Medieval Knight System: Building the Strongest Empire Ever!-Chapter 61: Already in the Same Boat

My father-in-law’s anger subsided rapidly. Michael also wore a surprised expression.

"So what you’re saying is this could be Adelbert’s scheme to oust his own father?"

"Not quite a scheme, but he seems to want to expand his influence from within."

"Same difference! Anyway, father and son are both sneaky as hell."

My father-in-law fell into thought for a moment.

"I’ve noticed this before, but you seem well-versed in schemes yourself?"

"I don’t enjoy schemes either, but I use them as a means when necessary."

"Hmm, good. Our family is made up of military men, but it’s fine to have someone skilled at schemes. I’ll leave the matter entirely to you, son-in-law. My children have no head for that sort of thing."

So my father-in-law delegated everything related to Adelbert to me. It was incredibly bothersome, but since I had become the War Minister’s son-in-law, it was my duty to act in the Military Department’s interests. And if I could pull Finance over to our side in the process, that would be icing on the cake.

"I’m tired of dwelling on matters that have slipped from my hands. We need to plan for the Crown Prince’s campaign, so Michael—you’re the commander. Draft the plan yourself. I won’t interfere and will only review it. So do it properly!"

"Just like that? What if it doesn’t pass?"

"Keep revising it until it does! Don’t state the obvious!"

Looking at my father-in-law, I saw the face of a demonic workplace boss superimposed over his.

After being kicked out of the office, Michael turned to me with a dazed expression.

Why are you looking at me? Don’t look this way.

"Why are you turning away, brother-in-law? You’re my support, aren’t you?"

Don’t drag me down with you. If you’re going down, go down alone!

I desperately wanted to refuse, but since the Grand Duke had appointed me as Michael’s support for this campaign, I had no choice but to help. In other words, we were already in the same boat.

"...I’ll help."

"That’s my brother-in-law! Hilda really chose a wonderful husband."

In the end, I had to stay at the Military Department and work on the operation plan all day with Michael. Michael built the overall framework while I filled in the details. For example, if Michael determined the forces, armaments, and response to bandits, I calculated the necessary supplies, distribution, emergency rations, and so on.

Rosenheim was close to the capital Breisburg, so we could arrive in just one day’s march. However, I was puzzled that vagrants displaced by the war between the Duchy of Burgundy and the Duchy of Roden had crossed the border region and made it all the way to Rosenheim.

Could they really reach the vicinity of the capital this easily?

Not ten people, but fifty. Something about that felt off. But for now, I had no way to confirm whether the Finance Minister’s information was accurate, so I reviewed various supplementary details in accordance with Michael’s campaign plan.

"Brother-in-law, I’m curious—is this intelligence about vagrants crossing from the border really reliable?"

"If the Finance Minister’s information turns out to be wrong, that works in our favor. We can use it as grounds to attack him again. Father is probably praying the information is false."

"But if it is true, how did they get this close to the capital without being spotted by the border lords?"

Michael suggested we take a break and had a maid working at the Military Department bring tea. I had become quite familiar with her face by now. She had plain features but an attractive beauty mark. Drinking the warm herbal tea she brought seemed to ease my fatigue a little.

"Brother-in-law, you probably don’t know much about the western princes?"

"I’ve never even met a prince. Come to think of it, Rosenheim borders three princes’ territories."

"The western princes are, to put it bluntly, terrible misers. Do you know why?"

Princes with vast estates would have tens of thousands of times my current income, right? But Michael explained that most princes whose lands bordered France and the Duchy of Burgundy barely avoided running deficits. They poured money into border defense, labor service, military service, and the like just to keep their estates from being overrun by France.

In these circumstances, the western princes had begun cutting wasteful expenditures and spending money efficiently—something that looked miserly to the capital nobles and eastern princes. So as long as vagrants crossing the border didn’t attack villages, the western lords often just turned a blind eye.

"The princes really do have it rough."

"That’s why the western princes resent the eastern ones most. The east borders the Duchy of Bavaria, but Bavaria would never dare attack our duchy. The same goes for the surrounding principalities. If we fell, they’d find themselves bordering France—do you think any of them want that?"

Furthermore, since we held the status of margrave of the Holy Roman Empire, if any principality attacked the Duchy of Beren, the Empire would intervene immediately. So as long as we were holding the line against France’s incursions, the chance of being attacked from within was virtually nonexistent.

The western princes therefore looked down on their eastern counterparts as pampered lords who had never fought a proper war. As that rift deepened, the duke rallied the eastern princes to his side, while the western princes threw their support behind the Crown Prince in opposition.

If civil war broke out, it would become an east-versus-west conflict.

As for why the previously docile vagrants had turned to banditry—they had simply run out of food. I couldn’t help but admire Michael’s experience and the reasoning behind his judgment.

"You really are a born field commander. I respect you, brother-in-law."

"Why the flattery all of a sudden? I actually respect your eye for detail and instinct the most, brother-in-law."

"That’s more of a natural talent, so I can’t really teach it."

In any case, while we worked on the documents, evening arrived before we knew it.

Working with Michael reminded me of the days I had spent buried in paperwork as a manager in my previous life. Beyond field management, I had lived surrounded by documents, and thanks to that experience, I could draft the campaign plan with relative ease. My father-in-law looked over the fairly systematic plan and glanced at Michael.

"It’s an obvious question, but you didn’t make this alone, did you?"

"Of course not. Brother-in-law helped."

"My son-in-law seems to have quite a talent for documents."

My father-in-law appeared quite satisfied with the campaign plan. When it passed on the first try, Michael screamed with joy—and was promptly scolded by my father-in-law for failing to maintain dignity in front of his brother-in-law. Regardless, with that done, I could finally escape from government affairs. I was utterly exhausted from the amount of work I’d been doing lately.

"Sir Wolfgang, are you alright?"

Hans looked worried, noticing that I seemed a bit tired.

Since his marriage talks with Priscilla, Hans had become noticeably more composed. Now wearing the leather armor of a regular soldier and carrying a shield engraved with the Streit family crest, he cut an incomparably more imposing figure compared to when I had first met him.

Priscilla seemed to have done wonders for Hans, who had struggled with an inferiority complex.

I patted Hans on the shoulder and said:

"I’m fine. You two must be even more tired from waiting around all day to attend me."

Besides Hans, I had Oscar as my attendant.

Ted wasn’t here because he was guarding the house. It seemed about time to increase the number of soldiers. I had recently acquired quite a bit of loot through various channels, leaving my coffers well-padded. Three people were simply insufficient for both estate security and attending me.

So I planned to recruit soldier candidates before departing on the campaign.

I intended to recruit a total of four soldiers—two through Oscar and Ted’s connections, and for the remaining two, why not ask Michael to recommend men from the duchy troops? It would cost some money, but they would be at the level of veteran commanders. Ideally, they would serve as mentors who could teach Oscar a great deal.

Of course, vetting their character with the Manager Scouter was an essential step.

"Guess what? There’s a maid interested in Oscar!"

"Really? A maid working at the Military Department?"

"Sir Wolfgang, you probably know her too. She said she works under Sir Michael."

"Hans, please calm down."

Hans excitedly described the maid to me.

He said she was a plain-looking woman with a beauty mark—unmistakably the maid who had brought the herbal tea. Unlike the excited Hans, Oscar remained calm. It felt like only yesterday the two of them had been in a tense rivalry with Sabine caught in the middle, but I was pleased they seemed to have each found their match without me needing to intervene.

"Would it be alright to pursue marriage talks?"

"Please do."

"Unlike a certain someone, Oscar has decisiveness. Excellent."

"Sir Wolfgang! You’re not talking about me, are you?"

Of course it’s you—who else?

On the way home, the men’s laughter never ceased.