“First, I would like to sincerely apologize for ridiculing your profession… Even ignoring the assistance you received from your powers, you fulfilled your duty admirably. W-without a doubt, this is the greatest thing anyone in our clan has accomplished… It’s—it’s incredible…” Just as I’d thought, Geisel wasn’t smiling when we met again at Nayvil Castle. That was what happened when someone you belittled suddenly turned the tides. Only a fool made fun of someone who wasn’t actually a joke after all. In short, my brother’s pride was hurt. Well, he got his just deserts. Since there was no point in making him angry, I decided to act humble for now. “My lord, it was you who moved to send your brother to the fort in crisis. Your flawless calculation is to thank here. Doubtless you would have the praise of our late father, as well.” “I—I see… Well, I guess you’re right…” That was all it took to improve his mood. If he was this naive, any conniving vassals of his must’ve had it easy. “In any case, I must reward you for your accomplishments. Until now, I’ve only granted you about half of the small village Hardt. I shall give you the entire village and its neighboring ones, making you the lord of three villages in total. I shall also grant you the title of baron. Call yourself the Baron of Hardt, after the village.” “Thank you, my lord. I shall fight more than ever for the sake of Nayvil.” Unlike that of a viscount, a baron title could not be inherited, so it was no problem to give it out like candy as a reward. Also, since the Nayvils were a line of viscounts, it was impossible to give out the same viscount title anyway. The Viscount of Nayvil himself was only a small lord with the land of about a county and a half. He was just a puny rural noble with the same county’s worth of land that plenty of others like him in the country had. The Kingdom of Therwil was divided into sixty administrative units called prefectures, each containing ten or so counties. However, that number varied widely depending on the size of the prefecture itself. I was an inhabitant of Nayvil County in Fordoneria Prefecture. The voice in my head calling himself Oda Nobunaga had also said, “Ah, so the prefectures of this world correspond to provinces, like Owari, Mino, and Mikawa, and counties are the same as Japan’s districts. This Nayvil clan would be like a local samurai lord holding just over one of Owari’s districts. Compared to my grandfather Nobusada’s time, I’m not sure which would be bigger. My father took half of Owari himself.” I didn’t really know what he was talking about, but apparently Oda Nobunaga’s father had control of half a prefecture, in which case he was big enough to call himself a count. That made for a fairly powerful family in its own right. Traditionally, a lord possessing more than half a prefecture held the title of count. On the other hand, a lord holding less than that could be no higher than a viscount. If a smallish viscount were to try to call himself a count, everyone around him would put pressure on him until he learned his place. So while I wouldn’t say a sneeze would topple our clan, the power of the Viscount of Nayvil could be wiped out at any time. Seeing my brother relaxing on his throne, I sighed to myself. To be honest, I wanted to oust my brother and take his position as viscount right away. True, I despised him, but the real problem was that a second-rate lord like him would give me orders like defending that fort, putting my life in danger. However, starting a rebellion now and winning was pretty much impossible, by any calculation. I didn’t even have a righteous cause. Don’t rush it. To become a conqueror, first you must prepare. Taking your first prefecture is rather painstaking, but turning five into ten is simple. The time will come. I didn’t conquer all of Owari until a while after I’d defeated Imagawa Yoshimoto. If my inner voice says it, I’ll believe it. Who knows what all those names are, though. I didn’t take Inuyama Castle in a day, you know. Of course, once I had driven out Imagawa, my domination was practically sealed. Other world or not, it was nice to have someone experienced on your side. Still, I was ages away from unifying Fordoneria Prefecture; I wasn’t even an independent lord yet. Indeed, you are still but a mere babe among your fellow clansmen. This inner voice could be a bit rude on occasion, though. Oh well. Better than an evil spirit that steals your soul. With the meeting with my brother over, I set out to manage the new land I’d just acquired. Even with just three villages, I had an important role in the Nayvil family. Returning to my manor, I first visited Altia’s room. “Brother! I thought I’d never see you again…!” she sobbed as soon as she saw me. “Aw, c’mon, have a little faith in me!” “But it was such a lost cause…” She wasn’t wrong there. That bridge was incredibly dangerous, and I’d crossed it. “I think you should be able to rest a bit more easily from now on.” I stroked Altia’s head. “Yes, Brother…” She smiled faintly. If our mother had been of a higher social standing and Altia had been healthy, Altia probably would have been used in a political marriage by now. Ironically, the reason she and I could even stay together was because of her unfortunate lot in life. Our mother had been nothing more than the daughter of a Nayvil merchant. She’d been our father’s concubine because of her good looks, but I could scarcely remember her face, since she’d passed away giving birth to Altia. I wished I could move somewhere more hospitable for my sister’s sake, with her being so sick. Or maybe I really could? I had the rank for it now. I requested permission to construct a new home, emphasizing the need for my sister’s rehabilitation. My brother approved it without a fuss: “Make yourself a house fit for a baron.” Indeed, because my rank had gone up, there was no reason I couldn’t set up a residence befitting my social status. I put my new home on the village high ground. My local reputation had risen dramatically, so the construction went extremely smoothly. By changing location, I was able to greatly improve my defensive capability. If push came to shove, I could fight while barricaded in there. The dry, refreshing breeze that blew through the new building made Altia happy. Her condition seemed to have improved, too. My inner voice chimed in: “I also frequently relocated my castle. Nothing wrong with that. Do it as much as you can.” Always nice to have his support, too. Another bit of good news came around the time the building was completed. The veteran commander Kivik, who’d defended Fort Nagraad with me, visited me at my home. “With the fort stabilized, another person took my place, and so I have returned.” “It’s been a while since we last met, Commander. It’s good to see you again.” “Also, if possible, I would like to serve as your aide.” Ultimately, Kivik was a servant of the lord of the domain. I was merely a vassal serving the same lord, so it was impossible for him to serve me. Thus, in the form of an aide, he wanted the role of assisting me. “Very well—that’s fine by me. Make the request to my brother yourself.” “Yes, sir! Thank you very much! These old bones are prepared to die for you!” The approval came without incident, and Kivik effectively became my vassal. That served to boost my reputation even more. Having protected that fort for so long, he was highly popular. Other long-serving officers and the like started coming to me as a result. Apparently, people who were fans of military prowess had gotten the impression that there was value in serving me. More and more swordsmen living nearby wanted to become my servants as well. Those who didn’t directly serve the lord of the domain could be integrated as vassals without issue. Also, thanks to my connection with Laviala, her relatives and other elves came to serve as retainers. It seemed that after hearing of my successes, they thought I could help them, too. The support of the elf clan Laviala’s mother belonged to was particularly important, as the other elves then followed suit. Practically all the elven forces in the county were under my command. “The little things pile up, don’t they?” I said to Laviala one day while compiling a military register. Yet more elves had joined my ranks, and I had to revise the register each time. Not a bad problem to have, honestly. “You have an appeal that’s never been seen in Nayvil. Everyone believes you can do something for them,” Laviala replied as she helped me. I couldn’t hire real civil officials at my rank, so for clerical work I had to enlist the help of trusted companions. “I’m gonna ignore most of that, since you’re always complimenting me.” “Oh, come on, Lord Alsrod… But truly, I feel you possess a sort of innate charisma.” Maybe that was thanks to Oda Nobunaga, after all. Within the Nayvil domain, my forces had arguably grown to be second only to that of the ruler, my brother Geisel. The other day, when I received my brother as a guest during his hunting trip, he looked quite tense—must’ve been the number of vassals I had. “So, Brother…why do you have so many vassals…?” “It’s all because of our great victory at Fort Nagraad. Skilled fighters from the surrounding lands came to me seeking work, and the result is what you see.” “D-don’t you find it difficult taking care of such a large number…?” “Indeed. But because the population has grown, fields that had lain fallow can be used again, so my estate’s harvest will increase. I have been able to apportion land to my new vassals, too.” In this age, plenty of land was still left neglected due to a shortage of workers. I’d wasted no time turning it back into fields, which wasn’t difficult once the worker problem was solved. After all, the name Nayvil itself meant beautiful farmland. “I—I see… Still, you yourself are just another one of my own vassals… M-make sure you don’t forget your place…” Say whatever you want. I’ll never commit to that. “Nevertheless, much of the fort’s prior defense was fraught with danger,” I replied. “It would have been far easier to slay the scores of enemy soldiers if I’d had the manpower I do now. These forces will undoubtedly be necessary for Nayvil. Please do understand.” “Er… I see… Good point… All right, keep up the good work…” “Yes, sir. I think our father would be smiling from heaven to see me assisting you.” Being in a better position now, I was more articulate than I used to be. I was going to keep driving him all the way into a corner. Of course…if I kept this up, my paranoid brother would probably make a move sooner or later. With this knowledge in mind, before Geisel could try anything, I had my sources look into what he thought of me. My answer came in no time. A spy who’d been disguised as a peddler at Nayvil Castle gave their report. “Lord Geisel appears to be quite afraid of you. He seems to be worried about being killed for his title, especially because he has no children yet.” “I see. I knew as much, but I guess he really can’t hide his feelings.” It’d been only about nine months since I’d returned from the fort, meaning not even a year had passed since I’d received my profession and officially become an adult. I certainly had never thought things would change this much. It was common for famous warriors to establish independent dynasties. People flocked to those with power. On the other hand, it was inherently harder for my brother, who was inept at war, to earn people’s confidence. In this age, lords great and small all ruled with military regimes. Thus, the ones who weren’t skilled in the ways of combat were seen as unable to protect others. Of course, the people would be thrilled if war could be avoided with diplomacy, but I knew more than anyone that my brother had no such skill. “I’ll send my brother’s wife a safe-childbirth talisman from a prominent temple. Keep up the intel gathering.” The merchant spy went on their way. I wasn’t really doing anything too suspicious, so my brother couldn’t confiscate my land or punish me. He’d most likely try to kill me before long; he couldn’t just patiently wait for me to rise in power. That moment would be an enormous opportunity, though. I’d bolster my reputation as much as possible before then. I took it upon myself to maintain the family tombs. As a bona fide member of the clan, I was allowed to clean the graves by law. But from the outside, it would look as if I were the successor of the Nayvil family. Of course, ostensibly I was acting as a stand-in for the busy family head. On one such occasion, my inner voice spoke to me. You should try to promote economic development while you can. There’s no such thing as a poor conqueror, after all. Try it out somewhere small first. A little income never hurt anyone. But what exactly should I do? Remove the shop tax. The market on the main road will grow larger. Everyone had always known you had to pay a tax when opening a shop at the market, though it wasn’t necessary to pay dues to a trade guild, as it was at the Nayvil Castle town. Then how would the ruler earn anything from it? Change the system so part of profits must be paid. Wouldn’t they just run off without paying? As long as they’re making money, the merchants will comply. They wouldn’t want to ruin a good thing by being stingy. There’s no harm done if one or two people don’t make enough money to pay. Better to collect taxes from where the money is. I decided to go ahead and believe him. I sent a declaration throughout my lands, saying, “There will no longer be a tax on setting up shop in the market. Both merchants and farmers may sell whatever they like. Ten percent of profits must be paid, however.” The effect was immediate. Upon inspecting the market on the main road, I could see it’d obviously grown larger in scale from before. As more people visited the market, others came to set up new ancillary businesses, such as selling alcohol or boxed meals. The growth of the market accelerated. I went around with Laviala for another inspection about half a year after revising the market system. “I remember this countryside market from when I was a little girl. To see it so lively now, it’s like I’m dreaming.” “It’s still small compared to the Nayvil Castle town, but it might be the largest makeshift market in all of Nayvil.” “The elves are selling medicinal herbs, and there are so many more animal people peddling than before. This is more than a highway market; it’s almost a city!” “More castle-town merchants are opening shop here, too. Since there’s no setup costs, failure here isn’t as much of a risk.” “It really is a huge success.” For the time being, the tax was coming in as expected, too. Since they would be stripped of their trade rights if they were caught breaking the law, the places with a profit made a sincere effort to pay. If anything, people probably would’ve paid money for the opportunity to sell there. “But…this will provoke the viscount, won’t it…?” Laviala asked, lowering her voice a bit. “It certainly will.” My brother would come for me soon.
Chapter 7
14 min read