CH 159

Gulp, gulp!

“Kyah! This water tastes great!” A mercenary exclaimed with admiration after taking a swig of water contained in an oak barrel. He wiped off his chin while taking a deep breath in. Several of his colleagues started to chime in.

“Right? It’s strange, isn’t it? The taste of water seems to have gotten better lately.”

“That's right. Before, it didn’t taste fresh at all even if we boiled it, but nowadays, it tastes extremely refreshing.”

“It feels like all the oil stains in my stomach are being washed away, right?”

“Exactly! I can even poop better.”

“Look at this bastard’s skin. It’s practically glowing. Are you shedding or something?”

In addition to the improvement in taste, the water was even providing a relieving effect for those who struggled with constipation as well. It was to the extent that the sales of simple bars operated by the depot experienced a drastic decrease in their sales.

In the first place, mercenaries often drank ale because good, fresh water was unavailable. But now that the water tasted so good, there was no reason for them to drink as much ale as before.

“Hoho! What? Why is the water tasting so much better you ask? I know the reason.” one of the knights declared proudly, and the soldiers gathered around him with round eyes.

“What is it?”

“Did they add something to the water? Maybe the spit of beautiful noble ladies?”

“You dirty bastard!”

“That would be considered a reward in our industry.”

“Puhahahahaha!”

“You crazy bastards. That’s not it.” The knight grinned before taking a serious expression. Afterward, he continued. “Are you guys aware? Rumors are circulating among the nobles that Sir Eugene, no, His Excellency the Duke captured an evil spirit and led it to enlightenment.”

“What?”

“A-an evil spirit? Sir, is that really true?”

The expressions of the mercenaries underwent rapid change. They were highly superstitious. It was no different from a foregone conclusion among the mercenaries that an army possessed by an evil spirit would lose their battles.

“That’s right. However, His Excellency captured the insidious spirit and purified it himself,” the knight said.

“Ohhh! Just what I would expect!”

“If it’s His Excellency Eugene, I’m certain he’s capable of doing something like that.” The expressions of the mercenaries brightened. Strictly speaking, vampires weren’t that much different from evil spirits, but from their experience thus far, Eugene was completely different from the evil vampires that the church condemned.

Eugene was no different from a reaper to the enemy, but to his subordinates, he was the most reliable commander and the fairest monarch. Moreover, he was even capable of walking around during the day. There was even a rumor among the mercenaries.

- His Excellency Eugene is a vampire loved by god.

It was common sense that vampires were afraid of sunlight, so there were no other possible explanations for the extraordinary phenomenon. As such, it was completely reasonable for Eugene to possess the ability to purify evil spirits.

“But what does that have to do with the taste of water?” one of the mercenaries asked.

The knight responded, “Hoho! Well, it turns out that His Excellency showed mercy to the evil spirit. On the condition of sparing its life, His Excellency Eugene commanded the spirit to purify the water using its powers. Now that it’s been purified, it’s not an evil spirit anymore, but a noble spirit instead.”

Ooooh!!!

The mercenaries exclaimed after discovering the true reason behind the improved taste of water.

“Isn’t he such an amazing man? His Excellency made that decision, not for himself, but for all of us,” the knight said with a deep sigh of respect.

The mercenaries nodded with understanding. They were moved by the duke’s thoughtfulness.

He was a commander who prioritized his men before himself! They had always imagined that such an ideal hero could only be found in stories. However, they realized that they were already serving such a great, benevolent man. Of course, in truth, their hero wasn’t nearly as generous or as ideal as they thought him to be.

***

“The loyalty and the morale of the troops have increased significantly since the water changed.”

“Good. Great work.”

“Yes, sir.”

Partec, who had been assigned as one of the squad captains of the army, saluted before leaving. Eugene smiled with satisfaction. “Hoho! With this, the soldiers won’t be getting any more stomach aches. Their fighting power will increase as well, right?” 

“Naturally. They will be fighting for us for a long time. Even if just one or two people get sick, it takes no time for the disease to spread to countless others,” Lanslo responded.

“Before, a lot of them were having a hard time because of the water. I’m glad I became a vampire. I don’t have to worry about those things. Hehe.” Galfredik grinned. Vampires were mostly immune to poisons and diseases that were otherwise fatal to humans.

“Anyway, at this rate, you won’t have to worry about the morale of the troops.” Lanslo’s advice had been spot on. He had a good grasp of many details and knowledge pertaining to the problems that an army would face in Brantia.

Eugene’s army consisted of 300 mercenaries from Brantia and soldiers from the Caylor Kingdom. Change in food was tolerable, but a person would usually be greatly affected by any changes in their drinking water. As such, quite a few soldiers in Eugene’s army had been suffering from the change in water.

Eugene decided to prioritize the sick soldiers with Mirian’s purified water, and as a result, their stomach troubles were completely eliminated and Partec even claimed that their loyalty had shot up as well.

“They’ll fight better in the future if fewer of them are sick. Like a faithful steed.” Eugene didn’t supply the troops with purified drinking water because he cared for them or because he felt pity.

It was simply because he would benefit the most if his subordinates were at their best during battles. Eugene was simply trying to stick to that principle.

“It’s a very calculating and cold judgment, but very few nobles ever manage to follow it through. Your Excellency is quite special. Hahaha.” Lanslo said with a chuckle.

“I am? Those who are ignorant of such simple facts and fail to abide by them are the ones who are truly special, wouldn’t you say?” Eugene responded. It seemed as if he genuinely couldn’t understand what Lanslo was talking about.

Lanslo and Galfredik laughed while sharing a gaze. Perhaps their employer and master was even more special because of this. He could easily carry out tasks which were known to everyone but nearly impossible to accomplish because of their personal greed. Even if his purpose was for his own benefit, such things were difficult to pursue and accomplish. No, rather, he was even more special because he was always pursuing tasks that would further benefit him.

“Luke. The map,” Eugene called out.

“Yes, Master!” Luke hurriedly laid out a map of Brantia. He looked extremely proud of his master.

“Hmmm. So with this, have we conquered about thirty percent of Brantia’s mainland? Eugene asked.

Lanslo responded while dragging his finger across the map, “Yes. From here to here, most of Brantia’s Southwest has become your territory.”

“It’s difficult to tell from the map. How wide is it?” Eugene asked.

“It’s about twice the size of the Winslon County. It’s even larger than the entirety of the Carls Baggins Peninsula,” Lanslo remarked.

“Hooh.” Eugene’s eyes glimmered with a light. His territory had expanded quite dramatically. It could even be called a nation right now.

“There are more than twenty lords in the territory, and there are three large territories like the Riwad Barony. In fact, all the families that possessed this much land in the history of Brantia claimed themselves king and established dynasties,” Lanslo explained.

“I see. What if we compare it to the Kingdom of Caylor?” Eugene asked.

Lanslo smiled awkwardly in response. “The Caylor Kingdom can be counted as one of the five most powerful nations on the continent. We would need to unite Brantia for us to compare to them.”

“No, I don’t quite think so.” Galfredik stepped forward while shaking his head. Then, he continued. “As you know, Master, the royal family of the Caylor Kingdom has no control over the free cities, let alone the great nobles. Even Maren and Moffern have no respect for the royal family, right? On the other hand, you have already acquired two Brantian cities. In terms of true influence and strength, I think you have already surpassed the royal family of the Caylor Kingdom.”

“Hmmm. Sir Galfredik’s words make sense as well,” Lanslo said, nodding.

“I see,” Eugene muttered. Only calm could be found on his face, even though he had managed to crawl his way up to greatness from nothing.

Lanslo spoke in a rather serious tone, “Why don’t we stop here for now and strengthen our influence within the territory? We can establish clear boundaries and completely annihilate the bandits and the roamers in the territory. Oh, and I recommend subjugating the evil lands once as well.”

“Hmmm. Obviously, we have more land now, but it’s not completely stable. I agree with Lanslo’s words.”

“I think Sir Drak’s opinion is valid, but I will follow your will, Master.”

Galfredik and Luke seemed to agree with Lanslo’s words.

“Hmm.” Eugene looked over the map of Brantia before raising his head.

“No, we won’t stop here.” Eugene decided.

“What?”

The three people were quite surprised. Eugene continued in a firm voice. “What all of you were thinking just now, the ones who call themselves the king of Brantia would have similar thoughts, right?”

“Well, I guess…”

“That’s more the reason why we should not stop right now. What happens when a storm settles in one place? It subsides and weakens. The same applies to us as well. Resting here will only work to suppress our momentum,” Eugene explained.

“Hooh!”

“As expected of my master!”

The three men exclaimed while sharing glances. Eugene looked at each of them for a while before he continued. “Galfredik, Lanslo, you will continue the conquest by my side. First, we will settle the ransom with the Fransil family and decide from their reaction whether to fight or to ally with them.”

“Kuhehe! As you wish, master!” Galfredik roared.

“I understand. And after that, I assume…” Lanslo said with a grin. 

Eugene nodded. “That’s right.  We’ll pay a visit to the Bayman Orcs.” There were other human forces claiming themselves to be king aside from the Fransil family, but they were weaker than the Bayman Orcs. Moreover, the human forces were more reliant on their cause and heritage as descendants of the past dynasties, while the orcs relied on their power. The Bayman Orcs were the true lords of Northern Brantia.

“Excuse me, Master, but what am I supposed to do?” Luke asked cautiously. As Eugene’s aide, his desire was to stay and fight by his master’s side.

Eugene looked at him with a blank expression and answered, “Isn’t it obvious? You’ll be in charge of stabilizing the territory and subjugating evil lands.”

“What? I-I will?” Luke asked.

“That’s right. You’re the only one to whom the Brantians can bow their heads without complaint, right? Your Excellency Crawlmarine,” Eugene teased.

“Ah…” Luke felt embarrassed, flustered, and disappointed as well.

Eugene grinned. “I will give you the Brantian troops and Randolph. Get some advice from Pythamoras and handle it on your own. You must rally the city leaders and all the lords. It won’t be easy, but I…”

Thud!

Eugene placed his hand on Luke’s shoulder and spoke with a solemn, serious expression, “I believe in you.”

“…!”

I believe in you~ believe in you~ believe in you~ believe in you~

Eugene’s voice echoed in Luke’s head. Simultaneously, Luke’s heart started to race and his eyes turned red. His loyalty toward his master burned bright like an unrelenting flame as he felt a surge of overwhelming emotions.

Luke kneeled down in front of Eugene while rubbing his eyes to prevent tears from flowing. “As your aide and the Count of Crawlmarine! I will dedicate my life and my soul to live up to your expectations, Master!”

“Yes. I believe in you.” Eugene nodded in a truly duke-like manner, with the utmost dignity and solemnity.

But his heart was filled with insidious laughter…

‘With this, I’ve taken care of the most cumbersome task. Well, you’ll have to take care of these things in the future until you die, so consider it practice.’

As expected, Eugene had never been the one to take a loss.

“Then let’s depart right away.” Eugene said. The two knights left immediately and conveyed Eugene’s orders to the squad captains. A little later, Eugene’s army was divided into two. The Brantian troops followed Luke and Randolph, while the others were left under Eugene’s command.

“You bastards! We’re setting off!”

Uwaaaah!!!

The troops roared in response. They were filled with the determination to succeed in life and become rich. Everyone’s morale was shooting through the roof. They were confident in successfully carrying out any tasks they were assigned.

However…

“Kieeeee… Kihehuehuu! Please save me. My body is rotting. My body is deteriorating. I want to play. I want to rest. Sir, please. I beg of you.” The evil gold spirit, or rather, the water spirit begged while sobbing. After working hard twelve hours a day in dirty water, the spirit had finally become faithful to its original attribute.

“I will cut it down to eight depending on your attitude,” Eugene responded.

“Kiheeeeeuu! Thank you. Sir, you are the only one for me. Please forgive this foolish spirit for being so dumb. Kieeewaaaahhhh!”

It was slightly heart-wrenching to see the spirit kneeling and repenting after being served justice.

“Good. I will place two gold coins in your safe every month. If you are obedient to me until you grow up, I will give you possession of everything I deposited all at once,” Eugene said.

“S-sirrrrr!” The spirit rubbed her face against Eugene’s bosom.

Lanslo whispered to Galfredik while watching the scene play out, “He certainly knows how to handle children, right?”

Galfredik responded, “Yeah. I feel bad for his future children. They will play in their father's palm until they die.”

***

A few days later, Eugene and his troops once again arrived near the Batla Duchy. He encountered a group of troops patrolling the territory.

“We report to the duke!” The reconnaissance captain hurriedly kneeled before Eugene.

“Hmm? Did something happen to the castle?” Eugene asked.

“That’s not it. Actually, the one who came to negotiate the ransom for Lady Lorraine…” The reconnaissance captain continued his report, and Eugene’s expression slowly changed.

“So, the eldest son of the Fransil family was taken by the Brodia royal family?” Eugene asked.

“Yes, yes!”

“And those people from the Brodia family… they are telling me to surrender if I want to save my in-law?” Eugene asked.

“T-that’s right.”

“…..”

Eugene was wondering if his hearing had gone bad.

‘In-laws? The Fransil family? Then that girl…’

Eugene's eyes naturally turned toward Lorraine. Lorraine had been rather depressed after being forced away from Luke. But when she heard what the reconnaissance captain said, her face turned pale.

“M-m-me? Marry His Excellency the duke? M-me? W-why? Why me… Waaaaahhh!”

“M-my lady.”

Lorraine burst into tears and Bonmer attempted to comfort her.

“Your Excellency, what is going on? I cannot believe that you were going to marry someone from the Fransil family! What about our promise? How dare you weigh such a humble family against Eland?!” Pranbow complained with a stiff expression.

“What? Humble family? Master Pranbow! What did you just say?!”

“How dare you show such disrespect to Master Pranbow!”

Even the elven knights of Eland and the Fransil family’s knights became involved in the argument. Without realizing it, Eugene had become a pervert who was trying to dip his feet into two different families. As expected,