Berserk, Total War: Second Son of Nobles

Winter 1445

On the eve of Hanukkah, John prepared to return to his hometown to visit his parents and older brother.

Perhaps because the family territory was very small, the relationship between John's brother and John could be said to be very good since childhood. A big reason for this was the mutual understanding between the two sides. After all, no matter how much they fought for the land, in the end it was just a village, and it was not worth fighting over it.

More importantly, even if John obtained the territory, it would be very difficult to expand it in the future, because the territories in the central and western regions of the kingdom had been divided for a long time. Basically, as long as there was a little development value, they were already the territories of various nobles. Any expansion would attract the attention of various nobles or even hostility.

Compared with the complex noble relations and numerous factions in the Midwest, the Eastern region, which has suffered from war for years, has the least influence from both the king and the nobles.

Coupled with the incompetence of the Midlan army and the rapid progress of the Yoda people, the Midlan nobles who had not taken root in the land that was supposed to be the Midlan Kingdom for many years did not have to worry about being caught up in factional struggles. On the contrary, in order to better fight internally in the rear, the nobles had to actively or passively make friends with the nobles on the border.

So when John was 15 years old, he took the initiative to ask his father to go out to join the army. After hearing this, his father still tried to persuade John, but seeing that John was determined to go, he used his connections to transfer John to a supervisory team in a unit that often slacked off in the rear. However, as the war became more intense, this unit was sent to the front line a month after John joined the unit, which became the starting point of John's success. Otherwise, John would have gone directly to Wyndham College to study like his uncles.

This time, John returned with a cart of silver and gold coins, a cart of spices, various animal skins, and a cavalry escort of 100. After a week of bumpy journey, John arrived at Milo Territory, southeast of Wendam.

Father John's feudal lord was the previous Count Milo, so as soon as John became governor, Count Milo began to take care of Father John and often provided financial support to Father John who was in financial distress at the time. Otherwise, if Father John and his uncles had done what they did, the territory would have gone bankrupt long ago.

Along the way, John saw large groups of refugee camps and long queues of refugees seeking relief. They were wearing rags that barely covered their bodies and walked around the refugee camps cautiously. When John's convoy passed by, they quickly ran into their tents and watched the convoy through the gaps in the tents.

"It looks like a refugee wave is coming soon. The Midland Kingdom, which has been fighting for nearly a hundred years, can't hold on any longer." John thought to himself. He was not worried about the kingdom. After all, with the dual blessing of the inefficient management system in the Middle Ages and the constant internal struggles in the kingdom, it was a miracle that the Midland Kingdom could hold on for a hundred years before a refugee wave broke out. What he was most worried about was that the refugee wave would affect his father's territory.

As he got closer to his hometown, the things around him gradually overlapped with the scenes in John's memory. He hadn't been home for more than a year, but the scenery around him was still the same as before.

There were wisps of smoke floating in the distance, that was Father John's village. In John's memory, just like other villages in Midland, the entire village could almost be described as poor.

However, as the outline of the village in the distance became clearer, John discovered that the entire village was different from a year ago. In general, there were many more buildings such as mills and barns in the farmland outside, and the scale of the village had also expanded a lot. It seemed that this year's village's grain output was not only enough to meet the annual needs of the entire village, but also had a lot of surplus.

As John's convoy gradually approached the village, many villagers in the village saw the convoy surrounded by cavalry and came over.

"Why are there so many carriages?"

"It's a caravan buying goods." A villager said casually.

The villagers nearby asked in confusion: "Didn't he just come during the autumn harvest? It's winter and there's nothing here. Why is he collecting firewood?"

As the carriage got closer, the villagers spotted John's white flag with a black eagle. They knew at a glance that a noble had arrived, and they quickly dispersed and returned to their homes to avoid being scolded.

At this time, the village official who was in charge of managing the village on behalf of the lord came over with a book. He was responsible for recording the situation of the nobles visiting the village and reporting to the local lord.

"Gui An, where are you from... Master John!" The village official was about to step forward to register, but when he looked up, he saw John in the carriage, so he said happily:

"Master, you are finally back. The old man and the others missed you so much."

"How is my father doing? Has he had any difficulties recently?" John was also concerned about his parents' situation.

"The master, his wife and the eldest young master are all very good. Thanks to your performance on the front line, the master's fiefdom, Count Milo, often takes care of our family. From time to time, some nobles come here to visit the business and hope that the master can mention them to you so that you can take care of their business on the border." The village official said as he led John's convoy towards the castle.

"Stop!" The two guards outside the castle saw the fully armed convoy and immediately kept alert and shouted loudly.

"Master John is back. Open the door and tell the master." The village official shouted to the guards.

Soon the guard came out and knelt on one knee in front of John's carriage and said, "Master, you can go in."

"Okay! You stay outside for now, I'll go see my father first." After hearing this, John quickly dismounted and followed the guards to the castle hall.

"This place is different from before. It feels bigger." John looked around and felt that this place was a little different from what he remembered.

"Since you became the governor, various noble lords have come to visit you with gifts, so the territory has become much richer." The guard said as he led John to the study.

Since the birth of the Hohenzollern family, successive patriarchs have attached great importance to education. When other nobles sent their children to serve as knights' squires, the Hohenzollern family attached more importance to education. Basically, except for the eldest son, other second sons would be sent to study in schools in big cities no matter how poor their families were.

The guard brought John to the door of the study, knocked on it first, and after getting permission from the person inside, he gently pushed the door open and motioned for John to enter.

When John entered the study, what caught his eyes were the rows of bookshelves, on which various kinds of books were neatly stacked, and each kind of book occupied a bookshelf, followed by the back of a man lying on the table writing something. The candlelight shone on his body, lengthening his back.

After hearing the sound of John entering, the figure slowly turned around, revealing a face full of wrinkles, with a few strands of white hair mixed in with his golden hair, as if he had experienced a lot.

"John, you're finally back. I haven't seen you for more than a year. You've grown taller." John's father said in a dull voice.

"I'm fine, but what are you writing here? I've never seen you working so hard before." John asked.

"Well, my family has more money recently, and there are more things to build in the territory. There are more things to do. In the past, our small territory didn't have so many things to do. I have written to your uncles to take advantage of the holiday to return to the territory to help me deal with some affairs. This should be able to reduce some of the workload."

"Where are my mother and brother? Why can't I see them?" John continued to ask.

"Oh, when they heard you were coming, they hurried to prepare dinner. You should be able to see it if you go to the kitchen," said Father John.

"My eldest brother can cook. He couldn't even make a salad before." John thought back to that noon when his brother made him a salad with various wild vegetables. John took a bite and his mouth was numb and he couldn't speak for the whole day.

"Don't underestimate your brother. His cooking skills have been pretty good recently. I've tasted the soup he made and it tasted pretty good," John's father recalled.

"Oh, by the way, I brought a hundred guards and several carriages loaded with goods. How do you think we should arrange them?" John asked.

"Oh, the guards asked them to move the horses to the stables, and then I will send someone to take them to their accommodation. I have also sent someone to receive the goods in the carriage. You don't have to worry about it. Go to the kitchen and help your mother cook." After John's father replied to John, he continued to work at his desk.

So John said goodbye to his father and went to the kitchen according to his memory.

In John's memory, the kitchen was a big house. In addition to being used for cooking, it was also used to store food and meat, and there was a ladder leading directly to the underground wine cellar.

In the past, John's family was poor and had no money to hire a chef. Almost all meals were cooked by his mother and the servants. John's mother was the third daughter of a merchant in the city. At that time, girls from merchant families often married nobles in exchange for the right to operate in the nobles' territories.

When John's grandfather went to find a bride for his father, he set his eyes on John's mother at first sight. John's father had no objection to this, so the two sides hit it off and held a grand wedding for John's parents. At the same time, merchants began to establish strongholds in the Hohenzollern family's territory and purchased grain, wood, leather, etc. in the territory at low prices. From then on, the territory began to accumulate some money because of commercial trade.

John's mother was also very hardworking. Not only could she do housework, she also attended a girls' college and learned some business knowledge. She solved many problems for the territory and carried out many reforms in the territory, which enabled John's grandfather to have the money to send all his uncles to study at the university in Midland.

When John entered the kitchen, what caught his eyes were all kinds of ingredients on the table and many people busy working. It seemed that the family was indeed wealthy and had enough money to hire a chef.

John found his mother among a crowd of figures. She was directing the servants to sort and arrange the dishes. The man next to her who was struggling to spin a whole lamb on the fire with his handles should be John's brother.

John's mother noticed something, turned around and saw John, and said in surprise:

"John, you're back! Wait a minute, I'll come find you after your brother and I are done."

"How about I help you?" John was about to go over to help when his mother interrupted him:

"You've had a hard time fighting on the battlefield outside, so leave the war in the kitchen to me and your brother!"

"Yeah, go take a rest, buddy. I'll come over to have a good chat with you once I'm done roasting this lamb." John's eldest brother said as he turned the handle with both hands, tumbling the whole lamb wildly on the grill.

John had no choice but to give up after hearing this. He left the smoke-filled kitchen and walked around the castle.

There were not many changes in the entire castle. Only an area was expanded. John guessed that it was where the servants lived.

In the evening, the family sat at a long table, with John's father sitting at the upper seat, John's mother sitting on his father's right, and John and his eldest brother sitting on his left. After the servants added wine to John and others, they entered the hall with various dishes and placed them on the table in the order of appetizers, main courses, and desserts.

Father John saw that the dishes were almost all served, raised his glass and said to John and the others:

"On the occasion of Hanukkah, we must first thank the God of Light for his blessing and the sacrifices of our ancestors, which have allowed the Hohenzollern family to come this far. I sincerely wish that the bloodline of the Hohenzollern family will continue to continue and move towards glory in the future. May the light of God shine on the Hohenzollern family forever!"

"May God's light shine forever on the Hohenzollern!" After everyone said this, the entire dinner was filled with music and laughter, as if they really saw that in the future, the Hohenzollern family would reach a status that they had never dared to dream of with the blessing of God.