227 – Honey Bucket Only for Family Members
In the past, when Dalton and I were mercenaries, we could drink and have fun after the war.
But that was a long time ago, and now that we are both barons, we cannot rest immediately after victory.
Why? Because my body has become one that needs minimal cleaning done.
“Now, Count Hansa, please come in here.”
Having said that, I applied a little pressure to Count Hansa, but very politely signaled him to come over.
It’s a bit funny to be polite to a count who seems to have already fallen off his leash, but…
I’m saying this because I have my own thoughts.
“First of all, there was an unfortunate situation between us, so shouldn’t we resolve it first? Isn’t that right, Baron Maurer?”
Dalton nodded his head.
“It is as you said, Baron Cologne. “I will treat you respectfully according to custom, but first, like a man, I need to relieve my anger.”
In this world, it is customary to capture nobles such as knights, barons, and viscounts and treat them with respect.
On the surface, it’s like a bunch of sports players drinking together and pretending to praise each other’s dancing and judgment.
In reality, it is a vain attempt by the winner to pretend that ‘I am generous.’
“Okay, then. I, Martin, will make a very generous offer to our Count Hansa.”
Count Hansa’s expression suddenly crumpled.
Hey, that crazy bastard who tried to rape not only our Young Ji-min but also Karin and Lucia is frowning.
I really want to kill you right now.
However, if I cannot suppress my angry feelings for a moment and swing the knife, I also become dangerous.
“Count, please sign here first.”
Count Hansa suddenly started running wild like a mad cow.
“No matter how much of a prisoner I am, I am a noble of the empire in name and name! “How can you ask me to sign such a humiliating statement?”
Well, it’s a document that says he will spare the vassals, the Count himself, and even his family in return for admitting what he did anyway.
I don’t know why you’re trying to turn down such a great opportunity.
Ah, did you realize that I was going to kill that nobleman and all his vassals?
“Even though the nobleman of the Rhine Palatinate Empire is currently in the middle of a civil war. “Can you possibly lead a large-scale massacre in the Barony of Maurer?”
“It’s just a matter of making small sacrifices for the greater good!”
That’s true, it’s a good word to beat until your bones turn to dust.
“Didn’t you try to rape and plunder? “Hey, that’s not something an imperial count would do.”
I also don’t make fun of nobles.
However, the string has completely fallen off, and no matter what I do here, my remarks will not leak out.
It seems obvious that Count Hansa will go to hell like this, so he has no reason not to ridicule.
“Won’t you do something to save your life?”
I don’t know if it was Count Hansa’s arbitrariness or not that that nobleman invaded alone…
What is clear is that he was so blinded by his desire to somehow get his first victory that he did something crazy that he should never have done.
The nobleman under the emperor, who was supposed to be the ’emperor of the empire,’ openly released soldiers to plunder, rape, and murder.
Well, in this era of war, this is not a routine behavior, but it is not something to be criticized, but to become an emperor, you need a minimum level of honor.
The minimum is not to shoot at your own country, even if you don’t know about other people’s countries, and you broke that…
Even if that guy had actually succeeded in defeating us and returned, this would have held him back and he would have been purged.
“If you just sign and stamp this statement, I will not harm you, Count. Even if we take over the Hansa County, we will even give you money for the Count, his vassals, and their dependents to go into exile.”
Count Hansa gritted his teeth upon hearing what I said.
But what can he do?
As I said, there is no other option for that person today than this.
“Well, let’s do that.”
“Okay, let’s go ahead and sign.”
The Count signed in style with his feather pen and then was taken away by the knights outside.
“Martin, what on earth are you thinking?”
If any other nobleman had told me in this situation that I would save the count, I might have slapped him in the face, to be honest, since we were both barons.
If someone had told me that I would spare the life of the person who tried to rape Karin, I would have planned to kill him half-heartedly without any hesitation.
Even though he was beaten so badly, he probably couldn’t say anything, and he probably just buried it.
So, instead of swearing, I could feel his deep trust in me when he asked me why I did that.
Now, we should first eliminate the biggest misunderstanding.
“I will kill the earl, his vassals, and their families.”
At those words, Dalton’s expression softened slightly.
“Honestly, the two of us came from being mercenary leaders, so even the high-ranking knights of other families curse us behind our backs, calling us lowly bastards. So, we need to show respect for nobles and protect their honor.”
“That’s right. “Because you need something like that to deal with those damn nobles.”
“Those damn nobles are now us.”
Both Dalton and I laughed at that.
“After we release him, let’s play bandit.”
Anyway, among those guys, there is no one stronger than me right now, and when I send them out, they will take away all their weapons.
So if they pretend to be bandits and someone surprises them, what can they do? I should just die.
“Even after becoming a baron, my personality is so bad?”
“It’s a fitting ending for a guy who tries to rape someone else’s woman. “There’s no objection, right?”
“Oh my gosh, I can’t object because I’m Baron Cologne’s subordinate.”
Dalton and I are practically like family.
And in fact, my importance in life is right below Karin, Hilde, and Lucia, and I guess I am that person to that person.
“So what are you going to do now? Now that we have prevented Count Hansa’s invasion, we must immediately report to Margrave Estelle. Then, we will have to join forces with the reinforcements and occupy the county.”
That is the most standard operation.
However, we can assure you that this is not the type of operation that can bring us great benefits.
“That’s okay too. To be honest, is there really a need for that?”
Dalton tilted his head.
“The name is Earl Territory. And it won’t be that easy to take over…”
Under normal circumstances, it would be very difficult to eat a whole piece of earring.
Without any exaggeration, under normal circumstances, at least 12,000 to 15,000 troops would have to be replaced to make it worthwhile.
So, from the two of us, who are just barons, the combined strength of our troops is 4,000.
It may seem like nothing more than throwing an egg and hitting a rock.
“Don’t those bastards know what the situation is right now? They must have used all their strength to bring in over 15,000 troops. So there won’t be any room for it.”
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Of course, there will be a minimum number of troops to maintain security, and I don’t know if it will be possible to reorganize the troops to stop us around those guys…
That is only possible in theory, but in reality it would be very difficult.
Why? If we threaten to kill everyone if we don’t open the door now, most castles will open the door on their own.
Besides, who are we?
“On the other hand, don’t we have enough resources? Maurer and Cologne Barony together total 4,000. “If you include the serfs who are following us now, there are about 9,000 people.”
Considering the number of people killed or injured in this battle, the actual number of troops is about 7,000.
You can make them look like elites just by giving them armor and weapons captured from the enemy.
And those 7,000 troops will not be able to handle the now empty county territory.
“Well, considering the number of injured and dead, it will be much lower than this. What’s important is that we are the army that defeated the 15,000-strong army that Count Hansa put together with all his soul. So the enemies will see us and get scared. Moreover, his morale is high due to his desire for revenge against the Count Hansa family.”
If you ask people to go take revenge on those who have robbed them of all their wealth and are trying to sell even their family into slavery, their morale will be very high.
“But, shouldn’t we give some compensation to the soldiers? “You won.”
“Based on serf conscripts, 6 gold coins are given to the dead, 4 gold coins to the seriously injured, and 1 gold coin to the regular soldier.”
One gold coin may seem small by the standards of a mercenary or me, but in return for risking one’s life for a day, it is equivalent to receiving a year’s salary by the standards of a serf.
“I will pay this money from the coffers of the Barony of Cologne. “Our estate has quite a lot of money.”
All the public money saved during the time of the Whitebeard Mercenaries went into the Barony’s public funds.
I told you that the amount was enough to run the business without receiving a single penny in taxes from the Barony of Cologne for two years.
And His Majesty the Emperor of Montmartre contributed greatly to this.
“I think this is enough. “Why are we really trying to do this just by ourselves?”
You haven’t told me the reason yet.
“Nothing much, if the two of us stopped an army of 15,000 and ate an entire county, wouldn’t we run out of a lot of breadcrumbs? To be more specific, I will give you about one baronage each.”
From ancient times, it was said that the honey container was to be shared only by oneself and, furthermore, only among family members.
And Dalton and I are not just father-in-law and son-in-law; aren’t we something we can call family in this harsh aristocratic society?
“After getting adequate rest, securing food and supplies, and debriefing, let’s leave right away.”