Chapter 318: You Have My Word

Outside the castle, Magnus stared at the golden characters on the signboard, slightly dazed.

Now that Desmond and the others had returned to Brambleford, the Fletcher family had fulfilled their part of the bargain. Magnus had come again to discuss opening the Fletcher family bank in the prince’s territory.

He also brought with him two million stones of grain from Prince Vaelric, sold directly to Prince Simon.

These were tangible profits, the Fletcher family’s way of showing sincerity.

After waiting outside for a short while, a servant led him into the castle. Along the way, he looked around, somewhat surprised. Compared to the grandeur of Prince Vaelric’s manor, Prince Simon’s residence was much simpler.

Inside the main hall, he saw the prince already waiting. Magnus quickly stepped forward and bowed.

"Your Highness."

Simon held a book in his hand, looking relaxed and a little sleepy. "Last time you mentioned you’d report the situation with the northern reavers to your father. So? What did he say?"

"Your Highness, for this campaign against the reavers, our Fletcher family is willing to donate supplies worth five hundred thousand caps of silver. We hope Your Highness will win a great victory." Magnus declared proudly.

"Five hundred thousand?" Simon’s expression lit up. The Fletcher family was certainly generous. That amount would cover nearly a quarter of the entire military expense for the northern expedition.

Magnus smiled. "Are you satisfied with that number, Your Highness?"

"Of course I am." Simon nodded, pleased.

In truth, since Simon had posted the fundraising campaign for the northern expedition at the merchants’ guild, only local Brambleford merchants had responded. Merchants from other regions didn’t believe he could actually win against the reaver tribes.

Magnus laughed politely and got to the point. "Your Highness, about the matter of the Fletcher family bank?"

"A promise is a promise. You have my word. Your family may open a bank in my territory."

Brambleford still didn’t have its own bank, and the government treasury was running low. Allowing the Fletcher family to open a bank might affect the early development of the future Brambleford bank, but in the long run, their outdated system would never compete with his.

Simon planned to establish a gold standard currency system. The Fletcher family bank operated using silver; it was an old-style private bank. Once his government began issuing official currency, it would be easy to crush their operation.

In terms of finance, the Fletcher family was no match for him.

That was the real reason he allowed them to enter Brambleford. For now, their presence would boost economic growth and help local citizens and merchants access capital.

But he had no intention of letting them hold power like Western capitalists. If they ever tried to control him through money, they’d be sorely mistaken.

"Thank you, Your Highness. Besides that, we’ve arranged to provide another two hundred thousand bags of grain, combined with what Prince Vaelric gave, that makes two and a half million bags in total. We hope this will help relieve Your Highness’s urgent needs."

The grain was part of their earlier agreement too, offered in exchange for permission to open the bank.

It showed how interested the Fletcher family was in banking. Compared to many other merchants in the Eldorian Empire, their thinking was far ahead.

Simon nodded, smiling faintly to show he was satisfied.

Now that the Fletcher family had extended their reach into Brambleford, he planned to make full use of the richest man in the empire.

---

After everything was settled, Magnus left, full of gratitude. He would now begin acquiring property and establishing the bank in Brambleford.

Watching him go, Simon chuckled to himself. ’Whether this rich man is a blessing or a curse... Only time will tell.’

With Magnus gone, Simon had some free time, so he headed to the Brambleford military camp.

By now, the Brambleford army had been equipped with 3,000 flintlock rifles. In the coming months, more would follow.

It was because of this growing strength that he felt confident about launching an autumn offensive against the reavers.

---

"My Lord, how’s our training coming along?" Lancelot walked over with a saber strapped to his waist.

Even with the new rifles, officers like Lancelot still carried blades.

In this era of both cold and hot weapons, there were still times when a saber could make all the difference in close combat.

Simon nodded as he watched the soldiers practicing their hollow square formations.

"This formation is looking decent. But the soldiers are still too slow at reloading. They’ll need to improve."

He had been observing their attempts to reload rifles. At their current pace, soldiers could fire maybe two shots per minute.

But Simon’s minimum requirement was three shots per minute.

Lancelot scratched his head. "Lately, we’ve been focused on formations. We’ll start working more on reloading next."

---

Simon moved on to observe other training groups. Some officers were teaching bayonet drills.

They had set up rows of straw dummies across the training ground. Soldiers practiced stabbing them with bayonets.

Another officer was handing out wooden sticks with cloth wrapped around one end to simulate bayonets. The soldiers paired off, using the sticks to spar.

"Not bad. Looks like you’re putting what you learned in the academy to good use." Simon commented.

Lancelot laughed. "Only because Your Highness taught us well!"

"Now, don’t be too modest. You’re the ones doing the work. By the way, where are the chariot troops? I’d like to see the new war chariots from the machinery department."

"My Lord, you’re going to like this. The military workshop delivered three chariots today, so we could start getting familiar with them."

---

They walked together to the east side of the training ground, where Benjamin Ben was already explaining the chariot formation to a group of soldiers.

Benjamin had been the one to propose chariot units. Simon had merely approved the concept and helped design the chariots.

"My Lord." Benjamin greeted him.

Simon turned his eyes toward the new war chariots. These weren’t his own invention; they were modeled after historical war wagons, which had once devastated German cavalry.

The chariots were designed for defensive and offensive combat.

In battle, they were arranged in squares or circles depending on the terrain. The wheels were chained together with iron links to prevent movement.

Each chariot could be tilted slightly to allow quick attachment of draft horses.

They had thick iron-plated walls with small holes left for firing weapons.

Altogether, they resembled giant mobile boxes, like moving fortresses, perfect for both offense and defense.

In combat, the chariots would be deployed close to enemy lines, luring the enemy to attack.

Then, hidden behind the walls, musket troops would fire from safety, weakening the enemy formation.

Once the enemy began to break, cavalry and riflemen stationed within the square would charge out and finish them off.