Rapid growth of influence

As expected, there wasn't a smile on my older brother's face when we met again at Neville Castle. Because the person to whom he always bothered has achieved more than he was supposed to.

And treating as an idiot someone who is not, would mean that the person in question does not have the ability to distinguish between them. In other words, Geisel's pride was damaged. It serves you right.

There is no merit in making him angry so I will keep quiet what I wanted to tell him.

「The one who has dispatched the feudal lord's brother as an emergency to the fortress, it is none other than the feudal lord himself, my brother. Everything has happened exactly as my brother has planned. There is no doubt that father in heaven is also praising you」

「I-Indeed... Yeah, that's how it is...」

Geisel became happy easily. There is no doubt that he is easy to deal with him being so simple.

「Then, according to your merits I must grant you a reward. So far you have not had more than half of the territory of the small town called Haruto. I'll give you the other half of that village. In total, you will be the lord of three villages. In addition, you will be granted the rank of Baron. You can take the name of the village and call yourself as Baron Haruto」

「I gladly accept. In addition, I'm more than willing to continue fighting for the sake of Neville」

Unlike viscount rank, the Baron rank is not hereditary. That is why there is no problem in giving such kind of reward without batting an eye. Also, since our small feudal lord is only a viscount, he doesn't have the right to distribute viscount ranks.

Besides, a viscount itself should have as a plot of land one county but the amount of plot of land he owns is nothing more like a small feudal lord, half of a county.

The Sawiru Kingdom delimits each region by prefecture called administrative unit. And each prefecture contains at least 10 counties.

Basically, those lords who have not less than half a prefecture possess the rank of Count, and for those who only have a plot of land of at least one county are confined to the rank of viscount.

I will not say that the Neville Viscount House is so fragile to the point that a blow could make it disappear, but it is a power that could disappear the next day.

If I must be honest, I would like my brother to be exiled right away and succeed the position of viscount. Although it is true that I hate my brother, but if a simple and incompetent person continues being the feudal lord, and then gives an order like the one he gave me before to defend a fortress with my life, then my life will be always compromised.

But it's not like I can cause a rebellion right away and win it. I don't have a just cause either.

ーーDon't get impatient. Even someone who will become a Monarch must begin by building his foundation. It takes a lot of effort to get the first prefecture, but it is easy to obtain five or ten prefectures. Sooner or later, your time will come. The Monarch obtained all Owari long after having defeated Imagawa Yos.h.i.+moto.

That's what my inner voice told me, so I will believe it. Although I don't really know what those names means.

But is it really true that his guy is harmless? I feel like this is similar to the stories I read as a child where the devil came to whisper...

ーTo your disappointment, I don't have that kind of powers. At best, I can only enjoy watching you becoming a Monarch.

It seems that it will not do something like deceiving me, so I think it's okay?

After finis.h.i.+ng my audience with my brother, I decided to embark to my new territory with the intention of taking control.

Although I have received three villages and recognized as lord, the treatment I have received has been much better than before, so everything ended well.

Upon returning to my mansion, the first thing I did was to visit my sister Altia.

「Onii-sama, I never thought I'd see you again...」

My sister started crying the moment she saw me.

「Hey hey, it seems like you don't trust me」

「Because, it was but a suicide strategy...」

Altia is not exaggerating at all, it's just like she says. I was sent to cross a dangerous bridge and I cross it.

「I think that from now on I will make you be less worried」

「Yes... Onii-sama...」

I wish I could move to a place with better ventilation even for my sickly sister too.

Right, I can do that.

Officially, I made a report stating that the reason why I will built a mansion at the highest point of the village is to help with the treatment of my long time sickly sister.

Since my fame has increased a lot in my hometown, the construction work progressed smoothly.

In part it is true that I did it for my sister, but it is also true that by building it on high ground it would increase its defensive capabilities. When necessity arises, if we barricade ourselves here, we can even fight.

The new building was blowing a refres.h.i.+ng wind, and Altia was pleased too. Even her physical condition seems to have improved much more than before.

In addition, another piece of good news came to us by the time the building was finished.

The old general with whom I had defended the fortress, s.h.i.+vik, came to my mansion.

「The fortress has been stabilized, I have returned after having somebody take over my position」

「It's been a while. I'm glad we've met again」

「If you don't mind fulfilling my wish, I would like to serve as Alsrod-sama's helper」

At most, s.h.i.+vik's duty is to serve his lord. Strictly speaking, the retainers of a another feudal lord can not serve me. For that reason, in the form of a helper, he wants to take the role of a retainer to help me. It is not strange at all that a powerful feudal lord has this kind of helpers at his disposal.

「I understand. I'm fine with it. Go and report it to my brother」

「Hahaa! I'm really thankful! Even this old bones s.h.i.+vik are prepared to die for Alsrod-sama!」

The permission was granted easily, and s.h.i.+vik became like a real retainer. That raised even further my reputation. s.h.i.+vik has kept the fortress defended for a long time, so his popularity was deep.

Even long time comrades who fought alongside s.h.i.+vik came to me. It seems that for those who prefer valor, serving me now seems to be worth it.

Among the swordsmen who lives near, the number of those who wish to become my retainers increased. Those who don't have a direct master-servant relations.h.i.+p with the lord can become a retainers without any problem.

In addition, thanks to her influence, Raviara was able to convince her relatives to become my helpers. After hearing about my accomplishments, they also thought they could trust me.

It was especially great the support I received from the elven clan of Raviara's mother's side. Other elves began to follow the others and in the end almost all the elves forces in the district were under me.

As everything started to overlap, my power grew so much in the Neville territory to the point that it can be said that I am second in power compared to feudal lord, Geisel.

Originally these retainers should serve small to medium sized lords. It seems that having three villages brings with it a great influence. But it is also natural that my influence has grown stronger since a lot of peers came to me like retainers.