CH 151

Once the elders recognized Eugene as Batla’s duke, he entered the castle’s palace along with Lanslo and Luke. The direct descendants of the previous duke had either died in the war or from various diseases. Laplas, the last remaining heir, had also been killed by the lycanthrope king. The elders were left to handle the internal and external matters of the duchy, and Eugene’s succession was completed in a swift manner.

However, the succession ceremony proved to be a bit of a headache. The succession of a ‘true duke' simply couldn’t be performed behind closed doors.

“Please, call in all the nobles and lords in the duchy’s vicinity.”

“Once upon a time, they were all loyal vassals of the duchy. You must summon them here and show them that you have become the master of the duchy. You must let them know that the great duchy of Batla still stands strong and tall.”

The elders shared their opinions. They had been acting proper and thoroughly treating Eugene as the duke immediately after recognizing him as the duke. They were respectful. However, they appeared a little too determined when it came to matters relating to the succession, and Eugene quickly realized the reason behind their attitudes.

“The nobles near the duchy. They must have been acting ill-mannered recently, hmm?” Eugene asked.

“Ah, yes. Yes, that’s right.” The elders were taken aback by Eugene’s straightforwardness. They responded with awkward expressions. However, some of the nobles gathered in the hall looked cheerful. It was clear that they had quite a bit of pent-up emotions.

Unlike their older counterparts, the young nobles liked that the new duke was brave and outspoken.

“Mmhm.” Eugene nodded after a moment of consideration. He continued. “Good. As soon as the date of the succession is confirmed, summon all the nobles.”

“As you wish.”

Everyone’s expressions brightened. They all believed that Eugene was following the elders’ advice to publicize the duchy’s ascent to prominence once again while spreading his own fame.

However, Eugene possessed different intentions.

“Those who do not answer the summons. Those who do not attend personally and send their agents instead. I will personally go and find them,” Eugene said.

“What?” the elders responded. Sure enough, their eyes were filled with confusion and shock.

“Why are you all acting so surprised? Isn’t this a good opportunity to determine who is loyal and who is not?” Eugene asked.

“That’s true, but…”

“With all due respect, may I ask what you intend to do after personally going to see them?” one of the elders asked.

“I will discipline them. By force, if necessary,” Eugene answered.

“…!”

The faces of the elders quickly turned stiff.

“What a sound judgment, Your Excellency!”

“They must be severely reprimanded for their contemptuous behaviors toward Your Excellency and the Great Duchy of Batla!”

On the other hand, the young nobles raised their voices with great excitement. Eugene calmed the young nobles by raising his hand, then he turned toward the elders. The duchy’s elders looked rather forlorn.

Eugene spoke, “Why? Is there a problem?”

“Well… With all due respect, I believe it might be better to be more lenient with them for now.”

“If you are too harsh with them, the nobles might become anxious and make inappropriate judgements, Your Excellency,” one of the elders responded.

“Inappropriate judgements? What would that be?” Eugene asked.

The elder hesitated for a moment before bowing his head and giving a response, “Well… They… might dare to challenge the duchy or…”

“This inappropriate judgement you talk about. I think it has already been made,” Eugene responded.

“What?!”

“W-what do you mean by that!?”

The nobles started whispering among themselves. 

Eugene turned his eyes toward Luke. “Bring the prisoners we captured earlier. Their equipment as well.” Eugene commanded.

Luke responded, “Yes, Master.”

Soon, the mercenaries and beowulf warriors brought the prisoners they captured in the earlier battle into the great hall.

“Keugh!”

Some grunted when they were thrown to the floor like luggage. These prisoners were those who had been wearing chainmail during the battle.

Eugene was convinced that they weren’t ordinary bandits. He descended from the throne and stood before the prisoners while the people of the duchy silently observed. The prisoners trembled with fear and turned their heads away as soon as they met Eugene’s gaze. It seemed that the memory of their crushing defeat was still fresh in their minds.

“You all. Are you mercenaries?” Eugene asked. The majority of the prisoners flinched at Eugene’s question. However, one remained steadfast and answered Eugene’s question with a determined expression.

“That’s right.”

“I see. Where did you get that armor?” Eugene asked.

“I looted it by winning a battle against a nameless knight,” the man answered.

“When?” Eugene asked.

“It has been about a month,” the man answered in a confident manner. However, Eugene noticed that his gaze and voice were quivering ever so slightly.

“One month...” Eugene murmured softly before turning to Vyort.

“Sir. These men. How many times have they attacked the duchy thus far?” Eugene asked.

“What? Ah, four times, including today,” Vyort answered.

“Four times. Some of those battles must have been quite fierce, correct?” Eugene asked.

“That’s right,” Vyort answered.

Eugene once again turned his gaze to the prisoners and smiled while revealing his fangs. “Four battles in a month, and you are a mercenary who never wore chainmail until a month ago. Considering that, your armor seemed to be in pristine condition.”

“…!”

“Bring their equipment,” Eugene spoke up.

The mercenaries stepped forward and laid down the prisoners’ weapons and armor as if they had been waiting. Eugene raised a chainmail and a longsword and made it visible to everyone.

“An ordinary mercenary could never take care of their armor like this. It would be difficult even on the continent, so it seems to me that it would be even harder for a Brantian mercenary. The condition of the armor seems irregular, especially considering that you have been wearing it continuously for a month’s worth of battles,” Eugene said.

The prisoner’s proud expression slowly dissipated along with Eugene’s words.

Thud!

Eugene tossed the armor in front of the prisoner before continuing coldly. “Answer me properly when I have given you the chance to receive a knight’s treatment, sir. Who are you?”

Droplets started forming on the man’s forehead and his eyes started to quiver noticeably. It was enough to confirm Eugene’s suspicions in front of everyone else. The prisoners in front of them weren’t mere bandits nor mercenaries.

“I-I…” The prisoner stuttered with trembling eyes.

Eugene spoke while slightly enabling his fear, “On your honor, and on your family’s name. Swear it first. Swear that you will only tell the truth. Or else...”

“Keugh!” The prisoner’s expression distorted, and he bit his lips. Blood started to drip down his chin, and he finally bowed his head after tightly closing his eyes.                                                                                    

“I am Roberi, a knight of Baron Mondelio. Keugh!”

“H-how could that be?!”

“Baron Mondelio?!”

The nobles shouted with disbelief. Soon, however, their shock transformed into anger.

“How dare that man?!”

“I knew there was something going on! He was the only one to turn down the duchy’s request for support during the last war, wasn’t he?”

“Regardless of how long it had been since they separated from the duchy, how could he forego the vows of our predecessors?!”

The nobles shouted angrily with fierce eyes and condemned Barno Mondelio. Then, they turned their gazes onto the prisoners.

“You dishonorable bunch! He who knows no grace is no better than a mere beast!”

“And you dare to call yourselves knight?! Do you feel no shame to stand before the gods and the spirits?!”

“Your Excellency! Please allow me to slit the throats of these beasts!”

“We must cut their heads and storm the Mondelio Barony immediately! The justice and honor of the Great Batla Duchy must be exercised!”

The prisoners could only drop their heads and quietly tremble in front of the enraged nobles.

Boom!

“Quiet.” The hall immediately fell into silence once Eugene stamped his foot. Eugene continued while looking around at the nobles, who were huffing and puffing with anger and impatience. “We will send out invitations for the succession ceremony first. Send one to Baron Mondelio as well.”

“With all due respect, Your Excellency, I wonder if it will be necessary to send an invitation to such a crooked, dishonorable man,” one of the elders said with extreme anger.

Eugene turned his gaze towards the elder and responded, “Let me ask you a question. Does the Mondelio Barony stand tall?”

“What?” the elder asked.

“Are their forces strong? The land, is it large and plentiful?” Eugene continued.

“No, not quite. There are only two villages and a few hamlets contained within the barony,” the elder responded. It was as Eugene expected. The Mondelio Barony was comparable to the Tywin territory at best.

“Then, Baron Mondelio would possess, at most, fifty men. Sir Vyort, am I correct?” Eugene asked.

“Hmm. Although it’s hard to say for sure since we haven’t had contact with them for a long time, there should be slightly more than that including the serfs,” Vyort replied.

“I see. However, the ones I defeated today weren’t serfs. They were professional, skilled, and organized.” Eugene pointed out.

“…Hmm?! A-are you saying that…” Vyort shouted after a moment of contemplation.

Eugene answered, “That’s right. About two hundred skilled mercenaries. Do you think Mondelio was capable of hiring and maintaining such a large force?”

“…!”

Vyort came to a realization, and the other nobles followed suit.

“I don’t know who it is, but there’s someone else standing behind Baron Mondelio. They either instigated the entire incident or provided the funds. Either way…” Eugene confirmed their suspicions, then turned to Roberi and the other prisoners before continuing. “Let’s go ahead and identify them before the succession.”

Eugene’s crimson eyes seemed to burn alone in the distant abyss. The prisoners felt a chill run down their backs as they met the vampire’s gaze.

“Kieeeeh. Sir, are you finished? Can I come out now? Oh, never mind.”  The spirit slowly poked her head out of her leather pocket before quickly returning inside.

‘That’s right!’

A sudden idea came to Eugene’s head as he looked down at the spirit with haughty eyes.

***

The next day…

Messengers departed to previous vassals of the duchy and noble families with close ties to the Batla family. The messengers were accompanied by one beowulf warrior each, and they carried Eugene’s handwritten letter. Six days later, they all returned to the duchy’s castle.

The messengers briefed Eugene on the reactions and the movements of the noble families.

As expected, all of them seemed very surprised after hearing the news, and some reacted rather strangely.

“They were asking many questions about Your Excellency. They were persistent.”

“Sir Nosvolta continued to ask questions regarding your army. He also asked how many beowulf warriors were present.”

“Was it Sithame? The one I met asked me about your status, Dark Lord. They asked me which clan you belonged to and where you stand among your kind. They didn’t even give me any meat.”

“The one I visited kicked me out! He accused me of lying! If it weren’t for what you said, I would have totally bashed his head in! Oh, and he didn’t even give me any meat!”

To sum up the words of the messengers and the beowulfs: half of the nobles showed curiosity and favorability even though they were surprised, while the other half were overly enthusiastic, almost maniacal about obtaining information. Baron Mondelio stood out from the rest of them.

“Mondelio. That beast seemed to have been expecting someone from the duchy.”

“Hooh? Is that so? Wolfgan, what did you think?” Eugene asked. He had assigned one of the elders to relay his message to the Mondelio Barony due to the situation, as well as the brightest and the quickest of the beowulfs, Wolfgan.

“It’s just as the old man says. He was acting very pompous in the beginning, but when he heard that you became Duke Batla, he seemed very surprised and flustered. It was very strange,” Wolfgan responded.

“No, it’s not strange. His reaction was expected.” Eugene pointed out.

“Hmm? How so?”

Everyone appeared rather curious. Suddenly, Mirian started to laugh insidiously from atop Eugene’s shoulder. “Kehehehehehehe! My precious self extracted some top-secret information from those prisoner bastards. Ehem!”

Eugene smirked. However, Mirian was telling the truth. Initially, he thought about meeting with the prisoners one by one and using his charm ability to dig up information, but he came up with an easier, simpler method. He chose to lock the prisoners in a room without any guards and observers, except for one invisible spirit.

As expected, the prisoners started to discuss things that they would never voluntarily reveal and came to decisions, which was relayed to Eugene by Mirian.

“Sir, sir. Now, you know exactly how valuable I am, right? The raccoon or aide number two, those busybodies don’t know anything, do they?! Vassal Gal is basically nothing without his strength! All brawn, no brain! I’m the best! I’m undoubtedly your right-hand spirit! Kihehehehehehehe!” Mirian exclaimed.

Eugene had been about to compliment Mirian but stopped himself after hearing her egoistic holler. He was repulsed by the sight of the spirit arrogantly raising her head. As such, he simply ignored her and spoke to the nobles, “I don’t know who stands behind Baron Mondelio, and the prisoners do not know either. However, I have an idea as to why Barno Mondelio hired mercenaries to attack the duchy repeatedly.”

“Ohh! Is that true!?”

“That’s right. According to Roberi, the baron commanded them to attack the duchy but to never occupy it,” Eugene said.

“Huh?! Why?”

“Why would he do such a thing?”

The nobles expressed their confusion, and Eugene voiced his suspicion. No, he was almost completely certain that his suspicion was the truth. It was the result of combining the information he had obtained from the prisoners and the reports from the messengers.

“What would you have done after being attacked multiple times? When the duchy continues to lose its troops?” Eugene asked.

“Well, we would have likely asked for reinforcements from the neighboring nobles and lords,” one of the nobles answered.

“That’s right. So what if someone offered to help the duchy? What if they offered to clean up the bandits once and for all?” Eugene asked.

“We would have accepted it gladly. But the neighboring lords would have needed to work together to completely annihilate the… Ah!”

“P-perhaps?”

The nobles seemed to arrive at the same conclusion. Eugene nodded. “Yes. A family powerful enough to guarantee the duchy’s safety. A family rich enough to provide Baron Mondelio with enough money to hire hundreds of mercenaries. A family that wants the cooperation of the duchy rather than its demise. As far as I know, there are few such noble families in Brantia. And all of them have one thing in common…”

“T-those who are after the throne?!”

Finally, the answer came to light.