Chapter 35
Chapter 35
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 35
Chapter Title: Battle of Esllon Plains (6)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Though they had lost the war, Baron Celt and Baron Santoburg seemed intent on maintaining a noble demeanor as they looked at me and spoke with dignity.
"I haven't eaten anything since yesterday morning, so I'm starving. Might we eat the food here first while we talk?"
For a moment, I was so taken aback that I lost my words.
Every knight is taught to keep a dignified air even in defeat, but to boldly ask to eat a meal while surrounded by enemy knights after losing...
I couldn't tell if they were boldly bluffing to throw me off balance or if they simply lacked any sense.
However, showing any sign of fluster now would make them see me as a pushover and try to negotiate on easy terms. So I replied as if it were nothing.
"Ah, eat first by all means. I was hungry myself, so this works out perfectly. Let's talk over the meal. And come to think of it, I don't have any meat to offer you gentlemen..."
With that, I clapped my hands twice and called over one of the knights nearby.
"Bring plenty of beef for those two valiant barons and me. Sirloin would be ideal, if possible."
"Yes, sir. Right away."
When I responded with such magnanimous ease, Baron Celt and Baron Santoburg stared at me with expressions of utter bewilderment.
Sure enough, it had been a ploy to rattle me and gain an edge in the post-battle negotiations.
Good thing. If they were as thoughtless as our own Count Schwain von Nant Excellency and just pretending to be boldly defiant without reason, even negotiating would have been tricky...
"Wait just a moment, and we'll have the sirloin roasted generously. In the meantime, help yourselves to what's here."
At my words, Baron Celt replied in a voice that failed to hide his fluster.
"Thank you for showing such knightly magnanimity and generosity. Then we'll gratefully partake."
After that, a silence fell between me and the barons.
Some time passed, and the duty soldier entered, bringing the beef sirloin steaks I'd ordered for me and the barons.
I'd asked for plenty, and they'd brought a hunk of meat weighing over a kilogram...
A portion truly befitting this macho-dominated era of knights.
Pushing such thoughts aside, I offered them the food with the most generous smile I could muster.
"Eat your fill. If you want more, just say so. Our soldiers grilled it specially to treat you gentlemen, so it should be delicious."
Hearing this, Baron Celt and Baron Santoburg gave a slight bow of thanks in my direction before quietly beginning to slice into the beef.
Just as they raised a piece to their mouths, I asked them,
"Well then, since you've lost the war, shouldn't you offer me just recompense? What will you give as payment?"
This time, Baron Santoburg looked at me and countered.
"Isn't that for you, the victor, to demand? We'll accept if the terms are fair."
Here, it wouldn't be good strategy to propose the 'fair and honorable terms' Baron Santoburg mentioned first.
Because if I said a thousand gold coins upfront, they'd surely haggle it down: "A thousand is too much—nine hundred!"
And crucially, after sacrificing my soldiers to win this absurd war they'd started, why should I bend and compromise?
So, to express my anger, I raised my voice slightly as I replied to them.
"Everyone knows—even the gods, me, and you yourselves—that your conduct in this war was hardly honorable. This is a matter of atonement for the crimes you've committed against me... So how can you try to settle it with mere material wealth when you should be showing true sincerity?"
Soon after, Baron Celt sighed and spoke.
"You're right... Baron Kroitel. Very well. Since we've lost, we'll show our knightly sincerity. Including ransom for our knights, Baron Santoburg and I will each pay seven hundred—no, a thousand gold coins."
A thousand gold coins each—an enormous sum that could run a small county for a full year.
Not an amount these fellows from relatively modest Romanian baronies could cough up lightly...
To probe their thinking, I feigned concern and asked,
"A thousand gold coins? Paying that much—will you have anything left to run your territories? Isn't that enough to sustain a whole county?"
To this, Baron Celt surprisingly admitted it forthrightly.
"No choice—we lost the war. I swear on the name of my liege, Elector Duke Maxburg His Excellency, that we'll liquidate our assets if need be and deliver a thousand gold coins within three months."
A formal oath sworn in the presence of other knights, invoking their lord's name, was absolute—they wouldn't break it.
And coldly calculated, winning a war of this scale and securing two thousand gold in reparations was a handsome profit...
Most nobles would call the war quits here.
But coldly calculated, offering such generous terms after haggling this little meant...
"Take this and be gone"?
And considering those two thousand gold coins seemed utterly beyond what these barons could muster anyway...
There was definitely more to squeeze out of them.
"If you swear on Elector Duke Maxburg His Excellency's name, I'll believe you... But from what I know, scraping together a thousand gold coins in Santoburg or Celt baronies won't be easy..."
Hearing this, Baron Celt—thinking I'd accept—rose from his chair, slammed the desk, and bellowed,
"Baron Siel von Kroitel!! I swore on my liege's name! Victor or not, will you trample a fellow noble's honor like this?! Fine! If we can't pay within the promised time, we'll borrow from Duke Maxburg His Excellency himself to make it good. So stop insulting our sincerity!"
That confirmed it for me.
I didn't know why they'd planned this war, but Elector Duke Maxburg was behind it—and he'd already arranged to cover two thousand gold coins even in defeat.
I gestured to a knight beside me, ordering him to fetch a map roughly depicting the continent's terrain.
Looking at it, the Northern Alliance lay above Duke Maxburg's lands.
Come to think of it, the Northern Alliance was short on funds right now, unable to invade the warm Maxburg duchy...
In that case... Duke Maxburg must fear that Schwain of Nant County—our future foe—funding the Northern Alliance to muster troops.
That's why he'd mobilized two baronies to strike preemptively and strip our war-making capacity.
But I'd crushed them too easily, leaving him to bleed money with nothing gained. Must sting.
"I've given it some thought... Sorry, Baron Celt. I had no intent to insult Duke Maxburg His Excellency. I was simply surprised you'd pay such a fortune from your modest territories. Forgive me."
When I apologized first, Baron Celt and Baron Santoburg's faces brightened.
"Then let's get down to business properly. I'll dismiss all my knights, so you hand your swords to mine."
At that, the two surrendered the swords at their waists to our knights behind them.
As the knights took them and filed out—leaving just the three of us—even my guards departed the camp.
Confirming the knights gone, I strode to their side of the table, slammed my fist down, and said,
"No wonder your declaration of war was nonsense from the start—you've committed a most unknightly act. For your liege Duke Maxburg to pull such a stunt just to evade a pincer from Nant County troops and the Northern Alliance!"
The two barons stared blankly at each other, as if I'd struck the mark.
This reaction proved my guess spot-on.
"Have some shame! If so, shouldn't you propose a fair knightly duel directly to my liege, Count Nant? Lacking the courage, you send weaklings like yourselves to whittle my strength."
I said this, but in truth, Duke Maxburg couldn't openly fight to conquer Nant County now.
Because if he committed his full forces against us, even if he gained the upper hand...
Before then, we'd offer the Northern Alliance king 'proper tribute,' and they'd invade the Romania-coveting Maxburg lands.
That would cost Duke Maxburg at least two or three counties—a fatal blow.
"Am I wrong? Baron Celt, Baron Santoburg."
The bluster from moments ago gone, the two stood dumbfounded, unable to reply.
Moments later, Baron Santoburg responded.
"Nonsense!! To insult Our Excellency like this!! You Kroitel whelp who knows nothing of knightly honor!!"
To the cornered Baron Santoburg barking wildly, I replied with a mocking laugh.
"They say weak dogs bark loudest—you're certainly yapping well, Baron Santoburg. Very well, off you go then. But tell your liege this: exactly one year from now, we'll muster Nant County's army to strike southern Maxburg, and I'll empty my coffers to hire Northern Alliance mercenaries."
I said this too, but it was pure bluff—utterly unrealizable.
Because our great Count Schwain von Nant Excellency could never defeat Duke Maxburg.
His Excellency the great Schwain was in the terminal stages of paranoia, a drunken womanizer and human refuse—how could one trust him?
Even Viscount Kroitel lately grumbled that "His Excellency Schwain's womanizing has gotten excessive, occasionally stripping loyal knights of their fiefs..."
But unaware of this, the two barons—drained of bluffing energy—slumped at my threat-laced bluff.
Ignoring their collapse, I grinned and said,
"If you dislike that... Fetch two thousand five hundred gold coins each as ransom from your duke, and cede Celt's Blueport—nearest our territory—and Santoburg's salt mines. We'll end the war on those terms. Will you swear on your liege's name?"
The two barons exchanged glances, sighed, and replied.
"We swear on our liege Elector Duke Maxburg His Excellency's name. In return... might we have a five-year peace treaty with Count Nant Excellency...?"
No matter how I strained, I couldn't beat Duke Maxburg now—so this was a hundred times to our benefit.
"Agreed. I swear on my liege Schwain von Nant Excellency's name."
Thus, today I secured five thousand gold coins, one port, and a salt mine from this war.
Know your enemy and yourself, and in a winning position, you can reap maximum gains.
With results like these, could I even touch the toes of Lady Seo Hui, who pacified the six Gangdong provinces?