Chapter 1364 - 582: Laine’s Banquet (Part 2)

Chapter 1364: Chapter 582: Laine’s Banquet (Part 2)

"It’s normal. Power confuses people, and it also makes them swell with pride." Laine nodded, speaking softly. "Afu, remember this: personal prestige always runs out sooner or later. Pushing problems down for the time being doesn’t mean you’ve solved them."

"I understand, my friend. These years I’ve also been observing your policies." Alfred felt a bit embarrassed at being called out. In truth, holding all the power in that place had indeed gone to his head for a while. But after seeing the newly built, magnificent Duke’s Castle, he had calmed down again. "But I’m not like you. To this day I still don’t understand how you, as if performing Magic, created today’s splendor, and this scene where Knights and Peasants live together in harmony."

"That’s a complicated question." Laine nodded. He interlaced his fingers and rested his hands on the long table. The silver plate trembled slightly with his movement, giving off a pleasant ring. "But you’ve already made great progress. Faced with problems, you neither ran away nor tried to get rid of the people who raised them, but confronted them head-on. Even though you’ve relied on your personal prestige to patch things up for now, that’s still an active way of dealing with them."

"But that’s not solving the problem." Alfred suddenly sighed. "You know, my friend, before that, I’d written several times to the Justice Church, requesting they send enough people to help me, but all I got in return was buck-passing and delays. My superiors kept saying they needed to think it over, study it further."

"But once Musillon was taken this time, my name spread across the whole Old World along with that battle. When I wrote again to the Justice Church, Archbishop Vikma sent me a force of more than six hundred men with just a single sentence. With the help of the imperial bureaucrats, everything in the Ancient Church District became orderly overnight." Alfred sighed. "But I don’t like that way of doing things."

"What way? Big matters get handled in small meetings, small matters in big meetings? Constantly asking to expand the establishment and create new departments?" Laine laughed. "Haven’t we seen that often enough?"

"Mhm~" Alfred shook his head with a wry smile. "Plenty, all sorts of things I won’t list. I actually don’t like those people. They always put on airs, acting as if just because they were sent by His Eminence the Archbishop they’re something special, and they like to talk down to everyone. On the one hand they look down on the locals of Musillon, barking orders at them all day long, yet on the other hand they’re extremely eager to flatter me, almost obsequious."

"Of course they are." Laine looked at Alfred across the table. "Isn’t that perfectly normal? How do you think these people sent from the Empire see themselves? Certainly not as Peasants. So they naturally feel greatly superior to the Peasants. And where does their power come from? From you, the one who holds both the autonomy and the property rights of the entire Freya Ancient Church District. Of course they have to curry favor with you, because they’re only agents. That’s what bureaucrats are."

The fifth course was brought up by the Dark Elf and the other Maids. This was the main dish: sirloin steak cooked to about medium, served on an iron plate, with a sauce of black truffle and red wine mixed into a prepared black pepper gravy poured over it, and a few roasted florets of cauliflower as garnish on the side.

The "sirloin" in sirloin steak comes from ancient Brittania (sur loin), meaning the meat above the tenderloin, that is, the outer loin of the cow. Overall, it has strong bite and firmness, with a good chew, yet the flesh is fine and juicy, and the taste wonderfully tender.

A properly pan-seared sirloin steak gives off faint wisps of fragrance. A ring of vinaigrette is poured around the steak, which takes on a very distinctive dark-golden color. When the dining knife cuts into it, the beef inside is a beautiful pink, and very juicy.

Laine picked up a small piece of steak and tossed it into his mouth. He could clearly feel the juices spilling out with each movement of his teeth. The aroma of the roasted meat spread across every taste bud in his relaxed mouth, swirling and wandering there, drawing out the primal flavor of the beef to the fullest.

"So, I’ve heard people outside saying that you favor and advocate the feudal system, and look down somewhat on the bureaucratic system. I used to feel that was wrong, but now I actually think you’re simply thinking for yourself." Alfred laughed. "Look at this—after you finish enfeoffing, you can drop everything and hurry back here, while we have to stay there and toil from beginning to end."

"No, no, no!" Laine hurried to say. "I’ve never advocated the feudal system, and I’ve never said that the feudal system is a superior system. Don’t you go around saying that!"

"But you..." Alfred trailed off, wanting to say more but stopping.

Laine gave a bitter smile and turned his gaze to the starry summer night sky. "Afu, enfeoffment is a last resort. It’s a very complex issue, so I’ll keep it simple. Think about it: if what I’d appointed were Castle Lords, given Musillon’s current condition, would Olivier, Lucian and Juan work as hard as they do now?"

Castle Lord is a title in Brittania, somewhat similar to Guard Commander. A noble appoints a subordinate noble to garrison a castle, but ownership of the castle still belongs to the original noble.

Alfred shook his head with a wry smile. He understood.

Precisely because the land had become their own land, they worked so hard.

"So the feudal system is actually a kind of clever shortcut." Seeing Alfred had grasped it, Laine smiled. "It’s as if I’ve dumped an entire mess in Juan and the others’ laps, and they’re bound to go all out to restore production and rebuild their territories, so I don’t have to worry about it. But the downside of the feudal system is extremely low capacity for military levies and even lower tax revenues."

"But your control over your territory is unparalleled. I dare say, at a single word from you, all the Knightly Nobility would immediately lead their own troops to follow you." Alfred was still hung up on the issue.

"Heh heh~ I told you, I’m just taking a shortcut." Laine nodded. "You’re right: just one word from me, and Juan and the others would certainly respond—but that’s not because I’m the Duke of Musillon. It’s because I’m Laine, I’m Laine Macado. It’s because of my personal prestige and personal Martial Valor, not because of my ducal title."

"I see. You’re enjoying the benefits of the feudal system and, at the same time, the cohesion brought by your lofty personal prestige! You bastard! That’s downright wicked!" Alfred finally understood. The Temple Knight Commander pointed at Laine and laughed. "I get it. You don’t truly advocate the feudal system; you’re just enjoying the convenience it brings you!"

The sixth course was a hot dish: classic southern Brittania red wine braised chicken.

The seventh course was a cold platter made up of Boldro octopus, salmon, Arctic clam, tuna, chilled crab and chilled shrimp.

"So, Afu, you must be careful. Don’t just get blown around by every gust of rumor. When you hear the talk outside, you need to make your own judgment. Understand what I mean? If these completely... baseless things, you repeat them for someone, that means you share some of the responsibility too, doesn’t it?" Laine said with a squinting smile, then his expression slowly turned serious. "I’ve never said that the feudal system is superior to the bureaucratic system. In fact, while the Empire’s bureaucracy certainly has its problems and can be annoying, it is, in any case, far more advanced than the feudal system and absolutely necessary."

The eighth course was ice cream: a mango sorbet that neatly cleared the taste of seafood from Laine and Alfred’s mouths.

The ninth course was salad, a fruit salad.

"So that means, in the end you’ll still guide the whole Kingdom to evolve towards the Empire’s system, won’t you?" Alfred mused.

"Exactly." Laine nodded. "But we have to remember: reform has to proceed step by step. Take too big a stride and you’ll split something. Given Brittania’s current foundations—extremely low literacy and cultural levels—we’re not in any condition to overhaul everything in one go and carry out direct change. Right now is the best time, because I’ve already attained supreme power. But the foundations aren’t there, so the conditions for implementation still don’t exist. You have to keep a clear head and do what suits the stage you’re in. For the moment, the conditions for systemic overhaul aren’t in place; I might as well delegate power. And since these Knightly Nobility are completely submissive to me, I don’t need to worry about the low level of military levies under the feudal system. The core issue right now is to first restore Musillon and let it regain its former glory. Everything else can wait."

"Mhm, that makes sense." This time Alfred nodded, fully convinced. "My friend, you’ve persuaded me."

The final, tenth course was dessert: the Empire’s Black Forest cake.

Once the Black Forest cake was finished, the evening banquet came to an end.

"Come on, Afu, let’s go soak in the hot springs." Laine stood up.

"All right~"