Swiss Arms
Chapter 136

Swiss Arms

Chapter 136

-VB-

Hans von Fluelaberg

"HAP!" I grunted out as I finished my 1,000th practice strike of the day with my "normal" sized sword instead of my usual broad "slab" sword.

For everyone else, this was a very long sword that the locals didn't have a name for yet.

But in the Far East, this would have been called an odachi.

If I remembered correctly, then an odachi was close to a yard long in length but could be up to two yards long, if not more. It was also supposed to be curved. The sword I held in my hand right now was long, standing at around a yard and a half, which made it half yard longer than my slab sword. It was also slightly curved.

What it was not, however, was an odachi. I didn't make it to be one.

The purpose of this blade was more ceremonial than practical. One could say that this sword would be the family heirloom, not my shoddy slab sword and roughly, if technically well made, plate armors. It was beautiful in its simplicity. It was powerful in the killing power it held without weighing more than a cow.

I walked over to the sword racks, sheathed the odachi, and set it down on the rack. Then I ignored all of the glances sent my way as I left the training ground.

I noticed a lot of people in the castle's training ground. Most of them were rangers and people looking to become career soldiers, and the latter group put a lot of effort to show off that they were capable soldiers to me whenever I walked by. I didn't want to have a large army, despite the near yearly conflicts that I and the Compact have been part of.

For all I knew, Milan might attack me next year for "intruding into their territory" or some bullshit like that.

Who knows?! I might even be fighting the new emperor because they don't like commoners who rose to become a noble!

There were as many excuses as there were stars in the sky, which wasn't helped by the fact that the Compact was a collection of literal peasants whose representation in the Compact's legislative body had more value than its nobles and clergy put together.

Speaking of which, the current "core" members of the Compact was thus:

Chief Kraft of Davos.

Mayor Thomas of Schiers.

Chief Otto of Klosters.

Representative John of Langweis (readmitted after they kicked out the heretics and oppositional members of the village to St. Peters).

Representative Beatrice of Maienfeld.

Representative-Deputy Mayor Yorn of Castels.

Representative Erik of Toggenburg.

Prince-Bishop Gion of Chur.

Representative-Monk Leon of Disentis.

Representative-Priest Mathis of St. Gallens.

Count Hartmann of Werdenberg.

And me, Count Hans von Fluelaberg of Fluelaberg-Rheintal.

No, I did not get 2 votes for having two separate territories.

Of course, this was solely based on the votes each member held, but politics wasn't so straightforward. For example, there were political power blocs within the Compact.

The Bishop Votes included St. Gallens, Chur, and Disentis. They liked to vote together on all non-economic matters.

The Economic Vote was Davos, Schiers, Klosters, Mianefeld, Castles, and Fluelaberg-Rhiental (me) because the smaller member-villages of the Compact more or less depended on the trade flow coming in and out of Fluelaberg too much to risk upsetting me.

Speaking of the Economic Vote, it didn't need to be stated that I was more or less the driving force behind the Compact's economy. Dyes, porcelain, steel, rough and cut gemstones, fertilizers, and more flowed out of Fluelaberg each week in quantities that would have been difficult for surrounding lands to absorb had we not been placed right between one of the Salt Roads and Venice. Even still, merchants and peddlers from far out as Lubeck, Zaragoza, Paris, and Constantinople visited us.

As for just how economically powerful my city in the mountain was compared to the rest of the Compact… it was close to overwhelming.

Langweis - <1%.

Schiers - 1%.

Castels - 1%.

Disentis - 1%.

Schiers - 2%.

Maienfeld - 3%.

Werdenberg - 3%.

Rheintal - 4%.

Chur - 5%.

Toggenburg-Sargans - 6%.

St. Gallens - 9%.

Fluelaberg - 64%.

Yeah. I, as in Fluelaberg by itself, was 64% of the Compact's annual productive output in gold and silver currencies. And it made sense.

Each porcelain plate I sold was equal to five farmers' annual output (in silver). Chur only managed to be 5% of the economy because I gave them the technology on how to make pulp paper. The smaller villages didn't become a statistical rounding error because I laid down roads between all of them and myself and because I also gave them things they could make. St. Gallens had been a powerful force before they joined and Toggenburg-Sargans was just too big to not have at least a small pie of the economy.

I nodded to the guards stationed outside of my office and walked into it.

Inside, Isabella was hard at work with our little Louis in a cloth sling carrier. She looked up from the paperwork in front of her.

"Oh, you're done with your training, milord?" she asked me.

"Yes, I am," I replied as I walked over and kissed her on the forehead.

She hummed with a smile on her lips before looking back down to continue her work.

I leaned down and kissed my son on the forehead, and the sleepyhead giggled. That just made me happier, hearing him giggle happily like that.

"Court today must have been quiet if you're up here this early," I said to her as I walked over to my desk. I pushed the luxurious cushioned and leather chair before sitting down on a backless stool. I was sweating (just a little), so I didn't want to press my sweaty back and shirt against the leather chair.

That thing was a gift from Count John! I should take good care of it.

"Yes," she replied. "Ever since we instituted the paperwork for complaints, the number of visitors to the court have drastically fallen. But we now have more paperwork to look at each day," she grumbled.

"Better than sitting on that stiff marble chair."

"Yes, definitely."

I looked down at my own pile of paperwork, and pulled a random slip out of the entire stack.

Oh, it was the economics output report packet. My workshops made this every month.

I read the first page. It was from Porcelain Workshop #1. I made sure to compare the numbers with the merchants' report of how much they bought by pulling out the Mercantile Guild reports.

I went through all of the paperwork and …

I frowned.

Porcelain Workshop #3 produced 55 pieces this month, but the merchants reported only receiving 35. Clay Miner Guild also reported hauling at least 50 pieces worth of clay over to Workshop #3. Workshop #3 was also reporting that they lost 10 pieces, which could be possible because not all porcelain pieces survived the firing process. The tax office also reported that Workshop #3 was paying only 30 porcelain pieces worth in taxes.

Now.

All of this could be a coincidence.

Except… this was the fifth time I was seeing discrepancies from this workshop.

"... Guards!" I spoke up, and one of them opened the door and entered.

"Yes, milord?"

"Get me Andrea Terrena and Anton Luhr."

The ex-smuggler and former Bavarian merchant should have some insight into this if there was a smuggling operation involving my porcelain.

And if there was …

… Someone's head was going to roll.