Knight: Becoming King of the World

"Tommy, on my way here, I saw several farmsteads within Westwood Laine’s territory, teeming with people. Can you tell me what’s going on?"

On his way back, Henry saw that the once vast stretches of wasteland were now covered with rows of houses, and countless people were busy working in the fields.

’Isn’t this a bit too aggressive?’

Because of this, Henry wasn’t even distracted by the castle—a fortress grand enough to make a Viscount green with envy. He dismounted and walked straight to Tommy.

Tommy smiled and handed him a prepared report. After reading it, Henry discovered he had two great talents by his side?

After receiving Henry’s orders, Tommy had purchased a large number of serfs and shepherd slaves, and also recruited a group of experienced craftsmen.

For example, tailors, brewers, and candlemakers, among others. Most importantly, there were two families of blacksmiths!

The Forest Hunting Ground, pastures, and six farmsteads had been developed, covering all the borderlands of Westwood Laine.

’Well, well, well. It seems I was too conservative!’

Henry was astonished. He had originally only wanted Tommy to do some preparatory work; he never expected Tommy to perform so exceptionally.

Truly a talent recommended by my own mother in this life! Henry decided he wouldn’t flog Tommy’s bottom; in fact, he would praise and reward him handsomely.

"Tommy, continue to be in charge of the castle’s construction and management. A talent like you would be wasted just managing the castle’s daily expenses."

"Thank you for your trust, my lord. I will not fail you. However, administrative affairs should still be handled by Butler Claude."

"While managing the castle’s expenses, I can assist Butler Claude. The Westwood Laine territory has no other literate talents to spare."

Henry nodded, summoned Claude, and told him of Tommy’s achievements.

"Claude, Tommy will be helping you from now on."

Claude quickly bowed. "Thank you, my lord. With Tommy’s help, I can accomplish much more."

"Good. Besides the castle’s construction, you must also pay attention to the living conditions of the subjects. We cannot be satisfied with just a formidable castle; we must also have a prosperous town."

Westwood Laine now had a population of over three thousand. Although most were serfs, this was a great fortune for a Knight.

A territory’s agricultural population consisting entirely of serfs is extremely unhealthy. It should be a small portion of self-employed farmers, a large portion of tenant farmers, and a small portion of serfs.

Only then can the tax revenue form a virtuous cycle, instead of requiring Henry to constantly pour money into it.

The two men readily agreed, promising to do their utmost. Tommy’s previous work had nearly bankrupted the territory’s treasury, but now that Henry was back with money, it was instantly flush with cash again.

Having understood all this, Henry turned his attention to the massive castle.

It was magnificent, covering two square kilometers—the same scale as Count John’s Earl’s Mansion.

This was an indestructible fortress!

The design was ingenious, integrating both offense and defense. The walls were tall and thick, with watchtowers for monitoring the surrounding area.

The gates were incredibly sturdy, equipped with heavy defensive installations that made them difficult for enemies to breach.

Henry walked through the castle gates and discovered it was like a small city! ’Indeed, the first step to developing a city is to have a proper, large-scale castle.’

The castle’s interior was clearly divided. There was the barracks Henry had seen before, for the garrisoned soldiers to live and train. The previously absent stables and archery ranges were also completed, making the barracks more official.

There was also a residential area for the castle’s Attendants to live in.

At the center of the castle stood a magnificent main keep, which served as Henry’s command post and residence.

The interior of the keep was lavishly decorated, filled with the rich atmosphere of the military aristocracy... Standing on the keep’s balcony, Henry could overlook the entire castle and the surrounding lands.

"My lord, this castle is more than adequate. After I have the troops familiarize themselves with it, I will arrange for patrol rotations."

Claude, who had toured the castle with Henry, was thrilled. With a castle like this, the Bro Clan was certain to steadily advance to greater heights.

"By the way, my lord, about your bet with that Baron..."

"He and his descendants have left. They will never be coming back," Tommy said to Claude.

Less than four days after the castle was completed, the "good news" of Pedro’s entire family ascending to heaven had arrived.

Henry carefully reviewed Tommy’s report again and instructed, "Hmm... Right, since I have tenant farmers on my land now, tear up the serfdom contracts of those serfs who survived the battlefield. Rent them a plot of land."

"You are merciful, my lord."

Henry clapped Claude and Tommy on the shoulders and sent them off to their duties, then sat down on his spacious, massive seat and drifted into thought.

Henry opened his Overlord Panel, calculating how many loyal soldiers he should train.

With the completion of the castle barracks, Henry had unlocked two new unit templates: [Lv. 2 80-man Imperial Archer Team] and [Lv. 2 40-man Grassland Warrior Cavalry Team].

The training time for both was one month, and the cost was two Overlord Training Points each.

There were actually two other unit templates, but they were currently grayed out: [Lv. 3 20-man Imperial Citizen Cavalry Team] and [Lv. 3 20-man Plains Knight’s Squire Cavalry Team]. The reason they weren’t unlocked was an insufficient number of self-employed farmers in the territory.

’Right now, I have thirteen Heavy Cavalry, nine veteran shield-bearing Crossbowmen, five Skilled Scouts, fifty-three elite Imperial veterans, and a forty-man New Recruit Team on guard duty.’

Henry carefully calculated the horses, armor, and weapons he had on hand to determine how many troops to train.

’Two teams of Grassland Warriors, a total of eighty Light Cavalry. That’s enough for patrols, and their mobility is good too.’

Grassland Warriors—give them a horse, a long saber, a light bow and arrows, put them in a prairie felt hat and a cotton robe, and you could say they were Horse Bandits and people would believe you!

[Added to training queue. 4 Overlord Training Points deducted.]

’I need more archers too. With the power of the Overlord Panel, instantly trained archers are a better deal. No need to waste training points on Crossbowmen... Let’s get three teams!’

[Added to training queue. 6 Overlord Training Points deducted.]

After allocating the number of cavalry and archers, Henry struggled with how many infantry teams to train. If the proportion of professional, non-producing soldiers was too high, the treasury would always be short on cash. He couldn’t be reckless.

"But I can go to war!"

’Six teams of Imperial new recruits, no problem at all!’

[Added to training queue. 6 Overlord Training Points deducted.]

Henry spent his points in a flash. A quick calculation showed that in one month, he would have over a thousand well-trained and utterly loyal soldiers!

If he had these thousand-plus fully armed soldiers patrol the borders of his territory, wouldn’t the neighboring nobles be scared out of their wits?

Soon, a new question popped into Henry’s mind: next month, should he declare war on the neighboring nobles, or venture deep into the unknown to fight the Half-Beastmen?

By dinnertime, Henry had made his decision.