. In that spirit, may I conduct large-scale training? I’ll leave Anton’s squad as your escort, Commander."

To forge the Gale Knights into one, nothing beats training that mirrors real combat. If Viktor’s authority took hold, running the order would get that much easier, so I was willing to supply what he needed within reason.

On anything else I might have haggled, but on training and supply I never pinched a coin. They are the most fundamental means of raising one’s odds of victory, and they can never be neglected.

"I’d appreciate it if you hunted down the bandits drifting around Rosenheim while you’re at it."

"We’ll comb every corner and drag the rats out."

With the Gale Knights entrusted to Viktor, I felt a weight lift from my shoulders, one less thing to handle. Now I just needed an estate manager to govern Feuzen on my behalf, and Chief Wentner seemed the right man for it.

By custom, an estate manager was chosen from among the nobility, but Wentner held influence in the village and was also kin by marriage to August, my military affairs officer, so he was amply qualified.

And his administrative ability was quite decent too.

When August managed Feuzen, he had put Wentner in charge of administration, and while I was away, Hilda had entrusted him with running the estate as well, so there was no room to doubt his competence.

"I think it’s a good idea. He’s a commoner, but he’s kin to Lord Einbeck, and since his younger sister Bailey (August’s wife) is my handmaid, his authority won’t be a problem either."

"The way he treated the migrants without discrimination makes him worth appointing on that count alone."

He couldn’t resolve the friction outright, true, but the fact that relations between the migrants and villagers never spiraled into catastrophe was thanks to Wentner quietly keeping the balance behind the scenes. He never once let his position as village chief go to his head.

Since all power flowed from the Streits, he had sided with the migrants in order to carry out my directive permitting their settlement. Viewed coldly, one could call him the lord’s lackey and he would have no retort.

Precisely because he put the Streit family’s orders above the wishes of his own hometown, he was a manager who would be easy to use. But if he ever abused his borrowed authority to commit outrages, I would cut him down without hesitation.

"He watched from up close as the wealthy farmers were purged, so at the very least he won’t forget his place. He’s clever enough to know exactly what I want. If he manages Feuzen well, I’m willing to look the other way while he pockets a little something for himself. So long as he keeps within bounds."

"And if he forgets his place and his greed swells, what will you do?"

"Then I’d have to pick out a new handmaid for you and a new estate manager for Feuzen."

"I’ll have to nag Bailey constantly to stay on her guard."

I hope that nagging keeps the Wentner family on the straight and narrow. If the day ever comes when Wentner forgets his place, it could mean wiping out August’s in-laws. It had better never come to that.

Strike while the iron is hot, as they say, so I summoned Wentner.

When I told him he was being appointed estate manager, he stood there dumbstruck.

"I-I am to become the estate manager?"

"Having watched you at work, I simply judged you the man most fit for the post."

"Oh, Lord! Thank you, my lord! I will give it my all!"

"It’s too early to celebrate. You will have to mediate carefully between the Boeven migrants and the Feuzen villagers. If you tilt toward either side, or lose the trust of both, I will dismiss you without hesitation, so engrave it in your mind that you must keep the balance."

Wentner realized that what I was demanding was no easy task at all, and his delighted expression froze in place. Keeping public sentiment balanced while managing the village without incident. Was that ever going to be easy?

"W-won’t it be difficult for me alone?"

"Breisburg is crawling with men who can serve as administrators, so there’s no need to worry. And of course, the administrator assigned under you will be a commoner. Rest easy."

Appoint Wentner, a local notable and the village chief, as estate manager to soothe the sentiments unique to this community, and scout a sharp commoner of bureaucratic training for the administrator post. That’s all it takes.

Naturally, that administrator would also serve as a watchdog over Wentner. Even so, Wentner wasn’t about to let a chance to raise his standing slip by. For a commoner, a rise in station was not an opportunity that came easily.

With the internal housekeeping more or less done, all that remained were the special trial and the preparations for the move. And the next day, the Bishopric of Lanseh, having received Andreas’s request, hurriedly sent over a clergyman.

"It has truly been a long time since a special trial was held in Rosenheim."

"Um, Father Nikolaus? That book, surely it isn’t..."

"It is our reference text for preparing the trial, Father Andreas. Now, light the wicks. We must study every page of it. The varieties of witches are many, and the procedures for their trials are more voluminous still."

Father Nikolaus held up the enormously thick tome and grinned. And so Father Andreas ended up poring over the texts, studying for the special trial, while I quietly slipped out of the church.

Reading all of that would be enough to make anyone’s eyes fall out of their head.

Good luck with that, Father.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!