Grand Lord of the South (2)
Grand Lord of the South (2)
"Must you truly show mercy?"
"If you let him live, he could become a rallying point for rebellion later. It would be safer to just quietly finish him off..."
Most of Eugene's subordinates wanted Viscount Winchester disposed of cleanly.
'But killing him outright is still tricky, isn't it.'
Though he adorned himself with just cause, strength, and achievements, Eugene was still a conqueror who had come from outside Britannia.
Viscount Winchester was a great lord who had governed the region for years without causing major trouble. Seizing that position alone was already skirting the edge of what was acceptable.
Killing a high-ranking noble who had already surrendered could earn him a reputation worse than that of a tyrant. Even in a positive light, it would make even his own allies fear him.
Acting on every impulse could wait until he had ruled as lord for five years or more. By then, he would reign as an undisputed sovereign.
"..."
"..."
At the city entrance, Eugene and Viscount Winchester regarded each other in silence.
"The wind is strong. Let us step inside for a moment."
Eugene entered the guard post rest area near the gate. It was the closest indoor space.
"Would you all give us the room?"
"W-we will clear out at once!"
The guard captain and his men, who had been nervously watching the situation outside, scrambled out in a hurry.
Through the rest area window, Eugene's army could be seen marching into the city. At the sight, Viscount Winchester spoke for the first time.
"The people of the city are uneasy. It is only natural, I suppose, with a foreign army entering."
"They need not worry about looting. Every one of my subordinates knows that Haven will become my direct domain."
"That may well be so."
What Viscount Winchester feared was misconduct by mercenaries slipping out of control.
The creatures called mercenaries were rough men who lived only for the day. After fighting several large-scale pitched battles in succession, not even their employer could recklessly rein them in.
There was the danger of excited mercenaries running riot, and granting them plunder as recompense for a grueling battle was long-established custom.
But the viscount's concerns quickly faded.
"Maintain formation!"
"For-ward!"
The dwarves and dark elves were all groups with discipline far surpassing that of other armies. Yet Eugene was not satisfied with that alone and had honed them through even more rigorous drill training.
The sight of them all advancing in perfectly synchronized step, left foot, right foot — that was a degree of discipline even Viscount Winchester, a great lord himself, had never witnessed.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
An army numbering in the thousands struck and stamped the earth as a single body, producing a sound he had never heard in his life. It was as intense as cavalry, yet with an ordered cadence that cavalry could never replicate. The drumbeats of the military bandsmen wove into it in perfect harmony.
Moving in standardized equipment unseen in this era, they gave the impression of small fortresses filing into the city one after another.
"An army like that could never disregard discipline."
Seeing one part told him the whole — Viscount Winchester felt certain that no misfortune would befall the city.
"Truly, this is the first triumphal march I have ever seen like this..."
"It is not a triumphal march. It is a military parade."
"Are the two different?"
"The former is to glorify the nobility, but the latter is to glorify the soldiers. Which one makes a stronger impression on the common people — isn't it obvious?"
Viscount Winchester could not grasp the mindset of scattering noble privileges upon common soldiers. But Eugene was the victor, and he had the right to do as he wished.
"I heard that when you smashed the Barsian bastards, you placed the armies of the southern nobles at the front."
"I did not put them forward as expendable fodder. I merely entrusted them with what they were capable of doing. And the casualties were few, at that."
"Hard to believe. They were my vassals, but frankly the southerners are not such skilled fighters..."
"They moved as I had hoped they would. Is the army that was mustered not sufficient? This time, luck was fairly with them as well — they even fought among themselves."
Homi placed two cups of wine before Eugene and the viscount, one each.
"I did not think you would charge straight at the Barsians and the Gord men. I assumed you would simply focus on attacking this city rather than drain your strength fighting them."
This had been the common expectation not only of Viscount Winchester but of most of the southerners.
For Eugene, an outside noble, seizing Haven was the highest priority. The southeastern domains — not even his own vassals — being reduced to ash by plunder was none of his concern.
Indeed, it would even have been possible to harness the southern nobles' growing sense of crisis to increase their need for Eugene.
Yet Eugene had unhesitatingly placed Haven as a secondary objective, rallied the nobles, and gone to repel the invaders first.
"Before asserting the rights of a monarch, I will first fulfill the duties of one. Is that the idea?"
"It is nothing so grandiose."
Eugene took a sip of wine.
"I have fought two sieges before. At the time, I hammered the gates or the walls in the orthodox way. The enemy's resolve to fight to the death was unmistakable. But taking Haven felt a little different."
"In what sense was it different?"
"It felt less like a battle and more like politics. I have Varda-nim and the most powerful army in Britannia. If I drive out the invaders who landed here, most of the southern nobles will come under my banner."
Eugene tilted his half-empty wine cup toward Viscount Winchester.
"Then how long could you hold out? If you were left with only a handful of troops and every noble had turned away from you."
"My vassals seem to have chattered freely about my disposition."
"They do not have a fine city like this. If they are fortunate enough to have a fortress, well and good — but they must each find their own path to survive. Kicking the Barsian and Gord bastards in the hindquarters was an extension of the siege of Haven."
"And if I had held out to the end? You would have toiled for nothing, in that case."
"Viscount. Nothing would have changed regardless."
Viscount Winchester let out a sigh and drained his wine.
"It has a fine taste."
"It is wine of the Morad family. If you wish, I will have a few crates prepared for you."
"You will not kill me?"
"You did surrender before the siege, even if somewhat belatedly."
Homi, who had been waiting behind them, spread out a map. Eugene indicated an island across the sea to the south of Britannia. Across the sea in name only — the distance was less than two kilometers.
"Aite Island?"
"I heard that during banquets you often spoke of wishing to be buried there in your later years."
"Truly, what loose-tongued wretches. Do not place too much trust in the nobles. Though Your Excellency will no doubt manage splendidly."
"As I have said, I merely expect of people what they are capable of doing. Whether they be commoners or nobles."
Aite Island was large in scale and populous. The weather was mild and the scenery beautiful, so quite a few aging nobles chose to spend their remaining years there.
"I will grant you the wealthiest estate on Aite. I would have you take your family and spend the rest of your days there in peace."
"With the condition that I never return to the mainland, I take it?"
"Of course. That is all I ask."
"Hah. You are truly magnanimous."
Viscount Winchester drained the last of his wine.
Glug-glug.
Eugene refilled the empty cup, and from then on it was a repetition of the same.
"I accept."
The former viscount placed a small wooden casket on the table and slid it toward Eugene. Inside the casket lay the seal ring that symbolized the master of Haven.
"I promise you this. So long as I live, no one shall covet the south of Britannia. Nor will that Kruger bastard get his hands on you to make a blood eagle of you."
"It is some small comfort to hear you say so."
After a while longer, Eugene supported the thoroughly drunk viscount and led him out. With this, the civil war in Britannia drew to a close, at least as far as the south was concerned.
* * *
The takeover of Haven proceeded swiftly. Those who would flee departed at once, and those who remained were prepared to accommodate the new ruler following the former master's surrender.
"We will resume operations immediately. When the city officials come to pay their respects, have them bring approval documents and urgent agenda items with them."
Eugene's first order, dispensing with any lavish banquet, was welcomed by all.
"Eighty-two men have deserted from the city guard."
"Post a recruitment notice at once. Until then, my subordinates will fill the gap."
"Thank you."
"I will allocate additional budget, so treat the men who remain to a company feast. I leave it to you to soothe them so that no further desertions occur."
The city guard commander, who rendered a military salute with a glad face, withdrew.
"Lord Winchester borrowed some money from the Hanseatic League for the vassal muster and war preparations."
"Let me see. It is not such a great sum. Inform them that I will assume the former lord's debts."
"Understood. The Hanseatic League had promised that if Your Excellency assumed the debts, they would freeze the interest."
Eugene laughed and clapped his hands.
"I shall convey Your Excellency's reaction just as it was. And regarding the urgent budget item..."
The treasurer, having put out the immediate fire, also withdrew.
"Lord Viscount — ah, that is... the former Lord Viscount had requested the cooperation of our temple for the war preparations."
At the outdoor abbot's hesitant words, Eugene sighed.
"By cooperation, you mean he plundered you, I take it? The collected donations and the sacred vessels."
"That is so. Because of it, the priests are conducting services in tears. They are offering the Holy Sacrament to God in wooden bowls."
"First, I will lend you the silverware I have. Once the city is stabilized, I shall compensate you for all looted goods. And as a gesture of apology, I will add a modest donation."
"Thank you! May God's blessing be with Your Excellency!"
The monastery head departed, his face full of relief.
'Thankfully, that went more smoothly than expected.'
Eugene swiftly took the necessary measures to normalize the city. Since ownership had been transferred peacefully, the handover of governance faced no obstacles.
Of course, Varda was the city's new owner in name, so Eugene taking charge of everything was technically an overreach of authority.
But did that matter? Everyone already knew that Eugene was the true ruler.
The same went for the vassals who had joined recently. Even just watching Eugene and Varda converse made it easy to figure out.
"We're gradually running out of wine from House Morad. I'll have to visit Roman once more come autumn."
Fine wine was both a luxury good and the ultimate diplomatic tool. There was no better means of breaking the ice when welcoming honored guests.
"There is no need for that. I shall brew it myself."
"You know how to brew wine as well?"
"I am a mage of the forest. And wine was first brewed not by people, but by the forest. Places like knotholes, hollow rocks, and puddles."
Grapes were a fruit that naturally carried yeast and sugar. That was why, if simply left alone in nature, they fermented into alcohol on their own.
"The forest whispered it to me. The method for brewing the finest wine."
"Even against the Morad family? Do you have that much confidence?"
"Hehehe."
Smiling, Varda swept the hair back from the side of her face with the back of her hand instead of answering. Her radiant golden hair rippled and fluttered like waves.
If Varda before had been 100% pure elegance, lately she carried a feeling that was about 20% confidence.
It seemed to be because the royal pride she had buried deep in her heart was being revived. To Eugene, though, that unfamiliar side of her was simply endearing.
"I am not doubting your skill, but I will still place a purchase order with the Morad family."
"Why?"
"How could I give wine made by Varda-nim to anyone else? I have to drink it all myself."
"...I could simply make a large quantity."
A face faintly flushed.
"It is not a matter of quantity, but of the brewing method."
"Why would the brewing method... Ah!"
"A single drop of wine steeped from Varda-nim going into some other bastard's mouth? I can't allow that."
"S-Steeped! Do not phrase it like that!"
This time, the red flush spread all the way to her ears. The confident demeanor from moments before had vanished somewhere.
Seeing things like this, anyone but a fool could immediately grasp the relationship between the man and woman. And even this was but a single anecdote among many.
Among the existing city residents, it was the merchants who picked up on this scent most keenly.
"A gift offered by the Hanseatic League."
Elf-made garments and sandals, unobtainable through ordinary channels, were contained within an opulent chest.
"I'll gratefully accept it. Varda-nim will be pleased."
"It is rather we who are grateful. Had it not been for Your Excellency's magnanimity, we would have had to make a painful demand for repayment from Lord Winchester, whom we once served."
"If you cared for the former viscount so much, why not simply forgive the debt? It was not such a large sum."
"That would be troublesome."
To say such a thing even while bowing deeply to Eugene showed no ordinary nerve.
"We are a merchant alliance with members spanning from one end of the continent to the other. There is no better partner than us for Your Excellency, the Lord of the Wandering Castle, to employ as a servant. I dare speak with confidence."
Given their extensive reach in many fields, they seemed to grasp a great deal of information as well.
They were the first to bring up business by first mentioning Eugene the Lord of the Wandering Castle, rather than Eugene the noble.
"Let us discuss that slowly. For now, I wish to concentrate on Britannia."
The merchant lauded Eugene's victories in Britannia and shared the information they possessed.
"Haven's port usage rights shall be maintained as they are."
"Thank you."
"Also, I heard you were unable to use the ports on the Cornwall side due to the former viscount's orders?"
"Yes. It was an economic sanction Duke Winchester imposed on the Cornwall nobles."
"I hereby abolish it, effective immediately. You are free to trade with them as well."
This was the true purpose of the Hanseatic League merchant's visit to Eugene.
'To have noticed at once and moved the conversation forward so swiftly.'
The merchant inwardly admired him. It seemed the points to report back to the League regarding the new ruler would increase. Meanwhile, Eugene himself thought he had now established a connection with useful people.
Most lords settled their foundation in one place and lived there. Thus, they could receive preferential treatment from trading companies with whom they had deepened relationships, but Eugene could not.
Since he roamed about here and there stirring things up with his Wandering Castle, he always had to deal with companies he was meeting for the first time.
If he forged ties with the Hanseatic League, which operated across the entire continent, through this opportunity, future transactions for goods would become far smoother.
* * *
Only after spending time frantically busy were Eugene, Varda, and Homi able to gather in one place and enjoy some leisure.
Varda and Homi had been kept busy dealing with the city's key figures and honored guests arriving from outside to pay their respects.
"Varda-nim I can understand, but Homi too?"
She was more loyal than anyone, yet she could not speak, nor did she possess political acumen.
"You must not underestimate Homi. This girl's tail sometimes accomplishes more than an orator's speech."
"Hmm-hmm."
At Varda's defense, Homi smiled proudly.
Important guests did not come alone. There were many cases where they visited with their attendants and, of course, their wives or children.
The real power lay with the head of the family, but it was also true that family exerted an immense, subtle influence over the head. Cultivating friendship with them was akin to winning over a general's mount.
Homi approached the children sitting on the sofa swinging their legs as if bored, and the noble ladies gathered in small groups chattering away.
-Mom, it's super fluffy.
-Ahahaha!
-You said you're His Excellency Meyer's squire, right? Y-you'll let me wrap it around my neck? Eee! Oh my! It's so soft!
Homi, deployed among them, was a tactical weapon ahead of her time.
"It seems unsavory rumors are circulating among the vassals."
"That I married you to steal your rights and then plan to kill you? Such talk is only natural. It is a commonly used method, after all."
The reason Eugene somehow made time to spend together was also to quell such nonsense. But Varda's attitude showed she did not mind in the slightest.
"Once you rise to the rank of count, even fouler false rumors will spread. Even now, the great nobles of the Midlands are engaged in mudslinging battles."
They committed plunder and slaughter, pinned false charges on their opponents, or mobilized spies and highly paid adventurers to spread filthy false rumors.
Sooner or later, attacks would come for the newly risen hegemon of the South as well.
"Seeing this, Lord Winchester seems to have been a decent man in his own way. After the civil war, when everyone else was calling themselves counts or dukes, he alone kept to his viscount title."
"He is a southern noble as well, after all. His respect for Britannian tradition was at least genuine."
Britannian nobles generally held lower titles relative to the power they possessed. The Winchester family, too, was more powerful than Count Sicily if judged solely by influence, yet remained at the rank of viscount.
This was because the supreme ruler of Britannia was a regent family that had received its mandate from the Half-Elf family.
A regent dared not call himself king, so he had to call himself a duke. Moreover, being a regent meant his authority was diminished, so it was also problematic to have nobles holding titles of equal rank. That could become the seed of internal strife.
Thus, there was a tradition of actively suppressing the elevation of noble titles.
Now that the civil war had begun, all reins were loosed, and that tradition had become a thing of the past. But Winchester was one of the few great nobles who had respected it.
"Sparing him was a wise judgment."
"Had I done otherwise, the number of guests coming to the wedding would have decreased."
"..."
"I plan to announce it tomorrow. Will that be all right with you?"
Varda calmly nodded her head.
Beside them, Homi, who had been resting her face in both hands, also smiled brightly.
Family.
It was the value Homi cherished more than anything else in the world. The moment for it to be completed had come.
-Eugene. Though my heart is truly glad, I am sorry toward Homi. She is a child who has served you, body and soul, for a very long time.
At one time, Varda had felt sorry, as if she, having come in later, was stealing the position of wife. But that burden on her heart had been alleviated simply.
-It is all right. To Homi, the concept of family is very different from what we think.
To Homi, who bore the soul of a beast, the secular institutions created by society held no meaning.
The family she envisioned operated by the rules of nature and beasts. A single pride bound by strength and fate. It was not something defined by certificates or seats at a banquet.
At some point, Homi had risen and circled around behind Varda.
"Do not lock the door against me."
And then she whispered. That one thing alone was what Homi wished for.
End
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