Necromancer: Kingdom Building with My Legion of Undead Knights

”So they won’t suddenly appear demanding repayment?” Darion asked.

Truthfully, he already knew the answer before asking. From everything Garren had explained so far, the Redfang Tribe didn’t sound aggressive at all. Still, he asked anyway.

Garren shook his head almost immediately.

”No,” the older knight replied calmly. ”They shouldn’t be a problem.”

Darion nodded slowly. That was good.

Because if every kingdom Percvale owed reacted like Valdenmoor, then this treasury of twenty thousand gold coins would disappear frighteningly fast.

And even worse? If multiple territories decided to pressure Percvale at the same time, then recovering the Barony would become significantly harder.

He imagined it for a moment. Two kingdoms, maybe three, sending demands at once. Each one expecting payment. Each one threatening action if they didn’t get it.

Percvale’s knights were good now, and Vera’s compounds had proven effective, but there was a limit and with the number of knights he currently had?

Sixty people against two thousand was one thing. Sixty people against many thousands from different directions?

That was something else entirely. Even with Seren’s magic and his undeads, multiple coordinated attacks would overwhelm them.

The compounds would run out when facing something that large. The undead could be destroyed, the knights could be killed and once the first wave broke through, there would be nothing left to stop the second or the third.

Thankfully, that didn’t seem to be the case. At least not yet.

Darion rubbed lightly at his temple.

”So... that leaves the remaining territories,” he said.

Thandor and Redfang were solved, according to what he had heard from Garren. They shouldn’t be a problem. Amberwick he was unsure about, but that wasn’t something too huge if a problem arose. They just had to make enough to pay them if anything arose.

”The next is Goldmere,” Garren continued.

’Goldmere?’

The name itself sounded wealthy.

Garren gave a small nod.

”As the name suggests... they’re rich.”

That definitely wasn’t surprising. A kingdom called Goldmere sounding wealthy was probably the least shocking thing Darion had heard all morning.

”They’re not a Barony like Percvale or Thandor,” Garren continued. ”Goldmere is a proper Kingdom with a large territory and strong economy.”

They were a Kingdom, like Valdenmoor, though Valdenmoor was self-acclaimed and pretty small for a standard kingdom.

They just called themselves a kingdom when technically they weren’t. This Goldmere sounded like a proper one, which would mean a much larger army and significantly more resources. More soldiers, more wealth and more ability to project force if they decided Percvale was worth the trouble.

Valdenmoor had been manageable. A real kingdom with real military power? That was a different conversation entirely.

”And we’re owing them?”

”Nine thousand gold coins.”

Another large amount.

”How exactly did Percvale even manage to borrow from a Kingdom?” Darion asked.

”Desperation, mostly,” Garren admitted. ”Back then Percvale still had more standing than it does now. The invasions had weakened us badly, but we weren’t yet viewed as completely hopeless.”

Darion understood immediately.

So the loans happened during the period where Percvale still looked salvageable. Before years of failure destroyed its reputation entirely. That made sense, thinking about it now. Who would want to lend Percvale money? No one.

Who would want to lend money to a place like this knowing its reputation? The answer was obvious.

The Percvale of today was a joke to the surrounding territories. A cautionary tale. A place you mentioned when you wanted an example of what happened when a Barony failed completely:

’We have to improve so we don’t turn to Percvale.’

Anyone lending money to Percvale now would be considered foolish at best and insane at worst. But back then, before the reputation fully collapsed, before everyone gave up on the idea of recovery, creditors had still believed. They had seen a territory that had been weakened by invasions but might still bounce back.

”Goldmere agreed to lend because they thought Percvale would eventually recover,” Garren continued. ”And because the amount wasn’t especially significant to them.”

Again, if only the Barons had spent wisely. If the money had gone toward rebuilding the military or restoring the farmland or anything productive at all, Percvale might not have fallen so far.

Instead, the loans had been mismanaged, squandered and poured into whatever temporary solutions kept the Barony barely breathing without ever addressing the underlying problems.

’Curse those Barons!’

”And how are they politically?” Darion asked.

”They are stable,” Garren said. ”And from their history, they aren’t especially aggressive. At least not without reason.”

Darion nodded slowly. Not aggressive without reason. Meaning if Percvale suddenly looked like it was refusing repayment while becoming wealthy again, then that might become a reason. Still, compared to Valdenmoor, this sounded manageable.

”Do you think they’ll become a problem?” Darion asked.

Garren gave a slight shrug.

”I don’t know,” he admitted honestly. ”But if I had to guess? Probably not immediately.”

That was vague, but Darion appreciated the honesty.

Darion rested his fingers lightly against the wooden table while thinking. The fact that none of these territories immediately sounded murderous already felt like a miracle. Percvale’s previous rulers had somehow managed to drown the Barony in debt while still receiving unreasonable amounts of patience from neighboring territories.

If Valdenmoor had been the standard reaction instead, Percvale would’ve disappeared years ago.

”Still...” Garren added after a moment. ”We shouldn’t become careless.”

Darion nodded. Because patience had limits, especially once rumors started spreading. And they would spread eventually. A ruined Barony suddenly rebuilding farmland, increasing military strength, and gaining wealth? People would notice sooner or later.

Especially merchants, merchants talked too much. Once trade routes carried stories about Percvale recovering, neighboring territories would begin paying attention again. And attention could become dangerous very quickly.

Darion honestly needed to prepare for that before it happened.

”So Goldmere probably won’t act aggressively,” he summarized slowly.

”Probably,” Garren corrected carefully, then continued:

”The final debt comes from another small kingdom.”

Darion looked up again.

”What are they called?”

”Ravenholt.”

Darion actually liked the sound of that name immediately. Dark-sounding. Kingdom names in this world sounded cool sometimes.

”And we’re owing them how much?”

”Six thousand gold coins.”

Slightly smaller, at least. Not by much though. Darion honestly couldn’t decide whether hearing smaller numbers at this point felt relieving or depressing.

”What’s Ravenholt like?” he asked.

”They’re... fairly relaxed politically.”

Darion raised an eyebrow slightly. ”Relaxed?”

”They mostly keep to themselves,” Garren explained. ”Strong enough to defend themselves but not especially interested in expansion.”

That already sounded less dangerous than Valdenmoor.

”They trade often with nearby territories,” Garren continued. ”Agriculture, iron tools, leather goods.”

”So... normal people?”

Garren actually laughed quietly at that. ”More or less.”

That answer strangely reassured Darion. At least not every neighboring territory was secretly preparing invasions.

”And their rulers?”

”Reasonable from what I’ve heard.”

Again with the uncertainty. Darion noticed that from Garren now. Nobody truly knew how these territories would react because Percvale had spent years being too insignificant to care about. Now things were changing. Which meant every assumption could also change.

Still, none of these kingdoms sounded immediately hostile. That alone was good news.

Well... far better news than Darion had expected entering this discussion. When Garren first began listing debts earlier, Darion had half expected to hear about five different kingdoms preparing to march on Percvale the moment they smelled gold. Instead, most of them sounded patient. Or at least uninterested.

That gave him breathing room. Time to rebuild properly. Not too much time, but enough. Time to strengthen Percvale before politics became truly dangerous.

Garren finally exhaled quietly.

”And that’s all for the debts.”

Now for the main thing.

The actual reason this meeting had happened in the first place.

What to do with the coins.

Twenty thousand gold coins sounded massive at first glance, especially compared to the miserable state Percvale had been in just weeks ago.

But Darion knew better now.

Money disappeared quickly when rebuilding a territory.

Farmlands needed expansion, livestock had to be bought, castle repairs alone would consume a frightening amount if he fully committed to restoring Percvale properly. Then there were weapons, food reserves, servant wages and future military growth.

And before all of that...

He needed certainty.

That was the real reason he had insisted on discussing the debts first.

Darion didn’t want to pour thousands of coins into rebuilding Percvale only for another kingdom to suddenly appear demanding repayment aggressively like Valdenmoor had done.

Or worse... attacking.

Valdenmoor’s assault had nearly destroyed everything before Percvale even properly began recovering. If not for Vera’s compounds and preparations, things could’ve gone horribly wrong. Even now, Darion still remembered how unprepared they had been initially.

Too few soldiers. Against a normal military force, Percvale should’ve lost.

The reason they had gone bravely into the battle was because of Vera’s magical tools.

He didn’t want Percvale surviving through miracles every single time by the way.

If he invested heavily into rebuilding now, then he needed confidence that those investments wouldn’t simply burn later because of unresolved political problems.

Which meant caution first, then rebuilding.

Now that Darion understood the debt situation better, he could finally begin thinking properly about Percvale’s future instead of merely surviving day by day.