Berserk, Total War: Second Son of Nobles

"So they sent you here?"

After listening to Pros' explanation, John still felt very confused. First, he didn't know that anyone in his family was studying in the seminary, and he didn't expect that his influence was so great that the archbishop could make such an appointment.

But it was better this way, at least the people who came were easier to control, and it was also a goodwill signal sent to him by the King's Office, indicating that after Lusitan reported to the King's Office, the King's Office was very satisfied with him.

Thinking of this, John quickly said enthusiastically: "Then cousin, I will take you to see the castle built for you, and you can see if it is suitable for you." Then he took him to see the newly built church and manor.

Pros thought it was just an ordinary church, but when he saw the church that looked like a city and the vast farmlands next to it, he immediately stuttered.

"This, these are all mine?" Pros asked with a puzzled look.

"Yes, this is all yours, including this church and this manor. If you like to drink wine, you can grow it yourself, or grow some vegetables or something." John introduced while taking Pross on a tour.

Pros was born in Wyndam and lived in Wyndam for the whole eighteen years. Except for going horseback riding with friends in the suburbs of Wyndam after school, he had never left Wyndam. His home was just an ordinary two-story house in Wyndam. Suddenly he owned such a big church and manor. He was so excited as if he was blessed by the God of Light, and ran around the whole church.

Finally, Pross was tired, so he went to the manor next door to chat with John.

Drinking freshly squeezed grape juice from local grapes and eating white bread with sugar, John began to ask Pross about family matters, because John had not written to his family many times before because of the war, and when he went on the expedition to Balden, he had almost no contact with them. Then he recovered from his injuries, rushed to Windham and then came back to quell the rebellion. John was so busy that he had not contacted his family for a long time.

"My only contact with my uncle was when my father borrowed money from him. He often said in his letters that he was living well, especially when you, my cousin, became the governor of Midland. A lot of people came to interview my uncle and gave him a lot of money. My uncle used the money to expand the castle, open up dozens of acres of land, fence off a piece of land to raise various livestock, and build an orchard. In short, his income doubled." Pros thought for a moment, told John what he knew, and then continued:

"I know a lot about the other uncles' families because we all live in Wyndham, so we are in frequent contact. In the past, all the uncles had to attend various banquets and basically struggled to make ends meet. They all relied on your father for support. As a result, we, the sons, were laughed at by others at school. They all said that we came to Wyndham to beg for food."

"Didn't all of you uncles graduate from various colleges in Midland? How come you still can't find a job?" John was quite surprised. He didn't expect that college graduates in this world were the same as in his previous life.

"There are thousands of students graduating every year, plus graduates from other cities and some who come in through backdoor channels. All the high-paying positions in Wyndham are almost full. Plus, none of you are ranked high in the college, so it's not easy to have a stable job." Pros said bitterly.

"Well, uncles, you have been working for so many years, so you should at least get a raise in salary," asked John.

"It is true that your salary has increased, but it was only after you became governor, and only the nobles from the court faction saw an increase, while those from the local factions even saw a decrease. I have an uncle who was demoted from hall supervisor to gatekeeper, and because you were considered to be from the court faction at the time, our family was met with hostility from all the nobles from the local faction." Pros said embarrassedly.

"What happened after that? I remember Uncle Jules told me that the uncles seemed to be doing pretty well," John asked.

After hearing this, Pros quickly said, "Or maybe it's because you, my cousin, did a great job. You won a victory in Barden and intimidated the other nobles. Later, you were named a local earl with a fiefdom, which also made the local factions restrained. In addition, you have a good relationship with General Laban, so many local nobles showed goodwill to you."

"What does this have to do with General Laban? I know him because we both are going to participate in the triumphal ceremony." John was even more confused.

"Don't you know that General Laban is a rising star among the local nobles? He will definitely become the leader of the local nobles in the future. Otherwise, how could a small noble marry the daughter of General Henry, an old local noble?" Pros said in shock.

"So I unintentionally did so many things to get close to the local nobles, but the court nobles have no opinion on me." John drank a sip of grape juice and said helplessly. He had no idea that Laban was a key training target for the local nobles.

"According to some information my father told me, his employer is a court noble. He did complain to my father about various things about you, but he just asked my father to wait until you arrive in Windham before persuading you not to get too close to the local faction. Maybe he thinks you are a bit neutral." Pros said after thinking for a while.

As expected, the strong ones are neutral and the weak ones are fence-sitters. This statement is true.

"So what do the nobles of Windham think of me, or does the king have any attitude towards me?" John asked. After all, he was currently jumping between the court faction and the local faction, which was far beyond Count Milo's speculation.

Unexpectedly, Pros spread his hands and asked John helplessly: "Who do you think I am? I am just a naughty student at school. I am nothing in the social circle, let alone asking for information about the king. You don't even know if you have met the king, so I don't know either."

John actually knew that he might not have any information source from the royal family, so he did not have any expectations of him, so he said: "Then let's talk about business. Did the archbishop send you here to do anything?"

"Well, it seems that I was asked to supervise you to pay the tithe on time." Pros said after thinking about what the archbishop told him.

"Did I tell you how much tax my territory has to pay?" John continued to ask.

"Uh..." Pros thought about it, but at that time he only heard the archbishop say "you decide" and couldn't think of anything else, so he could only say: "He told me to decide."

"Then tell me, how much tax should a territory like mine pay?" John asked. He suddenly felt that this cousin might not be so reliable.

"Wait a minute, let me take a look." Pros took out a book with the title "Mitran Tithe Chronicle" written on it.

"According to the book, the last time the Earldom of Franche-Comté paid tithes was in gold coins," Pros said, flipping open the book.

"!" John was shocked. Many earls nowadays can't even earn gold coins at best, so how could a tithe be this much?

"What year was the most recent payment you're looking at?" John asked anxiously.

Pros was also frightened by John, and he looked at it quickly, then said weakly:

"1398 years..."