Chapter 111: Acceptance

When Allen saw Malherbe again, he was truly startled; he could not believe that the young man who, not long ago, had been imprisoned for five years yet remained full of hope and capable of conversing freely with him, had become a haggard, middle-aged man in such a short time.

It was not until Holimion whispered in Allen's ear: "My Lord, Malherbe's father was killed by the Easterlings during the migration. By the way, there is one more thing: his two brothers had their legs broken by his father for passing information to the Easterlings."

Hearing this, Allen suddenly understood. If this were placed in the stories he was familiar with, it would be like him single-mindedly resisting invaders while his own two brothers were traitors, and his father eventually being killed by the "Little Neon" (Japanese); an average person would likely be unable to accept such a reality, and it was possible for their appearance to change drastically in a short time.

Now, looking as if he had aged ten years, Malherbe had already learned of his father's death from several clansmen, and also knew that his two brothers had been taken to Dale by his uncle Theodore, and that they would likely not see each other many times in this lifetime.

These successive pieces of bad news left Malherbe, now a lone man, in extreme grief; he could not fathom why things that should have gone very smoothly had encountered so many accidents.

However, the current situation gave Malherbe no time for grief, even though his father's remains were still missing somewhere in the vast wilderness.

He had to put aside the sorrow in his heart and begin learning how to manage his clansmen, bearing the pressure of survival for over two thousand people.

Malherbe had indeed been making corresponding preparations for this, and had hoped to smoothly take over this power and responsibility from his father in a few years' time, but not like this.

The news of Herbert's sudden death caused a great stir among the residents of Red River Town; this not only meant they had lost a leader they could trust, but also that the Easterlings might be in close pursuit behind the column.

At this moment, they were in the wilderness and had lost the protection of city walls; the emotion of panic spread inevitably among the crowd like a plague, and it spread extremely quickly, soon causing the speed of the migration to drop significantly.

To stabilize the emotions of his clansmen, Malherbe had to travel back and forth between the various migrating groups extremely frequently, striving to appear before his people often.

But this approach had extremely limited effect; after all, Malherbe had disappeared from before his clansmen for a full five years, and his prestige at this moment was simply insufficient to bring confidence to the clansmen.

Seeing his future colleague looking so distressed, Cress offered a suggestion: let Malherbe ride on Grim, who had transformed into a great bear, and take a lap in front of his clansmen.

Dealing with the noble lords of the Vigia Kingdom year-round had taught Cress a truth: if your personal charm or prestige is insufficient to handle the current situation, then displaying powerful force is also an excellent method; after all, she had once left a dagger by a certain noble lord's bedside.

Looking at the resolute "Big Sister," Grim extremely aggrievedly became Malherbe's temporary mount, carrying Malherbe for a lap throughout the migrating column.

It must be said that the method Cress proposed was truly effective; when the residents of Red River Town saw that their new leader was actually powerful enough to tame such an exceptionally fierce black bear, while also being followed by a large number of Cavalry, their hearts suddenly settled, and the instability in the column quickly vanished.

Not only that, the leaders responsible for the various migrating groups also began to take the initiative to communicate with Malherbe about the difficulties encountered during the migration; with a good mindset and smooth communication, the migration speed of the various groups greatly accelerated.

Finally, they successfully arrived near Heidelberg.

At this moment, Malherbe was physically and mentally exhausted under the dual pressure of busy chores and his father's death, but he still braced himself to temporarily settle his clansmen, and after finishing these matters, he still had to go visit Allen to secure enough supplies and land for his people to settle down.

Otherwise, he might have to lead his clansmen to continue migrating, and he had not yet decided whether to go to Eriador or follow the Anduin River to seek refuge in Rohan.

Just as Malherbe was preparing to set off, he looked up and happened to see Allen standing not far away; he was startled for a moment, then let out a light sigh of relief, thinking to himself that if this King could come out to meet him in person, then the following conversation should go relatively smoothly, right?

He forced a smile onto his face, walked quickly to Allen's side, bowed deeply, and said, "Good afternoon, My Lord. I didn't expect us to meet again so soon."

Looking at Malherbe, who was bracing himself with a forced smile, Allen began to feel some respect for the man before him, while swallowing the "my condolences" he had on the tip of his tongue, nodding and changing his words: "Indeed, Malherbe. I didn't expect it to be in this form. Alright, Holimion has already told me most of the things; let's go into the room to talk."

After speaking, Allen walked toward his barracks first; he knew that if a person had to desperately hide their grief in front of others after suffering great pain, it meant they did not want others to show them pity.

In Allen's hometown, there was a saying: "Things rarely go as planned, and one can only speak of two or three out of ten to others," which fit Malherbe's current mood perfectly, and Allen could naturally understand.

After everyone arrived at the barracks, Allen took out a fairly detailed topographical map, pointed to an area between Old Ferry and the Iris River, and said to Malherbe: "I can arrange for you and your clansmen to live in this place. Through the unremitting efforts of my soldiers, the entire Anduin Valley is much safer than before; given the current situation, this land is very suitable for you."

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Before the Battle of the Lonely Mountain, Allen would not have arranged for anyone to cross Old Ferry to settle in the south; even after the Battle of the Lonely Mountain was over, Allen had been unwilling for a time to arrange for his own subjects to move there to establish farms.

However, the people of Red River Town were numerous, and it was no longer convenient to arrange for them to settle near Wilderness Town; forcing them to live together would limit the development of both towns.

As for the north, it had been arranged by Allen as large pastures; if the people of Red River Town moved there, they would likely come into conflict with the people of Horse Pasture Village, such as livestock trampling on fields, and Allen did not want to waste his energy on such matters.

After much thought, he finally decided to let Malherbe take his people to settle more than a hundred kilometers south of Wilderness Town; the distance between the two sides was not far, taking only half a day by fast horse, and at most one or two days for infantry on a forced march.

Being able to receive support quickly, combined with the fact that there were enough residents in Red River Town to assemble at least several hundred militiamen, meant that Malherbe and his people should be very safe living there.

As for the form of allegiance, Allen did not wait for Malherbe to bring up this sensitive topic, but gave him two choices, and Allen decided that any force exceeding one thousand people coming to pledge allegiance to him would have these two choices.

The first choice was the form of a Vassal; in the past, Allen had provided Bard with a large amount of wealth to help him rebuild Dale, gaining Bard's loyalty.

Now, he could provide Malherbe with safe land, allowing him and those residents from Red River Town to obtain a stable life.

Allen would not interfere with Malherbe's daily management, nor did he need those new Northmen to serve him directly, as long as Malherbe could provide qualified military assistance when Allen issued an order.

Correspondingly, besides providing land, Allen would not provide anything else; if Malherbe needed help, he could spend money to purchase it from Allen, which was a very common way of trading in the Middle Ages.

After all, Allen had already granted the fief to Malherbe; how to manage it and how to operate it was Malherbe's own business, and Allen would not intervene, nor was it convenient to intervene.

The second choice was the form of an official; Allen could give Malherbe the status of a Hero in the Cabinet, allowing him to participate in the core of the Kingdom's power, and the town newly established by the residents of Red River Town would still be managed by Malherbe, with Allen sending other officials to assist him in management.

The difference was that Malherbe's family could not inherit the position of Town Mayor; this was designated by the Cabinet, and if Malherbe did not manage well, the Cabinet would send a new Town Mayor to replace Malherbe.

Of course, this did not mean that Malherbe's family could not obtain a lord's title in the future; if they performed meritorious service and there was a suitable position, Allen would still grant land, but it would not be at the core of the Kingdom, a point Allen made very clear from the beginning.

And those new Northern Men also had to follow Allen's rules and laws, while being directly responsible to Allen, needing to pay one-quarter of their income to the Cabinet as taxes, and obeying orders when summoned by Allen to participate in the various tasks of the Kingdom.

Correspondingly, besides providing land, Allen would also do his best to help these new Northern Men settle down; after all, those townspeople were already Allen's subjects in name, and he would not treat anyone differently.

Facing the two choices given by Allen, Malherbe fell into deep thought; if these two choices were considered from the perspective of the townspeople, then the second choice was naturally better.

With Allen's full help, they could settle down faster, and at the same time, a one-quarter tax was really not high; even Malherbe's own family had never set such a light tax, as they usually collected one-third or one-half depending on the harvest to maintain the operation of the entire town, especially in recent years when they needed to pay tribute to the Easterlings to exchange for a stable life, making the taxes even heavier.

But from the perspective of the family, there was still a big difference between these two choices.

If Allen's Kingdom was compared to a fleet sailing on the ocean, then Allen's force was the most powerful flagship in the fleet, Bard's Dale was currently the first frigate of this fleet, and after Heidelberg was built, Alayen would be the second frigate.

But there were differences between vassals and vassals; for example, Alayen, besides being the lord of Heidelberg, also held the title of Hero in the Cabinet and was a core member who could participate in the Kingdom's power, such as serving as the Kingdom's Infantry Legion Commander; even if Allen took back Alayen's position as Legion Commander in the future, he would grant Alayen other powers at the appropriate time.

But Bard was different; he became Allen's vassal directly and had no corresponding position in the Cabinet; in the days to come, Allen did not intend to give Bard a corresponding status, and the two sides were just a pure vassal-allegiance relationship.

To put it more simply, if Malherbe chose the status of an official, then his relationship with Allen would be very close; Allen would share a portion of the power in his hands with Malherbe, letting him help manage the entire Kingdom, while also having the opportunity to become a lord in the future.

If Malherbe chose to be a vassal, then he would become a lord directly, but he would lose the opportunity to participate in managing the Kingdom's affairs, and would not obtain such an opportunity again in the future.

He and his family could keep living on that fief; of course, if they could not hold it, lost their fief, and it was taken back by others, then Allen might not necessarily return it to Malherbe's family.

In Allen's view, there was actually no good or bad to these two choices, just the difference between a regional governor and a trusted high official.

If Malherbe chose the status of an official, that was naturally good; Allen's royal direct-controlled territory would become larger, and the power he could control directly would also be more.

Even if he chose the form of a vassal, Allen did not think it was a bad result, as it also increased the strength of the Kingdom of Rhovanion to resist dark forces.

Therefore, no matter the result, Allen was sure to win; he looked at the conflicted Malherbe and said sincerely: "Malherbe, there is no need to rush; you can think about it slowly, or even go to settle your clansmen first."

This sentence stopped Malherbe's chaotic thoughts; he looked at Allen, his eyes red, and said: "My Lord, I have considered it clearly; I hope to obtain the title of Hero and serve you in the Cabinet."

Hearing this answer, Allen was very surprised; in his view, most people in the current social environment should be more inclined to choose the status of a lord, rather than just becoming an official.

"Malherbe, have you considered it clearly?"

Malherbe had also made this choice out of many considerations; his clansmen had traveled for a long time and needed to obtain a stable life as soon as possible; if they did not have Allen's help, relying on themselves alone would take too long.

On the other hand, he himself had brought over two thousand clansmen to a strange country, and if he wanted to develop and ensure his clansmen lived a stable life, he naturally needed to integrate into the core of this country's power as quickly as possible.

To accomplish this, finding a backer was the fastest and most effective choice, and so here, who could be more suitable than Allen?

"Yes, my lord, I have thought it through."

"Then, in my capacity as the ruler of the Kingdom of Rhovanion, I welcome you to join us, Malherbe."