King
Chapter 64 - 64 63 Opportunities are for those who are prepared_1

64: Chapter 63, Opportunities are for those who are prepared_1 64: Chapter 63, Opportunities are for those who are prepared_1 The higher-ups are engaged in power games, and the people below are not idle either.

After having subdued the rebel forces in his area of responsibility, Hudson also joined the fray.

At this point, the favors he had done earlier began to play their part.

When moving in nobility circles, who doesn’t have some connections?

With careful networking, Hudson became a familiar face to most of the powerful nobles in the Governor’s Mansion.

It’s hard to deal with both Yama and his minions.

Suddenly being promoted to a high position usually arouses jealousy.

While he didn’t dare to expect help from these nobles after just one visit, at least it could reduce the chance of them making things difficult for him.

The main problem was that Hudson didn’t have control over the Koslow Family’s relationships; when he went out, he represented only himself, not the Koslow family.

More accurately, Baron Redman could only represent the branch of the Koslow family that he belonged to.

To represent the entire family, a clan meeting would need to be convened.

Who’s to blame for the lineage of clan leaders being cut off during the orc invasion hundreds of years ago, before an heir could be designated?

The familial connections were so distant that it was unclear who should inherit the position of clan leader.

Each branch strove for the title of true successor without yielding to the others.

The key issue was the loss of the ancestral land.

During the period of warfare, the disagreeing branches agreed to table the succession issue until the ancestral land was reclaimed.

Unfortunately, by the end of the war, the Koslow family had not reclaimed their ancestral land, and the position of clan leader remained vacant.

A blessing in disguise perhaps – without a clan leader, the Koslow Family’s branches fell into self-governance but also evaded outside suspicion.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder.

After the descendants had developed independently in different places without conflicting interests, and with rare opportunities for gatherings, their relationships actually improved.

With an increasing population, branches of the family spread and even grew beyond the Kingdom.

In the circle of kingdom aristocrats, the name gained growing influence.

Noble families are never without their problems, but the Koslow family was better off.

The ancestors had set a good precedent, leaving the best solution to internal disputes – division.

The successor to the founder went a step further by instituting the rule: the eldest son to inherit the family business, the younger son to establish his own house upon reaching adulthood.

The results were positive, and the other branches followed suit.

From then on, major internal disputes were rare within the Koslow family.

Even if a descendant was unworthy, the most they could do was to stir up trouble of Laisol’s level.

Anyone with a bit of sense wouldn’t cause problems at home.

While it is a successful experience that other nobles want to imitate, the prerequisite for success is having enough sons.

With a less prosperous population, this could easily lead to the end of a lineage.

After all, if there is one thing the Continent of Aslante is full of, that is wars.

The life of a noble is incomplete if they don’t experience at least ten to twenty wars.

The busiest ones aren’t the nobles like Hudson, who had clear achievements and only waited for their territories to be established.

The real excitement belongs to those who lack military merits but can establish family relations with the counties of Layton and Wharton, where there exist nobility without heirs.

The competition for inheritance rights is where everyone really demonstrates their abilities.

Not only the nobles from the Southeastern Province were involved, but also some nobles from outside the province joined the contest.

Fighting for ancestors, connections, and military achievements, some desperate ones even sent gifts to Hudson, seeking only to gain public support.

In order to offset the massive expense of giving gifts, all unexpected gains from those who sought favors were accepted, but the support was limited to non-interference.

It was not their idea, these guys were casting a wide net, but the things they sent over were indeed too poor, even meaner than Hudson’s.

To secure a good fief, Hudson had spent a fortune on gifts, amounting to more than a thousand gold coins.

He even visited the Governor’s Mansion with generous gifts once.

Unfortunately, Earl Piers had a high threshold.

Though, he did receive him, he was looked after with dozens of other nobles.

Obviously, even a valiant knight like him failed to impress the bigwigs.

Being able to spare the time to receive him from their busy schedule showed that the Earl needed to appear approachable.

Otherwise, the most he could expect was to be seen by a member of the Dalton family.

Everyone who could move had already made their move, and those who were left didn’t reach the mark.

As for the king’s special envoy, Hudson didn’t find a way, but simply sent the gift.

Experience told him that gifts might not always attract the attention of the bigwigs, but not sending them might draw unwanted attention.

As the territories had not been confirmed, Hudson also had some free time.

He either attended banquets or was on his way to them, occasionally hosting one himself.

The interaction between nobles was quite unadorned.

Unfortunately, they were all men, and the lack of eye-catching noble ladies made the banquets quite dull.

By midnight, after ending a day of socialising, Hudson had just returned to his residence to find a small bear enjoying his precious preserved magical beast meat.

“Hudson, well done!

I didn’t expect you to be so lucky with magical beasts, even gaining the favour of the Earth Bear.”

Baron Redman’s words instantly extinguished Hudson’s flaring temper.

He thought it was some audacious guard daring to use his magical beast meat to please the small bear, preparing a lesson for him, but now it became unnecessary.

Most of the people in the team were from home, how could they not recognize Baron Redman?

Compared to Hudson, their real master was standing right in front of them.

“Father, you came so soon?”

Hudson asked with surprise.

Though he knew Baron Redman would come and help him, the fact that he arrived so soon touched him.

Just looking at the tired expression on his face, Hudson knew Baron Redman had rushed over without rest.

Clearly, he considered the matter to be as important as Hudson did himself.

“Of course I have to be quick.

If I was late and someone else had a head start, I would regret it immensely!”

Despite being tired, Baron Redman was genuinely pleased to see his son’s success.

While speaking, he opened a box and carefully took out two pieces of parchment, handing them to Hudson.

Seeing the lines and small notes crowded on the parchment, Hudson was refreshed.

The content was a map of Layton and Wharton counties.

Even some key resources were marked in the secret script of the Koslow family.

“Don’t be surprised, all well-established nobles have these.

The Koslow family might not be a big family, but it has a heritage of thousands of years.

Besides, the family has a solid foundation in both Layton and Wharton Counties.

It’s a pity that unfortunate Garrett and Weber died in this war.

It’s good that they have sons outside of the incident, who were not destroyed by the rebel army, and managed to save their foundation.”

The Adrian father and son have been serving the Dalton family for two generations, accumulating a lot of merit.

If nothing unexpected happens, they are likely to get a piece of the land as a reward.

“I wonder how Knight Lester and Baron Kroll are doing?

If they could also earn some territories, then the family’s influence in the two counties will be assured in future.”

Listening to Baron Redman, Hudson suddenly realized his family seemed to be a big winner in this war.

“Don’t worry, Father.

Knight Adrian is in great condition, and is currently guarding the door for Earl Piers, I just visited him yesterday.

As for Knight Lester and Baron Kroll, I met them at the banquet that just concluded.

However, they have been quite busy recently, whether they can get what they want depends on the upcoming activities.”

Although Hudson was relaxed, deep down he didn’t believe in their plans.

The Koslow family had gained too much in this war.

If nobility was granted based on merit, then even if people were displeased, they wouldn’t stop it due to the game rules.

Unfortunately, they weren’t so fortunate and their merits were not enough.

They could only hope to inherit from relatives without successors, but the inheritors were too many, making this a conundrum.

If Knight Adrian didn’t get his land, maybe they would have some chance.

Judging from Baron Redman’s words, since Adrian’s father served under the Dalton family, he should get a piece of land, even without any merit.

A knight’s territory plus a baron’s territory, would be dazzling enough among the small nobles.

They could hardly expect to get a third piece of land.

What would the other nobles, who don’t have any land, feel about it?

They may not succeed, but they certainly could cause trouble.