𝐄𝐧𝐞𝐦𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐄𝐧𝐞𝐦𝐲 (8)

Ahir’s third son was taken aback and avoided his gaze. Harmonious relationships between married nobles were rare. It was the same in the East.

Usually political reasons took priority, so they just held the wedding ceremony for show and let each other be, which was common.

But looking at them, it seemed Johan genuinely cherished Iselia. The vampire’s sense of aesthetics was similar to that of elves. It was quite odd to see a knight like Johan, flawless in every way, acting like this.  

‘𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘲𝘶𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘴. . . 𝘈𝘩. 𝘐𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯?’

Johan’s religious devotion was renowned even among the pagan heathens across the strait. Naturally so, given the miracles he had shown. If he was acting this way because of the Church’s doctrine to be faithful to one’s spouse, it was understandable.

“Hmm. Iselia. You’re not asking to be let go. Did you take a liking to me?”  

“Ah, no. . .”

Johan smiled smugly, tightening his arms around Iselia. Iselia was about to protest but faltered.

“You granted my wish, so I wanted to grant yours too.”

“Really? You want to fulfil my wish?”

Iselia nodded. Johan brought his mouth to her long ear and whispered. Hearing the unexpected words, Iselia’s face flushed red again.

“Count. . .” 

“Oh. Sorry. I forgot you were here. Yes. Since the envoy is here, I must go greet them.” 

‘𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯?’

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𝕒𝙬ė̇𝐛𝕤𝚝𝐨𝐫𝐢𝘦s.𝙘𝐨𝘮

The Mulc clan envoy courteously expressed his gratitude. Boxes filled with eastern gold coins and rare ancient jewelleries passed down from the Empire era were given as compensation for the Mulc bloodline.  

“Good gracious. All this for the second son of the clan?” 

“. . . . . .”

Seeing Stephen murmur, Johan felt a little bad. Not all siblings of clans tried to kill each other.  

Although Ahir was the second son, he was militarily capable, had assisted his older brother, the Mulc clan head, achieving great feats several times, and had shown loyalty. It was only natural for the wealthy Mulc clan to pay this price.

“As you said, Your Excellency, I brought merchants as well but. . . are you sure this is alright?”  

“It’s fine.”

In this peculiar situation of a pagan envoy worrying over Johan’s relationship with the order, Stephen looked at him curiously.  

But considering the debt of honour the Mulc clan had just paid, such worry was natural.   

“The republics and other petty kingdoms on the peninsula also trade with you. I’ve no reason not to trade with you also.”

Johan was starved for gold. Although thousands of fanatically loyal mercenaries were at his command, they did not come free. Johan had to pay their wages by next year. 

Moreover, Johan’s personal elite heavy infantry, and the new slave soldiers he was raising.  

No matter how frugally Johan himself lived, this expense was unavoidable. To maintain that scale, he had to keep earning. And the best business in this age was war and. . . 

‘𝘐 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴. 𝘔𝘺 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘴 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘧𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯.’

. . .taxation.  

However, types of taxes were manifold. Taxes directly squeezed from serfs did not amount to much and only incited rebellion. Johan did not want to become that kind of fool.  

‘𝘖𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘵𝘢𝘹𝘦𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘥.’

Import duties, tolls, salt tax, liquor tax etc. – not only were these taxes less painfully felt, they were also very juicy.  

Johan would never understand feudal lords who refused foreign entry due to dislike, and did not have such worries.  

Bring in as many foreigners as possible to vitalize trade and milk taxes!  

The issue was the refusal shown by the order. . .  

Johan had already donated charity to nearby temples as well as removed administrative workload from priests by assigning it to scribes.  

Ostensibly it allowed priests to focus on their faith, but in truth it was to seize administrative power into Johan’s hands. Whenever counting subjects and collecting taxes, help from priests was indispensable.  

Regardless of such ulterior motives, Johan’s actions combined with his fame had earned absolute support. So absolute that even if Johan ransacked a temple priest for himself, people would still believe him.  

“The republics made intense demands. . . the Order will understand too.”

Finally, Johan had the republic shield. If he told the Church ‘𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘤 𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘴𝘦’, the order would turn their arrows on the republics instead of Johan.  

‘𝘞𝘢𝘪𝘵. 𝘋𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘴 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴?’

During his stay, Stephen mingled with local lower nobles and merchants. Some were from the republics. The notion of republics making such demands was unheard of.

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“It takes only a few hours to get to Jekyllid Hundred Kingdoms by the nearest sea route.”  

Gilsina City prospered as a hub of transportation and a prosperous city where all kinds of forces would stop by, thanks to its location. It took only a few hours to get there from the end of the peninsula.

A kind of free city that paid a huge amount of gold to the Count of Jekyllid and obtained autonomy!  

But it was still a city loyal to the Count of Jekyllid. As it was the best place to cross over, fighting was inevitable.

“The problem is. . .”

“The Emperor’s fief.”

The Emperor’s fief located in the corner of the southeast end of the peninsula. He felt uneasy leaving this place ruled by a viscount behind and crossing over.  

“Yes. Wouldn’t it be better to take a ship directly from Jalleno City and land near Jekyllid Castle to target the count?”

Jalleno City was one of the cities Johan had newly acquired.  

While Coolia was a hub of eastern maritime traffic, Jalleno City was a hub of western maritime traffic.  

It was a prosperous port city, and the republic fleet also relied heavily on it.

Strike the enemy’s head directly by landing right away without attacking far cities!  

Ahir’s plan pleased Johan, but Johan had some doubts to resolve.

“What if the count’s vassals swarm in?”

“Combined, they would be negligible compared to Your Majesty’s army, and half of them wouldn’t even show up. Just Gilsina City alone. . .”

“They are b*stards who will defect if I guarantee their interests?”  

Johan grinned wickedly. Ahir nodded. Cities always swayed like reeds in the wind for profit.

“I like that. And I need guides familiar with the nearby sea routes and terrain around here. . .”  

“I brought them in by sending envoys to the clans. The captains will guide the way.”  

Indeed, like a seasoned vampire who had rolled on the battlefield for decades, Ahir’s plans were flawless.  

Once he decided to help Johan, he was providing solid assistance.

Johan asked one last question.  

“Let me ask you one last thing.”

“What is it?”