King of the Sea

Chapter 53

Chapter 53

Though the process was simple; it took a lot of time to complete; essentially, one would create a waterproof mixture of manure, green plant matter, and ash. From there, they would make sure it was covered in a stable environment with limited sunlight and pour the cow urine on the mixture once a week for three to four months. Eventually, yellow crystals would form, be skimmed out of the mixture, and then placed into a bucket with holes in the bottom with a paper filter. The remainder of the bucket would be filled / s of the way with the leftover pile and have boiling water poured into it until the pile was gone.

This process would be repeated until all of the saltpeter could be harvested, where it would then be mixed with charcoal and sulfur to make black powder. Now was finally the day when his armies no longer had to rely on expensive imports of the rare material and could produce it themselves in a constantly growing capacity. Truthfully Berengar pitied the men who had to work in the nitraries at it seemed like a filthy job to him, but it was entirely necessary, and thus they were paid very well for their labor.

There was a gaze of pride on Berengar's face as he saw the results of his efforts and was greatly pleased by them. He congratulated the men on their first successful batch of the substance.

"Men, you have done an amazing job these last few months, and I hereby award you all with a % raise to your salaries. Keep up the excellent work, and more rewards are sure to come!"

The men who engaged in such dirty work were truly ecstatic when they heard they were given a raise for their performances. All of their hard work had paid off. However, they could not become complacent and needed to begin preparing the next batch. A continuous supply of the substance was necessary for Berengar to wage war in the most efficient manner possible.

Thus Berengar left the men to their work as he returned to his other enterprises. Berengar noticed that the men beneath his command were currently running drills as per usual. There was a constant influx of recruits within the Militia, which acted more as a National Guard than an Army at the moment. Despite, some of the men in his militia being inducted into the Town Guard full time. The majority of them only trained on weekends after completing basic and specialized training.

Currently, his militia had reached his goal of roughly foot soldiers in companies, as well as two full Artillery batteries filled with a total of field guns and men. He was one Artillery battery away from fielding a full Artillery Battalion. A feat which he would desire to achieve shortly. However, it would be some time yet until he could achieve it.

Berengar had gone through great expense to acquire a sufficient supply of warhorses, something his region was desperately lacking. As such, he currently only had a company of Cavalrymen, though he had initially decided to use Demi-Lancers, ultimately he had changed his mind after he considered the fact that for now, he would be fighting medieval armies, without any significant access to gunpowder. As such he decided to go with the extremely effective cuirassiers which would be capable of breaking any spear formations with their pistols, before charging them down with their sabers. This elite unit of heavy cavalry was equipped in three quarter's plate armor, with an enclosed burgonet, and a pair of gauntlets. The weapons they wielded were a pair of pistols, as well as a dussack sword

Recognizing his dire need for warhorses, Berengar had begun a breeding program for species such as coursers. Still, it would be years before he could see the results in any significant capacity. Thus, for now, all he could do was import the horses to his region at a high cost. Luckily for him, his family was now extraordinarily wealthy due to the steel and textile trades. Many noblemen were willing to pay a premium to get their hands on such a large quantity of steel for use in their armies. Completely unaware that against Berengar's forces, mass equipping your forces with steel brigandine and plate was useless, but then again, they never expected Berengar to have such lofty ambitions.

After overseeing the militia exercises, Berengar returned to his , where he sat in his father's study with a liter of beer in his hands, slowly going over the remaining paperwork for the day. Tomorrow Adela would depart from his land, and he would not be able to see his little fiancee's adorable face for some time. At least he would be able to visit her for her birthday in a few months, speaking of which he should probably have some exquisite jewelry made for her to show his affection. After thinking about such things, he spent the remainder of his nightly work drafting plans for a ludicrously expensive set of jewels for his beloved.

: Monogamy is for Suckers

: Monogamy is for Suckers

: Monogamy is for Suckers

The day had Arrived, and Berengar was up bright and early, properly dressed to see his little fiancee off from his territory so that she may return to her land. Despite her suspicions about Berengar's potential affair with Linde, she had been quite happy during these past few months she spent getting to know her fiance. After some serious soul searching over the past few days, she had concluded that even if Berengar had secretly taken Linde as a lover, she would still marry him. She was confident in her ability to keep Berengar by her side, even if he did spend time with Linde. Who knows, maybe when her body finally matured, she would be even more beautiful than Linde; at that point, she could easily monopolize Berengar's love. Her only fear was that if Berengar was truly the father of Linde's child, that one day he might legitimize the bastard, and if it were to be born a boy, that bastard boy would become the heir to his titles. As such, she had decided she would do whatever it took to put her own future son on the throne in which Berengar was sure to carve out of this world.

Truthfully Berengar had been dreadfully busy these past few days and saw very little of either of his women and thus was unaware of the conflicts between them or the resolutions they had come to. However, to see her off, he was here now, and Linde was not present, fearing it might sour the relationship between her lover and his fiancee, She felt it would be best to be absent. Though she liked teasing Adela, she had no plans to steal her position as the wife. Berengar had made it clear that he intended to marry Adela and that his mind would not be swayed, and Linde had come to accept that.

Adela stood in front of her luxurious carriage, which was flanked by the retinue of knights who had protected her all of this time. They knew better than to get in the way of the young lady and her fiance. Berengar hugged the little girl before seeing her off. However, the words she whispered into his ear caught him off guard.

"I want you to know that even if you are with Linde, I will not stop fighting for your love..."

With that said, the little girl pecked him on his lips with her own before running away from his embrace and into her carriage. Leaving Berengar stunned in silence as the Caravan drifted off. He had a million thoughts racing across his mind as he watched Adela waving at him from the carriage in the distance. Chief among them was simply.

'Am I really that bad at hiding my affair?'

Despite realizing he was not as sly as he thought he was throughout this time, Berengar was happy that despite suspecting his illicit relationship with Linde, his little fiancee did not give up on marrying him. It would have been an unmitigated disaster if the girl had caught onto his actions and ended things after all of his efforts. As such, a wicked grin spread across his face as he stared into the clear blue sky above and voiced his thoughts aloud.

"Monogamy is for suckers..."

Berengar quickly returned to the castle after leaving his parting words for nobody to hear. He was not the type of guy to cultivate a harem; after all, trying to satisfy the emotional needs of more than two women was enough to drive any man to an early grave. However, if he could achieve it, he had more than enough love to spare for two beautiful ladies. As such, he was happy that things were progressing in the manner he intended.

Things were going to be lonely now that Adela was gone, but with Lambert having been exiled and his family already aware of his relationship with Linde, he no longer had to hide his actions and could openly flirt with Linde and enjoy her company without having to sneak around all the time. Surely that would be a liberating experience. Apparently, Linde had the same idea, for the moment he entered the Castle's doors, she jumped into his arms and began kissing him passionately. In between their kissing, Linde asked the question on her mind.

"So is the little girl gone?"

Berengar flicked her on her forehead, which interrupted their passionate display, and chastised his lover.

"Yes, but curiously she said something to me before she departed. Something unexpected..."

By the look on his face, Linde knew Adela probably mentioned something about their affair. As such, she acted innocently as if she had no idea what it could be about. As such, Berengar repeated what Adela had told him before narrowing his eyes and interrogating the young beauty.

"So tell me, what exactly did you say to Adela about us?"

Linde was caught off guard and blushed lightly as she tried to hide her embarrassment from Berengar; ultimately, she had been caught. After being cornered like this, she had no option but to confess.

"I may have said something along the lines of I would take good care of your fiance while you are away..."

Berengar stared at Linde with a tyrannical expression before speaking the words on his mind.

"You know what this means, right?"

Linde nodded; though she tried to hide it, she had an excited look in her eyes that told Berengar she had deliberately done this to be punished by him. Even if she enjoyed such a rough display of dominance, he would do exactly as she desired. As such, he dragged his lover into his room and spent the rest of his day punishing her severely for her actions which could have gone horribly wrong. For the first time in a long time, Berengar took a day off from work and merely spent it playing with his lover; if he were going to live a long and prosperous life, he would need to spend some days in such a manner...