Knight: Becoming King of the World

Claude quickly stood up and offered to find Henry some other delicious dishes and fruits.

’This isn’t a conversation for me to hear.’ Henry valued him, and he was grateful for it, but he couldn’t be tactless.

After Claude left, Glen adopted a particularly humble posture. "Henry," he said, "let’s just let what happened before be bygones, shall we?"

"Of course. But I’d like you to leave this table. In front of others, we’re still men of the academy."

Henry shook his head, his opinion of Glen sinking lower and lower. His initial respect had curdled into disdain.

Glen smiled, nodded, and rose to leave. The moment he turned, his smile vanished.

’I grew up in the Royal Capital! The son of a court Count! My life has been smooth sailing since birth, so why should I let some martial oaf flaunt his power in front of me!’

’So what if you’re a good fighter? It’s fucking useless!’

Fass, who was watching from a short distance away, noticed the exchange. He nudged Boman, signaling for the four of them to go over.

Soon, Bain and his three companions had moved their eating contest to Henry’s table, leaving Henry completely speechless.

"Bain, you’re injured. That’s too greasy. And drink less."

"I know, milord! But I’m about to finish my tenth chicken leg! I’m about to win!"

Henry shook his head and went back to the steak on his plate. Fass, who had already dropped out of the contest, leaned in and asked in a low voice, "You two have a falling out?"

"You noticed?"

Fass shook his head and chuckled. "No one from the academy is a fool."

"That’s right, there are no fools at the academy. But he’s treating me like one."

Fass thought for a moment. "Glen’s family is very influential, and his relatives hold high-ranking, powerful positions. He also had good grades at the academy. The man is incredibly arrogant."

"I was first, too! You make it sound like he was the only one."

Fass: ...

"Alright, alright, you’re all first place, and I’m the only one in second... Henry, as your friend, I’m telling you to be careful. I don’t know what caused the falling-out between you two, but you absolutely must be on your guard."

"Thank you, Fass."

Soon, the eating contest was over, with Bain once again emerging as the victor.

Boman wiped his mouth, a look of indignation on his face. "Listen, kid, I’m just getting old. If I were three or four years younger, I’d definitely have eaten faster than you!"

"Haha! You’re only six years older than me!"

Boman turned his head, ignoring Bain, and asked Henry, "So what’s your plan now? Going to be some old man officer in the supply train?"

"What else can I do? I can’t afford to lose any more men. We’re not like the Imperial Legions, who get a constant stream of reinforcements.

"Besides, there are too few people I can trust. If my forces get too small, I’m worried people will start eyeing my spoils of war. We’re talking about tens of thousands of Dinars."

Boman and Fass nodded. They faced the same dilemma as Henry. With only a little over thirty men left each, their hands were tied.

Ever the optimist, Boman suggested, "Why don’t we join your supply unit? The three of us can all be old-timer officers together!"

Fass ignored him completely and posited, "In fact, we could just leave the Legion entirely and go back to develop our fiefs. There’s no need to waste our time here.

"This war will certainly last for two to three years. We can take that time to build up our strength and resources and join the next major campaign. The King won’t allow the pioneering front to shrink.

"If the border starts to recede, it means the burgeoning empire has already passed its zenith. Once the Crown’s authority is questioned, the empire’s internal conflicts will erupt instantly."

Henry nodded. Fass’s thoughts were perfectly in line with his own.

He’d been feeling an urge to cut something down for a while now, and yesterday’s battle had finally let him release that pent-up agitation.

For the foreseeable future, they could take their substantial spoils of war, return home to build up their fiefs, and gather their strength.

At the very least, Henry’s earnings this time were enough to establish nine farming settlements of six hundred people each! Of course, that was just a rough estimate; the money wouldn’t be spent quite so directly.

The banquet continued late into the night before the nobles gradually began to depart. Since there were no beautiful female relatives, serving girls, or uninhibited, passionate dancers, many of the nobles left feeling unfulfilled.

Henry and his men returned to their tents together, collapsed onto their beds, and fell asleep instantly.

The next day, Henry received news that the Half-Beastman prisoners of war would be sent to the Royal Capital to be dealt with personally by His Majesty the King.

This would stir up more enthusiasm among the nobility for military merits and honor, encouraging them to send their superfluous younger sons to become Pioneer Nobility.

Henry, for his part, went to see Sebastian early that morning to express his intention to leave.

"Knight Henry, you are more than welcome to stay. I will pay you a thousand Dinars a month, and your Private Army can have the Legion’s rations. This would be a great help to you."

"Thank you for asking me to stay, Legion Commander, but I’ve been away from my fief for too long. It’s been four months, and I need to go back and see to things."

’There were too many things to handle back at the fief. Tommy couldn’t possibly manage it all by himself. Leaving him with just forty new recruits was almost a joke.’

’The merchants who signed trade contracts, the castle "gifted" by Pedro, the partnership with Count John... he needed to go back and deal with it all.’

"Very well, Henry. It’s a shame to see you go. I’ll pay you this month’s wages... Are you planning to leave today?"

Henry smoothed out his Imperial robe and nodded. "Yes. Knight Boman, Knight Fass, and I will be departing together."

"That’s for the best. You’ll be safer. In that case, I look forward to our next meeting, Henry Bro."

"As do I, Count."

After collecting his one thousand Dinar salary, Henry returned to the camp, which was already being packed up and dismantled. He gave the order to Philip and Vasco: "Move out!"

Bain thought for a moment, then asked, "Aren’t we waiting for Knight Boman and Knight Fass?"

"They have smaller forces and less baggage. They’re already waiting for us outside the camp."

And just like that, after four months of being out on campaign, Henry began his journey home.

Compared to four months ago, Henry was richer and his troops were more elite. All in all, things were stable and looking up.

"Hey! Henry! Over here!"

Henry, on horseback, saw Boman and Fass in the distance and guided his column over to them.

Boman urged his horse forward, looking Henry’s Skilled Infantry Team up and down with a face full of envy.

"Henry, you really made out like a bandit this time. Over a hundred armored soldiers? Are you trying to become a Baron?"

Fass also looked on with envy at Henry’s long wagon train.

"Alright, alright, cut the act. As if you two didn’t earn plenty yourselves. Having less baggage doesn’t mean you have less money. Did you think I didn’t know you offloaded all your spoils of war onto those other nobles?"

"Haha, nothing gets past you. I was just thinking that this way, I can spend the money on developing my fief as soon as I get back."

Fass, in a rare moment, picked up where Boman left off. "Exactly. The sooner you spend it, the sooner you’ll make it back. With so many supplies flooding into the east, prices are bound to drop."

Henry smiled. This time, he was going on a shopping spree!