“Agreed,” Sigmund said. He grew frustrated with one of the workers’ feeble attempts to carry the large oaken table and moved forward, grabbing one end and hoisting it up much higher. For being in his eighties, he was still pretty damn strong.
“What would you have us do differently?” Lily asked, hands clasped together. She was still in red, her mourning not quite done yet. I felt bad, for I would have loved to give her more time off, but she insisted upon returning to her duties as quickly as possible.
“For starters, we need to expand the Vineyard’s operation. We have two vineyards, but our exports are weak. Our neighbors buy a few bottles here and there, but frankly, with the amount we can produce, we should be making at least ten times the silver,” I said. “So, Miss Lily, I need you to find me someone to handle the winemaking facilities. Get everything up to snuff. And…while I hate saying this, we need to start cracking the whip on the workers. Metaphorically, of course. I’m under the impression that the vineyard positions are looked at as the easy jobs?”
Lily nodded. “Indeed. Workers fight over the position whenever someone quits or retires.”
“Well, a physical labor job shouldn’t be so easy to the point where people fight over it,” I said. “You can increase the pay of the workers, since we’ll be asking more, but I want things running effectively. We need to generate significant wealth. Understood?”
“Yes, Master,” Lily said, bowing to me. “Anything else?”
“There we go!” Sigmund said as he dropped the table behind us. We both turned to see that there was a political map of the entire Crown’s region, the country of Velicia properly marked with borders and flags to indicate who owned what area.
“Just focus on the vineyards right now,” I murmured. “I cannot stress enough how much we need to generate income.”
I felt her run her hand gently across my back. It was a tender and kind thing. “Do not fear, my Master. I will handle this operation myself. I can train one of my maids to work the system I put into place. If I have your permission?”
“Granted,” I said, smiling at her. She smiled back and for a moment…I felt my heart skip a beat? Odd. I had never really looked at her that way. Or in any way really. But I couldn’t afford to get distracted right now. I turned my head back to the map and waved to dismiss her. It was time to plan our next move.
“Sigmund,” I said as Lily scuttled off, “tell me what potential threats we’re facing.”
The old man shook his head and tapped on the table. “That’s the problem, sir. I’ve been looking at our relationships all week and nothing rings out as particularly worrisome. Our neighbors on both sides play the Great Game, but they’re lazier than your uncle was, Stars watch over him. From what I can tell, they’ve both secured their territories decades ago and haven’t been involved in any real conflicts since they entered the war.”
“Could we bring them in as potential allies?” I asked. “Surely, if my enemy is eyeing my land and title, they must be looking at my neighbors as well. What do I have that they don’t?”
Sigmund frowned. “Well, alliances are tricky to pull off in this game. Without a family connection to an ally, you’re basically forced to trust one another. And the rules don’t outlaw deception or trickery. So, even if you could get our neighbors interested in joining our cause, they’d both want marriages into your lineage in order to ensure no one can turn on the other.”
I rubbed my chin in thought. My family was woefully small right now. All that remained was myself, my little sister—who wouldn’t be qualified to marry for at least seventeen years—and my bastard niece. Hardly a roster of eligible family members. “Do you know of my niece at all? Eric’s daughter, I mean?”
Sigmund nodded. “I know all family secrets,” he said, almost gloating with those words. The way he beamed with pride at the knowledge of something so hidden made me wonder what other confidential information he held deep within his heart. Would he tell me them, when the time was right? Or keep them forever?
I motioned for him to continue, leaning against the table. “Well, Sir Eric was about twenty or so, eager to serve the Crown and make a name for himself. Saved some peasant woman from a ravenous wolf. And she in turn, well, opened the castle gates for him, if you catch my meaning. It was a sordid affair that lasted six or so years.”
My eyes widened at that. “Did he make her his wife?”
Sigmund shook his head. “Afraid not. Sir Eric wanted to marry up, above his station. So he fed this poor woman all manner of falsehoods and lies, soft-soaped promises about making a future for them. He provided for her, and still does, mind you, but…eventually she figured it out. That he was never going to make her his bride, and she wasn’t having any of it. Told him to either marry her right then and there or get the hell out and never come back. That would be the only way he could see his daughter again.”
My eyes widened at such a scandal. It wasn’t uncommon for men at arms to have mistresses, but for an unmarried, landed man to have a child with a woman and still refuse to marry her? Complete and utter impropriety!
“And her fate?”
“She resides in the little town of Holem, a fishing village on the edge of the country. Right by the Ethenium Border, where your brother served most valiantly. I arrange a small sum to be shipped to her each month, as per your brother’s final wishes. His pension cannot legally go to her, as she was not his wife, but well…I know enough about accounting to move some numbers around. She will be cared for, for as long as she lives. Her daughter as well.”
I tried doing the math in my head. When Eric was twenty, I was three. Which meant his daughter was…
“She’ll be twenty-two this year,” Sigmund said, as if reading my mind. He grinned at me. “What are you thinking?”
“Well, our family sorely needs more people, if not to simply ensure that our lineage continues. And my blood runs through this… erm, bastard. So, is there a way to legitimize her? Invite her into our home and then perhaps marry her off?”
“The young Avaline is quite restless in her hometown,” Sigmund said, slowly nodding as he puzzled this out. “She would undoubtedly take up the offer to go someplace else. Though we must take in her mother as well. I won’t see that poor woman left out in the cold, all alone with nothing but an empty home.”
“Of course, of course. But how do we legitimize her?”
Sigmund sighed and tapped his fingers on the table. “Well, we could…and sir, I do apologize for even suggesting such a horrid thing. We could forge a marriage certificate.”
I balked at the suggestion. “What? That is a high crime against the Crown!” I gasped. I paused and looked around to ensure no one was nearby. “Will we be caught if we do it?”
“This is a common practice,” Sigmund whispered, leaning over the table, his eyes wide with excitement. Intrigue, it would seem, was also a passion of his. “Usually when the lineage starts to crumble. The only one who could lawfully contest a marriage certificate would be family, and since we are trying to expand our tiny one…well, no one could possibly bring it to attention. This will legitimize the bastard in question, no problem.”
I chewed on my lower lip, puzzling this out. It seemed illegal, yes, but was it unethical? First and foremost, we’d be righting a major wrong done by my brother. This girl, Avaline, deserved to be a Blake, for she was his flesh and blood. And who was to say that Eric wouldn’t have eventually married her mother anyway? He was still painfully single, even in his later years.
“I recognize that look, young man,” Sigmund said. “The scrunching of the face, the puzzling over the details. You want to find some way to justify what you’re doing.”
“Well, of course. I must be sure that I am making a moral choice here.”
“Treachery is specifically allowed under the rules of the Great Game,” Sigmund said. “No one ever won a war by fighting fair. You think the Crown doesn’t have a few curiously written titles and b
irth certificates in their history? Good little boys and girls don’t make it into the history books, Richard. They don’t live long enough to make an impact.”
“So this is de facto legal?”
“Legal? Hell no. Expected? Absolutely. Just don’t get caught,” Sigmund said. He grinned at me wildly, a spark in his eye drawing me into his own madness. “So, what do you say?”
I slowly nodded. What was a little scandal every now and then? “I’ll leave it to you to handle this. But…we must bring his ‘wife’ in on this. She must know full well what we intend.”
Chapter 12
I sat in my new office, alone and silent. Sigmund had left hastily, with a full caravan to escort Avaline and her mother, Sophia, to the Manor. “While I’m gone, you must prepare the Manor’s defenses. Secure it with the resources we have,” he had ordered before departing. I found it irritating that he would be so bold as to tell me what I must do, as if I were the servant and he was the master, but perhaps that was just my own petulance. I always had an independent streak, hence the obsession with alchemy.
But I suppose he was right. We had more resources now, thanks to the Lady Efera’s failed attack on my estate. With the silver from the renumeration, the looted mana crystals and the upgrade in my rank, I was free to build up the Manor’s defenses. I suppose out of all my territories, the Manor was the most important. For if the enemy could capture my main hub, it was expected that I hand over my pendant. Else they just destroy everything and everyone.
I opened up the Grid, to see that one of my territories had new information upon it.
Burning Barrows Status: Secure! hovered in golden letters above the corresponding territory. I could see that there was a shield above the Fire Spice mines with a number next to it. Defense Rating: 2.
“Defense rating…” I mumbled. What did that mean? I looked at the book sitting next to me on the desk. A Primer on the Great Game was the title. Sigmund had purchased it for me just a day ago. It was the latest book on the Gentleman’s Wars, containing just about all the information I’d need in order to conduct myself properly.
Flipping through the pages, I found the entry quickly enough. Defense Rating was how the Grid measured the effectiveness of a maze. Every enemy force had a Threat Level. In general, as long as the Defense Level was equal to or greater than the Threat Level, I didn’t really have to pay attention to the attack. My towers and golems would easily meet the threat. However, if the Threat Level was greater, I’d need to be present in the battle, to use my abilities to actively turn the tide of the fight.
This made sense. I could imagine that if a Gentleman had to be involved in every single fight, eventually they could just be worn down by an enemy force. Imagine having to spend every waking hour watching the Grid, even if the enemy were being slaughtered by your forces.
Though the book was eager to explain the defense ratings, they made no claim as to how high either score could go. I suppose the number was near infinite. But 2 seemed good for now. I should probably aim to get the Manor’s score up to at least a 5. That would be a reasonable value. At least, so I hope.
Returning my vision to the Grid, I could see that both the buildings tab and the units section were gleaming brightly, informing me of new decisions to make.
Building Upgrade available! appeared in my vision as I selected the first tab. Please select a building type and choose an upgrade. All present buildings will be upgraded instantly. All future buildings will contain this upgrade. There is no additional cost to upgrading.
My eyes widened to see that each building now had two whole upgrades to pick from. A shame I could only select one!
Wooden Barricade:
- Hearty: Increases the health of the barricade by 200 Hit Points.
- Bronze Lining: Reduces explosive damage by 30%.
Karrack Tower:
- Splitfire: Karrack Towers now strike two targets at once but deal half damage.
- Hard Hitters: Increases Tower damage by 25%.
Ballista Tower:
- Ricochet: When a bolt strikes one target, it immediately rebounds to a second target at random.
- Improved Reload: Reduces reload time by 5 seconds.
Phlogiston Cannon:
- Oil Spritzers: Enemies have a 50% chance of being lit on fire, taking damage over time even outside of the cannon’s range.
- Armor Plating: Gains 100 points of armor. (Armor takes reduced damage from all non-armor piercing attacks.)
Miniature Trebuchet:
- Aerodynamic Payload: Attacks now land within 5 seconds of being fired.
- Heavy Ammunition: Improves damage by 100% but increases flight time by 2 seconds.
Quite the assortment of options. I would have to say that my best bet would be enhancing the Karrack Towers. They were, more or less, the backbone of my defensive strategies so far. Each tower could inflict a great deal of damage but was stuck on a single target. Lady Efera had exploited that weakness by putting a single Shield Golem within range of all four towers, rendering them more or less useless. I’d rather not have to blow up a large chunk of my barricades again.
The drawback to Splitfire was less damage. Less damage, but more coverage. Not just more coverage but also double the efficiency of each tower. Four towers could now strike eight targets at once, effectively turning the Burning Barrows maze into a high-powered deathtrap. The trade-off was worth it. I selected the upgrade and watched as the Security Rating of the Fire Spice mines increased to 3 automatically. Not bad!
Next up were my unit upgrades. Just as with the buildings list, the rules were the same. Upgrades didn’t affect purchase cost and were implemented for free. I eagerly reviewed the available options, to see what benefits I could reap.
Select Unit Upgrade
Stone Golem:
- Sluggers: Increases unit damage by 50%.
- Dimly Aware: Stone Golems can now be directed to move to a single location once per wave.
Shield Golem:
- Reinforced Shielding: Units gain 50 points of armor.
- Explosive Exit: When destroyed, the Shield Golem now deals 500 points of damage to enemy units within a 4 square radius. This unit cannot be repaired once fully destroyed and must be repurchased.
Karrack Golem:
- Rapid Positioning: When ordered to move to a location, Karrack Golems will move at twice their regular speed to reach the area.
- Ice Crystal Infusion: Reduces attack cooldown to 15 seconds.
Siege Golem:
- Retractable Shell: Unit is invulnerable during the 2 minute warm up time.
- Stride Blessings: Siege Golems now move 20% faster.
Wrench Golem:
- Group Cohesion: For each Wrench Golem working on the same structure, add +10 to the total repair amount per second.
- Sturdy: A Wrench Golem may now take 2 hits before being destroyed.
Likewise these seemed to be rather straightforward upgrades. Nothing too game-breaking, so to speak, but definitely an increase in value. Stronger Stone Golems seemed to be the best purchase right now. They were cheap units and, when amassed, could deal serious damage—no matter the enemy composition. And repairing them was even cheaper, since Fire Spice flowed like wine for us. 50% more damage would make a big difference.
With a simple focus, I upgraded the Stone Golems, watching as their appearance in the display evolved. Their hands changed from great stone fists to even larger mallets, ready to break an enemy to pieces at a moment’s notice. The security rating of the Mines inched up another point, totaling to 4. Not bad at all!
Grinning like a fool, I opened up the Manor territory, to see the great hills before our land. Unlike the Mines, this area had natural barriers, making a straight path to the Manor impossible. Several areas were outlined with grey. A quick look at the book revealed that grey squares were defensive positions only. I could place units or buildings there, but anything occup
ying that space could not move. Nor could a unit access a grey area. The top of the four major hills surrounding the Manor, hills I had never once paid any mind to, were composed of one grey square each. An unreachable platform where I could put any tower I wanted, never worrying about its safety again. What should I choose?
A rapping at my door interrupted my thoughts. Quickly, I exited the Grid, discovering that I was sitting in a pitch black room. “Come in,” I said as I fumbled for the gas lantern, trying to find it. What had happened? Was there an eclipse?
“Master,” Lily said, opening the door, allowing a flood of light to wash in. In her hands was a golden tray, filled with food and drinks. “Why are you sitting here in the dark?”
“W-what time is it?” I asked, as I managed to get the gas lamp going. It hissed as it released a flood of alchemical gases that caused the light crystal within to brighten.
“It’s almost midnight, sir,” she said as she scuttled over to the table and placed the tray in front of me. The smell of a freshly cooked roast, potatoes and seasoned carrots filled my nostrils as I took a deep breath. My stomach was quick to remind me how famished I was. But…how was it midnight? I had just read the book a few minutes ago, had I not? How quickly did time pass while focused in on the Grid?
I glanced at the window behind to confirm her story. Indeed, the night stars were out as was the moon. What a strange thing, to see time pass so astoundingly fast.
“I see, yes,” I said, stammering a little. “Thank you, Miss Lily.”
Gentleman's Wars: The Rules of Engagement: A Tower Defense LitRPG Series (The Great Game Book 1) Page 7