Chapter 94: Making Too Many Enemies
The coalition forces (duchy & count) who’d been collecting enemy corpses and looting the battlefield saw our unit returning in triumph with Count Épinay and the prisoners. They realized this was an unprecedented, absolutely massive victory and came rushing over, cheering their heads off. Watching them cheer like that felt absolutely amazing.
My lieutenants and cavalrymen held their chests high with pride, marching back victoriously and soaking up every bit of those cheers. Fiel and August were beaming with pride too. I wondered how Count Euz, my father-in-law, and the Crown Prince would react to our triumphant return.
Word spread like wildfire, and even though we hadn’t sent a messenger, the coalition command sent someone to meet us first. The one who greeted me was Fried, heir to Euznirk. He’d brought his cavalry with him, and most of them were the cavalrymen who’d briefly been under my command.
The ones who’d broken off to chase the enemy.
They deliberately avoided making eye contact with me.
"That’s really Count Épinay?"
"Yes, sir."
"Any chance it could be a decoy?"
"I’ll swear on my honor."
I’d already confirmed through the Manager Scouter that he was the real Count Épinay. The reason Fried asked was that this was an achievement too incredible to believe, even seeing it with his own eyes. That’s why Fried looked absolutely dumbfounded staring at the captured count.
Coalition soldiers were running around everywhere shouting that Count Épinay had been captured, spreading the news far and wide, so Fried must’ve wanted to verify the truth himself. And facing that truth, he spoke to me as if at a loss for words:
"Sir Streit, what exactly are you? There’s just no way to describe it."
"I got lucky chasing retreating enemies and spotted Count Épinay."
"You’re the first to capture an enemy supreme commander in all our border skirmishes."
So did that mean my name would go down in duchy history?
Fried, who’d been left speechless by my achievement, spoke to me quietly.
"Your accomplishment will go down gloriously in history, but you’re making too many enemies right now. The nobles who participated in this war especially seem ready to openly antagonize you."
"That’s strange. What the hell did I do to make them hostile? I’m an ally who brought Euz a perfect victory, aren’t I? It’s not like I stole their profits or anything."
I capture the enemy supreme commander and bring him back, and they’re going to openly antagonize me? My own allies? Fried seemed to have expected this reaction and spoke bitterly:
"You know how nobles operate, don’t you? They fought in this war and bled the same as you, but they think you stole all the glory and spoils from them. That’s why I came to find you first."
Fried acknowledged the legitimacy of my achievement. The reason he was siding with me so strongly was that, with Burgundy’s threat becoming increasingly obvious, he wanted to maintain connections with capable commanders from the capital to call on in emergencies. But those Euz nobles had been completely useless.
"Are they going to hold a hearing or something?"
"It’ll make your blood boil, but they’ll try to pressure you into giving up some concessions."
"So they’d bite the hand that feeds them?"
My actions had brought maximum results with minimal casualties, but those facts didn’t matter to the nobles. They were greedy for immediate gain and saw me as hogging glory they believed they’d earned. I’d picked up on it when they told me to rest in the rear, but this was way over the line.
Actually, I’d known it all along.
That’s just how nobles are.
"Won’t the Euz nobles turn against you for supporting me?"
"They can’t openly do that to Euz’s heir. But thinking about Euz’s future, I’d rather build connections with capable central nobles like you than cater to those petty people."
Fried and I didn’t share any deep bond.
But he still decided to join hands with me.
Seeing the achievements my men and I had accomplished must’ve firmed up his resolve.
Burgundy’s threat was hardly new, and the chronic friction between central and regional nobles had shown itself clear as day. The only reason we could defeat nearly 2,000 enemies was that a cheat-like existence named me had gotten involved. I’d destroyed their supply lines and crushed the enemy’s surprise attack.
And finally captured the fleeing Count Épinay.
Could there be any greater achievement in this war?
"What’s Count Euz’s position?"
"Unfortunately, Father is maintaining neutrality."
Fried seemed disappointed that Count Euz wouldn’t take his side, but I realized the count had shown plenty of goodwill just by not siding with the nobles. He was Euz’s ruler, but he couldn’t completely antagonize the Euz nobility.
So what should I do?
Obviously, strengthen the Euz heir’s position.
"Sir Fried. Those cavalrymen are still my subordinates, right?"
I said, looking at the cavalry Fried had brought.
Fried, catching my drift, nodded.
"...Of course. I haven’t officially received them back from you."
"They made a minor mistake, but they’re still my men, so hand them over."
At my shameless request, Fried chuckled and ordered the cavalry he’d brought to follow my unit. The cavalrymen couldn’t even lift their heads out of embarrassment. Yeah, if you had any shame, you wouldn’t be able to hold your head high. Disobeying orders and deserting was a serious offense, but I decided to let it slide for now.
What was important right now wasn’t petty stuff like that—it was dealing with those Euz noble bastards. Now that Fried was completely on my side, I wouldn’t get steamrolled, and my father-in-law and Michael would provide supporting fire too. Now that the external enemies were eliminated, the internal enemies were simply next in line.
So I bought the Diplomat Scouter for 5,000 points.
It was the scouter I’d used when dealing with the Finance Minister, so it was nice to see again. I’d probably end up in a war of words with those noble bastards, and this Diplomat Scouter—which searches for justifications and gives appropriate advice—was the most powerful weapon on this particular battlefield.
Plus, I had the F-Rank Negotiator (persuasiveness 20%) title.
I’m the guy who negotiated with that raccoon minister and his son.
I had zero intention of losing a negotiation to some border nobles.
The first person to greet me when I arrived at the command tent was my father-in-law.
"Hahaha! Son-in-law! Is it true you captured Count Épinay?"
"Ack, Father-in-law, I can’t breathe!"
"From now on you’re not my son-in-law, you’re my youngest son! Hahaha!"
My father-in-law pulled me into a powerful embrace with his massive arms, looking extremely happy. I was completely helpless against this man’s ridiculous strength. But receiving affection from my father-in-law felt good. When we’d first met, he hadn’t liked me at all.