Chapter 131: Coastal City Alliance
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 131: Coastal City Alliance
In modern times, the law dictates who succeeds to power when a president passes away.
But what about in a medieval free city? If the mayor were to die in an unforeseen accident, the city council would act in his stead and elect a new one.
But what if all the city councilors were to die as well? The city would inevitably plunge into chaos. You couldn't expect the same kind of system as in the modern world.
“N-No way. You can’t be serious, can you?”
Mollak, his face pale, glanced at the guards escorting and watching us as he whispered. His voice was like a suppressed groan.
I placed a hand on Mollak's shoulder.
“The easiest way to win on the battlefield is to cut off the enemy commander's head.”
Mollak's body trembled. His eyes, too, wavered like a sailboat caught in a violent storm.
It looked like the two of us were about to fight a battle in the heart of enemy territory. He probably felt like fainting.
“My lord…! If even one of the city's leaders is absent, he'll take control of the situation and launch an immediate counterattack. Power would even be concentrated in his hands.”
Mollak rudely grabbed my hand, clutching it tightly. He was as desperate as a man grasping a lifeline.
“How rude.”
Belatedly realizing his impudence, Mollak let go. But he seemed conflicted, as if wondering whether he should grab it again.
“I'll guarantee your safety, so just go and confirm if all the city's leaders are present.”
“But, my lord, your life will be in danger too…”
“Mollak.”
“You must keep your promise. If you don't, I'll resent you from hell.”
Mollak left me with that cheeky warning and opened the door. He immediately cursed.
“Damn it...”
There wasn't a single empty chair at the round table in the meeting room. Contrary to Mollak's hopes, it seemed no one was absent.
“An unidentified army is camped in front of the castle. What kind of idiot would skip this meeting? The chances were slim from the start.”
Mollak's shoulders slumped. But only for a moment. He didn't give up and continued his persuasion.
“It would be a mistake to think the city guard is their only military force. The mayor and the councilors are all as rich as nobles. Naturally, they have many private soldiers. And that's not all. The sailors here are strong enough to be worth one regular soldier each.”
He was saying that what we could see wasn't everything.
“Do you think I hadn't considered that?”
“And you still…”
“They're still just private soldiers. There's a huge difference between them and soldiers who have experienced real war.”
Mollak said urgently.
“We might be able to reason with the city leaders more easily than you think. If you leave it to me, I will ensure the negotiations succeed.”
Thinking his life was on the line, Mollak became even more proactive. The unfortunate thing was that the city leaders had completely different ideas.
The man sitting at the head of the round table stood up. He was a pot-bellied, middle-aged man wearing a laurel wreath, dressed in silk, and adorned with jeweled accessories.
“I don't know where you've come from, but you are truly rude! To hold a secret conversation right in front of your host!”
Every time he spoke, his double chin quivered. It was like watching a pig talk. So even when he glared, I felt no intimidation at all.
“He’s certainly rich.”
Glancing at the pig-like mayor's expression worsening, Mollak grew restless.
“My lord, please…”
I shrugged and faced the pig-like mayor.
“Your name?”
“I am Marco Vincencium, mayor of Bochum, a member of the Coastal City Alliance, and a faithful servant of His Highness Signir, the rightful ruler of the Northern Continent! Who are you to appear with an army and threaten our city?”
He seemed to expect me to be intimidated by the names of the Coastal City Alliance and Duke Signir.
Instead, I gave a light smile, leisurely crossed my legs, and sat in the prepared seat.
“My name is Allen. A baron from the Western Continent.”
Unable to hide his bewilderment, the mayor looked back at the councilors. They shook their heads. None of them had ever heard my name.
'Frogs in a well.'
These people had built their wealth comfortably through collusion and monopoly, based on their geographical advantages. That's why, for merchants, they had overlooked the importance of information.
“You there, aren't you Mollak?”
At least one of the councilors recognized Mollak, saving some face. Mollak, who had been hiding behind me, stepped forward with an awkward smile.
“It's been a while, Vincenzio.”
With the appearance of a familiar face, the gazes of the mayor and councilors focused on Mollak.
“Wait, is this fellow who profits off us the one who brought the enemy here?”
At the mayor's words, Mollak waved both his hands.
“The enemy? Why would you say something so disheartening...”
“Then what is your intention in bringing such a large army here without any notice?”
Mollak glanced at me. He was asking if he could take the lead in the negotiations.
I nodded. Wasn't capturing a city without bloodshed a higher form of strategy than aiming for the enemy commander's head?
'Though it'll be meaningless, of course.'
Having gained a glimmer of hope, Mollak's face brightened.
“The baron is the standard-bearer of Dresden. He has come to the Northern Continent to exercise his rightful authority under the command of His Excellency the Count.”
“Rightful authority?”
“You all must know that His Excellency Count Dresden is a distant collateral descendant of the Torrent Dynasty.”
“Are you saying that His Excellency Count Dresden desires the throne of the Northern Continent?”
Before Mollak could even answer, the councilors began to raise their voices one by one.
“That's absurd! Isn't he from a distant collateral line whose blood ties are questionable at best?”
“He's right! How dare a count from the Western Continent covet the throne of the Northern Continent when His Highness Signir is alive and well!”
“This is unacceptable! It is something that must not be tolerated!”
These were the men who wouldn't let go of the Signir card until the entire Alliance was in ruins.
The reason was simple: sunk costs.
They were afraid that if they switched sides now, their investment in Duke Signir would all go up in smoke.
Would these bastards who valued money more than their own lives really change their minds over a few words from a man they barely knew?
“Quiet! So, you want us to support His Excellency the Count?”
“That is correct.”
“Hmm. It's not impossible, if the terms are right. So. What can His Excellency the Count offer us?”
Only money could change their minds. And it would take more money than they had already invested in Duke Signir. Mollak realized this as well.
“My lord….”
I placed a hand on Mollak's shoulder and shook my head. His face fell, and he stepped back again.
The gazes of the mayor and the councilors fell on me as I stepped forward. Their greedy eyes made me laugh.
“I will give you a treasure that is second to none in this world.”
They looked at each other and grinned. But it didn't last long.
“And what is this treasure?”
“Your lives.”
“…!”
The excited atmosphere instantly plummeted.
“Haaah…”
Mollak squeezed his eyes shut.
Meanwhile, the faces of the mayor and councilors grew redder and redder. Mayor Marco, his face hardened, fired the first shot.
“So you didn't come to negotiate.”
“Surrender. Then I will at least spare your lives.”
“Surrender? Do you really think you can conquer Bochum with a mere thousand soldiers?!”
The councilors also shot to their feet, slamming their fists on the table.
“How arrogant! This is an insult to our Coastal City Alliance! We must take appropriate measures!”
“We'll start with an embargo! I will inform our brothers in the Alliance!”
If an embargo was enacted, we would be denied not only supplies but even entry into any port belonging to the Alliance.
This meant we'd be forced to use the route to the East from Barda, which would take an extra two weeks.
That would mean an increase in transportation costs, and we would inevitably lose our competitive edge against other merchants.
And that wasn't all.
“Also, tell the patrol fleet not to protect any ships from the Western Continent! They won't dare to look down on us after they've been hit by pirates!”
The councilor who mentioned the pirates infesting the Eastern sea route looked ready to hire them himself.
“I will also send word to His Highness Signir! He will not spare any enemy who threatens us!”
Another councilor tried to pressure me by invoking the duke's name. They were each trying to show off the Alliance's power in their own way.
Gurgle.
I leisurely poured wine from a brass bottle on the table into a glass. Judging by the taste, which was no less fine than a Melbourne vintage, it seemed to be from the Southern Continent.
In the Northern Continent, so far from the South, it would be more expensive than gold coins. Indeed, the rich were rich. My greed grew even stronger.
As I paid them no mind, their clamor gradually subsided. Only after silence fell once more did I speak.
“So, what's your answer?”
Grind.
The sound of grinding teeth echoed through the meeting room. The mayor shot to his feet and raised his voice.
“Guards! Is anyone there?!”
At the mayor's call, the door I had entered through burst open. Guards, as if they had been waiting, surrounded the meeting room. There were more of them than I expected.
Among them were the captain of the guard and his men, whom we thought had left after escorting us here. Mollak was horrified.
“You planned this from the beginning!”
It seemed we weren't the only ones with a scheme. Mayor Marco smiled slyly.
“You fools. For a commander-in-chief to come to an enemy camp alone and unarmed! And you even gave us a pretext to arrest you by being rude? Hahaha. Your thousand soldiers will not return alive! And you, Baron, will pay for your arrogance with a fortune in gold!”
The mayor acted as if he had already taken me prisoner.
I rose leisurely from my seat. At the same time, the soldiers surrounding me drew their weapons and aimed them at me. Even their weapons reeked of wealth.
“How perplexing.”
“Haha. It's too late for regrets! Words, once spoken, cannot be taken back!”
I let out a short laugh. I had expected these fundamentally cunning merchants to react this way, but…
“The reason I said I was perplexed is because this situation is unfolding exactly as I predicted, without the slightest deviation.”
“What…?”
“You were the ones who drew your swords first, so it won't be a dishonor for me, an envoy, to put up a little resistance.”
Seeing my hand move toward the sword at my waist, Mollak urgently shouted to one of the councilors.
“Vincenzio!”
It was the man who had recognized Mollak earlier. He shook his head.
“Mollak. I'm sorry, but I can't help you.”
“No, that's not it! Don't get involved! You might get caught up in it and be harmed!”
“What?”
Leaving the bewildered face behind, Mollak shouted to me.
“If you kill them all, you can't run the city!”
Mollak was quick to resign himself. Or perhaps, was he being optimistic? It seemed he realized that his only remaining option was to hope for my success. That's why he was already thinking about what came after.
“I'll think about it.”
At the same time, I drew my sword and swung.
“You crazy—”
The nearest guard twisted his body away. He clearly hadn't expected me to swing my sword while surrounded by more than ten soldiers.
But my sword had already struck his body.
Thwack!
With a sound like a blow from a blunt weapon, the soldier's body was split in two horizontally. The cross-section was jagged, as if torn apart by an ogre.
“Moral! You son of a bitch—!”
A soldier who witnessed his comrade's gruesome death thrust his sword at my neck.
To me, the attack seemed endlessly slow. The problem was that he wasn't the only one attacking. Weapons shot at me from all directions.
I moved through the gap in the encirclement I'd created by killing the soldier and dodged. At the same time, I struck the neck of the soldier next to me with a high horizontal slash.
I wasn't satisfied with that. I took half a step back diagonally and twisted my body. As my orientation changed, I came face-to-face with the man who had been aiming for my back.
“Ah, no—”
Trollsblade had already reached him before his sword could reach me.
A diagonal line was drawn across his upper body. His body, split in two, tumbled to the floor. In just a few seconds, three enemy soldiers had met their end.
“Kill him! Just kill him!”
“What are you talking about?! Do you know how much a baron's ransom is?! Capture him alive! You must capture him alive!”
The soldiers paid no heed to the mayor's nonsense, who still hadn't grasped the gravity of the situation. They scrambled to rush me.
I kicked the man in the lead in the stomach. He flew through the air, slammed into the wall, dry-heaved a few times, vomited blood, and never got up again.
Still, he was one of the lucky ones. At least his corpse was intact.
The next man to charge swung his sword, aiming for my outstretched leg.
Instead of retreating, I took another step forward. This naturally delayed his sword from reaching my leg, and in that instant, the sword I swung cleaved him in two.
“Gack.”
From top to bottom. It was a textbook diagonal slash.
Now, the closest enemy to me was one of the councilors who had been pointing his finger at me just moments ago.
“W-Wait…!”
His face pale, he overturned the round table and tried to flee. He seemed to hope the table, made of rather thick, high-quality wood, would serve as a shield.
If I were an ordinary man, and if the sword I held were an ordinary steel sword, he might have had a chance.
But that wasn't the case, was it? The sword I thrust forward smashed through the round table and continued on.
“Geuk…”
The councilor looked down at the tip of the sword protruding from his chest with an expression of disbelief.
As one of the rulers of a great city, he probably never imagined he would meet such a futile end. The strength soon drained from his body, and he collapsed.
Gulp.
The mayor and councilors, who had been backpedaling to get as far away from me as possible, froze like ice. They must have seen their own futures in the image of their dead colleague.
“You're next.”
I made their future certain.