"As you guys are fairly useless in coming up with any valid solutions, so I have a plan to discuss which can solve the matter."

"Please Lord..."

"Yeah... So the plan is we are going to dismantle our army..."

"What?" shouted the man named Harold, with no care to the level of loudness.

"What? What?" and in retaliation the Duke also shouted with an irritated face as that man hadn't even heard the full plan & was shouting already.

"I am... Sorry Lord. I was just too shocked." Replied the man with white hair, fixing his shocked expression to a normal one.

"Whatever, just don't shout again."

"Yes, Lord."

"So where were we..." asked Heinrich to Leon, who was standing beside him the whole time & the man who originally proposed the plan. His plan was so simple, accurate & convincing that all of his other plans didn't even come close.

"The Army."

"Yeah, so we are going to dismantle our vast & useless army who has achieved nothing in the past 70 years and...."

"But Lord..."

"First hear me out goddamn it," once again said the Duke, raising his voice to the highest. He always hated those people who liked to cut people's words in mid-sentence. They were just too annoying.

"Sorry Lord."

"So we are going to dismantle our army, as it's consuming too much of our resources & there are far better uses for that. Also, we are going to teach them how to do farming so it could solve the lack of food issue in the near future. Now please voice out your opinions."

The first one to speak was the man wisest of all named Harold, who was getting impatient with each passing second.

"But Lord, if we do that, then people won't fear you anymore. It is the sole reason for our duchy's dignity. It will diminish your title as the most powerful man in the entire empire in moments. And also the Trinity, it will be a direct breach to the contract. It won't end well, Lord..."

"Then tell me a better way? Tell me some otherworldly stuff which can solve the matter in a snap." asked Heinrich in an irritated tone.

"No, Lord… But it can cause severe problems. If our army broke, then there won't be anyone left to protect the empire."

"Protect from whom?"

"From enemies… Neighbouring kingdoms who are always eying out our land."

"Tell me, when was the last war we fought?" asked the Duke, massaging his eyelids as they were getting nowhere except the same pointless dog-biting his own tail thing.

"70 years ago."

"And what have we achieved between that time and today with army except getting debts?"

To this question, neither the man nor the group of advisors had any answers. It was in plain sight for everyone to see that the vast army was doing nothing except eating a large portion of supplies. Maintaining that much people was no easy feat & that was one of the many reasons they were given security to handle in Trinity.

But now everything was crawling towards chaos because of the same Trinity which was made to prosper the empire. They were managing the army because of the Trinity, which was a practically dumb move if viewed realistically. There was no war going on except minor dispute here & there, but that never required military of that caliber.

It was pointless to begin with, still they would not back down from maintaining an army cause it would bring the wrath of the emperor, whom everyone feared.

Seeing the dumbfounded looks on the advisor's faces, duke spoke again.

"Anything..."

"No Lord, but it would be unwise to do that. Trinity would be breached & the emperor would get more angry & could even attack us." said the wisest man Harold.

"And fearing that, we are just going to sit here & let our people die. What kind of peculiar argument is that Harold?"

"It will be a small sacrifice, Lord. We can live our life with no issues."

Hearing the words, a faint smile appeared on Heinrich's face.

"We are really the same, huh? Driven by greed & self-righteousness. We don't see danger until it's too late." he repeated the words spoken by James. They never saw the impending doom until it was too late & now in desperation he was doing things which could escalate the situation even further.

"May I say something, Lord?" asked a man in his thirties, with grey hair.

The duke nodded, saying nothing. He needed to know everyone's opinion on the matter & the guy with grey hair was one of the very few who thought about changing the region for its own good. He was someone who had realised what was coming before anyone & had warned the authority.

"I happily agree with your plans, but what Harold said is also right. If we disbanded the army because of which this duchy had survived for this long, the consequences would be dire. There are many people waiting for the chance & who knows the soldiers might also turn again us."

As the words escaped the man's mouth, everyone's brows furrowed except the Duke & Leonhart. It was a bizarre argument that the soldiers who were born & raised in this land would turn against their own people.

"Why they would turn against us?" asked another man in his fifties.

"Because those soldiers are earning money doing nothing and no one would want to lose his dream job. Also, there is nothing that guarantees the disbanded soldiers not forming bandit gangs and plague the land or mercenary bands and join the enemy for money. Like the Duke said, we are humans driven by greed & self-righteousness. We can't just tell them to do something & they will do it happily with no second thoughts. It would be idiotic to think like that."

"You are right. They can do that. Yes Lord, they can do that & it will only grow the matter further." said Harold frantically nodding his head. It was a solid argument for not to disband the army & he was going to force the duke to agreeing upon it.

"I know that. I know it can happen & I have already predicted & devised another plan to solve that situation." replied Heinrich with the same nonchalant tone as before. It was a commonsense for anyone to know that a soldier who won't fight a war was a perfect job in this feudalistic society.

People would die to get that job & if they just removed it on one random day, then it definitely could intensify the situation even further. Soldiers would march on the road protesting about the decision & it was sure that they would not agree to do farming as it was more of a hard profession than being a soldier who was doing nothing.

"What is that plan, Lord? Please explain." said the man with grey hair.

"Yes. The plan is we will not disband our army in just one day, as we all know it can lead to a chaotic outcry among them which can further escalate the already unstable case. No matter how we try, we won't be able to fully convince them to adopt farming as their primary way of living. It is just impossible."

Everyone present in the room nodded in unison as the duke's words were perfectly right.

"Then how are we going to do it?"

"We are going to start things slowly. As you all know, our army is deployed in various parts of our region diverging in size & they directly answers to me, right?"

"Yes."

"So first what we are going to do is relieve a tiny number of soldiers from east & provide them with land, cattle, house, whatever they want for them and their family. Basically, we will give them things they deem necessary to become farmers willingly. Also, we can pay them extra sum as salary until they will earn more from farming."

"But Lord, then they will ask for outrageous things like 100 cows or two houses & many other things. We can't possibly provide them with anything they desire. It would be disastrous in the long run." Asked a man getting up from his sit to out voice his opinion.

"I know & understand that problem perfectly. That is the reason we are paying them some money as salary to live off until the farming profits. And even if they wanted more, just send them to west to serve in that cold. After spending a couple of weeks, they will definitely understand which is more convenient for them."

"Yes." said the man sitting down as the duke's words were precise & perfect, with no room for error.

"It will take some time, but it's possible. And if everything goes well, soon we will be able to transition more of our soldier to farmers without any issue. Point to be noted that we will still hold a significant number of soldiers for protection, but if they willingly wanted to become farmers, we won't stop them."

The group nodded, looking at each other.

"And by doing all this, The Trinity also won't be breached, thus the emperor can't say anything to us. Then you will all say, but Lord the contract specifies that we have to hold a minimum number of soldiers at our disposal & if that number falls because of more soldier choosing to farm as their job then it will definitely be a violation. Right?" asked Heinrich, pointing towards the group.

"Yes, yes." said all the group members one by one as it was a question they al had thought & the duke had already addressed the question.

"And now the question, what if that contract is breached? That moron is going to attack us & we all die cause we won't have an army to counter that force. Right?"

"Yes, Yes."

"I thought so too." said the Duke with a sigh. These people's question were too predictable & He already had solved all of them with his son beforehand.

"You idiots didn't realise that we can call all the soldiers back to fight when needed & there will be a term they have to accept which won't allow them to stay unfit even if they choose to leave the army."

The group gasped like children who understood something they were unable to. Also, it was not their fault, as they had never dealt with any situation like this.

"Also, Adalbert knows I can outplay him at any moment & won't try to wage a war unless he wants to die & give the crown to me." said the man with blonde hair & blue eyes with a sinister smile as if showing off his unshakable confidence.