Henry drew an arrow and scanned his surroundings. It wasn't that he was trying to show off; he just didn't want to embarrass himself.
[Control Power Bow Skill: ②Moving Shooting, ③Eagle Eye, ④Cavalry Bowman activating...]
[Endurance Riding Skill: ④Riding and Shooting Talent activating...]
[Cunning Reconnaissance Skill: ②Vision Correction activating...]
The damp earth, the myriad scents of nature, the strength and direction of the wind... Henry's nose twitched. Suddenly, he spotted a black dot in the distant grass and immediately spurred his horse forward.
Bain hadn't seen anything, but he immediately spurred his horse after Henry.
The thundering hooves startled the animals in the grass, which fled in a group. Wild boars! Seven of them! Henry urged his warhorse to speed up. At the same time, he nocked an arrow and let it fly!
[Control Power Bow Skill: ①Rapid Fire, ②Moving Shooting activating...]
An Armor-Piercing Arrow shot from Henry's hand, quick as lightning, instantly piercing a wild boar's heart! The arrow had gone straight through its anus.
A small smile touched Henry's lips. Draw, nock, aim, fire! With a piercing whistle, another wild boar fell to the ground.
Henry repeated the motion, taking down a third wild boar.
Henry turned to see Boman and Fass galloping toward him and reined in his warhorse. 'Three wild boars. That's enough. No need to steal the show.'
'They're two of my seniors. Plus, in the coming pioneer war, they're the nobles I plan to use as shields against the Half-Beastmen. I need to consider their feelings.'
Those who needed to play the social game kept it in mind; those who didn't could afford to be disdainful.
'Besides, three wild boars are plenty. It's the limit, really. I can't carry any more back. I only brought Bain, my one Attendant, and Boman was the one who provided the cart for the game.'
[Hunting Expert, EXP +66]
"Bain, retrieve the arrows, tie up the carcasses, and get them on the cart."
"Yes, sir."
Suddenly, Henry heard cheering in the distance. He figured Boman or Fass had successfully caught something.
"Nice shooting!" Fass's voice carried from the distance.
Henry followed the sound of the voice and saw Boman riding slowly toward him. The attendant behind him had a dead wild boar slung over his horse's back.
"Looks like everyone had a good day," Henry said with a smile.
"Haha, we have you to thank for it! If you hadn't shot those boars earlier, I doubt I'd have even seen a whisker on one," Boman laughed heartily.
"Not at all. It was just luck," Henry replied humbly.
While they were talking, Fass also galloped over. He too had game on his horse's back, something that looked like a large bird.
"You two are amazing!"
"Heh, child's play," Fass said, the corners of his mouth turning up in a smug smile.
'He hadn't lost to Boman today. A small deer and a large bird weren't any worse than a single wild boar.'
The group gathered their game and prepared to return to Odoche. They chatted and laughed along the way, the atmosphere congenial.
Boman and Fass told Henry stories about their academy days, and Henry would chime in whenever he heard the name of a familiar teacher.
The bountiful spoils from this hunt were a minor matter; the main goal was to strengthen their friendship.
Relationships, after all, needed to be maintained.
"Henry, should we take the game to the market and sell it?"
Henry thought for a moment, then said, "Why don't we give our game to Count John? We've been staying in the Count's castle for so long, we should show our appreciation somehow."
Earl John Hoyland, the master of the Earldom of Hoyland, controlled over 37,200 square kilometers of land.
His domain included a large city with a castle, four independent military forts with their attached villages and farmsteads, seventeen villages, two pastures, seven manors, a horse farm, a logging camp, and hundreds of serf plantations. With a population of over seven hundred thousand within his domain, he had to be taken seriously.
This was no ordinary medieval world. High-yield crops, brought in via maritime trade and southern trade routes, allowed the empire to support a much larger population.
Boman and Fass considered it and agreed with Henry's idea. When they returned to Odoche, they drew many stares. Of course, most of the attention was on the game they brought back—it was practically a mountain of meat.
Boman found Count John's steward and told him the game was a gift for the Count, to thank him for his hospitality.
"Thank you for your thoughtfulness, Knights. May I ask who is the master of each kill...?"
Boman pointed to one of the wild boars. "This one is mine. The other three belong to Sir Henry, and the last two are Sir Fass's."
"Thank you, Knights. I shall report this to the Count."
Henry and the others didn't go to meet the Count, instead heading their separate ways. The game was just a small gift. 'What kind of status does a Count have? You think he's going to be grateful over a few animals?'
'Seriously? You can't be serious.'
After the steward reported the matter to Count John, the Count expressed his appreciation for their gesture and decided to invite them to participate in an upcoming tournament.
Things in the east were about to get lively. There would be chaos, a massive influx of people... but with all that came countless riches.
Yes, if an Honorary Baron like Pedro had heard the news, then Count John certainly knew it as well. Undercurrents had been stirring in the Royal Capital for years, and the security situation on the eastern border was growing increasingly dire.
This massive invasion by the Half-Beastmen was a grave provocation to the empire's authority. The King would surely launch a counterattack.
Could Count John truly not have thought of the Pioneer Bill? Or, for that matter, had none of the Border Counts and Viscounts? But they could not be the ones to propose it; doing so would make the King suspicious.
When the empire first unified Caladia, there were nine Grand Dukes and nine massive duchies. Later, over generations, the royal family eliminated five of them, one by one: the Wuerhunaiti Duchy, the Banu Hultin Duchy, the Gondarov Duchy, the Dai Melok Duchy, and the Fin Gruffendok Duchy.
These five great duchies had all been established by the royal family in the early years, enfeoffing the defeated royalty of other kingdoms to quickly stabilize the growing empire. Once the empire had regained its strength, the first to be dealt with were the old remnants of the Kuset, followed by the historical legacies of the Stegia, Aserai, Battania, and Valandia...
Now, there was no longer any distinction between this kingdom or that culture. Everyone was a citizen of the empire.
Ever since then, the Dukes of the realm had become cautious in their words and actions, constantly taking the initiative to dilute their own power. With such precedents, the Border Counts didn't dare make any major moves.
Therefore, the Pioneer Bill could only be proposed by the minor nobility, and it had to be those whose fiefs had been destroyed.
And now, Henry had taken the initiative to propose it. Better yet, he had only just been ennobled by the King. The proposal had to come from Henry!
The latest news Count John had received was that seven of the King's own Imperial Standing Legions were already gathering in the east. As soon as their joint proposal reached the Royal Capital, the Pioneer Bill would be activated at once!
Count John tapped his fingers on the table. "How long has the messenger from the Imperial Office been gone?"
"My lord, he left three hours ago. The office is taking this very seriously, stating they will spare no horse or man and travel day and night. They'll ride seven or eight horses to their deaths, but they should reach the Royal Capital in about four days."
Count John nodded. "I recall that some mercenary companies and merchant caravans, having caught wind of the news, are already heading toward the border cities, correct?"
"That is correct, my lord. We expect about three mercenary companies and twenty-seven merchant caravans to arrive in Odoche."
Count John snorted. No one liked these wandering caravans and mercenaries. They were masters of tax evasion, and they could legally recruit people from the nobles' own lands.
However, he had to admit that this riffraff was undeniably effective at revitalizing a region.
Count John nodded and said, "In ten days, Odoche will host a tournament. The champion's prize will be one warhorse, five hundred Dinar... oh, and that useless medal."
"As for the betting, let Pedro handle it. He's an expert in that area. Spread the news. I want everyone around to have their eyes on Odoche. I want them to come here and spend their money!"
"Yes, my lord. I'll see to it at once."
John picked up the wine glass on his table, took a sip, and muttered to himself, "I need to make a fortune, and fast."
Meanwhile, the Count's steward came to Henry's room to relay Count John's message.
"What? A tournament? And he wants me to participate?"
The Count's steward nodded. "His Lordship the Count is organizing a tournament in ten days. The champion's rewards are a champion's medal, notarized by the Imperial Office, a warhorse, and five hundred Dinar in prize money. If you wish to place your own bets, that is your own affair."
"The Count was pleased with your gift and extends a special invitation to you, Sir Boman, and Sir Fass to participate in the tournament and display your prowess."
Henry nodded, agreeing to participate.
After the Count's steward left, Bain sidled up to Henry, fidgeting in a way that got on Henry's nerves.
"Spit it out!"
Bain grinned. "Sir, didn't you say you'd get me a new warhorse? Look, a war's about to start. If I had a warhorse, I could protect you, couldn't I? Look at what happened today! I couldn't even keep up with you on the hunt."
It dawned on Henry. This was about his promise from that morning to get Bain a new warhorse.
"The prize for this tournament includes a warhorse, doesn't it? It'll be yours."
"Long live my lord!"
Henry waved him off, telling Bain to go groom the horses. He himself sank into thought, feeling that something was not right.
'At a time like this, why would the Count hold a tournament? To make money?'
'Could it be Pedro? It's possible. That guy just secretly invested one hundred seventy thousand Dinar in me, which is a huge gamble! Perhaps a tournament could generate a lot of income for him.'
'No, that's not right. The Count is the one organizing this tournament... Unless!'
Henry shot to his feet. He quickly reviewed everything he had seen and heard over the past two days and realized there was something he had overlooked.
On the road from the Royal Capital to Odoche, he had seen more and more merchant caravans. That alone was a huge red flag.
The greatest wealth of the eastern grasslands consisted of horses, furs, clay, and iron ore. There was simply not enough trade volume to account for all this traffic! For the eastern part of the empire, trade had always been a weakness.
So why were these caravans, in such appalling numbers, heading east?
The small-time merchants in Odoche didn't normally handle large transactions. How could they possibly come up with the massive quantities of grain and military equipment he required?
Henry suddenly understood. It all clicked into place. This pioneer war was already a foregone conclusion!
'So they were all just waiting for someone to propose the Pioneer Bill... Heh. A clever bunch, all of them.'