Chapter 946: Fox and Forest I

CH946 Fox and Forest I

***

Alex’s eyes flashed.

"Please, tell me we got them," he said.

"We got three of the five," Elder Ryan revealed.

Alex’s eyes narrowed. Surprisingly, he wasn’t quick to celebrate.

"Which Baronies did we get? Where are they located?" he asked instead.

Elder Ryan inwardly nodded in appreciation.

"We got the three Baronies closest to the domain," he revealed. "The Kellerman domain’s Eastern County is the origin of the family. The family spread westwards, away from powers like the Holts and the Reicharts to the east of the Empire.

"The domain’s political and military capital, Warrington, is located within the Eastern County. The newer administrative and economic capital city, Warlton, was built on the easternmost side of the Central County in order to maintain influence in the Central County while still being close—about 100 km from Warrington—to their original Eastern County.

"Essentially, the farther eastward we went, the stronger House Kellerman’s grip on power within the domain became. As such, we gave up the domains closest to Warlton and chose instead the three closer to Crosscape and the new border."

The elder spymaster continued, "Once again, thanks to Trojan, we were able to fake documents propping up the pedigree of the assets we had developed so that they had, in addition to the wealth needed, the family prestige that would catch the eye of the Kellermans, allowing us to win over the Baronies."

"Even then, it shouldn’t have been so easy to get that many Baronies. If some unknowns show up, even if their records look clean, the Kellermans should still suspect that some big powers are backing them," Alex commented.

"That’s exactly why we were able to gain three domains," Elder Ryan said, chuckling faintly.

There was a derisive tone to the laugh. Almost as if the elder was saying, ’You are still a child wet behind the ears, after all.’

He explained, "When we had Trojan pad the new Barons’ records, we didn’t make them grand. Quite the opposite, in fact. We made them more shallow in the places that mattered to the Kellermans—family standing.

"Each of our three Barons belonged to self-made nouveau riche families in the current generation. That meant while the Barons themselves had good standing, their families had no standing to speak of, and it was unlikely for them to have any relationship with a powerful noble House. After all, powerful Houses rarely, if ever, did business with anyone without prestige or repute.

"For a nouveau riche House—a mere vassal nobility, no less—it would be difficult for them to raise themselves significantly within the first couple of generations, unless a powerful individual rose from within it, which was unlikely given the records of the three.

"Earl Kellerman was confident that, with the state of the new Baron Houses, the Earl could easily retake the lands at any time he needed by coming up with any justification—even a clearly baseless one. It is, after all, a Vassal Barony—what has been given by the liege can be taken."

The way of the aristocracy and nobility in the Virellian Empire was filled with unwritten rules.

One of those rules was that a vassal remained subordinate to their liege, always.

A liege could give the vassal land from their holdings, and they could also take it—almost without justification.

Almost.

The key to this one word—like everything else on Pangea—was power.

The weaker the vassal and the stronger the liege, the less justification the liege needed to take back anything given to the vassal.

While it was almost impossible for even the Imperial House to take back the land of a Grand Duchy—especially without irrefutable, monumental evidence of a great offence such as grand treason—it was as easy as squashing an ant for an Earldom to take back land it had granted to a Baron—even without solid justification.

Earl Kellerman chose weak but rich Houses to make Barons in order to take their money while still having the power to take the land and title back.

Alas, these Barons actually belonged to House Fury—or, more specifically, Alex Fury.

With the three Baronies folded into the domain Alex currently held, Alex was essentially a Count now, even without the rest of the Northwestern County.

"I should mention, Master. Though the three Baronies are in our hands, the Kellermans still hold a great deal of power over the Central County. Of the two Barony lands left, the holder of the land around Warlton was raised to Viscount instead of Baron, to reflect the status of Warlton City as one of the capitals of the domain," Elder Ryan cautioned.

"You are saying our Barons have to lay low for now because, by the ways of the aristocracy, never mind Earl Kellerman far away, they have to worry about the Viscount of Warlton, who will no doubt be paying close attention to the new Barons," Alex deduced.

The old man confirmed with a nod.

"I doubt that’s the only trick they intend to pull to hold down the new Baronies." Alex smiled knowingly.

Orion fed him a report on the domain’s Rune Server.

"The bandits... I hear bandits have been terrorising the Central County all the way to the border at Crosscape. Why do I have the feeling that this isn’t that simple?" he said with a knowing look.

"It is as you’ve assumed. It isn’t simple," Elder Ryan confirmed with a stomp of his cane.

"The new Viscount of Warlton is quite a rogue. All indications point to him being one of the dogs who did Earl Kellerman’s bidding in the shadows. He arranged for some of his men to act as bandits to terrorise the Central County, and hopefully spill over to our side of the border and into the entire Northwestern County."

"That’s a smart move," Alex responded impassively. "The bandits keep the new Barons in check, impress upon them the need for fealty to Earl Kellerman—the ’only one with the power to stop the bandits’—while also filling the Earl’s coffers with looted coin and resources."

"A multiple-return scheme one might expect from an underworld hound," he added.

He looked to the old spymaster with a smile.

"I expect that you’ve handled the situation, right?" he said.

***