Chapter 38

The loyalty of feudalism, unlike the ‘absolute loyalty to the king’ depicted in historical dramas from our Joseon era, is based on the principle of being loyal in return for what one receives.

In other words, if I serve the king, it is not out of devotion while living on the king’s land, but rather because I receive something from him that warrants my loyalty.

In my case, I received the territory of Count Croilet and, in a sense, am under his protection, which compels my loyalty.

Therefore, if either of these two conditions is not met, I would have grounds to withdraw my oath to him or even to commit treason.

For this reason, in the past, if a ‘declaration of war’ was issued, Count Nante’s territory would send troops as requested.

However, in this instance, regardless of the reasons, our Excellency Count Schwabin did not adequately fulfill his duty to protect me.

In other words, based on a rational reason that anyone could understand, I could withdraw my ‘oath of loyalty’ and say to the knight before me, ‘Tell your count to wash his neck well for me.’

Lost in thought and having not responded after hearing the contents of the letter, I noticed the herald looking concerned as he asked,

“Um, Your Excellency? Should I read it again in case you misheard?”

With a hint of sarcasm in his question, I smiled and replied.

“No, I heard you well. As you said, I will donate 3,000 gold coins to wash away my sins. But may I ask who the herald is?”

After hearing this, the herald seemed to realize that he had not dared to introduce himself before the Baron of Croilet, and after bowing and apologizing, he said,

“I apologize. I am Herald Klein Halt. Please forgive my rudeness in not introducing myself first.”

While he said that, I felt as if I could sense his smirk, though perhaps it was just my bad mood.

Could it be that this crazy fellow thought that after delivering such bad news, I would still entertain him as if I were some count?

Have the master and his servant both lost their minds…

If I had committed a clear wrongdoing towards the count, it would be understandable, but now I, alongside a hundred others, could question whether that count is even human for the way he acts…

If anyone had even a smidge of common sense, they would have had to plead for mercy, realizing that if I don’t get the money, I might perish…

However, looking at it rationally, I still lacked the strength to topple that mad count…

Moreover, my vassals might click their tongues and drink in consolation for the degree of malfeasance the count has committed, but if I were to suggest rebelling… they probably wouldn’t follow me just yet.

For now, I must endure and wait.

Thus, I concealed my urge to devour the very intestines of the person before me and forced a smile.

Seeing that, the herald, as if confirming that he had truly lost his composure, pretended to be tired and said to me,

“I, too, am very exhausted from hastily coming here in a carriage filled with gold coins… Baron Excellency, may I take a ‘little’ break? And, I heard that ‘Croilet’ is enjoying tremendous prosperity, so I wanted to come and see this place…”

Even among barons, in such situations, no one will directly say they are tired and demand ‘women,’ ‘drinks,’ ‘food,’ or ‘entertainment.’

But for some mere herald to dare make such requests to me, a baron…

I was really itching to smash his skull.

Yet, I refrained from losing my composure in disbelief and forced a cheerful smile as I replied.

“You have worked hard to come all the way to Croilet. Very well, I, SIEL von Croilet, will kindly entertain you. I will order my steward to clear out the best tavern in this town just for you. I will cover all the costs, so please feel free to relax.”

After hearing my words, the herald laughed and swiftly exited my office, whereupon Balt, who had been standing beside me, let out a sigh and said,

“Count Schwabin Excellency is truly too much… How can he treat the Croilet baron family, who have been loyal for hundreds of years, in such a manner? Is this how a knight should behave? No, even a worthless serf or usurer wouldn’t act like that!”

I felt genuinely grateful for Balt’s words, speaking out on my behalf.

Then, despite my presence, Balt began to shout some unacceptable curses.

“Especially that fellow called the herald, is he out of his mind? If he brought such conditions, he should at least be ashamed. How dare he threaten the baron and ask for women? The one who appointed that brat as a knight must be either brainless or have sold his soul to Satan! The woman who bore such a creature must be a witch!!”

In a world where faith in God is regarded as absolute truth, terms like ‘having sold his soul to Satan’ or ‘witch’ are far worse insults than calling someone ‘Lee Wan-yong’ or a ‘traitor’ in our country.

It’s no wonder that among the knightly class, some with a bit of obsessive-compulsive disorder will slap someone for uttering such words out of anger.

“Balt, enough. I don’t mind, but others must not hear.”

Upon hearing this, Balt bowed his head towards me and said,

“I apologize.”

“No, I wanted to say that too. Thank you for getting angry on my behalf. But you know…”

“Yes, Young Master.”

I gazed at Balt, igniting my hatred towards Count Schwabin as I spoke slowly.

“We can’t kill a man with just curses. So how about we hold ourselves firmly in line? To gain the momentum needed to strike Count Schwabin dead.”

Upon hearing my words, Balt looked at me in shock.

“Your, Your Excellency… Are you perhaps considering… Count Schwabin Excellency?”

“To begin with, what will remain if we just follow Count Schwabin in the current political climate? And I am not yet thinking of assassinating His Excellency. It’s just that since they have drawn their sword, we might as well sharpen ours.”

“I see… But how?”

Upon hearing this, I scoffed and replied.

“No matter how much a pig eats, it will eventually die under its own weight.”

If the pig count is so fixated on money, women, and drinks, then there is nothing else to be done.

As a servant, I should provide Count Schwabin with as much pleasure and lust as he desires, letting him relax, before allowing him to meet his demise.

**

According to that plan, I intentionally kept the herald conveying Count Schwabin’s orders with me for two additional days.

During that time, I deliberately did not approach the herald, allowing him to indulge freely in our lands, and as a result, he spent plenty of enjoyable times with drink and women.

Thanks to this, the herald sent by the count, who should have properly thanked me while leaving, was too intoxicated to even manage such a courtesy as he departed in his carriage.

Moreover, I loaded that carriage with 3,500 gold coins—more than the 3,000 coins originally requested—and secretly sent two ‘pretty maids’ chosen from our estate to Schwabin.

I had tried to avoid sending the two maids as much as possible, but upon receiving a report from the head maid that they had tormented Ela without cause because they believed their appearance was quite commendable…

According to the head maid, the two maids had expressed a desire to become the concubines of a ‘wealthy noble.’

I was pleased to poison Schwabin, remove troubling elements from my home, protect Ela, and fulfill the dreams of those two young girls—all in one stroke.

**

Having dealt with the aftermath of war and Count Schwabin’s scheming, when I finally prepared to meet for work after the war, I found…

A mountain of documents demanding my approval piled up on my office desk.

Fortunately, most of the documents only required me to stamp them, so I could resolve them quickly…

However, there were two problematic documents among them.

First, one of the documents that I could afford to delay was this one.

‘Although the food situation in the territory of Baron Croilet is very good, there are issues concerning the preservation of food during troop deployments.’

This was because there would be no need for soldiers to go into battle for several months to a year.

Of course, this issue must be resolved in case my troops expand further or if we need to deploy to a more distant place in the future.

Otherwise, if we were to head out on a long-distance expedition and ‘interrupted food supplies’ arose, we could all starve to death…

Thus, I placed that document into my ‘collection of documents needing resolution’ on my desk.

The next issue was one I, as someone who studied Western history up to a master’s degree, absolutely could not overlook.

‘As the population in the territory of Baron Croilet has increased, the slums are piled high with excrement and urine on the streets, creating a foul odor.’

In truth, the administrator who reported this stated, ‘It doesn’t seem like a very significant issue, so it could probably be overlooked, but I’m reporting it.’

Naturally, this problem cannot be easily overlooked; if neglected, diseases like ‘cholera,’ ‘typhoid,’ or even the more severe ‘bubonic plague’ could spread.

Indeed, since there have been no epidemics so far, addressing this promptly could definitely, if not surely, prevent such contagious diseases from erupting.

However, should we delay in our response, Croilet’s rapid development could suffer a critical blow.

Thus, I read this document a few more times before crashing open the office door.

Then, I ordered the soldiers passing by my office corridor.

“This is an urgent matter, immediately gather all the administrators of Croilet!”

The war against hygiene had begun.

If we lose here, it will be the end of Croilet.