MTL
Chapter 107
"Gather all your forces! This is total war!"
As soon as they left the conference room, the expressions of all the nobles following behind Prince Romain hardened at the roar that came from his mouth.
They couldn't help but be nervous, as what they had feared had actually come to pass.
And among them, the one with the stiffest expression was Roger Vebrose.
'This is bullshit!'
It would be a lie to say that he hadn't anticipated this situation at all.
However, even if a fight did break out, he had expected it to end with a proxy war or a duel, but the conclusion was still total war.
'No, let's not reality. As long as the princes are alive, they won't accept defeat, no matter what. The country won't either. War was inevitable anyway.'
The problem was that it was happening much more suddenly than expected, leaving no time to prepare the territory.
'McClaine. Those lucky bastards…….'
However, he couldn't oppose the Second Prince here.
To be precise, he couldn't oppose Duke Jordan Valtemine, who was looking around the group with sharp eyes.
Roger Vebrose suppressed his boiling anger and complicated feelings and waited for the Second Prince's speech to end.
And only after the Second Prince returned to his palace and the nobles scattered did he seek out Duke Jordan Valtemine separately.
"What do you have to say?"
"I apologize for interrupting your rest, Your Excellency. However, I have something I must say."
"Get to the point."
The gray-haired giant's tone was cold.
However, he knew that it wasn't because he was particularly unhappy.
The nickname "Heat Sword" was a testament to his martial prowess, but his true personality was that of an infinitely cold man.
'That's why the calculation is certain.'
Roger Vebrose gulped and spoke the words he had prepared.
"As you know, even before this happened, my territory was already at war. A lawless family has been greedy and has illegally occupied one of my castles……."
"I know. So?"
"……I should properly gather my troops according to His Highness's will, but if I do that, I will lose the chance to punish those lawless men. Please give me just a little time."
"Time? Hmm. You want time to sort out your internal affairs when we might be at total war with the First Prince's faction at any moment?"
If he answered incorrectly here, it would be all over.
Roger Vebrose looked into the indifferent black eyes and answered quickly.
"It won't take long. Just give me ten days, ten days……."
"It's inefficient."
"……Yes?"
"The most efficient thing would be to bring those lawless men you mentioned, the McClaines, into our faction. That way, you and they won't have to fight a war of attrition, and their forces will become the strength of the faction."
"Your Excellency. However……."
"I sent Luther for that, but someone is diligently giving them medicine. They're even advertising everywhere that it's food they can't eat."
"That, that is……!"
The expressionless black eyes swept over the frozen Roger Vebrose, chilling him to the bone.
"It's fine to take your fair share. But it's inconvenient for the faction if you have to damage it to do so. What should I do with you, Roger?"
Roger Vebrose, who had been lost in thought, immediately knelt down.
"F-forgive me, Your Excellency! I was blinded by greed and did something I shouldn't have!"
"You're very quick to catch on. But sometimes your greed clouds your judgment."
"……."
Jordan Valtemine continued, looking down at Roger Vebrose with cold eyes.
"The king's death was unexpected for everyone, but judging from the atmosphere afterwards, you and Juan must have realized why I and Juan tried to appease those insignificant things. Are you that concerned about them?"
"……I am ashamed."
"You are an important force in our faction. You are much more valuable than those insignificant things. However, even insignificant things have their uses. Especially when 'we' are feeling tense with the 'enemy'."
"……."
Roger Vebrose bowed his head, his lips tightly sealed.
He had to hide his expression, lest he make a mistake in his expression management and make things irreversible.
"Let go of your greed for a while. Fortunately, those guys haven't gone to the enemy, so we can just leave them alone for a while. After we win this war, I will personally wrap them up nicely and present them to you. Do you understand?"
"I apologize."
"Good. Now that you understand, that's all. Oh, I will leave you with a light warning. If those guys have any brains, they won't provoke you anymore."
"Thank you……Your Excellency."
"Don't worry and hurry up and summon your elite troops. It's time to look to a bigger future than those guys."
"Yes."
He had not only failed to achieve his purpose in going all the way there, but he had also made a fool of himself and failed to save face.
However, Roger Vebrose could not help but breathe a sigh of relief.
If it weren't for this time, when even a handful of troops were precious, he wouldn't have gotten off so easily.
But why?
At that moment, the arrogant bastard who had been smiling alone in the conference room came to mind.
Even though he understood in his head that he had to endure for the future, Roger Vebrose could only helplessly try to suppress his boiling anger.
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"Huh. What the……."
"As expected, the Golem Workshop is amazing."
Patrick could only open his mouth in surprise and not continue, while Logan whistled merrily.
It couldn't be helped.
Even if you add the two weeks of round-trip travel time to the capital and the ten days spent in the capital, the total time he had been away from Tomoeda Castle was less than a month.
However, before the eyes of the father and son who arrived at Tomodo Castle, there was already a magnificent wall that was 5 meters higher than the previous wall surrounding them on all sides.
It's the lord and the prince!
Open the gate!
Duddudu.
Along with the noisy sound of the chain turning, the heavy gate descended like a bridge over the now deeper and more solid moat.
Kkung.
"Perfect...indeed."
"Yes. It's definitely beyond expectations."
The father and son entered the castle with excited expressions.
The soldiers who had largely lost their dispirited appearance when they left greeted them with confident smiles.
"We have thoroughly remodeled it so that it can be firmly defended even if Bifrost invades again. Do you like it?"
"Of course, Heincel. You've worked hard."
"The magicians of the Golem Mast have worked harder than me. Ah. But they used a lot of magic stones... ..."
"Ah, that's something we should naturally expect. Everyone has worked hard."
"But you'll still be surprised... ..."
Heincel muttered as he looked at the appearance of the McClaine father and son, whom he liked.
After the lord and his son left, Clayton began to drive his beloved disciples as if he were a different person.
And in the process, an enormous amount of magic stones were consumed.
He knew it was definitely going to be several times more than the amount the lord and his son expected, so he couldn't just smile.
And that prediction was exactly right.
The moment they heard about the budget that was spent, the two fathers' faces twitched.
However, even that was soon put on hold due to a magical communication that came to Tomodo Castle.
"Duke of Baltimaim?!"
"Why there?"
"I don't know. Anyway, a man who claims to be his vassal said that he wants to change the lord... ..."
The two fathers had no choice but to run to the communication room with hardened expressions.
"I will respect your intention to remain neutral. However, if you do not keep that promise and continue your provocative actions, I will punish you severely above all else. This is the will of His Grace. Do you understand, Baron?"
"...Of course. I will engrave His Grace's will in my heart."
"Hmm. I hope you will maintain that attitude."
Jijijik.
The magical communication ended just like that.
It was a one-sided termination without even a perfunctory greeting.
"..."Even a mere proxy is so arrogant. Ugh."
"Well, he is the Duke of Baltimaim. Anyway, now that things have come to this, I'm less worried. We don't have to rely on the master."
"According to the author, Bifrost will probably gather troops and head to the capital instead of attacking us. Thanks to that, we have a chance to catch our breath, but I'm worried about the current situation."
"What can we do about it now? Right now, we just need to do what we can."
"Yeah, that's right."
Patrick nodded absently.
However, he still didn't realize that the scope of what his son considered 'what we can do' exceeded his imagination.
The civil war that broke out in the Grand Noblesse due to the murder of Secretary Larry Clet, led to direct armed conflict only a week later.
It started in the Triton County, north of the King's Direct Territory centered on the capital, Gran.
The Triton County, which belonged to the 2nd Prince's faction, bordered the King's Direct Territory to the south and the Jahid County, which belonged to the 1st Prince's faction, to the east. When the Triton army was sent down in response to the 2nd Prince's call, it happened to encounter the Jahid army heading east of the King's Direct Territory for a similar purpose.
The unexpected battle between the two counts that started there shook up all the plans of the leaders who were originally planning a war in the center.
Since this war was a civil war with the purpose of succeeding the throne, the main objective of this war could not be the occupation of territory, but the princes or the two dukes.
Therefore, those who were planning a war and tactics to attack those key figures were embarrassed by the war that broke out in the wrong place.
Since the conflict happened to be between the border counts, they were forces that neither faction could absolutely ignore, so they could not help but send reinforcements.
In the end, the expectations of those who were thinking of a short-term clash on the central front or an assassination of key figures were all wrong, and a long front line was created from the northern front to the King's Direct Territory.
Moreover, sporadic clashes of troops began to occur here and there, centered on the subordinate nobles who did not gather in the center.
It was a sign that the war was starting to become protracted.
The worst civil war, which made the well-meaning nobles who cared about the country sigh, had begun.
As the situation went on like this, the leaders of each faction began to squeeze out the last bit of strength from their respective territories.
Accordingly, Bifrost also had to leave behind only a minimal force and lead the majority of his forces to the central front.
"Your Excellency. Don't you think we've brought too many troops from the main camp?"
"It's enough since we left Rentor. He's a senior knight, so he'll be able to maintain order just fine."
"That's not it. What if the McClane guys... ..."
"......Those guys wouldn't be crazy enough to ignore Duke Jordan's warning."
"But just in case, Sir Rentor is... ..."
"Compared to his strength, his tactics are... ..."
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"We must take over Bifrost at this opportunity!"
Logan declared war again at the place where he had gathered his vassals.
Naturally, the vassals were shocked.
"Didn't you say that you received a warning from Duke Baltimaim? Are you saying that you will ignore the Duke's, the transcendent's, warning, Your Highness?"
"Yes."
Dwayne was rendered speechless and frozen by the short and decisive answer.
"Bifrost won't be able to respond anyway. They won't be able to pull out a force of Bifrost's size from the central front at this point."
"Even a warning is a warning, and it could be perceived as a challenge to the 2nd Prince. Then, they might even risk some losses in order to warn the other neutral forces...!"
"No. We already started the war before this civil war. It's just a family feud, so it's too much of an overinterpretation to call it a challenge to the 2nd Prince. Neither the 2nd Prince nor Duke Jordan is stupid enough to risk losses by forcibly overinterpreting it."
Logan smiled as he looked at Heinckel, who had unknowingly made an accurate inference, but the atmosphere around him was serious.
When the vassals looked at Patrick, hoping that he would dissuade him, Patrick, who had been lost in thought since before the vassal meeting, finally opened his mouth with a sigh.
"Right. Even if everything you say is true, Duke Jordan Baltimaim is a man who will surely hold us accountable, even later. Have you thought about that possibility?"
"No. I haven't thought about it."
"What? Have you already forgotten the mistake you made last time! Now please consider everything...!"
"Because Duke Jordan Baltimaim will never hold us accountable."
Everyone present was speechless at his unwavering conviction.
And soon after, the McClaine army began to move busily again.