148 – Duchy of Architel Absorption Operation (6)

“Your Excellency, what do you mean by that? We rebel!”

“We are just lowly baileps. How dare they rebel against the Count?”

“There is a misunderstanding!! Trust our loyalty! And didn’t His Excellency give us a huge amount of food and mercy?”

Hearing that, I smiled and then said.

“Misunderstanding, misunderstanding… That’s funny. Okay, let’s see… From what I’ve been told… ”

And I took out a piece of paper I had and read it.

“Bailyf Martin, after receiving the letter from Duke Architel, I went around asking the villagers if they had any complaints. Baileif Cent receives a letter from Duke Architel and opens a barn to feed the peasants, reminding them of the story of their hungry days and creating anxiety. Baileaf Drail, you dare to gather the surrounding Baileafs and drink and express your fierce dissatisfaction with me.”

As I read part of the contents of the document in a calm voice, the faces of the bailiffs began to turn earthy.

The documents my subordinates investigated and reported were based on facts confirmed in the actual field.

So if you insist on your innocence, you can’t even make an excuse, so you have to do it.

“A total of 40 guys tried to rebel by complaining to the villagers or other village chiefs, and 240 bailiffs connived at Duke Akitel’s letter to plot a rebellion. Oh, at least 20 of the 240 came to their senses and talked about the letter.”

By the time I finished speaking, the bonds of those who conspired against or condoned treason were over.

Some of the tied baileps now pleaded for the lives of their families, perhaps admitting that they were doomed to death.

“Please save my wife and children!”

“My wife and daughter don’t know… Have your last mercy.”

“Please save my life!!”

In the first place, I had no intention of killing these people’s families.

Because there is a risk of spreading rumors that killing those family members was needlessly cruel in the territory, and it also has another useful value.

So I made a statement to them.

“Your wives and children will be banished from this territory. I’ll give you the minimum amount of food and an escort to get them safely to the place where they were exiled. So don’t worry and close your eyes.”

Those baileps listened to me and bowed their heads to me, thanking me for saving their wife and child.

But the others continued to scream loudly nonetheless.

“We have never plotted a rebellion against Your Excellency!!”

“That baileep harp never conspired to revolt!! All of this is just the work of the damn village chief Heinz!! I am innocent!!”

“All of this is a misunderstanding!!”

If you rebelled and killed me and tried to get ahead, shouldn’t you have been prepared to be found out by me and beheaded?

no. If I had been able to come up with such brilliant ideas, I wouldn’t have been fooled by this stupid handshake that Duke Architel put out to fuck me.

Even if he had been fooled, he would have saved his position and life by submitting the letter even now.

By the time I got tired of listening to those guys, I gestured to the knight next to me and said,

“Execute their execution by firing squad.”

“I will obey your orders! Arquebusiers, hurry up and tie the criminals to the scaffold!!”

With those words, the soldiers holding the matchlocks began to move in an orderly manner.

The obedient ones were quietly carried away by the shoulders, while the defiant bailiffs beat them with the butts of their matchlocks until they lost consciousness or stopped resisting.

The heads and bodies of the bailiffs hit by the butt were torn, and the blood flowed out on the floor of the parade ground.

As the soldiers tied the baileps to the scaffold, the knight next to me spoke to me.

“Your Excellency Count, please issue an execution order.”

At that, instead of giving a verbal command, I raised my right hand up and then lowered it.

“Execution!”

At that, soldiers with matchlocks opened fire.

Soon, the bailiffs who had been shot died with a hole in their chest.

Then, as if annoying, the soldiers threw the dying ones to the ground and hung up the others.

After about 30 minutes, all the baileifs who were to be executed died.

Seeing the sight, the surviving baileps trembled and said,

“… .. I did my best not to get attached to Duke Architel. For some reason, he gave me a letter with a seal on it… I thought it would be fucked if I didn’t report this, so I sent it… ”

“You look like a damn duke, didn’t everyone die because of that bastard?”

“under… My dream is wild today… ”

Also, when I looked around closely, some of them seemed to have PTSD from the gun, and some of them were trembling and even made mistakes.

To them, I declared in a solemn voice.

“You guys didn’t betray me and were loyal. So, you guys don’t have to worry about getting into something like that. Also, as your lord, I will gladly repay your loyalty.”

One of the bailiffs, unbound by the words, asked cautiously.

“If you say it’s a reward… Are you willing to continue recognizing our position?”

“No. First, I’ll adjust the salary you’re getting now to our estate standards. Roughly, the salary will rise by 2-3 times. Also, if any of your children are interested in academic or military matters, they will be able to enter the academy, and a scholarship will be provided.”

When they heard of a salary increase of 2-3 times, the guys who had an expression of ardent joy did not respond well to the word scholarship.

It must be because they think that no matter how hard they try, their children will not be able to properly enter the school because they will be pushed out by the children of aristocrats.

“When entering the academy, the privileges that can be received are limited to families of baron or higher, and their benefits will be given only at the time of admission. And of course, from then on, I will compete with the same test scores as you. So, don’t think that if you prepare for the exam, you won’t be able to enter. Also, if you graduate from the military academy, you will be given the rank of second lieutenant, and if you graduate from the administrative academy, you will be given the status of a semi-nobleman and will work as a bailee with you.”

At those words, some of the Bayleafs were pulling their cheeks hard, as if they couldn’t believe my words.

“It’s not a dream if you see pain… ”

“I hope we are given this opportunity… ”

“Then, if my son does well… no… Is it possible to become an inspector and become a nobleman!!”

“Abandoning the Duke of Architel and joining His Excellency was the best choice of my life!”

And so, even though I didn’t finish my words, the baileps began to rejoice almost out of control.

So I clapped my hands to draw their attention to me and then said,

“Finally, in order to repay your loyalty right away and to fill the vacancy in administrative personnel, I will order some of you to be promoted. That said, some of you will be promoted to Inspectors if your abilities are recognized. In addition, with the recommendation of those who have been promoted to inspectors, we will use some of the village chiefs as bailiffs to fill the vacuum in the administration.”

The reason for doing this is to give them a dream that they can change their status, and to get rid of their rebellious feelings towards me.

At the same time, to compete with the administrators from Nantes or Creutel, who will be positioned above them, by alerting them that they may be overtaken.

Also, it is to completely block the possibility that the Duke of Architel or other nobles can manipulate the remaining bailefs under my subordinates.

“hurray!!”

“I’m so proud of myself for not being under the Duke of Architel like those idiots!”

“Is it always right to be loyal? Even if a knife is put at my throat, I won’t go to that Architel.”

I looked at them and muttered, in order to sprinkle fire here.

“Also, in our territory, there is a woman who proved her ability and rose to the position of inspector. My name is Chris Belladora. You girls have gone all the way up there too, don’t you think you guys won’t be able to do it?”

After saying that, I came down from the podium, looked over the baileps soaked in blood for a moment, and then left.

After leaving, I asked the Alps guy next to me.

“Even if there are some of them who seem to be lacking in abilities as inspectors, promote 10% of them to inspectors. Contact your father.”

“Yes, I understand.”

“Also, send all the wives and children of the dead to the estate where Duke Architel is staying.”

At that, the Alps guy tilted his head and asked.

“Can’t we just kill them in the name of bandit intrusion during the escort?”

“That would be more efficient, but didn’t Duke Architel give us a great gift? We also have to give a gift in return for the gift we received. So respectfully gather an army, including knights, to escort them so that not a single one of them is killed. Then go to the castle of Duke Architel and go through the formal extradition process.”

Losing in the war and being deceived by an illegitimate child can be covered up by any means if you try your best.

Because, if you honestly admit that this was a mistake, usually the territories and other nobles will say, ‘Ew, that stupid guy. crappy.’ I’m giving you a chance to move on, but…

It is an act of dropping one’s honor to the ground by using it as a card to discard even the helpless serfs who remained in one’s territory.

And since honor has fallen to the ground…

“Alps, the family of the Duke of Architel has no hope of surviving.”