King
Chapter 67 - 67 66 Mountain Baron_1

67: Chapter 66, Mountain Baron_1 67: Chapter 66, Mountain Baron_1 Just returned to Dardiel City with the investigation results and having not yet had a chance to unwind, Hudson received an invitation to Earl Piers’ banquet.

When the lord invites, one must make time.

With no hesitation, after quickly freshening up, he and Baron Redman hopped into the carriage.

“Father, has there been any significant incident in the city lately?”

Hudson asked dubiously.

As the dominator of the Southeastern Province, Earl Piers usually keeps to himself.

Traditionally, when he hosted banquets, Hudson would not be on the guest list.

Hudson wouldn’t impose himself if he wasn’t invited.

There was too vast a gap between their power and status, he wouldn’t even get a chance to ingratiate himself.

“It’s all the fuss about the fiefdoms.

Especially those scoundrels fighting for inheritance, they have no integrity.

Lately, there hasn’t been a day without conflicts in the city.”

Baron Redman spoke with disdain.

He had no sympathy for those trying to inherit by unjust means and wipe out their relatives when they lack military merits.

Of course, the main point was his family couldn’t get a piece of the pie.

It spent a bulk of its resources merely managing Hudson’s public relations, scarcely having any energy to meddle in estate issues.

At such occasions, insignificant figures should arrive early.

Departing ahead of time to attend the banquet, the room was still abuzz with chatter.

As expected, everyone had the same idea.

Arriving early may not necessarily leave a good impression on the governor, but being late would certainly leave a negative one.

The alliances among the minor nobles in the Southeastern Province fell apart when the fight over fiefs started, giving the control back to Earl Piers.

Frequently greeting attendees along the way, being familiar with everyone paid off at times like this.

Hudson could chat casually with most of the nobles present.

Especially those with real power serving in the governor’s mansion.

Whenever he encountered one, Hudson would definitely strike up a conversation.

He would refer to them as uncles or some other familiar term, creating an atmosphere filled with laughter and cheerful talks.

Even a nodding acquaintance is still an acquaintance not to waste.

The Koslow family, renowned for its numerous relatives and thriving populace, endured complex relationships which not even its own members could keep track of, let alone outsiders.

If the parties involved don’t explain, from an outsider’s perspective, it would seem like an invisible deterrence.

Especially for competitors, it would add considerable pressure.

…

“Everyone has arrived, it appears you all have given me some face!

This is wonderful.

We nobles of the Southeastern Province should continue to maintain this unity.

Aside from reminiscing about old times, the main reason for inviting everyone here is to discuss the future ownership of Layton and Wharton counties.”

“Firstly, I want to declare here that we have to ensure the legality of the noble inheritance system.

Everything must be carried out according to the Continental Inheritance Law.

Anyone daring to break these rules would be our common enemy.

I believe there won’t be any such scum amongst the nobles present here.

We also won’t allow any such nobility to exist.”

These are established procedures.

The Continental Inheritance Law is a rule jointly maintained by the Noble Consortium to safeguard their common interests.

Any clan could fall into decline at any time.

No one would want their estate to fall into someone else’s hands.

This can be considered a rare show of sentimentality in the noble world.

“Your Excellency Governor spoke well, the Continental Inheritance Law must be obeyed.

Any direct heir who fulfills the requirements of the inheritance law has the priority to complete the inheritance procedures.

We only need to discuss unclaimed lands and territories with disputed inheritances.

For concrete disposal plans, I believe His Excellency the Count should have a comprehensive one.”

Viscount Orlan inferred.

It seemed as though he was cooperating with Governor Piers, but also appeared to have grievances regarding his autocracy.

His words were filled with conflicting tones.

Everyone was already accustomed to this scene.

There isn’t a single Viscount amongst the powerful provincial ones who had a good relationship with Earl Piers.

Minor nobles pose no threat to the Dalton Family’s interests, but the intermediate aristocracy is a different story.

Though there’s still a gaping difference in power, once the Major Noble began to decline, the intermediate ones would have the capital to replace them.

To consolidate its rule over the Southeastern Province, the Dalton Family has always oppressed the intermediate clans.

Where there is oppression, there is surely resistance.

The intermediate nobles, unwilling to remain subordinate, chose to stand with the King without hesitation.

They grouped together underlings to challenge the Dalton Family within the province.

The power gap doesn’t prevent verbal fights.

Within the rule system, no matter how fierce of a fuss you cause, Dalton Family couldn’t directly retaliate against them.

Aside from the Northern Border ruled by Major Nobles, the other regions of the kingdom are operating under a mode of checks and balances.

They both unite and confront each other.

For instance, now, regardless of the conflict, it wouldn’t impact their joint resistance against the nobles from the North expanding their influence southward, or their shared intention to partition the unclaimed territories in the two counties.

Earl Piers shot Viscount Orlan an annoyed look and spoke slowly, “As of tomorrow, any legal heir that fits the inheritance requirements and is free of any conflicts can begin their inheritance procedures at the Governor’s Mansion.

We will deliver the documents at the fastest speed to the Capital for the King’s approval.

Until then, you can take over the lands in advance, but you must not utilize a substantial wealth or conduct any activity that would harm the interests of the territories.”

According to an agreement reached between the Governor’s Mansion and the Kingdom, Layton and Wharton Counties will set aside one-sixth of their land as territories bestowed on the nobles with war merits in the Northland.

The specific recipients have not been confirmed yet, but the basically scope is already set.

Today we discuss the disposal of the remaining territory.

The opinion of the Governor’s Mansion is: make a selection of territories corresponding to the size of merits in the rebellion suppression war, in sequence.

The territories in dispute of inheritance rights are dealt with according to the order: legitimate descendants have the priority, followed by war merits then collateral descendants.

If any of you have a better allocation plan, please present it now.

If it can fulfil everyone, we also can proceed with your plan.”

In the midst of speaking, regardless of whether everyone could accept it, a huge sand table was carried in by the guards.

While it looked a bit crude and the margin of error was slightly large, one could still tell that it depicts both counties.

Different coloured lines were drawn on it, dividing the two counties into several blocks of different sizes.

Next to it were wooden signs of different colours, marking the names of places.

It was apparent that Earl Piers prepared to cut the Gordian knot, not willing to carry on with this dispute.

As for the so-called consultation, it was purely courtesy.

Even if the land of the two counties was expanded tenfold, it would still not be enough to distribute.

Seeing that nobody came forward to contradict him, Earl Piers said with satisfaction, “The areas marked with red wooden signs are already claimed, and you need not worry about them.

The areas marked by blue wooden signs have inheritance rights under dispute.

You can discuss them according to the agreed inheritance rule.

If the discussion doesn’t work, the matter will be decided according to the rules by the Southeastern Province Aristocratic Council.

The remaining areas with white wooden signs are unclaimed lands.

The heroes who are qualified to receive territories may choose in order.

If others have objections, feel free to raise them.

If the discussion doesn’t come to an agreement, if would be decided by the Noble Parliament as usual.

Most of the representatives are here anyway, so we can conduct the vote on site without wasting everyone’s time.”

Looking at the wooden markers labeled with different colours, Hudson realized he thought too much.

The prosperous land was not only difficult to compete for, but there was not even any available at all.

Let’s not talk about the cities.

From the start, Hudson never dared to hope that such a windfall could land on him himself.

Of the targeted territories he had marked prior, only three are currently unclaimed, and the intensity of the upcoming competition can be imagined.

Despite Earl Piers’ sweet talks about discussions, it is really about survival of the fittest—the stronger your family is and the more supporters you have, the more likely you could be a winner.

On the contrary, even if you’re allowed to select first, if your power isn’t enough, you still can’t keep it.

It’s better for those bestowing peerages on merit; at least you can take a piece of bad land, and you won’t return empty-handed.

For others who fail to fight for their lands, all previous efforts will go down the drain.

Luckily for him, the Salam mine area he really wanted was on unclaimed land.

If not, Hudson would be tearing his hair out.

When most people had processed it, a large red cloth was hung on the wall of the hall.

Hudson quickly found his own name on it, and it prominently displayed that he was the first one listed.

It was indeed quite fair based on the principle of political priority.

Hudson, who had killed the most Church Cavaliers, was definitely the top hero.

What was surprising was that the name of Earl Piers was not on the list.

On the Continent of Aslante, it was not unusual for someone to hold several titles.

Especially big nobles, who would always boast a string of titles.

Which idiotic king would grant lands of tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of square kilometres in a one-off peerage?

Even if he was acting with integrity, it would be fine if he had his own plan.

Anyway, Hudson was not interested in the plots of the bigwigs, and did not “dare” to be interested.

Without modesty, Hudson went to the sand table first and plunged a small flag in the area in front of the Salam mining area.

Marking a point was enough to confirm the general range, the specific demarcation of the territory had yet to bring to play.

When the small flag fell, Hudson immediately received several amicable glances.

It was clear that several powerhouses approved of his choice.

Although the output of the Salam Mining area was substantial, it was limited due to the lack of coal and low grain yield, among other factors.

Given various circumstances, it could only be ranked in the middle among a bevy of territories.

Given the strength of the Koslow Clan, acquiring this hill area means playing it safe.

A few viscounts gave a smile of indication, and Hudson realised that all was set for him.

Now that the matter is laid to rest, the only remaining issue was a headstrong opposition.

“Good.

Since everyone does not disagree, the mountainous region at the southernmost of Layton County is provisionally assigned as Baron Hudson’s territory.”

Accompanied by Earl Piers’s words, Hudson gained another nickname, “Mountain Baron”, before that, everyone affectionately calls him the “Divine Archery Knight”.

Compared to the former, the latter is more imposing.

In some sense, one of the major reasons that Hudson was able to get along in this noble circle was thanks to “Divine Archery Knight”.

People always like to be friends with strongmen, like Hudson, who has the ability to instantly deadly attack, is undoubtedly a perfect war partner.

In the Continent of Aslante where wars are prevalent, there are more days to come for everyone to work together.

If the relationship can be maintained, life could be saved from the battlefield unexpectedly.