Medieval Knight System: Building the Strongest Empire Ever!

Chapter 307: An Obscene War Record

The grand duke had instructed me to build a friendship with the imperial crown prince, and this looked like it would make things much easier.

Honestly, few things are more grueling than getting close to a total stranger.

"You do know the Bavarian princess will be your stepmother, Your Highness?"

"I’m beside myself over that too. A mother the same age as Eva."

This may be a world where political marriages run rampant and couples with staggering age gaps come about all the time, but from a child’s perspective, it’s the same in any era: having a mother younger than yourself is horrifying.

But since it was a political marriage between states, the crown prince’s opinion didn’t matter. Meanwhile, strange rumors about me and the princess who’d become his stepmother had also been spreading, and the imperial crown prince apparently found this immensely entertaining.

"You’d best brace yourself for the victory banquet. His Imperial Highness can’t summon you personally, so the banquet hall is the only place he can meet you."

Even an imperial crown prince can’t order a duchy noble to come and go at his whim, and I had no obligation to obey his commands. The party to my feudal contract was the Altringen royal family, not the imperial crown prince.

Several days passed.

I frequently held gatherings to deepen my friendship with the three court nobles, while Michael, declaring the wretched war finally and completely over, poured drink down his throat all night long—which seemed to be adding to Margareta’s worries.

I hardly saw the face of Margareta’s husband, Baron Sinclair, but there was no doubt he viewed our presence with great displeasure. Not that Michael and Ulrich paid it any mind.

With Marquis Offenburg officially coming out in support of me, the court nobles and provincial nobles alike apparently found it too risky to cross me on their own, and the attacks stopped.

The Offenburg Knights underwent a sweeping reorganization as the vice commander rose to knight commander, and the newly appointed commander swore himself to the marquis as a new vassal noble.

He’d claimed to be disappointed in the marquis, said his faith had been shaken—yet the moment a chance to climb the ranks appeared, his loyalty seemed to spring right back. His superior’s death was regrettable, I suppose, but not enough to smother the ambition to get ahead.

It felt odd to keep fussing over another house’s affairs, so I stopped involving myself.

At any rate, today was the long-awaited day for announcing the distribution of honors. The high officials had all thrown themselves into it, solemnly selecting the meritorious, scrutinizing every detail, wrestling with it day after day and burning through the nights.

Had that towering pile of parchment been made by grinding the bureaucrats down?

Michael and my father-in-law considered it a godsend that their duchy army administration duties had excused them from the work.

"I do wonder what rewards will be given. I’m looking forward to it."

"Hmm, I only hope the rewards are reasonable."

"With someone having monopolized the merits, that will be difficult."

Among the nobles gathered here today, tension and anticipation coexisted. I’d already been given advance word, so I wasn’t nervous at all, but the other nobles weren’t so lucky, and the hall was swept up in a strange heat.

The merits of the nobles and knights were announced in order. With so many dead and missing, not many were present to receive honors. I’d heard the eastern nobles now outnumbered us, and this was the reason.

And my merits were announced last of all.

"Wolfgang Ritter von Streit, step forward."

When my name was called, the assembly fell silent.

I strode forward with my head high, passing between the nobles divided to the left and right. Every kind of gaze fell on me at once. Envy, admiration, contempt, anger, praise—a storm of tangled emotions swirled through the hall.

There was no opposing faction whatsoever.

The game had already ended the moment Marquis Offenburg raised my hand under our political accord and I crushed the Bavarian vanguard. So the looks from those petty nobles struck me as nothing but comical.

The court viscount unrolled a scroll and began reciting my merits.

"The Lord of Feuzen entered the war as chief of staff to the supreme commander of the Western Lords’ Army, saw through the southern army’s strategy, and organized a combined cavalry force to successfully defend Feuzen and Euz."

The strategy of bypassing Baschurten to strike Feuzen and Euz was terrifying enough to make me dizzy even thinking about it now. Thank God I caught on thanks to the Scouter, or my fief would have been laid to waste.

"On the Euz front, he defeated the enemy, taking prisoner the Count of Basel, Baron Valent, Baron Hildrant, the Lord of Birsfelden, and thirty-two knights."

"In the Baschurten campaign, he captured five villages, and for the first time in Beren’s history, deployed the Royal Artillery Corps to bring down a castle without significant losses. He took prisoner five members of the Geerhilt family and twelve knights."

"He contributed to the southern army’s treaty of surrender, and after occupying Kellerheim, repelled the Hungarian mercenary company targeting our supply lines, disrupted the rebels’ rear, and took prisoner the second prince and fifteen nobles."

"In the siege of Radensdorf, he not only infiltrated through the east gate and opened the castle gates, but also crushed the ducal house’s guard and captured the fleeing Guard Commander Antonio and the Bavarian princess."

As my merits were enumerated, the faces of the disapproving nobles gradually colored with astonishment. Hmm, hearing it all listed out like that, it really was an obscene war record.

But that wasn’t even the end of it. It seemed to be the first time the court viscount’s throat had ever seized up while announcing war merits. Flustered, he wet his throat with wine and continued.

"He stabilized the area around Radensdorf against Bavaria’s invasion, and to protect his retreating allies, led his cavalry alone against the Bavarian vanguard and dealt them a crushing defeat."

I’d only arrived in time because the Offenburg Knights under Benjamin held the line to the very last, and the price they paid was death. The looks the nobles gave me were quite a sight.

"He achieved the feat of slaying fifteen Bavarian knights and the Knight of the Greatsword, and captured the vanguard commander, Viscount Wittenfeld. Rewards shall follow such splendid achievements, blessed in full by the Lord’s grace."

As for Viscount Wittenfeld, he’d tried to quietly slip away home alongside Grand Duke Konrad, but I informed Grand Duke Karlus that I’d taken the viscount prisoner, and the man was dragged back to our side with no way out.

In the end, Grand Duke Konrad pledged to pay one hundred gold coins as ransom on the viscount’s behalf and took him home. Viscount Wittenfeld is no doubt in debt to Grand Duke Konrad up to his neck.

Part of the ransom would go as rewards to Offenburg’s new knight commander and his knights, who held rightful claim to it, and to every cavalryman who had faithfully followed my command.

If men risk their lives to help me, giving them a fitting reward does wonders for managing reputation and goodwill. It may amount to buying favor with money, but this is a world where people stake their lives to earn it.

When the announcement of merits concluded, the nobles murmured among themselves.

They’d expected it, but the merits were truly beyond belief.

"Ha, a noble hunter if I ever saw one."

"Can that war record possibly be real?!"

"Wasn’t the Knight of the Greatsword a rather famous knight?"

"There’s no denying this."

The nobles who hadn’t known the details of my war record fell into utter confusion upon hearing feats too immense to credit to a single man. Even those who’d opposed me must have been feeling ashamed of what they’d done.

My father-in-law and Michael were watching me with pride. The grand duke, who had been quietly observing the murmuring nobles, raised his hand, and the hall went silent as if by magic.

Now that Altringen’s power had been unified, the grand duke’s authority stood higher than ever. Even so, he wouldn’t pursue centralization by oppressing the nobles like some absolute monarch.

"As a duchy knight and vassal of Altringen, you took an active part in the war and achieved countless merits. Your contribution to restoring the dignity of the royal house is great, and it is fitting that a commensurate reward be granted in the name of Altringen. Does anyone present object?"

No one voiced any opposition.

I’d been planning to remember anyone who did.

"Upon Wolfgang Ritter von Streit, I bestow the rank of baron and the fief of Rosenheim."

"I shall defend Altringen and fulfill my responsibilities and duties as a prince of the realm."

[D-Rank Lord (Intimidation 40%)]

Afterward, through the Oath of Saint Peter and the liturgy conducted by the Bishop of Radensdorf, I was at last officially recognized as Baron of Rosenheim and the duchy’s fourteenth prince.

I’d started as a duchy knight, become Lord of Feuzen, and now risen to a barony. It felt like an eternity had passed, but it had all been accomplished in a mere half year. Still, the road ahead was long.

Neither my abilities nor the circumstances around me would allow me to settle for a mere barony. To the west lay Burgundy, forever eyeing Beren, and there remained the rivalry with the Wittelsbachs and the Swiss Confederation.

But at this very moment, the one I most wanted to see was Hilda.

And our child, soon to be born.

"Let the victory banquet commence!"

To the music of the court orchestra that had rushed over from Breisburg, a grand victory banquet began.