Swiss Arms
Chapter 37
-VB-
The bishop turned out to be … far more mellowed out than I or anyone else in Davos expected someone of his position to be.
It was very hard to maintain a stern and firm awe of an elderly man when he had cookie crumbs on his lips, chin, and front of the cassock. His jaw kept on dropping as well, but that wasn't his fault.
I mean I would be gawking like an idiot as well if someone told me that they did something outrageously profitable.
See, what happened was that between all of the bigger works I have been doing across the Compact, I also tended to a garden at home (asking either Arnold or Alvia to water them when I wasn't home if the rain and snow melt didn't do it for me). I made the garden very experimental, buying up whatever seed I could get my hands on from peddlers and merchants.
Once I harvested them, I discovered that a lot of them were turnips and beets. Remembering that sugar could be harvested from them, I had immediately experimented and got sugar!
And the bishop mistook the first batch of sugar-added cookies I made as something of normalcy in Davos - or at least in Fort Fluela - and asked me to provide sugar for him. Initially, I just wanted him to pay for the sugar, but he kept on insisting that the Prince-Bishopric of Chur - not the Eccelsiarchal Diocese - be added to the Compact. The rest of the Compact would have to agree to the PB of Chur's entry into the Compact, but if the majority (5 of 7 members) agreed, then the following agreement would be implemented:
As a member of the Compact, there would be no tariff on goods and services bought and sold between the members of the Compact.
Serfdom is banned; freedom of movement within Compact territory is guaranteed.
Prince-Bishopric of Chur would agree to not unilaterally on the political stage of the Holy Roman Empire.
PBoC will come to the defense of other members of the Compact just as the Compact will come to its defense.
Personally, I was shocked by how quickly the bishop pushed to have the Prince-Bishopric added to the Compact's mutual defense and trade pact, because when we began our talk, he spoke of an alliance.
However, his mind quickly changed upon realizing that mutual defense pact and trade pact was different and mutually exclusive if he signed an alliance with the Compact, so he opted to join the Compact instead.
… I began to suspect that the bishop may have a big sweet tooth. If that wasn't the case, then he saw something in me (not the Compact because he changed his mind upon talking with me) to warrant a closer political, social, and economical relationship with the Compact.
Personally, I welcomed this because having the PBoC as a member of the Compact would give us a degree of legitimacy greater than the king's approval of our existence in this empire where the emperor's authority waxed and waned with time.
Of course, accepting the PBoC also involved getting dragged into any of the PBoC's revanchism, and recently, the PBoC lost the Barony of Vaz, a chunk of land to the previous Sax-Misox count, and a slice of land to the Count of Sargans.
"Will you push to regian those lands?" I asked the bishop, who was still my guest while we waited for the decisions of the other members of the Compact.
"Not without a good reason," he shook his head while eating another cookie. The man looked like he was getting a blowjob or something with how blissful he looked. Considering that he was supposed to have made the pledge of celibacy, the doses of sugar-pumped dopamine might just be the closest he got to intercourse, actually. "And pushing my flock to war land that weren't being used anyway is not a good reason."
"And if the others develop those lands?"
"Then they deserve it, even if admitting that would be detrimental to the prince-bishopric's future." He paused. "On the condition that I am part of the Compact. If I am still politically independent within the Empire, then I will have to gather allies to regain those lands, one way or another."
I nodded slowly.
I remembered that he went to war with the Baron of Vaz over pushing to keep the people who lived on a deceased noble's land to continue to use that land without change. I still considered it a foolish thing to have gone to war over when he could have approached it differently.
This told me that the bishop was a good individual but that he may react to a situation aggressively if only to not give the opposite side the idea that he was weak. It was how politics was normally conducted in this era; appearing weak due to any reason was reason enough for the Unruly Year to happen.
But if he joined the Compact, then he could not unilaterally. This was the reason why I made him sign off on that part of the condition for the PBoC to join the Compact.
"While I cannot promise anything," I began slowly and quietly. "Should war come to us again, I will be looking to regain those lands because I cannot ally belligerents to continue to exist along our border."
The bishop gave me a side glance before looking forward again and then nodded. He finished the fifth cookie of the day (for a total of forty-three he's eaten so far in the five days and counting stay). He hummed before closing his eyes.
"This will bring a significant change to Swabian Alps."
"It will," I agreed.
The Compact was not big in size or population. Chur was less than a fifth of the Compact in size but had half of its population. Combined, we would be … I guessed that a 21st century comparison would be the position the State of New Hampshire had within the United States of America.
Small, yes. Politically peripheral, maybe. Small population, yes.
Weak? No.
And it will do well for people to remember that I burned a castle (even if I just wanted the enemy to sally out).
The bishop smiled. "But I am sure that this change will be good for God's children," he said softly. "Humanity will always work towards a better future, and I think that despite our initial differences, we will see this slice of earth become … fruitful. A garden of goodness, if you will."
I thought about what he said.
"I hope so, too."
Later that week, I received replies from across the Compact.
All but Langweis agreed to allow the Prince-Bishopric of Chur to enter the Compact, and thus with a six out of seven majority vote, the Compact grew to eight members.