Chapter 30 - 30 All-or-Nothing Strategy
Amidst rising tensions with the Kingdom of Forest, Aurora received a report that Viscount Karsh had invaded a neighboring domain. The situation came to light when the invaded Baron sought Aurora's help.
Viscount Karsh's justification was that the neighboring territory had trespassed into his lands to hunt, and he was retaliating for the reduction in his people's game. However, no such facts existed. He was being particularly difficult by demanding they prove a negative.
Currently, one village had been occupied by Viscount Karsh. Furthermore, it was reported that he was targeting the next village as well.
Because the Baron's lands did not border the enemy nation, he had not prepared for war. Consequently, his village was occupied by Viscount Karsh in the blink of an eye, and he remained unable to prepare a counterattack.
Viscount Karsh's territory was situated between Margrave Sowell's domain and the Royal Capital. At present, the provincial army's deployment was concentrated at the border; sending reinforcements to the Baron would take time and create a hole in the border defenses.
Aurora decided to immediately consult with Leo, her husband and the supreme commander of the provincial army.
Aurora, Leo, and Harry gathered in her office to discuss Viscount Karsh's mobilization.
"For Viscount Karsh to suddenly invade a neighboring territory... He shouldn't have had any military strength. We had no information that he'd hired mercenaries. It's impossible to hire mercenaries without us detecting it, and above all, he shouldn't have had the money to pay them. Well, we'll verify that on our end, but can I ask you to suppress Viscount Karsh?"
"It means thinning out the provincial army at the border, but it can't be helped. I'll send the soldiers currently in Sowell Land to handle the suppression, and fill the gap they leave with soldiers brought back from the border. Even if we're invaded, as long as we focus on defense, we should be able to buy enough time for them to return after the suppression is over."
"Then I'll leave it to you. Still, if Viscount Karsh moving at this timing isn't a coincidence, something else is likely to happen. Harry, investigate the background of Viscount Karsh's actions immediately. Also, check for similar movements among other nobles, especially those centered around the former Karsh faction."
"Understood."
Harry bowed at Aurora's instructions.
Harry went into action immediately. He dispatched intelligence agents to Viscount Karsh's territory to probe the movements leading up to this mobilization, while using other agents to monitor the activities of the nobility. Leo also led the provincial army toward the suppression of Viscount Karsh.
Meanwhile, Aurora was considering when to play the card known as Steve. If this was enemy sabotage, there was a high probability they would strike with something else. Even though they had moved the provincial army from the border, the difference in power compared to the enemy army wasn't significant.
If so, there must be a plan aimed at further dispersing their forces.
In contrast, Steve should be outside the enemy's calculations, making him an effective card to thwart their designs, but the timing of when to play him was crucial.
Information was necessary to ensure she didn't miss that timing.
As Aurora was pondering this, there was a sudden knock on the office door.
"Ojou-sama, do you have a moment?"
"Yes. What is it, Harry?"
It was Harry who had knocked. He entered the room in a hurry.
"A situation has occurred that requires an immediate report."
"What happened?"
"Baron Benson, Baron Disley, and Baron Hunt have invaded neighboring territories, just like Viscount Karsh."
Those three were nobles of the former Karsh faction. And, just like Viscount Karsh, they had incurred massive losses in copper futures trading and were being strictly managed by Aurora.
"Those three... To prepare military forces despite being strapped for cash and taking action when tensions with the enemy nation are high—this is completely the work of the Kingdom of Forest."
"However, if they maintain a stance of 'I know nothing' like in diplomatic negotiations, it technically falls within the scope of a lord's authority."
"The circumstantial evidence is more than enough. They likely colluded with the enemy nation because they were desperate for money. Now it's become necessary to move more troops from the border to the interior."
"What shall we do?"
What Harry was asking here was whether or not to call for Steve. Naturally, Aurora understood this.
"Dispatch a messenger to the Archibalt Territory. Summon the boy immediately."
"As you wish."
And so, Steve was to be drawn into the conflict.
John, a soldier guarding a fort on the border of Margrave Sowell's territory, was a twenty-one-year-old conscripted farmer. Fighting off post-lunch drowsiness, he looked toward the Kingdom of Forest from the fort's ramparts. He spoke to his colleague next to him, Roman, with a yawn.
"Hey, Roman, do you really think the Kingdom of Forest is gonna attack?"
"The bigwigs seemed pretty tense, but there's no sign of the enemy anywhere. Though, the regulars were saying the noble rebellions happening in the West right now are enemy sabotage. They said if that's true, it means war."
"Why does it mean war if that's true?"
"Don't ask me. I don't understand complicated stuff either. I'm fine as long as I can eat my meals every day, yawn, and make it to the end of my term. I don't think about difficult things."
John agreed with what Roman said. If he could just have three proper meals a day and watch for the enemy from the ramparts until his military service was over, how good would that be? Even if a war started after he finished his duty, it would have nothing to do with him.
Just as he was thinking that, a bell began to ring clamorously inside the fort.
"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"
Following the sound of the bell, someone shouted about the enemy attack.
John and Roman looked at each other's faces. Their previous drowsiness vanished instantly.
"Roman, they're saying it's an enemy attack!"
"I know. Don't shout. First, stay on standby here until there are orders from the unit commander, just like in training—"
Roman's words, intended to tell him to stay on standby, were cut short, and he spoke no more. An arrow that had flown in pierced his neck, and he collapsed where he stood.
Looking in the direction the arrow had come from, the enemy silhouettes were finally visible in the far distance. John was shocked that an arrow could reach from such a place. He also thought it was impressive that his allies had spotted an enemy so far away.
In truth, the Kingdom of Forest's army was using Body Enhancement Magic and was utilizing bows stronger than normal. Thus, they could fire arrows over great distances. His allies had been monitoring the surroundings with Telescopes, which was how they were able to discover the enemy appearing far away.
"Dammit, I don't want to die!"
John crouched down on the spot, clutching his head.
When the attack on the border fort began, Viscount Karsh was stationed in the occupied village in the neighboring territory. Beside him was a man who was the leader of the mercenaries. Though called a mercenary leader, he was actually a soldier of the Kingdom of Forest.
Viscount Karsh confirmed with the man.
"There is no mistake that if I hold out here for two weeks, you will take over my debts, right?"
"Yeah, of course."
The man nodded.
In exchange for the condition of having his debts covered, Viscount Karsh had promised to accept soldiers from the Kingdom of Forest and invade the neighboring territory. Even though he was accepting soldiers, doing so normally would have led to Aurora detecting the movement, so they had been preparing by having mages from the Kingdom of Forest use Teleportation to move the soldiers in little by little.
He had been receiving the soldiers who Teleported in bit by bit every day and preparing for battle. This was the same for the other members of the former Karsh faction. Driven to desperation by poverty, they had resorted to selling out their country to secure their own interests.
Of course, the Kingdom of Forest had no intention of taking over the debts; their plan was that if they could defeat Margrave Sowell, the debts of Viscount Karsh and the others would vanish anyway. Furthermore, they had no intention of keeping the promise if this mobilization was suppressed. Even if Viscount Karsh were to complain that he was deceived by the enemy nation, the fact that he colluded with the enemy to hinder Margrave Sowell would naturally result in the dissolution of his house.
It was the same as an accomplice to a crime being unable to complain to the police that they were deceived.
However, Viscount Karsh, who was up to his neck in debt but unable to forget his past luxuries, had readily jumped at such a proposal. From his perspective, it was an all-or-nothing strategy.
The man spoke to Viscount Karsh with a laugh.
"Hey, there's no need to be scared. If it's a dispute with a neighboring territory, even that Sowell fellow can't take one side over the other. Just form a position here in the village and wait while claiming legitimacy."
"I am not scared!"
Viscount Karsh raised his voice. Most of his long-serving retainers had already left, and those who remained had opposed this mobilization. In the end, the only people currently in the village were those from the Kingdom of Forest. He didn't like that the man looked down on him as being scared.
The leader's face turned displeased at Viscount Karsh's attitude.
"Don't raise your damn voice. We could just dump you and retreat ourselves, you know."
"U-Understood."
When spoken to in such a menacing voice, Viscount Karsh cringed. In the end, he couldn't say anything more to the man and simply faced off against Margrave Sowell's army surrounding the village.
Two days had already passed since Leo arrived at the village occupied by Viscount Karsh. There had been no direct combat yet; Leo had limited himself to demanding Viscount Karsh's withdrawal. Viscount Karsh thought Leo wasn't attacking because he was protected by his noble rights.
However, there were other reasons why Leo did not attack.
The reason was that he didn't want to exhaust his military strength in a place like this when a war with the Kingdom of Forest was about to break out.
But, deciding that wasting time here was also a loss, his feelings were leaning toward initiating an attack after staring each other down for two days.
The forces on Viscount Karsh's side holed up in the village numbered about fifty. This was the number he had grasped through observation over these two days. Since they had the village surrounded, it was unlikely that any new forces would join them. In contrast, the Margrave Sowell army had five hundred men—ten times the number.
The problem was individual skill. If there were mages like Steve, a charge relying on numbers would end in failure. If it were only Viscount Karsh and his lot, they could have surrounded them to prevent escape and set fire to the place, but the original inhabitants remained in the village, and they couldn't bring themselves to burn them to death as well.
Now, just as he thought he might charge as early as tomorrow, an urgent messenger arrived at the tent where Leo was.
"An urgent message from Sutherland-sama."
"From Harry? What is it?"
Sutherland was Harry's family name. If it was an urgent message from that Harry, it meant a situation that required immediate action.
"The nobles of the former Karsh faction—Baron Benson, Baron Disley, and Baron Hunt—have invaded neighboring territories just like this place."
"What!"
Leo shouted at the messenger's report. The messenger cringed at his attitude.
"M-My apologies!"
"Ah, sorry. You're not at fault. Still, if those three have also mobilized, the Kingdom of Forest's army must be crossing the border lines right about now. They must be acting in coordination."
Based on the date and time the messenger had departed, Leo surmised that it was likely such a timing. And he was correct. Harry had moved additional border soldiers to deploy them against those nobles.
As a result, the border had become undermanned. While the national army was also deployed, they were not in Margrave Sowell's territory. They were at garrisons located in the Crown Lands.
Having confirmed such a situation, the Kingdom of Forest's army was even now closing in to seize the border forts.
"In this case, we can't afford to worry about our own casualties. We will launch the attack tomorrow morning. See to it that the soldiers eat well and get plenty of rest."
Leo gave the order.
His subordinates followed suit, preparing to serve the soldiers more food than usual.
The man acting as the leader of the mercenaries—the Kingdom of Forest soldiers—who was with Viscount Karsh, noticed that there was more smoke than usual.
"The fact that there's more smoke from cooking than usual means they're preparing for a general offensive, huh. Well, I guess this is the end of the line. There's a limit to defending with this many people. Let's have the Viscount handle the cleanup."
Viscount Karsh was not nearby; only the sub-leader was beside him. The sub-leader nodded and put the pre-arranged plan into action.
That night, fires broke out in the houses of the village. The flames dyed the dark night sky red.
Villagers fled in confusion, screaming at the sudden fires. The fences that had been there for defense during the day were gone during the fire. Thus, they ran outside the village to escape the flames. The soldiers of the Kingdom of Forest also escaped the village by posing as villagers. Leaving only Viscount Karsh behind.
This fire, of course, caught Leo's eye.
"Fires have broken out?"
"Is it arson?"
The adjutant asked Leo.
"Most likely. If it were a single house's carelessness, it wouldn't become such a large fire when the wind is so weak."
"In that case, is it an enemy ploy?"
"Unless he's the type to commit suicide here, he'll likely mingle with the villagers fleeing this fire. I wondered what he intended with such a sacrificial strategy, but to think he'd use a move like this. Detain the villagers immediately. If they resist, cut them down. They are all enemies."
"Ha!"
In the end, Viscount Karsh was captured, but the whereabouts of the leader and sub-leader were unknown. A few soldiers were caught, but since no meeting place had been decided, there was no way to track them.
Therefore, they decided to issue a notice to each lord to set up checkpoints on the highways leading toward the Kingdom of Forest. As a result, they succeeded in capturing several more Kingdom of Forest soldiers a few days later.