King of the Sea

Chapter 63

Chapter 63

Adela was currently in her room playing with a letter in her hands, debating whether or not she should read its contents. On this letter was the seal of house von Habsburg-Innsbruck and she knew of only one member of that family who would ever write to her. Obviously, this letter contained the words of Linde, though what it contained the young girl did not have the heart to find out. She was fearful it would contain the truth about the parentage of Linde's child as a way to mock her now that she was away from Berengar's company.

After some time, Adela decided to open the letter and, after doing so, read through its contents with an anxious outlook. It was only after she had re-read the letter three times did she fully relax; she realized that she had been completely overthinking things and that she should have opened it sooner.

The letter contained Linde's plea to unite their families against the Church's ploys to interfere with Berengar's trade. It did not contain a single spiteful comment by Linde and actually encouraged them to get along. However, there was a certain sentence that made Adela mildly upset. Her sight caught onto it and re-read it constantly for nearly ten minutes, and the passage was as follows.

"For the man we both love, I see no reason that we can not unite and do our best to aid him in his hour of need."

Though Linde had always hinted about her feelings towards Berengar, and Adela indeed suspected there was a relationship between the two, at this point, Linde was outright admitting it in this letter. Adela could not help but sigh and pout as she rested her cheek in the palm of her hand while expressing her thoughts aloud.

"Why did I have to fall in love with a womanizer like you?"

There was nobody in the room to hear her, and as such, she merely sat in silence thinking about all the great memories she had made with Berengar over the past few months. She greatly desired to see him again, but unfortunately, her birthday was not for another month. However, despite knowing about Berengar's actions, she was not angry and instead decided to aid Linde in helping Berengar; as such, she quickly rushed to her father, who was in the middle of his study.

Count Otto was going over the ledger containing the steel reserves he had amassed from trade with Berengar; at this rate, he would soon be able to supply his armies with the best equipment. Like Sieghard had envisioned, his armies would be equipped mostly with a brigandine and steel plate mixture. As such, he was currently signing orders to produce such equipment when he heard a knock on his door. He quickly announced that the door was unlocked.

"It is open."

After hearing such words, Adela opened the door and approached her father with a serious expression. Adela was the youngest of Otto's daughters and the one he doted on the most. If not for the dire need of iron, he never would have engaged his favorite daughter to her once sickly cousin; instead, he would find her a prince. However, the engagement turned out for the best as Berengar proved to be quite the capable young man and had turned a massive amount of iron into steel, which was practically a miracle in this medieval world. The couple also seemed to be greatly fond of one another, so it worked out for the best.

After Adela arrived in the room, she quickly spouted out her thoughts to her father

"Berengar is in trouble!"

This struck a nerve with Otto as he was unaware of such things; in fact, now that Berengar ruled over both Kufstein and Kitzbühel in his father's stead, the young man should be doing better than ever, as such he questioned what exactly his precious daughter meant when she said that.

"What do you mean?"

Adela was unhesitant as she quickly explained the situation to her father.

"The Pope has issued a decree openly endorsing the theft of his trade; Berengar does not have a reputation fearsome enough to dissuade his neighbors from engaging in such acts, let alone the territories between our land and his. If we do not issue a public statement backing him, then I'm afraid we will no longer be able to get the steel we require for the army."

Count Otto was outraged when he heard this news; he immediately questioned in his own mind as to why he was not informed earlier. After thinking things through he let loose his inner thoughts about the papacy and their constant interference into the secular realm's affairs.

"Why is it that the Pope always has to stick his nose into the business of the nobility. This is outrageous. I will immediately publically denounce such a statement and stand by Berengar's side. I will also encourage my allies to do the same and make it clear what will happen if anyone dares to steal my shipments!"

Adela was elated by the news and ran up to her father and hugged him with joy.

"Thanks, daddy!"

after saying that, she left the man behind in his study alone with his own thoughts. After Adela had disappeared beyond his door, the count pulled out a chalice and a flagon of wine and began to drink from it before sighing out loud.

"Damnit Berengar, I know the Church is full of s**t, but you just had to execute two of their f*****g inquisitors. I won't be able to protect you from everything, but this is the least I can do to honor our alliance."

As such, he quickly pulled out a piece of parchment and his quill. Where he began to draft a public decree of condemnation against the Church and their public endorsement of theft, labeling it a violation of the ten commandments and unbecoming of the Vatican and the Pope who was God's representative on Earth. After doing so, he had it spread far and wide so that anyone with half a brain could realize that provoking Berengar and his alliances with two Counts was a terrible idea. Ultimately this decision would help lead to the German Schism with the Catholic Church, which was on the horizon.

: Recruitment Drive

: Recruitment Drive

: Recruitment Drive

Word eventually reached Berengar of the Papacy's ploy to have him removed from power by the Teutonic Order and to place his brother Lambert in control after the region had been annexed. After all, Ludolf had immediately contacted Berengar's burgeoning spy network in Innsbruck and had them send word to Kufstein about such a conspiracy. Berengar knew that sparing his brother would come back to bite him in the a*s, but for the sake of his mother, he had done so. A decision which he deeply regretted at this point. The Teutonic Order was no small force, and with his current armies, he had little chance of defeating them, as such had no choice but to boost his recruitment efforts for his militia. Ultimately he had decided to incorporate the militia and the professional army directly under his father's command into a united unit, and train them appropriately. As far as his father's forces when he was called off to war were concerned, Berengar would hire a group of mercenaries to fight alongside the Viscount.

Aside from completing his Artillery Battalion and raising a larger group of Cuirassiers, Berengar had done little in recruitment. However, with access to double the population he once had, he now knew that he had to begin using the Barony of Kitzbühel and its large population to fill his ranks. But first, he had to make one innovation which he had revised after the successful campaign against Kitzbühel.

As such, Berengar once more visited Ludwig's office with a new set of blueprints in hand. When he arrived, the old man was quick to greet his Lord.

"Milord, I was not expecting your visit. Is there anything I can help you with?"

Berengar did not say a word and merely laid the designs he had drafted on the table for Ludwig to see. It was a new sword design, based entirely on the British Heavy Cavalry Sword from his past life. If there was one thing that the conflict with Kitzbühel taught him, it is that the single-edged design of the Dusack was less effective against the heavily armored forces of the late medieval period. As such, he had to rethink the swords used by his cuirassiers, and searching through his memory, he found this gem.

The blade of the sword was inches in length and was had a full edge on one side, with a half-edge on the upper half of the other side. It was a weird mixture of a backsword, and a broadsword, allowing for efficient cuts and thrusts and some more obscure attacks like the reverse s***h. The hilt was almost like a basket-hilt, but not quite; with a completely symmetrical guard that covered the entire hand, there was just enough space to allow for the full rotation of the wrist, making it both incredibly versatile and ambidextrous. The blade was more than tapered enough to get through the gaps in medieval plate armor, and as such, was the superior weapon for his cavalry forces. Luckily his cuirassiers were little in number, and as such, he had not heavily invested into their dusacks.

Even Ludwig was impressed by the design and asked about Berengar's intentions.

"This is?"

Berengar grinned with pride as he clasped Ludwig's shoulder

"The new sword for my Cuirassiers!"

Ludwig could not help but sigh; every time Berengar visited him, it was either for drinks or to produce new designs. Though he had more than enough manpower to do such a thing, especially with the mass implementation of water-powered technology like the trip hammer, it just meant more work on his platter. He was already swamped with all of the production lines he was currently overseeing. After realizing he was merely switching the production of the dusacks to these cavalry swords, he felt as if it really was not as big as a deal as he was making it and thus could not help but accept it.

"Alright, I'll see it done. It is a mighty fine blade after all..."

Berengar slapped Ludwig on the back before complimenting him

"You always know how to make me happy Ludwig, how about we go out for drinks tonight at the tavern?"

Ludwig could not help but smile

"Sure, I'll be there."

afterward, Berengar left him behind and went to his paper factory, where he encountered the men hard at work. The head of the factory quickly greeted him.

"Milord, it is an honor to have you here."

Berengar was used to the man's over-enthusiastic attitude at this point and quickly cut to the chase.

"I need some recruitment fliers for the militia made. Here is the basic design."

As such, Berengar handed the man a recruitment flier that he had personally designed and left the rest up his factory and the many printing presses they had within it. The foreman quickly responded to Berengar's request.

"I will have it done, Milord."

With that, his spy network would spread his recruitment fliers across Kufstein and Kitzbühel to act as a means to recruit many volunteers. He would not come to realize how effective his p********a would be until later than the month when the number of recruits willing to join the militia raised significantly. After all, the people of Kitzbühel were well aware of how effective his forces were, and now that Berengar ruled over them in his father's name, much more disillusioned youth were more than happy to join such an elite force. Soon enough, his armies would be substantially larger, a force that a mere Viscount would not normally have under his command.

Thus Berengar's militia would soon drastically increase in size; by the time the Teutonic Order invaded his domain, they would be met with a rude awakening as such Berengar spent the rest of his day continuing on his daily tasks of overseeing the many aspects in which he was entrusted as Regent of Kufstein. He seriously began to wonder if his father was still alive. It had been quite some time since the old man went into seclusion, and though Berengar was happy that he was finally able to accomplish so much, he was apprehensive about his father's health. As such, he vowed that he would take some time in the following day to check up on the old man and try to cheer him up. After all, he had been far too busy to maintain his familial affairs as of late.