Chapter 417: Governing the Territory
Of course, Lynn also knew that not everything in this world would go exactly as he planned. Queen Calanthe was, after all, the ruler of a nation. Let alone a stubborn mule like Queen Calanthe, even a wise king like Henselt of Kaedwen would have to consider carefully if Lynn advised him to build a fortress somewhere.
After all, the funds required to construct a fortress were significant. Not to mention the subsequent maintenance costs and the expenses of several hundred garrison troops.
Therefore, Lynn had a Plan B. If—and he stressed if—Queen Calanthe absolutely refused to listen to his advice, then at the very least, when she heard the Nilfgaardian army had crossed the border and was advancing through the Marnadal Valley, she should absolutely not march out for a decisive battle but instead hold fast to Cintra City and await reinforcements.
In the original story, if the main forces of the Cintra Royal Domain had not been utterly annihilated in the field, Cintra City would not have fallen so quickly afterward. Therefore, if Queen Calanthe truly refused to build a fortress in the Marnadal Valley, then preserving the precious Royal Domain forces and holding out for aid might still give Cintra a chance for survival.
After Mousesack departed, Lynn took out his speaking tube and sent invitations to both Triss Merigold and Fringilla Vigo.
He was nominally just a Duke of Kovir, but the actual territory he controlled was already equivalent to that of kingdoms like Cidararis, Verden, Brugge, and Sodden. He invited Triss and Fringilla not just to serve as royal advisors but also with the intention of granting them fiefs.
Sorceresses are also people, and they naturally share the desire common to people of this era: to obtain a piece of land that is their own. Since humanity first landed on this continent, no king had ever granted land to a sorcerer. Even Raffard the White, who held the highest position under the king, was merely the Regent of Temeria. Nominally, he controlled the entire kingdom, but in reality, he was neither a noble nor did he possess any direct, private land. Upon his death, his descendants had nothing to inherit.
Now, by granting land to the sorceresses, even a territory the size of a county, Lynn was effectively tying them to his war machine.
Lynn wasn't worried that Emhyr var Emreis wouldn't let Fringilla go. Emhyr was a mortal, and though he could pave the City of the Golden Towers with dimeritium to prevent his sorcerers from harboring disloyal thoughts, he couldn't put dimeritium shackles on every sorceress and unlock them only when needed. Not even the Nilfgaardian Empire would do that.
Therefore, if Fringilla wanted to leave Nilfgaard, Emhyr couldn't stop her. However, once she left the Empire, she would be considered a traitor and would not only be unable to return to Nilfgaard but would also face assassins sent by the Emperor from then on. But did Fringilla care about that? She did not.
So, she secretly escaped the Nilfgaardian Empire and came to Kaedwen City.
Lynn personally selected a fertile tract of land for Fringilla. Likewise, he arranged all the necessary administrative staff, allowing her to be both a hands-off manager and to enjoy the status and power of a Countess.
Fringilla's arrival not only meant that Lynn had gained another sorceress but also made it possible for him to establish a magic troop corps. Nilfgaard had fewer famous sorcerers than the Northern Kingdoms, but its number of magic troops far exceeded the North. This was largely due to a proposal Fringilla would later present to Emperor Emhyr: testing all commoners under the age of eighteen across the Empire for magical aptitude. Anyone with potential magical aptitude could enroll in the Imperial Academy of Magic, with all expenses covered by the Imperial Treasury. However, upon graduation, the commoner had to join the Imperial army and serve the Emperor for a period of ten years.
The Imperial Academy of Magic was not concerned with how far students could advance on the path of magic. Its focus was on how quickly a student could become combat-effective. Late bloomers simply did not exist in the Imperial Academy's lexicon, and the academy did not cultivate academic sorcerers. All courses at the Imperial Academy of Magic served one single purpose: War.
This educational philosophy was diametrically opposed to that of Aretuza and Ban Ard Academy, which is why the Imperial Academy rarely produced first-rate sorcerers. Top-tier sorceresses like Fringilla and Assiré var Anahid primarily came from family legacies, not the Imperial Academy of Magic.
Now that Fringilla was in the North, Lynn could also begin large-scale training of magic troops in his own territory.
Fringilla was very satisfied with the land Lynn had meticulously chosen for her. To express her gratitude to Lynn, Fringilla hosted him for three days and three nights at the estate she had conjured with magic. If the sound from Triss's speaking tube hadn't interrupted at the right time, Lynn might have stayed at the estate for another week.
Upon returning to Kaedwen, Lynn met Triss at the Lord's official residence. However, to his surprise, Triss had not come alone.
"Hi, Lynn, long time no see. I hear you're a Duke now, perhaps I should address you as Your Grace." Keira Metz, standing next to Triss, smiled and performed a noble curtsy.
"Lady Keira, what brings you here?"
Keira didn't answer but looked at Triss with a playful smile.
The red-haired sorceress sighed. "Just say what you want to say; you don't need to look at me."
Keira then chuckled. "Lynn, you wouldn't mind having two sorceresses at your service, would you?"
"Of course not," Lynn quickly glanced at Triss, who was expressionless, and then nodded. "Of course, I wouldn't mind."
The sorceress bowed again with a cheerful smile. "Then it's settled. Keira Metz is at your service."
"This…"
Lynn looked at Triss in disbelief. Such good fortune? How could he be anything but pleased? One should say that no King—or Duke—would ever be unwilling to have multiple sorceresses serving in his court.
Seeing Lynn's eager expression, Triss gave a snort and crossed her arms over her chest. "This woman heard I was coming here and resigned from Foltest's service too. If you refuse her, she'll have nowhere to go."
Keira interjected, "If Lynn truly doesn't want to accept me, it's fine. Don't feel any pressure. At worst, I can always go back to teach at Aretuza. After all, isn't Margarita always complaining that there are too many students and not enough teachers?"
Joking. Since she had already come, there was no way Lynn would let her leave. Keira was different from Philippa. If it were Philippa, Lynn would genuinely decline the offer, because that woman was either causing trouble or on her way to cause trouble. Even after having both her eyes gouged out later, she wouldn't change her nature.
As for Keira, while she had the common sorceress flaw of enjoying luxury, who wouldn't want to live a good life? Furthermore, on matters of great principle, Keira was always clear.
Thus, after some polite conversation, Lynn's silver tongue managed to delight both sorceresses, and both agreed to stay, each receiving a dedicated fiefdom. Of course, to avoid any potential conflict, Triss, Keira, and Fringilla's fiefs were all separated by a considerable distance. Furthermore, if they were to travel on foot from their respective fiefs to Kaedwen City, they wouldn't pass through any of the other sorceress's territory. While the three women currently had no conflict, preventing trouble before it started was always wise.
Next, Lynn traveled back and forth countless times between Novigrad and his own territory. He finally managed to recruit enough bureaucratic clerks. Then, without delay, he dispatched them to his own lands and those of his vassals.
However, only a minority of these people had previous experience, having served other nobles. Most were merely educated but lacked actual work experience commensurate with their studies. Consequently, there were quite a few problems in the beginning. But these were all within Lynn's expectations.
Fortunately, while the Hengfors Duchy was not small in area, it was a sparsely populated region in the far North, with few villages or towns where people gathered. Thus, the difficulty of management was relatively low. Even when mistakes occurred, the resulting impact was minor and easily corrected.
After a long period of adjustment, this batch of officials finally accumulated enough experience. Some who were truly incompetent were replaced by Lynn, and a new batch of capable personnel was promoted. By this point, even without his constant oversight, major disturbances were unlikely.
Seizing this opportunity, Lynn left Kaedwen and returned to Kaer Morhen to speak with Tissaia alone. He informed her that he had already occupied the Hengfors League. Lynn had not forgotten his promise to her.
Aretuza Academy was one of the two most famous magic academies in the North, located in Temeria. Temeria was centrally located among the Northern Kingdoms. Should war break out between the North and South, Aretuza might be forced to choose a side.
Therefore, Lynn proposed that Aretuza Academy be relocated to his territory.
Looking at the map, his territory bordered the Marquisate of Targo to the west, the Redanian vassal state of the Arc Coast to the south, and his nominal fiefdom of Ispaden to the east. To the north of his territory lay the Dragon Mountains, which stretched from Poviss in the east to Ispaden in the west, spanning one end of the known world to the other.
This geographical location seemed tailor-made for Aretuza Academy. A magic academy setting up home in the desolate mountains instead of on a small island in the bustling center of the continent would naturally discourage any hostile intent.
If Aretuza Academy were relocated to the Dragon Mountains, it would, on one hand, be far removed from the vortex of conflict, no longer needing to worry about the envoys and spies of the kings gathering in Gors Velen. On the other hand, moving Aretuza into his territory was essentially another way of binding them to his war machine.
Of course, Lynn would not force Aretuza to fight for him like Radovid later forced Oxenfurt Academy. However, this magic academy did not just train combat sorcerers; it also cultivated non-military talents such as alchemists and scholars. Or perhaps it should be said that turning sorcerers, who had countless possibilities, into mere cannon fodder for war was a great waste of talent.
After working together for so long, Tissaia had finally vouched for Lynn's character. She trusted that even if Aretuza relocated to his domain, Lynn would not forcibly conscript the students within the academy. Therefore, Tissaia agreed to Lynn's plan.
Relocating the entire academy from Thanedd Island to the Dragon Mountains—the most challenging part was not the physical move itself, but doing so without attracting unwanted attention. While King Foltest was not as paranoid as Radovid and generally respected the academy's independence, if Tissaia or Margarita were to tell him that the academy was moving out of his kingdom, even a politically less sensitive person like Tissaia could guess that King Foltest would likely not permit it. Even setting aside the visible, tangible benefits, Aretuza's departure would be a severe blow to the reputation of the Kingdom of Temeria and King Foltest himself. For this reason alone, King Foltest would certainly object.
It was conceivable that King Foltest would subsequently exert pressure on Aretuza and Lynn personally. In the worst-case scenario, Temeria might even form an alliance with the equally malicious Redania and jointly invade.
However, Lynn was not worried even if such a situation occurred. He had three thousand standing troops and could request aid from Istrad. With Temeria and Redania having to march a great distance, he would be well-rested and could certainly defeat the allied forces. Moreover, the likelihood of this happening was extremely low.
Even if Foltest hated him enough to grind his teeth, he wouldn't ally with King Vizimir. Temeria was too far from the Hengfors Duchy, separated by Redania. Even if Temeria could gain some advantage, it would be intercepted by King Vizimir, leaving Temeria with nothing. King Foltest may have had personal issues, but he wasn't stupid. He wouldn't do something that would only benefit another.
Tissaia departed from Kaer Morhen. Since the decision was made to move the academy, the former Rectoress had to be personally involved.
Lynn, on his end, provided the ships necessary for the relocation. The fastest and most convenient route from Thanedd Island, where Aretuza was located, was the sea route to the Praxeda Bay and then up the Blar River into the Hengfors Duchy. This was far superior to the overland route.