Chapter 180
Chapter 180
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 180
Chapter Title: Different Dreams in the Same Bed (1)
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While the 7th Guard Division was settling into position, a strategic meeting was underway in the conference room of Traunstein Castle in the Ostrica Grand Duchy.
The discussion here centered on how to deal with those who had been dishonorably discharged from the Reich Empire and surrendered.
"I really have to wonder if we can trust those traitors. No matter what, aren't they heirs to prestigious noble houses of the Reich Empire?"
"They were heirs. I sent spies to investigate their situations, and it turns out they were dishonorably discharged and stripped of their succession rights for endangering the Crown Prince during the last Switceland expedition."
"Even so, doesn't that mean we can't fully trust them?"
The debate raged on between those who believed they could be trusted and those who didn't, but everyone in the room shared one common thought.
'They're too valuable to execute like the other surrendered officers and eliminate any future threats.'
Even though they were dishonorably discharged, the Empire could use the fact that heirs to noble houses had surrendered to demoralize their troops.
Regardless of the reasons, purging former enemy officers who had surrendered could hinder future attempts to win over enemy commanders in critical situations, including those from the Reich Empire.
"In any case, weren't they somewhat useful up until their dishonorable discharge? And if what they claim is true, the intelligence they've brought is Class 2 classified information from the Imperial Army. They've handed over a huge bundle of it, so we at least have to pretend to believe them for now."
The castle's garrison commander and staff officers nodded at those words.
If it turned out after executing them all that their intelligence was false, no harm done. But if it all proved true?
It would be like slitting open the belly of the goose that lays the golden eggs.
As the conversation continued a bit longer, the garrison commander of the castle, Major General Schweitz, spoke up.
"Bring one of the six locked up in the prison here. Verifying the intelligence is important, of course, but we need to see if they've truly betrayed the Empire. If they check out and seem useful, we'll sweet-talk them and coax out more golden eggs."
With that, Major General Schweitz mimed slicing his throat across.
"And if they prove useless or the eggs start coming slower, we can deal with them then."
Matthias von Griffin's heart pounded, and his palms were already slick with sweat.
"You probably heard on the way here, but I'm Major General Schweitz von Birgenstein, commander of the forces stationed in this castle."
"Yes, Major General, sir..."
"To make it simple: your lives hang on my decision. Just keep that in mind. Don't try any funny business."
At those words, the eyes of every staff officer in the room turned sharply toward Matthias.
Gazes filled with contempt, wariness, suspicion, and scrutiny weighed heavily on him, but he forced himself to relax and stay composed.
All while putting on the most groveling act he could to avoid revealing he was a double agent.
"We sincerely wish to naturalize in the Ostrica Grand Duchy and seize a new opportunity. Please believe us, Major General."
The major general smirked at that and waved a hand.
"That's your story. Explain why we should trust you. I might, but the staff here—or rather, the Ostrica Grand Duchy army—has no reason to trust traitors like you. If that's too hard, I'll gladly separate that useless thing on your shoulders."
As those words hung in the air, two officers guarding the conference room door rushed forward in an instant, pressing blades lightly against Matthias's neck from both sides.
"Understood. I won't utter a single lie. Please, just give me a chance. First off, before surrendering to the Ostrica Grand Duchy, I rose to major at age 29 and was one of Crown Prince Michael's closest aides. We often drank together and caroused with women."
"Sounds like you were pretty tight with the Crown Prince. So why betray him? We heard through intelligence that your dishonorable discharge was well-deserved."
"Other generals might not know, but what crime did we commit? We just helped devise the plan to conquer Switceland on the Crown Prince's orders. The General Staff and Intelligence approved it, and we pushed ahead. Then they blamed us for the failure, dishonorably discharged us, and stripped our succession rights. Overnight, we became convicts, serf-like scum, and lost our wives to divorce. We have no future in the Empire. It's so unjust."
The major general and officers could somewhat sympathize with Matthias's plight upon hearing this.
Because they were in the same boat: if the Crown Prince ordered them to plan an operation together, they had to obey without question.
They worked hard, crafted a plan good enough for the Imperial General Staff to approve, but it failed due to bad luck.
Then they got kicked out of the army and denied even a proper execution, which seemed motive enough for betrayal.
Matthias dredged up every ounce of resentment over his supposed plight from the depths of his being and recalled the humiliations he'd endured on the way here.
Then he remembered the Crown Prince's words.
'Act like the most pathetic, grudge-filled trash you can. No—become that trash.'
And he opened his mouth.
"Not only my wife, whom I lived with skin to skin until yesterday, but even my children—I'm cut off from seeing them. My father, brothers, servants, and maids all look at me like roadside garbage. Especially the young maids in our estate—they used to believe touching them could change their fates, so they'd wear short skirts and flaunt their hips and chests. But even those girls flipped their attitudes in an instant... Can you imagine how pathetic we feel?"
Major General Schweitz and the others wondered if this Matthias fellow was insane.
'Damn it, we told him to speak from the heart without lying. Has he lost it? Why spout such vulgar nonsense?'
Yet that very vulgarity made them downgrade their assessment of his character and abilities—but it also convinced them he wasn't lying.
Because he was so pathetically idiotic that everything he said rang true.
They nodded for him to continue.
"The worst part is my family handed my succession rights to my second-youngest brother. There's no chance of reinstatement in the Reich Empire. I'd be stuck as less than a serf, living off petty family allowances, scorned by everyone wherever I went. That's why we came to the Ostrica Grand Duchy—to escape this nightmare and get a chance to live like humans again."
Major General Schweitz and the staff thought as they listened.
'Other traitors spout shiny lies about respecting the Ostrica Grand Duchy or wanting to serve under admired generals. But he's just whining about his misery—no sign of deception there.'
"Then tell me this: what do you think of the Crown Prince?"
Hearing that, Matthias recalled Lieutenant General Jaeger's words and answered accordingly.
"He's a filthy womanizer who shirks all responsibility—a petty scum. Someday, as an Ostrica officer, when I face him in battle, I'll rip off his limbs, kill him, and feed him to the dogs and crows."
He'd uttered an insult no noble should against his former lord, but Matthias's face showed no hesitation or unease.
Seeing that, Major General Schweitz was convinced.
These guys lacked even the barest shred of conscience or shame as humans, but their hatred for the Empire and loathing of the Crown Prince were genuine.
So their desire to surrender to Ostrica must be real too.
'If their intel checks out, we're getting luck handed to us on a platter. We'll milk them for all they're worth over the next few years, then purge them when they're no longer useful. Scum who aren't even Ostrica nobles—no guilt in killing them.'
"Until we verify your intelligence matches reality, we'll have to keep you confined. But starting today, we'll move you from prison to officers' quarters. Your rations will match those of our officers too."
"Thank you for believing in us, Major General."
"And from that look, you seem hungry for female company. I'll assign a woman to attend you. You're dismissed. We have other matters to attend to."
The reason for assigning a woman was straightforward.
Even the most ironclad spies let their true feelings slip after bedding a woman and drinking.
Plus, signaling trust in Matthias and the other five majors while keeping them under 24-hour watch was far easier with a woman than a man.
And two months later, the intelligence brought by Major Matthias and the other four was confirmed as genuine Imperial secrets.
With special permission from Ostrica's military command, the five began serving as lieutenants.
From then on, they fought devotedly across various fronts, throwing themselves into battle without regard for their lives, as if driven solely by a vow to one day avenge themselves on the Empire that reduced them to this state.
Gradually, they earned recognition from Ostrica's military command and nobility as reliable officers.