Free Web NovelChapter 241: Honest, or Ruthless?
Essenbach preferred expanding its influence in Strasbourg over skirmishing. But Baschurten, which borders Feuzen, could have picked fights and yet never did. Why was that?
They seemed resolved to fight Euz, but the one most rattled was the ambushers’ representative himself. His mindset read as flustered. For Öderlen to resist alone, without Baschurten’s support, was madness.
"The corpses scattered across the field look like Basel army soldiers. What happened here?"
"Mercenaries from the routed Basel army raided Öderlen, but we drove them off."
"Hm. Fortunately, it seems you heeded the advice to be wary of mercenaries."
At that, the representative stared at me with wide, startled eyes.
"Could you be the knight who warned Iris to watch out for mercenaries..."
"There was a girl I caught gathering herbs."
As it happened, this ambush leader was that girl’s older brother. ƒree𝑤ebnσvel.com
Caught in a tangle of emotions, he couldn’t figure out how to treat me.
I was from an enemy land, and though I had captured the girl called Iris, I’d sent her back without touching a hair on her head, and had even advised her to beware of mercenaries.
He couldn’t tell whether I was enemy or ally.
"Think of me as a noble with a merciful streak."
"I-I see. Then is the demand to surrender also out of mercy?"
"It is. This time, the commander of the Euz army will carry out slaughter and plunder without hesitation. So surrender, and place yourselves under the protection of my name."
Baschurten, ruled by the Geerhilt family, is enemy territory, but with the ruling family in such a shambles, most of its villages have been left to fend for themselves. That’s how the tragedy at Ladwig came to pass at the hands of mercenaries.
"...If it’s you, Sir Knight, somehow I want to believe."
"My name is Wolfgang Ritter von Streit."
"Streit... you can’t mean the Gale Knight?"
Other countries aside, in Beren at least, not knowing my name would get you accused of being a spy. Perhaps because a knight of far greater renown than expected stood before him, the shock was plain on his face.
But the shock wasn’t for the reason I assumed.
The ambushers’ eyes went as wide as saucers.
"Wait, I heard it was the Gale Knight who brought relief to the ruins of Ladwig!"
"Word came from my cousin in Leben. He said the Gale Knight saved them!"
"What? If that’s true, we nearly attacked our benefactor!"
My reputation suddenly skyrocketed.
Öderlen being a village in northern Baschurten, its people seemed to have learned of my good deeds through Ladwig and Leben. Those acts had been born of simple compassion; I never imagined they’d help me like this.
"Geerhilt still hasn’t gotten the north under control?"
"No. No orders have come down either. What on earth is going on?"
I told them that the Count of Baschurten had surrendered, but that his younger brother had refused, crying out for resistance to the death. It only deepened their confusion about whose orders they were supposed to follow.
In the end, the ambushers returned to Öderlen to deliberate on surrendering. My lieutenants, watching all this with skepticism, were certain those men would go back and bar the gates for good.
"Turns out our lord has a naive streak. Does he actually believe they’ll surrender?"
"Terrifying on the battlefield, but apparently not so sharp elsewhere. Falling for such a shameless trick."
"Come on, let’s just prep for battle!"
Having watched trust crumble so easily so many times, they seemed to operate from a baseline of distrust. They were so sure of themselves that it actually got under my skin.
What? Prep for battle? You’re not putting those weapons away?
"Whether they surrender or not... care to make a bet with me?"
"Oh, now you’re talking! Ten silver on resistance!"
"I’m in for ten on resistance too!"
"Resistance! Overwhelming resistance! Ten coins!"
In an instant, five hundred silver coins piled up.
The mercenary cavalrymen looked at me with eyes full of anticipation.
Fine, you little bastards. I’ll clean out every coin you’ve got.
"Five hundred silver on surrender, you pigs!"
"Yeaaah! That’s a real man! As fiery as his fists!"
"Mist! Our lord never disappoints!"
The whole thing turned into an outright festival.
Besides loot and women, the things mercenaries go crazy for are bets and gambling. I alone bet on surrender, and every last one of them bet on resistance. They had no way of knowing that the ambushers’ minds held no deception.
And sure enough, before long, a white flag rose over Öderlen and the gates opened.
The combined cavalry entered Öderlen warily, suspicion written across their faces.
A middle-aged man in relatively fine clothes paid his respects to me.
He appeared to be the estate manager who administered this village.
"Öderlen surrenders to the Gale Knight. Please, grant us your mercy!"
"Much obliged. Thanks to you, I won my bet."
"Pardon? What do you mean?"
Heh heh, never you mind.
The mercenary cavalrymen who’d been so sure of their win suddenly had to pay up. The moment Öderlen surrendered, it handed me a profit of five hundred silver coins.
The cavalrymen who hadn’t joined the bet laughed freely at the mercenaries’ sour faces. Without a single drop of blood being shed, Öderlen formally surrendered to me, the Lord of Feuzen.
Though it was occupied territory, I promised to guarantee the villagers’ livelihoods and property. In the name of the Lord of Feuzen? No—in the name of the chief of staff to the supreme commander of the Western Lords’ Army.
In case anyone got ideas about disregarding the weight of my name and causing trouble, I invoked the authority of the Western Lords’ Army, the coalition of princes. Honestly, though, the one most likely to cause trouble was Fried.
Through this civil war, Fried had become a man you couldn’t let your guard down around. He’d grown considerably harder, and unlike before, he no longer hesitated to act. He was a completely different person from when we first met.
His disposition is honesty (neutral), but a shift in disposition is surely coming soon. I had no choice but to watch closely what effect that would have on me. Count Euz is elderly; he could die at any time.
...And then suddenly, a thought struck me.
Was this an aftereffect of learning about the Altringen royal conspiracy?
Ever since I’d realized the world of nobles was a place rife with conspiracies beyond imagining, I’d found that if you grant a prince’s actions their own internal logic, everything looks entirely different.
What if the reason Count Euz left the vassals who opposed his heir alone was to lay the groundwork for forging Fried into something harder? My mistake, it seems, was not thinking deeply about it because it was another lord’s territory.
Common sense says you eliminate vassals who threaten your heir, doesn’t it? For Fried to come to nurse a deep grudge against his vassals and lose all hesitation about massacring and plundering commoners was an enormous change.
For a prince who must defend the borderlands and contend with countless political enemies, what kind of heir would be more desirable? An heir judged honest and weak-willed? Or an heir transformed into someone cold and ruthless?
If I were in Count Euz’s position.
...Probably the latter.
As I stared into the flickering candlelight, my thoughts grew heavy.
