[Special decree of King Harlaus, May 2, 1258.]

With immediate effect, no person or group of persons in the kingdom shall be allowed to research or manufacture gunpowder weapons except for His Majesty King Haraus and his authorized earls and lords, and the offender shall be punished with capital punishment, and the nobles shall be prosecuted for treason before the court of the nobility and fined one-third of their property. Gunpowder manufactured before the issuance of this decree shall be destroyed or handed over to the king's army for disposal, otherwise it shall be the same offence as privately manufactured gunpowder.

The decree shall enter into force on the same day, and all lords in Svadia shall apply it immediately. 】

Byron was very unhappy, as soon as he handed over the gunpowder to King Harlaus on the front foot, the king on the back foot issued a ban on gunpowder, and monopolized the gunpowder in his own hands in disguise. Moreover, these proclamation orders were issued by the royal family to the nobles, and they were not easily announced to the outside world. Obviously, this order of King Harlaus is mainly aimed at the domestic nobility, including Byron!

Although the coercive force of this order was not enough, it still restrained Byron's hands and feet to a certain extent, making him very unhappy.

As the man who handed over the gunpowder, King Harauth would certainly focus on him. Even a baron of medium strength like Baron Nat can take advantage of things that Byron has almost forgotten, and it is not easy for the king's intelligence network to get information from Byron's men. Order, as long as Byron dared to touch gunpowder, King Haraus could depose his title and deprive him of his fiefdom.

Byron hated it when he thought of it, but there was nothing he could do.

He could only write to the king asking for approval, but he was unlikely to agree.

Fortunately, in Dehrim's warehouse, Byron had stockpiled a large amount of sulfur and saltpeter, and if needed, he could produce a ton of black powder in two days, and it was still possible to reserve it for short-term use.

Moreover, the acquisition of these two raw materials for gunpowder must also be carried out carefully, so as not to be discovered by the king's spies.

Byron temporarily stopped thinking about gunpowder weapons and focused on the next steps of town building and army management.

Along the way, he recruited the Nord and Vekia mercenaries who had gone south because of the war in various towns, and King Haraus also recruited mercenaries at a high price, and they came for this.

Of course, only the price is high enough, and they don't mind serving Byron.

Considering that Thrindil's supplies had been consumed by the kingdom's army, Byron also added several wagons that were filled with grain.

And the facts have proved that Byron's move is completely correct.

Along the way, the Svadia occupied village of Rhodok was sparsely populated due to the ravages of war, and a large number of refugees fled to Viruga, leaving the area empty and the fields untended. There were also many villages that had been looted by robbers and Swadia troops, and not only were they all gone, but all their food was collected. They left a band of hungry people and glared at Byron with bloodshot eyes.

And when Byron and the others arrived at the town they had taken, they found that there was no one but the Count of Prais and his garrison, and the prisoners who had been imprisoned.

The Count had already learned of his becoming a nobleman, and spoke to him more politely than before, but there was still a sense of condescension.

The Count of Prais told Byron: "You have taken this place before, so you should know it well." You can take care of the defense or something, we took away those Rhodok captives, and as for the idle Rhodok farmers, you are your people, you can dispose of them yourself. The rest of the supplies are enough for you for a month, and I can't take care of the rest. There will be a period later, Baron Byron. ”

As soon as the Count of Prais left, Byron sent his men to take over the town's defenses and count all the supplies he had left.

After the counting, even Byron was angry and wanted to scold his mother.

The food supply was indeed enough to last for a month, but it was all dry bread, and not even a single leaf of vegetables was visible. The forage for the horses was not very good, and Byron felt that his stomach would be tingling when he looked at it, and the good grain and horse feed were all taken away by the Count of Prais when he left.

All the valuable items that Byron had stolen from the town were gone, and even the church that Byron himself did not dare to touch was ransacked, leaving only an empty shell and a pile of cheap candles, and the priest inside was also aggrieved when he saw Byron.

There is nothing wrong with the facilities in the town, and you can use them directly. However, the soldiers had to do everything themselves, fetching water and chopping wood, making fires and cooking, and these mercenaries who had been looking forward to relaxing would never be happy. Although Byron gave them a lot of bonuses, it would be embarrassing if they didn't even have a place to spend their money.

For this reason, Byron released from their houses the villagers who had not been evacuated and who had been there when Byron had captured the town. They had been in charge of the odd jobs when Count Prais was around, and now Byron was going to let them do the work for his troops.

"I am Baron Byron of the Kingdom of Svadia and the master of the town of Serindil. As my people, I ask you to fulfill your obligations in times of war. As compensation for you, I will give you the ownerless land and a few silver coins. ”

Byron told them who he was, and told them that this would be his domain and that they would be his people. And let them go back to the houses where they originally lived, and help the soldiers with all kinds of chores by the way.

Naturally, these poor poor people had no room for resistance, but Byron's words reassured them. They weren't quite sure they could get the reward that Byron had said, but if he was the new lord here, then the safety of their people was assured. After all, they are the subject of tax payment, the source of military service. Although the lord oppressed them very hard, because of this, only the lord who had enough to eat and supported would have nothing to do to harm his people.

Byron took up residence in the hollowed-out stone tower, and found that there was nothing of value left but a bed, a table, chairs, and unfinished papers. It seems that the Count of Prais was quite ruthless when he arrived here. But he didn't have to blame the earl, because most of the head went into King Haraus's pocket.

After all, such a large army tosses back and forth several times, and the amount of military spending is definitely not small even if it is the king's pressure. In order to win the battle, the business tax of Paravon was received two years later.

Byron's previous preparations came in handy, with a house and a fire, plus Byron's prepared dried sausages, as well as white bread and ale, enough for these mercenaries to enjoy for two days.

And Byron also had to deal with a lot of troubles in the past two days, saving the mercenaries from complaining after sobering up, and saving himself from really becoming a bare-rod lord in an empty town.