Berserk, Total War: Second Son of Nobles

"Oh? You're not afraid if I say that. Are you going to report my achievement to King Balden if I capture you?" John asked. He probably knew that this man was a civilian hero, but he still wanted to test his bottom line.

"Sir, if I were afraid of death, I would just let someone else talk to you. Why would I say so much to you myself? I have already arranged all the measures after my death. Similarly, you are also a smart person. Continuously making enemies at this stage will only make you further away from your goal of driving away the Yoda people." said the commander.

"Yeah, that makes sense," John replied. He certainly didn't really want to capture him. Besides, the war was indeed dragging on for too long. The letters he was receiving now were several weeks old. He had to return to the territory quickly. In addition to supervising the construction of various projects, he could also receive the latest information more conveniently.

"I will tell King Balden this. Now let's talk about the counterattack." John brought the conversation back to the counterattack.

"The rebels have just suffered a defeat and their morale is low. This is a good time to press on and press on. If we allow an uprising to break out in the rebel territory, they will surely collapse under the attack from both inside and outside. Then we can drive the Yoda people away without any effort." said the commander.

"Well said," John responded.

"But you see my army is in such a state now, everyone is recovering from injuries. How can I gather more troops to occupy the remaining territory?"

"You don't need to send many soldiers, but you may need to bring more weapons," said the commander.

"Why is that?" John was puzzled.

"Well, you may not know that when the Midlan army was beaten to pieces by the sudden appearance of the Yoda people, a small part of them fled into the village and hid with the help of our local organization. Most of them were imprisoned in the dungeons of some castles in batches. According to our insiders in the castle, except for the ordinary soldiers who eat averagely, the officers and nobles eat pretty well and are not abused, so they should be able to form a fighting force when they come out." The commander explained.

"Oh, by the way, I have another question. Why did those rebel nobles suddenly follow the Third Prince who just returned from Yoda? Apart from the various empty checks given to them by the Third Prince, what else could have moved them to help with all their strength and even refused to surrender?" John asked.

The commander smiled bitterly and said, "You don't know. They are not Bardens at all. They are all Yodas."

"Huh?" John was puzzled.

"Since they are not from Barden, how can they be nobles in Barden? Even if your country is in chaos, it is impossible for them to do so."

"You may not know that due to Barden's neutral policy for many years, many nobles went to the two countries of Midland and Yoda to study and live. During this period, some nobles got married and had children there, and obtained some titles in the Yoda Empire through hundreds of years of local blood relations. Especially this Emperor Yoda, in order to win people over, he gave many people titles and territories, including those who lived in Barden." The commander explained.

Afraid that John still didn't understand, the commander continued, "Let me give you an example. Count Kesong's father went to Yoda to serve as a diplomat. Then his father married the daughter of a Yoda noble and gave birth to this Count Kesong. He was born and raised in Yoda. He lived and studied in Yoda. He even returned to Barden to inherit the earldom after Yoda was conferred a title by Emperor Yoda. What country do you think he is from?"

"Oh, dual citizenship," John said. That's not surprising.

“So for this kind of people, I hope to explain to His Majesty the King that the descendants who inherit the title must ensure that they do not have titles in other countries, otherwise there will definitely be big problems.” said the commander.

"Well, I will convey that to the king," said John.

After the commander left, John said, "Let someone bring the leaders of the Balden rebels here."

Soon the guards brought over several people, most of whom were injured and tied up with bandages.

"We are all nobles, so let's be frank. You guys may think you have been deceived and give some money to some court nobles, and you can get away with it, but I know that many of you have titles in both countries. But if I were to tell this to His Majesty the King, do you think he would behead you for treason?" John came up and questioned them directly, which scared them a lot.

"Well, we were canonized by Yoda out of necessity. After all, we were living in the Yoda Empire at that time, and this was to make our lives more convenient. But don't worry, we will definitely no longer accept noble titles from the Yoda people in the future. Can you give us a favor and don't tell His Majesty the King about this?" A Balden noble said with a smile on his face, and then handed John a check.

"Huh?" John took a look and was surprised. These people had their own accounts in the southern countries, they had land in Balden, titles in Yoda, and they were rich in the southern countries. They had figured out the aristocratic society.

"Well, since you have changed your mind, out of chivalry, I will let bygones be bygones. Of course, I won't accept Yoda's check, but I'll accept others. Of course, the one from Midland is the best," John said after putting away the check.

Upon hearing this, all the nobles present began to fumble in their pockets, and soon they took out checks one after another. John picked one up and saw that they were bank checks from the Southern Countries, the French King's Hall, the Principality of Is, the Kingdom of Midland, and a bank check from the special trading port of Balden.

After John collected the check, he said, "I have one more thing I want to ask, where are those captured Midland soldiers?"

This time, the nobles spoke much faster. They looked at John's map and said, "The people are divided by class. Ordinary soldiers are in these castles, ordinary officers are in these castles, and senior officers and nobles are in this castle..." Soon, John received a lot of information about the prisoners, so he said to them:

"Okay, you don't need to do anything else for now. I will call you if there is any problem. Remember, don't tell anyone else about what happened today, otherwise I can't protect you." John said.

"Yes, yes, thank you, Governor..." So amid everyone's laughter, John closed the door and began to count the money on the checks.

"Ten thousand, twenty thousand, thirty-five thousand... wow, a total of one hundred and fifty thousand!" John looked at the money in his hand. Although it was just a check, it was already outrageous to be able to reach such a amount.

“That’s what power is, they give me money and they have to thank me,” John thought.