Chapter 101

The morning after my secret meeting with Baron Vladimir, I received a report while I was still asleep.

“Count Your Excellency, Duke Maxburg has just arrived.”

“I see. Where has he set up camp?”

“He has camped about an hour and a half away from our location.”

“You’ve worked hard. Sound the wake-up horn then.”

As the soldier who reported to me spoke those words, he bowed respectfully and stepped back.

I then commanded my attendant in the room to help me don my armor and formal attire before stepping out into the hallway.

Just as I was about to mount my horse, I began to hear a sound I was quite familiar with.

Tap, tap, tatatat, tatatara~!!! Tap! Tap! Tap!

After a few minutes of hearing this sound, all the soldiers started rushing out of the barracks.

“Hey, hurry up! This is a battlefield!”

“Private Hans, understood!”

“If you’re late for roll call on the battlefield, you’ll be whipped at best and executed at worst! If you want to keep your heads on your shoulders, run!”

“Where is our assembly point, sir?”

“Go up five tents and left three tents, it’s in front of the company commander’s barracks! Run!!”

Despite the soldiers suddenly springing into action and coming out in a frenzy, every single one of them managed to equip the armor and weapons they had to wear without forgetting anything.

A well-trained unit can prepare and act perfectly even in unexpected situations; although it may seem like a simple variable of waking up early…

The fact that everyone could emerge without any hitches in mere moments speaks volumes about the sweat and effort of the soldiers behind such seemingly trivial actions.

Such minor differences can lead to victory.

I then commanded the messengers beside me.

“Convey to all commanders of ranks above battalion commander that the entire force is to assemble at Randell Plains, five kilometers west of the Rothringen Castle.”

**

Upon arriving at Randell Plains, the camp of Duke Maxburg came into view for all my soldiers.

Perhaps to flaunt his status, he had proudly displayed the duke’s family flag prominently at the center of the barracks, and the other barracks were also quite tidily arranged compared to others.

Any ordinary army might be intimidated by such a well-organized camp.

I wasn’t scared, but I adjusted my evaluation of Duke Maxburg slightly upward.

Soon after, Duke Maxburg and his soldiers began to emerge from their camp in an orderly fashion.

The duke standing in front wore a magnificent plate mail embellished with gold, depicting his family crest and various designs, while the nobles following him wore armors adorned with gold and other precious materials, albeit with some variances in their quality.

Additionally, the vanguard soldiers followed suit, dressed in vividly colored uniforms, each step synchronized perfectly.

As if to intimidate us, they stomped their feet across the river and shouted in loud voices before the duke stopped.

“One, one, one! Long live Duke Maxburg! Long live Romania! Long live the deity Deus!!!”

“Long live Deus! Long live Duke!”

“Death to the cowardly Croilet!”

Shortly after, our non-commissioned officers retaliated with loud shouts.

“One, two, three, four! Thrust up your spears! The cry! The cry is down with Maxburg!”

In alignment, the soldiers lifted their spears and brought them down hard to the ground before shouting.

“Down with Maxburg! Glory to Count Your Excellency!”

As the mutual provocation came to an end, Duke Maxburg boldly reined his horse to a distance where my face was visible and spoke.

“Siel von Croilet! Even now it’s not too late; admit your mistakes and surrender! If you do so, I shall show mercy and protect your honor and family with the pride and prestige of the Maxburg family!”

It is customary to make such statements to provoke the enemy’s morale before a war, as if to say we would especially spare them.

But the duke, who had already been ravaged by the forces of our territory in the eastern capital region, saying such things to us who had not suffered any damage…

“Duke Maxburg! If you regret your mistakes and surrender now, especially in this war, we will not take even a single field from your territory. So, repent now and lead your troops to surrender! You have no chance of victory!”

I spoke these words, but even if we were to annihilate all the enemy’s forces, we had no intention of taking even a fragment of their land.

Our duke, perhaps angered by having his territory ravaged, dismounted his horse and took off his helmet, his face turning bright red as he spoke.

“How dare I, a mere duke, face such insolence from a lowly noble! How dare you defy a noble prince! Though we are of different nations, do you not understand the hierarchy and status ordained by Deus?”

“Enough with the nonsense! Did you spend the night groping women before the holy day, only to end up sleeping and forgetting even a single word of the Holy Scripture? Dios has said that everyone will be judged by their deeds. And yet you try to suppress me over simple nobility rather than what is truly deserved.”

I then brought forth a citizen I had captured while escaping Rothringen and an official I caught who was plotting smuggling and crime in Blueport.

I lightly stabbed each of them in the shoulder with a knife and whispered.

“If you want to live, cooperate fully. Then I will let you go.”

“Really?”

“I, Siel von Croilet, swear by my name that I will indeed let you go.”

After a moment of hesitation, the official spoke first.

“I received instructions from Duke Maxburg to kidnap nobles in Blueport and sell the lady and noble daughters as slaves. I was planning to infiltrate there gradually, destroy Count Croilet’s territory and the citizens’ livelihoods, but I was caught in the process.”

Hearing this, the citizen, sounding defeated, squeezed out his words.

“Duke, and your loyal nobleman… Rothringen is on the brink of ruin. The garrison commander, Knight Rosel, is so focused on the defense of the castle walls and gates against the serfs that… some noble ladies have even been assaulted by the frantic serfs. Of course, those beasts have already been executed… It’s dangerous if this continues! So please, crush the enemy!”

If I hadn’t been in a position where I had to provoke them, I might have suffered considerable losses due to this gentleman.

Because if the citizen who had been captured during an escape said with his life on the line, “Your land needs your help!” then the nobles and soldiers would unite based on the noble cause of saving the isolated city.

Those united serfs could even be strong enough to take down heavily armored knights.

However, independent of the enemy’s morale rising, the words of such a spirited citizen could sometimes also dampen our soldiers’ spirits.

If I were to execute him for that morale drop, it would only have a counterproductive effect, elevating the enemy’s morale beyond what we needed.

I had no choice; I would either let them die at the hands of Maxburg or bring them under my command.

If I could bring them under my command, I could surely bring down the enemy’s morale significantly.

I pretended to display great emotion over the citizen’s words and spoke in an exaggerated tone.

“What is your name?”

“I am Magdeburg, the lawyer of Rothringen.”

“Excellent. Truly excellent, a remarkable display of chivalry. Such talent is wasted beneath Duke Maxburg; would you consider working under me?”

“No, Your Excellency. You are the enemy of our Duke Maxburg.”

Though he was a lawyer of the gentry class, lower than a knight, he clearly had spirit.

I felt somewhat regretful, but if he had to become the enemy, it was better to eliminate him before he grew larger.

“How unfortunate, but our Croilet Count family has admired your courage. In a situation where you are facing death, willing to risk your life to raise morale despite having no duty to pledge loyalty… Bring forth a reward for this man: seventy gold coins, the finest sword, and a letter of allegiance.”

Shortly after, the attendant delivered all the items I mentioned to him.

The man then bowed his head slightly in gratitude and turned his horse toward Duke Maxburg.

He was moving in a grand manner, but that fellow would likely be perceived as a spy who had received vast rewards and became overly honored, leading to his demise.

If anyone observed how warmly the enemy treated him and sent him back, he would likely seem like a spy who expected compensation larger than the reward he received.

As the citizen and the official returned toward Maxburg, he shouted angrily.

“You, Siel von Croilet! Even if you are trash who slayed your own lord, how dare you spread lies and deceive the people of your territory as a noble!”

“It’s all quite true, Your Excellency!”

“Shut your mouth! Though I occupy a lowly position among the princes, as the head of the Maxburg house, how would I dare to commit such a filthy act!”

“Would a head of the house dare to trespass into our territory and kidnap noble ladies?! Your Excellency, it would have been better if you had just sent a matchmaker to our lands, as our land has beautiful women. I could have sent you a lady fitting for you, even if she might not be as beautiful as Ela. Oh, of course, it wouldn’t matter, for there are simply no women in our territory who would match Your Excellency.”

At that remark, our soldiers began to laugh.

“They say the Maxburg family has such a protruding jaw that you could hang a drinking cup from it… just imagine how ugly that would be!”

“Hey, but isn’t he still a duke? Hence, we should say he has a unique personality.”

“Oh no, sir. We should rather say he looks like a cow went through the fields, followed by a pile of fertilizer. Just how rich and pleasant that would be!”

Duke Maxburg, hearing that remark, seemed furious and threw his helmet to the ground.

“How insolent!!!”

“Your Excellency, I only respect nobles who are worthy of respect.”

“You vile pig, you are surely the spawn of a man and man who birthed such wretched filth!”

Isn’t it a feature of keyboard warriors that when they find themselves at a loss for words, they simply spew insults and blame someone’s parents?

Thinking this way, human nature seems quite similar; seeing how even you, noble prince, seem reduced to this when you have no arguments left.

So as I noted the duke’s anger and prepared to press his buttons to make him chase after us in madness, I spoke up.

“Oh Duke, when you refer to us as the spawn of a man and man, I can’t but feel sorry for you. Perhaps you think that way because you were born that way. But fear not; we all come from the love of our mothers and fathers. And if you truly doubt our sincerity, God Deus shall surely aid those whom He deems right in battle.”

“…….”

Then I waved my right hand with my index and middle fingers at a distance close enough that he could see my eyes, nose, and mouth.

“Moreover, we have lived honestly before Deus. Thus, I am confident that I could win even if I merely fought with a stick against you, a duke who releases criminals to harass us. So, let our knights dismount their horses. It’s the least I can do for, surely a sign of divine intervention will manifest!”