Chapter 1046: Chapter 456: Year-End Meeting
Before the Winter Festival holidays, Count Glamorgan Lane formally held an end-of-year meeting at the winery.
Attendees included:
Count Lane and his wife, Surya.
Lake God Witch Mogiana.
Tax Officer Gaspardon, Chief Steward Kasenberg.
Standard Bearer, Holy Grail Knight Armand.
Kingdom Knights Hex, Olivier, Lops, and the newly promoted Kingdom Knight Lucian, among others.
Lane’s two female courtiers, Teresa Trovik and Veronica Bernadotte.
Head of the Justice Church branch, Temple Knight Alfred.
Newly promoted Lord Winford, Sir Bertrand.
Naturally, Mogiana was the most powerful and prestigious among those present, but the Lake God Witch calmly stated that she was just there to listen. She sat to Lane’s left, reading an exquisite hardcover book, with no intention of speaking.
Teresa and Veronica, the two witches, were in entirely different states. In the cold weather of the Winter Festival, Teresa’s mana was particularly strong, and she seemed to be in excellent condition, appearing eager to say something.
Veronica, being a Light and Flame Element mage, looked as if she could not wake up, lacking any energy. The Jialan Witch yawned, thinking of when the meeting would be over so she could return to the Wizard Tower to catch up on sleep or sit in front of the fireplace, read, enjoy hot drinks, and chat with Lane for a comfortable, pleasant day.
In a routine manner, Steward Kasenberg spoke first. He reviewed the glorious victories of the past year, the further development within the domain, the inflow of a substantial amount of wealth, population growth, and the increase in newborns, discussing how to correctly address a series of opportunities and challenges in the new historical period.
After Kasenberg summarized, Tax Officer Gaspardon began to speak. This tax officer had been with Lane for seven years, and although he was getting on in years, his health was reasonably good. He first coughed, then said, "From last year’s Winter Festival to now, the total tax revenue of the entire Count’s domain is 7,326 Gold Crowns, with expenditures of 5,100 Gold Crowns, leaving a surplus of about 2,200 Gold Crowns. The accumulated grain is enough to feed the entire army of the Count’s domain for a year and a half."
"The Count’s domain now has a population of about ninety thousand people, with three towns, thirty-eight villages, and several small settlements, and an army of approximately 1,800 people, including 900 standing troops and 900 semi-professional soldiers. If needed, we can conscript up to five thousand soldiers without affecting farming."
"Additionally, there is an extra income of 500 Gold Crowns from the winery, and from the battle with the Ancient Tomb Legion, there were war gains of 2,000 Gold Crowns. The conquest of the Black Stone Stronghold yielded about 12,000 Gold Crowns, with this money guaranteed by the Dwarves. King Belgar will gradually pay it over the next two years."
After conquering the Black Stone Stronghold, the human-dwarf alliance army gained tremendously. About fifty thousand Gold Crowns worth of wealth was piled inside the Black Stone Stronghold. Humans and Dwarves split it sixty-forty, and then Lane, as the victor over Guer, split it forty-sixty with Francois and others, thus receiving about 12,000 Gold Crowns in wealth.
"Fighting is never as fast as looting." Kingdom Knight Olivier chuckled and exclaimed, "You get so much money from one loot. I really want to see if there are any more Vampire-occupied fortresses in the Gray Mountain Range."
"There probably aren’t any left, Olivier. What do you think Vampire fortresses are? That old fellow Kemler took over twenty years to accumulate so much gold and silver." Kingdom Knight Lops, who had now grown a beard, spoke in a rough voice: "Or do you think we can solve an entire legion of the undead with our own strength?"
"Impossible, if it weren’t for the large number of knights from the Winford Duchy, the elites of the Quenalis Champion Knights Brotherhood, and the involvement of the Wood Elves and Dwarves, we could never have won such a glorious victory," Hex spoke.
This Kingdom Knight, now over thirty, was still single. In the Black Stone Stronghold battle, his face was torn open by the claws of a Bloodthirsty Celestial Ghost, leaving several grim scars. If not for the excellent medicinal effects of the Wood Elves, he almost lost an eye.
After a period of recuperation upon returning to the domain, Hex still looked pale and unwell. However, his scars were the best military honor, and among the Kingdom Knights, he now had a faint leading aura.
As for Lucian from Winford Academy, he performed in this war, successfully slaying two Desolate Tomb Guards during the charge, gaining military merit. Combined with pillow talk from Surya, he naturally got promoted to Kingdom Knight and was granted the fiefdom of half a village, marking his rise in status.
"Count, our next plan should be to stabilize production, expand the military, and prepare to advance over the Charon Forest to attack the Sharp-Top Palace," Lucian suggested for the next strategy: "Sharp-Top Palace is the legitimate territory of our Count’s domain, and we have the legal claim. We should seize it back."
"Sharp-Top Palace must be reclaimed, but our primary task now is to rest and recuperate, preserve our strength. This battle alone has severely depleted our army. The soldiers need training and replenishment, and the squires need to learn how to become qualified knights. Count, I suggest we refrain from deploying troops within the next two years," Hex offered a dissenting opinion.
"I believe we should seize this great victory to attack Sharp-Top Palace while morale is high!" Olivier supported Lucian’s viewpoint, loudly saying, "We can depart right after the Winter Festival, equipped with artillery. It only takes ten days of marching through the forest to reach Sharp-Top Palace, and barring any surprises, we should easily take that castle."
