Chapter 183
Chapter 183: How About It? We Just Got It! (3)
Everyone’s good mood plummeted. How could anyone feel good when discussing taking soldiers so openly?
‘This guy really knows no bounds.’
‘Who in the world asks for soldiers in exchange for food!’
‘Just how many does he expect us to muster? No matter the number, our Lord will never allow it.’
If military power is weak, it becomes challenging to control external threats and the discontented residents of our territory. In a way, military power can be regarded as the foundation of maintaining a territory.
But here, it was hard to say “no.” I had just seen those who spoke carelessly getting kicked out right before my eyes.
To those who could neither move forward nor backward, Ghislaine spoke softly.
“Oh, I’m not asking for that many. The minimum is 50. The Small Barony can send that much, and larger territories can send a bit more. Let’s do this without putting any undue pressure on each other. In exchange, we’ll provide 6 months’ worth of food based on the size of each territory.”
Compared to the initial demand for soldiers, it was a surprisingly reasonable suggestion. Some of the envoys nodded at the mention of 6 months’ worth of provisions.
Fifty soldiers weren’t a small number for a Small Barony.
But it wasn’t so huge as to be impossible to give.
If we could give up over 50 soldiers in exchange for 6 months’ worth of provisions, it would actually be a profitable trade.
The game of reading the room began again.
A quick-thinking envoy from the Small Barony raised his hand excitedly.
“We will provide 50 soldiers!”
“Great decision! Since you were the first to respond, I’ll throw in 8 months’ worth of food.”
“Thank you!”
Now the atmosphere completely shifted in favor of Ghislaine. The envoys who missed the first opportunity cried out in haste.
“We’ll provide 100 soldiers!”
“Isn’t that from the Count’s territory? With your size, you’re only offering 100? Make it 200.”
“Uh, that….”
“Either pay up or leave.”
“Understood! We’ll do it!”
Once the floodgates opened, there was no holding back.
Everyone rushed to offer soldiers based on the size of their territories.
In the midst of that passionate atmosphere stood one person who couldn’t say anything.
Ghislaine looked at that hesitating figure knowingly.
“Hey, long time no see. How are the Count and Aunt doing?”
“Y-young Master. I mean, Baron, it’s been a while.”
The nervous figure greeting her was none other than the Chief Officer from Count Loges’ territory.
He was the cousin of Cain, the heir who had once fought Ghislaine. The Chief Officer of Loges was sweating profusely as he asked.
“How many should we send?”
Count Loges was as poor as Perdium. Not because they had to fend off northern barbarians or the Forest of Monsters, but simply because they had nothing to begin with.
Their armed forces barely numbered a thousand, and even if they gathered conscripts, they wouldn’t reach two thousand.
Yet, despite that situation, Loges fell along with Perdium in the past for standing by Perdium’s side. Ghislaine hadn’t forgotten that loyalty and kindness.
“I can’t be stingy to family. I’ll give Loges just 1 year’s worth of food.”
“O-oh!”
The Chief Officer of Loges broke into a joyful smile. This was why everyone sang praises of connections.
Others looked on with envious expressions.
How could they complain about giving food for free? After all, the sister of the Count of Perdium is the Countess of Loges, so there was plenty of justification.
“Ah, but to make it look respectable, I’ll only accept one soldier in return.”
The Chief Officer of Loges nodded with a bright smile. If they were just giving away food, what was the problem with accepting one ordinary soldier?
It was just a game of pretending.
Seeing his demeanor, Ghislaine smirked wickedly.
“Cain. Send the heir of Loges here. He hasn’t repaid my money.”
“He hasn’t repaid you?”
The Chief Officer of Loges looked perplexed at hearing this for the first time.
“Yeah, he borrowed a thousand gold from me and hasn’t returned it. This is why doing business with family is risky. I’m disappointed, really.”
“W-what? A thousand gold?”
A thousand gold! How could such a large sum even be borrowed?
The Chief Officer of Loges cast a suspicious glance.
He knew well enough that Ghislaine had a reputation for being wild. Stories of him and Cain bullying the locals while having fun were infamous.
So how could he believe Ghislaine’s words were true?
“I-is that really the case?”
“Yep. Seems Cain hasn’t told you.”
“Recently, the Young Master has been quietly focusing on his studies in the territory.”
“Is he really studying? That’s honestly a laugh.”
“…”
The Chief Officer of Loges had nothing to say and lowered his head.
In truth, studying was merely an excuse; Cain had been holed up in his room and was refusing to come out.
Even if someone asked why, he wouldn’t answer, leaving no one the wiser. Everyone just assumed he had matured a bit.
Unlike before, he wasn’t bullying anyone and was living quietly.
In reality, it wasn’t maturity, but fear that kept him from going out.
He couldn’t dare ask his parents for such a large sum, nor could he find a way to get it. So, he simply hid away.
The embarrassment of revealing the truth was compounded by the fear of rumors spreading, leading him to remain even quieter.
That was why Cain was stubborn about not repaying the debt. He thought being confined to the territory would be enough, a shallow belief.
But Ghislaine had no reason to show consideration for him.
“That’s something you can verify directly. Anyway, that’s my condition. If you want the food for a year, then send Cain over.”
“B-but how could I send Young Master Cain…?”
Sending the heir of the territory to Penris would be akin to taking him hostage.
It was hardly something a Chief Officer could agree to.
Seeing him sweat profusely, Ghislaine spoke gently.
“Go discuss it with the Count. He’s surely heard of my recent exploits and will agree. It’s a good idea for future heirs of the territory to train and study together. After all, we’re… cousins, right?”
“Understood! If that’s the case, the Count will certainly agree.”
The Chief Officer of Loges finally nodded.
Perdium and Loges were bound by blood.
Joining forces with Ghislaine would be beneficial for Cain, definitely not a loss.
Currently, Ghislaine was a rising star in Ruthania’s nobility, backed by Marquis Branford.
“I understand. I’ll speak well to the Count. It certainly won’t be a bad thing for Young Master Cain.”
“Right, right. It’ll truly be a win-win for both of us.”
Of course, Ghislaine’s true thoughts were entirely different.
‘If he comes, he’ll be dead meat, that little shit.’
How dare he try to skimp on the Mercenary King’s money?
Such a thing could not be tolerated under heaven.
Even a king of a nation wouldn’t dare pull such a brazen act in their past life.
It seemed that during their duel, Ghislaine had simply been lacking in strength and thus hadn’t properly educated him.
Those who heard the conversation between Ghislaine and the Chief Officer promised to provide as many soldiers as their authority allowed.
After all, if they hesitated, the conversation could turn to sending the heir of the territory, which would lead to chaos.
After negotiations concluded, Ghislaine emphasized once more.
“Know that it’s not just soldiers being sent. Bring their families too.”
At this, the envoys were flustered. They thought only soldiers needed to be sent—asking for families meant even more residents would leave unexpectedly.
What they thought was a reasonable deal turned out to be entirely unreasonable. In ordinary times, such a loss would be unimaginable.
The expressions of those who unexpectedly found their labor force diminished became sour.
Ghislaine clicked her tongue at the sight.
‘Tsk tsk, just as I thought.’
To them, the residents of the territory were as good as slaves. No, they were even better than slaves. Taxes could still be collected, and they didn’t have to feed them.
So they felt no emotion in separating families.
It was an era when everyone took such things for granted, so there wasn’t even any blame to be had.
But even if the times were such, Ghislaine had no intentions of yielding.
Families living apart became weaknesses for soldiers. That way, the soldiers wouldn’t be able to perform to their full potential.
Ghislaine planned to eliminate such issues from the root.
The hesitating envoys reluctantly agreed to send the soldiers’ families as well. They understood that passing them over was the only way for those left behind to survive.
Of course, underneath their composed exteriors, their inner thoughts seethed with anger.
‘Damn it, just you wait. After this difficulty passes, I’m not letting this slide.’
‘That rookie is taking advantage of the Crown Prince faction nobles and acting tough.’
‘We should have just attacked this place earlier and snatched the food and Runestones.’
They should have formed alliances and raided the place when they first heard the rumors.
Due to greed, they hesitated too long, checking each other’s sincerity.
Now, they could no longer attack. The high-ranking nobles of the Crown Prince faction were behind this, and combined with the soldiers they agreed to send from each territory, the number approached three thousand.
With just food as leverage, they had snatched thousands of soldiers and territory residents.
Ghislaine punctuated her words with finality.
“It will take time to relocate the residents, so send the soldiers first as quickly as possible. If they don’t arrive within fifteen days, consider it void.”
“Uh, understood.”
“And send them as a proper standing army. If you send shoddy soldiers, I’ll send them back immediately.”
“Understood.”
The envoys who initially had plans to fill the ranks with conscripts abandoned their schemes. If Ghislaine caught wind of any tricks and the deal fell through, the entire territory would starve.
The envoys quickly prepared to return. Time was tight; they had no luxury to delay.
Once all negotiations concluded, Ghislaine turned to Claude with a satisfied expression.
“How was it? We got it quickly, right? It was easy, wasn’t it? And the number of residents has increased significantly.”
“…”
Claude, having witnessed the entire process, could find no words.
It was quite the stroke of genius. While it was hard to obtain people even with money, Ghislaine had resolved that issue in no time.
Moreover, unlike the residents received so far, they obtained trained soldiers, albeit with a difference in combat power.
Combined with the territory’s forces, they numbered well over three thousand. She had indeed ensured that much force.
No matter what anyone thought, it was impossible without being able to predict this drought.
In the end, Claude had no choice but to acknowledge it. Whether by luck or genuine skill, this guy was truly impressive.
So this time, rather than nagging, he just gave a thumbs-up.
‘You do whatever you want.’
With a smug smile, Ghislaine gave new instructions to Gillian.
“Make sure the incoming soldiers undergo ceremonial training to comply with control as quickly as possible. Let’s mix the units without regard for regions. After all, it’s clear we’ll only be sending infantry.”
“Understood.”
They filled the ranks with soldiers. Although they were half-baked, they even created hundreds of knights.
Both the Crown Prince faction and the Duke faction were too busy taking care of their interests to pay attention to this place.
There was no better opportunity than this. They had been meticulously preparing for this very moment.
Ghislaine said with a cold smile, “Now let’s start the war.”
*
The soldiers sent from each territory arrived swiftly. The lords, whose feet were now on fire, held back their displeasure and wanted to finalize deals quickly.
The soldiers hastily arriving looked bewildered. It was no surprise; their living conditions changed so suddenly.
But they quickly shook off their confusion upon seeing the abundant food provided, their faces lighting up.
‘Wow, they really do have a lot of food.’
‘We get to live in a place like this? Is this a dream or reality?’
For those who had been starving and poorly supplied, Penris was a dream territory.
Having only ever known hunger and poverty under a wicked lord, any lingering nostalgia for their homeland vanished in an instant.
The more they gorged themselves, the deeper their attachment grew to this new territory. Plus, their families were soon to join them.
There was truly no reason to feel bad about it.
As the soldiers felt satisfied, there was no real difficulty in controlling them. The soldiers who had migrated fell into line within just a week.
The basic training was already done, so there were no major issues. They only needed to adapt to Penris’s military discipline.
Truly, feeding and providing a good night’s sleep was the way to go.
However, the soldiers’ mood plummeted within a few days. Ghislaine announced she was summoning all soldiers for deployment.
‘We’re going to war right after arriving? Where are we attacking?’
‘This is crazy! But don’t we seem to have a lot of people?’
While the soldiers were anxious, Ghislaine beamed as she surveyed her assembled army.
The deployment force totaled an impressive three thousand, including knights. Although most were infantry, there was likely no place other than this that commanded such a force excluding the great lords of the North.
The soldiers also seemed relieved to see their numbers were more than expected.
Claude, also looking over the troops with Ghislaine, cautiously asked, “So… are we just going in without declaring war?”
“Of course. Why give them time to prepare? This war demands speed and timing. You have to end it before anyone else intervenes. We can declare war once we’re inside.”
“Hmm…”
He wasn’t wrong. However, launching a surprise attack without a proper declaration could lead to significant public outcry.
More importantly, it would give the enemy a justification to act as they saw fit, the biggest problem of all. That’s why everyone was so diligent about maintaining such pointless etiquette.
Shouldn’t a declaration give opportunities to strategize politically and request aid from allies?
But Ghislaine genuinely didn’t care. After all, an era of savagery was soon to unfold where all such niceties would be cast aside anyway.
Claude gazed at Ghislaine with an expression of disbelief, shaking his head a few times before saying, “But are you seriously taking him with you?”
In one corner of the camp, there stood Cain, the heir of the Loges territory, looking like a displaced person.
