Chapter 173: War Council I

Berengar was currently standing in the middle of his Great Hall; he was posing for a painter who had shown exceptional talent over the last few months, so much so that Berengar had commissioned this painter to paint a portrait of himself. The first of many to come. It was no secret that Berengar was an incredibly vain man; he cared greatly for his appearance and those around him. There was a reason he outfitted his forces in the flashy attire of the Landschnekts from his previous life. He secretly wondered if he had inherited this from his father in this life or if he had developed it over time. 

After all, in his previous life, Berengar was an exceptionally average-looking man; his great attracting feature was the body he had put a lot of effort into developing into that of a warrior's. His face, however, was nothing special, and though it was not ugly, it was certainly not attractive either. However, after reincarnating into this life, he found himself in the body of an exceptionally handsome young man. If one went from average to a 10/10, it made sense for them to become slightly obsessed with their appearance. 

At the moment, the young Count stood dressed in his armor. The three-quarter's plate armor was made out of blackened steel, with exquisite gold embellishments. The pauldrons were perfectly sloped over the gaps in the armor to the point where rondels were unneeded. His gauntlets allowed access to the individual fingers, and he currently held onto the grip of his heavy cavalry sword, which was slung across his waist and sitting within its sheath.

His free hand rested on his equally embellished open face burgonet, which sat on a nearby end table. Berengar's facial expression was cold, and indifferent which went perfectly with his gilded black velvet eyepatch, creating an oppressive atmosphere. The portrait itself was from the waist up, and as such, the armor which protected his thighs and groin were not visible. 

In the audience watching the painter display, Berengar's majestic appearance with excellent skill was Linde, who greatly admired the process. Berengar had promised that if it turned out as well as he thought it would, then he would commission one of Linde as well. As such, she was pretty excited as she saw the portrait slowly take shape. The painting was of far more excellent quality than the average medieval period painting. Berengar was far from an artist, but he knew how to explain how to use basic principles from his past life. After all, he had taken a few painting classes in high school as an elective. So he was able to help the artists in Kufstein advance their skills so that their paintings would be more lifelike. 

As the painting neared completion, it significantly resembled other portraits from the renaissance period from Berengar's past life. It was quite the magnificent work, and the painter would never have acquired such skills without Berengar's instruction and the funds that the young count provided artists in Kufstein to pursue their passions. After the work was completed, the young painter showed Berengar the end product; as Berengar witnessed the creation with his own eyes, a large smile spread across his face as he handed the man a pouch filled with gold coins before complimenting the artist.

"As always, your paintings never cease to amaze me! Well done, lad!"

It was pretty awkward for Berengar to refer to the young man as a lad; after all, he was only twenty-one, and the artist was of a similar age to him. Nevertheless, one does not question what the Count calls you, and the man merely smiled at the compliments he was given, and more importantly, the pouch he received, which was filled with gold coins. 

Berengar then placed his steel-clad arm around the man's back and instructed him on his next task.

"Go and rest; you have earned it! Whenever you feel the tingle of creativity in the back of your mind once more, return to my Castle and paint a portrait of my beautiful lover."

The young man merely nodded at Berengar's request and left the room, where Linde was waiting in the background for the two men to complete their transaction. She had a lovely grin on her face as she looked at the portrait before expressing her opinion.

"It looks phenomenal; who knew art could be so beautiful!"

Berengar merely chuckled as he began to strip his armor off of himself, which Linde immediately took notice of and assisted in the process. While they were in the process of taking off his equipment, Berengar voiced his opinion on the piece.

"The artist was lucky that I am so handsome; if I were an average man, the piece would not be as inspiring!"

Linde merely rolled her eyes at the sight of Berengar complimenting himself yet again; she was well aware of his sense of vanity, still, that honestly did not make her think any less of him. After all, she was first attracted to him because of his appearance; she chuckled as she thought how foolish she was for trying to drug and enslave Berengar when they first met. Though things did not turn out as she had intended to that night, she was far happier with the actual result.

Thinking about their first night together made Linde incredibly aroused, and after she finished stripping off Berengar's armor, she pressed her ample breasts into her lover's chest in an attempt to seduce him. Noticing Linde's longing gaze, Berengar chuckled; he had no idea what she was thinking about to bring on this sudden change, but she was seriously too tempting; it was no wonder he fell for her charms when they first met. Nevertheless, he was much too busy to satisfy her at the moment. The portrait was just one of his many responsibilities on his daily list. Before he could fool around with his lover, he had to take care of the realm; as such, he flicked the girl on the nose as she tried to seduce him with her beautiful figure.

"Be patient; I am swamped with work at the moment. However, I promise I will satisfy you later tonight!"

Linde began to pout when Berengar rejected her, but she knew that he always kept his word, and as such, she put on a sultry smile as she kissed him passionately; it was only after she released herself did she say the comments on her mind.

"I will hold you to that promise!"

Afterward, Linde fled from Berengar's sight, leaving him behind in the room by himself. Berengar merely licked his lips as he said to himself aloud.

"I am going to make her pay for that..." 

Now that his portrait was finished, Berengar had plenty of other matters to attend to. So did Linde; as the master of Berengar's spy network, she quickly got to work compiling information on Berengar's enemies, expanding the web that covered Southern Germany. Soon enough, Berengar's agents would be in every corner of the Holy Roman Empire, collecting information and waiting for an opportunity to strike. 

As for Berengar, he had a meeting to attend to, where he would be consulting with several officers in his army about the ongoing war in Austria. Though now was not the time to strike, preparations were in progress for the critical moment when Vienna fell, and Conrad was extracted to Kufstein where he could set up an Austrian government in exile. If even one cog in the machine that was his army failed to fulfill its duty, Berengar could lose everything in this upcoming ploy. 

With this in mind, Berengar got changed into his civilian clothing and visited the building constructed to act as the headquarters of his department of defense. When he arrived in the war room, Berengar noticed that several officers were waiting for him inside it, and they quickly jumped into Salutes as Berengar made his presence known. Berengar, of course, returned the salutes before giving the command.

"At ease"

Where the officers slightly relaxed their position. Afterward, Berengar and the officers in the war room sat down in the chairs that were provided for them, where Berengar began to start the meeting.

"First and foremost, how are the 2,500 troops I sent to Vorarlberg doing?"

One of the officers who bore the rank of General quickly announced the status of the operation to defend the Western borders of Austria.

"Your Excellency, the Count of Vorarlberg, is grateful for the troops we have sent, and under the command of the officer in charge, they have done an excellent job in repelling the advance of the Bavarians. By now, the Bavarian army which attacked the region has been completely pushed out, largely in part to our forces. However, the Count of Vorarlberg and his armies should also be commended for their success."

Berengar nodded in approval at this news before addressing his next concern.

"So the region has been secured for our trade caravans to pass through?"

The General quickly responded in the affirmative

"That is correct, your Excellency!"

Berengar smiled when he heard those words; now that the western front was secure, Berengar did not have to worry about fighting on two sides when he finally got involved in the war for Austria. As such, he began to address the border crisis.

"How about the border forts? How are they holding up?"

Another man bearing the rank of Colonel quickly informed Berengar about the ongoing conflict at the border as he spread a map across the table and placed a few mini-figures that represented the forces involved in the battle.

"The Northwest garrison has completely halted the advance of the Bavarians; after trying to attack numerous forts, they have given up completely and are simply maintaining their presence at the border. As for the Northeast Border, the Bavarians are still concentrating their efforts to break through the defense. However, they are making no progress due to the construction of the star forts in the area and how well defended they are; the enemy army usually routes after a few artillery barrages. We have yet to suffer a single casualty, well aside from some minor wounds."

Berengar smiled and nodded at this news, ultimately. For the time being, Tyrol was secure; as such, Berengar decided to inform his officers of his upcoming plans, for they could not adequately prepare themselves if they were unaware. As such, Berengar deeply thought about the words he would use next, as they were of critical importance to his future plans. Thus the officers in the war room were left in silence as they waited for their Liege and Commander to give his passionate speech on the future of the War in Austria, one which would one day be recorded in history as a symbol of Berengar's rise to power.