Battle Preparations (Belated)

"What?! Gitelle has started drafting an army?!" The Earl of Argus, Margus's father, froze in shock at his spy's report. "What the devil for...?"

"Yessir, our intelligence suggests that he is acting on orders from Lord Rostel."

"Rostel?! So the minister of the judiciary himself is involved?"

"Yessir. Possibly Lord Rostel saw this as an opportunity to strike a financial blow against a barony aligned with Lord Guilm's rival faction."

"Guilm's faction? Marquess Guilm, eh? A baron... Wait, do you mean Julius?!" The truth finally dawned on Argus—albeit belatedly compared to Remille's party, who had the advantage of knowing the events of previous loops. Argus clenched his jaw. He had bankrolled Baron Julius for no specific reason other than his high position within the capital.

"Damn it. Cancel our financial assistance of House Julius immediately! And inform Minister Rostel of that intention as well."

"We have already taken care of that, m'lord, but it appears to have been too late."

"Blast it all!" By this point, the alliance with Baron Julius had already been well established, but it had not yet led to fruitful connections with the powerful Marquess Guilm. Without the backing of Guilm's so-called militant faction, Julius had no riches or troops to speak of. And now that Lord Gitelle was making his move, there was no chance that Lord Guilm and his allies would come to Argus's aid when the financial support he'd been able to offer them thus far was so paltry. They would be too mindful of the powerful Ministry of the Judiciary looming behind Gitelle.

"So then we have no choice but to try to strike first." Given that his enemy had already begun drafting an army, some may have considered Argus's decision...a bit rash.

"You plan to be the aggressor?! M'lord?"

"I do. Alert my sons! In a dispute between noble houses, the winner's word is law. Conversely, it follows that the defeat of his followers could be a blow to the Judiciary Minister's authority. I intend to crush Lord Gitelle with all possible haste and establish peaceful relations."

The servants scattered to obey their lord's command and summon his sons. The same thought echoed through all of their minds: I've got to get out of here before the fighting starts...!

The commoners living in the villages of House Argus's lands didn't think especially highly of their lord. They neither loved nor hated him. Those who were able to travel outside their home village came to realize that they were taxed relatively harshly for very little benefit, but never quite so harshly that they feared for their survival. It was a delicate line of exploitation that Lord Argus walked. His lands were rich in ore, but all of the profits from that trade went to line the lord's pockets, not to benefit the common citizens. Despite living in what should have been an extremely affluent territory, they were forced to scrape by, leading completely unremarkable lives.

The farmers might never realize their situation, but the servants who worked in the manor house got wind of things. Accordingly, none of those servants possessed even one iota of anything that could be called "loyalty" to Argus.

"This may be war, but it's a civil war. There are limits to how far each side can go..." In order to limit the needless loss of soldiers' lives, in some ways a civil war must be played more like a kind of game than like a war against another kingdom. Musing on that and thinking about the game pieces under his control, Argus smiled. "For once that no-good layabout son of mine can be put to good use."

Argus did at least place some value on Margus's swordsmanship skills. In times of war, especially a civil war, having access to a military asset with top-notch potential made a huge difference. As he chuckled to himself, Argus had no way of knowing that Lord Gitelle had his own ace up his sleeve—in the form of the very opponent who had just given Margus the beating of his life.