Chapter 83
Chapter 83: I’ll Handle the Negotiations. (2)
Even while fleeing on horseback, Tamos felt like losing his mind.
‘Why did it fail? With so many troops! Those idiots, I told them to just gather and push from the start!’
He still couldn’t grasp what had hit him.
No matter how useless it seemed, he was still a lord of a territory.
He had picked up bits and pieces of information here and there, but he had never seen or heard of such magic.
‘Was there a mage capable of such magic? No, could that even be classified as magic?’
Everything was murky like a fog.
It wasn’t just the magic that was odd.
‘What about those guys in black armor? Did Perdium have that kind of force?’
They had bulldozed through the soldiers in an instant and smashed the siege towers.
He had underestimated Perdium and got hit hard.
‘Damn it! Damn it! I’ve lost! I’ve truly lost!’
He had poured all his finances into this war.
Now, not only had he lost the war, but most of his troops were gone too.
With an already insignificant territory, he now wondered if it could keep functioning with no people and no money.
‘I need to save as much on the indemnity as possible.’
It wasn’t a war caused by a territorial dispute, and at least he succeeded in escaping, so he could probably save his life.
Count Perdium was famous for respecting customs and honor.
Furthermore, Perdium was weak and barely managing one territory.
If he were to take on Digald, he might choke on it.
They were likely thinking of an appropriate compensation too.
‘Damn it, with no money, what am I supposed to do?’
There were a few nearby baronies and offers of a portion of taxes for several years, but that was insufficient.
In the end, he had no choice but to squeeze the territory residents even more.
‘Stupid Desmond idiots. To send such a buffoon as a commander.’
Tamos cursed inwardly and spurred his horse.
He had to return to his territory quickly. He still felt uneasy being within Perdium’s lands.
In fact, even now, thinking of those terrifying flames and guys in black armor made his legs feel weak.
“Let’s hurry! Quick! Run!”
Breathless, Tamos urged his horse on without rest.
As soon as he reached the lord’s castle, the horse flopped down with its tongue out.
Everyone was surprised to see their lord, who looked like a beggar, but Tamos ignored it and shouted loudly.
“Prepare for surrender negotiations! Quick!”
With the lord’s imposing presence, everyone started moving without asking questions.
Having led that large army, how could Perdium do anything about it?
Even while preparing for surrender, people’s eyes were filled with confusion and curiosity.
Not long after, Ghislaine arrived at the Digald territory.
“Oh, they’re pretty quick on the uptake, aren’t they?”
A white flag had been hastily raised from the border of the territory.
No one stopped Ghislaine’s party as they raced forward.
In front of the lord’s castle, a group waited, holding white flags.
“Guide the Count.”
The retainers of Digald respectfully led Ghislaine into the lord’s castle.
Tamos sat arrogantly in a high seat in the grand hall.
It was his last desperate struggle to maintain the pride of a noble.
He had lost the war, but the disdain for Perdium still lingered in his heart.
When Ghislaine entered, leading his intimidating armed force, Tamos frowned uncomfortably.
‘They come damn fast. Did they immediately pursue us?’
Looking at their attire, he recognized them as the terrifying Black Brigade.
Seeing Tamos seated so arrogantly, Ghislaine couldn’t hide his sneer.
It was simply amusing that he still wanted to keep his pride in this situation.
“Were you preparing for surrender negotiations?”
“Indeed. And you are?”
“I am Ghislaine Perdium. I have come here delegated with full authority by my father.”
Ghislaine’s tone was relatively polite, but his eyes and expression betrayed a sense of superiority.
However, Tamos didn’t even register it.
“You are…?”
If it was Ghislaine, he was known as a notorious troublemaker from the North, rivaling his dead son Gilmore.
Though other territories might not know, Digald had quite the reputation.
Such a person had come as the lord’s representative? And the leader of that black brigade, no less!
Tamos stared at Ghislaine in disbelief.
At that moment, Ghislaine coldly spat out,
“Get him out of here.”
Mercenaries approached, grabbed his arms, and dragged him down.
“What are you doing! How dare these lowly scoundrels lay hands on me! Let go of me!”
Tamos struggled in surprise, but the mercenaries easily overpowered him and hurled him right in the middle of the grand hall.
The retainers of Digald were shocked by the mercenaries’ rough manners but couldn’t utter a word.
The atmosphere was too dangerous for objections.
Clomp-clomp.
Ghislaine stepped onto the seat where the lord had been sitting, crossing his legs.
Forced to kneel on the floor, Tamos looked up at him with a face full of disbelief.
How could such an impolite guy exist in the world?
Even though he lost the war, he was a high-ranking noble, a count of the kingdom.
How dare a lowly scum treat him like this?
“What is the meaning of this! Show some courtesy! Does even Count Perdium know you’re acting this way?”
Ghislaine replied, still wearing a smug smile.
“Shut up. Did you think the facade of nobility would protect you? You pushed countless lives into war, so you should stake your own life. And my lack of manners is something my father is well aware of.”
“Wh-What? Are you really saying you’re going to kill me?”
“Indeed.”
“You! I’m a noble! A count, at that! You dare threaten a loyal servant of the king with death! Speak of law and custom!”
“If you attempted to kill others, you ought to put your own life on the line. Losing a war results only in death.”
With a chilling gaze, Tamos was taken aback.
It was conventional not to kill nobles who had retreated from battle or surrendered.
Nobles would wrap that up in a justification of ‘not harming fellow subjects serving the same king.’
That was precisely why Tamos had rushed back to Digald.
Once he returned to his territory, they couldn’t just kill the lord recklessly.
“You mean to kill me without negotiations?”
Tamos began to grow anxious.
It wasn’t common, but among the fierce or powerful lords, there were those who didn’t care about laws or customs.
He hadn’t expected Perdium, especially not a successor, to act like this.
“Ridiculous! I will speak with Count Perdium directly! I refuse to negotiate with the likes of you!”
“Neither do I wish to negotiate with you. The Digald territory will be annexed to Perdium, and your title will be annulled.”
“Y-You lunatic, acting without royal consent…”
Tamos swallowed his words.
He realized Ghislaine was genuinely planning to do so.
Quickly changing his approach, Tamos pleaded,
“Then, I will cede my territory. Allow me to leave with property equating to ten wagons as per custom!”
Tamos aimed to preserve his life first and then rush to the capital to sway public opinion.
But Ghislaine refused that too.
“I won’t give you a single coin.”
“T-Then I shall simply leave!”
“Rejected. You die here.”
“You bastard! How dare you…”
“Execute him.”
At Ghislaine’s nod, Gillian swung his axe in one swift motion.
Squelch!
As Tamos’s head rolled in the center of the grand hall, the retainers of Digald held their breath.
No matter how high his status as a Grand Duke might be, killing a high-ranking noble who served the king with such audacity was the kind of crazy act only a tyrant would dare.
Ghislaine, indifferent to how they thought, continued calmly,
“Identify all successors of Digald and execute them. Bring forth the lists of officials, retainers, and vassals of the baronies that supported the war.”
At Ghislaine’s sudden order, the mercenaries along with Skoban, the guards, moved swiftly.
All the retainers present were tied up and forced to kneel in line.
Soon, the territory officials and retainers who hadn’t managed to escape were dragged into the grand hall.
“Please spare us! We are innocent!”
“We only did as told!”
The captives cried out, but Ghislaine didn’t even cast a glance at them.
He simply took the identification statements made from several officials and slowly scanned through them.
He had a strong desire to kill them all, but if he did, the Digald territory would plunge into chaos.
Already poor, Digald had been stripped of its remaining resources.
Without at least a minimum number of administrative personnel, it would become a den of thieves.
Ghislaine began sorting quickly. Classifying who to kill and who to spare.
One of the tied-up Digald officials began to explain about those in front of him in a trembling voice.
“Baron Aseng. He supported one hundred soldiers and two knights in this war and participated directly…”
“Kill him.”
“Nooo! Please! How dare you!”
The mercenaries didn’t hesitate and took him outside once the order was given.
Though some struggled for their lives, it was all in vain.
“It’s Martin. I assisted in military supply as a commoner…”
“Imprison him.”
As each person was taken out, the others trembled in fear.
Being imprisoned felt like a relief as they would at least hold onto their lives.
Be they troublemakers or fools, they were now akin to envoys who held the power of life and death over them.
Another man was dragged in.
A young man, somewhat scraggly and weary-looking, seemed to have participated in the war alongside Tamos.
“It’s Lowell. I was a commoner, assigned to the secretary’s office, but I served as an operational staff officer in this war…”
“Staff officer?”
Ghislaine chuckled.
The war had already occurred in Desmond, so what could a staff officer from Digald possibly have done? He must have just watched alongside Tamos before fleeing.
Moreover, considering he had originally been a secretary, he couldn’t possibly have filled the role properly.
Normally, staff officers were experienced knights or military commanders.
Regardless, since he participated in the war, it was time to pass judgment.
Lowell anxiously cried out.
“Please spare me! I can be of help to the prince!”
“Hmm?”
Ghislaine looked down at him with interesting eyes at his desperate voice.
“What kind of help can you provide?”
Not missing the opportunity as Ghislaine showed interest, Lowell quickly responded.
“I oversaw administrative tasks under the secretary! They didn’t do their jobs, so I took care of almost everything! I know all the strengths and weaknesses of the territory. If you let me, I can stabilize things quickly! You are worried about that now, are you not?”
“Oh.”
Ghislaine raised one eyebrow. The man seemed to be swift-witted, talking about something appealing.
But Ghislaine shook his head in disinterest. There wasn’t really a desperate need to spare him to that extent.
“Digald is known for being poor and a mess. What kind of help could you possibly provide from managing such a place?”
“T-That’s it! The lord and vassals were continuously looting and embezzling! It was only because I managed things frugally that it held up this much!”
“Hmm…”
As Ghislaine showed lukewarm interest, Lowell made a face as if he might burst into tears.
“I made all the laws and systems of the territory! I studied military science separately and managed troop logistics instead of the military heads! That’s why the count took me as a staff officer! I couldn’t do anything with troops that weren’t from our territory, but…”
In short, he claimed to have single-handedly managed this territory, hence he had been taken to the war as a staff officer.
If that was true, it was impressive, but it also couldn’t be taken at face value. He might just be lying to save his life.
Ghislaine squinted and asked,
“Anything else you’re good at? I like capable people, you know.”
Lowell panicked.
It was remarkable for a commoner to do this much, but what else could he possibly wish for?
Even a noble steeped in studies couldn’t surpass his level of accomplishment, or so he believed.
But the delay in his answer, or a refusal, seemed likely to mean immediate death.
Before thinking too much, Lowell blurted out,
“I-I’ve heard of runestones! To sell those, I’d need to deal in trade, wouldn’t I?”
“Is that so? Have you ever traded?”
In reality, Lowell had never done any trading.
Tamos would have never given him authority over money management, regardless of anything else.
Still, to survive, he spat out anything.
“I-I’m very quick at calculations! It will certainly be of help!”
Ghislaine immediately threw him into a spot test. It was a terrifyingly difficult problem requiring mental calculations.
“Then what is 750 times 1920?”
“230!”
His answer was delivered without even a moment’s hesitation, leaving Ghislaine with an expression of disbelief.
“Not even close!”
“But I was fast!”
“…”
The grand hall fell silent. Lowell hung his head low.
It was over.
If a noble wanted to kill him, how could a commoner like him possibly survive?
Yet, in all matters, there were occasional exceptions.
“…Haha, this is amusing.”
