Survival Strategy for Weak Territories! ~ My Territory Will Be Destroyed No Matter How Many Times It Is Repeated. How Can This Be Saved? ~ - Chapter 5

Third Run, Solo Self Reflection

“Ugahhhh!?”

Klein jumped up from his bed.

He was not sweating. However a few seconds after he woke up his heart suddenly started racing.

“Ha, Haa…..a dream!? That was a dream!?”

Although his memory is still fuzzy since he has just woken up, he still clearly remembers being killed in battle this time.

Unlike the first time, Klein is shaken because the memory of him getting killed was still fresh in his mind.

A little later.

Marie, who heard his scream, rushed into the bedroom.

“W, What’s wrong, Klein-sama!?”

“Woah!? ……Ah, ahh, it’s just Marie huh. Can you bring me some water and the latest newspaper?”

“Eh? Ah, certainly.”

A few minutes after Marie left the room with an awkward expression from seeing her clearly distraught lord.

The newspaper with the same content as he saw in his previous life was delivered to Klein.

No matter how many times Klein checked it, the date on the newspaper was still April 1st of the year 500.

“Ah, this……”

While having no other choice but to admit that he is repeating the same thing again, Klein collapses down on his bed after recalling how he lost his life last time.

“The Eastern Count himself led his cavalry himself and stormed into our camp.”

He can still remember the face of the horse that was galloping toward him—-ending his life.

He probably got run over and killed.

“Do you think I can accept a death like that…….!”

The root of the matter was the moment he entered into an engagement with the girl the Count was trying to court in secret.

To get himself killed because of such a ridiculous reason, being killed by the ambitious Marquis Laguna who was trying to expand his territory would be much more preferable.

Thinking so, Klein grew extremely frustrated.

“…….But wait, that’s right. Look on the bright side, Klein von Asgard. Now you know what will happen.”

To the north, there is a mafia-like Marquis who is burning with ambition.

To the east, there is a Lolicon Count with the strongest cavalry.

When he listed them as such, he realized that he would never be able to beat them through military might alone.

Even thinking about how to fight them would be a mistake in and of itself.

That is what he concluded.

“……I need to make my move carefully.”

If he strengthens his relationship with the Southern Count too much then he will surely get roped into the engagement talk.

On the other hand, if he refuses the engagement, his relationship with the Southern Count will collapse.

But if he accepts it, the Eastern Count will come for him.

That would lead to Klein’s death and the destruction of his territory.

“I need to adjust the strategy when it comes to my relationship with the Southern Count.”

In his second life, he did not know whether his dream was merely a dream or not but right now Klein can only accept that all of them are real.

“A dream inside a dream—–inside another dream huh. Is it possible for multiple dreams to overlap like this? This……right, let’s think of this as repeating the same life with memory from the previous ones intact.”

That’s why if he has to be realistic, he has to come up with a plan for the future.

“……I wonder why the Kingdom is allowing its aristocrats to declare war for a reason like that but that is not important right now. I can’t even afford to think about why I am repeating my life right now. For the time being, let’s come up with some countermeasures.”

Even with such enthusiasm, his general policy is still the same as what he came up with in his second life.

For now, he has to guarantee his survival.

First, he must come up with a plan that can guarantee that much.

“The Laguna House in the north and the Vanaut house in the east, let’s leave them aside for now.”

Excluding the major players of the north and the east, Klein started focusing on other houses.

Although the houses of his relatives such as the Southern Count are scattered to the southwest of the Asgard territory, what lies in that area is a large undeveloped forest with a single road connecting the territories in that area.

The only force that he can rely on is the Jotunn house in the south.

However, it is already confirmed with his previous life that the Eastern Count will attack if he enters into the engagement discussion with them.

“……..I will have to try asking if they will rent me some of their fields without touching on the engagement topic huh. Well, it’s a business deal so they wouldn’t just turn me down right away though.”

Thinking so, Klein decided to forge a strictly business relationship with the Southern Count.

Still, this is only a rough strategy.

If the talk of marriage comes up then he will just have to appropriately deal with it when the time comes.

After deciding so, he turns his attention to the area just north of his territory.

“There are a lot of small noble houses to the north huh.”

Most of these houses have the peerage of knights, the lowest peerage of the Kingdom.

However, that area could be said to be cursed.

There, the people who became land-owning aristocrats by undertaking the task of reclaiming the marshland are always in conflict with each other for various reasons such as water rights and right of way.

“I can defeat those minor nobles to expand my influence—–no, I don’t have a just cause to do that.”

Since the influence of Marquis Laguna doesn’t reach them, he will be able to strengthen his military if he absorbs them into his territory but he does not have any cause to attack and destroy these minor lords.

“Yes, without a good reason, I can’t go to war against another noble.”

Marquis Laguna might have the largest military in the kingdom but if he has Count Vanaut on his side, he might be able to work something out.

Sending some bribes to the royal palace is also an option.

However, a no-name viscount like Klein can’t achieve such a thing.

In the first place, there’s a problem he must solve before that.

“I would lose even if I forge an alliance so war is out of the question…….that being said, it would be difficult to conduct a successful business as well.”

Klein’s military is so small that even if he allies himself with other small-time nobles, he would still lose.

That’s why realistically speaking, it would be a waste to strengthen his military.

Then what can he do?

With the low productivity of his territory, it would be difficult to expand his economic power.

It’s more than likely that he will get his hand burned if he tries something without careful planning.

“……there is no choice but to leave those minor houses alone huh.”

Klein came to that conclusion.

Next is the west.

If he heads west on the road that cuts across his territory then he will arrive at the capital.

Although several houses are ruling the territories near the capital, none of them is strong enough to help him.

If he heads east, there is another small house there.

In addition to the far distance between them, they won’t even be nearly strong enough as an ally.

“Then my only option is the Southern Count after all huh.”

In other words, the only plan he has right now is to [Forge a business relationship with the Southern Count].

Compared to the strategy he first came up with the last time, this one sounds extremely unreliable.

“We are originally a distant relative after all, this……I guess it’s not going to work huh.”

With no marital ties between them, it’s impossible for him to be close enough for them to lend their help.

Whether it be for his business venture or defending his territory, the chance that they will seriously help him is very low.

“Oi, Oi, Oi, if it’s like this then my plan to make my profit this autumn won’t even work out right……Ugh, it’s all that Lolicon Count’s fault!”

If the Eastern Count did not stand in his way, he would have a lot of options available to him.

Thinking so, Klein groaned at his plan which has already failed before it even started.

Moreover, this strategy alone can not change the future.

“Besides, being a little wealthier will only increase the amount of looted money when they plunder my territory. I need something more fundamental, that’s right……I have to come up with a plan that can reverse the situation in one go.”

After seriously trying to come up with such a plan and mull over all of his problems.

“…….Unnn.——-I quit, I can’t think of anything at all.”

Klein stopped thinking.

Even with all his previous lives combined, he has not even reached the age of 20 yet.

“There’s no use no matter how hard I think.—–that’s right! Isn’t there a more efficient way for things like this!”

Even if a kid like him tries to come up with a good plan, nothing will come out.

Thinking so, he once again holds up his writing brush.

The idea that he has come up with will drastically change the situation of the Asgard house.

However, the current Klein did not notice this yet.