I Became a Genius Commander at the Academy

Chapter 22: Reclaim The Territory (1)

As soon as my meeting with the Crown Prince ended, I immediately returned to the guest quarters that had been prepared for me by the Emperor.

The next day, as previously arranged with the Crown Prince, I sent an apologetic letter to the Emperor, stating that due to the overwhelming gratitude and excitement for ‘the honor of receiving a medal directly from His Majesty the Emperor after the battles,’ I was incapacitated with a fever and was unable to attend the ball.

In response, the Emperor, as someone who knew that I had met with the Crown Prince and had decided to align myself with him, sent this reply,

‘I wanted to introduce you and share detailed stories of your bravery in a gathering where both the Crown Prince and Division Commander Stefan were present. It’s truly regrettable. Everyone, including myself, wishes for your speedy recovery. Hence, I’m sending 1,000 gold and a few potions that are good for vitality. Get well soon and serve the Empire.’

If he thought I was really sick, he would have sent a skilled doctor. This was essentially a payment for siding with ‘the Crown Prince’ under the pretext of ‘recuperation.’

Moreover, some nobles kindly suggested,

‘It’s lonely to be sick and alone. How about getting a wife or a maid to care for you at night?’

Given this situation, it was clear that I wasn’t really sick but hadn’t decided which side to align with politically. They expressed that capable individuals like me were always welcome. If ever I decide to join, they would reward me with money, a modern-style wife, and even a beautiful maid.

Inadvertently, having officially fallen ill meant I had to avoid all the social gatherings of the nobles, starting with the ball. So, I had to stay in my room during my stay in the capital.

Meanwhile, in a world without games and TV, I killed time by sorting out the flows and knowledge from the original novel that could be useful in the upcoming war and my new domain.

During this process, I asked the Crown Prince for the mage Teresa Greenwood whom I wanted to recruit, and he readily agreed to send her to me.

Schmitz, who had followed me since I was a student platoon leader, was promoted to sergeant and agreed to take charge of the regiment’s staff sergeant.

Additionally, about 20 men from the Yaeger Company who earned their discharge after the last battle chose to follow me, converting their status to non-commissioned officers.

It would have been nice if the officers also followed me, but other officers had already been assigned to other fronts, receiving fast promotions from lieutenant to captain, before my proposal reached them.

It was unfortunate that I couldn’t bring the officers, but being able to bring veteran non-commissioned officers who fought with me in my first battle at the Raintlant Front was rewarding.

Having them should be sufficient. My regiment wouldn’t lack sergeants, and the new officers I’d meet could be appropriately led by me.

In a short time, I could somehow create the most elite battalion.

After all preparations were complete, I headed to the new territory with the soldiers from the Yaeger Company, who volunteered to stay under my command.

Despite arriving at Bruno Castle in the new territory with renewed resolve and high expectations, the state of the territory was severely worse than I had anticipated.

I understood that in order to prove my capability, I needed to show that I could revive a territory that seemed impossible to reconstruct.

No matter how I led the Raintlant Front to victory, neither the royal family nor other nobles would say,

‘Oh dear, I’ll give you one of the better territories I managed since you led the Raintlant Front to victory. Please, take it.’

Giving a desolate territory that could be rebuilt depending on the lord’s ability was probably the best the Crown Prince could do.

“Administrator Brant! No matter how much I think about it, this isn’t right. How did the previous lord manage this territory to be in such a state now? I doubt whether it’s truly habitable.”

The villagers were living in extreme conditions, subsisting on porridge made of mixed wheat and bran as they couldn’t even afford bread made from hulled wheat. Even the children were working from dawn to dusk to survive.

In such horrific circumstances, during times of famine, young girls would be sold as servants or to brothels to reduce the number of mouths to feed.

Getting by each year with the little grain they received in exchange was an everyday occurrence in this place devoid of hope.

If this feudal society left everything—military, administration, and judiciary—to the capability of the lord, then, of course, military readiness and defense would be chaotic in such territories…

The administrator, who was assigned around the same time as me, spoke with a bitter smile.

“Because this is the front line, at least military expenditure is granted, and there are sufficient facilities and provisions for a fortress, don’t you think?”

Hearing this, I was boiling inside but couldn’t reprimand or beat the administrator, who was a subordinate.

It was because he arrived here just a week before me and didn’t have the time to do anything but gather information on the local situation and report everything to me.

Damn it, if he’d been the administrator here for 1-2 years and then talked to me like this, I would’ve smacked him.

So, I diverted my rising anger toward the previous lord, who made this territory a mess and is now in the imperial prison, and I tried to change the atmosphere.

“I was so stunned to see there wasn’t a mage company in the front line. At least the weapons and the castle are intact. If the military facilities were also a mess, I would’ve gone and killed that damn previous lord right away.”

I said this multiple times, and I wasn’t kidding.

If I had the chance, I was confident enough to kill that lord and get him out of this world.

“I agree. Just 20 years ago, this place was so prosperous that peasants from the surrounding territories would flock in, even though it’s on the front line… How could it have changed so horrifically over time…?”

“That’s why the idiot previous lord must’ve been stripped of his noble title for misruling a territory where it’s hard to see more than four in a generation. Ah… I’ll have to clean up the mess he flamboyantly left behind when his death sentence comes.”

This was a serious matter.

Although it wasn’t revealed yet, I knew it because I read the original novel.

Within one or two years at most, the Reich Empire would invade Chekovia.

And the Crown Prince would use the territory near Bruno Castle, which I was in charge of, as a major supply point.

If I showed outstanding military exploits in the invasion of Chekovia without disappointing expectations, considering I had ‘revived a ruined territory and played a significant role in the war,’ they would likely elevate my status and grant me more power.

Moreover, the Crown Prince would suppress other competitors by placing and recognizing capable people in needed positions, which was a major virtue of the Emperor.

“Let’s start thinking of ways to reconstruct the territory.”

“Yes, understood.”

“I heard that the shortage of food in this village is not because it was on the front lines or because of a lack of arable land, but because of the merciless exploitation by the lord. Was there exploitation by the soldiers too?”

“From what I’ve reviewed, the soldiers under the lord were also somewhat complicit. There are rumors of substantial bribes going to Lieutenant Pels, who is stationed here.”

Usually, in a land of this size, a corrupt lord either collaborated with the military or local influentials to exploit the locals.

If one did this, questions would arise about whether everyone had to become accomplices for long-term benefits.

If there was a lot to exploit, the military, local influentials, and the lord could all share and still be satisfied.

If several people were plundering a small territory on the front line, smaller than a baron’s domain, it wouldn’t last long.

In places with little to exploit, local influencers were usually not power elites but maybe respected village heads or hunters with no power.

It seems the lord of this territory knew this and clung to the troops dispatched from the center…

Damn, in such a situation, even the ‘show of the newly assigned me correcting wrong practices and killing wicked influencers’ wouldn’t work.

Moreover, since the image of the military was at its worst, the soldiers here, newly under my command, probably wouldn’t listen to me well.

In such cases, the best course would be to tame and use the influential people in this area with the gold coins I had received.

“This is the worst. How on earth…”

About 30 minutes into my silent contemplation, a fairly reasonable alternative emerged in my mind.

“People regard food as heaven. This means that whoever feeds them well is the best. It won’t do to release food without a counterpart, but… employing the influentials in this area might present a viable solution.”

Then, I immediately spoke to the administrator of Bruno in front of me.

“There’s no time. Gather all the influential people here immediately. Also, don’t think about having welcoming or congratulatory events for the new lord. Just prepare plenty of stew with chicken in it.”