Chapter 185: From Now on, Advance at Full Speed (2)
Count Cabaldy briefly doubted his hearing.
He had just decided to negotiate a food transaction with that bastard. And now that same bastard was invading?
He couldn’t believe it and had to ask again.
“Baron Penris? Why the hell is he here?”
“…I don’t know, my lord.”
“Why! How dare that little punk bring an army to my territory!”
The feeling of surprise was quickly followed by an overwhelming rage.
He was a powerful figure of the North who was about to rise to the position of a great lord.
With abundant iron production and advanced refining techniques, he commanded strong armed troops.
On top of that, his backing was none other than Duke Delphine, the most powerful person in the kingdom.
And now, it seemed he was being targeted by someone who had brought an army—someone like that pathetic Perdium, who wasn’t even a count!
“What the hell were the sentries doing at the watchtower? They couldn’t even send a single messenger before the enemy arrived!”
Count Cabaldy couldn’t contain his anger and bellowed.
Living with the complacent notion that no one would dare attack Cabaldy, he had only left a few guards at the fortress. Had the enemy come ready for an ambush, they wouldn’t have stood a chance.
So, the fact that the fortress was overtaken was not surprising at all, but his retainers, fully aware of the truth, held their tongues.
“I need to see that insolent bastard’s face with my own eyes!”
Count Cabaldy stood up and headed outside.
His confused retainers followed him, saying,
“It’s actually a good thing. Baron Penris started this fight, so we have plenty of justification.”
“We don’t even need to worry about supplies. We can just take our army out and crush them.”
“The heavens are on our side. The Crown Prince Faction and the Duke Faction won’t be able to blame us either.”
Listening to his retainers, Count Cabaldy nodded in agreement.
“Whatever reason he came for, we’ll seize the opportunity to wipe them out and take Penris’s territory. What’s the maximum available troop strength in our domain?”
“42 knights and, with all available armed soldiers, we can muster 1,800. We could raise over 3,000 if we summoned conscripts from all over, but that would take too long, so we must go with armed soldiers.”
“That should be more than enough.”
“Indeed. It’s a barony known for being poor and small. They won’t even muster 500 soldiers at best.”
The soldier listening to Count Cabaldy and his retainers felt uneasy and wanted to speak up, but he had long been forgotten in everyone’s minds.
Count Cabaldy nodded satisfied, continuing his pace.
His mood lightened at the prospect of overwhelming the opponent and seizing Penris’s territory.
“Looks like we can secure food easier than expected.”
Even if Baron Penris had come for reasons other than war, there was no way he would let this golden opportunity slip away.
But as they happily proceeded, they stopped in shock when they saw the situation outside the castle.
Count Cabaldy mumbled in disbelief.
“Wha, what is this… that troop strength..?”
There were a lot. At a glance, it looked like around 3,000 troops were lined up.
These weren’t soldiers from another location either. The flags fluttering all around were unmistakably from Penris.
He had been certain they would dominate, but instead, they were being overwhelmed by the enemy’s troop strength.
I was confident we would overwhelm them, but instead, we were overwhelmed by their troops.
“What the hell is that! Why does that brat have so many troops?!”
“…….”
Even Count Cabaldy’s shout left everyone speechless.
The number of troops mobilized from a mere barony was simply too high.
“I-I heard they accepted immigrants, right? Maybe they brought a ton of conscripts with them?”
“Look! The majority are infantry! They must be conscripts. They’ll be in terrible condition.”
“Still, there seem to be over 300 cavalry. Is that alright?”
Those lacking information could only speculate based on the situation before their eyes.
Count Cabaldy bit his nails and racked his brain.
‘What the hell happened? The Duke’s faction clearly said to lay low. If the Crown Prince faction was involved, they wouldn’t say that. Or maybe there was some negotiation between the two sides?’
There hadn’t been a legitimate declaration of war, and there had been no official disputes with Perdium either. So he couldn’t fathom why he was being attacked.
‘That brat can’t command such an army. Did the Crown Prince faction provide support?’
The information about Ghislaine trading with other territories for food and soldiers hadn’t spread yet.
Ghislaine’s quick movements with a time limit were to act before the rumors got out.
The difference between someone who had everything prepared and someone who didn’t was vast.
Just as Count Cabaldy was sweating coldly while biting his nails, two figures approached leisurely on horseback from the enemy camp.
It was Ghislaine and Gillian.
They stopped a short distance from the castle. After catching his breath, Ghislaine shouted toward Count Cabaldy.
“Hey! Count Desmond’s lackey!”
Ghislaine’s words, laden with mana, resonated well with those standing atop the castle wall.
Count Cabaldy’s eyes sparkled with fury upon hearing Ghislaine’s provocation.
“That brat! How dare he!”
Not only was the crude manner of speaking an issue, but the content of his words was also unbearable.
Count Desmond and he were nobles of the same rank. But Count Desmond subtly treated him like an underling.
No matter how much it was cloaked in requests, he couldn’t have failed to sense that filthy ulterior motive.
Look at this. Despite having bled him dry of iron all this time, now that the circumstances were difficult, he just stopped the food support.
Ghislaine’s words stirred the inferiority complex that was blossoming within Count Cabaldy.
There was no time to wonder how that brat knew about the relationship between him and Count Desmond, who purported to be neutral.
His head was so hot that such thoughts didn’t even cross his mind.
“Open the gates! I’ll personally lead my troops out and take that brat’s head off!”
The retainers beside him gasped and tried to dissuade him.
“No! We can’t engage directly! The enemy’s numbers are too great! Let’s hear why they’ve come first. It might be a misunderstanding.”
“I, I-I’ll…”
Count Cabaldy bit his lip. The retainer’s words were not wrong. Even if they were to fight, they needed to know why, so he could have something to tell the Duke’s faction.
Count Cabaldy chewed his lip and muttered, which was conveyed loudly by a knight beside him.
“Baron Penris! What in the world brings your forces here?! Showing up with an army so suddenly, have you lost your noble honor living in poverty? If you want a war, go back, prepare a proper justification, and declare it formally before returning!”
In essence, he was saying he didn’t want to fight right now and that they should come back later. That way, he could prepare something in the meantime.
“If you attack our territory without reason, the Duke’s faction will never sit still. If you want to avoid destruction, back off at once!”
He even tried to intimidate them by casually dropping the name of the Duke’s faction.
Hearing the knight’s shouting from atop the castle walls, Ghislaine chuckled.
“A declaration of war… Sure, I can give you that much.”
Ghislaine extended his hand, and Gillian handed him a bow and arrows.
Though they had made a surprise attack, a minimal justification was necessary to prevent the Crown Prince faction and the Duke’s faction from intervening openly.
To prevent the author from meddling, at least a minimal justification was needed.
Now, all that was left was to deliver this appropriately. Creak. Ghislaine pulled back the bowstring forcefully.
Count Cabaldy’s guard knights had already been in motion since the moment Ghislaine received the bow.
They surrounded the Count closely, lifting their shields without leaving any gaps.
In an instant, Ghislaine changed her aim and shot an arrow towards the knight delivering a message from the castle walls.
Fwoosh!
“Gah!”
The knight, suddenly attacked, knelt and coughed up blood as his chest was pierced.
The arrow had lodged itself only halfway in. Ghislaine adjusted her strength just right.
Though hardly anyone would recognize him.
Seeing the people rush to the fallen knight, Ghislaine casually tossed the bow behind her and laughed.
“This is how I declare war.”
*
The nobles of the Crown Prince faction in the capital gathered daily to ponder how to resolve the situation.
Except for the House of Marquis Branford and the House of Count Ailzbur, most had not gathered enough food as needed.
Not only was the stock limited, but it was being consumed rapidly, leaving them in a continuous state of worry.
“What on earth are we supposed to do about this?”
“There are reports of starvation!”
“The climate crisis is real!”
They were making a racket, yet no one could offer a concrete alternative.
The drought’s damage had struck the kingdom hard.
“Enough! We can’t do anything about what’s already happened!”
The nobles, who had been chattering incessantly, fell silent at the Marquis Branford’s outburst.
Now, they had no choice but to keep an eye on the Marquis Branford.
Rumors had spread that he had hoarded an enormous amount of food, creating an unspoken consensus that if they showed him favor, they might gain a little something.
Of course, Count Ailzbur, who had stacked up food as soon as he heard Ghislaine’s warning, maintained a relatively calm demeanor.
He thought to himself with relief.
“Phew, if it weren’t for my wife, we would have been in big trouble. Next time, I must absolutely follow her lead.”
Meriel ignored her husband’s objections and purchased an enormous amount of food.
Thanks to this, Count Ailzbur, previously evaluated as lacking compared to representatives of other factions in the Crown Prince faction, had gained authority only second to Marquis Branford.
While scanning the quieted surroundings, Marquis Branford slowly opened his mouth.
“It’s unfortunate, but upon further reflection, it might be a fortunate turn of events for us.”
The Commander of the Kingdom Army, Marquis Maurice McQuarry, frowned.
“Ahem, how so? Everyone is starving, and the situation is dire. What’s fortunate about it?”
“Because the nobles supporting the Duke faction are starving as well.”
“……?”
“Think about it. Why have we been monitoring the Duke faction? It wasn’t out of concern for them starting a civil war. However, in this situation, no matter what, not even the Duke faction can start a civil war. They also have to resolve the situation.”
“Hmmm….”
“If we hadn’t stockpiled food, the Duke would have moved, even if it meant suffering losses. Don’t you agree?”
The nobles couldn’t raise any counterarguments to that statement.
As Marquis Branford had said, if the royal side were lacking in food, the Duke faction would surely not have missed the opportunity to incite a civil war.
However, with Marquis Branford, the royal family, and Count Ailzbur having stockpiled large amounts of food, it became difficult for the Duke faction to take rash action.
Now, it was better for them to gather their allies a bit quicker than to both suffer great losses by acting rashly.
Things had gone as Ghislaine intended. Unlike her previous life, the Duke faction’s movements were temporarily restrained.
The Crown Prince faction, being in a defensive position, found the current situation much more favorable.
What they desired was eternal stasis, not a definite conclusion.
To the nobles nodding in understanding, Marquis Branford continued.
“Of course, this situation won’t last forever. It all depends on which side resolves the situation first. The Duke faction will undoubtedly move swiftly to resolve the situation and press us again.”
Anticipation flickered in the nobles’ eyes.
The implication that whichever side resolved the situation first would hold the advantage meant that Marquis Branford would also help the Crown Prince faction nobles in quickly stabilizing the situation.
The Marquis also meant that he would help the nobles of the Crown Prince Faction to quickly stabilize the situation.
As expected, Marquis Branford did not disappoint the nobles’ expectations.
“Not only the royal reserves, but Count Ailzbur and I will also provide some of the food we had stored. It may not be sufficient, but we can manage somehow.”
“Ohh!”
“Thank you so much!”
“I had no doubt that the Marquis and the Count would make a significant resolution.”
Everyone showed expressions of relief.
After all, food was the most important resource for maintaining an army.
No one was thinking of distributing the received food to the commoners.
Nobles had little interest in the lives of the lowly. They only cared about maintaining their own power.
Seeing the relieved nobles, Marquis Branford spoke with a hint of regret.
“Indeed, we should have prepared the food in advance like Baron Penris suggested.”
“Ugh…”
Everyone was at a loss for words.
Honestly, who would believe such a thing? It was odd that Marquis Branford and Meriel had even believed it enough to prepare.
As the topic came up, the nobles started pointing out an utterly incomprehensible question.
“But how did Baron Penris know that?”
“I heard rumors that he reads the stars through astrology.”
“That kind of talent surely doesn’t exist, right? It’s just one of those lucky guesses.”
Naturally, the one who showed the most displeasure was Marquis Maurice McQuarry.
He, who loved fortune-telling and superstitions, firmly believed that Ghislaine must have used some strange magic to predict the weather.
“Cough! That fellow is definitely either a dark wizard or has a witch by his side! We should capture him and weigh him against a duck to see if they are the same! If he learned dark magic, he’d weigh the same as a duck!”
“……”
It seemed he had no idea that he himself sounded even more like a dark wizard.
Marquis Branford shook his head. After all, trying to have a conversation with that foolish man was pointless.
He was only holding his position due to coming from a noble family and being somewhat knowledgeable in military studies.
However, there was one thing that resonated with Marquis Branford: he was suspicious of what kind of abilities Ghislaine truly possessed. It was hard to believe that she simply predicted a drought just because the weather was hot.
‘I can slowly learn more about that. Anyway, thanks to that guy and Rosalyn, we barely managed to avert a crisis.’
Thanks to the two of them, the worst situation was avoided. Marquis Branford looked around at the still pale-faced nobles, feeling secretly pleased.
‘Hmm… I should consider bringing him directly into our house. He seems like he would get along well with Rosalyn.’
If Ghislaine were to hear that, she would probably be horrified, but even Rosalyn, who knew him well, couldn’t peek into his thoughts.
Marquis Branford pulled his wandering thoughts back to the main topic and issued a stern warning to the nobles.
“Just to be cautious, please be careful not to get into disputes with the nobles of the Duke Faction for the time being. It would be better to avoid anything that could hurt our pride.”
All the nobles understood his words and nodded.
“In a situation like this, a dispute would only mean death for each other.”
“I will definitely relay this to others.”
“Surely no one would be thoughtless enough to start a dispute? If a war breaks out, we’ll all end up dead together.”
“Of course, there are no such foolish people on our side. Hahaha!”
Everyone laughed in a cheerful atmosphere.
They simply wished for this situation to pass quietly. They even held onto hopes that if they successfully navigated this crisis, they might stand toe to toe with the Duke’s faction.
As the good atmosphere continued, one of the Marquis’s knights burst into the meeting room in a frenzy.
Just as Marquis Branford furrowed his brow to say something, the knight opened his mouth.
“Baron Penris has started a war!”
At that report, close to a shriek, all the smiles vanished from the faces of the nobles present.
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