Chapter 86: I Should At Least Get Half of It. (1)
As the talk about the Runestone came up, everyone looked at Ghislaine with hopeful expressions.
Their eyes sparkled to the point of being overwhelming.
It was embarrassing to reach out for a reward for the top contributor instead of giving a reward, but receiving the Runestone was essential for the Territory’s financial relief.
It was not a matter of being embarrassed.
However, asking outright was not an option. The Runestone rightfully belonged to Ghislaine alone.
In the end, the only thing the retainers could do was use the age-old method passed down from the whale, known as flattery relay or sweet-talking.
Baron Homern, monitoring the situation, was the first to step forward and shouted loudly.
“The Grand Duke’s achievements will be recorded in history! The victory at the Perdium Campaign is entirely due to the Grand Duke’s efforts! Bards across the continent will sing praises of this remarkable feat! The late Perdium lord, Count Dante Perdium…”
Seeing Homern’s speech drag on, Albert quickly interrupted.
“It is extremely rare to have a war hero at the Grand Duke’s age showcasing such accomplishments. No one from any other Territory can compare to the Grand Duke.”
“Ahem, the Grand Duke certainly did achieve something great. He’s quite the fighter.”
With that, the somewhat reluctant praise from Randolf encouraged the other retainers to chime in one after another.
“It’s an incredible achievement.”
“The Territory residents can’t stop admiring him.”
“Rumors about the Grand Duke are everywhere in the Territory. Truly impressive.”
In truth, the rumors were so exaggerated that many retainers who hadn’t witnessed Ghislaine’s exploits found it hard to believe.
However, those who had been on the battlefield echoed in unison, ‘The Grand Duke played a decisive role in the victory,’ singing his praises.
So, well, there was no harm in offering some compliments. It didn’t cost anything, after all.
In the cheerful atmosphere, the praises continued endlessly.
With a smile on his face, Ghislaine, having heard plenty of compliments, felt quite full and decided it was time to speak up.
“The Runestone isn’t here right now.”
That was a splash of cold water on the festivities. The chatter among the retainers came to an abrupt halt.
Baron Homern, appearing to have misheard, asked again.
“What did you say? What isn’t here?”
“The Runestone is missing.”
The retainers thought the Grand Duke was just fooling around again.
Some regarded Ghislaine with suspicious glances, clearly doubting if he was playing coy and reluctant to give it up.
Frustrated, Baron Homern urged him on.
“No, but you said you’d give it. What do you mean it’s missing? There were plenty of things smuggled away before the war, right?”
“What do you mean? You must have secretly stashed away a lot before the war, right?”
“Oh, that? There’s nothing.”
“…Why not?”
“You didn’t know? It’s all blown up. Boom!”
Ghislaine spread her arms and exaggerated her gestures.
“Blown up?”
So many Runestones blowing up. What on earth did they use them for?
Albert, whose mind was racing, asked in a trembling voice.
“No way? The fire used in the traps… Could it be those Runestones?”
The magical fire that Ghislaine mentioned was nothing short of amazing.
There were many curious about how such powerful magic was used.
This was the moment the truth was revealed.
“Yes, I laid a bunch of Runestones underground and blew them up.”
She said it in a tone as casual as if she had burned a few pieces of firewood.
All the retainers were bewildered, staring at her in stunned silence.
As Ghislaine simply explained the principle of the trap, the retainers swayed in disbelief.
Has there ever been a case in the history of the continent where someone wasted Runestones just to make a single trap? There hasn’t been.
Just that would be shocking enough, but to use up all that vast amount?
It was the same as saying she burned through carts full of gold coins.
With that amount, even a Grand Lord could live comfortably for a few years.
In Perdium, it could last for over a decade, and if spent carefully like now, it could last for over twenty years.
Zvalter, who thought he was used to his son’s antics, turned pale.
Baron Homern pounded his chest in frustration and yelled.
“No way, you blew all that away in traps?! Wouldn’t it have been better to give half to Raybold or Desmond and get their help? That would have been more realistic! If you gave other Lords that much Runestone, they would come running!”
“It was Desmond that invaded.”
“What did you say?”
As more shocking news followed, everyone’s eyes widened.
“How could a poor territory like Digald gather that force? Desmond supported us.”
“Why would a Grand Lord like Desmond target us?”
“It must be because of the Runestones.”
In fact, there might be other reasons, and it’s actually Duke Delphine behind it, but Ghislaine decided to hold off on that for now to avoid confusion.
Zvalter asked again in a trembling voice.
“Is that true? Is it really Desmond?”
“Yes. I’ll show you the evidence.”
Ghislaine signaled to Gillian.
Moments later, Gillian brought in three knights wrapped tightly in chains.
They were Desmond’s knights caught while sneaking into Perdium.
At the time, Ghislaine had deliberately kept them alive for future use.
“These are the knights of Desmond who infiltrated during the war.”
They looked completely defeated, showing signs of extreme fatigue.
The Mana suppression handcuffs made from Runestones don’t work very well anyway.
They do not effectively bind powerful individuals.
To top it off, the supposedly cheap ones they had were the cheapest of the cheap, barely suppressing half of the knights’ mana.
To subdue the knights, they had no choice but to put on multiple Mana suppression devices.
Moreover, they were tightly bound in chains, so even if they were knights, there’s no way they could be in good shape.
“Why don’t you ask them directly?”
Zvalter asked, putting on a feigned angry expression.
“Who are you?”
A knight opened his cracked lips.
“I am a knight of Desmond.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes, it is.”
“Then explain why you attacked our territory!”
At the furious words of Zvalter, the knight began to explain slowly.
I don’t know the exact reason, but it seems to be because of the Runestone. Most lords still don’t know about Perdium’s Runestone, so it seems like they wanted to seize it first…
The knight said what he knew, willingly.
Since he received a promise that they would be released in due time if they cooperated, they were enduring with that hope.
In the first place, Ghislaine was too scared to come up with lies.
Once the interrogation ended, Zvalter and the retainers all wore heavy expressions, unable to speak.
Even if they won the war, it was extremely anxious and burdensome to be at odds with a great lord like Desmond.
No, honestly, it was terrifying enough to make their hands shake.
Ghislaine, who was slowly observing the battlefield, spoke.
“We need to keep our distance from Desmond as much as possible. We can’t afford to fight. Externally, the one who invaded us was, after all, Digald.”
In the end, it was just a game of blindfolding and pretending.
Desmond manipulated their troops as Digald’s soldiers, so even if there are some loopholes, they had no choice but to let it slide.
“The other lords aren’t fools. As time goes by, they’ll catch on. So while they won’t side with Desmond… they also won’t actively help us.”
Desmond is a great lord renowned for his strength in the North. The only territory that can face Desmond is Raybold.
But the relationship between Raybold and Perdium had already become the worst.
All the retainers remained silent. Ghislaine continued speaking.
“If there’s a guarantee that we can attain peace by offering the Runestone, then we should go for it. But once we ask for help, the other side will only get more greedy. Whether it’s Raybold or Desmond. It’ll be hard and tough, but we must protect ourselves with our own strength.”
Everyone nodded slightly at her calm voice.
There were many realistic challenges, but it wasn’t wrong.
“I will get new Runestones and offer them. They all know I have Runestones, so they’ll wait for a while. If I inform the territory residents that we will soon distribute relief supplies, we can pacify the public sentiment quickly.”
Zvalter looked at Ghislaine with a slightly admiring gaze.
Although it’s unfortunate they couldn’t get the Runestone immediately, seeing his son’s new demeanor was both surprising and pleasing.
He had always thought of him as a child, but how could he be so reliable now?
The retainers also wore similar expressions to Zvalter at the Grand Duke’s dependable demeanor.
However, Baron Homern felt a mix of pride and slight fear regarding Ghislaine’s growth.
‘Now, there’s no one who can stop the Grand Duke.’
Before, he had merely asked the Grand Duke for some money.
But with the achievements made in this war and the discovery of the war’s mastermind, the atmosphere around the battlefield began to revolve around Ghislaine.
Even here and now, none of the retainers could refute Ghislaine’s words and could only nod their heads.
Of course, this time she was not wrong, so Baron Homern remained quiet…
But he wanted to prevent a blanket agreement to follow Ghislaine’s words.
It was good that the Grand Duke had changed. But without understanding why he changed, there was no telling when he might revert back to his original self!
But not knowing why things have changed, one can’t tell when everything will return to normal!
He believed that people don’t easily change.
‘But… it seems I can no longer stop or hold back.’
Ghislaine was having an absolute influence, far beyond merely massive, in the territory.
Gulp.
He swallowed hard.
He wanted to know the reason behind the Grand Duke’s transformation.
Had the war grown the Grand Duke in an instant? Or was he originally this type of person?
Had he hidden himself until now? Or had there been some kind of trigger?
Not knowing why things had changed and being unable to understand his mindset made it quite frustrating.
In the silence so thick that not even a breath could be heard, Ghislaine raised his voice again.
“Send another messenger to Count Rogues and strengthen the alliance. Since Desmond is an enemy, this won’t end here.”
The faces of the retainers showed unease at the words of a powerful Grand Duke being an enemy.
But Ghislaine did not care and continued.
“Now that there is a clear enemy, the territory must also change.”
“Besides Desmond, there may be others as well. Perdium alone cannot stop everything, so allies are essential.”
They could no longer afford to be solely focused on the northern front while neglecting behind them, so they needed a unified force.
Zvalter nodded heavily.
“I understand. I will send a messenger again and talk urgently with Count Rogues.”
After a moment of contemplation, he continued.
“I will postpone the rewards for the remaining members for now. When Ghislaine brings the remaining Runestones, I will give first to the territory residents before rewarding.”
Some of the knights showed signs of slight disappointment, but most lowered their heads in agreement.
Right now, opposing would likely result in being stoned to death.
Anyway, there was no money for rewards unless Ghislaine offered the Runestones.
Once everyone agreed, Zvalter looked at Ghislaine and continued.
“I had planned to give you 2000 gold, but it seems I’ll end up taking a cut and returning some. You likely won’t need the money much. Do you need anything else?”
Ghislaine nodded as if he had been waiting for this.
Of course, he wasn’t going to let all this hardship go by without compensation.
Even if the opponent was family, mercenaries should be paid for their work.
He had no intention of settling for a mere reward of 2000 gold.
Moreover, there were many necessities to prepare for what was to come.
“First, let me ask one thing. What will your father do with the Count Digald’s territory?”
Zvalter stroked his chin thoughtfully.
Suddenly having increased territory, it was unlikely he had any detailed plans.
“Well, for now, I plan to send stewards to govern directly and divide the land among retainers who have achieved merit. Of course, we must accept those who have sworn loyalty.”
“I understand. Then I will state the reward I desire.”
“Hoho, go on, feel free to say whatever you want.”
With a friendly smile, Zvalter encouraged Ghislaine, who replied with a gentle smile.
“I must take half of that land.”
The faces of Zvalter and everyone else turned pale with shock.
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