From Londoner To Lord

However, it had been nearly two decades since the incident through which Count Ebirtas had gained power, and by now, the Count was already old - having seen sixty five winters by now - which is probably why Zoricus must be dreaming of becoming a count in the future.

Coming back to the present, Ustaimo looked ahead and immediately saw the tired visage of the elderly Count Ebirtas, who was sitting at the head of the table while frowning at a map spread on the top. However, much to his annoyance, Baron Zoricus was also sitting on one of the chairs near the elderly count. Unlike Lord Ebirtas who was already old, the fat bastard was still in his mid forties and had more than enough time to snatch power from the Count, whose only heir was a drunkard son who spent more time in the brothels of the town than in this mansion learning the ropes of managing the domain from his father.

Ustaimo got a shiver just trying to imagine what would happen when that imbecile took charge of Cinran after the count died. Not that the alternative was any better, of Zoricus killing both the father and the son to snatch power for himself, and becoming the next Count. He blinked. There he went thinking of the worst case scenarios once again. However, regardless of whether such a thing happened in the future or not, it was still a fact that Baron Zoricus' was someone who only cared about his own interests, and was willing to go to any lengths to achieve them.

For a moment Ustaimo wondered why the Count kept this bastard so close to him, before he remembered that Zoricus' pockets ran very, very deep. The fat bastard had always been close to Ebirtas, but once his old friend had become the Count around two decades ago, Zoricus' fortunes started increasing at an astounding rate, and by now nobody knew just how much gold he earned.

The fat bastard had vast and fertile land holdings which allowed him to sell grain at basically any price he wanted, especially in years of bad harvest like the recent ones. Zoricus also owned various lucrative merchant and craftsmen stores in the town of Cinran - including those of the blacksmiths and the armorers producing spears, swords, bows and armors - not to mention all the underhanded dealings made by Zoricus, which meant he basically had a monopoly in Cinran of selling all kinds of things from lumber, limestone, iron ingots, clothing and so on.

Ustaimo had no doubt that most of those dealings must have been made by the force of the sword since the fat bastard knew that he had the Count's support behind him, but the fact remained that Zoricus had way too many sources of income and a vast treasury, which is why he would never have any shortage of gold, even if the rest of Cinran barely had enough to eat these days. That's why to keep paying for all the luxuries that Count Ebirtas desired in his life, he had kept taking more and more debt from other nobles, most of it from Zoricus, so it stood to reason why the Count had to keep that bastard close to him.

Looking around, Ustaimo saw that on the other side of the table, there was a senior knight wearing his full metal armour, who served as the Knight Commander of Cinran. Being in his mid thirties, he was at the peak of his physical prowess, and right now he was pointing at something on a map spread on the table, while the Count nodded to his words. All the while Zoricus seemed to be sitting back lazily with his chubby arm sprawled on the back of another chair, while munching on some fruits and giving a vague nod once in a while.

Ustaimo waited for a while until Count Ebirtas looked up at him. "Oh, Ustaimo, you are already here. I was just going to send someone to call you. Come on and take a seat."

Ustaimo gave a nod and knowingly walked to the side of the Knight Commander, so he wouldn't have to sit next to the gluttonous bastard who had a knowing smirk on his face. He took a seat before looking towards the count.

"How are our monthly income and expenses looking these days?" Count Ebirtas asked after a moment. "We need every coin we can get to deal with any future incursions from Binpaaz."

Ustaimo frowned. "You know that the answer to your question is very complicated, since we get the taxes from all the baronies under Cinran as a single yearly payment, while the income taxes we charge from the citizens of Cinran are taken quarterly. On the other hand, the sales tax from the merchants in the marketplace are taken every month, while the border taxes are charged on every entry and exit from any visiting traders. At the same time, the income from the farms directly under your name are taken in the form of grain after every harvest, which is once per year, and that income varies with the prevailing grain prices. However, there is also..."

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Ebirtas raised his hand with a grimace. "That's enough. I don't need to hear all those details, that's what you are here for. Just give me a simple answer."

Ustaimo gave a sigh. Nobody understood how difficult it was to manage all the accounts. Bringing out the small accounts ledger he always kept in the pocket of his cloak for such occasions, he began, "I apologise, my lord." He quickly thumbed over some pages in the ledger before he found what he was looking for. "If I prorate all the income we got in the past year over twelve individual months, then we are earning around... 5100 gold per month, after taking into account the grain and other things we get in kind as the taxes."

"See, you can speak in simple terms if you want! That's the answer you should have given me in the first place," Ebirtas said with a nod. "What about our expenses?"

Ustaimo grimaced. "I know you won't like my answer, but on average we are spending above 5600 gold every month including the interest payments on the debt we owe. The last of the gold we had borrowed from Baron Zoricus is nearly gone by now, which is why we need to borrow some gold once again to be able to pay all the knights and the servants of the mansion."

"That's..." Count Ebirtas shook his head in resignation. After a while, he took a deep breath and looked at the fat bastard. "Zoricus, I will have to ask you for some help once again."

Zoricus grinned. "Of course, my lord! I'm always here to help you, and I will lend you as much gold as you want at any time. Obviously, at the usual interest rates."

Ebirtas gave a grimace before he forced a smile. "I am always thankful that you are here on my side. Who knows what would happen to Cinran if you weren't here."

Ustaimo kept his face expressionless on the outside, while cursing the fat bastard. Cinran would only be progressing if that bastard wasn't here to profit from everyone at any cost. He had a chokehold on all the trade in the town, and in the past decade, Count Ebirtas had become more and more of a figurehead of Cinran, while it was Zoricus who wielded all the real power."

Changing the subject, Ustaimo began, "The southern road going to Tiranat would start melting soon, so I would like to leave in around two weeks to get the taxes from them. We have no idea if the new Baron of Tiranat, Kivamus Ralokaar has any interest in coming to Cinran with the taxes like the previous baron liked to do, so it will be better if I go myself to Tiranat and take a look at their accounts. There's still around two weeks before I leave, but I wanted to let you know in advance since I will need a contingent of guards and knights to accompany me. It just wouldn't be safe to carry that much gold from Tiranat through that treacherous forest road without sufficient protection."

Count Ebirtas gave a tired nod and looked at the knight commander. "He's right. Make sure to give him enough guards for this."

"But, with Binpaaz..." the knight commander began to protest before he glanced at the fat bastard for a quick moment, who gave a subtle nod - which went completely unnoticed by the elderly count. The knight looked at the count again. "As you wish, my lord."

Zoricus gave a grin. "We should do our best to protect Ustaimo. After all, who will manage the accounts if he is killed by bandits on that road, just like that idiot who was the previous Baron of Tiranat? It's not a safe road after all." He gave a lazy shrug. "The far more important thing is that while we can hire someone else to take care of the accounts, we just can't lose all that gold, you know?"

Ustaimo grimaced hearing about his death being mentioned as a far lower priority than preserving gold by the fat bastard. He had serious doubts about whether the previous Baron of Tiranat was just killed by some random bandits or if there was a certain fat bastard behind it, who must have also taken all the gold which the previous baron was supposed to come with to pay the yearly taxes of Tiranat. Ustaimo had no proof either way, not that he would ever risk his own neck to bring something like that to light even if he did have proof. His own survival came before anything else while living between this nest of snakes who called themselves nobles.

"Oh, that reminds me," Count Ebirtas interrupted suddenly. "How much gold can we expect from Tiranat this year? Will it be enough to postpone borrowing more from Zoricus?"