As a Reincarnated Aristocrat, I’ll Use My Appraisal Skill to Rise in the World (LN) - Volume 3 - Chapter Ep

The cold of winter faded away, and under Couran’s orders, we set out to bring Velshdt under our control. Lumeire was tasked with leading us into battle. It seemed he’d risen further still in Couran’s esteem after his success against Thomas’s force. Our foes chose to hole up in the castle, while we set up encampments around it and laid siege. Lumeire was thorough, laying out defensive lines so tight that not even a mouse could slip out of the castle unnoticed.

A few days after the siege began, a messenger was dispatched from Velshdt bearing a letter of surrender. This time, the enemy had decided that there was nothing to be done about their situation and resolved to capitulate. That being said, their surrender was not unconditional: Kanses would only submit without a fight if we were willing to guarantee the safety of his vassals and followers. Notably, he did not ask that they be allowed to maintain their former statuses and positions, nor did he make any requests to spare his own life.

Lumeire didn’t have the authority to accept the conditions of surrender on his own, so he sent a letter to Couran describing the terms and asking how he should reply. A response soon arrived stating that Couran found the terms acceptable and would be willing to honor them. With that, Velshdt’s surrender to our force was accepted, and Lumeire dispatched a messenger to the castle to inform them of our decision.

The messenger communicated our own terms to Velshdt’s leadership: we would require them to disarm their troops, deliver all their weapons and aqua magia to our force, and disarm any traps that may have been laid within the castle. Our foes obeyed without protest, and a stock of weaponry so enormous I couldn’t possibly imagine they were holding anything in reserve was soon brought out to us. We were told that the castle had indeed been trapped, but that every one of its defensive mechanisms had been disabled. We couldn’t take their word at face value, of course, so we conducted a thorough investigation of the castle and concluded that they were indeed telling the truth before we moved our troops inside and occupied it.

Velshdt was another walled city, and the castle town was immense. It wasn’t quite as large as Semplar, the city Couran ruled over, but it dwarfed Canarre in scale. Velshdt, Semplar, and Maasa were known as the three major cities of Missian, so it wasn’t any surprise that other settlements would pale in comparison to them.

We marched into the keep and quickly took the nobles into custody. They wouldn’t have to fear for their lives, but I still had no idea whether or not they’d be allowed to maintain their noble status. I had a feeling that Couran would ask me to appraise them, and would choose who would and wouldn’t get to serve him based on the results, so I decided to give them and their most important retainers an appraisal preemptively. Most of them turned out to be quite capable, though some of them had surprisingly low stats and nobody jumped out to me as exceptional.

Before long, I got my first look at the Count of Velshdt, Kanses. He was an older man, with black hair and a wrinkled face. He looked rather unremarkable at a glance, but there was something about his eyes that gave him an unusual air. His stats, in contrast, were much more ordinary than I’d expected, coming in at an average of around sixty. His Politics score was 80, at least, and he was better off than the average person, but I had expected the count of a city as important as Velshdt to have stats that blew me away. I had to assume his vassals adored him for his virtues rather than his abilities.

With that, Castle Velshdt was under our complete control. Lumeire went out to report to Couran of our success, and before long Couran himself arrived at the castle, escorted by the troop of soldiers that had participated in the siege.

“It was wise of you to surrender, Kanses,” said Couran when the two lords met at last. “However, your wisdom this day does not excuse the foolish decision to refuse my invitation of peace and side with Vasmarque in this conflict. For that, I have no choice but to punish you accordingly.”

Couran’s tone was severe, and Kanses’s followers began to stir as a disquieting energy swept through the hall. They began to bow, one after another, appealing to Couran with their words to spare their lord’s life.

“I did not say I would execute you,” said Couran, addressing Kanses’s followers indirectly, “nor do I intend to. That being said, you will be stripped of your position as the Count of Velshdt. Furthermore, you will be imprisoned until my feud with Vasmarque is settled and Missian has fallen under my control. Only then will you be released, and at that point I will consider granting you territory once more, depending on how you’ve conducted yourself in the meantime.”

The fact that Couran had chosen to spare Kanses’s life made his judgment lenient, and that wasn’t even starting on the potential for him to regain his noble status. I had to agree with Couran’s decision. Had he chosen to execute Kanses, he would have earned the enmity of all of his followers for no good reason. Many of said followers chose to be imprisoned alongside their lord, which further supported my impression that they were extremely loyal to him. Only a very small number of them chose to swear a new oath of fealty to Couran instead.

The sentencing of Kanses marked the final end to the war in Velshdt, and with that conclusion reached, the time had come to enter a period of post-war cleanup and reorganization. We’d sustained relatively few casualties throughout our campaign, but our provisions and aqua magia reserves had been depleted. Arcantez was still in Vasmarque’s hands, but with our resources as strained as they were, Couran ruled that we weren’t ready to stage an assault, and so we entered into a lengthy period of preparation.

It would take at least a year for our army to prepare itself for an assault on Arcantez, and in the meantime, we would have to decide what to do with the lands we’d conquered. The counts who had surrendered to Couran’s force without a fight would be allowed to keep their titles, but since Velshdt and Samkh had both attempted to resist, they would need new rulers.

It was quickly decided that the new Count of Samkh would be Ruper, the man who we had convinced to surrender and join our cause back at Fort Valdsen. Many of Couran’s followers were aiming for a position as count, and plenty of them were incensed when they learned who Couran had chosen. That said, the goal he was trying to accomplish felt worth irritating some of his vassals to me: in short, the theory was that Ruper’s elevation to the status of count would prove that those who surrendered to Couran would be treated favorably, which would hopefully encourage others down the line to give up without a fight. A solution that didn’t make anyone upset with him would’ve been ideal, of course, but I had a feeling he’d have some other plan to mollify those he’d offended.

Velshdt, meanwhile, was to be handed over to Lumeire. That was a decision that nobody thought to question. Lumeire’s social standing had skyrocketed thanks to the recent rout he’d led. My retainers had come up with the plan, technically, but as our commanding officer, Lumeire was given the bulk of the credit for the mission’s success. Lumeire, however, was already the Count of Canarre, and Canarre and Velshdt were by no means close to one another. Ruling over both would be a challenge, and when asked what would become of the smaller county, Couran made a secondary declaration.

“The position of Count of Canarre shall be entrusted to Ars Louvent!”

Couran had promised that he would raise me to the status of count after the war with Vasmarque concluded. When we made that promise, however, he had not yet decided to claim Velshdt before taking on Vasmarque himself. I had to assume that the change of plans led to his decision to revise our agreement and move up the timeline.

I was expecting the hall to erupt in a cacophony of outrage, but to my surprise, Couran’s announcement was met with a rather mixed reception. I realized that his followers might not have written off all of my retainers’ achievements as Lumeire’s after all. Rather, it seemed they were giving credit where it was due. The fact that Couran had taken every opportunity to praise my achievements in public probably played a part as well. A few of Couran’s followers nonetheless objected on the basis that I was too young, but Couran stood firm and refused to reconsider.

That wasn’t quite the end of the matter, though. There was still one obstacle that stood between me and the position of count: the fact that Lumeire had not immediately accepted the position of Count of Velshdt. He had asked to be given some time to consider the offer, and in light of Lumeire’s distinguished service, Couran had allowed him to do so. Now we just had to wait on his decision.

That night, Lumeire summoned me to his quarters. He wanted to speak with me alone, and I trusted him enough to go along with the request, slipping into his room without bringing along even a single guard. I found Lumeire sitting with a stern expression on his face.

“Thank you for coming, Ars,” Lumeire said.

“Of course,” I replied. “I’ve come alone, as promised.”

“Please, have a seat.”

I did just that, seating myself in a nearby chair. It was a finely-crafted and comfortable piece of furniture, but I was so nervous I barely even registered how nice it felt to sit on. For some time, Lumeire remained silent. I just sat there, waiting for him to initiate the conversation.

Eventually, Lumeire said, “Canarre has been passed down through my family for generations. I have lived there since I was a child, and I am very attached to the region. Small as the city of Canarre may be, I have spared no effort to ensure that as many of its citizens may live in peace and prosperity as possible. I do not believe that I have accomplished that goal, and I have always intended to carry on my efforts until the day I die.”

Lumeire paused, and I waited for him to collect himself and carry on.

“But all that being said,’’ he eventually continued, “compared to Velshdt, Canarre is small. So small, in fact, that the two hardly bear comparison. Its populace is minuscule, and its towns are closer to hamlets. The scale of natural resources available to Canarre pales in comparison to those found in Velshdt. By all rights, I should be ecstatic to receive this offer…and yet, I cannot bring myself to feel any joy in it.”

“I understand how you feel. Painfully well,” I said.

Lumeire once again sunk into a lengthy silence. I watched him, my nerves fraying by the moment. I could appreciate just how conflicted he was about this proposal, and several minutes passed before he spoke once more.

“Ars.”

“Yes, Your Lordship?”

“Do you have the ability to raise Canarre into the realm it deserves to be? Can you make it prosper?”

Lumeire gazed into my eyes. This wasn’t the sort of question I could answer offhand, so I paused to mull over his words. Could I make Canarre prosper? It certainly wouldn’t be an easy task…and yet, I felt that it was one I was capable of. I had the knowledge and wisdom of my followers on my side, as well as the latent talent that still slumbered undiscovered within Canarre’s borders. If I could find everyone with talents to contribute and raise them to positions where they could make the most of them, I was confident that I could turn the county into a far better realm than it was at the moment. And so, I returned Lumeire’s gaze and made my declaration.

“I can.”

Lumeire spent several seconds simply looking into my eyes. After that, his grim, serious expression gave way and his mouth curved into the slightest hint of a smile.

“Then I will become the Count of Velshdt. I leave Canarre in your capable hands.”