City of Desire [Kingdom Building]

Proofread by Thomas F

Baron Harrods

The gates of the fortress opened, and the army of fifteen thousand came inside, led by a beautiful orc woman.

“Silver had moved faster than we had thought,” said Baron Tharnell beside me. “He is very intelligent,” I replied. Since he got the baronies, he moved swiftly to reinforce his control over the baronies.

Today is another significant step toward strengthening his control over the baronies.

With this division of soldiers, led by a Major General. Silver had placed two-thirds of his men into the fort.

There are now forty-five thousand men in the fortress. Thirty thousand is his. She will be the third Major-General in the fortress.

All of them are below me in authority.

The other two Major Generals welcomed her, and she walked toward the main building of the fortress. Seeing that, I went back to my office.

“How are things with all these new people. Are they following your orders well?” he asked.

“Yes,” I replied to his surprise.

I was a little surprised by it as well. All the people he had sent followed orders in word and spirit; there is no insubordination.

It doesn’t mean there haven’t been problems. As the two armies merge, there will be a problem, but these small things are quickly smoothed over.

“I am glad to hear it. I feared Silver might pull some tricks,” he said, and I smiled at that; I feared that too, but nothing of that sort had happened yet.

‘Lord Baron, they are here,’ informed my new secretary. She came from the Greltheaven, or should I say, from Velvet Garden.

She is used to working for one of the high-level madams before being sent here. The girl is young, in her early twenties, but very good at her work.

“Send them in,” I replied.

A moment later, the door opened and three officers stepped into my office.

“Lord Commander,” they greeted with a salute.

This is my new title; my responsibility is the fortress. It is one of the things we negotiated with Silver in exchange for our submission to him.

I will be responsible for the Bram Fortress, while Baroness Leila will be responsible for the security of the rest of the baronies.

We wanted more, but could only get this.

Silver had given it to us and, until now, hadn’t played any games other than shifting men. He isn’t the only one doing this; Grimvale is doing the same.

These are very intelligent and ambitious men. They want complete control and wouldn’t stop until they have it.

“At ease,” I replied and motioned them to sit in front of me.

“I hope the journey was well, Major General Axseer?” I asked the woman.

She had been travelling for two days, staying only for a night at Greltheaven. She was stationed at Panar before being transferred here.

“It was good, Lord Commander,” she replied.

“I am glad your lord has sent you here. Your abilities are very suited to deal with the monsters,” I said, and it is not a lie; she had fought here before, and I have seen what she could do.

She is a spirit shaman and one of the rare kind. She is also a very capable commander.

“Thank you for the kind words, Lord Commander,” she replied, and I smiled before my expression turned serious.

“Take a rest, Major General. At midnight, the monsters will come, and I need you and the men to be ready to fight them,” I said. “We will be,” she replied, before getting up.

Another tide is forming, and we are trying to disrupt it, but it will likely not succeed.

We will have to fight it.

She left along with the two Major Generals. Leaving me once more with the Tharnell. I turned to him, his appearance was sudden; it’s not like him.

“Why are you here? It’s not like you to come here with just a few hours of notice?” I asked.

He arrived a few minutes before the General. I didn’t get time to talk to him properly.

“Have you heard about the proposal Silver is going to make after he arrives in the baronies?” he asked back, and my expression turned serious.

I only found out yesterday.

“Yes,” I replied after a moment of silence. “I don’t know the complete details of it,” I added.

It was Baroness who had called to inform me about it. It is kind of shocking. Somewhat similar to what they do in the merchant state.

“Flat tax, I don’t think it will work,” he said, shaking his head. The man is worried, and he should be. “It had never worked in the empire. I am going to oppose it,” he added.

This is another condition of our submission. He will need a majority vote from all barons for any major proposal.

The definition is broad, given how the contract was drafted.

It left a lot to interpretation, and given how many changes he had made to the baronies, we would have no choice but to agree if he were to force it.

“We have not seen the proposal yet. So, I think, we shouldn’t make up our mind before that,” I said cautiously, but he shook his head.

“We tried too many times in the empire. It failed and nobles had paid a great price for it,” he replied.

After the Baroness’s call, I asked around about it and even spoke with Blackwell about the system. It is a sound system, but as Tharnell has said, it has never worked in the empire.

The proposal is simple: a flat tax Silver would collect from the barons.

With this tax, we will not have to pay annual tax, relief tax, scutage, aid, or extraordinary taxes. He will take complete responsibility for the security of the baronies.

So, aside from the internal security of our territories, we will not have to worry or pay for anything.

Things are different right now. Lauryl recruited 70% of the Baronies’ army. No single nobles have authority over them; it is these men Silver had changed.

The remaining 30% belongs to different nobles. We pay their salaries, equipment, and other expenses.

It is a massive expense that I could barely manage. Seeing as I have a territory on the boundary, I have to invest considerably in the force that I keep in my territory.

Almost all the barons didn’t have to worry about the cost of these things. Their rich mercantile houses provide them with the money if they fall short.

Only Lockridge and I were different.

I was only able to manage because I invested earlier with Baroness Leila in her many ventures, which have been successful. Still, even with that, it’s not easy to cover the expense of the territory.

The idea of a flat tax is good, but it would depend on the percentage, exclusion, and exceptions.

It made me really worried, but I decided not to think about it too much until I have a proposal in my hand. Others might be able to handle it, but it will destroy me if things go awry like they did in the Empire.

“I want you with me to oppose it, if you feel the proposal is harmful to you and the baronies,” said Tharnell. “I will,” I replied firmly.

I had spent blood and sweat developing the territory. I will not have it destroyed.

A few minutes later, I walk him to his carriage. He usually stays the night when he comes to the Fort, but he is leaving today.

The monsters are coming past midnight, and he wouldn’t like to be caught in between. We have never let the tide breach through the fortress, but some seep through.

Especially on our side, where defences had been weak, but since Silver took over, they have been fixed and brought to the same standard as they are on the merchant’s side.

It isn’t just the defences, but also the equipment, food, and other things.

Though their salaries are still better than ours, we have one thing that is more than theirs. It is more important than that; the potions.

Emotion essence potions.

In the past three months, since he had taken over the baronies. He has sent a large number of emotion essence potions. That has saved a lot of lives.

It isn’t just potions, but also the cannons, ballistas, equipment, and other things.

He is even paying me a salary. I didn’t get the salary before, but I am now, and it is good. It had helped lighten my load a little.

I was looking at preparations when I heard a step, and a few seconds later, the man stopped beside me.

“It’s blaze elephant,” he informed.

It is one of the A-class monsters. There are several of them that attack, each with a different horde. Sometimes, they attacked together.

Like they did, the day Grimvale and Silver’s forces came to the baronies.

It was our most brutal battle against the monsters. We had lost many people that day. I might have died if not for Baroness feeding me that emotion essence potion.

“We both should be enough to handle it. If lucky, we might even be able to kill it,” I stated. “These bastards had killed a lot of our people. It’s time we kill them back,” he replied with a grin.

It won’t be easy. Grade-A monsters have immense vitality. It’s tough to kill them.

One of the ways, other than level, is greater power, provided by an aura. If one had the support of the artifact, then things would become even better.

Unfortunately, I don’t have an artifact, but August does.

It’s a defensive one and far more valuable than the offensive type. It saved our lives countless times. Though I still wished I had an artifact.

I could have had, but then, I would not have had this position or territory.

Despite all the hardship I had suffered since I came here. This place had made me someone; a chance to leave a legacy rather than die as a soldier.

So, I will do everything to protect it.

“When, will Lord Blackwell return?” I asked. “It will be another week,” he replied. His lord had gone to the Amberhold on some important business.

“Anything about this horde we should be worried about?” I asked.

My scouts are also inside, but his are better. Silver had sent his scouts, but they are worse than ours, not because of their level, but because they lack experience in this environment.

Though the young ones are quite promising, and also that Ariel Scout of his.

His intelligence helped us a lot last time dealing with the avian horde. Those bastards are the worst of the monsters and create the most trouble.

They are hard to deal with, and if not for a very well-trained, large number of Blackwell archers, we would have suffered massively in their hands.

“No, the information is solid,” he replied. “But, I will inform you if anything changes,” he added and walked away toward his side of the fortress.

I looked at other preparations before walking back to my quarters. I am going to rest. I need to be at my best if I want to fight and survive a Grade-A monster at midnight.

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