Chapter 181 : Chapter 181
Chapter : 181
The Margrave of Bellua’s subjugation of the peasant rebel army dealt no small shock to the nobles of the Elang Kingdom.
No—when even the King, and each of the high nobles, were turning a blind eye, he had accepted losses and led an army to put down the peasant rebels?
It was hard to believe.
No matter how loudly nobles cried out for honor, when profit stood before them they often became quite realistic.
All the more so when, as now, the Great Famine raged and the kingdom’s internal political situation was in turmoil.
And yet the Margrave of Bellua had cast aside all those tangled interests and helped a neighbor struck by misfortune.
An action so noble it was beyond reproach.
Because of this, many high nobles—led by the King of the Elang Kingdom—were forced to face criticism.
-What on earth are they doing?
-Why do they usually force loyalty on us, calling it rights and duties, yet the moment trouble erupts they avert their eyes? This is unjust!
In particular, these complaints were voiced mostly by nobles or knights who held fiefs no larger than a tiny domain or even a single manor. Because they possessed so little to begin with, they were being swept up in this enormous storm of internal and external crises without any way to respond.
And then, in the midst of it all, a strange book called [Social Contract Theory] began to spread, and the mood among the kingdom’s nobles began to boil over.
-According to this Social Contract Theory, the right and power to govern are entrusted by each individual subject. Therefore, to exercise the entrusted right and power of governance, one must fulfill the proper obligations. Then why do the King and the high nobles who have sworn fealty contracts not fulfill those obligations?
-This is wrong! It is not merely a matter of interests—by a sacred contract guaranteed by God, they must protect us!
-Send troops at once! Otherwise, I will terminate this absurd vassalage!
-Protection! If not protection, then freedom!
The problem was that this tide was not limited to provincial minor lords or knights with small manors.
It was the bourgeoisie.
Even those wealthy people living in the cities were being swept up in the mood.
-If ever there were a perfect time to win freedom, is it not now?
-But it will be difficult for us alone, will it not? We do not have armed force.
-Are there not minor lords and knights nearby? Let us join hands with them and combine our strength!
The ruling families of the cities—who had long yearned to gain freedom from those in power—decided that the moment had come, and began to unite politically.
This atmosphere became a major headache for the King of the Elang Kingdom and the high nobles.
For if they touched it carelessly, it was clear that resistance would explode from every direction.
And this was especially severe in the Duchy of Bourgogne.
“Hmm…. So there are seditious movements in some cities?”
“Yes. They say that trade routes have been severed by the peasant rebel army, and that we have shown no meaningful countermeasures for the enormous damage, so they are pushing back against our authority.”
“Ha…. What a mess.”
The Duke of Bourgogne let out a bitter laugh.
With the situation unfavorable, insolent wretches were daring to lift their heads. But at the same time, it was also awkward to crush them outright.
After all, was he not himself longing to break free from the feudal vassalage of the Elang Kingdom and found a new kingdom?
If he mishandled things now, it was certain to come back and bite him for a long time to come.
“How are the Lowlands Three Kingdoms?”
“To my knowledge, they have no major complaints. If anything, support for Your Grace is strong. The pressure from the imperial army grows harsher by the day, you see.”
“That is fortunate, at least.”
If even the wealthy Lowlands Three Kingdoms had shown seditious movements, he would have been in a truly difficult position. In that sense, it really was fortunate.
“Then I will have to do something about the eastern region where my influence within the Elang Kingdom reaches…. What of the King? Is he still clinging to the central army and shutting himself away?”
“Yes. He has not moved an inch from near the capital.”
“As always. That damned bastard is never any help.”
“That filthy temper is not going to change, is it, Your Grace?”
It was maddening.
Did those high nobles, himself included, truly refuse to move their armies simply because they did not want to?
If they moved rashly, they could be threatened by the King’s enormous central army of elite troops.
The Margrave of Bellua was, at least, far away in the southern region and thus free of that constraint, but for most high nobles the situation was different.
And thinking of those fools who, not understanding any of this, spoke as though the nobles were neglecting their duties made his head throb.
“How large is the peasant rebel force in the empire’s eastern region?”
“At most, ten thousand; at the least, bands of several thousand or several hundred, sweeping across the land. Frankly, I did not expect it to swell this far. It is my fault for failing to respond at the beginning, Your Grace. Punish me.”
“That will do. Is it truly your fault? In the first place, did I not also agree with your opinion?”
As he spoke, the Duke of Bourgogne clicked his tongue.
He had never imagined the peasant revolt would erupt on such a scale. Normally it would have been a fire that died out easily, but the remnants of the Crusader Knight Order were the problem.
They had organized the peasant rebels, and now they were acting far beyond their station as separate forces….
“Still, it will be impossible to detach troops and send support to the eastern region, will it not?”
“Yes, Your Grace. Even containing the King as things stand is more than we can manage.”
“Then what about selecting, as a sort of detached unit, three hundred to five hundred cavalry and sending them as support?”
“That might be possible….”
“No!”
At that moment, the eldest son—who had been listening in silence—cut in and shouted.
“Father, what are you saying? You mean to help those insolent wretches?”
Duke Charles, the eldest, sprang up.
Most of the knights were men he had carefully raised.
To spend such men on protecting some petty minor lord was absurd. How much money and effort had it taken to train them and make them his private force?
“If you indulge them one by one, they will only grow insolent and demand even more!”
“Hah.”
But the Duke of Bourgogne knew his son’s true thoughts all too well. His own child, who could see only the small profit right before his eyes, was pathetic.
“Boy. Can you not be silent? I told you not to voice opinions without an alternative. And this is an official meeting.”
“Th-that…. I apologize, Your Grace. But it is not as though there is no alternative. I was going to continue.”
“Oh? Is it so? It seems our eldest, Duke Charles, has an opinion. Let us hear it, shall we? Hmm?”
The Duke of Bourgogne looked at Charles in a scolding manner. Lately, the boy had been doing nothing but acting in ways that displeased him.
And yet, from Charles’s mouth came an unexpectedly decent idea.
“Suppress them more forcefully! Make an example—crush the ones resisting most strongly at the outset.”
“Oho…? If you do it wrong, you may invite everyone’s backlash.”
“They will not be able to unite anyway. And even if they resist, whose hand will they grasp? The King? Another high noble? The Emperor of the Holy Empire? Everyone is busy carving out his own path, are they not? Smash a few as examples, and grant great rewards to the lords who remained loyal even in hardship. Then they will not unite into one—they will be too busy fighting one another.”
It was a fairly plausible proposal.
Who would have thought he could think like this? Perhaps people truly did need to be made to compete—and to be reminded to stay on edge.
The Duke of Bourgogne found himself seeing his eldest differently.
But it seemed someone else disagreed.
His second son, Lord Gertman.
“No, Your Grace. We should embrace them and support the eastern region, as was our original intent.”
Lord Gertman, the second, put forward the exact opposite view.
“The moment the King of the Elang Kingdom lets go like this is our best chance to expand our influence. If we step forward while everyone else stands aside, we can win great renown, like the Margrave of Bellua in the south. And that will be a great help in fulfilling your long-cherished wish, Your Grace: the founding of a kingdom.”
He knew it all too well, but circumstances were unfavorable. That was why he had tried to use a workaround—yet Gertman was insisting on the proper path.
The Duke of Bourgogne narrowed his eyes and examined him.
“Right now, it is difficult for us to detach troops. Do you understand that and still speak?”
“Yes, Father—no, Your Grace.”
“Oho? How?”
“Though their numbers are large, and some remnants of the Crusader Knight Order have attached themselves, their foundation is still a peasant rebel army. In other words, they are a band of brigands that cannot unite as one for long. With a small number of well-trained soldiers, we can crush them.”
“I will say it again: the situation is unfavorable. There are no troops to detach. Do you understand that and still speak?”
“Hmph! You are not going to ask for my knights, are you? Commanding them is my authority. Do not even think of coveting it.”
Irritation surged again at the sight of Charles speaking so insolently before him, but the Duke of Bourgogne forced it down and addressed Duke Gertman.
“That is what he says. You were not going to claim that the answer is borrowing knights from your brother, were you?”
“Of course not.”
Duke Gertman shook his head. He had never intended to borrow his elder brother’s strength in the first place.
There was only one thing he trusted.
“Are there not soldiers I ran while we were subjugating the Crusader Knight Order recently? I will use them again.”
“Those mercenaries?”
“Yes. Most were disbanded and moved on, but some remain. About five hundred men. I will lead them and support the east. Please grant your permission.”
“Ha….!”
Not even five hundred knights, but five hundred ordinary mercenaries, and he would subjugate a peasant rebel army that easily exceeded a thousand?
At such audacious words, the Duke of Bourgogne could only let out a hollow laugh.
“Are you confident? If you fail, it will be tied to my honor as well.”
A cold-edged warning: if he failed, there would be no more chances.
But Gertman realized that this was the perfect opportunity.
If he failed, he would lose everything—but if he succeeded, a new horizon would open, a road into another future.
For someone like him, who lacked both a base and a faction of supporters, it was the best chance he could hope for.
-GULP.
Swallowing his dry saliva, Gertman slowly opened his mouth in a trembling voice.
“That will not happen. If I should fail, I will repay Your Grace’s honor with my death.”
“So you say?”
A resolute will.
Feeling it, the Duke of Bourgogne’s lips curled upward without him meaning to. Was it not like looking at his own younger self?
And so the Duke of Bourgogne granted the request.
“Very well. Do as you wish. I will await good results.”
And at that moment—
Everyone who had attended the meeting, every vassal of the ducal house of Bourgogne, could feel it: a great wind of change was beginning to blow through the question of succession.
---
-Ding!
[Insidious Stratagem success!]
[Stratagem increases by 2.]
[The insidious seeds of discord you have sown are growing vigorously and shaking the Elang Kingdom. The Elang Kingdom will fall into extreme chaos, and each noble house will be plagued by an untimely battle of succession. But beware. An insidious stratagem always returns to its owner in the end.]
[Notification: Infamy increases by 3.]
[Notification: Infamy increases by 1.]
[Notification: Infamy….]
“?????????????”
What is this nonsense, barging in out of nowhere??