Chapter 3
『Rikain Bach』
He was the brown-haired, sturdily built captain of House Kron's knights, a veteran knight in his fifties.
In World Archive, he was an SR character with solid performance, though not an SSR.
In terms of leadership, he possessed the abilities of an SSR-grade character, and his combat power was enough to take down even SSR characters depending on his combination of magical tools and support characters.
He had served House Kron for nearly twenty years, beginning under the previous lord.
It was no exaggeration to say that he had devoted more than half his life to protecting House Kron.
He had always remained loyal to House Kron, but lately, his feelings had grown complicated.
“Did it really have to go that far, Captain?”
“What are you talking about?”
Rikain quietly watched the soldiers who had finished their night shift as they gathered and complained.
They spoke without trying to hide their dissatisfaction.
“I heard the salt-field workers' wages were doubled?”
“Apparently so.”
“But what about our pay?”
The soldiers voiced their complaints.
After word spread that the salt-field workers' wages had doubled, dissatisfaction began to grow not only among the soldiers but also among the knights.
The soldiers trained all day and protected the territory.
Yet the salt-field workers had suddenly begun receiving twice their previous wages.
Although the knights were paid at least twice as much as the laborers, they found it bitter that their own wages had not increased while the laborers' had.
“We risk our lives for the territory too. Is it really fair that only those people get paid twice as much?”
Rikain understood how the soldiers felt.
But he was the captain of House Kron's knights.
Even if they were dissatisfied, he could not allow the knightly order's discipline to collapse.
“That's enough!”
As their captain, he shouted in a stern voice.
“The lord must have had his reasons for making that decision. We knights fight for honor. Don't begrudge a few silver coins.”
The soldiers fell silent.
But Rikain himself was shaken as well.
‘Could our knights not receive better treatment too?’
He, too, harbored that bitter thought.
* * *
"My lord, how will you use the increased profits?"
At Hart's question, I scratched my head.
The workers' efforts had created a huge surplus of additional profits.
If I didn't spend this money quickly, it would eventually be plundered by another faction, allowing someone else to benefit instead.
How should I spend this money…
How could I win the people's favor while earning a reputation for incompetence?
While I was pondering, Hart cautiously made a suggestion.
"My lord, how about using this opportunity to lavishly renovate the castle? House Kron's castle is too old for you to live in."
Hart suggested lavishly renovating the castle.
I rejected it without hesitation.
"No extravagance."
The moment I started living extravagantly and my reputation took a hit, my chances of dying would rise too.
I needed a way to spend money while improving the people's opinion of me.
As I pondered, I looked outside the castle.
I could see farmers, laborers, and merchants, along with knights training.
‘Come to think of it…’
Suddenly, I remembered something I had learned in a history class in my previous life.
I had learned that Zhu Yuanzhang of China's Ming Dynasty had failed to pay his officials, causing them to start accepting bribes, and I smacked my palm.
‘That's it, let's invest in the knights!’
After all, I was the lord.
I couldn't ignore the fact that one of the foundations of my power came from the knights.
I had also learned in history class that if knights did not receive sufficient compensation, they would become corrupt and start taking bribes, which would ultimately cause suffering among the people.
I could win the knights' favor, free my subjects from their corruption, and spend money all at once.
It was truly a way to kill three birds with one stone.
However, I felt that simply giving them money would cause another strange butterfly effect, so I decided to support the knights in a different way.
“Hart.”
“Yes, my lord.”
I told Steward Hart how I planned to support the knights.
Go! Steward Hart!!
‘A body slam’… no! Supporting the knights!!
* * *
Under my orders, Hart began a full-scale reform of House Kron's knights.
First, we replaced the knights' equipment.
All their old swords and armor were replaced with new equipment.
All the rusty, aged equipment, so corroded that no one could tell whether it was iron or copper, was sent to the forge.
We issued gleaming swords, spears, armor, and shields made using the finest iron ore.
We expanded the stables and provided the knights with dedicated warhorses.
I knew this only because of Calix's knowledge, but apparently, in this era, commanders of knightly orders were expected to maintain their own warhorses at their own expense, which was a burden.
We changed the system so the territory would bear that cost.
Second, we improved the knights' living conditions.
We renovated the barracks used by the soldiers and knights, providing them with clean living spaces.
The lower-ranking soldiers and ordinary knights had been living in collapsing wooden houses that were more than fifty years old.
Since it seemed the plague might break out if things continued this way, I ordered improvements there as a priority.
Lastly, we secured the knights' futures.
We granted the knights personal ownership of unused land that had been lying idle in the territory.
This was Hart's idea: if the knights owned land and farmed it instead of sitting around, they could reclaim the idle land while securing their futures after retirement.
I recalled the ‘tuntian’ system from Romance of the Three Kingdoms in my previous life, thought it seemed like a good idea, and immediately stamped my approval.
That was how the ‘waste of money’—no, the ‘reforms’—proceeded smoothly.
Rather than simply giving the knights money, this was a way of changing their lives.
That way, I could spend money and win the knights' hearts at the same time.
Thinking that, I drank tea while watching the sunset.
This time, it really was a perfect plan.
* * *
Rikain and the knights of House Kron were utterly stunned.
They were tense at first over the lord's sudden reforms, but soon they found themselves in heaven.
“Captain! All our equipment has been replaced with brand-new gear!”
“Captain!! They say the territory will manage the warhorses from now on!”
“Captain!!! The barracks have been renovated until they're like new!!! Even when it rains, they don't leak anymore!!!”
The knights' long-standing grievances were being resolved one after another, as if being uprooted completely.
And that wasn't the end of it.
“Is this really land that belongs to us?”
“Yes. From here to there, this is the land the lord has granted to the knights.”
The lord had bestowed land on them.
Although it had not yet been cultivated, it was close to a village and had good soil, so it could yield excellent harvests.
“Good heavens, land for us…”
“I can't believe it. Captain!”
The other knights also surveyed their land in disbelief.
No matter how cool and romantic being a knight was, it was ultimately a dangerous profession in which death could come at any time and early retirement was always looming.
That was why everyone wanted a stable source of income after retirement, and land where they could farm was the best retirement plan they could have hoped for.
Moreover, Rikain's heart trembled at the lord's thoughtfulness.
A knight was supposed to set an example by avoiding greed and remaining loyal to his master.
If they showed signs of coveting material wealth, their honor would be badly damaged, so they could not openly give in to their desires.
As if mindful of that, Calix had protected the knights' honor while giving them everything they wanted.
‘Ah... Such a great man, and I...’
Rikain was ashamed.
The young lord had suddenly ascended after the previous lord's unexpected death.
Everyone had looked down on him and, rather than supporting him, had only thought about what they could get out of him.
They had thought only about what they themselves had not received, without considering the happiness the people had gained from his reforms.
Even Rikain himself had done so.
Yet the lord had clearly been thinking of them.
He had even looked after them with their honor in mind.
Overcome by emotion and shame, Rikain drew his sword and drove it into the ground.
The setting sun cast a cross-shaped shadow from the sword.
There, Rikain knelt on one knee and made the ‘Knight's Oath’ to Lord Calix.
“I swear to Ashuron, the god of knights and honor. I, ‘Rikain Bach,’ swear that I will remain loyal to Lord Calix until my final breath leaves me beneath an enemy's sword.”
『The Knight's Oath』, the absolute oath sworn by knights to ‘Ashuron, the god of knights and honor,’
Those who failed to keep that oath were said to be pierced by Ashuron's spear even after death and mocked until the day the world ended.
It was an oath made only to a master chosen by the knight himself. Rikain had never made it even to the previous lord, yet he now swore it to Lord Calix in front of everyone.
Seeing Rikain's actions, one by one, the other knights followed his example and all swore their loyalty to Lord Calix.
It was the moment the 『Kron Knights』 were born, a force that would later make other lords tremble with loyalty beyond imagination.
* * *
After reforming the knights and spending all the additional profits from the salt fields, I was pondering how to waste money again.
Just then, Hart came rushing over.
“My lord!!”
“What is it, Hart?”
Hart looked extremely startled.
Sensing something ominous, I asked him cautiously. Hart handed me a report and spoke.
“The territory's profits have increased again!!”
“………Again!?”
No, what is it this time!!?