The fierce Hussite assault came to a close with Šternberk's victory.
The people of the domain who had taken refuge inside the castle let out sighs of relief and returned one by one to their homes.
But what greeted them on their return was nothing but ashes gone cold.
"Oh no, oh no! The house our family lived in all our lives...!"
"It has all burned! Where are we supposed to eat and sleep now!"
The ground they had worked all their lives had collapsed, leaving only blackened frames exposed, and the wheat fields on which the coming year depended were burned black through and through.
Where the Hussites had swept past, only the traces of plunder and arson remained. Over the ash-covered village, wailing rang out from every direction.
In this era, war and plunder were the same word. That they had kept their lives was a great mercy, but for people whose way of living had been cut off then and there, that fact was not so much as a handful of comfort.
That was when it happened.
"People of Šternberk."
I stepped out before the people of the domain and spoke.
"There is no way I do not know the grief of losing your homes. But do not fear. You are my people, living in Šternberk. Therefore protecting and caring for you is likewise my duty."
Perhaps because I had been through this a few times now, such words came out quite easily.
Was it because I had inherited Ulrich's memories, or was it that Park Gang-jun had a talent he had never known he possessed?
"Any man with the strength to fight will be taken on as a soldier. I will feed you, clothe you, and train you myself, and remake you into proper soldiers defending Šternberk. It is fine if you do not become a soldier. Every one of you, woman or child or elder, will be given work. We will reinforce the wall, clear away the ashes, and build a new village here."
My voice grew steadily louder.
"I promise you this! That in this land I rule, from now on I will let no one go hungry! That I will provide bread and a bed to everyone who works by the sweat of their brow, I swear on my name, Ulrich von Šternberk!"
A heavy silence settled over the ashes that had been full of wailing. Expressions of sheer disbelief were plain on their faces.
In the common sense of the peasants of this era, a lord was a being who collected taxes, not a being who looked after his people to this extent.
Merely letting them into the castle was already something for which he would be praised as a merciful ruler, and here he went further and said he would take responsibility for their livelihoods.
For a while the people of the domain could not find their voices. Before a promise so utterly unreal, they forgot even their grief and simply stood there blankly, wits scattered.
Then one old man spoke up in a trembling voice.
"Do you truly... do you truly mean to give us work? To give us bread and a place to sleep?"
Instead of answering, I nodded.
That short, weighty affirmation set fire to the feelings of people who had fallen into despair.
"Aah... aaah...!"
"Thank you...! My lord, thank you!"
They threw their arms around one another, knelt on the ashes, and poured out praise for the young lord.
"Long live my lord!"
"Long live Lord Ulrich!"
"Glory to Šternberk!"
Just then, János urgently caught my arm and pulled me aside. Drawing me back so the people would not hear, he whispered in a low voice.
"My lord, are you in your right mind!?"
This fellow dares grab his liege's arm and pull him? Is this ordinary etiquette in Hungary?
I thought that for a moment, but looking at János's face gone deathly pale, it seemed that was not it.
"I say I will take responsibility for my own people. What is the problem?"
"I am asking where the money is! The silver His Majesty Sigismund bestowed is already showing the bottom as it is!"
Even at János's agitated question I remained perfectly composed. Instead I answered in a calm voice.
"János, think it through. Subjects who have lost everything overnight. They have no house to get through the winter and no food to put in their bellies. Do you really think such people will meekly go on clearing ashes?"
"That is..."
"No. To keep from starving to death, they will become a band of brigands. And in the end those blades will be turned toward me and my domain. Who would have to bear that damage?"
At the intensely practical point, János lost his words.
"In that case it is better that I take them in and put them to use. There is a mountain of work to be done from here on in any case. Rather than making brigands out of precious labor to save a few pennies, it is far more profitable to spend a little and have them do the work I need."
"...It is easy to say! A little, you call it? Do you not know there is not a single silver coin in the coffers right now?"
János retorted as if it were absurd, but I only curled up the corner of my mouth in a grin.
"If there is none, we make some."
"Yes?"
"The previous lord scraped away all the wealth, but he could not carry off this castle itself. The furniture in the manor, the artworks, the ornaments, even the silver tableware you use. Gather up everything in this castle that could fetch money and sell it all off."
"Y-yes?! All of it, you say?"
János's face went white with shock.
Paying it no mind, I went on.
"By now Kutná Hora will be in enormous confusion among the merchants because of Sigismund's absence. They will all be itching to leave the city and desperate to dispose of their goods, even at a loss."
A sharp smile spread at the corner of my mouth.
"So we must not miss this opportunity. Hand over our luxury goods at the highest price you can get, and buy up the merchants' food and supplies by beating the price down as far as it will go."
"...I am to do it?"
I shrugged as though it were obvious.
"Then who else in this castle can I trust but you? Konrad must guard the castle, and Sir Kuno has no gift whatsoever for trade. You are the right man for it."
János's expression went blank. Staring into the air, he muttered quietly.
"...Should I take this as an honor, or grieve that a road of hardship has opened before me?"
That was when Konrad, the chief attendant, who had been listening to the conversation in silence beside us, stepped forward in a respectful but firm voice.
"My lord. Forgive my presumption, but I am opposed."
"Konrad?"
"In the matter of helping the people of the domain I too am entirely in favor. But to sell the valuables inside the castle?"
Konrad's voice did not carry his usual composure. There was only strong feeling in it.
"Those things are the history that has run through the house of Šternberk like a bloodline, and they are the relics of the previous heads of the house. How can such noble objects be carelessly sold off to lowly merchants!"
The desperate cry of an old, loyal retainer who had given his life to the house. His loyalty was beyond question.
But that was all it was.
"Did you just say dignity, Konrad?"
My finger pointed toward the ash-covered village and the people of the domain left standing forlornly in that scene.
"Do you prate about dignity even after seeing them? My subjects are dying of cold and hunger. And the work of a lord amounts to clutching the family's old relics?"
"But my lord...!"
A feeble objection leaked out of Konrad's mouth.
"...They are not merely old relics. The family's property is the lord's honor and standing. I simply fear that if the rumor spreads that this castle has been emptied out like a ruin, the other nobles will not treat my lord as a noble at all and will look down on him."
I shook my head lightly.
"Konrad. Do you believe that what gives me the right to be lord is the king's recognition, the reputation among other nobles, and this castle?"
"Why, of course..."
I shook my head.
"No. It is thanks to those people. Because there are subjects down there who call me lord, only then can I be a lord."
"...!?"
I clearly saw Konrad's eyes widen. It was the face of a man whose lifelong convictions were being shaken from the root.
The lord was the castle and the territory itself, and the subjects were appendages belonging to it. That was the common sense of this era. And I had denied it outright.
I spoke to the shocked old chief attendant.
"I know what you are worried about; the loyalty you have given this house is proof enough of that. But to me those things are not worth as much as a single sword or a single piece of bread."
"..."
"So take all of it and sell it. This is an order I give as lord."
Before that resolute order Konrad could object no further. His throat closing, he barely managed an answer.
"...I shall obey my liege's command."
Across the face of the deeply bowed chief attendant, shock crossed with an indescribable shame.
Having watched all of this, János followed behind me and asked carefully.
"My lord, why go that far?"
"Go that far how?"
"I understand the point about not being able to let the subjects turn into brigands, of course. But I mean, is there a need to pour in everything, even selling the family's last pride?"
János shrugged and raised a practical point.
"As things stand, they would be nothing but grateful and follow my lord if you simply fed and housed them adequately."
A pragmatic and cynical observation. I stopped walking and turned around.
"János. In the last battle, what was it that finally broke those Hussite bastards? Was it the gunpowder bomb I made? Or the sword Sir Kuno swung?"
The faces that had filled the wall passed before my eyes. Recalling them, I spoke firmly.
"No. It was them. The women pouring boiling water, the children throwing stones, the farmers hacking at the ankles of the men clinging to the wall with rusted scythes. They were the real army that made our victory."
Looking straight at János, I spoke my whole heart without a shred of falsehood.
"I want my army to fight in the best condition possible. I want them, when they go into battle, to be able to focus solely on the enemy in front of them without worrying about the family left behind. If that is what it takes, I would pry out and sell not only the gold in this castle but the very stones of this wall. That is the work of a lord."
No answer came back. János looked at me without a word.
"My liege..."
Behind his cynical expression I could see any number of thoughts passing through.
Having finished speaking, I turned my gaze to the battlefield. After the cleanup came the collection of spoils.
The wagenburg burned in the hellfire had left only bare skeletons, and most of the enemy's weapons and armor had melted down, with almost nothing intact.
But my eyes saw an entirely different scene.
'There is treasure lying all over the ground.'
I gave an order to János, who was following behind.
"János, gather people and collect everything made of iron, weapons or armor, and pile it all in one place."
"Understood. Shall I order the blacksmith to repair them?"
"No. We will melt all of it down."
"Yes? Melt it, you say?"
Watching the shock rise on János's face was quite an enjoyable thing.
But János's expression soon changed. Doubt into curiosity, curiosity into anticipation.
"You are about to start something again, aren't you."
János asked now with a vague anticipation instead of doubt. At that reaction of his, I gave him a smile full of mischief.
"Indeed. Call every craftsman in the castle to my workshop. From now on we are going to make something very interesting."