125 – Top (2)
“…?”
One of the scouts who was running at the head of the corps felt something unpleasant and stopped right there.
The scout, who was going with you, wants to ask what’s going on, but he also shuts up because of the unusual energy.
They exchange opinions with each other through glances and gestures.
‘Stop.’
‘I know, there’s someone.’
The footprints are very unnatural.
I have seen a lot of footprints on my way here from Dijon, but they are all along the road.
But now their visible footprints are in the normal direction of the road.
It is not a footprint made by light shoes used by hunters or gatherers. It is clear that it has just been born, since it has not even been weathered at all.
And if you focus your mind on your nose and not your eyes, you’ll even get a bit of iron mixed in with the musty smell from unwashed.
These clues show only one thing: the bandits.
‘I’ll walk calmly pretending not to notice. You go back and let me know.’
‘…Yes.’
However, the scouts, rather than being surprised by the fact, decide to inform the main unit in secret.
As long as the evidence is so close, it is fair to say that the corps has already entered the bandits’ power. Obviously, if there is a band of bandits among those numerous bushes, if they make a fuss here, something will happen and they may not be able to tell this information to the main squad. Rather than seeing such a situation, it is better to pretend not to know and inform the main unit.
Of course, if you use this method, the upper ranks will go deeper into the thieves’ sphere of influence, but what about it? Even if you say bandits, they’re all Carolingian pigs anyway, so if you call us, no, Rotaring people won’t be able to compete.
…………
“Hee, hee!”
“It’s futile.”
The country baron’s plan, of course, failed spectacularly.
The 100 thieves, or soldiers, barely prepared by the baron by scraping the territory far and wide were unable to deal with Rotaring’s official guild, or more precisely, the guild armed corps.
The baron’s vassal saw that there were only 10 escorts at the top and thought there were 10 armed men at the top, but that was a big mistake.
Since the days of the Principality of Burgon, the predecessor of the Kingdom of Rotaring, the Merchants of Rotaring, who only had enemies around them, were forced to develop at least, no, general soldier-level skills in order to go outside the border.
Of course, not only that, but there are a lot of merchants who have served as soldiers in this guild. Of course, I was drafted because I was not professionally paid and served as a soldier, but because I had historically fought many wars with neighboring countries. There is a huge difference in military capabilities.
Of course, no matter how good a merchant is, they can’t take military command because they’ve never served as soldiers.
The military officers of Rotaring, who had nothing to do because there was no war in the country, participated in the guild as escorts before the military academy opened and were accumulating experience as a side job and combat. It became a tragedy.
“How do I do these things? Slaves… Are impossible because they are not pagans.”
“Wouldn’t it be better to just kill them? You never know what might happen if you let them go.”
“That’s right. I could steal again, so even the lord around here wouldn’t be able to speak if he had a mouth.”
In front of the subdued bandits, the merchants show different reactions. Some of them tried to make them slaves, but they hurriedly turned away for fear of being informed, while other merchants suggested killing all the bandits because they were too wasteful to feed them and too cumbersome to drag them along.
“Hmm… No, I’d rather blame the lord for not keeping the peace—- Wait, isn’t that a bit strange?”
At that time, the merchant, thinking of blaming the lord for the crimes of the bandits and receiving compensation, is slightly surprised as if he has realized something.
“Yes?”
“Let’s say it’s true that bandits are rampant because the country is going crazy. But even so, there’s no reason for bandits to be here. Take a look around.”
“…That makes sense.”
The military officer, who had tilted his head at the sound of a thicket, is convinced when he sees the scenery that catches his eye.
This is completely rural. It’s no place for bandits.
No matter how much the thieves only rob the weak, shouldn’t the weak have some benefit? Merchants passing through this place are only our Rotaring merchants who have to urgently cross Carolingian due to political reasons.
There are two main possibilities.
First, if this gang of bandits is just an idiot bandit who can’t tell the difference between heaven and earth.
Secondly… If nearby villagers who were originally unwilling to steal changed their minds when they saw our wealthy caravan.
“Hey.”
“Kill, please don’t kill… Please…”
“If you answer me, I won’t kill you. Where are the bandits from?”
“Yes?”
“Hmm… Then who instigated you?”
“N, yes…?”
“…You know something. Tell me everything you know.”
The military officer, who briefly interrogated the trembling thief, thinks of someone as soon as the second sentence is over, but soon sees the thief pretending not to know, and puts the latter possibility.
“I-I… I don’t know anything… I really– I’m sorry…”
“There are a lot of people. Next, I will ask you.”
“Hee, hee hee…”
A military officer who cut off half of the head of a mute thief points his sword at the thief next to him.
The thief, no, the soldier wearing the mask of a thief is terrified and can no longer hide his identity.
…………
“…What?”
A messenger came in a hurry from the guild that was sent to support the rebels, so I wondered what was going on… What?
“…It is said that it was occupied beyond simple occupation.”
The report sent by the corps was very shocking.
The lord tried to rob the upper rank by disguising soldiers as bandits, and the upper rank easily subdued the soldiers disguised as bandits, and then, conversely, they attacked the castle of the lord who tried such a foolish thing and captured the castle through a siege. Did. It was said that there were enough weapons because the guild was loaded with weapons to support the rebels.
And it is said that our greedy Scrooges, in order to make up for the damage caused by the thieves and the siege, completely stripped the aristocrat and even robbed the aristocrat of all the clothes he was wearing.
Even so, the noble was so poor that he couldn’t make up for the loss of the guild, and as a result, the guild chose to devour the noble’s territory. The aristocrat and family were decapitated on the spot by an improvised guillotine, as was the tradition of Rotaring.
“Damn it…”
Civilians armed with weapons and waging a war of conquest? What is the East India Company?
As if they knew very well that they had a big accident, the letter sent by the messenger included even a signet ring symbolizing the rule of that territory.
Of course, it is not a beautiful story that merchants give up conquered territories to their masters to fulfill their duty as servants. It was meant as a rough handling of the territory that was already plundered and plundered and was cumbersome to manage.
This… These bastards…
I’d like to break that signet ring right now, but this signet ring is literally a symbol of rule, so such a thing is impossible. Besides, it’s a territory already dedicated to me, so kicking it off would be a very bad look.
“…First of all, what is the reaction of Carolinga and the claimants?”
“Due to the limitations of physical distance, we don’t know what kind of response it will be yet. At least it will take a few weeks to know.”
“Hmm…”
Then, let’s make a plan while anticipating how they will respond.
Of course, there’s no way anyone will react positively, so we’ll have to rule that out and think about it.
…………
“Heh heh heh…”
“Crazy bastards…”
The positive response has returned.
Since the aristocrat advocated neutrality, there was no reason for the claimants to protect it, and since the power was very weak in the first place, not a single claimant would choose the option of worsening relations with Rotaring by defending such a noble. They say it didn’t come out.
Of course, the King of Caroling went on a wild rampage, but the King of Caroling, who was stuck in Lutecia and couldn’t even come out, didn’t show any meaningful action. I was just angry with words.
Anyway, there is only one thing these reactions show, that I came to have effective control of the territory.
‘How can I use this…’
It’s a terribly poor neighborhood, so it doesn’t seem possible to do anything on a grand scale. It is doubtful whether it will be able to properly project administrative power since it is a border area in the first place.
Should I just hand it over to an unimportant vassal who just wants to own the estate and ask him to live there? Being in the middle of Carolingian, it is ambiguous to do something—- huh?
‘In the middle?’
The territory I came across, Baron Barde, is located right in the center of Carolingian.
If you start from there and go to the north, west, southeast, where the claimants are, and to Lutecia, where the Carolingian kings are… Hmm.
I could use this.