378

Episode 378 I brought you some presents. (2)

"Oh, what is it?"

As Giselle pulled away, looking uncomfortable, Maurice grabbed Giselle's arms again.

"Hey, this kid… … This warlock… … I thought you were a duck… … When did you grow up like this and become a master… … and bring me gifts like this… … ."

"No, what are you talking about?"

"Thank you, you little shit!"

Maurice hugged Giselle again with a look of emotion on his face.

The other nobles just clicked their tongues with an expression of "let it be like that."

Maurice was a very simple man. He never hid his feelings in life. He just expressed what he liked and what he didn't like.

As Maurice continued to hold on to Giselle, who was feeling very good, the Marquis of Branford pushed him aside and asked.

"Are you really sure it's okay to give me this much?"

"What is there a lot of?"

"… … This isn't much?"

At first glance, it seemed like it would have been enough to cover several years of budget for a small territory. It was enough to operate for more than a year even if all the legions in the kingdom used it.

But what Jiselle said next was even more surprising.

"This is the first round of support. We are planning to have three rounds. The amount is too much to bring in all at once."

At those words, all the nobles of the royalist faction became dizzy.

Even just looking at it, it was an enormous amount. But they said they would bring twice as much.

It was dozens of times more than what the royalist faction had previously provided to Jisel.

"Are you really saying you'll give me this much support twice more?"

"Yes."

For Jiselle, these are things she no longer uses, things she has too many of and would rather throw away. She just pretends to give them away to increase the power of the royalist faction.

That way, the prince's faction will fight hard against the duke's family and hold them back.

"Ugh… … ."

The Marquis of Branford could not speak any further. The other nobles were busy swallowing their saliva and looking at Giselle's gift.

'How much money have you gained?'

'If this amount comes to the third time, we will be able to fight a war with that alone.'

'If I just take a little bit from there, I could become incredibly rich?'

They knew that Fenris had become the richest man in the North, but they could not tell exactly how rich he had become.

But seeing them hand out this much for free, it's clear that they've become wealthy beyond their wildest dreams.

Jiselle glanced at the nobles and said.

"I hope Your Majesty will distribute it as he sees fit. So that no one is left without it. It must all be used for war preparations."

"Yeah, you don't have to worry about that part."

The nobles were tempted by the Marquis of Branford's words. If he were to keep things under control, it would be quite difficult to escape.

If you get caught, you could lose all your assets and be embarrassed.

When the situation seemed to have been somewhat resolved, Giselle gestured to the soldiers again. The soldiers brought a suit of armor from the wagon.

The nobles, who had thought nothing of it at first, soon sensed that something was strange.

'What is that? Are the soldiers strong? Why are they carrying such light armor?'

The Marquis of Branford also asked about the armor the soldiers had brought.

"What is this? It looks like an ordinary piece of armor."

"This is armor developed from new materials. Please distribute it to the knights of the Prince's faction. It is as strong as steel, but less than half as heavy."

"What?"

The Marquis of Branford took the armor in surprise. It was light enough for him, who had no training in swordsmanship, to lift it easily.

Giselle said to the Marquis of Branford, who was examining him carefully.

"Please check here."

The Marquis of Branford nodded and gestured to the knight beside him.

"Check it out."

The knight drew his sword without delay and struck the armor.

Kaang!

The knight, who felt the elasticity of the armor, bowed his head.

"It's the strength of steel."

"Huh!"

As the Marquis of Branford admired the armor, other nobles came and looked at other parts of the armor.

"Oh my! The armor is this light!"

"When on earth did you make something like this!"

"You're handing out things like this?"

The nobles were dumbfounded and asked Giselle. Giselle nodded.

"I brought about a thousand sets this time. It should be enough to distribute them to the knights of the main nobles, if not all of them."

This time, everyone just opened their mouths and said nothing.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that this armor was a treasure. With its light weight, the knights would be able to conserve their stamina and mana for longer.

It also helps a lot with maintaining the horse's speed and stamina. A single piece of armor can make a big difference in the battle.

But this is a thousand punishments. Everyone looked at Jiselle as if she were crazy.

'Is that punk crazy?'

'You just brought me this treasure?'

'Why on earth?'

This kind of equipment is like the power of the spirit world. It would be useless to share it with others.

Everyone didn't understand Giselle, but Giselle really didn't care.

'That's what's left.'

Even the guards of the estate are equipped with a full set of Galvanium armaments. The knights of Fenris even wear magical armor with runestones embedded in it.

So, in Fenris, things like that weren't even special treasures.

But since she was giving it anyway, Giselle decided to make a big deal out of it.

"Shouldn't we all join forces and fight against the Duke? I'm definitely not the type of person to be stingy with things like this."

Jiselle clenched her fists and continued to speak firmly.

"I am ready to share everything for the sake of victory. I am the type of person who hates eating alone."

If Claude had heard it, it would have been so absurd that he would have grabbed the back of his neck and fainted. However, the nobles did not know Giselle's true intentions.

"Ohhhhh!"

The nobles all exclaimed in admiration. Some even shed tears.

'We've got the wrong Earl of Fenris!'

'I didn't know he was such a deep thinker!'

'I'm ashamed of myself for trying to steal the supplies!'

Come to think of it, Earl Fenris was once rumored to be a saint in the capital along with Porisco. I thought it was funny at the time, but it seems the rumor was true.

Maurice also hugged Giselle again with an expression of emotion.

"This little one! This little duckling! You've grown up so well!"

"Oh, why do you keep doing this?"

Giselle twisted her body and pushed Maurice away again.

Marquis Branford, who had calmed his startled heart, said:

"Let's go in first, and then we can finish talking."

The Marquis's troops took over the carriage, and Giselle and the nobles moved back to the castle.

The nobles originally wanted to ask and question Giselle about various things, but after receiving such gifts and hearing such touching words, they did not dare to do so.

After an awkward silence, the Marquis of Branford finally spoke first.

"First of all, I will gratefully accept the gift. It will be a great help."

"Don't mention it. I really scraped every last bit of the estate's wealth and brought it here. It's all for the prince's faction… … ."

As Giselle continued to be sarcastic, the Marquis of Branford repeatedly coughed.

"Ahem, yes, thank you anyway. But tell me what you were thinking. Why did you end up in that situation with Marquis Rodrik?"

Now is the time to prepare for the Duke's attack and wait for an opportunity. In fact, the longer you delay, the better.

Wouldn't that be enough to increase our power and prepare for defense?

At the Marquis of Branford's question, Giselle thought for a moment and then said.

"I don't like it."

"what?"

"I didn't like it when a guy from the West came all the way to the North and told me what to do."

"So, you fought?"

"You have to be precise. I didn't start the fight. You started the fight. I just got back at you."

It wasn't a wrong statement. It was Marquis Rodrik who started the fight in the first place. Marquis Rodrik attacked the upper ranks first, and Giselle simply responded accordingly.

However, it was true that the response was too aggressive for someone who belonged to the royalist faction. When Marquis Branford was about to say something more about whether he had acted without making a proper judgment of the situation, Giselle spoke first.

"Even if this incident had not happened, the war would have broken out sooner or later. It is not a good idea to just wait around. We need to reduce the enemy's power while we can."

"Reduce the enemy's power?"

"Yes. This time, Marquis Rodrik lost 20,000 troops because of me, and eight vassal territories were devastated. It will be difficult for the vassal territories to recover easily. That means that they will have no choice but to leave the upcoming civil war."

Since Jisel had completely taken all the wealth, it would take at least several years to recover. The people of Yeongji would be exploited even more, but that situation could not be overlooked right away.

The Marquis of Branford was not unaware of what Giselle meant, but it was like standing on a precarious knife edge.

"It's easier said than done, but reducing the enemy's strength is not an easy task. Isn't this just a case of luck? And Marquis Rodrik has declared full-scale war. His army will be moving soon."

Jisel had planned the current situation since he recruited the Drake mercenary group, but it was something the royalist faction was unaware of.

And if others other than Jiselle had stepped forward to needlessly reduce the enemy's power, it could have only resulted in a bigger war.

So, Jiselle didn't bother explaining. She didn't want to argue about this in the first place. That wasn't the important thing.

"If you have to fight anyway, it's better to strike first."

"You want to hit first?"

"Yes. If Marquis Rodrik sends out an army, the Duke will no longer be able to just watch."

If they don't want to lose Fenris, the Prince's faction will have no choice but to take action. And the Duke will never miss that opportunity.

Jiselle took several documents out of her bosom and handed them over to the Marquis of Branford.

"What is this?"

"These are the tails of the dukes in the capital and each territory."

"What?"

The Marquis of Branford looked through the documents. It listed everyone from fairly famous groups to insignificant groups that no one had ever heard of.

"These are all… … the places the Duke leads?"

"Yes. There are various groups, such as armed groups, assassin groups, and intelligence groups. As soon as the war breaks out, they will cause chaos in the capital and each territory."

The Marquis of Branford shook his hands in disbelief. Among the places on the list were places that had dealings with the Marquis.

If true, it would be serious because they didn't know it was happening in their own front yard.

"How… … did you know this?"

"We investigated it separately and secretly."

It was information I learned in a past life.

Of course, even though I was Giselle, I didn't know all the details of the Duke's family. There must have been some things I missed.

But it didn't matter because the places he didn't know about were less important. Insignificant places wouldn't have much of an impact on the war.

The Marquis of Branford asked Giselle again with a sharp look in his eyes.

"Are you sure it's a certain place? If you just pass it over, things will get worse later."

"I am sure."

"What's the evidence?"

"I don't have anything to show you. Just trust me."

"… … ."

The Marquis of Branford and the nobles of the royalist faction were both speechless at the absurdity. Who would believe someone who brought in a list of people without any evidence and claimed they were the duke's subordinates?

But even if he were Jiselle, he couldn't bring back information from his previous life. But he didn't have time to investigate each and every one of those places to find evidence.

In the meantime, the Duke would finish his preparations and advance. Now was not the time to consider evidence or anything like that.

Jiselle opened her mouth with a serious expression.

"Your Majesty, the war has already begun. We must move first."

"First… … let's move?"

"Yes. I will take care of blocking Marquis Rodrik's army that is advancing north. We have to fight anyway. Marquis, please take care of other things first."

"no way...."

Jiselle nodded.

"Please start by exterminating those bugs that are hiding everywhere. We need to start as soon as possible."

"Without any justification… … you want us to hit these places?"

"Now is the time when things like justification are no longer necessary."

"There is no need for an excuse…?"

Giselle chuckled at the Marquis of Branford's words.

"Yes, now is the time to prove it only with strength."

I prepared as best I could. Fenris could no longer expand rapidly. And the Dukes began to openly call for troops.

There is not much time left. So there is only one answer.

He intended to start the war whenever he wanted and lead it as he wished.

It has to be that way. It has to be that way… … .

We were able to prepare for the coming time of tribulation.