CH 368

Count Robert Reicester and his supporters were ecstatic. Those who cooperated with King Harold later would receive fewer rewards for their meritorious deeds. That’s why those who were aware that they didn’t stand to get enough were frantically licking Robert’s boots.

As a result, they eliminated Ignatz who seemed to be one of the oldest members, and there is no doubt that some seats were now vacant for them to climb into instead.

In addition… surprisingly, even though Robert and his collaborators had eliminated the Ignatz Faction trying to barge their way in and nest into the Kingdom of Wessek, King Harold shouted something incomprehensible. Reluctantly, Robert and his friends decide to capture and imprison the King and all of his closest confidants from his earliest days. The King and his closest entourage are now in the dungeons. 1

“The times are already in your favor, Lord Robert! I believe Lord Robert should be the next king here!”

“Indeed! Lord Robert should be king!”

“Oh! Our King! Everyone is waiting for you!”

“Umu, umu,” Robert nodded exaggeratedly at his cheerleaders’ words.

But he wouldn’t say he will be king anytime soon. It wouldn’t be bad for him to become king himself, but if he became king, it would be more troublesome. Above all, if he usurps the throne for no good reason, he could be attacked by those around him. If he were to take the throne by any means, he would not be called a usurper unless King Harold conceded it to him.

“I understand how you hold those sentiments,” Robert said. “However, we should not be in such a hurry to respond to such calls. Let’s think about it carefully from now on. First of all, let us rejoice that we have exterminated the Ignatz Faction, the marauders who have been trying to worm their way into our country!”

“Sire!”

“If Lord Robert says so…”

“Well, we are…”

The cheerleaders look at each other and see what’s going on. The praise of the sidelines is not something that you should just let lift you. Sometimes exaggerating too much or praising too much can make things worse. While looking at the opinions of the surroundings and the state of the person himself, you have to find a suitable place to settle.

If you have that kind of talent, it might be more meaningful to use it for other things, but it’s precisely because you’re cheering other people on is why you’re just a cheerleader.

Robert was also carefully watching for how much to lower expectations while watching the reaction of the surroundings. Innocently without thinking and going, “From here on out, I am the King!”, Robert wasn’t stupid enough to do that.

“So then… how much did you get back from Ignatz?” one of the faction members asked as they were toasting and drinking alcohol.

And the others bit in all at once. In the previous battle, Ignatz’s Faction was driven away and the accumulated supplies were recovered. They don’t know why a foreign unit was managing the supplies of Wessek.

Fortunately, they were able to drive him and his men off with a surprise attack, so it was reported that they succeeded in recapturing supplies with almost no damage. If the supplies come in, they’ll have their share. Rather, it’s like participating in the attack on Ignatz’s Unit thinking that they will get a cut of the prize.

“It seems that there was some food that we’ve never seen mixed in, but that there was enough food to eat even if they fortified themselves in the castle for a month.”

“”Oooh!””

The light in everyone’s eyes changes. If the share was determined by the number of units dispatched in cooperation, they began to calculate how much their share would be.

“But… it seems that there were quite a few other things like black dirt and round metal balls mixed into their cargo. What in the hell are those things?”

“Isn’t it mixed in to cover the shortage of supplies they diverted elsewhere?”

“I see it now… in the end, he was just a petty villain.”

There were mainly three contents of the supplies that were taken back from Ignatz’s Faction. One is food, another is some strange black soil, and finally round metal balls. They reported about the food but didn’t know what the other two were. If even the people in the field don’t know, there’s no way the nobles here would know.

They were also the ones who were doing things such as the diversion of supplies as a matter of course. They’re assuming other people are doing the same. And if the supplies are diverted, the total amount will not match. That’s why they came to the conclusion that they were probably manipulating the manifests, loading in boxes containing the dirt and balls to pretend they were carrying as many supplies as they said they were.

“So what about the collection of the supplies?”

“The food has been transported to the castle’s underground warehouse. The dirt, the balls, and the tents are still there. If you want them, then go outside and get it yourselves.”

“””Wahahaha!”””

They joke and laugh. Robert’s collaborators were now giddy. Ignatz’s Unit threw away armor and fled. So, in fact, there were various other types of loot other than food.

The food belongs to the Kingdom of Wessek, so it will be taken over by the Kingdom of Wessek. However, each feudal lord has the right to the things he obtains on the battlefield. Ignatz’s Faction has also thrown away armor and gold, so the collaborators have already made ample profits.

Some of them may have been stolen by the soldiers, but basically, the lords and the soldiers share the looted goods, and if they report it properly, the soldiers will also be able to enrich their pockets. If you deceive them and get exposed, you will be charged with a felony, so unless there is a serious incident, the soldiers will also report properly to some extent.

You can get a variety of loot, including fine armor, swords, harnesses, gold, and jewels. On top of that, they can’t stop the grins on their faces when they think about the distribution of food.

“However, why did King Harold entrust such people to manage the food of such an important country…?”

“That’s right….Even though the other food management personnel assigned multiple people to monitor each other…. That Ignatz managed it by himself with his men. He must have replaced the real supplies with that soil or the balls!”

“How unforgivable!”

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Voices rise, concluding the accusation is correct. For some reason, King Harold divided the army’s supply management into two. The supply management that they were entrusted with had multiple people in charge, and they were made to monitor each other so that they couldn’t do anything illegal. If a diversion is discovered, all the people in charge will be punished, so they monitor each other so that they don’t want to suffer the other’s sins.

Nevertheless, the supplies managed by Ignatz’ Faction were managed by them and them alone. That’s why no one was monitoring them, and they were diverting the supplies and filling the missing numbers with that black dirt and metal balls. They don’t know why King Harold treated such people preferentially.

“What’s wrong? Lord Sersi? You look pale?”

“Ah… no… I’m alright…”

There was a man in the corner who was looking unusual. It was Count Richard Sersi. Count Sersi has a territory near the Welez border northwest of Winchestel, and was late to return to King Harold’s side due to the recent turmoil. Thanks to this, he tried to make some profit by cooperating with Count Robert…

“Your Lordships… were you able to see Ignatz and his force’s tents directly?”

“Huh? What nonsense do you speak of…?”

“Why do we have to go outside?”

Most people laughed at Richard’s words and ignored him. But… Richard saw it. He actually witnessed the battle with Ignatz’s forces and witnessed the recovery work. That’s why he understands. Something is wrong with this scene.

First of all… the leadership of Ignatz’s men was unusually good. If you were suddenly surrounded by an enemy you thought of as a friendly force and it started raining arrows, most of your troops would be unable to move properly and would surrender.

Despite this, Ignatz and his men quickly broke through one point of the encirclement and retreated. The skill is unbelievable, and if he had been such a heroic commander, he would have been more famous. He can’t believe someone like that has been unknown until now.

And… the tents were clearly different from the tents of Wessek. Why did Ignatz and his men use tents with different fabrics, braiding methods, and species of wood, while the other units use the traditional tents of Wessek?

In addition… the wooden boxes of the collected supplies… The construction and standard measurements of the wooden boxes were different from those of Wessek.

A wonderful commander who would have been famous by nature has never been known until now, and the tents used were completely different from those of the Kingdom of Wessek, And the standards of the wooden boxes used to transport supplies were also different from Wessek’s usual measurements.

Richard had a bad feeling. In the first place, you could say this war began with the invasion of the Kingdom of Frasia. Guillaume is nothing more than a vanguard sent by the Kingdom of Frasia. If so, can they say that Ignatz is not a vanguard sent by some other country?

Those here are happy to have annihilated Ignatz’s Unit. However, in reality, it seems that he escaped almost unscathed. Although they probably inflicted some wounds, they only caused minor damage that was far from annihilation.

Richard had a bad feeling… But he can’t do anything now. As long as he was involved in Robert’s work, he’ll have no choice but to go all in or be isolated. There is no other way for him to survive than to continue.

“So… how’s the subjugation of the routed troops going?”

“They say that the area east of Laudin is still their sphere of influence.”

“Right now, we are reorganizing and preparing the army for the complete subjugation of his faction. Well, we should be ready in a month or two.”

Hearing those words, the others said, “Oooh” in delighted surprise. It’s ridiculously early to be ready to go to the front in a month or two. No matter how much the opponent was on the verge of destruction and escaped as a defeated soldier, there were also voices worried that they weren’t prepared enough.

“That’s because they prepared everything from food to the rest of the supplies. Preparations can be shortened significantly. At the earliest, it will be one month, or at the latest, two months, and we will be able to launch an all-out attack.”

Hearing that, Robert’s Faction drank again in a grand manner. Even if Ignatz recruits reinforcements now, they won’t be able to gather much in a month or two. Besides, under this situation, none of the Lords of Wessek will follow Ignatz. If so, this war is already won.

With Ignatz’s departure, not only did the upper seats become available, but there was also the possibility that wealthy territories such as Laudin would remain for the taking. Depending on the future work, they may be able to get Laudin or Corchistel for themselves. Those in Robert’s party couldn’t stop licking their lips.

That day, the fishermen of Winchestel were the first to notice something unusual. Huge ships coming from the east of the Winchestel pass offshore through to the west. A few ships passed through and headed west, but the fishermen were detained by a gigantic ship that approached after that, and they were unable to return to the port.

The fishermen were taken into custody out of the giant ship’s fear that they would report their presence, but in a sense these fishermen were lucky. Because of that… they weren’t put in the middle of the tragedy that would happen after this…

The next people to notice the anomaly was those who were keeping watch on the walls of Winchestel. The watchtowers had caught the clouds of dust approaching from the east. Furthermore, it was confirmed that a huge ship was approaching in the direction of the western cape. Those reports were raised to Robert’s Faction, but no one from Robert’s Faction gave proper instructions to respond.

From the direction of the land route, they must have come from the highway that leads to the direction of Laudin, but there should be no decent enemies left in that direction. If it were an enemy, it would be at most Ignatz’s Unit that had already been routed. Ignatz’s troops are few in number and have already been destroyed in the previous battle. They shouldn’t have come at this time of year.

If that is the case, then the lords in the direction of Laudin must have come to show their allegiance. Other than that, it is unthinkable that a large army will come from that direction.

Even if they were enemies, Winchestel was a solid-walled city and would never be captured. Even Guillaume and the Frasia army were unable to attack Winchestel. That King Harold fled the capital was that he did not fight from inside Winchestel, but went out to open battle and was defeated, so he was routed.

At that time, if they hadn’t fought in the field and fought in a siege, they would have won. If the enemy were to attack here because of Harold’s incompetence, they’d besiege him and weaken him before attacking directly and annihilating him. Such an idea prevailed in Robert’s Faction.

Also, it doesn’t make sense that a gigantic ship was approaching beyond the western cape. What exactly is that giant ship? Even if it were jokes, they’re not funny. They guess it’s because there are a lot of low-level soldiers that such ridiculous reports come up. At the very least, if you’re going to report it, you have to properly report what type of ship it belongs to which country.

An inland soldier who has never seen a ship would be surprised to see a ship that is even slightly larger than normal. In the first place, what is it because they saw them approaching the other side of the cape? Like those who are approaching by land, if they are the enemy, they will use this solid fortress of Winchestel as a shield to lure the enemy to exhaustion and finish them off when they are weakened.

At this time, there was still such a relaxed atmosphere in the royal castle, Robert’s Faction, and among the citizens of Winchestel.