Herald of Steel

Lord Castell would only choose to ransom the elite riders and nobles because socially they were the only ones that mattered.

There was really no need to explain why he had to rescue the latter- they were nobles, end of argument.

While the former also had considerable wealth and thus power in Sybarian society.

Without that, they would not have been able to even become those elite riders because the cost of everything during their training - their food, lodging, the horses and the feed and care for these horses, the wages of the instructors, etc. had to be borne by each trainee themselves.

This was a massive expense that a peasant would have a hard time affording even if he worked his whole life without spending a dime.

Not to mention, at the end of the day, it was possible they would not be even chosen for the unit.

The most common reason was injury, like breaking an arm or leg.

But sometimes, even if they all successfully completed their training and passed the test, if there were too many applying, then only the amount required to form the unit would be taken,

Because maintaining large numbers of such elite units was taxing even for a ducal family like the Heeats.

So then those men would be put in reserve, i.e.- they would be asked to return to their work with the promise they would be the first ones to be called if something happened.

Knowing this Lord Castell at one point had even wanted to leave these captured men. But refrained because traditionally, these units were always redeemed no matter what.

The Heeat family did this because this knowledge allowed the riders to fight with high morale, knowing their employer had their back.

But given how these riders broke and ran thus resulting in the death of their lord, Lord Castell planned to at least shear the fat sheeps for their mistake once he got home.

The Heeat family might not kill them for incompetence, but they were also certainly not going to foot the bill for their freedom.

And the same deal went for the nobles, although given how much their family was worth, that roughly 20,000 ropals was not as bad as the 11,000 ropal was for the riders.

Knowing this Alexander had wanted to charge 50,000 ropals for each of those moneybags, but Lord Castell objected, and given they numbered less than forty in total, Alexander frankly found the subsequent haggling too much of a hassle to bother.

Besides, whatever tiny amount he lost in that exchange, Alexander more than made up for it with the roundabout 8,000 regular grunts he got for 'free'.

"We cannot afford to free the infantry. They are yours." Lord Castell simply told Alexander, his voice cold and detached.

Alexander's heart almost panged hearing this.

Because as a military commander, he found it hard to accept that one could so easily discard so many loyal men who were willing to fight and die for him.

If Lord Castell did not buy them, these men's only fate was to become slaves.

But at the end of the day it was not Alexander's place to complain, nor would he look a gift horse in a mouth.

He thus graciously accepted the gift, then with a small smile asked,

"Then my lord I would like also to buy the immediate family members of these men. You can deduct the expense for this from the ransom amount I owe."

Alexander's plan was very similar to how he had families of his retainer from Thesos brought over to Zanzan.

This way these men would get a continuation of their lives, and hopefully become loyal to Alexander when he formed them into two new legions.

Why let good soldiers go to waste after all?

"I'm sorry, we do not sell our people." However, all of Alexander's plans were immediately dashed by Lord Castell's instant objection, who sharply commented, "They are our people and no foreign lord can simply buy them willy nilly."

And although sounding heartless, there was indeed some logic to his words.

Imagine your father became a prisoner of war in a foreign land and then after a few months, you, a free man also ended up joining him because your lord sold you like a slave.

This would be outrageous for even the very docile people of this era.

It was also because of this that even when Alexander offered a premium, reasoning that without a male to earn coin, those people left behind would become more burden than they were worth, or that given how these men had fought for the Heeat family, they should be allowed to join their family, Lord Castell refused to budge.

"If you have such a bleeding heart, just free them. You are asking for too many people and this is too much work. Keep them and your money!"

Lord Castell refused to budge despite monetary concerns.

"....." While Alexander could only helplessly purse his lips at this, understanding he will need to find a new way to buy the loyalty of those new men.

So, with the 'pleasantries' done, the two sides finally moved on to the main issue they were here to discuss- what to do with the Margraves.

"My lord, Lady Miranda is the chosen head of the family, as declared by her grandfather, the former head. We hope your family will respect that." Outwardly Alexander presented a very strong pro Lady Miranda stanch, as if wanting to restore the Margraves to their intact glory.

But after coming so far, Lord Castell would be a fool to leave empty handed just because Alexander said so.

He argued fiercely with power,

"From what I have been told by Lord Kite, she was only a regent, a stand in for her son, who is… unfortunately dead… my condolences. Now it should be Lady Linda's son, my grandnephew, who is next in line."

This kind of talk went on back and forth for a while, with each other presenting their own version of the events. But nothing there was said that had not been already said earlier as the crux of the matter was that when the Old Margraves lord had died, he did not leave clear instructions to the chain of succession.

Alexander and Lord Castell would spew words all day long without coming any closer to a definite, logical answer.

Meaning they had to discuss in terms of strength.

And given Alexander had just won that exchange, he got to dictate the terms first.

He proposed, "My lord, we are willing to give a quarter of the Margrave's lands to Lady Linda and her son. The rest should belong to us the victors."

"A quarter is too little. The least we can accept is half. And in exchange, we will also petition for the Federation council to reinstate the Margrave's access to our secure routes… both of them."

Lord Castell's counteroffer was not bad, especially when you considered the last part that was added to sweeten the deal.

Was that not the main reason why the Margraves were in such a bad spot?

Now, if you thought the negotiations were going too smoothly and Lord Castell knew exactly which buttons to press, well once again, it was because Lord Kite had already spoken to Lord Castell about the matter privately, giving him a brief outline of Alexander's demands.

Alexander had hinted at agreeing to a split of the lands if he got to keep his free trade agreement with the Margraves.

And Lord Castell also knowing what his limits were chose to cleverly accept it.

Given the size of the disaster, being able to return with half of the Margrave's territory was already good enough, able to sufficiently offset his elder brother's fury.

But after a bit more haggling from Alexander, the Margraves was broken more be like forty, forty, and twenty, with the twenty percent going to…. you guessed it, Alexander.

And the excuse he gave for this split was almost comical, stating,

"I believe there should be a buffer region between the areas controlled by the two sisters… controlled by an impartial, neutral party This will prevent any hostile party with malevolent intentions from trying to falsely pit the two blood kin."

This statement was wrong on so many levels that it was not even funny.

First of all, Alexander was perhaps the farthest from being impartial in any way imaginable. Not only had he fought against Miss Linda openly in favor of Lady Miranda, but his interests on the island were heavily joined.

Secondly, and the much more ridiculous part, was that the land he wanted was all along the eastern coast of the island, overlooking Tibias and Zanzan.

If he had truly wanted a buffer state, he should have placed his land along the boundary of the two sisters.

Now the reason why he wanted his land along the sea was obvious. It would be far easier to reinforce it from his homeland this way, and many of the men living around there were also expert sailors and fishermen.

But strangely enough, Lord Castell did not point this glaring inconsistency out and instead actually agreed!

Because he took this as Alexander taking his piece of the pie, his reward for the victory.

Let us say no to piracy! Don't take part in a crime! Don't patronize thieves!

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