“To discuss this domain’s governance…” Sir Behnke began.
“First,” I interjected, taking a moment to gather my thoughts, “Let’s ascertain which of the nearby settlements are safe.”
The settlements around the city could largely be divided into two groups. The first developed naturally and sought to use a town with proper walls for protection. During the Middle Ages, the goal had been to seek shelter from attacks by foreign tribes, but in this world, the main goal was to protect themselves from attacks by monsters or neighboring kingdoms.
In these cases, the village head was quite powerful, and it wasn’t rare for him to be part of the commune. Such villages usually sought to partner with towns to get further protection, and the towns could hardly turn them away in such cases. In exchange, villages generally promised their protector town a favorable deal on their products.
There were also villages that the townsfolk created and cultivated themselves. For example, they might be created by the second and third sons of townsfolk unable to inherit their families fortune or find work. As the necessary funds came from the town, these were in effect the town’s subsidiaries.
Still, farming villages meant labor, and they often had complicated relationships with the towns they neighbored. And there were veritably infinite variations on this relationship. During Japan’s Warring States era, villages had their own militias. Similarly, villages in this world might lodge complaints through armed uprising. I’d have to get a firsthand look at the villages to get a real grasp of the web of relationships here.
“For now, we can govern the town through the commune. We’ll deal with them after we’ve secured the domain at large. Have the officials from the capital look into the problems they had here when this was still the marquess’s fiefdom.”
“Understood. So, we will not be making any drastic changes to the town’s governance?”
“I’m just His Majesty’s deputy after all. We’ll work on the problems, but I can’t just make sweeping changes at my discretion.”
“Indeed.” Sir Behnke nodded in understanding. Perhaps that was only natural. He was probably trying to suss out what liberties I’d be taking in my decision making.
I, for one, wanted to return to the capital as soon as possible once the Demon Commander was dealt with. I didn’t have time to start a revolution here. All I wanted was to research the problems that existed in the provinces and apply them to my family’s own domain.
There was a knock at the door. Frenssen answered, then said, “Lord Werner, Sirs Holzdeppe, Kesten, and Goecke are here to see you.”
“Let them in.”
Now, my entire council of advisors as Anheim’s deputy count was present. They were all of different positions, and while it did seem that Goecke, the famed head of the Mercenaries’ Guild, thought highly of me, it was money that brought him here. I couldn’t ask for any more than that, honestly. I was just happy he agreed to my six-month contract.
We had sixty mercenaries in our employ, including accountants, healers, and even cooks. Combining their strength with Goecke’s, they formed the perfect commando unit, which I was incredibly thankful for. As I was his current employer, Goecke addressed me by title in front of others. But as he wasn’t expressive in the least, I wasn’t quite sure of his opinions on the matter.
As deputy count, I had drawn on the kingdom’s coffers for all the funds needed to employ Goecke and his mercenaries. It was quite a bold move, but a blow to my reputation was actually good for me. I took that money with no hesitation. My father didn’t look too pleased about it, but once I explained my reasoning, he seemed to come around.
Sir Holzdeppe was the army’s representative to the deputy count. In this world, people like him were known as attached generals. When a long-serving head of a noble house was assigned as a deputy, you could be sure he’d bring his own knights. I, however, had no forces of my own, and if the state appointed me deputy with no entourage to speak of, it’d reflect poorly on them. Thus, in order to make themselves look better, they provided me with some retainers. Given the muscle-brained nature of this world, I had already made sure they could do well enough in a battle; I had them participate in my missions against the bandits after all.
The state had placed Sir Holzdeppe under my command, and as such, it was important that he should know about the Demon Commander’s impending attack, even if we had to keep that info from his subordinates. I’d have to earn their trust sooner or later.
Sir Kesten was probably older than my father and was an instructor meant to train the troops Duke Seyfert had entrusted to me. Despite being old enough to retire, he had the build of a man still active on the battlefield. I bet he could best even me in a fight. He seemed like the best option to put in charge of a detached force, and I was sure Duke Seyfert thought likewise. I had no doubt the duke filled him in, and I was thankful he seemed amicable toward me from the start. Duke Seyfert left me an additional five instructors, but Sir Kesten served as their leader.
Sir Behnke, the civil representative—who in effect was vice deputy—was someone I still couldn’t quite figure out. All I knew of him was he’d been appointed to me through connections with my father, and that his beard was absolutely majestic. He seemed to be younger than my father, but he had to be in his late forties. Duke Seyfert approved of him as well, but when I looked into the posts he’d held before this one, I couldn’t find any answers. Well, if my father and Duke Seyfert trusted him, he shouldn’t cause me any problems. He might just be here to monitor me, and luckily I had nothing to hide. I planned to send a lot of work his way, so hopefully he’d be ready.