Chapter 23: 22: A Diamond in the Rough

After observing and instructing the peasant militia, Berengar returned to the village, for now, their training was done for the day; and the young lord had business to attend to elsewhere. The Baron's son had to say goodbye temporarily to his fiancee, who would be returning to her homeland with ten tonnes of steel. Five more than Berengar had initially estimated. After all, as his plans became more ambitious, his family needed a larger treasury.

Though the count's daughter would not be gone for long, she would return with the transport containing the gold and silver bars which were the promised form of compensation for such a massive stockpile of steel ingots. A small portion of the money gained from the transaction would go towards the engagement ceremony that Berengar had planned; seeing as he was far from beginning preparations for it, he had not sent out the invitations yet. Due to unforeseen circumstances, primarily involving Linde's arrival and the things that occurred afterward. Berengar was far behind schedule on preparing for the party he had promised Adela. Currently, it was his notable lack of funds that hindered his progress in that regard.

After arriving at the Castle, the young Lord approached his fiancee, whose retinue of knights were loading the steel ingots into the convoy which Berengar had prepared for her. He trusted her to keep her father's side of the bargain intact. The cute girl who was at the cusp of her teenage years played with her twintails as she waited patiently for Berengar to arrive; when she finally spotted him, she dashed over into his arms and embraced him firmly. She had grown quite fond of her fiance since their initial meeting. After several moments had passed, the young girl let go of her hold over her betrothed and pouted.

"Are you sure you can't come with me?"

Berengar chuckled as he patted her silky golden hair; with such a reaction, he truly wished he could travel with her to the girl's ancestral homeland, but alas, he could not. The young lord had many preparations that needed to be made, and unfortunately, he did not have the spare time to go on a brief vacation with his future wife. He spoke from the bottom of the heart as he smiled endearingly at her.

"I wish I could, yet unfortunately, there are many matters I must attend to here. But fret not; you will be back in no time."

He tried to assure the young girl that they would not be separated long, as he too had grown quite fond of his young cousin. However, the real trial would be their long-term separation after the engagement ceremony was over, and she was forced to return home. It was not as if she could stay in his family's lands until their wedding. That would not be proper. Truthfully, she had already stayed longer than what was considered acceptable in the eyes of society. It was supposed to be a short meeting of a matter of days, yet she had been in her fiance's lands for weeks already.

The young girl eventually stopped pouting after hearing Berengar's words and smiled at him gratefully as she said in a hushed tone.

"Come closer. I want to tell you something."

Berengar thought nothing of it and leaned over so that he matched the girl's height. She quickly pecked him on the cheek with her full lips and whispered in his ear.

"I'll miss you."

Afterward, Berengar stared at her in disbelief; he did not think she had the nerve to do such a thing; as he stared at the young lady, her face became increasingly flushed until the point where she covered her face with her hands and rushed off into her carriage. Berengar instinctively placed his hand on the cheek where she had kissed him as he thought to himself.

'This girl is just too cute.'

As his thoughts began to shift back to the wonderful memories he had made with the Count's daughter over the past weeks; the convoy began to ride off into the distance, leaving Berengar standing alone in the courtyard as the sunset came to a close. It was only after he could no longer see the carriage which contained his fiancee that Berengar decided to walk back inside and take a bath.

Berengar sat in the large circular stone pool, the hot water soothing his milky white skin as he washed away the stress accumulated throughout the day. He was completely unaware of the creaking of the door and the sound of footsteps approaching. It was not until he felt the soft and bouncy mounds of his lover press against the back of his neck that he realized someone had intruded on his private time. The girl covered his eyes with her hands from behind as she asked in a playful tone.

"Guess who?"

Berengar chuckled as he grabbed ahold of the dainty hands and pulled the buxom beauty into the bath with him. Linde was not expecting such behavior and screamed as she splashed into the hot water, her alabaster skin instantly reddening as the heat began to affect her complexion. After climbing into the young lord's lap and pressing her chest against his, she looked at him while pouting.

"You got my hair wet!"

Berengar wrapped his arms around the girl and kissed her; only after a minute had gone by did he break away from her enticing lips.

"It's the bath, of course; your hair is going to get wet."

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The young temptress continued to pout as Berengar lectured her, but he paid it no mind. Initially, he was worried somebody might have spotted her sneak in here; after all, people were still wide awake at this hour and roaming across the castle, and thus he could not help but inquire about the girl's recklessness.

"Did anyone see you enter here?"

She shook her head as she buried it into Berengar's shoulder. Afterward, she pecked him on the opposite cheek that Adela had left her mark and expressed the concerns that were on her mind.

"There, now there's no more space for another girl to mark her claim!"

The young lord nearly broke out in laughter as he heard such a childish remark from the young woman who had just a week prior boldly tried to seduce and enslave him. Was she jealous of his relationship with Adela? This would not do. Clearly, he had to discipline her further...

As such, he spent an unusually long and energetic bath with the naked bombshell who lay next to him. It would not be for close to an hour before the couple retreated from the confines of the bathhouse and entered Berengar's chambers where the real fun began. He spent an entire night further training his slave; after all, her jealousy was unbefitting of a proper slave. It was not her place to question whether or not her master spent time with another woman.

By the time the sun rose, the couple was well and truly exhausted. Berengar began to regret his decisions in life as he knew there was still a matter of lifting weights to attend to. Though intercourse was great for cardio, it was far from enough to increase his muscle mass further. After sending his lover back to her chambers, he spent the rest of the morning getting in his old exercise routine, which he had been slacking on lately. It did not surprise him that it took him longer than usual to complete his sets after an entire night of lovemaking.

He would need to fit power naps into his schedule if he continued to behave in this manner at night. Nevertheless, he had plenty of work to do, so after his exercise for the day was concluded, as well as the morning bath, he had once more dined with his family. The meal was uneventful and mainly included small talk. Afterward, Berengar returned to the fledgling industrial district where he checked on the progress of the irrigation pipes. Things were going smoothly, and truthfully all he had to do at this point was wait for production to be complete.

His workforce was already stretched thin on the production of arms, munitions, and irrigation piping; at this point, there was no way for him to increase their workload to produce more designs. It was not until the irrigation piping was finished that he would see more peasants enter the industrial sector. After all, with the innovation fully fielded, there was no longer a need for so many farmers to water their crops by hand, and they would need a new occupation. Most would be delegated to the mines, while others would be working in the factories.

It was not a glamorous life, but they would be paid a fair wage under Berengar's management and be allotted a proper forty-hour workweek with paid vacation time and sick days. It was best not to overwork your employees; if you were foolish enough to do so, you would see decreased productivity. These were lessons that could only be learned through experience; luckily for Berengar, he had the history of 21st century America and the lessons it could teach in the back of his mind thanks to the memories of Julian.

It seemed that for now, his days would be primarily filled with overseeing the training of his volunteer militia. At least until Adela returned with the fortune, he had obtained for his family through his many efforts. If at all possible, he would request a small portion of the profits for himself to purchase some land to grow flax on. With the inventions that dwelled within his mind, he could produce a flourishing textile industry with time and introduce the fashion of the renaissance to his population, which he vastly preferred over the garments currently in fashion. Anything leftover could be sold for a fair price to the neighboring regions.

These were all plans for the near future; for now, nothing of significance could be achieved without the wealth to invest in it, which he severely lacked at the moment, though within a few weeks, that would no longer be a concern. He supposed he should enjoy the spare time he had available to him at the moment, but for some reason, if he did not fill his schedule with meaningful and productive activities, he felt like an idle wastrel.

After checking on the progress of his industrial sector, he returned to the peasant militia, which was currently going over basic formations. Berengar had specifically chosen some veterans from the peasant population who had served in previous wars as levies to act as the officer class. They had true experience in the horrors of war. After being personally educated in line infantry tactics by Berengar himself, they had begun to form their own ranks.

Of course, Berengar oversaw the daily training in tactics as much as possible to correct any errors; after all, these were revolutionary strategies and tactics in which had never been seen before. As such, he needed to lead the growth of his unit personally. His second in command was actually a knight-errant who had chosen to settle in Kufstein and laze about after many years of war. If one were to compare his situation to feudal Japan, he was essentially a ronin. A member of the military class whose lord had perished in battle, and with it his prosperity and land rights.

The knight-errant named Eckhard von Hallstatt had lived in Kufstein for nearly five years and essentially lived as a beggar and a drunkard during that duration. It was not until he saw the militia and its unique weaponry and tactics that he decided to clean up his act and make something of his life. He had a keen eye for strategy and tactics, and unlike the other knights and men at arms in Kufstein, he was intelligent enough to realize that Berengar's militia was the future of warfare.

As an old and grizzled veteran Eckhard had many insights to which he could contribute. He had approached Berengar earlier in the week and offered the young lord his own rusty sword in fealty. After hearing the old veteran's story, Berengar appointed him Major of the Battalion and his right-hand man. Berengar had spent many hours of the night writing a military treatise on his vision of the future of warfare and the necessary strategies, tactics, and logistics to conduct it. Eckhard had practically treated this text as a holy book, and the more he read about Berengar's vision, the more he believed the young lord to be a military genius. Though Berengar was by no means a military genius, as a long-time veteran of various strategy games set in numerous eras and a graduate of Westpoint academy, he could confidently say his skills were at the very least advanced for the time period.

Eckhard did not disappoint Berengar's expectations; the man in his mid-forties had quickly grasped everything he was taught and was not simply following the book but effectively improvising when it was called for. If anything, Eckhard was the true military genius. It was a pity that his previous lord did not recognize the knight's talents in strategy and instead sent him to fight on the front lines. As far as Berengar could tell, it was likely to be a factor in the foolish lord's death. Truly Eckhard was a diamond in the rough.

Though the militia was entirely volunteer-based, they still received pay for their training and activity. Essentially they would act in a fashion similar to America's National Guard in Berengar's previous life. The men who comprised its ranks would go through basic and specialized training, and after they had complete it, they would be normal civilians who would meet up on weekends to continue their training. The primary difference is that Berengar wanted his militia training every weekend instead of just once a month. In a time of need, they would be called upon to fulfill their duty and be held to the same standards as a professional force, with the same penalties for desertion or other crimes.

Berengar treated the men of his militia exceptionally well. He supplied them with proper meals during their training, and soon he would give them proper uniforms. Once his textile industry was up and running, the men would be outfitted in the attire of the Landsnchekts of the 16th century from Berengar's previous life. The young lord was beginning to develop a flamboyant fashion sense, much like his father. For now, the volunteer militia still wore their everyday ensemble, which, truth be told, was not very professional.

After guiding the battalion's training for the day, Berengar departed back to the castle where he intended to spend the rest of his waking hours drafting the plans for his soon-to-be textile industry. Time waited for no man, and soon he would acquire the funds to make his dream a reality. Thus he had to work hard and not be tempted by any worldly desires. Of course, after several hours of drafting blueprints Berengar heard a knock on his door and could not resist the temptation to play with his favorite toy for the remainder of the night.

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