WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Ceaseless

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ The Medieval Heretic King is Too Good at Developing ◈

Chapter 4: I Fell into 15th-Century Europe (4)

──────

The emperor's reply arrived three days later.

With trembling hands, I read through the letter.

It read as follows.

_________

To my loyal subject, Ulrich von Sternberg.

First, I offer my deepest condolences for the death of your father, Sir Petr.

He was my most faithful knight, and his brave death shall serve as an example to every knight of the Empire. I shall never forget his sacrifice, and I am deeply grateful for the Sternberg family's devotion through the generations.

Your courage and loyalty are also worthy of praise.

Before your father's blood had even dried, you raised your family's banner once more and pledged your loyalty to me. I am deeply impressed. You are the very model of a true Bohemian noble.

But, my loyal subject, watering a single tree while the entire forest burns is foolish.

I am rallying holy crusaders from across the Empire once more, preparing to strike Prague, the heart of the heretics. To divert even a single soldier gathered for this cause would be no different from strengthening the heretics.

The small relief force I could send you would be no more than a handful of sand before the waves of enraged heretics. It would not save you. It would only cause my precious soldiers to die in vain.

True aid comes from a greater victory.

Once I capture Prague and cut off the serpent's head, that serpent's tails will wither away on their own. Holding out until then will be the greatest loyalty you can show me.

As a small reward for your devotion, and as my gift for the grave duty before you, I appoint you Margrave of the Southern March and reaffirm all your rights over your domain.

I also grant you 300 Prague groschen to aid in repairing your walls and hiring mercenaries.

Therefore, my loyal margrave, defend your castle.

Make Sternberg Castle a shining beacon of loyalty in the heart of heretic land. Stand firm, disrupt their supply lines, and buy time until my great army advances. Your duty is by no means light.

When I raise a toast to victory in Prague, I promise your name will be the first I call.

King of the Romans.

Sovereign of Germany, Hungary, and Bohemia,

Sigismund von Luxembourg.

_________

“......”

Silently, I folded the letter and set it down very slowly.

I wanted to tear it to pieces and throw it away right then.

But I couldn't damage a letter bearing the emperor's seal in front of so many retainers. It could be seen as an act of treason against the emperor.

At that moment, the messenger, soaked in sweat and dust, carefully held out the leather pouch at their waist.

“My lord, these are the silver coins His Majesty bestowed upon you.”

Without a word, I opened the pouch.

It held not the promise of reinforcements I had so desperately hoped for, but nothing except cold, meaningless silver coins.

A hollow laugh escaped me.

“János Hunyadi.”

“Yes, Young Master.”

“How much is 300 Prague groschen worth?”

János Hunyadi answered nervously.

“Pardon? Ah, um... it would be enough to pay a skilled mason for a full year. It's certainly not a small sum, but...”

“Then how many mercenaries can I hire with it?”

“...Well, the entire country is at war right now, so mercenary wages have risen through the roof.”

János Hunyadi watched my reaction before answering carefully.

“At best... you could hire around ten skilled crossbowmen.”

Ten.

I was supposed to stop the rebels who had crushed the emperor's crusaders with just ten mercenaries and thirty defeated soldiers?

It was an absurd demand. A clear death sentence. He had simply dressed it up, telling me to fight for him and die honorably like my father.

The moment I realized that, a laugh slipped from my lips.

“Heh, hehehe... so this is how you're going to play it?”

I grinned, my smile turning sinister.

“Fine. I'll survive on my own, just as you want. But from now on, we're doing things my way.”

“M-My lord?”

János Hunyadi's face turned pale. Perhaps he thought his lord had finally lost his mind after one shock too many.

But I wasn't mad. Quite the opposite. My mind had never been colder or clearer.

The cruel truth that the emperor had abandoned me had, ironically, broken every shackle binding me.

‘They might call me a heretic and burn me at the stake? Who gives a damn? The enemy could storm in tomorrow and hang my head from the castle walls!’

Knowledge from the future, modern technology, forbidden weapons people would call the devil's inventions!

This was no time to be selective. I had to use everything I could get my hands on.

Then I remembered what Zdeněk, the Sternberg family's descendant I had met at a pub the night before arriving in this era, had told me.

The early fifteenth century, the most turbulent period in Czech history. The Hussite Wars. And the extraordinary tactics used by the peerless commander who had led the rebels.

The secret that had allowed him to lead a peasant army at an overwhelming disadvantage and crush the Empire's elite crusaders again and again.

‘Yes... that's it!’

I slapped my cheek hard and pulled myself together. Then I began issuing orders in a firm voice.

“János Hunyadi! Take all this money and go to the nearby villages at once! Buy every bit of alcohol you can find! Not watered-down ale that serfs drink. Get the strongest distilled liquor or wine you can!”

“W-Wine? In a crisis like this...? Y-Yes, understood! I'll leave immediately!”

Overwhelmed by my fierce manner, János Hunyadi hurriedly led a cart out through the castle gate.

I immediately turned to Sir Kuno, the commander of the knights.

“Sir Kuno. I know you're injured, and I'm sorry, but there's something urgent I need you to do.”

“Just give the order, my lord. This life already belongs to you.”

“Take every soldier who can move and go to the pine forest near the domain. I need you to gather pine resin.”

“Pine resin...?”

I gripped Sir Kuno's shoulders firmly.

“Yes. As much as possible! Gather every last bit you can scrape off!”

“...Understood. I shall carry out your command at once!”

Sir Kuno wore the same puzzled expression as János Hunyadi, but like the loyal knight he was, he didn't ask why. He immediately led the soldiers out of the castle.

Next was Konrad, the steward.

“Konrad. Is there a skilled potter in this domain?”

“There is a man named Pavel in the outer settlement. His family has supplied pottery to the castle for generations, but...”

“Good. Take me to him at once.”

Together with Konrad, I headed straight for the workshop in the village below the castle.

As soon as we entered the dark workshop, thick with the smell of clay and soot, a middle-aged man appeared from within. He was covered head to toe in black grime, as though he had just been tending the kiln.

He eyed the unfamiliar visitors warily, then recognized my face and immediately threw himself flat on the ground.

“Gah! M-My lord! What brings someone as noble as you to such a shabby, filthy place...?”

“Are you Pavel, the potter of this domain?”

“Y-Yes! I am Pavel, my lord.”

“Good, Pavel. From now on, you and your workers will stop all other work and make a special kind of pottery in the shape I describe.”

Pavel carefully raised his head.

“W-What kind of pottery do you mean?”

“A narrow opening and a round body. Most importantly, the surface must be thin and fragile enough to break easily when lightly thrown.”

Pavel's face filled with confusion at my explanation.

“M-My lord... forgive me, but you want them made to break easily? What could such defective goods possibly be used for...? I will make you strong, beautiful jars with the skills passed down through my family.”

I shook my head.

“Stop arguing and do as I say. The fate of this domain rests on it. Make as many as you can, and make them as quickly as possible. Understood?”

Intimidated by my fierce tone, Pavel swallowed hard.

“Y-Yes, my lord! I will risk my life to make the jars you desire!”

After giving Pavel exact instructions on the quantity I needed, I returned to the castle.

Time passed, and as the sun began to set and the western sky turned red, János Hunyadi returned to the castle, groaning as he hauled a cart piled high with goods.

The cart was piled with enough barrels of strong wine to get everyone in the castle drunk and still have some left over.

Soon after, the soldiers led by Sir Kuno also returned, each large sack filled with sticky lumps of pine resin.

“My lord! I brought all the wine you asked for!”

“Well done, János Hunyadi.”

I lightly patted János Hunyadi on the shoulder.

“You'll be even busier now. Go to the kitchen immediately. Gather every servant and have them render the fat from all the pork and beef in the castle's food stores.”

“Pardon? F-From all the meat?”

János Hunyadi doubted his own ears.

The enemy could attack at any moment, yet I was ordering him to extract all the fat from their precious meat. It was madness by any reasonable standard.

“Then all the meat will spoil in a few days! We should salt it or smoke it to make it last longer...”

“I don't care. What I need now isn't meat, it's fat. Hurry!”

Faced with my firm attitude, János Hunyadi could no longer object.

First, I had ordered him to buy huge amounts of strong wine. Then I had ordered pine resin gathered, something that seemed useless. Then I had ordered fragile jars made on purpose. Now I was giving the incomprehensible order to ruin perfectly good meat and extract its fat.

Having watched this string of strange actions, János Hunyadi finally seemed unable to contain his growing curiosity.

“My lord, forgive me, but what exactly are you trying to do? Why gather pine resin, and what are you going to use all this fat and alcohol for...?”

Instead of answering, I slowly looked over the materials beginning to pile up like a mountain in the courtyard.

Pine resin, strong alcohol, animal fat, and the fragile jars that would soon be made.

To the people of this era, it must have looked like a collection of meaningless junk, or the madness of a young lord who had lost his mind.

But to me, all of it was my last hope of survival.

“I'm going to make fire.”

“Pardon?”

“Not just any fire.”

My eyes burned like flames inside a kiln.

“I'm going to make a sticky, vicious fire that will never go out once it catches.”

Footnotes:

Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried