Chapter 55: To Kill with a Borrowed Knife
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 55: To Kill with a Borrowed Knife
Even long after Allen had left the command tent following the post-battle meeting, not a single one of the vassals could bring themselves to leave.
They stared blankly at the flickering campfire, contemplating their bleak future.
Bolton was no exception. Gazing vacantly at the wine in his cup, he muttered.
“Ha, to think we risked so much, mobilized vast funds and manpower, only to end up unable to plunder anything, not even receiving a single spoil of war. I had a bad feeling about this from the start, and now look where it’s gotten us…”
“Is that all? When Sir Segerik hears of this, we won’t be treated the same as before. A decade of service will be rendered meaningless, and that foreigner will take my place.”
The truth was a sharp sword, mercilessly tearing through the hearts of Bolton and the vassals. Unable to bear it, one of them raised his voice.
“Bolton! You’re better off than the rest of us! I invested my family’s entire fortune in this expedition, and now you’re telling me I get nothing! If I return empty-handed, I’ll be truly bankrupt!”
His outburst started a chain reaction, with the other vassals decrying their own situations as if it were a talent show to see who was in the most dire straits.
“Ha, you should consider yourself lucky! I had to borrow money from all my relatives to cover the costs of war! My god! How am I supposed to face them when I go back!”
“Hmph, I borrowed from merchants. Merchants, I tell you! If they find out I’m penniless, those demonic bastards will try to take everything I have. Maybe even my family name.”
Faced with unbearable adversity, humans become weak. They cannot endure without blaming someone else. Besides, aren’t humans endlessly generous with themselves?
“This is all your fault, Bolton!”
The direction of their resentment subtly shifted. At its end stood Bolton.
Bolton slowly lifted his head. The vassal who met his gloomy, sunken eyes flinched, but as if taking that for a humiliation, he raised his voice even louder.
“Did I say something wrong? You were the one who insisted we be positioned on the right flank! Because of that, we’re all ruined! How are you going to take responsibility for this!”
Bolton smiled cynically.
“Was that my idea alone? You all agreed to it. And if you had other thoughts, you should have spoken up then! Blaming me now is nothing short of cowardice!”
“What? Cowardice? Does this shameless bastard think he can say whatever he wants!”
Soon, other vassals joined the argument.
“I also believe Sir Bolton is largely at fault. Didn’t you also propose a plan that would have gotten us all beheaded? Perhaps you had ulterior motives?”
Bolton’s family was the most prominent among the vassals, and they figured the only way to recoup their losses was to tear a piece of his flesh.
“I told you that was a mistake.”
“Was insisting on taking the right flank a mistake as well?”
“You son of a…!”
Despite being intricately connected through marriage and personal ties, the vassals did not hesitate to attack Bolton. His position as the powerful leader of the group was beginning to crumble.
At this rate, he really could lose everything. The moment that thought pierced his mind, Bolton’s expression paradoxically relaxed.
‘Do I have anything left to lose?’
A cornered rat will bite a cat. Bolton was no different.
“I have a secret plan to set everything right.”
The boisterous tent fell silent at once. The vassals who had been pointing fingers at Bolton slowly lowered their hands.
“Ahem, what is it?”
“If we had troops, we could make up for our losses by plundering Baron Debussy’s domain.”
“The problem is that we don’t have any troops.”
“We can make them. We’ll hire the guards protecting the merchants and prostitutes who followed us. Their numbers aren’t great, but if we combine them all, our forces will be comparable to that bastard Allen’s.”
With the enemy army routed, Baron Debussy’s domain was temporarily experiencing a power vacuum. Even with a ragtag bunch, as long as they had the numbers, they could attempt to plunder it.
“Ooh, that’s a brilliant idea!”
The vassals who had been pointing fingers and shifting blame onto Bolton did a complete one-eighty, praising him. However, the amicable atmosphere didn’t last long.
“What? The mercenaries are gone?”
The summoned merchants and pimps were the ones raising their voices now.
“We’re the ones who should be angry! Those mercenary bastards paid a penalty two or three times the contract fee and unilaterally broke it!”
“But, why would they…”
“You’re asking because you don’t know?!”
The merchants and pimps fumed. Bolton’s voice cut through the bewildered vassals.
“Did the mercenaries switch sides and become soldiers?”
“In a situation like this, is there really someone among us so greedy as to only look out for himself?”
“Not among us, no. Not among us.”
“Don’t tell me…”
Bolton stared toward Allen’s tent, his face crumpling like a sheet of paper.
“Allen. That bastard must have beaten us to it.”
He was right. Although they hadn’t participated in the battle, the mercenaries had witnessed Allen’s valor and leadership firsthand. They had also heard the rumors that Baron Debussy’s domain was undefended.
Becoming soldiers presented them with an opportunity to plunder enough wealth to make the penalty fee seem trivial. Better yet, the risk was practically zero; it was only natural for them to be swayed.
The merchants and pimps spoke again.
“This is driving us mad! We paid a fortune to buy the prisoners, but now we’re severely short on mercenaries to guard them! If a rebellion breaks out, we’ll be worried about our lives, not our money! This is fraud! Fraud!”
The merchants and pimps only vented their anger at the vassals before leaving.
The atmosphere in the tent grew even gloomier. As the resentful gazes turned toward him once more, Bolton bit his lip.
‘So he wants to play this to the end, does he?’
Bolton saw this, too, as Allen’s scheme. Therefore, he decided to unveil the plan he had been holding in his heart.
“In that case, there’s only one way for us to survive.”
Bolton’s voice was quiet, but it carried enough weight to make everyone turn.
“We plunder the manors of those who support Sir Ailgar, their merchants, and any factions that they favor.”
Bolton brought back the plan that had been shelved due to its fatal flaw. The vassals’ eyes widened.
“You think Sir Allen will permit that?”
“Permit it? Since when do we care what a foreigner thinks?”
“The problem is that the Baron will have our heads! That’s like burning down the whole house to catch a flea!”
“What if there was a way to solve both problems at once?”
Bolton’s utterly sinister voice created the illusion of an invisible hand tightening around their necks.
Gulp.
The vassals held their breath, waiting for his next words. Bolton surveyed their faces before continuing slowly.
“We’ll pin all the blame on him.”
“!!!”
The vassals’ eyes went wide. It was a plan as radical as it was insidious. Bolton continued, unperturbed.
“He’s a foreigner anyway. If we all get our stories straight and speak with one voice, how hard could it be to frame one foreigner?”
“The problem is the here and now, isn’t it? If he finds out we’ve been plundering, he’ll try to kill us. He’ll know he can’t escape responsibility as the commander, even if we don’t frame him.”
Bolton gave a cynical smile.
“That’s a problem we can solve by killing him, isn’t it?”
“What…! You saw the skill of him and his squire, didn’t you? And what about the twenty elite mercenaries he has left? We don’t have the strength to oppose him.”
“Is there a need to dirty our own hands?”
“What do you mean…”
“If we release Powell Osborne, won’t he take care of it for us?”
It was a scheme to kill with a borrowed knife—not only framing an ally for plunder but also using an enemy’s hand to kill him. The speechless vassals held their breath, their eyes darting back and forth.
Bolton continued.
“If the plan succeeds, we can kill him and bury his honor and reputation. We’ll also be able to divide the glory of winning the war among ourselves.”
“What if Sir Allen abandons the campaign and starts searching for the prisoner? If that bastard gets caught again, we’re truly finished.”
“Hmph, with a land of milk and honey lying defenseless before him, do you think he’d waste time like that? Not to mention, the escaped prisoner will force the Baron to mobilize additional troops much faster.”
“…!”
A person in crisis can sometimes exhibit strength beyond their norm. Bolton’s mind, too, was working sharper than usual.
The vassals, realizing the plan might actually be feasible, began to stir. Bolton drove the final nail in.
“We have nothing left to lose anyway, do we? Rather than sitting around stupidly waiting for the end, it seems wiser to at least try something. What do you think?”
“You’re right, Sir. At this point, we might as well go down fighting.”
“I’m in!”
“Me too! Me too!”
Watching the vassals join in one by one, Bolton smiled cynically. He knew that if this succeeded, he would not only recoup his losses but also tighten his grip on the other vassals.
*
Just before dawn the next day, Bolton and the vassals, having bribed the soldiers guarding the prisoners, finally managed to let Powell Osborne escape. And Allen was watching.
“So it was true.”
How could he easily trust the words of a man who, just moments before, had been red-faced and at odds with his rivals? This could also be one of Bolton’s schemes. That was why he needed confirmation, and he had just gotten it.
The young man who had introduced himself as Muel, the second most powerful vassal after Bolton, stomped his feet anxiously and pointed at the retreating figure of Powell Osborne.
“We can’t let him escape like this. Isn’t he a witness who can prove the corruption of Bolton and his faction?”
“Don’t worry. Piole will catch him.”
Powell Osborne was, strictly speaking, Piole’s prisoner, and she wasn’t the type to let go of what was hers so easily.
I continued.
“More importantly, what should we do now?”
This was a test. If he was a useful asset, I would keep him by my side. If not, I would just give him some money and end our relationship.
Muel knew this as well. After catching his breath, he answered cautiously.
“For now, you must wait.”
“Wait? You want me to just stand by and watch as that bastard plunders our allies’ lands and pins the crime on me?”
I deliberately scowled and spoke in a threatening tone. Muel, unable to withstand the pressure, turned pale and said urgently.
“Because what Bolton said isn’t wrong. Sir Allen, you are a foreigner, while Bolton has plenty of people in the political world to speak for him. If you arrest him without clear physical evidence, you’ll be the one facing a counterattack.”
“Don’t we have Powell Osborne’s testimony?”
“It will be dismissed as a ploy to sow discord.”
Quite sharp for an opportunist. Seeing my smile, Muel let out a sigh of relief.
However, the test was just beginning.
“And after that?”
“Pardon? Ah, well, we must gather the victims, have them identify the culprits, and collect evidence. Decisive evidence that Bolton and his followers absolutely cannot escape.”
“Hmm.”
I wasn’t satisfied with his answer. Even though Bolton was overreaching, I didn’t stand to gain much from this. It seemed I had once again confirmed that there were no useful assets among Segerik’s followers.
“By any chance, is there something I’ve missed?”
He wasn’t completely clueless, however. Realizing my disappointment, Muel bowed his head.
I shook my head.
“Act just like them so you don’t arouse suspicion. But secretly leave traces so the victims know who was responsible. When the looting is over, send a messenger to me. Can you do that?”
Playing defense wasn’t my style. That bastard had to pay the price for trying to frame and kill me. A price greater than death.
“Leave it to me.”
Muel would give it his all, if only to make up for his mistake. I patted his shoulder lightly and said.
“If you complete your mission successfully, you will receive a fitting reward. Once the traitors are purged, their empty seats will need to be filled, won’t they?”
Just as Bolton said, I was a foreigner. After purging the traitors, I had no faction of my own to fill the empty seats.
For Muel, the second-in-command, it would be different. He must have sided with me hoping for this exact outcome.
I decided to accept him. As my power grew, I would need more people of my own. I wasn’t impressed with his abilities, but I figured having someone perceptive was better than nothing.
Muel bowed his head even deeper.
“You will not be disappointed.”