367

Episode 367 Who is bullying whom? (4)

The Marquis of Branford put his hand to his forehead. He had no idea where to begin to handle this situation.

Marquis Rodrik attempted a surprise attack, but was defeated instead.

"This idiot… … ."

That greedy bastard finally got into trouble. And Giselle accepted the fight as if she had been waiting for it.

'Well... ... That guy Giselle is greedy too.'

He was similar to Marquis Rodrik in that he got what he wanted by any means necessary.

But that wasn't for his own personal glory. If you look closely, all the profits he gained were being used for the territory. That's why Fenris developed at an incredible rate.

A different kind of greed. So the Marquis of Branford still couldn't figure out what kind of person Giselle was.

After thinking for a while, he said to the nobles of the pro-Prince faction.

"Keep your troops on standby so they can start a war at any time."

Everyone leaned back in their chairs and sighed, because they could see why the Marquis of Branford would say such a thing.

If Marquis Rodrik issues a general summons, a huge army will be assembled. Then, Earl Fenris will not remain silent.

Like it or not, these two people are accelerating the civil war.

In order to respond to a war that could break out at any time, we had to prepare for war in advance.

"For now, I will try to prevent it from going to full-scale war. However, the Duke has lost the Crimson Tower, so I don't know how to move. We must prepare for a surprise attack."

Everyone nodded. It wasn't long ago that Earl Fenris was happy to be made Master, but now it seemed like they had no choice but to go to war.

It was something that could have been resolved amicably, but I couldn't understand how it had come to this.

It wasn't just the royalist nobles who were shocked to hear the news of the current situation.

"That guy Giselle is really the Master? And he's fighting with Marquis Rodrik right now?"

Amelia also looked dumbfounded when she heard the news.

I destroyed the Crimson Tower so that the two could fight, but I heard that Jiselle had already killed Delmud. I tried to start a fight, but they were fighting on their own.

It was fortunate that it was half successful, but it was annoying that it kept deviating strangely from its original intention.

"Wow… I didn't know that guy was really a master."

Amelia still looked incredulous. She knew Giselle's past. She knew it better than anyone else.

I never thought he was hiding his power like other people did. I saw his true self so clearly when I was his fiancé.

'I'm not hiding my absolute power.'

I still remember how she would blush and twist her body whenever she saw me. It was too much of a stretch to say that she was hiding her strength.

There was a reason why he despised and ignored him.

'Now that I think about it... ... I don't see that same look anymore.'

Comparing it to his current appearance, I wondered if he was really the same person.

It was clear that there was someone behind that guy. The one who had raised him and given him information so that he could suddenly become a master.

If not for humans, then they would have obtained a treasure with similar abilities.

'I have to find it.'

Amelia bit her lip. She had turned a rascal into a master in just a few years and had infused him with mysterious knowledge.

Whether it's a person or an object, if you can figure out its identity and get your hands on it, you'll be able to achieve your ambitions more quickly.

Regardless of Giselle's skills, it was also quite a refreshing shock to start fighting Marquis Rodrik.

'He's a real fighting man. He keeps going around and hitting people without stopping... ... .'

Marquis Rodrik is a much more powerful lord than Earl Desmond, and is a high-ranking noble who serves as one of the pillars of the duke's faction.

He went all the way to the West and caused a commotion just because he got into an argument with that guy. He really wasn't normal.

At that moment, a tremendous impulse occurred in her head.

'If you hit Giselle now... ... .'

Fenris is strong, but its center, Giselle, is not there right now.

I was confident that if I led all my forces and stormed forward, I could capture Fenris in one fell swoop.

'No, no. I have to endure it for now.'

Just as Giselle sees Amelia as a variable, Giselle was also the biggest variable to her.

If he takes Fenris, the Prince's faction will lose the North as well. Then, they will be more easily defeated in the civil war.

If she had been loyal to the dukedom, she would not have missed this opportunity, but to Amelia, the dukedom was also her future enemy. She had no intention of doing anything good for others.

The Duke's faction and the Prince's faction should work together to weaken each other's power and eventually perish together.

To her, Giselle was not a target, but someone to be punished. She had to put aside her personal feelings for the sake of the greater good.

She tried hard to control her regret and said to Conrad.

"Whew… … Send people to the West to continue monitoring the situation. Make active use of the upper echelons."

"All right."

"Who is the agent coming here?"

"Wolkan sent me a message saying that he took care of it and buried it all."

"Okay. Are the troops and food ready?"

"Everything is done. You can depart at any time."

Amelia nodded with satisfaction and continued speaking.

"I will tell you the route to take immediately when civil war breaks out. Make a plan of movement accordingly. You must move faster than anyone else."

"All right."

Amelia rested her chin on one hand and closed her eyes. With Giselle and Marquis Rodrik at odds, the time of civil war would come sooner.

If the Prince's faction has Jisel, the Duke's faction has Jisel. And neither of them can decide who is superior without listening to the other.

'The war won't go your way.'

Everything will be as I wish. She closed her eyes and smiled happily.

* * *

Marquis Rodrik just blinked as he listened to his vassal's report.

"The top raid… …failed? A thousand people went and they couldn't destroy even one cosmetic top?"

"Yes, they were all wiped out. There is talk that the Earl of Fenris himself came."

"That guy… … came to the West with only a few hundred men without any fear? How dare he look upon me… … ."

Marquis Rodrik chewed his lips and glared at his poor vassal.

There were still differing opinions regarding the abilities of the Earl of Fenris.

But judging by the fact that a thousand troops were annihilated, it seemed clear that something was going on.

There are even rumors going around these days that he is a wizard.

That could be true. He is a man of great fame, so a thousand people might not be able to stop him.

But what happened after that was the problem.

"And now the territory of my vassals who follow me is being attacked by that bastard?"

"Yes, three places have been attacked and looted. Also, mercenaries have suddenly appeared here and there and are said to be moving the looted goods to Fenris. And… … I just heard that another place was attacked."

"Ugh, ugh… … euaaaah!"

Boom!

Marquis Rodrik screamed and slammed the armrest of his chair down, breaking it.

"How dare you! How dare that little brat! Me!"

It was humiliating. I picked a fight under the pretext of avenging my child, and then got beaten up instead.

Meanwhile, people from all over the place came to ask for help, saying they were being plundered by that guy.

"Ugh… … I didn't know that guy would dare to go around and poke around here and there without fear."

The Marquisate of Rodrik was very large, and the west was even larger. However, the forces that had to defend the land were concentrated in the Marquisate of Rodrik.

Many of the lords of the West were vassals of the Marquis Rodrik. Their personal forces usually numbered from 500 to 1,000 men, and at most did not exceed 3,000.

This was a strategy that the Marquis Rodrigo had adopted for generations.

He divides the territory into small pieces and distributes it to many vassals so that no one becomes too powerful. Instead, if troops are needed, the Marquis provides support.

In this way, Marquis Rodrik was able to reign as the leader of the West.

But this time, that strategy proved to be a weakness. The vassals lacked enough power to capture Giselle.

Marquis Rodrik shouted in a voice full of anger.

"Gather the troops immediately! Track down that bastard, catch him, and kill him! I'm telling you not to let him attack the vassals anymore! Tell all the surrounding territories to move and surround him!"

It was an effective way to control the inside, but because it was so fragmented, it was bound to be vulnerable to external invasion.

I was aware of the problem, but I didn't think anyone would dare attack here. The power of the Marquis was too strong.

In any case, he couldn't just leave his vassals alone. With each vassal gone, the power of the Marquis would weaken.

Although each one is weak, when they all come together they become an army of tens of thousands of soldiers.

That was the true power of the West, of the hegemon who ruled the West.

The vassals opened their mouths to address Marquis Rodrik, who was running wild.

"Since the rumored Earl of Fenris himself has come, we must accept some damage. However, there is a way to catch him quickly."

"How? What way?"

As expected from a noble family, the Marquis Rodrik had many outstanding vassals. As soon as they heard the news, they came up with countermeasures and brought them.

"We didn't properly build up an army and invade Fenris. They wouldn't be able to defeat us in an all-out war anyway. That's why the Earl of Fenris is not occupying, but pillaging. We can just drive him into one place, surround him, and then attack him."

Marquis Rodrik listened with interest to those words.

"What do you plan to do? Tell me."

Tennant, the commander of the Marquis's Knights, unfolded the map and continued his explanation.

"After consulting with my staff, I have concluded that if Earl Fenris continues his plundering, we will eventually have no choice but to strike here."

The place he pointed to was the Barony of Dacre, which had a fairly large force among the vassals.

There aren't many knights, but it has a whopping 3,000 troops. It's considered a strategic point, so there are more troops stationed there than in other territories.

"We have to break through here to open the way to the other vassals. Otherwise, we will have to go around or approach the Marquisate."

The Baronial Estate of Dacre also served as a fortress in the west. If you wanted to attack the west, you had to either break through here or, if that wasn't your thing, go back farther.

"We have already sent out official notices to each territory. The lords will gather their troops and establish a defensive line around the Barony of Dacre."

"And? Shouldn't we catch that guy and kill him?"

"I also sent word to Baron Dacre. He is to hold out with only a minimal supply of food."

"Hoo… … ."

Marquis Rodrik nodded, as if he understood the plan a little.

"If he goes in there, he'll starve to death?"

"Yes. Even if you succeed in conquering them, you won't be able to hold out any longer without food. After you surround them, when they starve and lose their strength, you can attack them again and kill them."

"How long?"

"If Earl Fenris succeeds in capturing the city, I think it will be enough to wait a week or so while besieging it. If you are anxious, you can wait a month. In any case, they will not be able to hold out and will come out."

Even if you starve for a week, you won't die. However, if you starve for a week, you'll lose strength and won't be able to fight properly.

"How many troops do you need?"

"Considering the fame of the Earl of Fenris, I think we'll need ten thousand."

"Is it possible to stop them with just Baron Dacre's forces?"

"It's going to be difficult because there are few articles."

According to information received so far, the Earl of Fenris did not bring any siege weapons. Instead, he climbed over the walls in the middle of the night and carried out the massacre.

And there was information that mercenaries were following them to move the goods.

The Marquis's retainers guessed that the Earl of Fenris had brought a considerable number of knights with him.

No matter how small the vassal force was, it was impossible to sneak over the walls and massacre them without so many knights.

"How many knights did you have?"

"There must be at least 50 of them. The rest seem to be quite elite soldiers. They must have brought only the best ones with the intention of pillaging."

In fact, Giselle brought only 400 knights without soldiers, but no one thought she would bring that many knights. Fifty was also a generous number.

It was rumored that there were quite a few knights in the Fenris domain, but it was also rumored that they were all beginner level.

In the first place, most of the lords did not believe the rumor that there were many knights.

Marquis Rodrik asked something else.

"How about helping Baron Dacre fight? If you take away all their food, they won't be able to hold out either."

"If we look at our forces, they will surely flee. We must keep them inside even if it means abandoning Baron Dacre. We intend to lay siege to the castle as soon as it is taken."

Tennant was calmly suggesting that they use the same side as bait, even though it was obvious that they would all die.

However, Marquis Rodrik nodded several times as if it didn't matter. His expression was as if it was nothing at all.

It could be said that the cruelty was truly that of the master and the subordinate.

After hearing the entire explanation, Marquis Rodrik readily approved the operation.

"I will give you 5,000. Gather troops from the surrounding vassal territories and fill in the remaining 5,000. This time, make sure to catch and kill them."

"All right."

"Who are you going to be the commander? It's difficult for you to go yourself."

Tennant is an important figure in the Marquisate. I didn't want to send him directly to such a messy war.

If he were to fight and get hurt by the Count Fenris, who was rumored to be the Master, it would be a great loss.

"I will send Howard, a high-ranking knight. He is a man of outstanding martial skills as well as swordsmanship, so he is trustworthy."

"Okay, okay. Let's do that."

Only then did Marquis Rodrik smile and nod with satisfaction.

No matter how strong Earl Fenris is, it would be impossible to turn the tide of the war with only a small force.

You can't face an army of 10,000 men after starving for a week. Even if you really become a master, it would be difficult to kill 10,000 men, including knights, by yourself.

Of course, he didn't intend to just kill them. He wanted to slowly strangle them and torture them, but they dared touch him.

Killing a guy like that was too light a punishment.

"If possible, bring Count Fenris back alive. Either by destroying his core so he can't use mana or by cutting off his limbs."

Marquis Rodrik smiled cruelly, mixed with anger. He had no intention of letting the northern punk who had pounced on him sit idly by.

I decided to catch him and torment him for a long time without letting him die.