Come to another world and become a lord

Three days later, the Great Khan withdrew his troops. When the news reached Karl, he was somewhat relieved. It had been nearly a month since the initial siege, and he had been under tension and pressure every day. But now, he could finally relax.

Carl had taken off his armor and was only wearing his rag-to-rag serf clothes, walking slowly in the outer city. This place had long been burned into ruins, with black rubble and broken walls everywhere. The surviving residents returned here one after another. After witnessing their homes being destroyed, some people could not help but kneel down in pain. For a while, the air was filled with sadness, and this desolate scene unexpectedly matched his clothes.

He walked aimlessly like this, and stopped when he reached the city wall. The outer city wall in the past, although not as strong as the inner city, was strong enough, but now there was a huge gap in it, and the bricks collapsed and scattered. It would cost a lot of money to repair it, and there was also the reconstruction of the town. In comparison, this was probably the biggest expense. The Great Khan really caused himself a lot of unnecessary trouble, he thought idly.

Soon he heard the sound of horse hooves. He turned around and saw Alia trotting towards him on a brown pony. The girl pulled the reins and looked him over. She said with a hint of disdain:

"The way you are dressed, those who know you will know that you are a lord, while those who don't know you will think you are a homeless person."

I don't want to, but I only have this one piece of clothing. Carl complained in his heart. But if you think about it carefully, it's not just him, most of the poor in this world only have one set of clothes in their lifetime, which is more or less normal.

Then he heard Arya say again:

"Anyway, I have to order a few decent sets of casual clothes. I know a few famous tailors. Do you want any recommendations?"

Regular clothes? This is another place where money is needed. Karl shook his head helplessly:

"You can decide on this. By the way, is there anything else you want to talk to me about?"

"Ah~ It's not a big deal~ It's just a matter of dealing with the aftermath of the war..." Hearing Carl's words, Alia sighed helplessly and rolled her eyes: "Henry gave us a rough bill this morning, including the cost of the grain transport convoy, the cost of the food, and the cost of the hired knights."

After listening to this, Carl also sighed:

"He's pretty quick... Tell me, roughly how much it costs."

"There are about 20 people in the caravan, and each person gets 4 silver coins, which is 8 gold coins. Then there are the 50-man knights, and each person gets 3 silver coins a day. But they only fought for a day and a night, so Henry said that if we calculate it based on one day, it would be 15 gold coins. As for the food, he needs to calculate it in detail, and he will give us a detailed bill when the time comes."

"So this alone costs 23 gold? Not counting the food?"

After hearing Alia's report, Carl's voice unconsciously rose. It turned out that there is no free lunch in the world. Then he slowly calmed down and said:

"Well, it's not a big problem. I can buy it on credit from Morton for now...what else?"

"We need to work out a plan for the reconstruction of the town as soon as possible. Jim is in charge of this now. Of course, all of this will require money. But before that, the most important thing is: we need tents."

"Tent?" Carl seemed a little confused.

"Yes." Alia nodded and said, "We lack enough tents to accommodate all the residents, at least half of them. In addition, the firewood people use daily needs to be replenished urgently. After all, the winter in Rickburg is not something you can survive by willpower."

“So this is where money is needed again…” Carl said with a wry smile.

Alia nodded again:

"It's very urgent. It would be best if it could be resolved within this week. Before that, some people can temporarily stay in the castle."

This matter still needs to be handled by Earl Morton, who is the closest and has enough strength to provide these materials, but the problem is that the other party may not be willing to pay on credit. If he wants to pay in cash, he will be penniless. Or wait until Aaron goes bankrupt and complain to him?

"Okay, I understand." He thought so and nodded to Alia, "Anything else?"

"One last thing," Alia said as she placed a piece of parchment in front of Carl.

"what is this?"

"The bill for the Fire Rose Guard." said the girl.

Carl picked up the paper and saw what was written on it: Alia's daily salary was 4 silver coins, and her Fire Rose sisters' daily salary was 2 silver coins. The siege lasted for nearly a month, which meant that the Fire Rose Guards' salary was as high as 18 gold coins. 1 It was another big expense! Carl felt a little headache. He owned a castle and became a baron, but it didn't bring him any income. Instead, there were endless bills and debts. If he had to say something, he could only blame King Philip. This miser took away almost all the valuables before escaping, leaving nothing for Carl.

"In terms of identity, we are mercenaries. Now that the war is over, settling the remuneration is standard procedure." The girl continued calmly.

"But when Aaron handed you over to me, he said..."

"Don't get me wrong, Prime Minister Aaron was just an employer before. It's just that he employed us for a long time, which caused many people to misunderstand. And this time he asked me to help you just as a regular mercenary contract transfer. From that day on, you became my new employer." Alia spoke calmly, but Carl always felt that she seemed to be holding back her laughter.

So when the Prime Minister handed over the Fire Rose Guard to him, it seemed like he had taken advantage, but in fact, he still had to pay for it in the end. But for Aaron, the old man, there was no loss, and he even got a good deal. He really calculated from beginning to end~ Whether it was Prime Minister Aaron or Earl Morton, it was obviously a matter of life and death for everyone, but in the end they just wanted him to pay for it. At this time, Carl deeply felt the cunning of the political veteran.

And Alia seemed to see Carl's embarrassment, and waved her hand helplessly:

"If it was just me, I wouldn't be in a hurry, but I can't let down the sisters who have been with me through thick and thin. And one of my sisters died in this battle."

Hearing Alia's words, Carl couldn't help but be a little surprised:

"Someone from your team was killed? How come I didn't know about this?"

“It was just a while ago.” Alia said this with a trace of sadness on her face. “Severe frostbite caused complications and she didn’t make it.”

"Nura..." Hearing the word frostbite, Carl mentioned this name unconsciously.

"Yes, terrible weapons." Alia seemed to be lost in memories, and her mood was a little low for a while, but she quickly recovered. "Let's get back to the point. For this sister who died in battle, in addition to paying the salary that her family deserves, we have to pay an additional pension of about 4 gold coins. In addition to the Fire Rose, the local militia also suffered heavy casualties. During this period, a total of 14 people died. According to the standards here, I remember that the pension for the fallen militia is 7 silver coins per person."

This meant an expense of nearly 13 gold coins. Although 14 deaths did not seem like a lot, his militia had only 40 people in total, not counting the injured. It was a heavy loss, and most of the casualties were due to Nura's surprise attack in the last battle. It could be said that that girl single-handedly crippled half of his army.

Karl tapped his chin unconsciously, thinking:

"What about Henry?"

"Eight knights on Henry's side were killed, but he didn't mention it much. I don't know whether the death compensation will be counted on you or on their lord, Earl Morton." Alia replied.

Humph, with Morton's character, he will definitely blame me. Carl complained in his heart.

Then he turned to Alia and said:

"Well, regarding the Fire Rose Guard's remuneration, would you be willing if I paid it in the form of land distribution?"

"Land division, do you mean to confer us the title of knights?" Alia confirmed with some disbelief.

"Yes." Carl nodded. This was the best solution he could think of. Not only could it solve the problem of not being able to pay in cash, but most importantly, once they accepted the fiefdom, they would no longer be mercenaries, but vassals, and truly their own troops. Mercenaries would only follow the one who paid them. Today they were with him, but tomorrow they might be on the enemy's side. And vassals would only fight for him alone.

"I don't know," Alia said. "We are used to the wandering life of mercenaries. I'm not sure if they are really willing to settle down in one place... Besides, no one will canonize a woman as a knight."

Carl remembered that Aaron once said that Alia was an excellent warrior. If she were not a woman, she would have become a knight long ago. But what he didn't understand was, is gender really that important? After more than a month of fighting, he was very clear about Alia's fighting ability. For such a powerful general, he could say that he was eager for the other party to agree, and then complete the canonization and bring her under his command. In his opinion, it was extremely stupid to lose such a powerful general just because of gender. Thinking of this, he blurted out without thinking:

"I'm asking if you are willing? Will you be my knight?"

"What?" Alia was a little confused by his words. A blush flashed across the girl's cheeks for a moment, and then she regained her composure, shook her head and laughed, "I know, but I still have to discuss it with my sisters and see what other people think. Wait for my reply later."

"Yeah." Carl nodded.

Before leaving, Alia turned back again:

"If I am the only one willing at that time, will you regret it?"

"What are you talking about? You are the one I want most." Carl replied seriously.

And Alia narrowed her eyes:

"Hey, if you say something like this to a girl, it will cause misunderstanding!"

After she finished speaking, she tapped the horse's belly with her feet and ran away, leaving Karl alone. He held his chin thoughtfully and said to himself:

"Will it cause misunderstanding?"