Chapter 58
Chapter 58
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 58
Chapter Title: Even a Treacherous Subject Has His Uses
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A few days later, at the Royen Viscountcy. Even though he had the Count's approval, to capture those within the territory of the Zelkerd Barony, it was only natural to get the Baron's permission first. So, Viscount Royen sent a polite message requesting their custody be handed over, but the reply he received was a refusal to give them up.
"What? That mongrel brat can't be handed over? Is Baron Zelkerd in his right mind?"
"Well, since you also asked for his daughter, it's only natural he'd react that way, Viscount. Moreover, the daughter has grown to knight-level strength. If I were him, I wouldn't hand her over either."
"Shut up, Sir Bent. You have a lot to say for someone who came back defeated."
"...Yes, I returned defeated. But I am still your knight for now. Putting aside washing away the disgrace of failure, how can I just stand by and watch the family I serve be ruined? That young lady is on par with me, a mid-level knight, and Young Master Beonald's strength clearly surpasses mine. Please acknowledge that."
Sir Bent retorted, seemingly accustomed to the Viscount's rude attitude. Besides, no matter how rude he was, having already lost two low-level knights, his own treatment as a mid-level knight was unlikely to be downgraded. Anyway, upon receiving Baron Zelkerd's refusal, Viscount Royen scratched his smooth head, venting his frustration that things weren't going well.
"Ughhhh! What should I do? Then the only way is to invade Baron Zelkerd's territory and demand they hand him over..."
"You must think carefully. It's practically like Baron Zelkerd has two additional mid-level knight-grade fighters now. Otherwise, we'll have to join hands with others. Like Viscount Delmain, for instance?"
"Hmm, I suppose we must. If we can't match them in the knights' quality, we must at least have superior numbers. Even if we try to hire more mercenaries... in the end, money is the problem. Ugh~ For now... no, I must go meet the Viscount in person. Prepare the horses immediately!"
Thinking he needed to persuade Viscount Delmain himself to get help, Viscount Royen immediately began preparations to head to his territory. p>Military preparations, hiring mercenaries, and so on... Once the sword was drawn, he had to win, so to prepare a larger military force and more knights than his opponent, he had no choice but to run around himself.
"W-wait a moment, Viscount. If you do that, that Baron Zelkerd will surely rally the knights and soldiers from the surrounding factions. If we're not careful, it could escalate to the scale of a civil war... Have you considered that?"
Just as he was about to set out, another knight jumped up and offered his opinion to Viscount Royen. If Baron Zelkerd were an ordinary noble, it might be different, but he was in a position to discuss the Earl's family matters alongside Viscount Delmain as a sort of dual leadership under the Callermain Earldom. Hearing that, Viscount Royen stopped in his tracks with an 'oops' expression.
"Hmm, what you say isn't wrong either. Well, a fight between families should end as a fight between families. But then there are too many variables?"
"There is also a method of disguising Viscount Delmain's knights as mercenaries and asking for their help. And we limit it to a fair war between family and family. We ask the Earl to oversee and suppress that. Since the other side believes their forces are superior, if we do this, we can win overwhelmingly."
It was a truly ironic use of the modifier 'fair,' but anyway, the knight's strategy was reasonable. The Callermain Earldom also didn't want an escalation to civil war, so requesting it be limited to a family-versus-family war was entirely feasible. Then, by secretly embedding Viscount Delmain's knights and elite soldiers among the troops disguised as mercenaries, a perfect victory could be achieved.
"Hmm, not bad. But the problem is we have to make Viscount Delmain's knights and soldiers act as mercenaries..."
"In a way, isn't it a chance to eliminate a political rival? Moreover, using the 'war' method carries much less risk of exposure. To prevent escalation to civil war, this is the only way. Even if we tried to settle it by duel, the opponent's knight forces would likely be superior, and we've already gathered soldiers and mercenaries... The money... It's a waste."
"That's right. Yes, we must get our money's worth. Anyway, it seems I must go to Viscount Delmain. I'll depart immediately. Keep an eye on the territory while I'm away."
"Yes, Viscount."
Viscount Royen immediately mounted his horse and headed for Viscount Delmain's territory with his knights. Creating a reliable foothold and packaging a fair war between families to win. Though outwardly packaged splendidly, it was a scheme perfectly fitting the vile aristocratic society. After riding for several days, Viscount Royen soon met Viscount Delmain in the reception room of the Delmain Viscountcy, where the Viscount was still using slaves as chairs.
"I apologize for visiting so suddenly, Viscount Delmain."
"Haha, what are you talking about? Between us... Viscount Royen, you must have had a hard time coming all this way."
"I have an important request."
"Hmm, I thought so. Go ahead and tell me."
As Viscount Delmain set the tone, Viscount Royen rapidly explained the situation like a machine gun. He relayed the information at lightning speed: his daughter, Lady Meira, had been insulted by Beonald; his grandson, Ralt, had been confined to his room and his own knight killed because of him; and he needed to eliminate Beonald, but couldn't lay a hand on him because Baron Zelkerd was protecting him.
"So? Did you send a message to Baron Zelkerd?"
"Of course. I sent it long ago. But the likelihood of refusal seems high. That bastard's daughter is attached to Beonald, and also... if he were going to accept, he would have handed them over to us already. Anyway, what do you think? Please lend me some of your knights and soldiers. I will, of course, provide ample compensation."
"Hmm..."
"If we can deal a blow to Baron Zelkerd and eliminate many of his knights, it certainly won't be a loss, will it? Also, if by chance we defeat or capture Baron Zelkerd, his lands will fall into our hands. Shouldn't we see that rootless bastard meet his end by the sword?"
Viscount Royen eagerly listed the merits and rewards of a family war, trying to borrow strength. The story was persuasive enough, and as it was a chance with a legitimate reason to weaken the opposing faction of Baron Zelkerd, Viscount Delmain thought for a moment and then nodded.
"Hmm, alright. Hearing that, I also think we can't just pass up such a good opportunity. I'll lend you 200 soldiers and 10 knights to handle the matter immediately. You prepare a disguised contract."
"Thank you! Viscount Delmain!"
"No need to thank me. We formed a faction to cooperate in times like this. But don't forget you must win."
"Yes! I will send a messenger as soon as the war date is set. Then I'll go prepare."
"Hehehe, indeed. Well, war preparations are no easy matter."
Viscount Delmain smiled as he accepted Viscount Royen's proposal, and Viscount Royen, overjoyed, paid his respects and left with light steps. If quality is lacking, overwhelm with the number of knights and troops. And depending on strategy and tactics, it's not necessarily about capturing Beonald directly but targeting Baron Zelkerd, etc... Knowing that actual combat differs from imagination, he steeled his resolve to win as he returned.
A few days later, at the Zelkerd Barony.
Amidst the growing atmosphere of war, Beonald was diligently focusing on metal smelting at the base.
Knowing that war between nobles doesn't break out immediately, he wasn't impatient and immersed himself in his work.
'A single war requires an enormous amount of groundwork... especially a family-versus-family brawl like this.'
So usually, armed conflicts over trivial matters are resolved cleanly through duels with minimal damage, but in this case, since they had subdued and sent back a knight like Sir Bent, there was no chance of that.
If a full-scale war broke out, it would lead to civil war, so the flow would inevitably head towards a war limited to families under the permission of the Callermain Earldom.
If that happens, the fight between noble families becomes an intense battle of nerves and spirit, like a fight between carnivores. While formulating a winning strategy is one problem, preparing 'how to win' is also a significant headache, consuming a considerable amount of time.
"Truly, not a single one of Young Master's predictions is off the mark."
"It doesn't miss because there's nothing to miss. Anyway... Ugh, finally, a proper one has come out."
Beonald smiled as he looked at the iron ingots before him, reflecting light and shining brilliantly.
The facility was inferior, it had been too long since he directly participated in smelting, and there were differences in the quality of iron ore and various materials, the presence of impurities, etc... Correcting all these variables took quite some time, but he had finally completed it.
'Benofis Steel, Type A. ...The quality is a bit lower, but this is sufficient.'
"Hmm... It doesn't look any different from other iron ingots on the outside."
"That's because the base is still steel. Here, catch, Heidi. And this one too~ This is an iron ingot bought from the Zelkerd territory."
Beonald simultaneously tossed an ingot of Benofis steel and a regular iron ingot to Heidi, who had questioned him.
Her eyes widened as she caught them, because despite being the same size, the one Beonald made was lighter.
"Yes. Huh? What is this...? The size is completely the same?"
"It's because more impurities were removed. Additionally, I took measures in an alchemical sense, and if armor is made from it~ it will probably be a masterpiece among steel armors. Anyway, now that the manufacturing method and ratio are confirmed, we need to make more ingots. Once we have enough to make your armor, you go straight to the blacksmith and commission armor from it."
"Huh? Huh? Not for you, Beonald-nim?"
"Heidi, you are my sword and spear... Shouldn't you, of course, be armed with the best armor first? Once we have a suitable amount for armor-making, go down immediately and have your armor made first. The weapons and armor made by that blacksmith didn't look too bad."
"But a war might break out soon, will there be enough time...?"
"Use sufficient money and the source of the iron ingots as pretexts. In the end, the blacksmith is also a craftsman. It's normal to want to ask about the source when seeing good materials."
If one is an expert in any field, when they see something good related to it, their eyes naturally turn towards it.
It's like human nature. Beonald himself, when doing alchemy, would desperately try to buy or even start wars for better herbs, magic stones, or catalysts.
"Ah, right. That blacksmith will also need more of this to practice using it. Even a master craftsman can experience trial and error. Hmm~ Then we need to set the production quantity more generously. Hmm, should we give up on weapon-grade iron ingots then?"
"Weapon-grade... iron ingots... you make those separately too?"
"What's strange about that? As sword and armor manufacturing methods develop, isn't it natural for material manufacturing methods and improvements to develop too? That is my... ahem, ahem! Anyway, that's how it is."
As it was a work-related topic, Beonald almost revealed himself as an alchemist without realizing it, his voice rising before he barely stopped himself.
He usually controls himself in noble matters, but the problem was that he switched to expert mode only when it came to alchemy.
'...I know it myself, but what can I do? Without this, I wouldn't have become the Neumel family's heir in the first place.'
It started as something learned to survive the cruel struggle among Felix von Neumel's children, but in the end, it was alchemy, the wisdom and skill that saved him in the deathly competition and opened his future as a high noble.
If he hadn't met the mysterious alchemist confined in the family prison, such a future would never have come. So, alchemy was truly special to Beonald.
"Um, Young Master... I have a request... Can't we take a little break? I'm not some mana control device... Hah..."
"...Haven't you been resting until now? And as you heard earlier, we are pressed for time now. So, here, please continue controlling the leyline."
Heeeeeeing!
And isn't it being put to good use in this life as well? Thinking so, Beonald urged Selina, who was tired from adjusting the leyline's mana and the new furnace's temperature, and continued working.