72 – Great Leap (5)

The deepest part of the barracks is usually the place where the highest commanding officer stays and a room used as an office.

Perhaps because of that, it is the most thoroughly controlled place in the barracks where it is difficult to dig out ‘secrets’ with various security measures.

So there are not a few cases where barons sometimes leave a small but expensive luxury bed in the commander’s room and have a tryst with their lover.

Because it is so thoroughly controlled, it is impossible to know what happened inside except for the soldier on duty and the officer on duty in the commander’s office.

When I entered the furthest part of the barracks where the commander was staying, there, as expected, ‘a man in his 60s with a fierce look’ was sitting at the desk in the office.

The image of the duke wearing the finest coat with the crest of his family embroidered with gold thread on a red velvet fabric much more expensive than silk was truly intimidating.

Without exaggeration, I thought that if Ella saw the peacock sitting here like this, she would hide her face behind my back and avoid her eyes, saying that she was afraid of the master.

Behind him stood a man in his sixties wearing a white velvet suit, a coat embroidered with silver thread, and a rapier embroidered with gold.

The pressure these two exuded was similar to the feeling I felt when facing dozens of knights on horseback during the Battle of Strnheim, which defeated Schwein.

So I shuddered for a moment, but when I flinched here, I would blow my nose with my eyes open…

He straightened his back and did not bow down to the duke, but he did not overdo it and got down on one knee to bow.

“Baron Ciel von Kreuttel is looking forward to meeting His Highness, the Duke of Brussels, the Lion of Brussels. It is an honor for all generations of my family to see me so well.”

After hearing the greeting, the duke held his stomach for about 30 seconds and laughed.

“Fuck it, Count Kreuttel. The White Reaper who defeated 1800 knights with 2000 infantry does not need to bow down to this old man. Don’t you think so? ”

However, if I don’t bend the first time, you’re going to yell at me and separate my mind and negotiate.

No matter how much I say that I will soon be approved for the ‘count’ and become a count, if a baron who is not even a count disrespects His Highness, the disadvantages are enormous…

So I praised the duke with a smile and pure sincerity to make the negotiations a little more favorable.

“I think our army’s conscription and training methods have already spread a lot, but none other than His Highness the Duke have actually accepted this. Even His Highness the Duke devised the baptism of soldiers to give them ‘honor and responsibility’ when conscripting them, and he is using the down payment to provide weapons and armor to the soldiers. Therefore, I guarantee that Your Highness’ army will play the biggest role in the War of Succession that will soon begin in earnest. So, if a small count like me wants to survive, he has no choice but to seek mercy from Your Highness.”

Everything I said is true.

Honestly, if I could stabilize the entire county of Nantes, I could go to war with a bowl of medicine and enlist an heir to the throne and win, but…

We, Nantes, are too far from Elysium, the capital and castle of Elain, so we can’t even participate alone.

Therefore, it has already been confirmed that the Duke of Brussels, which has the largest power and a system capable of training the most elite soldiers, will win among the participants in the ‘Great Game’ of the War of Succession.

The Duke listened to me, pondered for a moment, then opened his mouth and looked curious.

No, I already know, but if I can’t answer properly, I ask while laughing with the momentum to chew me up.

“Is that so, according to Baron Wilhelm, who secretly watched the war with Schwein in Strenheim, your infantry is the strongest in Europe?”

“Even if I am the strongest, I will never aim for the position of regent for His Majesty the Emperor. Of course, I will not participate in the war for the emperor’s coronation. The reason… doesn’t His Highness know?”

The Duke, who heard that, laughed at my words and said,

“Even if you say that, I wouldn’t believe it at all! Wilhelm said that there are about 3,000 of our knights, but if we fight in Strenheim or something like that, it will be defeated by your 5,000 foot soldiers.”

“Your Highness, no matter how good Baron Wilhelm’s eyes are…”

To my retort, the duke replied as if it wasn’t the same.

“Wilhelm is a swordsman recognized by Franchi’s bloodstained sword. There’s no way that guy like that could have mispredicted the ‘outcome of armed conflict’.”

I couldn’t find anything to refute.

Because even though this world is a world without magic, the title of sword master exists, and those who have that title are recognized as the best knights in terms of military power, regardless of their status.

In fact, a sword master is a knight among knights who can win even if he fights 3 knights 3 to 1.

As for the general serfs, even with a little bit of exaggeration, even if they fought 100 to 1, the sword master would win.

Of course, if you take off the armor, it’s hard even at 10 to 1.

If you have armor, even if you fight 100 to 1, your attack won’t work.

Therefore, if the sword master refutes the guarantee limited to ‘armed conflict’ without grounds, you hear ‘Schwein’.

“I was too humble.”

“It was enough to know. And what I have seen and learned to build this infantry is you. When you said you were going to fight that pig, you sent a ‘spy’ to investigate in case you would win. And this unit was created with only the information collected by the spy who applied as a ‘private’ about a month later. That’s why there are a lot of things that are lacking a little bit. ”

I had already seen the structure of these infantry units and thought that the duke had learned from the way I recruited and trained infantry, but…

No way, to build such a large-scale unit system by collecting only extremely fragmentary information brought by a ‘spy’ who infiltrated as a private soldier…

Is this a common duke of this era? Damn your chest gets bigger

It’s unfair to the point that I want to go to Schwein’s grave and break the tombstone one more time. If I were only under this person, I would live comfortably!!

The Duke said with the brightest smile he had ever seen, as if he really liked my expression of resentment.

“Oh, and the guy you asked about is the spy you applied for as a private. He was so good at his job that he was now evaluated for his ability and made a centurion. I even got Yeongji to appoint me as a knight if I make an achievement in the next real battle. Keep it a secret from him.”

Why did a duke steal the fair promotion and treatment according to the achievements that I think are the most advanced?

If you make a medal like this, you’ll even enact a medal to suit your territory. I’m going crazy and freaking out

So I just laughed out loud.

“I never imagined that a noble noble like the duke would use my method… Really.”

“If there is something good, you should learn it. I was very annoyed at first to learn from a young guy in his early twenties, but the more I saw and analyzed you, the more I felt that way. Isn’t that right, Jack?”

Hearing those words, the man standing behind the duke smiled and replied.

“That’s right. I still remember, Your Highness wrapped his head and said, ‘Damn it, why did Deus give birth to me and Kreutel?’ Didn’t you shout while doing it?”

“Stop talking about it… It’s an embarrassing memory. I don’t think you would have heard those lines after you were over 60…”

“Well, to add a little bit to the exaggeration that I have to say, weren’t we all together when we were young, except for sleeping? I had my first experience separately.”

“Countess of Ghent, please shut up. If you keep teasing me, I will cut your wages.”

“When both I and Your Highness were bastards, I was afraid of a pay cut, but now it’s okay. Hasn’t it been 20 years since His Highness didn’t pay me a salary in the first place?”

“……”

Normally, he would have laughed and let go of his guard at the sight of the high-ranking nobles doing tiki-taka.

No, it’s really funny to see middle-aged guys who are in their 60s older than me, even the Duke and Count who are much older than me and fight like high school students.

Some strange people saw this scene and said it was cute…

However, in the situation of ‘a meeting of nobles above the count’, if you let your guard down, you hear the sound of an idiot, not a Schwein.

Because as soon as I let my guard down, the evil count and duke open their eyes, cut their noses, and say they’re bored and take an arm.

So I looked at the two with a more serious expression in front of the comedy directed by those evil political geniuses.

Then, as if they knew this was going to happen, the two spoke in a regretful voice.

“When I was that age, just seeing you like that would have caught me off guard. After all, he’s a Kreutel guy, he’s not caught. Look at that face, isn’t it staring at you as if you were going to kill someone?”

“I’m sorry, Your Highness. Even though I heard Your Highness’ story, I can’t…”

“It’s okay because you haven’t lost anything.”

Also my guess was right…

First of all, neither Brussels nor Ghent need me alive to rip anything out of me, so they wouldn’t intend to kill me here.

However, those over there are veterans who fought back in politics with three times more years and experience than me, and twice the number of people.

Even in the most advantageous place for them, in the most advantageous situation, when I was most embarrassed, I was careful to negotiate.

If you’ve done this enough, you can be vigilant now, but even if you put down your honor and prestige, the evil figure trying to rip off even one more dust from the Hogu that is me is… ideal politicians.

So I gave up on standing in the first place because I thought I would be at a disadvantage if I continued the ‘check’ before the negotiations.

Damn, in any negotiation, starting with an edge is the best way to reap the benefits…

It’s the first time since you reincarnated here, His Highness, that I gave up on this…

“I will ask you directly, Your Highness. What do you want?”

Hearing that, the duke smiled broadly and said,

“You were a human too. OK, what I want is simple. It’s a rough summary of the contents, so let’s get it. Let’s start negotiating.”

“I will take care of it, Your Highness.”

And I read the contract that the duke delivered.

The content was approx.

1. The county of Nantes occupied by the count of Creutel and the baronial territories under him, the county of Hellsmann, and the territories of Creutel are recognized.

For 2.1., the Brussels Duke’s family will guarantee negotiations with the imperial family, and as soon as the count’s title is recognized, the Count of Creutel will donate 10,000 gold coins in return.

3. The Dukes of Brussels are the patrons of the Counts of Creutel and have the duty to protect them.

4. Instead, the Count of Creutel provides as much support as possible in return for protection.

5. In the future, both families will treat each other with trust, and the head of the Count of Creutel discusses with the head of the Duke of Brussels once every year or two for Elaine’s peace.

Both sides will abide by 6.1~5, and if the head of the Count of Creutel agrees, the Duke of Brussels sends a daughter to Ciel von Creutel to form a marriage alliance to strengthen the alliance between the two.

In fact, why did you carefully write the story to come under me if you don’t want to be followed…

However, in my current situation, if you ‘recognize the territory completely’ and even acknowledge the title with 10,000 cards, it is a surplus business.

Besides, unless the duke is crazy, he can’t look down on me, who will command over 20,000 soldiers as powerful as knights within a few years.

No matter how twisted it is, it will probably be a family that is treated as the ‘leading vassal’ of the duke’s family, who is treated higher or similar to the Count of Ghent next door.

And if I join, 100% of the Brussels ducal family will raise the ‘royal family with the right of succession to the emperor’ they want as emperor…

If you’re lucky, the duke will be the regent and I will be the chancellor, so it’s not a bad condition.

When I confirmed that I had read the contract, the Duke asked me with a smile as bright as the sun.

“Count Creutel, speak frankly. If you and I join forces, we can unconditionally win the War of the Emperor’s Succession. As long as your soldiers train my infantry, we can lead over 50,000 elite infantry and 5,000 knights to dominate every battlefield. If you wage war for three years, you can establish a scarecrow emperor. Then, when I become the regent, I will give you the position of Chancellor of the Empire. Power, women, wealth… Wouldn’t you like to have it all? And if I succeed in setting up an emperor, I’ll try to get your concubine Ella as my wife. If this happens, I will receive my concubine’s daughter, but what… So what are you going to do?”

The duke at that time looked like a devil to me.

Like the devil who tempted Deus in the Bible, who is sweeter than sugar and offers a beautiful temptation as white as snow…

And after thinking for a while, I opened my mouth.

“I am…”