Gentleman's Wars: The Rules of Engagement: A Tower Defense LitRPG Series (The Great Game Book 1)

by Andrew Karevik

  “I don’t see it as pity. I see it as being fair. I can’t well leave you starving because your husband made a poor decision.”

  Yandah nodded in agreement. “I suppose I have no other recourse. But having a noble overseeing the business? Not as bad as it could be. The true worst case scenario would be us having to crawl back to those wretched Frankinsons. Imagine the humiliation!”

  I gritted my teeth at that statement, but opted not to tell her of my dealings with the Frankinsons. It didn’t matter that our houses would become allied soon. We weren’t merging, so it shouldn’t be a problem for her, right? In this case, it would be better to seek forgiveness than permission.

  Chapter 34

  The arrangement was made. Yandah was sharp enough to realize that losing half of her business would not only increase their yearly yield, since they no longer had operating expenses, but would also ensure that they would receive high level infrastructure investment from me. Losing the land was a tough blow, sure, but her concerns were more about the long-term survival of her family more than anything.

  Once the agreement was formalized and finished, I received an immediate notification from the Grid. Curious as to why my necklace was buzzing, I opened up the system to see a blue box full of prompts.

  Temporary Alliance Forged!

  Battle Won!

  Land Acquired!

  All of these notifications hovered in my vision at once. I selected the temporary alliance to check what it had to say.

  Temporary Alliance Forged

  Ally: The Henshaw Family

  Rank: Small Power

  Obligations: Protect, Ensure Sovereignty, Pay Operating Expenses

  Benefits:

  - New Territory: The Meadowlands

  - New Controlled Territory: Henshaw Ranches

  I wondered at first why the alliance was described as temporary, but remembered the golden rule. Alliances without marriages or relatives were all considered temporary by nature. Only blood permanently sealed a union. But the chance of a Small Power ever choosing to walk away from an alliance with a noble class was fairly low.

  I turned my attention next to the battle won section, excited to see what kind of rewards I would have gained from a fight with a count! I wondered if rank had anything to do with the reward.

  Special Match Victory:

  Match Type: Exhibition

  Location: Burning Barrows

  Opponent Defeated: Count Kure

  Repair Cost: 10 Fire Spice

  Salvage: 200 Mana Crystals

  Restitution is not owed in an exhibition match.

  Please select Prestige Reward:

  - Renown: Immediately increase your rank by 1.

  - Defensive Evaluation: Gain 2 Upgrades to spend as you like.

  - Publishing Rights: Sell the publishing rights to this match to the Warring Gentleman’s Gazette for 500 silver.

  - Revamping Project: For the next 24 hours, all units in the Burning Barrows can be deconstructed for a full refund on the material spent.

  So sporting fights didn’t have restitution, but instead gave prestige rewards. Fascinating. This was clearly an incentive for any noble to fight with their golems, even if they weren’t at war. The question was why? Was it to keep our claws sharp, so that should war come to our land, everyone would be versed in controlling these golems? After all, we were all subjects to the Crown. We wouldn’t be called to muster our population, rather our golems instead. The idea of rewarding friendly fights while keeping us battle-ready made quite a bit of sense. All in all, this seemed like a great way to gain rewards while avoiding getting into actual conflict with others. I wondered though, did the loser receive any kind of prestige reward? I’d have to look it up.

  I noticed something a little clever. Perhaps it was an oversight on part of the Institute’s loan policy, but selling the publishing rights would give me 500 silver immediately and that silver would not go to paying back my loan immediately—since it technically wasn’t restitution. And while I had a good deal of silver to spend on building units, I was forbidden from using that cash to build on my newfound lots. Why? Because I could create buildings that would generate me income, undermining the original purpose of the low-interest, Crown-guaranteed loan.

  I had been racking my brains about where I’d come up with the money to build the Watchtower. But with the publishing rights to the fight sold, I could afford not just the tower, but also upgrades and maybe even a few more buildings on my new lots! Though this would be a bit of a gamble, because I had no clue how much buildings cost. I knew the units existed through reading, but without any open property, there was no Lot tab per say. Still, there had to be some low end buildings I could buy, right?

  So without much hesitation, I was quick to sell the publishing rights to my fight. What would that actually entail for the purchaser, I wonder? Perhaps there was a sport following of the Great Game, eager peasants lining up at market stalls, waiting to buy this periodical. The sales must be enough to justify such a purchasing price.

  But that question would be mine to ask another day. For now, I just had one interest. Getting that Watchtower up and running as soon as possible. I cashed out my prize, watched my account tick up by 500 silver, and then focused on the last and most crucial notification: Land Acquired.

  Meadowlands Acquired

  Lots: 4

  Resources Discovered: None

  Territory Size: 1 building per lot

  Lot value: 100 silver

  Territory Issues:

  - Territory is unsecured

  - Territory has no road connecting to your Manor. You cannot harvest resources until a road has been built. You cannot place units until a road has been built.

  So the territory had the total value of 400 silver? I had wagered a Fire Spice Mine, something that had a value of tens of thousands of silver, against such a meager territory? I placed my hand on my head and sighed. Had I really rolled the dice for something of such low value? But… then again, a man dying in the desert would pay anything for a glass of water.

  Pushing those feelings of recklessness and improper evaluations aside, I focused on the brand new tab that had appeared in my vision. It read Lot Buildings. My heart leapt with excitement as I opened it up to see what was available to me.

  License Level 0 Lot Buildings

  Watchtower

  Cost: 150 silver

  Lot Size: 1

  The Watchtower will alert you to impending invasions regardless of distance. When an invasion reaches a road you control, the Watchtower will inform you of invasion timer and size of force. Upgrades can be made to preview enemy force composition and even unit types.

  Mana Crystal Farm

  Cost: 200 silver

  Lot Size: 1

  A Mana Crystal Farm is a small glass building where crystals are grown in mystic waters. This produces a tiny amount of mana crystals per day. Can be upgraded.

  Combat Forge

  Cost: 300 silver

  Lot Size: 2

  The Combat Forge unlocks golem upgrades that can be researched over time. Research speed is determined by special resources, staff size and budget. Can be upgraded.

  Customs House

  Cost: 100 silver

  Lot Size: 1

  A Customs House allows neutral and friendly parties to utilize your roads in exchange for a toll fee. This can open up new shipping routes for non-participants in the Great Game, boosting trade in the surrounding area. Can be upgraded.

  Income Building

  Cost: 500 silver

  Lot Size: 1

  An Income Building generates weekly income for the owner. The type of building is determined automatically by the Grid depending on resources, lot quality and other factors. Can be upgraded.

  Construction Warehouse

  Cost: 100 silver, 100 mana crystals

  Lot Size: 1

  Creates and houses constructio
n golems. These golems carry out construction orders for building roads. They are not required for Lot Building construction however, for that is an instantaneous process thanks to the powers possessed by the starmetal. Can be upgraded.

  The Grid showed the Meadowlands before me, cut up into four squares, each lot of land glowing. All I had to do was drag a building type onto the lot and construction would be performed. First and foremost was the Watchtower. Immediately, the money was pulled out of my account and a great wooden tower appeared upon the land, shooting up into the sky.

  Atop the tall wooden tower was a great gleaming gem that crackled with power, radiating red energy. Right away, a notification appeared in my vision.

  Major Invasion Detected.

  The map of Velicia zoomed out and a red ping radiated in the east, to where Lady Efera’s land was. I could see a large caravan outline with a two week timer above it. The caravan was moving incredibly slowly across the roads, but it was unmistakably heading in my general direction.

  Invasion Force: Significant

  Invasion Target: Unspecified

  Invasion Participants: The Efera Gentry

  “Damn it…” I hissed. Lady Efera was coming for me? Perhaps that was why Lily was late to joining us. The Lady might not have been able to capture her legally, but stall? Perhaps long enough to where the attack would come as a surprise to me? Or maybe…maybe our spy plot had been found out and this was retaliation. Either way, I had trouble coming for me.

  Before I closed out the Grid to find Sigmund and tell him of what I saw coming our way, I decided to make a few more building purchases first. The Construction Warehouse would be useful for building roads and was cheap. And the Mana Crystal Farm was a necessity, since I had no other way to gain them for now. One crystal per week was better than none, I suppose. Though I hoped the generation would be much, much higher. I’d need a small fortune to repel a Large invasion.

  Chapter 35

  The Watchtower, in hindsight, was the single greatest purchase I had made so far. It had alerted me to the dangers of a major enemy invasion within seconds of its construction. No other purchase paid off so damn quickly. But even in spite of my awareness of the situation, I was panicking. How in the hell I was going to face off against the Crystal Bitch herself? She probably had been scouting me out in her first attack, hiding her true motives all along. But she would be sorely mistaken if she believed I wasn’t capable of defending myself. Those Slugtine traps alone should throw her off!

  But I had a lot of unprotected territory now. I might not be able to keep the land I had just won. For while my three home territories were rather well defended, each lot in the Meadowlands needed to be secured individually. The moment Lady Efera saw such open, unprotected space, she’d take it. And I didn’t have the resources to spend on defending them all.

  I’d have to work fast here, but perhaps there was a way to salvage this situation before it got out of hand. It would require some world-class finesse, however.

  Sigmund and Avaline both entered my office at the same time. The old butler had opened the door for her, allowing her to enter. Sannah, the etiquette maid, shuffled behind Avaline, chirping about how to walk properly.

  “I know how to walk,” Avaline grumbled.

  “Not quite, you can’t slump over like that. Shoulders back, you are not a Skinvel gorilla!” Sannah said, trying to demonstrate how to stand upright. Avaline paid no mind to the maid and merely walked over to the table where I was sitting.

  “Uncle Richard,” she said, bowing to me.

  “Wrong bow,” Sannah said. “To one’s patriarch, you must bow hand out and head tilted to the left.”

  “He’s not my patriarch, he’s my uncle. Besides, he doesn’t care about this, does he?” she asked.

  I looked up from the notes I had been scribbling. I half heard the question, but Sannah’s exasperated expression gave me reason to side with her. “Listen to your maidservant,” I said. “The woman has been in the courts for ten years. She knows what she’s talking about.”

  “Indeed! Etiquette is how you set your opponent at ease,” Sigmund said as he sat across from us. The old man was looking more and more healthy these days. The normally pale visage he wore was somewhat gone, replaced with a mild tan. His lean frame had packed on a few pounds, filling out his uniform, and I could swear that he was a bit more muscular than I remembered. Was he training for combat? “It helps everyone around you think you’re playing by their rules. Suck it up, Miss Avaline. Pretend you’re one of them. That way they’ll underestimate you.”

  Those words seemed to catch the young woman’s interest. She raised an eye at the idea of using etiquette as a kind of weapon. “I suppose that makes sense. Sorry, Sannah. Show me that bow again?”

  Once they were settled in, I looked up from my notes. “Thank you both for coming so quickly.”

  “What else is there to do in this place?” Avaline said. “I thought you rich people had all sorts of stuff to do. Play fancy games, eat a startling amount of cheeses and relax in saunas. You don’t have anything like that.”

  “I think we have some playing cards somewhere,” Sigmund said. “I think Lily was using them last.”

  I raised a hand to stop the small talk. “Apologies, but we have more important things to discuss than parlor games and frivolity.” My tone caused Avaline to frown. She sat up and put her hands in her lap, eager to hear my words. “Lady Efera is coming at us with a significant invasion force. Our Watchtower has given us two weeks before they arrive.”

  “Any idea why she’s attacking?” Sigmund asked as he drew out his pipe, packing it with tobacco.

  “Unsure. It could be a diplomatic incident…but something tells me it’s more. I checked the language terminology in that book you gave me and Significant is the largest type of invasion force. Basically means everything except for the barn animals,” I explained. “Which leads me to perhaps wonder if…well, she might be trying to relocate.”

  “Relocate?” Avaline said.

  “Yes. Our current intelligence profile on the Lady’s house indicates she’s been in some hot water for some time. And it’s not going well. If the shoe finally dropped on the other foot, she might look at my territory as a means to start again.”

  “True…” Sigmund said. “Very true. But is this an act of insidious planning or desperation? For preparing a defense requires our understanding of her motive.”

  “How so?” I asked, leaning forward. It was time for my butler’s military experience to shine here.

  “A cruel and calculated move has figured everything out ahead of time. Assuming she was planning a hostile takeover of our land from the beginning, we must assume not only has she built a proper force to attack us, but she knows our weaknesses. The good news in facing an enemy who has calculated their plan means that there is a point where they will accept loss. If we show them we pack a mean punch, they’ll give up half-way,” the old man explained.

  My stomach clenched at the next question. “And if she’s desperate?”

  “Then I assume she will fight to every last golem she has. I’d rather fight a calculated enemy than a desperate one, I’ll tell you that. The heart of one backed into a corner is capable of defying many odds. One who seeks conquest out of lust or greed? Not nearly as terrifying as one who has no other recourse,” Sigmund warned.

  “Why not just hire a few goons to wait on the road and jump her? Slit her throat and call it a day,” Avaline said. Sannah cleared her throat, prompting Avaline to scowl. “What? It’s a good idea.”

  “We don’t kill in the Great Game,” I explained. “For it is undignified. But…maybe that’s not a bad idea. What if we staged an ambush on the road? And by ambush, I mean set up a defensive perimeter that she’ll have to invade to get past.”

  “Rather than defend all of our territory, we just create a unified front and hold it!” Sigmund said. “It’s brilliant!” He frowned, however, realizing so
mething was amiss. “But the trouble there is in creating a route that would force her into our trap. There are many open roads leading to our territories. If she encounters a blockade, she’ll just turn around and go elsewhere.”

  “Then I suppose that’s going to be your task,” I said. “Find some way to close the roads down. We have Construction Golems, so perhaps we could simply build impassable structures. I’ll leave you to handle the particulars.”

  “Thank you, Master Richard,” Sigmund said as he stood up and bowed. I could see the exhilaration in his eyes, the excitement upon his face; he couldn’t be happier to be setting up this ambush. He was quick to excuse himself and I made no effort to keep him. Instead, I turned my attentions to my niece, who was trying her best not to fidget, though failing miserably.

  Avaline looked at me with a puzzled expression. “So I must ask why you’ve invited me into a strategic meeting,” she said.

  “Well, remember how we were discussing arranging a marriage?” I said.

  She nodded. “Of course.”

  “Well, how about a very short betrothal period?” I asked. “Because we’re going to need to call upon our allies to fend off this attack. And honestly, we don’t actually have any allies until you marry.”

  Avaline leaned back, rubbing her chin. “I mean, I suppose I don’t much care about how short the time is. In fact, I received a letter from Nelson just a day ago. It was formal, but clearly trying to show he is interested in me. But he also mentioned his grandfather being a little on edge about us meeting. So, even if we were to get married, I highly doubt Nelson would be put in charge of the estate. I don’t know why the old man doesn’t like me. Probably smells my peasant blood.”

  She was right, of course. I was unsure of the hang-up, but for whatever reason Eustace Frankinson didn’t seem to approve of Nelson and Avaline being together. Was it his own stubbornness? His fear of losing his seat of control? Or was it her specifically he didn’t like? “Well, from what Nelson has told me, the first to get married gets the throne, so to speak. So Grandpa Eustace’s feelings aside, there isn’t anything he can do about it.”