Chapter 8 - Am sorry

" Am sorry for my lack of trust in you." And that's what he did, he apologised. 

He sat on the ground, not caring that his subordinate was kneeling in front of him and apologised to Guide for assuming he did not care. While cursing at himself for being so careless in the meeting, as he had come to realise the situation he was in was worse than could ever he imagined.

[Apologies accepted, and as your guide I do advise you to stop feeling sorry about the situation at hand and find a solution, Your Majesty.] Guide said to Arno with his usual high-class British accent, and just moments after this statement the previous nine clan options appeared in front of him. 

Instinctively Arno wanted to ask why Guide would show him these options instead of giving him ideas and insights, but the minute he analysed them he began to realise as to why Guide was so insistent. The clan traits provided by these options gave him a sense of safety that he longed for. Because the truth was…

He had no power.

No influence.

And no plan.

Despite being the Lord of the Barnoy, he had no power. Whether he lived or died was not something he had control of. 

The only reason as to why he was still alive was because of him being a 'Royal noble' meaning that his family was a part of the Federation Council. Granting him a few amenities and benefits that most would envy in the Federation, one of which being that he kept his head on his neck despite him having delegated all of his power to his council.

A simple death sentence for any other ruler.

"'A title befitting me'. Irony or intentionally?" Arno smirked as he remembered the conversation between him and Guide before getting to the meeting. Wondering if his partner had a sick sense of humour or if he was even capable of humour.

[Both.] and just like that he got his answer.

"Hmph." Arno chuckled as he then took a deep breath and finally found the strength to stand up. " I guess being a victim with you won't be that boring." 

He said as he stood up and looked at his options. He needed to pick the right one while being mindful of his current circumstances. 

Because if he wanted to complete the mission and make it out alive afterwards he would need the essential keys of power. Military, Law and Finance. 

But sadly he had no military. As the Frontier Guard, who were responsible for taking care of external and internal threats to the city, was Marshal Gurd's personal lap dog. Who were whole heartily loyal to him, and any attempt to change that status quo would be met with instant retaliation. As shown by his actions when regarding 'the Heins debacle' between him and Vas.

While on the other hand, Arno's treasury is constantly being monitored by multiple people. Who, do not mind donating to themselves a few thousand gold coins every now and then. Making it very easy for them to notice if he started bribing officials to side with him, and that is only if said officials do not report his actions to the true owners of power in the city. It is better to side with a silent king than a fool with a crown.

And as for creating new laws to help him out in these situations, well there was no point because without the military to enforce those laws and the finance to fund said military. It would be a fool's errand to even try.

While you might be asking, why does he not just order the Von Moore household guards to enforce whatever new law he comes up with, while taking care of any potential threats to these new laws. Which was a highly desired outcome for Arno. 

However the guards were only here to ensure that he was still alive, not to take orders from him. Which is why the Von Moore guards were willing to forcefully make him stay in the meeting room. But everything in this world has loopholes. 

So what Arno needed to focus on right now was acquiring a large sum of money from preferably commerce, without alarming the council members of the city while funding certain ideas that will keep him in power. Which was going to be hard, because he could not take that much money from the vault for productive power moves without tarnishing his reputation as a good-for-nothing young lord.

He didn't need them realising what or who he is, just yet.

Which is why Arno needed to pick the right option for the clan that he would start with, but as he was looking at his options Arno began to notice something that did not make sense to him, but hopefully it did not mean…

"Hey Guide, what is clan members? Is it like a limit to the amount of units a clan can have at a time?" Arno asked was he looked at an option with the Oda emblem (mon) at the very top.

[Clan info:

Generals – Oda Nobunaga(Daimyo), Yasuke

Admirals – None

Religion – Shinto-Buddhist

Military Units – (x1) Yari Samurai, (x2) Oda Yari Ashigaru, (x1) Oda Bow Ashigaru

Agents – None

Clan members– 900.   ]

[It is quite the opposite, Your Majesty. The clan info is the relative strength of the clan when they began to materialise.] 

"Okay good, that's a relief for a min…" Arno let out a heavy sigh of relief at the information he received, thankfully he would not be limited in the amount of units he could create. 

Because if it did, Arno, thanks to the Hanzo's Shadows' 'creative' interrogation methods, was going to have a tough time taking on a rough estimation of about 6300 Frontier Guards that were currently in the city. 

While the rest of them were theorised to be far larger in quantity, however they were patrolling the surrounding area.

And that was just the soldiers belonging to the city because even the various tribes belonging to 'The Great Charter' had armies of their own, as their leaders were considered noblemen. Allowing them to have a fiefdom to rule over as well as an army to protect it. 

So with so many people in the Barony having a huge army, it was no wonder Arno let out a sigh of relief at the fact that his army of loyal soldiers would not be limited. But that feeling was short-lived when his brain finally processed what Guide said. " Wait, 'materialise'? Are units not created by cloning facilities?"

[ Well they are Your Majesty, however whenever you select a clan to serve you they will materialise without the need to create clones. Think of them as your starter kit. The only downside being that they materialise alongside non-combatants of said clan.] 

"Then what is the point of cloning, instead of just materialising them? Saves me the trouble of finding a place to clone them." Arno asked, perplexed at what he just heard. The amount of things he needed to secure a building that met the requirements for the cloning facility for a specific unit was adouris. 

And again a specific unit, not units. For example a ninja could only be cloned near or under a marketplace. And why, you might ask, was it a feature of the system? 

The simple answer was to ensure units could be distributed in multiple random areas of the dominion, so as to prevent a foreign power from destroying all of a Lord Commander's units at one time. While also ensuring that if one facility were to be destroyed, the others would take their place.

[ Am sorry, Your Majesty, but that is all I could retrieve from the database.] Guide replied to Arno's question. To which Arno just shrugged his shoulders and began looking at his options.

All of them were powerful clans that ruled parts of feudal Japan at one point with an iron fist, even if history says some were benevolent. Those were a bunch of fairy tales in Arno's opinion but that only to heighten their prestige in his heart. 

Because why would you make up stories about dull people? They had to be incredible and he would soon find out how true that statement was. 

But what Arno needed was a clan that could help him generate enough money to buy more magi stones while ensuring that nothing got linked to him. Which led him to narrow down three clans he believed suited his cause quite well.

[ Shimazu Clan :

The Shimazu are a proud clan, with a long history worthy of their pride. To the Shimazu, loyalty is everything, and their generals are less likely to develop ambitions of their own. Shimazu katana samurai are cheaper to recruit and maintain in the field than those of other clans; they can also recruit superior katana-armed samurai

Clan traits:

Increased loyalty for all generals.

Katana Heroes Genome

Katana Samurai Genome   

Generals Bodyguard Genome 

Yari Samurai Genome 

Yari Ashigaru Genome

Bow Ashigaru Genome

Clan info:

Generals – Shimazu Takahisa(Daimyo), Tanegashima Tomokata

Admirals – None

Religion – Shinto-Buddhist

Military Units – (2x) Generals Bodyguard, Yari Samurai, (2x) Yari Ashigaru, Bow Ashigaru

Agents – None

Clan members – 400

 ]

[ Uesugi Clan :

The Uesugi are proud of their Buddhist faith, and rightly so. They are pious and worthy people. Despite this religious solidarity, the history of the Uesugi is anything but tranquil. Their daimyo, Uesugi Kenshin, changed his name and took control of his new clan when his original Nagao clan helped one Uesugi faction win a family dispute! 

Clan traits:.

+2% to the success chance of monk 

Increase trade income 

Reduced recruitment costs and upkeep for warrior monks

Bow warrior monks Genome 

Warrior nuns Genome 

Naginata Warrior Monk Genome 

Clan info:

Generals- Uesugi Kenshin, Uesugi Masakage

Admirals - None

Religion- Shinto-Buddhist 

Military Units -(×1) Bow warrior monks,(x1) Warrior nuns, (x2)Naginata Warrior Monks 

Agents- Monk, 

Clan members - 1000

                 ]

[ Oda Clan: 

The Oda are rightly respected for their skills as inspiring battlefield commanders of ashigaru. These common soldiers are cheaper to train and maintain than samurai, if not quite as deadly. Numbers, however, are becoming important in warfare, and ashigaru can be recruited in very large numbers. The Oda not only produce ashigaru efficiently and economically, they can also recruit superior ashigaru forces as well

Clan info :

Superior Ashigaru

Reduced recruitment costs and upkeep for all ashigaru

Matchlock Ashigaru Genome 

Yari Samurai Genome 

Oda Yari Ashigaru Genome 

Oda Bow Ashigaru Genome 

Clan info :

Generals –  Oda Nobunaga (Daimyo), Yasuke

Admirals – None

Religion – Shinto-Buddhist

Military Units – (x1) Yari Samurai, (x2) Oda Yari Ashigaru, (x1) Oda Bow Ashigaru

Agents – None

Clan members– 900.   ]

The most powerful from the bunch were obviously the Shimazu clan, generating him more genomes which could allow him to create a diverse unit mercenary group to protect merchant caravans travelling the bandit ridden Barony.

However the competition for such services were very fierce with a lot of tribes having huge stakes in the Security industry, and worse yet the initial funding needed just to get a mercenary group approved by the barony was not to be laughed at. So unless you intend to be a part of a powerful mercenary group or merchant guild, you should forget about becoming one.

And as much as Arno needed money. He needed the ability to have his troops on the move at a moment's notice, not to be on the other side of the barony because there is an ignorant merchant who wishes to find 'opportunity' in places that will get him/herself killed.

But the alarming part was the potential upkeep needed to house and feed the Shimazu Clan because at the end of the day their units were primarily samurai. While samurai in modern depictions were known to be humble and frugal. Their historical counterparts were a mix of nobles and knights, which made them have a certain standard of living. 

And while Guide guaranteed all units were whole-heartly loyal to him. Arno would not risk being the cause of why hundreds of samurai were hungry. No thank you.

While on the other hand the Oda Clan was the complete opposite, with their cheap units who barely had any significant upkeep. Their Ashigaru did not care about what you feed them, as long as they were fed they would fight for you. And the best part was that if trained properly, they could have enough skill to take on a samurai in a one-on-one duel. 

Now if you put together the fact that the Oda Clan had Oda Nobunaga who earned the infamous title of the Demon King of the Sixth Heaven for his cunningness and brutality that would always rock his enemies, if not the whole of feudal Japan. As well as having Yasuke, a Portuguese Mozambique slave who was made into a samurai by Nobunaga, thanks to his height and martial prowess. That would have been enough for Arno to select the Oda Clan. But the icing on the cakes was.

"Matchlocks! It's a f#cken matchlocks! Thank you Jesus! There's hope, there's actual hope." Yes, the Oda Clan had guns, and while they were lacking when comparing them to their modern version. They were still very lethal and could prove crucial against someone with no gun. Because It was better to have a gun, then to have none.

[ I would suggest you pick the Uesugi Clan, instead of the Oda Clan. Especially if you want your eye problem fixed, Your Majesty.]  And like water suddenly dosed all over his body, Arno woke up from his daydream of owning a gun.

"My eye problem? You think the Uesugi can help me?" He asked, as he paid closer attention to the Usegui option to find any detail that he missed that could pertain to the answer of his question. But nothing. Or so he thought.

[ Am suggesting this from a theory I formulated, as the Unsegui Clan are basically filled with monks who strive to master Zen and the Way of Chi. The very same arts you have recently acquired, perhaps they could explain or better yet help in resolving this dilemma of yours.]

"So it is just a theory…" Arno said, finally understanding what Guide proposed as well as the dilemma he was in. 

Because with guns, organising a mercenary group that could execute missions effectively, while leaving a few units to safeguard him, would be considerably easier and safer for the both parties. Especially with Nobunaga's brilliant mind commanding such a force, gaining magi stones would be a grantee.

However, him not having the ability to see, was limiting his capacity to strategize while in character and could potentially lead him to his downfall. Largely thanks to the amount of ambitious people looking for any sign of weakness to exploit.

However if he had a gun he could just shoot all of them.

"Ah f#ck it."

…..

Wow, I guess Arno finally understands how serious his situation is?

Okay, I am going to call out the Elephant in the room😅. I am sorry for the lore-dumping😓, but this is also a political novel so I just wanted you to understand the situation more properly. 

But I will try to keep it as brief as possible.

And for those who like my lore-dumping 🤭🤑 ah thank you, I try my best.