Knight: Becoming King of the World

The royal family had discovered this problem back in the time of the current King, Anikovarest XIII’s, great-great-great-grandfather.

As the King’s student, Henry naturally had to learn from him. ’Only pathetic nobles whip their serfs! Real nobles kill Minotaurs!’

"How many craftsmen do we have at the moment?"

"We have about forty bricklayers, carpenters, and stonemasons, plus two blacksmith families."

Henry nodded and said, "Claude, get the men and craftsmen ready. I’m planning to occupy the three vacant plots next to us in a couple of days. I wanted to do it last month, but on second thought, I decided it was better to train the army first."

Claude and Tommy were completely supportive of this land grab. It was perfectly reasonable, after all.

More land, more rivers, more farmland, more pastures, more people...

Claude thought for a moment, then asked, "My lord, shouldn’t expansion push outward? Why are we expanding inward?"

Henry swallowed a mouthful of bread and said, "First, according to the current Imperial Enfeoffment Act, the rulers of these three Knight fiefs have failed to fulfill their duty to defend the empire’s borders. Therefore, they have automatically forfeited their rights to the land."

"Second, these three territories are currently unruled. Theoretically, they are no longer considered imperial land. What I’m doing is reclaiming lost territory."

"Third, these lands aren’t on the frontier, which in theory, makes them relatively safer."

"Winter is coming. I don’t want to waste a fortune on grain during the major expansion next spring. We need our own stable rear."

’If I can just rush to plant a crop of autumn wheat, get some potatoes and yams in the ground, plus all sorts of other garden vegetables, we can start seeing a positive return by next year.’

After taking a sip of the black tea from Bomanto, Henry continued, "Most importantly, I’m the King’s student. Everything I’m doing is legal and by the book. The King won’t make things difficult for me."

’Never mind which direction I’m expanding. The point is, I *am* expanding!’

The three of them made small talk for a while longer. Once they had eaten and drunk their fill, they sprawled in their chairs, chatting idly.

"Alright, you can both head back now that we’ve eaten. I’m going to get some rest."

The two men were happy to hear this and promptly took their leave. As his retainers, receiving an invitation to dine with their lord was a great honor.

Their relationship wasn’t that of a boss and his employees, but more like partners in a family enterprise. Calling him "my lord" was simply a term of respect.

Two maids entered immediately and quickly cleared the plates, their movements deft and efficient.

As he returned to his room, Henry asked Ailia, who was helping him change, "How are the five new handmaidens we hired the day before yesterday? Are they behaving?"

Back when he first returned to the castle, Henry had wanted to hire more handmaidens to keep Ailia from being overworked. After all, she had been with him for over a year.

But he could never find suitable candidates. They were either too old or too dull, asked for too much pay, didn’t have the right physique, or were simply unattractive.

The search dragged on, and only now had he managed to gather five.

Ailia helped him out of his clothes and into a pair of smooth silk pajamas. "They’re alright for now," she said. "It’s hard to say how they’ll be in the long run. But the two new cooks are good. Orianna has a high opinion of them."

"Oh? So their cooking is good, then."

"I hear one is from a southern city, from a family of Free People. Her family fell on hard times, so she made her way all the way over here."

"The other is from the snowy plains of the north, from a minor landowning family. Her father wanted to marry her off for an alliance, so she ran away."

Henry understood. The reason Orianna rated them so highly was surely because they could cook dishes in a wider variety of styles.

"The empire’s talent pool is truly something else," Henry mused. "You can find people from all over."

Ailia didn’t respond. It wasn’t her place to comment on such matters.

"Alright then. Goodnight, Ailia. I hope to have your lemon cake tomorrow morning."

"Of course, my lord! And the pigeon pie?"

"Hmm... We can’t have it all the time, can we?"

「In the following days,」 Westwood Laine, now on the right track, kicked into high gear.

Craftsmen were assembled, supplies were gathered, and several hundred serfs were conscripted.

’After all, it was just a matter of building a few dozen large row houses on these three unclaimed plots of land. The whole thing would be finished in about a week.’

In reality, the three new territories were officially brought under Henry’s jurisdiction in just four days. This was partly because one of the plots already had some existing, albeit abandoned, houses.

’If nobody’s living here, then it’s mine, right?’

The New Recruit Team established a garrison while the Grassland Warriors patrolled. He had his veteran serfs turn the soil and bought new serfs and shepherd slaves to plant the fields.

’Just a paltry three thousand-some Dinars...’

While handling these affairs, Henry also made a personal trip to Odoche’s imperial office to sign and stamp the documents, register the land acquisition, and file a report with the King.

’A flawless, one-stop service. What’s not to love?’

The whole process was as smooth as flowing water and as fast as lightning. After all, who would drag their feet when it comes to a land grab?

Individually, these territories looked as unremarkable as Westwood Laine itself. But put them all together, and it was a different story.

Vast lands, fertile fields, rich mineral resources, and dense forests.

This was money!

And then, along came the "robbers"!

It was a bright, sunny day. Henry was out with Ailia, Tommy, Bain, and the others to inspect his domain—though in truth, he was just bored out of his skull and wanted to get out of the castle for a bit.

Henry was in high spirits and was about to suggest a picnic when several Grassland Warriors galloped over. They reported that a group was approaching, flying a banner.

To be flying a banner meant the group’s leader was a noble.

"Where are they now?"

"One of our Cavalry units has already intercepted them outside the territory. The two New Recruit Teams and a squad of Crossbowmen stationed in the area are also on their way."

Henry nodded and led his people over to watch the fun.

Before long, Henry saw the so-called noble’s retinue in a standoff with his own troops.

About seventy serfs armed with wooden spears and door panels for shields; a dozen or so veterans in visibly old, worn armor; a few Crossbowmen; and one young man whose gear was at least halfway decent...

If it weren’t for the noble banner, Henry would’ve thought it was a band of Mercenaries that had decided to become a Beggar Gang.

Meanwhile, this "Beggar Gang" was clearly on edge. They tried to look intimidating, posturing aggressively, but they weren’t fooling anyone.

Henry called over the officers from a few of his squads to get a report on the situation.

He then rode his horse forward a short distance and called out, "You say that land is yours? What proof do you have?"

Seeing Henry’s official robes, the young man immediately shouted, "Of course it is! Here’s the deed! We built houses on that land!"

Henry had one of his men retrieve the deed. He glanced at it, then casually tore it in half.

"Anything else?"