A Famous Traitor and Treacherous Genius

212 – War Is a Business (2)

Before the storm.

The relationship between the Marquis of Barcels and the County of Gibraltar can be said to be the calm before the storm.

The territory war has not been officially held yet.

This may seem strange, but since it is a sacred noble duel, it is natural to proceed ‘according to procedures’ according to tradition and etiquette.

Suddenly, one day, soldiers are dragged in and a territory war is held?

No.

‘Mo Wol Mo Il, I will enter your territory. When you write and send such a message, the territory war begins in earnest.’

So to speak, we have to ‘declare war’.

Before declaring war, you must tell the kingdom in advance, ‘For such and such a reason, I will declare a territorial war.’ The kingdom will try to mediate as much as possible.

However, there was no mediation, and the Prime Minister who was to mediate – the Archduke of Winchester – clearly took someone’s side by standing in a neutral position.

To the County of Gibraltar.

Still, the battle within the kingdom was not good, so how could he not change his mind? The archduke took Gibraltar’s side just by not saying that.

Think about it.

No matter how much actual combat equipment is provided to soldiers, soldier management becomes more serious, and soldiers are told to prepare ‘wills’.

With the Crimson Margrave of Gibraltar, who would think he would lose the Territory War?

There is only one thing everyone is worried about.

‘Where will the Count be?’

Crimson Gibraltar will protect its base.

To be precise, I will stay by Countess Charlotte’s side.

In that case, we need someone to go all the way to the Marquis of Barcel, break down the main gate of the Marquis’ castle, enter the castle’s inner city, break the flag of the Marquis’ castle, and plant the flag of the County of Gibraltar there.

Who will do it?

The soldiers are nervous there.

Even though Gibraltar has some excellent knights, there is a feeling that they are reluctant to deal directly with the ‘Kingdom’s First Knights.

So, the more you don’t know, the more reluctant you are to engage in territory warfare.

Even if they knew about it, it is true that they are reluctant to engage in a war of territory, but public opinion is truly scary.

“Well, our Master Gray was almost assassinated.”

“What? Master? No, how did it happen?”

I sneak out onto the streets and listen to people’s stories.

In order to find out what the people of the county think, he disguises himself and listens while drinking tea at a street cafe.

“I don’t know. What is it? Isn’t it because I won the Kyungryong competition by beating His Majesty the King?”

“Is that so…Is that what happened?”

“I now see him more as the son of the Crimson Margrave of Gibraltar than as the son of Lady Charlotte.”

“Tsk, tsk. Does that guy still think that his wife was taken away from him? It’s not enough to just be petty and angry at that b*stard, he’s even trying to assassinate him.”

One public opinion.

“It’s a bit odd for me to say this, but I should have cut off the head eight years ago instead of sticking my fist in.”

Inside the county, public opinion against the incompetent king is worse than expected.

If you investigate the approval rating that is mainly used in imperial political engineering, you will statistically see an approval rating of around 4%.

“Look. You can’t say things like that so carelessly.”

“Why? Are you also a supporter of the king?”

“No. When the king dies, disaster will come. “The disaster of the golden dragon.”

“Write…”

Maybe it’s because this is a county, but they still remember the day eight years ago when St. Geonostrum was punched in the face by his father and ran away.

“Is a civil war finally breaking out…?”

“It’s a good thing. If we’re going against the Marquis de Barcel, it just ends at the territorial battle line.”

Most people in the county already consider war to be a fait accompli.

“You’ve been patient for a long time. Hmm.”

‘Citizens’ of the empire would protest and make statements against the outbreak of war, but even if they accepted the culture of the empire, the people here are ‘citizens’ of the County of Gibraltar.

“My grandfather once told a joke before he passed away. If the day comes when Nostrum goes wrong, Gibraltar will be the one that condemns Nostrum and puts an end to it.”

“Huh, then will it be the Kingdom of Gibraltar from then on?”

“Kingdom? I don’t know. Do you think the Count would be bothered by that?”

“If you pass the throne on to your children and spend time with them…”

Write.

The sudden, spine-chilling words gave me goosebumps, but I maintained my composure.

The people we talked to now are relatively old people who were born in the estate and grew old in the estate.

They are people who will not be taken away even if a war breaks out, and if there is a situation where they will be harmed, the Marquis of Barcel will send a detachment to strike the heart of this county.

What about the relatively young generation?

“Damn, am I really being dragged away?”

“I can’t believe I’m being dragged away. I’m doing my duty as a citizen of the territory.”

“So why is that duty to me, and to the kingdom, damn it?”

“The Count is thinking about a territory war, so isn’t it something that he should do as a citizen of the territory?”

Of course I’m worried.

Even for soldiers who have trained so far, they are worried and afraid about going out to fight the enemy with their own swords.

Let’s give it a try, okay?

Very few people think like that.

‘It’s because I didn’t do propaganda.’

If the people of the territory, like the Empire, come out and gather people in the square and give a long sermon on ’50 reasons why we must deal with the Marquis de Barcel’.

‘What if I step forward?’

If you take an appropriate phrase from the Habsburg emperor’s speech, then use the orphans in the orphanage to instill windbreakers and stir up the heat of war.

-Gorge! Cohesion! Overthrow Nostrum! Overthrow the old world! We will become members of the empire, get rid of the old and sick, and live in a new era!

If you raise the psychology of the crowd to the point where they raise sickles and hammers, the best soldiers will be born who will sacrifice their lives in the canyon.

Well, no need to say anything else.

-If we win this war, Saint Geo Nostrum will no longer be our king!!

-Waaah—!!

“…”

Even if you simply recite the words that were spoken by the vanguard when they marched toward Nostrum in the past, everyone in the territory will become people who hope for victory.

“Mr. Ha. If you say we’re going to fight, I’ll have to step forward, but I really don’t want to go…”

“I don’t want to die. And the imperial snacks I haven’t tried yet…”

“Isn’t it a bit weird to talk about snacks like that?”

“What do you say? When I open a snack shop later, I will never sell it to you, human.”

Still, I don’t want to die while fighting.

To talk about a cause and a sense of duty, the people of the County of Gibraltar have already become ‘imperialized’.

Now, it is correct to say that you have actually become a citizen of the autonomous province of Gibraltar, or the city of Gibraltar.

To that extent.

“Hey. By the way, did you hear that rumor?”

“What rumor?”

“If the Territory War breaks out this time…”

As the ‘person in charge’ of leading this territory war, I have made one decision.

“…They say they will only mobilize knights within the County of Gibraltar to wage territory wars, without conscripting them or anything else?”

“…?”

“It’s a rumor. A rumor. My sister who works inside Castle Caroline heard it. She must have heard what Master Gray said to her younger brothers.”

“Shh. Quiet. Don’t say things like that…! You’ll be in big trouble!”

“What tells you to be more careful than when you tell someone to go after the incompetent king?”

“This is Gibraltar, and that’s an incompetent king!”

“That’s right.”

I made a lot of noise to spread the rumor, but the reason it didn’t spread as much as expected was probably because of Gibraltar’s image.

“But wouldn’t it be okay to talk about this much? If that happens… “

“…Can we win with just the knights? No matter how many we have increased…”

“I don’t know. There may be another strong person within the Knights who has been hiding his power until now.”

“…For this time?”

“Maybe, even for the day we head to Nostrum.”

I stood up quietly.

‘I need to prepare.’

The best thing is not to go through war, but why did Nostrum get to this point?

Lack of practical training.

No matter how much one’s consciousness has changed from that of a citizen territory to that of a citizen, if the other party intends to start a war, one must respond accordingly.

‘I’ll take you to the battlefield, but I won’t let you die.’

Someday.

When a real war breaks out, you can make cool-headed decisions on the battlefield where lives are at stake.

“Hey. Still.”

Never.

“There is a master, we will win, right?”

It’s definitely not because there are traces of Nostrum inside Gibraltar.

Because that is an evil and evil habit within us that needs to be eliminated.

* * *

That time. Marquis de Barcel, Marquis Castle [Golden Castle].

“The Marquis of Barcels. Remember, you are the Marquis of Barcels.”

“Ah, hmm. Yes.”

A man who looks exactly like Zeros Barcel stands upright with a solemn expression.

“Although you are our ancestor’s illegitimate child, it is true that you resemble the Marquis de Barcel.”

In front of the new Marquis of Barcels, a young man wearing glasses with dark blue hair was adjusting the Marquis of Barcels’ clothes with a sinister look and pointing outside.

“No one who lived before exists. You are the leader of the kingdom’s first knight order, and you have never died. It was the shadows of the empire that attacked Gray Gibraltar…”

“Like you?”

“…”

“Hehe, hehe… “

The Marquis of Barcel was struck by the actions of the dark blue young man who was tightening his tie, but the young man lightly patted his tie and stepped behind him.

“The shadow of the empire is helping this civil war. That is impossible.”

“Cancer, not like that.”

Squeak.

“It doesn’t make sense for the empire to interfere in the kingdom’s affairs, right? Hehe.”

The office door opened, and a blond-haired, red-eyed man wearing only a fancy robe – Saint Geo Nostrum – came in, sipping a bottle of imperial wine.

“Wow, the previous Marquis just spread his babies all over the place. How can they be so similar?”

“…Your Highness.”

“Why? Oh, was this a sarcastic remark about the mighty Emperor Thersian over there? Hehe.”

“Then why didn’t you sow seeds here and there, Your Majesty?”

“Huh, huh… !”

The words of the navy blue young man made the Marquis de Barcelle think, but St. Geo fell down on the sofa giggling.

“How can an ordinary person know the meaning of the dragon?”

“…”

“It seems like you want to find out how to gently scrape it off, why? Go straight to your father and tell him what to do?”

“…”

“Anyway. Well, I guess it doesn’t matter.”

Saint Geo twirled the wine bottle and laughed.

“I just provide a place. You take care of the rest. That way, you won’t lose your place to someone else’s child, right?”

“…Trying to resolve the kingdom’s civil war using external forces, is that the right quality for a king?”

“How can you little b*stards cling to a king like that and want to be recognized by their father? Hehe. Figure it out yourself. The king is here and if someone comes to declare war…”

Ssyuk.

“By accusing them of treason, they will take all the nobles gathered here and start a war-“

“Uh, Your Highness!!”

The door burst open, and Hana came into the room with an urgent look on her face instead of wearing glasses.

“It’s a messenger!”

“Messenger? You’ve finally arrived. If you’re here to declare war, I’ll cut off your head and send you back…”

“Master!!”

“…”

“Viscount Mente Rift has arrived with a declaration of war… Your Highness!!”

Saint Geo took the bottle of alcohol and left.

“Ah… “

“…Marquis de Barcel.”

The young man with navy blue hair trembled with his fists and spoke as he looked down at the mint-colored haired woman who opened the broken castle door and came in.

“Declare war, prepare to receive it.”

“B-but… “

“We’ll take care of all the practical work, so you just have to keep your mouth shut. Anyway…”

The young man grinned while touching the area near his collarbone

“We are experts in bloody fights.”

The inside of the collarbone.

“Proof is also our responsibility. Who is the real son?”

The number ’03’ was faintly left under the wound that seemed to have been burned by fire.