A Famous Traitor and Treacherous Genius

211 – War Is a Business (1)

War is an act that enriches the assets of the nobility with the blood of the common people.

As someone who has experienced war, I tried to create a situation where war would not occur under any circumstances.

Why did I try to assassinate the emperor in the first place?

The purpose was not to start a war, but to create a situation in which only the minimum amount of blood would be shed rather than many people being shed, so that only the Habsburg emperor would die.

Even if you start a war, the only people who end up dying are the people.

Nobles give orders to soldiers from the rear in the name of commanders and executives, and only those who take care of themselves, seek their own safety, and drive others into the abyss of death are the ones who survive after the war.

That’s why I hate war.

As a result of the continued war, the hero dies and only those who shout ‘Do it’ to the hero survive, which is the current situation in Nostrum.

War does not necessarily refer to blood-soaked struggles such as territory wars or national wars.

Dealing with demons that have emerged on a large scale in a polluted land is war, and with a disease that affects nearly 10% of humanity is also war.

Those who made selfless sacrifices by burning their own bodies in that war are praised as heroes, but those who burn their own flesh through war specials are corrupt traitors who shower praise on them and take care of their own interests.

The representatives of such traitors are Marquis Zeroth, Viscount Balzac, and those who gather around them.

It was me in the future.

Before returning, I was the one who enjoyed all the benefits of the war special, the war to destroy the Kingdom of Nostrum.

That’s why I hate war.

I didn’t want to shed blood, but I also didn’t want the war to keep reminding me of my future self.

But.

Anyone who remembers that duels were prevalent in the kingdom over the past hundreds of years instead of legal decisions, can quickly infer that wars are quite common in Nostrum.

There are some duels that end in a fight between humans, but most fights are fought with a knight acting as a substitute, but sometimes the emotional rift is so deep that it reaches the point of saying ‘I will erase the opponent from history’.

At that time, a territory war occurs.

Disputes between territories must be resolved at the center, but even the center raises its hands and says, ‘Do as you please, whether you kill or save each other.’ This is the battle of territories.

For that territory war, I am still staying in the County of Gibraltar even after Camp Lembury is over.

“Sir Robert.”

“Yes, master.”

It’s been a long time since I last stayed in the earldom like Sir Robert.

“Do you know how many territory battles there have been in total over the past 18 years?”

“I believe there was number 15.”

“Yes. If I were to exaggerate the numbers a little, territory wars actually took place once a year. Whether it was a small-scale local war between a baron and a viscount, or a marquis fighting another count.”

Yeongjijeon has been held frequently until now.

I did it because it was something I didn’t need to be interested in, but the nobles of Nostrum Kingdom used to resolve disputes through duels and territory wars whenever possible.

“Did you know that? Even in territory wars, there are cases where victory and defeat are contested through clashes between knights, and killing is implicitly prohibited.”

“Isn’t that just a duel?”

“As the Lord said, life and death are at stake, but it is not a duel. Because of disputes between nobles, knights also participate in the dispute, but in the case where there are many free-lance knights, today’s enemy may become tomorrow’s comrade.”

From the perspective of the nobles who hired the knights, they would have fallen to the ground holding the back of their necks as they fought like they were killing each other but did not inflict fatal wounds.

Most of the territory battles that have happened so far are like that.

In its own way, it is a battle that is close to a duel where victory and defeat are decided by force.

Is not there this time.

“It is rare for a territory war like this one to be waged with the determination to destroy the opposing family. Is this the first time it has happened in 18 years?”

“Yes.”

This territory war is truly a war of destruction, a battle to the end.

We plan to erase the name of the opposing family from history, wield our swords and fight to the point where we actually kill those of that bloodline or force them to abandon their last name.

Who?

Gibraltar.

“Until now, Gibraltar has never been caught up in a territorial war.”

“Who will fight for territory? Against the guardian of the kingdom.”

As Sir Robert said, Gibraltar has never fought a territorial war until now.

“Even though there is a possibility of placing a territorial war in the first place, who would really bet?”

Rather, there was no reason to play house with children like Yeongjijeon.

“Gibraltar is the front line.”

Right now, Gibraltar has been in real war several times over the past 18 years, responding to local provocations caused by the empire.

“But we are no longer on the front line. Thanks to you, Master.”

“…In some cases, it’s actually like having a strong ally behind you.”

“Yes. Empire.”

Now we don’t go to war with the empire.

“Perhaps the emperor could send the imperial army for you?”

“Then it becomes an international war?”

“You’re the emperor, right? If you say, ‘Can you please send some soldiers’… You never know, right? The person in question might wear a mask and come help you, saying he’s ‘Mr. Thersian’ .”

“First of all, Viscount Kvers will appear. A sword master with suspiciously blue hair and a mask.”

On the contrary, if a war breaks out with the empire now, it will probably only happen when I reveal to the emperor our ‘difference’ – a point that cannot be compromised.

‘Even if I reveal that I’m a regressor, I can’t reveal my thoughts on the matter.’

As long as I don’t reveal it, the emperor won’t try to kill me.

He will not even try to crush Gibraltar by starting a war.

Problems about the future.

Successor problem.

Not the next emperor, but the next future problem.

My, Astasia’s child problem.

As long as the Emperor does not at least acknowledge and give up the disagreement that ‘Gray Gibraltar can never accept’, a war with the Empire will inevitably break out.

“The emperor is not the enemy. That’s what I will do.”

Then, if we keep it a secret, the emperor will not point his sword at us.

“The emperor is not an enemy.”

Even if countless shadows of the empire secretly point their swords back and forth at us.

“It’s not the emperor, but the illegitimate children under him will think differently. Sir Robert, can you deal with it?”

“Even if it’s the emperor’s illegitimate child, if you kill it, the emperor will condemn you and what’s wrong with that?”

“No. On the contrary, I should have welcomed it. The scum that behaved as they were pleased were eliminated on their own.”

“So if you kill those illegitimate children and leave them out in the sun, will you get silver?”

“…Maybe? In some cases?”

There may be silver in one’s arms, or there may be a corpse lying on the ground that burns to ash the moment it hits the sunlight, leaving only bone dust.

“The opponent in the territory battle is the Marquis de Barcel. But the knights inside are not just knights of the Golden Dawn.”

“Even though you eliminated nearly a quarter of the entire Golden Dawn and even killed leader Zeros Barcel?”

“The power has decreased. However, more power will be gathered than that. Since Leader Zeros is dead, the Marquis of Barcel will try to gather power by selling all of his assets to fill the power.”

Leader Zeros is dead.

“It’s ridiculous. They must have spent a lot of money on putting out a fake.”

“Fake…”

“It’s a battle of public opinion. Is there anything special about selling corpses? Corpses… No, selling so-called ‘heroic arms’ is a specialty of the Nostrum royal family.”

But it did not die socially.

“I definitely killed about 40 members of the Golden Dawn Knights along with Marquis Zeros, and even now, a month has passed since that day and there hasn’t even been a funeral at the Marquis.”

Even death didn’t happen.

“And a ghost is filling that place. What do you think, Sir?”

“…It could be one of two things. Either the corpse was truly resurrected using black magic, or someone completely different is pretending to be the Golden Dawn.”

“Yes. Thanks to that, Gibraltar suddenly finds itself in a territorial war against Golden Dawn.”

In the battle for public opinion, they gained the upper hand by doing something ridiculous.

“They are now claiming to the whole world that the Gibraltar family waged a war for territory based on ‘suspicion.’ The traitors who sided with the empire are in the name of showing off their military power against the kingdom’s first knighthood.”

A person who would do something like this.

“Even if it rots, Nostrum is of royal blood.”

There is only one person.

“Sir Robert. Aren’t you scared?”

“You’re scared?”

“Yes. It’s scary. If the current movements came from his head his, then all the incompetent actions he has done so far were all intentional acts.”

“It’s not just acting, it could be real, right?”

“That’s why it’s scarier.”

A person who does nothing and then moves when necessary.

A person who does not do anything, but only enjoys luxuries and pleasures that others consider incompetent, and then displays his or her abilities in earnest at this moment.

“Saint Geo Nostrum, it’s unfamiliar to see you like this.”

“…Probably not you.”

“It’s not you?”

“Yes. You could say that Saint Geo Nostrum is a human who did what he always did, with a ‘head’ attached to it.”

“…Ah, that’s right. That’s common sense, that’s normal.”

An incompetent person will remain incompetent.

The actions of the shadow that makes the incompetence look like ‘acting’ should not be mistaken as the actions of the person involved.

“All the corrupt people, including Viscount Balzac, must have gathered in the Marquis de Barcels.”

Currently.

“Otherwise, there would be no way we would condemn Gibraltar with ‘solidarity’ like this.”

In response to Gibraltar’s unreasonable declaration of territorial war, many noble families are joining together to raise their voices of criticism toward Gibraltar.

From noble mtl dot come

Even.

If you really take the soldiers out of the territory and advance towards ‘Nostrum’, all the nobles are ready to raise their swords for the greater good.

“Betting a territorial war on the territory where the king is staying? It’s definitely dangerous.”

Currently.

Saint Geo Nostrum, the King of Nostrum is staying at the Marquis de Barcel.

“It wasn’t enough that all the Royal Knights were mobilized, and even unidentified shadows joined in, filling in the corpse’s place. They are the most troublesome people.”

“Are you going to tell the emperor?”

“If I ask the emperor to do something like this, wouldn’t I end up no different from the nobles of Nostrum? At least I should know how to solve these problems myself. By helping my father.”

“Uhm…”

“And.”

I pointed out the window at my father, who was directly dealing with knights at the training ground.

“Without needing help from others, Gibraltar can easily overcome a territory war on its own.”

“That’s right… “

“Not with the power of my father alone, but with the power of ‘the whole’ of Gibraltar.”

* * *

At that time, the border of the Marquis de Barcels.

“Stop!”

Soldiers on duty at the Marquis’ border blocked the way, aiming their spears at someone from Rob who was running on horseback.

“Those coming from the direction of Gibraltar are not allowed to enter! If you want to come in, show your pass!”

“Pass?”

“…Woman?”

Sarak.

The woman in the robe took off her hood.

“It’s a pass.”

With her mint-colored long hair fluttering, the woman kicked her horse’s waist.

“There is no such thing.”