Virgin Knight Who Is the Frontier Lord in the Gender Switched World - Chapter 227

“Lady Sabine? Are you all right?”

“What exactly are you asking about?”

Sabine had her right arm heavily bandaged.

It seemed she had received proper treatment, but she wouldn’t be of use as a subordinate for a while.

She informed me of this and brought a gift instead: many bullets shaped like odd acorns and plenty of muskets.

“Both—about Sabine’s injuries and those bullets as well.”

“Rest assured.”

Instead of Sabine, a subordinate of Lady Pretihya answered.

Apparently, he is a skilled marksman.

“I’ve heard that the Cologne Sect has been experimenting extensively. There should be little risk of misfire,” he said.

I muttered in response.

Well, as long as it’s safe, that’s all that matters.

“Ready to fire…”

The musket, its barrel rifled with spirals—termed a “rifled musket” by the cardinals of the Cologne Sect—was loaded.

From it, a bullet was now fired.

The target was a straw dummy 300 meters away, which was considered to be within effective range.

Within a second of the gunshot sound, the dummy’s head burst apart.

“Exemplary shot. Lady Pretihya truly has capable subordinates.”

I praised both her and her knight.

It’s my duty as their lord.

Lady Pretihya and the marksman smiled broadly but modestly denied my words.

“Thank you for your praise. However, it’s really the excellence of the musket. This would have been impossible with the old muskets.”

“We’ve done several test firings, and a trained soldier could hit the target half the time at this distance. If the target is a dense group, every shot would count as a hit.”

Yet another sinister weapon crafted by the Cologne Sect.

“In our test shots, we confirmed the impact power. The wooden core of the straw dummy was shattered to pieces, and the lead spread and scattered widely. If it hits a human body, it can ‘kill or incapacitate a soldier.'”

Does the Cologne Sect lack a human heart?

Well, it’s clear that it’s a powerful weapon.

The problem is, why am I, along with the other electors, being briefed about this at the same time?

“Sabine, what’s the meaning of this?”

“As I mentioned earlier, this is a gift in place of my service.”

Where did she get this from?

Well, she probably requested it through her mysterious connections within the Cologne Sect.

“Lady Sabine, are you assigning these rifled muskets to the Second Princess’s personal guard’s rifle squad? I’d like a few for myself.”

“I’ve acquired about a hundred units. For now, they’ve been deployed to the Second Princess’s guard, and the surplus will go to Lady Pretihya. We must also perform field tests and provide feedback to the Cologne Sect.”

“That is much appreciated. I’ll make sure to send a report on their operation.”

The issue is, the conversation assumes that Sabine and Lady Pretihya already need these.

Of course, it’s necessary, and it should be a joy considering it will enhance our forces.

So, I should be praising Sabine for bringing this gift.

But the phrase she used when she brought back the gift bothers me.

“Sabine, you said you’d be of no use for a while?”

“Indeed. It seems the injury has even impaired my thinking a bit.”

That can’t be helped.

She served well, and it’s an honorable wound.

“Rest until you heal.”

“And this gift is in place of what exactly?”

“Literally as a substitute. One hundred rifled muskets, acorn-shaped bullets crafted by the Cologne Sect called ‘Minie balls.’ Unfortunately, I couldn’t secure cannons and ‘canister shots’ without payment.”

“Are you telling me you got all this for free?”

Where did the money come from?

As I was about to ask that, she continued.

“I plan to pay later with my earnings. I’ll get the cannons too.”

“This money from the earnings, it’s not yours personally… it’s meant to be paid by the commercial guild of the imperial city, right?”

“Of course.”

Although it is money that Sabine planned on getting.

Indeed, I brought back many goods on our way to the empire.

If these are sold to the commercial guild of the imperial city, it would build a fortune of insane amounts.

But that is everyone’s money.

I don’t plan to use it as my own.

I’m planning to spend every copper coin for the 3,000 people I’ll bring to Lord Polydoro’s domain.

Using that money freely—for just a moment, I thought.

“Operating expenses, then.”

I resigned myself.

If it comes to war with the Mongols, we must renew our equipment.

I do not know how many of the 3,000 people I am taking to Lord Polydoro’s domain will participate in the war, but I have already received words from my sister implying that she expects them as part of the military force.

We will undoubtedly have to go to the battlefield.

Thinking of that, spending the property on strengthening the military force was unavoidable.

Nothing can be done about it.

I was about to forgive Sabine for the necessary expenses.

“Operating expenses. For the battle with the Landsknechte.”

“Wait a minute.”

I stopped myself.

Why are the Landsknechte coming up here?

They are national soldiers, directly under the emperor, gathered by Lord Reckenberg—a group of scoundrels.

“Eh, not to fight the Mongols but the Landsknechte? Why?”

Lady Pretihya hesitated a bit before looking at me with a face full of apology.

“Apologies for the late report. This is our oversight…”

Eh, what?

Is there something I don’t know about?

Why is Lady Pretihya bowing her head?

“Well, it’s within the expected range. Lady Valiere, about the commercial guild of the imperial city taking over all the goods from trade—it hasn’t been going too well.”

“You said it would definitely work, Sabine.”

“Predicted as much, huh?”

“Why isn’t it working?”

“Sabine, there are a few things I want to ask.”

“Let’s start from the beginning.”

With a flutter, Sabine, her left arm not wrapped in bandages, waved it.

Politely, as if presenting her own neck, she placed her hand on her chest and began to speak.

“First, let’s recall the story. So, it was Lady Valiere’s suggestion: not to be hated by the local feudal lords during our ride to the imperial city, we would spend all the received gratuity in their lands. Instead, let’s buy the goods at a fair price. Don’t worry, I intend to settle everything at the imperial city—”

“Yes, that was indeed my idea. But—”

“I thought it wasn’t a bad idea. Indeed, not bad at all. I, Sabine, was rather impressed and agreed. We should do that. That’s the right thing to do. So, Lady Valiere did just that.”

Yes.

In fact, I even ended up buying the loyalty of the local feudal lords, and they swore fealty.

Yes, Sabine agreed.

“Just to check, you agreed thinking it would work, right?”

“…”

Sabine tilted her head slightly.

What does that mean!?

“I thought it would work, and I intended to make it work. Lady Pretihya, myself, the marksman here, Lord Berlichingen, everyone—”

Lady Pretihya and the marksman nodded.

With beaming smiles, they showed me a look of adoration.

“We will definitely make it succeed. Lord Berlichingen’s strategy of the bandit knight will surely—”

Lady Pretihya smiled with a truly mad adoration.

What for?

I don’t understand what that smile means.

I reinforced my own argument.

“From Anhalt to the imperial city, I eradicated every bandit. I brought together local feudal lords who swore fealty to me and pledged cooperation and trade. Trade will definitely thrive from here on. There’s no need for the commercial guild of the imperial city to refuse buying the goods. Why hesitate to secure resources and materials, especially when they can be quickly converted into money? With the huge consumer market of the imperial city, there’s no need to dislike buying the goods I brought.”

“That’s right.”

Sabine nodded, as if there was absolutely no problem with my words.

“Then I also have the force of a thousand swords. I have the status as an elector’s child. I hate to say this but—if they don’t buy, I could threaten that some mercenary groups might target the commercial guild’s goods due to insufficient payment.”

“That’s true.”

Sabine nodded again, repeatedly, as if overly emphasizing there was no problem.

“Then what’s the problem!?”

I was furious.

Sabine responded coldly.

“This way, Lady Valiere can supply the goods cheaply, and selling them at a high price would be profitable, wouldn’t it?”

For a moment, I didn’t understand what Sabine was saying.

I tilted my head.

“Excuse me?”

“Basically, the commercial guild of the imperial city thinks this way: lots of bandits have been eradicated—that’s a business opportunity. Many local lords have granted commercial passage rights—that’s also a business opportunity. Oh, and here comes a seller with lots of goods. This is an incredible business opportunity.”

Sabine spoke.

“Yes, that’s true.”

What’s wrong with that?

As if to say so, I really tilted my head.

“All that’s left is if only Lady Valiere would just give in and sell the goods cheaply to the commercial guild of the imperial city, they would make a huge profit. So, they plan to buy it cheaply.”

“I’m being underestimated that much!?”

“That’s not the case. Probably any elector—whether it’s Anhalt, Virendorf, or Mainz—the commercial guild’s response would be the same.”

Eh… How big is the commercial guild’s attitude and pride?

No, I understand.

It’s not like they can treat nobility roughly just because they’re commoners.

If it comes to it, some city nobles in the imperial city might even have more power than some country knights.

But still, I’m an elector’s child.

Pondering, pondering.

The words I squeezed out were these:

“Just tell me this. Why would it lead to war with the Landsknechte?”

“Lord Berlichingen has been threatening the commercial guild—to make them buy at higher prices and to prevent the disgrace of you, Lady Valiere, selling the goods at a low price. In response, the commercial guild of the imperial city has hired those scoundrels, the Landsknechte, to buy as cheaply as possible and to avoid the disgrace of being made to buy your goods at high prices. It’s quite conceivable that this could lead to urban combat.”

Sabine’s answer was ruthless.

I murmured.

“Ah…”

Yes, I understand honor.

And the disadvantages of being crushed.

Let’s just trade at a fair price from the start; there’s no need for conflict.

I was about to blurt that out in front of Lady Pretihya and her subordinate, but I stopped myself.

I stopped, but—

“First of all, Lord Berlichingen has proposed ensuring the reputation of the citizens and plans to set fire to a newspaper office.”

With that statement from Sabine, I decided to head to Lord Berlichingen’s room.

It was to give him a piece of my mind.