CH 173

Chapter 173

“Keep up the good work. My lord and I have high expectations.”

“Oh! Sir Eugene does?”

“Yes. No matter what anyone says, this is his rightful territory. Moreover, this is the first place he claimed as his own. It has a special place in his heart.” Delmondo proudly said. Even though he was in an office, he still wore his black hat. The other men gathered in the office smiled brightly before speaking.

“I heard that Sir Eugene has become a duke of Brantia.”

“Rumor has it that the expedition is proceeding quite smoothly.”

Delmondo responded, “That’s right. Sooner or later, the lord will establish a kingdom there. In other words, our territory will become the territory of the Brantian royal family. I believe all of you understand fully what this means.”

Ooh…!

The men couldn’t hide their expectations, and Delmondo gave a satisfied smile.

‘That’s right. It’s all true, so work hard to spread the rumors. That way, his reputation will soar even higher, and the territory will develop much more rapidly.’

The five men gathered in Delmondo’s office were guild leaders of their respective fields. As the castle town of Eugene’s territory grew bigger, the need for guilds popped up. As such, Delmondo found suitable candidates and pushed for the establishment of various guilds. Normally, guilds were established by a gathering of workers in various fields. However, Delmondo was well aware that such methods of formation brought along many problems and pains.

He had experienced such problems during his time as an official in the empire. Once groups pursuing profits and self-interest grew powerful, they often created problems for the city or the nation in question.

This was why Delmondo took the lead in establishing guilds with the support of Moffern when the territory grew significantly and many projects essential for its development were initiated.

The guild leaders of Moffern were more than willing to let their members become the founding guild leaders of Eugene’s territory.

“As you all know, the territory’s development will greatly increase your profits as well. I believe you won’t do anything to disappoint the lord,” Delmondo stated.

“Of course! Please leave it to us!”

“We will never disappoint Sir Eugene and Sir Delmondo.”

The men immediately responded while bowing their heads. They knew all too well why Delmondo had turned them into guild leaders.

There was a mine located in the Eugene territory. In addition, its lord received the strong support of the Carls Baggins Peninsula’s margrave, who was no different from the peninsula’s sole ruler. Finally, he was even a duke of a foreign nation.

Becoming the founding guild leaders of a territory like that was tantamount to setting their foot on a golden road. They could only try their best to appease Delmondo.

“Administrator! Sir Delmondo!”

Suddenly, it became noisy outside the room. A guard burst open the door and rushed in.

“Sir! I apologize, but there’s an urgent situation.”

“What? What’s going on?” Delmondo asked.

“There are unidentified troops camped right outside the village!” The guard continued.

“Hmm?”

“What?”

“S-Soldiers?”

Delmondo slightly raised his hat, and the guild leaders whispered among themselves.

“Who are they? Bandits?” Delmondo asked. Nearby lands had been stabilized after Essandra Archivold succeeded in unifying the Carls Baggins Peninsula. Of course, not all bandits and monsters had been completely eradicated, but all of the larger threats had been eliminated. It was practically heaven compared to the past.

So why were there troops audacious enough to test their luck with a demonstration of force in front of Jan Eugene’s territory?

“Their numbers appear to be a hundred. Both their momentum and their equipment seem rather extraordinary. They don’t have a flag, so their origin is unknown, but they don’t seem to be a group of nobodies either,” the guard explained.

Most guards of the Eugene territory were veteran mercenaries with a plethora of experience. They were trustworthy. This was why Delmondo frowned after hearing the report.

“Let’s take a look,” he said before leaving the office with the guild leaders.

It was a cloudy day, so he only had his hat. He climbed the village’s wall to get a better look. The guards saluted as Delmondo climbed the wall. They had been closely watching the unidentified group with anxious expressions.

“Hmm.”

Delmondo’s eyes glimmered coldly as he peered down the wall. According to the guard’s report, there was a group of unidentified soldiers numbering slightly over a hundred. There were even knights armed with chainmail and plate mail among their midst.

A knight riding on a black horse approached the gate and took off his helmet before shouting, “I am Vermorf of Brickfell! I am a holy knight, and I’m here to purify the territory of the evil pagan!”

“…?!”

Delmondo was more surprised to hear the knight’s identity than the nonsensical reason for his visit.

“A holy knight?”

“Why is a holy knight of the central church here?”

“No, rather, how did he get here? He couldn’t have crossed the mountain range. Did he come through Moffern?”

The guild leaders buzzed with agitation. The Kalo Mountains, which divided the peninsula and the mainland of the Caylor Kingdom, was immensely tall and rugged. Crossing the Kalo Mountains was impossible for humans except during a very short interval in midsummer. Even in the summer, all kinds of monsters and beasts would run amok, so in a way, it was even more dangerous compared to other seasons.

It was currently autumn. As such, there were no other possible explanations for the appearance of this holy knight and his soldiers. It could only mean that they had entered through the port of Moffern.

“C-Could it be that Moffern has been occupied?”

“No way! With that many troops? Besides, if that happened, the guilds would have already contacted us.”

“Did they sneak in?”

“Maybe...”

Delmondo nodded while listening in on the guild leaders’ conversation. With the number of troops they had, if they spread their troops between several ships and disguised their weapons as cargo while entering the port, it was entirely possible that they could sneak their way through the port.

Vermorf, the self-proclaimed holy knight, shouted once again, “Controlling the monsters of evil lands with malevolent spells is a serious crime that directly violates the providence of God and the laws of the church! I, Vermorf Brickfell, have been delegated authority from the central church, and I demand that the monster controlled by the pagan leader be handed over immediately! Whoever is in charge, come out immediately on your knees and confess your sins before God and the church!”

“W-What a crazy bastard...”

“I’m certain he’s a holy knight of the central church. Otherwise, who would speak such nonsense in the Carls Baggins Peninsula!”

The guild leaders were enraged by Vermorf’s outrageous words. The guards were greatly flustered as well. It looked as though they were ready to pull the trigger of their crossbows at a moment’s notice.

“Quiet. Everyone, calm down,” Delmondo said. Everyone was impressed by the administrator’s calm, collected demeanor, but he was inwardly thrown off by the unexpected predicament.

‘Dammit. Why are those bastards here at a time like this?’

Similar to other territories, the Eugene territory didn’t possess a large number of hired soldiers. Ever since Essandra unified the peninsula, there had been no need to maintain a large number of troops. It was only a waste of money to do so. Moreover, the knights who had been given manors in the Eugene territory and turned into village administrators had left for Brantia.

Currently, there were only about ten knights under Delmondo’s command. He couldn’t come up with a definitive method to defeat the enemies.

‘Should we wait until it’s night before we attack? No…’

Delmondo immediately shook away his initial thought. Although he was a vampire, it was impossible for him to kill so many troops. In addition, the risk was only made greater due to the presence of a holy knight.

‘Fuck!’

Delmondo glared at the enemies as his head filled with all sorts of profanity.

It was then…

Fweeeeeeee!

The long note of a long-horn bugle echoed from the far side of the hill in the distance, and a group of mounted troops began to quickly descend on the trail.

“It’s Archivold! The marquis’s knights are here!”

Uwaaaaahhh!

The guild leaders and the guards cheered when they spotted the flag of Marquis Archivold. Marquis Archivold was a strong supporter of their lord, Eugene, and as such, they were allies.

Meanwhile, Vermorf and his troops were greatly flustered by the unexpected appearance of the troops. They hurriedly turned their formation to face the newcomers.

Thanks to the long period of confusion on the Carls Baggins Peninsula, the Archivold family’s troops had been refined in action. They possessed great momentum. In addition, they were furious since there were unknown invaders practically camped out in their front yards.

The holy knight didn’t have much experience in warfare so he made a crucial mistake.

“Fire! F-Fire! They are apostates who are in cahoots with the pagans! They are traitors who had turned their heads from our great and glorious God! Kill them all!” Vermorf immediately ordered an attack without confirming the identity and purpose of the newcomers.

“In the name of God!”

Uwaaaahhhhh!!!

Hundreds of people engaged in chaotic warfare before the peaceful Eugene territory. Thirty minutes later, Geko led his troops to victory under the flag of Essandra.

***

“What? A trap?” Geko muttered with surprise. He had traveled under Essandra’s order to provide support to the Eugene territory.

“That’s right,” Delmondo answered while plopping into a chair. He was an experienced torturer, and he reeked of blood. He continued. “I found out that Vermorf Brickfell is just a rookie who became a holy knight only two months ago.”

“Even so, a holy knight is a holy knight, right?” Geko asked.

“Yes, but it doesn’t make sense. Why would they send him on a grand mission to conquer pagans on the Carls Baggins Peninsula?” Delmondo asked him in return.

“Hmm. That’s true. However, he still had about a hundred troops, right? Moreover, they had a solid plan that allowed them to sneak through Moffern while hiding their identities,” Geko commented.

Geko could be considered one of the strongest knights serving under the margrave, but he was rather weak when it came to matters of politics and tactics.

“That’s the trap. It’s not a very large number, but it’s nothing to scoff at either. But right now, we don’t have many troops because of Sir Eugene’s expedition. We had no choice but to receive the help of Marquis Archivold when faced with hundred-or-so troops,” Delmondo explained with a frown.

“Ah!” Geko’s eyes lit up with understanding.

“Are you saying that… that they chose to bring that many troops because they knew they could sneak past Moffern, but they would be discovered by us while they were moving? They did that on purpose?” Geko asked.

“That’s what I’m thinking. Even if they could sneak into the port by spreading their numbers out on a number of ships, they couldn’t avoid detection on their way here. They knew that the marquis’s forces would intervene,” Delmondo said.

“…!”

“But the commander is a young pup who isn’t even twenty yet. It was never possible for him to make good judgments and command his troops skillfully. Even if he got lucky and successfully occupied our territory, he would have been destroyed as soon as the marquis made a move…” Delmondo continued.

“I-if that’s the case, the royalists and the central church are planning to…” Geko muttered.

“Yes.” Delmondo nodded with a grim expression. He had been elated when Geko destroyed the holy knight’s troops in battle. However, he quickly realized that he had fallen into a trap after interrogating Vermorf.

“They sacrificed 100 troops to… acquire justification to attack Marquis Archivold and the Carls Baggins Peninsula,” Delmondo said.

“That’s…”

Everyone knew that Essandra and Eugene had a relationship of trust. But the problem was that the alliance between the two was a relationship made without any ‘laws and customs.’ Technically speaking, the two were simply neighbors. They weren’t vassals to one another, and they certainly weren’t connected by blood.

In other words, Essandra couldn’t recklessly attack Vermorf’s forces, who had come on a mission to annihilate pagans under the order of the king and the cardinal. Of course, Vermorf had been the one to initiate the attack. However, the important fact was that the battle had taken place. The sequence of events wasn’t very important.

“Sir Geko, please return immediately and inform the marquis about this. I will report this to Sir Eugene right away,” Delmondo said.

“Well, I can definitely do that, but what about you? It will take ages before a message could be delivered to Sir Eugene, and I’m certain that the royalists will be on the lookout. Moreover, Sir Eugene could be anywhere in Brantia,” Geko asked with worry.

Delmondo responded softly while licking the blood of the holy knight on his glove, “I will go myself. Please ask the marquis to take good care of our territory until my return.”

***

“Sir Edmund has returned!”

The door to the duchy castle’s hall burst open along with the butler’s cry, and Edmund strode in with his subordinate squad captains. They were still soaked in sweat from their journey.

“Knight Edmund! I have fulfilled your orders, Your Excellency!” Edmund shouted.

“I have already heard about your contributions. Great work,” Eugene responded while looking down with satisfied eyes. He turned his gaze and slaves responded by quickly approaching and laying a large box in front of Edmund and his subordinates.

“You’ve made great contributions, so a reward is in order. This is for the troops. For you, sirs, I will build manors in villages within the occupied territories,” Eugene said.

“Oohh! Thank you!”

“God and the spirits will surely bless you, Your Excellency!”

Edmund remained expressionless, but the squad captains couldn’t hide their joy. They weren’t officially sworn in, but they were receiving treatment equal to knights.

“Good! Now that all my knights are back, I will hold a feast!” Eugene declared after finally claiming all of Brantia’s land, except the north.

Uwaaaaaahhh!!!I

Everyone cheered and praised Eugene with joy.

Edmund carefully approached Eugene and whispered, “Your Excellency. I’ve received this. It’s from the armed orcs…”

Edmund proceeded to carefully reveal a parchment, and Eugene opened the message.

“Hooh. They are going to judge the shameless, unruly Duke of Batla in the honorable name of Bayman?” Eugene muttered.

A cold smile hung around his mouth.

His country's founding hadn’t even been announced yet, but it appeared that the Bayman Orcs were in a hurry to take his bait.