Chapter 130: The Coastal City Alliance
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 130: The Coastal City Alliance
“Attack the Coastal City Alliance? Are they telling us to just be a sideshow? This is a clear ploy to sideline Lord Aron!”
One of Aron’s vassals, upon hearing the decision from the commanders’ meeting, slammed his hand on the table.
“Hah. And here I thought it would be a fair competition. It seems the Count has already made up his mind.”
“The person who truly understood the situation should have been the one negotiating! Then we wouldn’t have been played so easily!”
“Hear, hear!”
These were the same men who had been displeased with me from the day I arrived empty-handed and took command.
The moment it looked like I had made a mistake, they swarmed me like angry bees, ready to tear me apart. They were likely hoping to use this opportunity to reclaim command.
“Lord Aron, it’s not too late.”
“Please, make a decision…”
At that moment, I was fiddling with an object on the table. It was made of ivory, exquisitely crafted. I wondered if it might be treated as a treasure in the distant future.
Aron, who was being pressured by his vassals, lowered the hand that had been massaging his brow and shot me a look.
“The Baron is as carefree as ever, despite being the one who caused this whole mess.”
“We never should have trusted him in the first place! Isn’t he a man whose goals are completely different from ours? The only reason he jumped at such an obvious trap of a proposal must be because he covets the wealth of the coastal cities!”
I smirked at the vassal who had answered for me. Seeing my reaction, the already agitated man roared.
“Look at him! He’s laughing after getting us into this mess!”
“My apologies, the situation is just too amusing.”
I welcomed this interrogation. As an outsider among them, it was a trial I would have had to face sooner or later.
It was better for everyone in the long run to get this sort of thing over with at the beginning of the expedition.
Unaware of my thoughts, Aron’s vassal, thinking he had the upper hand, raised his voice arrogantly.
“What? Amusing?”
“You don’t find it amusing? This whole situation where, instead of asking me why I accepted the offer, you’re all just piling assumptions on top of assumptions and spouting a whole lot of nonsense? Ignoring what’s truly important for the sake of paltry power and profit. It’s laughable, truly laughable.”
If they genuinely wanted Aron to reclaim his position as heir, the normal course of action would have been to first ask me why I had accepted the proposal.
But these men, calling themselves Aron’s vassals, were so blinded by the commander’s right to the first pick of the spoils that they had pushed aside what truly mattered.
I was pointing that out, sharply.
“Ahem.”
Belatedly realizing how transparent their actions were, the vassals coughed awkwardly and glanced at Aron. I clicked my tongue as I looked them over.
“If you want the commander’s seat, I’ll give it to you. But are you sure you’ll be fine with me relinquishing command and serving under the Count instead?”
“Is that a threat of betrayal!?”
“What betrayal? I joined this northern expedition because of a promise I made to the Count. My decision to help Lord Aron on the side was purely a gesture of goodwill. Since you’re rejecting that goodwill, I have no choice but to serve under the Count to keep my promise, do I?”
My official reason for helping Aron was to make the Count pay for his petty schemes. It wasn’t a transaction where I gave something to get something in return.
Aron’s vassals, blinded by the commander’s right to 30% of the spoils, had completely forgotten that fact.
“Lord Aron. Good luck trusting the very men who are pushing you further from your rightful place as heir.”
Having reminded them of their reality, I shifted in my seat as if I were about to leave for the Count’s camp that very instant.
The Count was wary of Aron, so he would surely welcome me with open arms even if I showed up empty-handed, contrary to our initial agreement. Aron knew that as well.
“Baron! Why the rush? I’ll apologize on their behalf, so please, calm down.”
Aron belatedly grabbed hold of me, not forgetting to shoot a warning glare at his vassals.
“Hmph. I’ll let it go for your sake, my lord.”
The vassals, who had been as vicious as piranhas, fell silent. They probably wouldn’t dare challenge me for a while. Aron seized the opportunity to quickly change the subject.
“Baron, what is your plan?”
“The only way for you to reclaim your position as heir is to become the greatest contributor to the northern expedition. To do that, you must be the first to capture the capital.”
“But now that we’ve been made the diversionary force, isn’t that impossible?”
“Who is the diversion, and who is the main force? The one who reaches the capital first will be the one to decide that.”
Aron’s vassals looked dumbfounded. One of them, glancing at Aron, spoke up.
“That’s easier said than done. The cities in the Coastal City Alliance have proper walls, and they’re wealthy enough to hire hundreds of mercenaries on short notice. What’s more, if we attack one, the others will immediately join forces to respond. It’s a much harder route than the overland one.”
His tone was much softer than before, as if he remembered Aron’s warning.
I grinned.
“Are you sure about that? That it’s harder than the overland route.”
“Well…”
The vassal’s voice trailed off. He must have sensed something in my confident demeanor. Aron’s eyes lit up as well, and he leaned forward.
“Do you have some information?”
“I heard the other powers have joined hands to oppose Duke Signir. That means another competitor, just as powerful as him, has emerged. If the Duke leaves his position, won’t they also make a move for the capital?”
So, even if we managed to lure Duke Signir to the Coastal City Alliance, capturing the capital wouldn’t be easy for him.
Furthermore, a named character existed within the weakest family in that new coalition. In other words, the Count could do all the hard work just for someone else to reap the rewards.
“You knew about this?” a vassal whispered to Aron, his face a mask of disbelief. Aron shook his head and narrowed his eyes at me.
“How does the Baron know information that even our family, which has prepared for the northern throne for so long, is unaware of?”
“It seems my sources are better.”
“Sources…?”
“Have you forgotten that Archbishop Raceni, who is close to the Pope, is accompanying me?”
Who would believe me if I said an unknown named character would stand in the Count’s way? So, I name-dropped the Archbishop.
The famously devout Archbishop and the flawed but still highly authoritative Pope were excellent guarantors.
“The Archbishop and the Pope…!”
At the sudden appearance of these two figures, Aron and his vassals couldn’t hide their awe. Aron’s face was much brighter as he spoke.
“Does this mean we’re finally on an even starting line…?”
I shook my head.
“The Count’s forces are twice the size of ours, and the gap in knightly strength is even greater. I’m sorry, but the fact that we are at a disadvantage remains unchanged.”
I paused for a moment, then continued just as Aron’s expression began to harden again.
“That is, if I weren’t here.”
“Baron, war and mock battles are very different.”
I gave Aron, who was frowning, an arrogant smile and rose from my seat.
“Well, I think differently.”
“What do you…”
Aron stood up awkwardly to follow me. I gave his shoulder a light pat and left the command tent.
“I’ll show you myself. That to me, they’re exactly the same.”
*
It was the afternoon of our second week out from Barda that we came face to face with Bokum, the first city of the Coastal City Alliance.
Just as Aron’s vassal had said, the city was surrounded by high, sturdy walls.
Watchtowers were installed on both sides of the river mouth that cut through the city and flowed into the sea, making it even more heavily guarded.
Worse, the only entrance was situated between the coast and the city wall, a structure that forced any attacker to expose themselves to attacks from atop the walls built along the path.
“This looks even tougher than the capital.”
They must be absolutely rolling in money. No matter how I looked at it, a frontal assault seemed impossible. Mollak, who had accompanied me on the reconnaissance patrol for consultation, nodded in agreement.
“They say the more a man has, the stronger the safe he uses.”
“The city is the safe?”
“Contrary to what is known, the wealth of the coastal cities rivals that of a small kingdom. They monopolize the sea routes and collude with each other. There’s a reason they call the bastards of the Coastal City Alliance money-grubbing ghouls.”
“Sounds like you’ve had some bad experiences with them.”
An undeniable anger and irritation laced his otherwise formal tone. Mollak gave an awkward laugh.
“I’m hardly the only one. To any merchant not part of the Alliance, they’re the enemy. The absolute enemy.”
The city seemed to have spotted us, as an alarm bell began to ring. The gates were immediately shut, and soldiers were positioned on the walls. Soon, a contingent of troops emerged from a small side gate and rushed toward us.
“Baron, what will you do?”
Seeing this, Aron rode his horse over to me. Before I could answer, he continued.
“It’s an impregnable fortress. If all the cities in the Alliance are like this, we’ll never be able to break through. There was a reason my father gave us this task.”
Mollak, sensing the mood, spoke cautiously.
“There are only three major cities of this scale, including Bokum.”
“Two or three, what’s the difference.”
Mollak smiled sheepishly and retreated. Once we were alone, Aron revealed his true thoughts.
“Let’s just negotiate. We must guarantee their safety, and even if it means bribing them, we have to reach the capital before my father.”
Of course, that was far from my intention. Just as Mollak had compared the walls to a safe, the wealth sleeping within that city was likely beyond imagination. I couldn’t just pass by without at least trying to take it.
‘Even if I fail, I lose nothing.’
My own troops and vassals were not participating in this war. As long as I was careful, whatever I did would be to my benefit.
Besides, the Coastal City Alliance was by no means a gentle merchant collective. They were a pack of thugs who could turn into pirates at a moment’s notice if they saw a profit in it.
“I suppose we should try negotiating.”
I agreed to his proposal despite knowing this, my true purpose being to scout the enemy’s internal situation. Didn’t countless victories in war begin with knowing one’s enemy?
Unaware of my intentions, Aron’s face brightened, thinking he had gotten his way.
I volunteered to be the envoy. Aron wanted to accompany me, but he gave up after I argued that it was too dangerous for both of the highest-ranking commanders to enter the enemy’s camp.
The city’s captain of the guards, who had sidled up to listen, licked his lips. As a man charged with protecting a city of merchants, his mind seemed to have been stained by their ways.
A thug through and through.
Only two people were permitted to enter the city. I chose Mollak as my attendant.
“Huh? Me?”
His own will had not been a factor in the decision.
“You know the most about Bokum, don’t you?”
“But…”
“What? Do you want me to take back the map?”
Mollak’s face immediately fell. Realizing he had no choice but to refuse, he changed his attitude at once. It seemed that since it had come to this, he was determined to do it properly.
“The Coastal City Alliance is, at its core, a coalition of merchants. If we can guarantee them sufficient profit, they might just open the way for us, as Lord Aron said. If we offer them more, they might even switch sides.”
“But that would apply to the enemy as well.”
“Haha. That is true, but…”
I listened to Mollak’s information about the city council that governed the city, my eyes darting around ceaselessly.
Unlike its appearance from the outside, the city’s internal defenses were lax. The walls were massive and sturdy, but the number and quality of the soldiers felt severely lacking.
‘This is astonishingly similar to the game.’
In the game, the reason given was that the city’s administration was based on a merchant mentality that utterly despised inefficiency and high fixed maintenance costs.
So, was it their custom in war to hold out behind their walls in the initial stages while they hired mercenaries or waited for reinforcements from other cities?
“You mentioned it before, didn’t you? That the people of the northern continent tend to unite against external enemies, even if they were fighting amongst themselves. But I heard the Coastal City Alliance has a slightly different culture and customs.”
“That’s correct. In the Coastal City Alliance, that principle applies only among themselves. Even when an external enemy invades, as long as the Alliance’s profits aren’t infringed upon, they’re content to watch the fire from across the river. They’ll even go so far as to sell supplies to the enemy for a hefty profit…”
Mollak glanced at the guards escorting and monitoring us and whispered quietly.
“They’re a complete bunch of thugs.”
Just then, the city guards handed us over to the city council’s guard, giving us a moment for a private conversation.
What was interesting was that they hadn’t confiscated my weapon, even though the council chamber was right in front of us. Did they think I couldn’t do anything by myself? Or was it a case of safety complacency? Whatever the reason, it was a judgment they could only make because they had no idea who I was.
Then again, in an age where information traveled slowly, news from across the sea on another continent was even harder to come by.
“Sensitive to profit, you say. In that case, if news spread that Bokum, one of the three major cities, had fallen without inflicting any damage on the enemy, is it possible the others would think of their own safety first, rather than helping?”
If they ran their cities based on a merchant mentality, wouldn’t they turn their backs at a moment’s notice when faced with the prospect of massive profit or loss, just as merchants do?
In fact, the reason the named character in the game had been able to topple the Coastal City Alliance was by exploiting that very weakness.
I was trying to confirm with Mollak if the same would hold true in reality.
“Hmm, I’ve never considered that before… but given their nature, it’s not impossible. But why do you ask…?”
Mollak stopped in his tracks. His eyes, when he turned to look at me, were trembling slightly.
The guards escorting us tilted their heads. As I thought, unlike Mollak, they had no idea what kind of man I was.
“Well now, why did I ask?”
I grinned at the door where the mayor and the city councilors were supposedly waiting.
Slowly, but deliberately, my hand moved closer to the sword at my hip.