34 – Rotate Ethlon Plains (6)

Although the war was lost, the Celtic barons and the Santoburg barons looked at me as if they were trying to maintain their aristocratic demeanor and said proudly:

“I’m hungry because I haven’t eaten anything since yesterday morning. Can we talk while we eat here first?”

For a moment, I was at a loss for words.

All knights are taught to maintain a dignified appearance even when defeated, but to talk while eating confidently despite being defeated and surrounded by enemy knights…

I wasn’t sure if he was making a gutsy noise to embarrass me or if he was just mindless.

However, if I show my embarrassment now, they may consider me a ‘bong’ and try to negotiate on easy terms, so I replied as if nothing was wrong.

“Oh, let’s eat first. I was hungry too, but it turned out just fine. Let’s talk while eating together. And now that I think about it, I don’t have any meat to give you guys…”

After I said that, I clapped my hands and called a knight near me.

“Give me plenty of beef for the two brave barons and me. Sirloin would be nice if possible.”

“all right.”

When I reacted casually, the Celtic Baron and the Santoburg Baron looked at me with terribly puzzled expressions.

As expected, it was a strategy to embarrass me and bring the negotiations after the ‘defeat’ to an advantage even a little bit.

It’s fortunate, if they were thoughtless things like our Excellency Count Schwein, and ‘pretending to be confident without thinking’, it would have been difficult to even ‘negotiate’…

“If you wait a little while, I will cook enough loin of beef, so you guys can eat it first and wait.”

At my words, the Celtic Baron tried to answer in a voice that could not hide his embarrassment.

“Thank you for your chivalrous distribution and generosity. Then eat it with gratitude.”

After that, silence fell between me and the barons.

And after a while, the orderly came in and brought me and the barons the beef sirloin steaks I ordered.

I asked for a generous amount of steak, and to find that he brought a chunk of meat weighing over 1kg…

After all, it was a sheep worthy of the age of knights dominated by machoism.

Leaving behind these sentiments, I offered them food with a smile as generous as possible.

“Eat a lot, but if you want more, you can eat more. Our soldiers roasted it to serve you, so it must taste good.”

Upon hearing these words, the Celtic Baron and the Santoburg Baron slightly bowed their heads toward me to express their gratitude, and then quietly began slicing the beef.

And right before they sliced the beef and put it in their mouths, I asked them.

“Okay, since we lost the war, shouldn’t we give me a fair price? What will you give me in return?”

This time the baron of Santoburg looked at me and asked again.

“Isn’t that something you who have won the war should ask? If the conditions you offer are reasonable, I will accept them.”

Here, it is not a good negotiation method for me to put forward the ‘reasonable and honorable conditions’ mentioned by the Baron of Santoburg.

Because if I tell them to ask for 1000 gold coins first, they say 1000 gold coins is too many, 900!! Because I’m sure I’ll cut it while doing this.

And decisively, I sacrificed my soldiers and won the ridiculous war that the nobles committed.

So I answered them in a slightly louder voice to express my anger.

“God knows, I know, and you know that what you showed in this war was not honorable. In other words, it is a place to compensate for the sins you have committed against me… Why, in a place where you have to show sincerity, do you try to solve it only with substance, not sincerity?”

And not long after, the Celtic Baron sighed and said,

“You are right… Baron Creutel. Alright, now that we’ve been defeated, let’s show our sincerity like knights. Including the ransom of the knights, Baron Santoburg and I, Celt, will each pay 700 or no 1000 gold coins.”

1000 gold coins, this money is a huge amount of money to run a small county for a year.

In other words, it’s not an amount that those guys with not-so-wealthy estates in Romania can afford…

So I asked, pretending to be concerned, to find out what the two of them were thinking.

“1000 gold coins, if you pay that much money, will you have money left to manage your estate? Isn’t that enough money to run one county?”

When I asked that, the Celtic Baron admitted it surprisingly coolly.

“Nothing. I mean, we lost the war. I swear in the name of my lord, Elector Count, His Highness, Duke of Maxburg, that within the next three months, even if we sell all our property, we will have 1,000 gold coins.”

An oath made in the name of one’s lord in an official position with other knights watching is absolute, so they will not break that oath.

And if you judge calmly and win a war of this size and receive compensation of 2,000 gold coins, it’s a business that’s left over…

Any nobleman would stop the war at this point.

However, when judged calmly, to give such generous conditions after negotiating just this much…

Are you saying eat this and fall?

Besides, considering that 2000 gold coins, no matter how hard you think about them, those two barons are unlikely to be able to afford them…

I’m sure you can rip more out of them.

“If you swear by the name of the Elector Count, Duke of Maxburg, I’ll believe you… But as far as I know, it won’t be easy to collect 1000 gold coins in Santoburg, the Celtic Barony…”

Upon hearing this, the Celtic Baron, assuming that I would accept their terms, got up from his chair, slammed the desk, and shouted:

“Baron Ciel von Kreuttel!! I have sworn by my lord’s name! No matter how much you are a winner, how dare you damage the honor of the same nobleman to this extent!! All right, if we can’t pay you the money within the time limit we promised, we’ll pay it, even if we borrow money from His Highness, the Duke of Maxburg. So don’t insult our sincerity anymore!”

As soon as I heard that, I was convinced.

I don’t know why this war was planned, but it was the Elector Count and Duke of Maxburg who instigated this war, and they would have already negotiated to give 2,000 gold coins even if they were defeated from behind.

And I motioned to the knight next to me to bring me a map with a rough sketch of the topography of this continent.

Looking at the map, the Northern Alliance was located above the Duke of Maxburg.

Come to think of it, the Northern Alliance didn’t have enough money right now, so they couldn’t invade the warm Duchy of Maxburg, right?

If so… the Duke of Maxburg must be concerned that we, Count of Nantes, Schwein, are funding the Northern Alliance to recruit soldiers.

That’s why he must have tried to mobilize two Baron Spirits against us, our future enemy, to eliminate our ability to wage war with aggression.

However, it must be very unfair that I defeated them so easily, spending only my bloody money and not getting any effect.

“I thought about it for a moment, and yes… I’m sorry, Celtic Baron. I had no intention of insulting the Duke of Maxburg. It’s just that I was surprised to hear that you paid such a large amount of money in your estate. forgive me.”

When I bowed first and apologized, the faces of the Celtic Baron and the Santoburg Baron brightened.

“Then, let’s talk in earnest now. I will bite all the knights, so you guys leave your sword to the knights.”

Hearing that, the two of them left the swords they wore around their waists to our knights behind them.

And at the same time as the knights received their swords, the knight escorting me went out of the camp, except for the three of us.

After confirming that the knights had gone out, I walked up to where they were sitting and hit the desk with my fist while saying,

“Somehow, the first person who declared war made no sense, and then he did something uncharacteristic of a knight. How could your lord, the Duke of Maxburg, use such a trick to avoid the pincer attack of the Northern Alliance and the soldiers of the Count of Nantes!”

When I said this, the two barons stared blankly at each other as if they had been stabbed to the point.

Read at noblemtl.com

Judging by this response, my guess must have been completely correct.

“Shame on you! If so, shouldn’t I rather propose to my lord, the Count of Nantes, to fight fair and square as a knight? Without the courage to do so, you only sent weaklings like you to try to cut my strength.”

That’s what he said, but in the current situation, the duke of Maxburg could never openly fight to occupy the county of Nantes.

Because, if the Duke of Maxburg mobilizes all his strength, he will be able to gain an advantage in the fight against the soldiers of the Countess of Nantes…

Before gaining the upper hand, if we first provide ‘proper courtesy’ to the King of the Northern Alliance, we will invade the territory of the Duke of Maxburg, who is covetous of Romania.

If that happens, the Duke of Maxburg will suffer a fatal blow by losing at least two to three county territories to them.

“Am I wrong? Celtic Baron, Baron Santoburg.”

The majestic bluff of the moment before disappeared, and the two of them stood in a daze, unable to answer my words.

And after a while, Baron Santoburg looked at me and replied.

“This is nonsense!! How dare you insult Our Highness this much!! Such a child of Creutel who does not even know the honor of being a knight!!”

I answered with a mocking voice as I laughed at Baron Santoburg, who was cornered and began to bark.

“They say that weak dogs bark well, so you bark well. Baron of Santoburg. OK, then I’ll just send it to you. Instead, tell your lord. Exactly one year from now, I will gather the troops of the county of Nantes, strike the southern part of the duchy of Maxburg, and ask the northern allies to send all my assets to send troops.”

I’ve said this too, but it’s a complete bravado that will never come true.

Because our great Count of Schwein can never defeat the Duke of Maxburg.

The great His Excellency Schwein is at the end of a suspicious illness, and he is a human scum who reveals alcohol and women. How can you trust such a nobleman?

Seriously, recently, Viscount Creutel said, ‘Sir Schwein is too serious about revealing women, and sometimes he deprives loyal knights of their domains.’ What can I say…

However, the two barons, who heard my bluff threats without knowing that, sat down listening to my words, as if they had no more energy to bluff.

I smiled and said, not paying attention to the two who had already collapsed.

“If you don’t like that… Get 5,000 gold coins each as a ransom from your Excellency, and hand over the Celtic Blueport and the Salt Mine of Santoburg, which are ports close to our territory. Why don’t we end the war on this condition? Will you swear by your lord’s name?”

The two barons looked into each other’s eyes, exchanged glances for a moment, then answered me with a sigh.

“I swear by the name of our lord, His Highness, the Duke of Maxburg. Instead, could you sign a five-year peace treaty with His Excellency, Count of Nantes…?”

Anyway, now, no matter how much I fly and crawl, I will never be able to beat the Duke of Maxburg, so doing that is a hundred percent profit.

“Don’t do that. I swear by the name of my lord, His Excellency Schwein von Nantes.”

That’s how I was able to get 5,000 gold coins, a port and a salt mine in this war today.

As expected, if I know others and know myself, I think I can produce the maximum result in a situation where I win.

Now that this is the result, can this be enough to rub on the toes of Seohee-nim, who has won 6 weeks in Gangdong?