CH 374

Chapter 374 – Encounter of Two Heroes (2)

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Sure enough, the Marquis went on an offensive with bribes.

Three thousand to five thousand gold wasn’t considered much now. At the end of the day, the regiment commanders would come to me saying, “Uhm, Count Palatine. This is the amount I earned today.” On each of those days, I would praise the commander who earned the most and howl in rage at the one who earned the least.

“How foolish! You cannot just latch on to everything that is offered to you! You must maintain a level of push and pull!”

“How can someone who has had many lovers fail to entice an old Marquis? What an imbecile! If you are unable to earn more than this tomorrow, then you will be given a taste of hell!”

“Are you joking with me right now!? What do you plan to do with only a thousand gold!? A child probably receives more than that as their allowance!”

After four days, the regiment commanders were gnashing their teeth.

Despite the peculiar nature of the situation they found themselves in, where they had been granted permission to accept bribes, the commanders hurried towards the Marquis like devoted yakshas. They approached me with solemn expressions and bloodshot eyes to report that they had received sums varying from five thousand to three thousand gold.

“Hm.”

I was quite satisfied.

“Good. I believe I can inform you all of my secret plan now.”

“Secret……plan?”

“Who do you think I am? I am Dantalian. I am the Demon Lord who had acquired success despite my position of Rank 71. Use the river water from Trebia to clean your ears and heed my words.”

Dantalian’s special course was then held in secret.

“You will leak fake information while you will leak real information. If everyone acts cooperatively, then the Marquis will become suspicious. What’s important is to make the Marquis misunderstand and think ‘Although I could not persuade that person, I was able to win this other person over’.”

We can gain the other party’s trust by leaking fake information.

“Half of the information must always be true. If you tell him that supplies will go through here at this time, then the supplies must not go through that point at that precise time. The time you tell him must be either an hour earlier or an hour after the actual time.”

“Uh……Your Excellency?”

Baroness Juliana de Blanc carefully raised her hand. She was writing down my words with a notebook and a quill.

“Would that not make the Marquis doubt us?”

“The opposite, actually. As long as the Marquis is not an idiot, he will constantly remain doubtful. In times like this, it is better to deliberately make mistakes. The other party will think that if you are trying to trick him, then you will try to deceive him completely. However, by being a little sloppy, that will contrarily reassure him into believing that there is no deception.”

Deliberately mixing in mistakes will contrarily reassure the other party.

“Creating an illusion of superiority in the other party is crucial. By strategically making calculated mistakes, we can fuel the Marquis’s sense of elevation. As we offer him less than he expects despite the generous compensation, he will grow increasingly assertive. It is essential to implant in him the false belief that he holds the upper hand…….”

By making the other party believe that they have the higher ground, their suspicions are dispelled.

“Do you understand?”

“Yes, Your Excellency.”

My special lecture ended after three hours.

The mercenary captains were now looking at me with a great amount of respect. However, that still didn’t hold a candle to the respect they showed Laura.

If their gaze toward Laura was like ‘Our Supreme Commander is truly amazing!’, then the gaze toward me was like ‘……His Highness Dantalian is, how should I put it? Yeah, he’s a truly impressive person…….’. It didn’t matter, though. Respect is respect either way. I felt very pleased.

“From this point on, you are my disciples. I do not take just anyone as my disciple.”

“…….”

“My standards are strict. I do not allow any exceptions. You must consume the marrow of Sardinia’s royal family and take their kidneys.”

The mercenary captains gulped.

“I wish you good luck, men!”

“We will heed your command, Your Excellency!”

They wrapped themselves in sheer determination, like a bunch of persistent students giving the SAT another shot.

While the regiment commanders were performing the fraud of the century with the Marquis, the rest of our imperial army started building a logistics base.

The communication line went from Novara, Pavia, Piacenza, and then to Parma. These four bases were all connected to a river, using it as a lifeline. With this, the imperial army established a firm and smooth logistics line.

We had squeezed all of the nearby villages dry into a single city, so we didn’t have to worry about provisions until the end of the year. If we’re ever lacking in certain supplies, we could just purchase them from the locals.

Of course, the locals wouldn’t want to do business with an invading army, but if they had to choose between doing business with us or getting pillaged, then they would obviously choose the former. In truth, our imperial army was very gentlemanly since we were purchasing supplies with money.

On the other hand, the mainland of the empire was continuing its diplomatic war.

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– Despite our nation’s decisive victory over Sardinia, we intend to demonstrate mercy and compassion, as is customary for the victors.

– Sardinia must return the land that should have originally belonged to Duchess Laura de Farnese, in other words, the Piacenza-Parma Duchy. Furthermore, the Milano Duchy must be included in this land as compensation for this war.

– If the above conditions are met, we vow not to harm the people or the royal family of Sardinia. Aside from the region of Pavia, which initiated this war, we have not pillaged any other region. This is our nation’s sincerity.

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Gamigin, Lapis, and Ivar were leading the diplomatic war.

Lapis and Ivar faithfully conveyed my will, and Gamigin spearheaded our diplomatic corps based on that. The ladies executed the script and screenplay I had prepared perfectly. Their teamwork was fantastic.

The Sardinian nobles hesitated once things got this far.

After looking over their situation again, there was no reason for them to go out of their way to go to war.

The Duke of Milano was already being condemned greatly. He pushed the Earl of Pavia to his demise, stood idly as the strategic stronghold of Novara was captured, and showed no reaction as the Grand Duke of Florence suffered defeat right in front of him.

He probably looked like absolute scum to nobles who didn’t know the details.

Despite this, the only thing the Habsburg Empire wanted was the Milano Duchy.

They also revealed that they didn’t plan on invading or pillaging more land. Something they were also proving with their actions. It was only natural for the nobles to contemplate abandoning the Milano Duchy in light of these circumstances.

The Duke of Milano is the one responsible for the death of the Earl of Pavia, the loss of Novara, and the defeat of the Grand Duke of Florence. Shouldn’t he take responsibility in some way? This opinion gradually grew louder.

The Duke of Milano would naturally throw a huge fit. The House of Sforza that rules over Milano has a long history, so they weren’t like some lizard’s tail that you could cut off.

However, as the Duke of Milano got more and more agitated, the gazes directed at him became colder. If he wasn’t willing to shoulder the responsibility, the least he could do was lead by example and take up arms. Yet, whenever someone would confront him with this suggestion, he would likely dismiss it, claiming, “The mercenaries will disband on their own if we hold out a little longer!”

That’s right.

This is the point I’m aiming for.

This is where the Kingdom of Sardinia will divide.

“Count Palatine Dantalian……!”

It was about a month after we had fortified our logistics base.

Marquis Rody entered my quarters while snorting out of his nose. His neck and clearly visible forehead were red like apples. There was no question that he was enraged.

“Welcome, Marquis.”

“You tricked me! You ridiculed me with your mercenaries!”

I smiled slightly. It appears that it took the bald Marquis about a month to finally realize he had been dancing splendidly as a puppet on a stage.

“I do not know what you are talking about. My mercenaries? Don’t tell me. Marquis, did you perhaps come in direct contact with my mercenary captains?”

“Do not play dumb!”

I wasn’t playing dumb. What would happen if I were to meekly acknowledge what I had done? I have no desire to willingly give away a testimony that would put me at a disadvantage.

“Now I fully understand what sort of person you are, Count Palatine!”

Marquis Rody walked up and brought his face close to mine. I could count each and every one of the Marquis’ wrinkles which represented the years he had lived.

“You are a liar down to the very bone. You have no interest in anything except cajoling and ridiculing others! Despite this, you go on about the peace of the continent and the friendly bond between our nations……. I despise you, Count Palatine!”

I folded my legs and placed my hands on top of them.

“Cajoler, traitor, and ridiculer, is it? These words do not even faze me now. You may continue until your anger is sated.”

“What…….”

“You are the ambassador plenipotentiary of Sardinia. The lives of ten million Sardinians rest on your shoulders. Similarly, I am also the representative of our Empire. It does not matter to me if I am scorned or despised as long as our Empire remains safe.”

I looked straight into Marquis Rody’s eyes.

I am someone who has never lost to anyone in terms of spirit. Be it Barbatos, Agares, or even Baal, none of them managed to overwhelm me. I do not believe you will be able to accomplish something they have not, Marquis.

“I have no interest in whatever ploy you tried to play with my mercenaries. There is only one thing that is important right now, Marquis. And that is the fact that war will continue if negotiations fall through.”

“…….”

“Let me be clear. You have lost.”

I smiled.

In the end, the Marquis left after having achieved nothing again. Maybe it was because he had wasted a large sum of gold, but his steps looked especially weak this time.

The next day, I publicly disclosed that the royal family of Sardinia had tried to bribe our mercenaries.

Although our imperial army maintained a ‘gentlemanly’ approach in the war by refraining from pillaging, it is disheartening to witness the royal army resorting to such ‘unchivalrous’ tactics like bribery.

A bomb immediately erupted between the aristocrats of Sardinia.

The reason why the Duke of Milano persisted in staying in place so far was due to the belief that the imperial army’s mercenaries lacked funding. However, the royal family of Sardinia had ordered Marquis Rody to distribute the very coins that the mercenaries should have been lacking.

The Duke of Milano strongly condemned the royal family for ruining his plan. The great strategy he had devised had evaporated in an instant.

The Duke of Milano who had been doing nothing until now became all the more angry. This probably annoyed the royal family as well. They had officially blamed the Duke of Milano for doing nothing as the Earl of Pavia died and the Grand Duke of Florence was defeated. They had even threatened him to go to battle right this instant to regain his sullied honor.

The nobles were split into three different groups.

Those on the Duke of Milano’s side who pointed the blame at the royal family.

Those on the royal family’s side who wanted the Duke of Milano to take responsibility.

And the side that insisted on not wasting time and wanted to prepare for war. The Grand Duke of Florence was on this side.

In the end, our imperial army finished establishing a logistics base, continued our diplomatic warfare, and managed to split the enemy up, all within a month. Our mercenary captains earning huge sums of gold was also a side benefit.

“Now then.”

I drank some wine as I gazed down at the plains. The Sardinian rivers were still flowing. I muttered to myself as I quenched my throat with red wine.

“I am starting to get tired of waiting. Please hurry up and show yourself, Elizabeth.”

I called out to the one person who stood a chance against our Empire.