Steel Empire
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Throughout the entire effort, Berengar's absence throughout the camp was completely unnoticed. By the time Sieghard and the servants woke up, they saw Berengar cleaning his rifle next to the fire. Sieghard would not cry out in his heart.

'This child is too devoted; even on a hunting trip, he wakes up at daybreak.'

It was customary for Berengar to wake up at dawn, both in his previous life and in the present. Now, he was already used to running by sleeping a few hours a few times a week. In his hand was a glass of water that he had boiled over the campfire to clean it of dirt, at least to the best of his ability. He refused to drink polluted water and spent the morning purifying it in large quantities. Since coffee had not been transported to Europe, he was forced to drink water this early. He began to consider expanding his territory when he came to power. It was not easy to build a trade route from the Austrian mountains to the near east, and if he wanted to retire in luxury one day, he would need coffee.

Berengar's plan was simple, toiling for thirty years in building industrial and economic powerhouses in his family's territory, and then retiring in luxury, giving the government to an educated heir to continue his legacy. As of now, he had no desire to spend the rest of his adult life fighting. Something he had managed to do in his previous life. Of course, life does not always go according to plan, and the future is unknown to him. There might be a need for him to expand his territory in time.

As of now, he was still the son and heir of a lowly Baron, which meant he had no authority to make such a decision even if he wanted to. Instead, he spent the rest of the next few days being dragged by his father hunting stags and collecting meat. When she finally returned home, she was exhausted and covered in dirt. The first thing he wanted to do was take a shower and clean himself of the dirt covering him. During the hunting trip, he never revealed the full capabilities of the rifle; despite successfully hunting his own money, his father was unimpressed with the limited range displayed, and the superb reload time of the rifle.

The man had a traditional mind and felt that Berengar's use of what was wrongly referred to as a hand cannon was just a youngster's fascination with the latest technology. If he had known that on the night before Berengar had shot three targets in a matter of minutes at a distance of 100 yards in the middle of the night with his rifle, Berengar had shot three targets in a matter of minutes at a distance of 100 yards in the middle of the night, then he would probably have a heart attack because of such a shock. Unlike arrows, shotguns that fired mini-ball projectiles were fully capable of piercing through the hardened armor of a knight, let alone an ordinary brigandine. Even the rifles deployed by the Berengar militia were capable of such a feat, albeit at great distances.

There is a reason that during Berengar's previous life, after the invention of the rifle, body armor slowly disappeared from common use. Even with the advanced manufacturing process of the renaissance and the era beyond, the chest guards used by heavy cavalry were only useful for fighting melee weapons and musket fire at long distances. At close range, the steel chest guards used by the cuirassier will be pierced by a shotgun ball like an arrow through a common tunic.

If the medieval knights of the current era rode horses against the firing line of shooters, they would end up as a bunch of blood-filled sieves, and such a frightening spectacle would definitely affect the morale of the soldiers behind them. Even the Berengar militia members who possessed such terrifying strength had no idea how capable their weapons were. After all, they did not test their weapons on straw dolls coated in armor plates. That would be very expensive. Only Berengar was aware that his militia was capable of achieving extraordinary feats.

After arriving at the village with his father and the servants who followed them to the mountains, Berengar saw a familiar sight waving towards him in an alley. It was his loyal slave who was currently in tears of happiness that he had returned safely. The entire time she was gone, the pitiful young lady was constantly terrified that the master and master she had promised her life had perished in the ambush carried out by her cowardly fiance. When he saw her covered in dirt and mountain dirt, he could not help but smile; there were not even any scratches on her. Really, he was too worried. Without arousing suspicion, Berengar approached the alley where he was currently alone; as he finally disappeared from view, Linde rushed into his arms and pressed his porcelain cheeks onto his d*d.

Berengar received his embrace as he stroked her slender strober blonde hair in an attempt to calm her down. He only went away for a few days and felt that he was overreacting. Nevertheless, he did not scold her, as he actually felt happy that she cared enough to worry about him greatly during his absence. Their relationship is complicated, to say the least. She was his concubine, and the fiancee of the brother he had forced, and practically dic*ci his brain to obey him. Although she did not feel regret for such an action, in the end in Berengar's mind such an action was justified, and the young lady deserved her fate.

After stroking her beautiful red-gold hair for a while, Berengar responded in a friendly manner to the young lady

"Look, I told you I'd be okay"

Although she still continued to sob, the plump beauty wiped the tears from her eyes and started to smile. Everything turned out fine, and she couldn't be happier. However, Berengar could not resist the dirt that had spread on his doll-like face and heavenly body from their brief intimate moments so he whispered into the girl's ears.

"Meet me in m*ndi's room"

The girl nodded her head and smiled as she went in front of him. Things wouldn't bode well for the couple if he was caught following her to the bathroom, therefore they had to be extra careful about how they moved from here onwards.

And with that said Berengar went and headed for the bathroom. Linde waited a while and did as she was told; not long after the young vix*n found herself enjoying her master's company in the warm waters of the bath, which proved to be a worthy investment. By the time the two finished re-acquainted with each other, the day had already turned into night. Dinner was about to arrive, and he knew his father would have his chef cook their crops while hunting into a lavish feast. Thus, the two left the confines of the bathhouse and parted ways; it would not look good if they arrived at the dining room together.

When Berengar finally entered the Dining Room, he saw Lambert with an evil smile on his face, he was the first to come, he said, and the teenager was sure he would enjoy the party without his older brother tonight. However, when he saw the handsome face of his elder brother walking into the area, the boy immediately turned deathly pale, with an expression like he was witnessing a ghost. How could his brother have survived the ambush he had done?

Eventually, other family members arrived, and Lambert had heard stories of his father and brother's exploitation of the Baron himself. However, not a single man was supposed to ambush them.

'Could the Counts be unreliable and abandoned? Then what was with Berengar's arrogant grin earlier?'

Eventually, Lambert concluded that the men could have left and decided to write a letter to Count Lothar informing him of the failure of the operation. Quietly Count Lothar would send a troupe to investigate the last known coordinates of his army and take the same decision.

For now, Berengar can relax and enjoy a new dish, which uses their hunted venison as the meat of choice. Berengar enjoyed the taste of venison; really, it was one of the best meats a man could eat. After she finished eating, she returned to her room. He needs to brush up on his history of this world. After all, it had been a long time since he had read about the many time line changes from the world he had once known, and he had to get used to his surroundings if he wanted to prepare for the upcoming war.

Berengar arrived at his room and quickly locked the door behind him. He unrolled and spread it out on his desk, an oil lamp in the corner providing the exact illumination needed to see it. It was completely different from his own timeline. It was 1417, but the Holy Roman Empire was at the peak of its power; on the map at the Center of Europe lay the Holy Roman Empire, the, its borders stretched beyond its peak in 1138 to include all of Italy apart from the papal states, as well as all of the territory that would someday consist of the Netherlands, and Belgium.

The Empire had also annexed the Teutonic State as Vassal territory extending into the Baltic. The Teutonic state was still a force to be reckoned with in itself, having won the battle of Grunwald in this timeline; the victory sparked a lengthy campaign lasting five years. During this Campaign, the Teutonic Order had conquered all of the Baltic coastal areas from Pomerania to the Finnish border. Although the Teutonic State held the authority of its own Kingdom, it was basically the Theocratic Imperial Subordinate State and a puppet of the Pope; therefore, its Grandmaster was not given the ability to choose the next Emperor, not like a king who leads another kingdom.

The feudal system of the Holy Roman Empire in this timeline was much slimmer. It divides into a highly linear subordinate system instead of the complex and convoluted semi-autonomous region of Berengar's previous life. The Holy Roman Empire consisted of several kingdoms including the Kingdom of Germany, the Kingdom of Italy, the Kingdom of Bohemia, the Swiss Confederation, and the Kingdom of Burgundy. The leaders of this region were Kings in their own right and held varying control over the subordinates under them, which were divided into Duchies. These Dukes ruled over the various Counts whose lands consisted of the Duchy's territory, and the Counts led the Barons, who in turn led the small lords and their knights.

Berengar currently lived in the Barony of Kufstein, the Vassal region of County Tyrol, which was the Vassal of the Duchy of Austria, the southernmost Duchy of the Kingdom of Germany. The Duchy of Austria in this timeline is much larger than in Berengar's previous life at this point in history. The size of the Grand Duchy of Austria included the counties of Tyrol, Vorarlberg, Salzburg, Carinthia, Tient, Lower Carnite Steiermark, Upper Austria, and Lower Austria, and finally Steiermark which was a territory ruled by his fiancee's father, the Grand Duchy, Prince Otto von Graz. See how Graz is the seat of County power and where his family gets its name.

Aside from the changes with the Holy Roman Empire and its vassal states, Western Europe, Scandinavia, and the British Isles held the same territory in this timeline as in Berengar's past life. Even the Reconquista runs exactly like in the other timeline. The only other major change to European geography was the Balkans held by the Byzantine Empire, which for centuries since the Crusades to the Holy Land restored most of its lost territory. It stretches from the Balkans, through Greece and Anatolia, all the way to the Levant. Although it has not been able to recapture its former North African territory, it is currently doing so. Although it was the late Middle Ages, Europe began to take its place in the world as a powerhouse. However, they are far from reaching their full potential.

Berengar stared at the map change with ever greater ambition. He began to suspect that becoming a Baron was not his destiny; in his mind, the thought of reaching a higher level began to materialize. He had no idea what the future would hold for him, but now was not the time to think about it. He has a lot of work to complete, and most of it cannot be completed until he has absolute control over his family's land. For now, he has to be patient and play a long game. Soon enough, the German Empire would be embroiled in a civil war, and he had to convince his father to declare him regent before that happened. The hunting trip is not a complete waste of time; he is able to stop his brother's evil plans and grow closer to his father. Obtained his father'

With that said, Berengar heard a knock on the door and decided to end his studies for the day, He originally thought the one who knocked on his door was most likely Linde, who was the one who was the one who knocked on his door, and he can spend time relaxing with his favorite toys. However, when she opened the door, she saw little Henrietta looking at her with a terrified expression. The young girl held her favorite doll in her hand as she looked at her older brother with tears in her eyes.

"Sister, I'm having a nightmare. Will you read me a story?"

It had been a long time since Berengar had told the bedtime story to his little sister; after all, he had been preoccupied with other things at night until late at night. Therefore, he sighed and stroked her delicate blonde hair as he carried the little girl into his room. Where he spent the next hour telling the story of the Battle of Itter Castle during the Second World War in his previous life, where German and American forces gathered to free prisoners of war from the Waffen-SS a few days before the end of the conflict had occurred. His fantastic story of machine guns, tanks, and cannons, as well as the brotherhood intertwined between former enemies, captivated the little girl who thought her brother made up an incredible story. In the end, Henrietta fell asleep from being overzealous,

When she returned, Berengar found Linde lying on her bed, waiting for her arrival with a sullen expression on her lips. Damn this girl; she's too sinful. The young master immediately closed the door of his room behind him and m*enjoyed being with the beautiful young lady for the night.

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