Chapter 204 - 177: Anti-Henry Alliance
On the way back to their quarters, Bain and Leon walked side by side, both wearing satisfied smiles.
"You know, Bain, I never thought it would go so smoothly," Leon said, breaking the silence. His voice was tinged with excitement.
Bain nodded. "Yes, I didn’t expect it either. I thought we would face more resistance in Mace’s territory, but it seems the Lord’s reputation has indeed convinced many people to submit."
Leon considered this, then nodded in agreement. "The Lord’s influence is certainly powerful, but I think our own skills played a big part, too. We didn’t attack directly. Instead, we chose to weaken his flanks and break his battle formation. That’s what allowed us to win at practically no cost."
"True."
As they walked, the two discussed the details of the battle and areas where they could improve. Although they were victorious this time, more challenges awaited them in the future.
"What do you think Lord Henry will have us do next?" Leon asked.
Bain thought for a moment, then said, "I guess he’ll have us continue attacking the defiant nobles and expanding our territory. The Lord has always had greater ambitions."
Leon smiled. "Ambition? I like that word... It’s that ambition that allows us to keep moving forward with the Lord."
They reached their quarters in the barracks. Bain stopped and turned to Leon. "Alright, Leon, let’s pick this up tomorrow. Get a good rest tonight. We need to stay in top condition."
Leon patted Bain’s shoulder. "You’re right. See you tomorrow, Bain."
After the two parted, Bain returned to his room. He lay on his bed, thinking back on everything that had happened recently.
’Our victory wasn’t just due to our military strength. The main reason most people surrendered, allowing us to take over the settlements so smoothly, was Lord Henry’s reputation for being benevolent to his people.’
Meanwhile, in another room, Leon was pondering the same issue. He felt a sense of relief about his performance, because he had proven he was not useless.
’No Independent Noble could stand having no fief of their own, no army to command.’
「The next day at dawn,」 Bain and Leon set out from the barracks together. They crossed the drawbridge of Westwood Laine Keep and arrived before the main gate of the castle.
The castle guards recognized them, quickly opening the main gate to let them pass.
The pair ascended a spiral staircase inside the castle to Claude’s office. There, Claude stood before a massive map, seemingly studying it.
Seeing them enter, Claude turned around, a serious expression on his face.
"You’re here. Today, we will discuss our next move in the council hall."
Bain and Leon nodded and followed Claude to the council hall on the castle’s ground floor.
Currently, Westwood Laine Keep did not have a separate town hall building. Most work was done in empty rooms found within the barracks or the castle, which served as temporary offices.
The advantage of this was that Henry could review more ledgers and intelligence reports more quickly, without ever having to leave.
Henry was now receiving so much intelligence every day that he even dreamed of the number "9".
Whenever the dream was about to change, three forces would appear and drive away this "9," which Henry found quite amusing.
Henry’s current intelligence department, though not large, was extremely efficient.
It consisted of two divisions. The first was fed by several of his old classmates in the Imperial Capital. Their positions at the empire’s political center gave them access to relatively confidential information, allowing them to promptly relay important political developments and policy decisions.
They used letters or secret messengers to deliver this information to Westwood Laine Keep, right to Henry’s desk.
As a former student of the emperor, Henry paid very close attention to the emperor’s daily meetings and actions—such was the depth of their master-student bond.
The second division relied on the Minstrels. They roamed the grassland regions, using their songs and stories to gather and consolidate information from various places, which they then provided to Henry.
The songs and stories of these Minstrels echoed in every corner of the grasslands. On the surface, they seemed to do nothing more than pass down ancient legends and sing of heroic deeds.
But in reality, every one of their journeys, every performance, was a process of intelligence gathering.
They observed the changes in every city and village, listened to people’s conversations, and sometimes even got involved in small incidents to obtain firsthand information.
This seemingly scattered information, once compiled, could paint a picture of the political, economic, and social situation of the entire grassland region.
The final division was the information channel provided by the merchant caravans, led by Nasu and Buer, and supplemented by grain merchant Harry and arms merchant Bern.
Harry and Bern were among the first merchants Henry dealt with when he arrived in the eastern grasslands. They had now relocated their operations from Odoche.
Within Count John’s fief, they could never get ahead; they would always be minor merchants kept under his thumb. But here in Westwood Laine Keep, they had a chance to advance, to grow bigger and stronger.
Henry often analyzed this intelligence late at night, when all was quiet, searching for easy targets.
While Henry’s intelligence network was not as vast or systematic as the empire’s official agency, its flexibility and covert nature made it a crucial basis for his decisions.