Chapter 139: The Coastal City Alliance
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 139: The Coastal City Alliance
Aron, once the heir to a margrave, knelt before me. It was something I could never have imagined back when he was just a reckless fool drunk on petty power.
It struck me just how far I had come. Yet, I was still hungry. This was a hunger that wouldn't be sated even if I held the entire world in my grasp.
I walked past the kneeling Aron and sat in one of the chairs that formed a set with the round table. Sinking back into my seat, I crossed my legs and looked down at him.
His face was flushed red with humiliation, and the muscles in his jaw were clenched tight.
He was likely feeling the exact opposite of what I was. But what could he do? He had no other choice.
He had poured everything he had into this expedition. If he returned empty-handed, he could kiss his position as heir goodbye forever.
Of course, he’ll have to worry about his life before that.
Would Erik spare Aron, who had competed for the succession until the very end? Not when Aron could threaten his position at any moment.
There was a reason blood was often shed when an heir inherited a title. It was why children who lost the competition for succession often left the secular world to join the clergy.
Of course, even that wasn't a perfect solution, and countless were assassinated anyway.
The fact that the margrave, his only source of support, was fifty years old was another disadvantage for Aron. By the standards of this era, he was at an age where he could die at any time.
Over the past week, Aron must have given his future a great deal of thought. That was why he was now kneeling before me, casting aside his status.
"Didn't I warn you when you stripped me of my command? The next time you ask for my help, there will be a price."
I was making it clear that his past transgressions couldn't be erased with a few simple words.
At the same time, I was letting him know that I was still willing to help, but that it would require a tangible price.
As if he understood, Aron slowly raised his head, his eyes gleaming intensely.
"I'll admit it. I'm a failure. It's no wonder the Margrave would choose Erik as his heir instead of me. But for that very reason, wouldn't it be better for you, Baron, if I were to become the Margrave?"
A powerful neighbor was always a seed of conflict. Didn't the old saying go that one should keep close neighbors at a distance and befriend distant ones?
Count Dresden had been my potential enemy from the start. It seemed Aron knew that as well.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Pay back the Margrave for his insidious schemes? The justification you offered was just an excuse. Wasn't your real plan to use me to divide Dresden and weaken its power?"
Had he thought that since the moment I made my proposal? If so, his decision to strip me of command might have been rooted in a desire to keep me in check.
However, his guess was only half right. If my goal had been to sow division, why would I have interfered? I would have just waited for him to be defeated by the named character from the Northern Continent.
My goal wasn't merely to divide Dresden. It was far deeper and more ambitious than that.
"What are you trying to say?"
Of course, it was a truth I couldn't reveal. When I glossed over it, Aron's expression brightened slightly, as if he had expected as much.
"If you want me to be your puppet, I will. I'll even hand over the entire Coastal City Alliance. In return, give me the credit for the military achievements. So I can reclaim my position as heir, so I can become the Margrave."
"You would betray your own family?"
To cooperate with me, knowing my intentions, was a betrayal from the Dresden family's perspective.
"It was my family and the Margrave who betrayed me first!"
Aron wanted to survive, no matter the cost. It was a wise decision. His negotiation skills, however, were abysmal.
I understood his desperate position, but there were times one needed to bluff. Besides, his offer had no substance.
"The Coastal City Alliance is already mine. Why are you the one deciding whether to give it or not?"
I had already conquered two of the three major cities that formed the core of the Coastal City Alliance. Once I captured the last one, the entire alliance would be in my grasp.
"Bochum is my city...!"
"It's also a city I can take with a single word. Lord Aron. I'll give you another chance. Make me an offer with a proper price."
Aron mumbled to himself, deep in thought, before choosing to bow his head to me once more.
"I've already poured everything into the northern expedition. I have nothing left that would satisfy you, Baron."
"That may be true now, but the future will be different, won't it?"
"What...?"
I looked down at Aron with an arrogant smile.
"If you give me the Dresden margravate on the Western Continent, I will gladly help you."
Aron's head snapped up again. His face was contorted with anger, his eyes wide. A harsh voice followed.
"You want me to hand over Dresden's ancestral lands? Do you really think that's a reasonable price? No matter how much I want to be the heir, I will not give away our homeland! I don't have the authority to do so!"
"But Dresden's ancestral lands are on the Northern Continent, are they not? Your current territory is just a temporary base you're passing through."
The Dresden family originated on the Northern Continent. They had only settled on the Western Continent to bide their time and build their strength; it was never their true home.
That was why Dresden had always sought to return to the north. It was something Adeleade had told me.
Aron flinched and shook his head.
"Even so, it's a completely unbalanced proposal."
"Then I'll add another weight to my side of the scale. The weight's name is the Coastal City Alliance."
This time, Aron didn't immediately object. Instead, his expression grew complicated, and a furrow formed between his brows. I smiled as if I'd expected this and continued.
"You must know that the revenue from the Alliance's major cities rivals that of a decent county. And there are three such cities. Even excluding the smaller towns in the Alliance, this seems like more than enough compensation for a temporary base."
"What are you plotting now? This... this deal is too favorable for me, isn't it?"
Aron voiced his suspicion indirectly. I shook my head.
"I'm just being realistic. How could one properly manage a territory on another continent, a two-week journey by ship?"
Why did nobles go through the trouble of conquering land only to grant it to their vassals instead of managing it themselves? It was because they lacked the capacity to manage it all directly.
Managing a vast territory on a distant continent across the sea? It was absurd.
"The same applies to Dresden. If you were to gain the throne of the Northern Continent, you wouldn't be able to properly manage your old margravate, would you?"
I reminded Aron of a fact he had forgotten. Becoming the heir to the margrave was the same as becoming a prince of the Northern Continent.
Gulp.
Aron's eyes were filled with a strange fervor.
"E-Even considering that, what you've put on the scale is worth more, Baron."
"Of course, there's one more condition. Merchants flying my flag must be exempt from all taxes when using the Alliance's cities."
"So you'll hand over the Coastal City Alliance, but you'll still receive its benefits?"
"Wouldn't that balance the scales?"
Despite the added condition, Aron actually seemed more relieved. He must have thought it was a reasonable demand, which lessened his suspicion.
In truth, the terms are ridiculously favorable to him.
This was a deal that would make Aron, who had nothing, a prince of the Northern Continent. He wasn't in a position to refuse even if my side of the scale was empty.
The only reason I had made things so complicated was to gain the justification this deal would provide.
Aron swallowed hard and spoke urgently.
"I-I have a condition, too."
I was the one who had made him think it was a reasonable deal, but I couldn't help but frown when he tried to push his luck.
Seeing my displeasure, Aron quickly added.
"My condition is that the new master of the margravate must be Adeleade!"
He was saying I had to marry Adeleade to get the margravate.
It was an excuse to save face, claiming he hadn't handed over the family's ancestral lands to a stranger, while also ensuring he maintained an alliance with me.
Even a worm will turn, as they say. It was a surprisingly clever condition.
"That's hardly a condition. I was planning to marry Adeleade anyway."
"Then..."
When I agreed so easily, Aron seemed to trust me completely. His expression relaxed considerably.
"We have a deal."
*
After finishing my negotiations with Aron, I summoned the Archbishop. I needed him to reorganize Saifran's administration to match Bochum's and to document the agreement with Aron.
My modern memories contained no experience in drafting such professional documents.
Fortunately, the Archbishop skillfully drafted a preliminary version. As I was reviewing it, he spoke.
"Do you trust Lord Aron? Once he becomes the heir with your help, his mind may change. Human nature is inherently deceitful."
"That's highly likely. Humans are fickle creatures, their attitudes changing once they get what they want."
I couldn't know what Aron was truly thinking, but the way he had suddenly dropped to his knees, even if he was cornered, bothered me.
It was an extremely rational act, but for a man, especially a nobleman, wasn't pride all they had?
That made me even more suspicious. Could Aron be planning to endure this humiliation for the sake of future revenge?
He might have calculated that if he first reclaimed his position as heir with my power, and later became the margrave, he would gain enough strength to resist me.
"And you made the deal knowing that?"
"Why do you ask, Archbishop? Are you worried all our hard work will be for nothing?"
"I won't deny it. Lord Aron will not be a good leader. Furthermore, given his poor circumstances, he will likely try to brutally exploit the Coastal City Alliance the moment he gets it."
Nobles generally don't think about how taxes are generated. Their only concern is how to collect more of them.
And from what Aron had shown so far, he was no different from those other nobles.
This meant that all the Archbishop's efforts, working day and night to give the citizens a better life, could turn to dust in an instant.
I stood before the window. The view of the metropolis from the tallest building in Saifran filled my chest with a sense of fulfillment.
"Do you think I would let someone take what's already in my hands?"
A greedy man like me never lets go of something once I have it.
If that was true for small things, was it likely I would give away the entire Coastal City Alliance, which included several major cities comparable to a county?
"But didn't you make a deal?"
"I needed a justification to take the Dresden margravate. A great house with deep roots like Dresden isn't easy to conquer by force."
Just as the Margrave had formed a marriage alliance with Baron Rasino, Dresden's family tree was intricately connected with all sorts of noble families.
Conquering them by force without a proper justification would give all those noble families related by blood to Dresden a reason to invade.
And that wasn't all. Scoundrels claiming even the slightest drop of Dresden blood would spring up like mushrooms after rain, inciting uprisings and rebellions.
Of course, I was confident I could suppress them. But it would certainly be a hassle. Why take the difficult path when there was an easier one?
"The problem is that you have to give up the Coastal City Alliance you worked so hard to obtain as payment."
"I wonder. Do you think giving this document to a gypsy will get him the cities?"
The church holds the real power in the cities. The citizens also rely on the church. This meant it would be easy for the church to incite a rebellion if it chose to.
"By the time that document takes effect, Lord Aron will have become the Margrave."
Changing the ownership of the margravate could only happen after Aron ascended to the title of margrave. In other words, he would have the power to suppress a rebellion.
The Archbishop continued.
"Even if you were to secretly support a rebellion in the cities behind Lord Aron's back, it would not achieve much."
My thoughts were different.
"One never knows what the future holds."
I was making a big show of attacking the Coastal City Alliance, so it was about time for a reaction.
The Alliance would have requested aid from Duke Signir, and when he turned his army back, the two powers vying for the capital—Dresden and the allied forces that included the named character—would clash.
If I was lucky, the Margrave and Erik might suffer an unforeseen accident. Then Aron would immediately become the Margrave, and this contract would take effect.
Even if I was unlucky, they would suffer heavy losses, and Dresden's power would diminish. This meant Aron wouldn't have the strength to take control of the cities.
Either way, Aron would end up giving away his margravate without ever gaining the Coastal City Alliance.