Chapter 234 - Volume 3
Chapter 13 – Territory (7)
When Cornelius lowered his head, Jana shook her head once, leaving her fiery red hair to flutter in the wind and looked at him from the corners out of her eyes with dissatisfaction.
[You’re free to bend your knees, but don’t bring us into it.]
But even if they were unpleasant to listen to and she wanted to find fault with his words, she had to admit they were Brendel’s subordinates and they ought to do what he wanted.
They understood today’s conclusion from the actions they made yesterday. The young man in front of them was right, they had already offended the previous lord and the powers behind him, and they would not dare to offend another. The only people they could blame were themselves for acting rashly after Graudin’s insults and gave Brendel a chance to spur them into action.
She clicked her tongue lightly in annoyance before her eyes went back to Brendel. She was puzzled when she heard his new tax policies for the city. Vaunte’s nobles did not need to have the people’s hearts because the power they wielded was ironclad. If Brendel were strong enough to resist Count Randner, the citizens would not dare to resist such a powerful lord, and if he did not, it was pointless for him to administer the policies. Therefore, there was no meaning to his actions.
[Doesn’t he understand that he needs more money to set up a proper foothold in this city?]
If he was able to gather more funds, he could at least recruit more private soldiers to his army.
Brendel cursed Graudin in his mind. He knew that very little of the silver mine’s profits actually went into Graudin’s hands. Count Randner took the largest portion, while the royal family and the Holy Cathedral of Flames took two more portions.
[When the civil war starts, and my hands are fast enough, I might be able to control the entire mining process for two or three months. It’s just that I’m not sure how much it’s worth. I never did become a lord in the game, and only the biggest guilds monopolized them and ran them like a company. But at the very least I think I can get at least ten million Tor coins. I know the people around me are questioning my tax policies. But how many coins can I tax in a year? Three hundred thousand? That’s small change. I’m already opposing the nobles, and the last thing I want is to have the citizens opposing me too. It’s better to gain their hearts and think about the long term.]
“I’ll talk about my thoughts in detail when we come back from the excursion, Amandina,” he said.