Revive Rome: Wait! Why not make the empress fall in love with me first?
Chapter 355 - 153 Swabian Duchy

Chapter 355: Chapter 153 Swabian Duchy

"Where are you headed?"

"Hexingen."

"Oh, I’m off to Constance." The plump merchant pressed down on his hat, "This damned war, the fare from Mingxing City to Constance has gone up so much."

"It’s not too bad, is it?" Aske smiled, "After all, safety is paramount. If it weren’t for having connections on both ends of Swabia and Bavaria, this caravan wouldn’t dare to run international passenger services, right?"

"Let’s just hope it doesn’t encounter any military disasters, otherwise, it wouldn’t be worth the high fare I paid." The merchant certainly understood what he meant; lately, the Empire had been in chaos with unruly soldiers everywhere.

Being charged a toll fee wasn’t too bad, but the fear was they’d suspect you to be rich and kill for loot – then the loss truly wouldn’t be worth it.

To travel to the Swabian Duchy this time, Aske had found a private caravan with the right connections.

Because the carriage was narrow, and overcrowded, it was extremely inconvenient to live in, so he could only leave the women on Fire Island and carry the ancient book himself.

The caravan bounced and jolted along the road. This area used to belong to the Noric Province of the West Solomon Empire, and just a few centuries after the Empire’s fall, the inter-provincial roads were already severely damaged, with potholes and loose stones everywhere.

Rumbling on, they finally made it to Stuttgart City, only to be stopped by a troop of soldiers.

The people inside the carriage were terrified as they looked outside and noticed the fishbone emblem on the soldiers’ cloth armor.

Those were the private soldiers of the Earl Albert of Württemberg.

Earl Albert I, nicknamed the Fishbone Earl, was currently disputing a large territory of the Swabian Duchy with the Sorren Family.

In name, the current lords of both these families are under the Duke Conrad of the Swabian Duchy combined with the Franknian Duchy.

However, the Griffin Family has dwindled to only Duke Conrad’s line, with all other branches extinct.

Since old Duke Conrad can’t produce offspring and has only one daughter married to Friedrich, the current Family Head of the Sorren Family.

Thus, the Sorren Family began to prepare, just waiting for the old griffin to depart this life so they can inherit the political legacy and the Duchy’s lands of the Griffin Family.

They even changed their family flag from a hound to a falcon, adding the wings of the Griffin Family, henceforth calling themselves the Falcon Family, the heirs to the Griffin.

Unexpectedly, the old griffin managed to form a relationship with the Church Court, attempting to create an heir through in vitro fertilization, and openly rebelled against Emperor Otto.

As a result, inside the Swabian Duchy, other lords started stirring as well. The Fishbone Earl was one of the most eager among them, and his reasoning was simple:

The Swabian Duchy is currently nominally under Duke Conrad of the Griffin Family.

Yet, Duke Conrad has rebelled.

Emperor Otto will surely strip him of his lands.

As his son-in-law family, the Falcon Family will definitely not be eligible to inherit.

Then, shouldn’t the vast lands of the Swabian Duchy belong to the virtuous? Just wait for the melee over at Franknia to become a quagmire, and I can swiftly conquer and occupy the surrounding territories.

Then, by declaring allegiance to Emperor Otto,

His Majesty will surely recognize my de facto occupation of the current land and will grant me the legal right to rule in exchange for continuing to stir trouble behind the old griffin.

This logic has no major issue; feudal politics are such. Reason prevails in peaceful times, while interests reign during war; sophisticated nobles usually hop between the two to secure the greatest benefits for their families.

The only problem was that the Falcon Family, who had also prepared for this for years, would naturally not sit idly by.

Consequently, the Fishbone Earl brought his troops to reside directly in Stuttgart Castle, about 64 kilometers from Soron Castle in Hexingen. Both parties independently cleared the field and readied troops, prepared to charge at each other at any moment to seize land and population.

In such circumstances, the soldiers dispatched by Count Fishbone for patrol encountered the caravan that Aske was with.

"Sir," the caravan leader recognized these men as Count Fishbone’s and quickly came out to make connections, saying, "We are under orders from Lord Ulrich to procure supplies from nearby duchies. These passengers are just taking advantage of the extra capacity of the caravan for a ride back, a fact that Lord Ulrich is also aware of."

Ulrich, Count Fishbone’s younger brother, was naturally known to these private soldiers too. The squad leader only responded with a feigned smile.

"Technically, since it’s Lord Ulrich’s business, naturally we wouldn’t want to cause any difficulties. However, Count recently issued a strict martial law order, fearing that some travelers might be spies from the Falcon Family, so a routine search is still necessary."

The caravan leader wanted to plead further, but the private soldiers’ squad leader had already pushed him aside and sent his men into the carriages to start the inspection.

"What’s your name?"

"Brooks."

"Where are you going, and what for?"

"Off to Ulm City, visiting relatives."

Such interrogations were continuously heard in front of each carriage. Some slick travelers slipped the soldiers money after being questioned, and they were easily let go.

Those who didn’t grease the soldiers’ palms, appearing as poor as church mice, were simply shoved around a bit by the soldiers and then let go after tolerating it.

Finally, it was Aske’s turn. The lead soldier was about to question him, but upon seeing his attire, he got a bit frightened.

This guy... armed to the teeth with long spears, shields, swords, battle axes, handguns, throwing knives – clearly not somebody to mess with.

"You..." The soldier glanced at his comrades for backup and then mustered the courage to shout, "What do you do!"

"I sell weapons," Aske replied.

"Sell weapons? What do you need so many weapons for!"

"To sell," Aske said.

The soldier: ......

He didn’t quite catch Aske’s answer and asked his prepared question reflexively.

The other soldiers started laughing: "Bair, the man already said he sells weapons, and you still ask why he’s carrying all these arms? How stupid can you be?"

"I... I suspect he’s a spy from the Falcon Family!" stammered the soldier named Bair, feeling embarrassed and trying to justify himself.

"If that’s what you think, then you should ’ask him’ thoroughly. If he can’t provide ’evidence,’ then take him into custody."

Under everyone’s watchful eye, Aske sighed, took some paper currency out of his bag – it was a small denomination of "Copper Gazzetta" issued by Venice – and silently handed it over.

Unexpectedly, the soldier wouldn’t take it: "You have Venetian currency? We only accept Imperial coins."

Aske: ......

God damn it, only Imperial coins! Don’t you guys have banks here? Isn’t carrying precious metal coins heavy?

He fell silent for a moment, then flashed an innocuous smile and asked the soldier, now clearly on alert:

"I don’t have Imperial coins on me, but would you accept a different kind of currency?"

"What currency?"

"Joss paper."