I Became the Master of the Empress chapter 155

155 – 159

Sabinele hurriedly organized the front lines and made the decision to retreat.

Although it was Sabinele’s unilateral decision, it was when she thought for herself. Right now, Johannes is in danger.

“Our army consists mostly of mercenaries. If Byzantium falls and cannot pay their wages, who knows what the mercenaries might do.”

Remembering that the main mercenary forces were included when Johannes called up the troops, Sabinele immediately issued orders out of urgent concern for the lord’s safety.

“Prepare for a full retreat, we are escaping outside of Dufo.”

And so, preparations for retreat at the Dufo front line began.

“Lord Johannes… I hope you remain safe until I return…”

***

Upon hearing the news of Byzantium under attack, Johannes felt anxious. If Byzantium falls, the war will end in his defeat.

Capturing the capital of a country is no easy task.

Even Thessalonica, a significant city in Adrian, is not easily conquered, but Byzantium seemed destined to fall.

“My goodness… they must have been preparing this before forming an alliance with the United Kingdom.”

The army of Nicaea is currently pushing forward recklessly.

To the extent that soldiers have died from exhaustion and overexertion.

Actions that would not normally be taken for morale are now necessary in this urgent moment.

There are only five days left now.

“The worst… seems to have been avoided.”

Lately, Johannes has been having nightmares in his sleep.

Dreams of Byzantium falling and himself being dragged to the gallows.

When he wakes from that dream, drenched in cold sweat, he considers himself fortunate that such a thing hasn’t happened.

– “Your Majesty, the scouts have returned.”

Upon hearing the words from outside, Johannes speaks.

“Tell them to come in.”

With trepidation, the scouts enter and report to Johannes.

“Your Majesty! It’s… it’s a disaster.”

Johannes feels unease at the ominous tone of the messenger.

– “Why such alarm? Could it be that Byzantium has fallen?”

Johannes intuitively senses that his fears have become reality.

He takes a deep breath and speaks slowly.

“Tell me… what happened?”

“The… the Imperial flag was seen planted in Byzantium.”

– “Wha… what does that mean? It’s unbelievable!”

– “Does that mean we won’t even receive supplies?”

Upon hearing that Byzantium has fallen, Johannes and everyone under his command feel despair.

***

Meanwhile, Agrifa, who captured Byzantium, is preparing for a siege.

Since the enemy could arrive here soon, we have been transporting war supplies to Byzantium through the port, and have been managing security since Byzantium fell not long ago.

“Hmm… They are nearby.”

According to the scout’s report, I nod at the news that the enemies have come close.

“If they have come this quickly, they must have forced march, waiting for the enemies to tire out. Should we attack? Or should we wait a bit?”

Although it’s hard to know how much supplies the enemies have, I know well that they won’t last long.

Fighting with exhausted enemies is not bad, but Agrippa, thinking that facing enemies who are starving and weak is a better choice, erases the attack plan from his mind.

***

The camp of Nicaea.

The leaders of the mercenary groups are gathered for a secret meeting.

An orc in his 50s wearing a turban speaks up.

“Did you hear the news? They say Byzantium has fallen.”

“I heard too. So what about our pay?”

Mercenary groups hired on the condition of receiving upfront payment and weekly wages when first employed.

With the Byzantine bank, which paid them, falling to the enemy, they become anxious, thinking they might not receive their wages.

“We probably won’t get paid. And this war is already over. I heard that the city responsible for supplying the Nicaean army is Byzantium. If that place is taken, the army will soon dissolve.”

Looking at the orc who speaks eloquently and nobly, contrary to appearances, the other leaders nod.

“Damn. We came here to make a fortune. But I heard things are not good in Babylon now? It’s said that other demons have appeared, causing swarms of locusts to devour all the food.”

Everyone’s faces become worried at his words.

“This is outrageous… It’s absurd not to get paid. We outnumber Nicaea, so should we just overthrow them?”

When a certain mercenary leader with a treacherous face speaks, the room falls silent.

“If they have no money to give us, then we must collect it ourselves, right?”

All eyes turn to the orc as he speaks.

“If we bring Nicaea’s king’s head to the empire, who lost in the war, won’t they open the doors for us to return home?”

To return home, they must pass through Byzantium.

But now that the imperial army has taken over, they cannot return to Babylon without their permission.

“Hmm…”

At the orc’s words, everyone falls into various thoughts.

“Isn’t that so? Instead of unnecessarily fighting the imperial army, why don’t we offer Johannes’ head and ask to pass through, while plundering Nicaean cities and castles on the way back? I heard Nicaea has plenty of food unlike Babylon, so it could be quite profitable.”

In reality, there is a lot of food stored in the granaries.

If they take it to Babylon, they can earn a good profit.

“So should we do this? Killing Nicaea’s king, sending his head to the empire, and heading to Babylon, looting Nicaea’s cities and castles on the way back? No one will dare to question us, right?”

The civil war in the empire has not ended long ago.

Moreover, from the empire’s perspective, Nicaea is a rebellious kingdom, so unless the mercenaries provoke a war by looting, the empire is unlikely to attack them, with a feeble sense of reasoning.

“Sounds good, right? When shall we fight? I didn’t like the Nicaean brats causing trouble either.”

The empire, or rather Nicaea and Babylonians, harbor mutual hatred.

One reason is that it’s hard to view favorably the Babylonian imperial people who frequently invade Nicaea, and the Babylonians feel threatened by the fact that without the empire, they are just a small country trying to equal a powerful nation.

“Hoho, first inform the lads. Nicaean fellows are completely exhausted now, right? How about tonight at dawn?”

Everyone nods at the human mercenary’s words.

“Then let’s each prepare well, and meet at dawn, alright?”

And with that, the mercenary leaders disperse in all directions.

King Ioannes of Nicaea.

He is now lying in bed almost naked, sleeping with Olivia.

Needing a woman due to the intense stress of Byzantium being captured.

After a violent round of lovemaking, he could barely fall asleep.

And there was Olivia, the beautiful woman who relieved his stress.

She peacefully sleeps in Ioannes’ embrace.

– Argh!

– Yo… Mercenaries killed someone… Ugh!

– What… What is it!

As the surroundings grew noisy, Ioannes and Olivia woke up from their sleep.

– It’s a rebellion! The mercenaries have rebelled!

“Your Highness?”

Screams and shouts coming from the surroundings.

– Ding ding!

The bell ringing loudly when under attack by the enemy…

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“What… What’s all this commotion?”

Ioannes, barely awake, sees a soldier rushing into the tent.

“Your Highness! It’s a disaster! The mercenaries have rebelled!”

“What… What?!”

“You… Your Highness?!”

Pale-faced Ioannes and Olivia urgently get out of bed, revealing their nakedness.

“Rebellion?! But now that…”

Ioannes, hastily putting on clothes, tries to put on his armor, but…

“Aargh!”

Mercenaries entering the tent.

“Oh? Your Highness? Are you well? We’re fighting for our lives here, and Your Highness is sleeping with a woman by your side, I envy that.”

A sly-looking mercenary steps forward and speaks, prompting Ioannes to shout in anger.

“What… What dishonorable act is this?! Do you know nothing of honor?!”

But whether it was amusing or not, the mercenaries burst into laughter.

“hahahaha, honor? We are mercenaries who only know money. But what should we do now? It seems like we won’t get paid this week.”

Upon hearing this, Ioannes frowns.

“What? Do you think I, the King of Nicaea, can’t pay you?!”

At his words, the mercenaries laugh mockingly.

“Byzantium has fallen, so you probably have no money to pay us, how can you pay us our wages?”

To this, Ioannes shouts in disbelief.

“Byzantium may have fallen, but I still have a vast territory… Argh!”

But Ioannes couldn’t finish his sentence.

“Shut up, you’re finished.”

A treacherous-faced mercenary stabs Ioannes in the chest with a long spear.

“Ugh… like this…”

Olivia screamed as she watched Johannes grimacing in pain and bleeding.

“Ahh! Your Highness! Your Highness! Ugh!”

The mercenary supporting Johannes urgently, while another mercenary grabbed Olivia by the back of her head.

“You look a bit familiar? Are you Johannes’ concubine, Olivia?”

“Let go of this!”

“They say the luxurious sword used by the king is made of gold, shall we check it out?”

With that, the mercenary threw Olivia onto the bed.

And Johannes, bleeding, slowly losing warmth as he stood.

That’s how the king of Nikea passed away.

***

A few days later, a report reached Agrifa.

Upon hearing the news that Babylon’s mercenaries had killed Johannes and were heading south to attack the city, Agrifa was taken aback.

“What? Is this true?”

Agrifa, who knew mercenaries tended to save themselves in times of crisis, was thrown into confusion.

‘What should I do now?’

Agrifa, lost in thought, clutching his head with his hands.

Killing Johannes was expected, but neither Agrifa nor Devian had thought about Babylonian mercenaries being the ones to do it, as they had planned to bring him to Rome for a trial and judgment to pass a verdict of justice…

Agrifa now felt confused in this situation.

-Knock, knock!

At that moment, a knock was heard.

“Who is it?”

Agrifa’s voice, now on high alert, echoed through the study.

-Commander… Babylon’s mercenaries have sent gifts and a letter.

Taken aback by the unexpected words, Agrifa hurriedly responded, “Come in.”

As he finished speaking, the study door opened, and two black-haired men wearing Babylon’s distinctive armor with thick leather and metal studs entered.

“Hello. We have brought gifts and a letter on behalf of our leader.”

Agrifa, seeing one of them carrying a rather hefty box, raised an eyebrow.

“Show me the letter.”

When Agrifa reached out his hand, the mercenary handed over the letter, neatly folded and sealed.

[To Imperial Commander Agrifa Ryan.]

Greetings. I am Al Quarizmir, a Babylonian. I am currently serving as the temporary commander of the Babylonian mercenary corps.

The reason for sending this letter is to inform you that we have no intention of fighting against the Empire.

We only participated because the treacherous Johannes was attacking the Duchy of Duopolis, and we followed his orders out of necessity, not to incite civil war against the Empire.

However, now that we are here, we cannot return, so we simply followed the orders of the evil Johannes.

We have no desire to involve ourselves in the Empire’s civil war.

Perhaps you may not believe our words, so we have sent a small gift in the hopes that you will be pleased.

I hope that with this gift, our unfortunate selves can safely return to our homeland. Please provide us with the necessary assistance.

[Babylon Mercenary Al Quarizmi Offering]

Upon hearing those words, Agrippa felt deep offense.

“My goodness! They wrote it so pretentiously on the surface.”

With that thought in mind, he curiously asked about the gift.

“What on earth is this gift?”

As Agrippa spoke, the messenger approached and opened the box…

Upon seeing its contents, Agrippa had no choice but to rise abruptly from his seat.

Well, that’s because…

It contained the distorted supply of the suffering Johannes.