The Chief Justice had expected me to ask for something Feuzen needed, so when I suddenly requested firearms, he showed obvious surprise. Asking for firearms was a strategic move for the future.

It would be nothing more than delusion to think you could build a strong army with current firearms technology. What I wanted to understand was the firearms’ performance and operation. Materials were easy to obtain, but firearms weren’t.

It was still the era of knights who clung to honorable charges, but before long, firearms would dominate the battlefield. The reason I wasn’t fixated on heavy cavalry but was raising light cavalry was for the same reason.

"During the previous king’s reign, there was an attempt to introduce firearms, but it was scrapped due to opposition from the Military and Finance Departments."

"As I thought—they were difficult to operate?"

"The firearms themselves had many defects, and above all, gunpowder was expensive, as I recall. Your father-in-law opposed them as inefficient weapons, and the Finance Department opposed them on cost grounds."

The Military and Finance Departments agreeing on the firearms issue—a rare alignment.

The Church also despised firearms as the Devil’s weapons, and during the firearms demonstration, Beren’s nobles had reportedly been quite shocked. The thunderous noise and thick smoke had reminded them of purgatory.

"Your request is unexpected, but His Highness will grant it."

Asking for weapons gathering dust in the royal armory wasn’t a difficult request. The royal family had no plans to use them anyway, and I wanted to use these firearms to test future military tactics.

"A personal request? For the Lord of Feuzen, that’s something I can grant. But I trust it’ll be a reasonable one."

"Of course. I understand this too is a transaction."

"Ho, you do know how to deal. So, what’s the request?"

I explained the Stock couple’s situation to the Chief Justice—that they were members of the executioner clan. He showed open displeasure at the word "executioner" at first, but didn’t direct any anger at me.

"If you weren’t on good terms with the Judicial Department, I would be quite incensed."

"I understand. There are likely few requests to forge an executioner’s identity."

"Not few—none. To my knowledge, this has never been done. It will go down in judicial history."

Ah, that rare?

The Chief Justice fell deep into thought. He seemed to be weighing the gains and losses. The conclusion he reached was to accept my request. The biggest factor was our friendly relationship with the Judicial Department.

"My displeasure is merely a personal feeling, so don’t trouble yourself over it. I’ll grant your request."

Identity forgery itself wasn’t difficult. The reason I’d asked the Judicial Department was because I’d heard about another aspect of their work from my father-in-law and Michael.

Nine times out of ten, when a noble asks the Judicial Department for identity forgery, it’s to hide an illegitimate child. The very existence of an illegitimate child is treated as nearly equivalent to a heinous crime, and nobles regard it as a stain on their family.

But still, since the children were their own flesh and blood, nobles who couldn’t bring themselves to kill them would generally ask the Judicial Department to forge identities and send them away as a solution. Cold-hearted nobles, however, would dispose of them without mercy.

The Judicial Department could maliciously use these secrets for blackmail, but if they did, every noble in the capital would rise up. It was a kind of unwritten rule. Breaking it would turn every noble into an enemy of the Judicial Department.

You’d have to be insane to do that.

"It’s a bit disappointing that there’s been no apprehension of vicious criminals since the Schwarz Wolf. Don’t just stay in Feuzen—use the judicial authority granted to you. That should balance the scales."

"Very well. I’ll capture some men and send them along soon enough."

While in Feuzen, I’d been putting it off because moving around was a hassle. Come to think of it, there was a quest related to apprehending vicious criminals. Earning points had become important, so it was time to get my lazy backside moving.

I handed over the criminals who had been wasting away day by day in prison to the Chief Justice. And I terminated the contract with the executioners. I could have done it unilaterally, but I compensated them somewhat for their losses.

I parted regretfully with the Stock couple, promising to meet again.

They already seemed to think of me as their master, as their feet wouldn’t budge. I’d asked the Chief Justice, so good news should come before long. In the meantime, I’d have to think of a name and surname to bestow upon them.

[The point generator is to be installed in the central fief of the Streit family. The current central fief is Feuzen. Will you install the Stage 1 Point Generator (20 points)?]

The point generator produces a fixed amount of points per day even without doing quests. It can be upgraded to Stage 5. Stage 1 produces 20 points per day, while Stage 5 produces 100.

Upgrade costs double per level. So to produce 100 points per day, the total cost would be 62,000 points.

But thinking about it differently, this cost was reasonable. If raised to Stage 5, that was 36,500 points per year. Moreover, the point generator applied to all owned fiefs.

If the number of fiefs I ruled increased, the points would multiply accordingly. So it wasn’t an outrageously expensive investment. It was just that for me right now, the cost made me sigh, so I modestly settled for Stage 1.

[Installing Point Generator Stage 1 (20 points) in the manor of the central fief.]

[2,000 points deducted] 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

[Purchasing one Streit family shield.]

[1,000 points deducted]

This left me with only 155 points. Thanks to working on training quests in my spare moments, I’d earned an additional 1,000 points. Training was essential for a knight, after all.

The Streit family shield was meant for wall-mounted decoration. The 10% passive applied only to the building where it was hung, and shields couldn’t be stacked. Installing two on one building would still only grant the 10% effect.

But one shield could apply multiple passives. As fiefs grew larger or more numerous, the demand for items would increase significantly. For land, banners had a similar effect to shields.

With efficiency in mind, I’d even devised a method of housing both the finished goods workshop and the materials workshop in a single building. It was a common factory-style arrangement, but the issue was that Feuzen was too small a village to make it practical.

There had been population changes too.

The beekeeping family (10 members) had migrated in, bringing the count to 288, but with 13 ringleaders sent to Breisburg, it dropped to 275. Neither I nor my retainers were included in this count. It was based purely on villagers.

There was still a long way to go to reach a large village (500 residents).

Should I bring back paupers in Breisburg who were originally from Feuzen, screening them by disposition?

Artificially increasing the population was an extremely sensitive matter. Regional sentiment, ethnic sentiment, and the insular nature of village life all had to be considered, requiring careful progression. Forcing integration was a poor strategy.

We know all too well that ethnic conflicts persist even in modern times. So accepting all vagrants indiscriminately would very likely lead to bloodshed later.

A lord has so much to worry about.

Buying a shield didn’t mean a shield was immediately placed in my hands. Instead, what the system gave me was a shield blueprint drawn on fine parchment. It meant I had to make it myself.

The carpenters of Feuzen alone were sufficient to craft a shield engraved with the Streit family crest.

"You can make this exactly like the blueprint, can’t you?"

"Y-yes! We can make it! However, the design is something I can’t handle myself."

"Ah, the design was the issue. Is there someone suitable in the fief?"

Thinking it over, I realized there was someone who fit the bill.

I thought of the Brabantine painter who had been treated by Stock and was staying in the village. He was currently lodging at the church. Although he couldn’t use his right hand, he was using his left to restore the damaged patterns on the walls.

Moved by that alone, Andreas was covering the painter’s room and board through the church’s expenses. Since it didn’t cost me anything, having the painter stay at the church was a welcome arrangement.

"With a design at this level, I can paint it with my left hand."

"That’s a relief. Paint it as soon as it’s finished."

"I happened to need something to keep me occupied, so this works out well."

The pain in his right arm had subsided considerably, and he seemed calmer than before. He’d seemed like a man with a screw loose, but watching him restore the wall patterns, he appeared to be quite a skilled painter.