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𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐎𝐥𝐝 𝐀𝐫𝐦𝐲 (1)
The centaurs nodded their heads around the envoy they had captured. The envoy looked at the centaurs with fearful expressions.
The centaur tribe had not only flowed in from the east of the Holy Empire.
Their tribe had also flowed in from the north of Vynashchtym and most of them had settled down in small kingdoms and transformed into ruthless marauders.
Vynashchtym was trying to control them with gold and honor but they were beings whose transformations were unpredictable.
And yet, to encounter centaurs here all of a sudden.
The envoy opened his mouth in ancient imperial language out of fear.
“W-Why do you keep such frightening and violent beings with you?”
“What is he mumbling about?”
Achladda cocked his head and asked. He could guess that he was talking about them.
“He says you guys are frightening and violent.”
“Oh. . . such praise. . . does this guy have the skill to embarrass people?”
Achladda and the other centaurs were bashful and pleased. To them, being violent and frightening was praise rather than an insult.
From their attitude, the envoy realized that Johan had the centaurs’ loyalty. It was an unbelievable sight for a noble from the empire.
How?
“If you’ve come as an envoy, take out the letter you’ve brought.”
The letter the envoy took out was sealed with the emperor’s stamp. Magic power could be felt from the purple wax where the pattern was imprinted. It was probably the power of the emperor’s seal ring.
‘𝘐𝘧 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴, 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺?’
Johan took out the letter with curiosity. From Johan’s behavior of reading it without calling anyone else, the envoy realized that Johan was fluent in speaking and reading ancient imperial language.
“!!”
The envoy was bewildered by the intellectual demeanor that was too different from the rumors. To be honest, he had not expected a noble from the Holy Empire, moreover a knight, to be this cultivated.
. . .𝐓𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐬, 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐂𝐨𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐚 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈𝐝𝐫𝐚, 𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐉𝐞𝐤𝐲𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐝, 𝐤𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐎𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐆𝐨𝐝, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐫.
𝐈 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚 𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫. 𝐌𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫, 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐦𝐲 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐭’𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐤. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐟 𝐚 𝐬𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭, 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐤.
𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐝. 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐈 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐨𝐧 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐩? 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐋𝐞𝐨𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐭. 𝐈 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐲𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐲. 𝐏𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭.
𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭’𝐬 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐫. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐨𝐧 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭.
“What. . .”
To be so shameless as to openly state there is none when you have to find and send someone from anywhere in this situation?
Johan stopped reading and raised his head at this point. The envoy felt thick beads of sweat flowing down his forehead. He realized what part Johan had stopped at.
‘𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦. . .’
Dragon blood did not simply refer to the blood of dragon beastmen or those related to the imperial family. They had to be born as the emperor’s direct son during his reign and educated in the imperial palace.
They were that precious an existence and small in number. Moreover, most of them were already married so it wouldn’t be easy to find someone suitable to send.
Still, even if you send an envoy to appease the other party, it doesn’t seem like the best choice to say ‘𝘚𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘸𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘥’.
No matter how sincere you are, if the other party cannot believe you, what’s the point?
. . .𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐝, 𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐝𝐝 𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐫𝐚 𝐠𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐫𝐲 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝. 𝐀𝐧 𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐝.
“Hmm. If you pay in gold. . .”
“?!”
The envoy was bewildered. Johan had accepted it too readily.
While it was fortunate that the other party understood, as a noble of the esteemed Vynashchtym, he could not comprehend it.
Dragon blood can be appeased with gold to the extent of being considered cheap??
“Why do you have that unwilling expression? Do you want me to refuse?”
“Ah, no! Why would that be so?!”
The envoy waved his hands in panic. If this matter went awry because of his expression, hanging himself would not be enough.
“If there is no lingering attachment to the dragon blood and adequate gold is provided as compensation, I’m willing to forgive.”
“Your Excellency. Dragon blood is the most noble and powerful magic imbued with power that has been passed down since the times of the ancient empire. . .”
“Yeah yeah. It probably is.”
“. . . .”
‘𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴!’
The messenger internally cursed the Holy Empire and other monotheistic ones in his mind. After all, they were barbarians with no respect for tradition.
Johan finished reading. He wondered if the messenger would make any requests in exchange for the promised gold, but there were none. In the first place, Johan had no intention of granting such requests either.
Instead, there was detailed information about the troops led by Head Chamberlain Leoanos. The goat beastmen were particularly lacking in loyalty, and the personal guards of the Head Chamberlain were such and such people. . .
“Does he want me to defeat this Leoanos person?”
“I know nothing, Your Highness.”
“What do you mean you know nothing. Anyway, I understand. Go back and tell your master that I will consider it positively.”
The emissary’s face brightened at Johan’s words. Just being able to leave without his head cut off and hear such a response was an enormous accomplishment.
Most of all, being able to grasp Count Yeats’ intentions was big. Surprisingly, Count Yeats did not seem to have much interest in Vynashchtym’s territory itself. The fact that he had no obsession with dragon blood proved that.
That alone relieved his worries several fold.
After the spy left, Johan asked the centaurs.
“I heard that Leoanos fellow has arrived at the border fortress. How did it look?”
“It looked difficult to penetrate.”
Euclyia said, and the other centaurs nodded their heads.
The vast mountain range covering the west acted as a natural barrier all by itself.
To cross the mountain range, one had to move along the ancient imperial highway that ran between them. Vynashchtym was no fool either. They had prepared the fortress at the border pass relatively thoroughly.
“He wouldn’t come out unless he’s a fool, right?”
“I think so.”
“What about looting the surroundings to lure him out?”
“Since we have the cooperation of the viceroy here, we can’t do that. Even if we loot other cities, it’s doubtful he would come out. I heard he is quite old and weary.”
It didn’t seem like the old, power-hungry noble would rush out just because a few cities that weren’t even his were looted.
“I don’t think we need to attack. . .”
“Don’t need to attack! Did you come here to play?!”
“What nonsense are you saying?!”
The eastern tribes got angry at the words of a sub-captain. Unlike the mercenaries, the eastern tribes hadn’t fought in far too long.
“But we can’t climb up that cliff and attack the gates! Are you suggesting we lay siege?!”
“. . .”
The centaurs didn’t dare suggest charging the fortress walls either.
“Since the emperor sent a letter, we don’t necessarily need to attack.”
Johan took the side of the sub-captain. In the first place, the purpose of coming here was pretty much achieved.
The purpose was to retaliate and receive compensation by making a show of force in response to the fake proposal. Since the opponent folded first this time. There was no need to forcibly move if the opponent endured, but who knows.
“What if they don’t keep their promise?”
“They shouldn’t be stupid enough, but if that time comes, we’ll just move accordingly.”
Even if they couldn’t cross the mountain range and border fortress, they could still easily pillage the port cities along the coast. Their current stationing here also meant a threat in that sense.
“Time is on our side. We’ll wait. Make sure the troops don’t become too complacent. Keep scouting towards the border fortress intermittently, just in case.”
“Yes. . .”
“Don’t feel too upset that you can’t fight.”
“Okay. . .”
“The enemies inside the fortress won’t stay inside forever either. Won’t they come out to scout regularly? I look forward to your exploits.”
“Yes!”
When Johan consoled them, the centaurs cheered up at his words again. That’s right. This was their land too. Wouldn’t they keep sending out troops?
. . .Johan’s expectations were off.
Leoanos did not send a single soldier outside the border fortress. It was a shameless act that even made the viceroy go ‘isn’t this a bit much?’.
They should at least send people to the cities to find out what happened and get an understanding of the situation. . .
🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸
“Why is that count just standing still?!”
Contrary to outside thoughts, Leoanos was also quite anxious. He thought Johan would move like a crazy b*stard and plunder, but for some reason, as if he had eaten something wrong, he just took his position and did not move.
Vynashchtym should become confused so that Leoanos himself can move more easily, so why is that count just standing still for over a month?
“Would it not be better to send an envoy?”
“Hmm. How shall I put it?”
“If you insult him. . .”
“!”
It was certainly not a bad choice. Attacking the pass was good in its own way, and plundering other cities out of anger did not concern him.
“It is indeed a good idea. Send someone to mock that b*stard!”
Brave men with the guts to go to the count’s camp and mock the count were selected. Not long after they left, reports came in from nearby merchants.
“Army flags were seen! An army is coming this way!”
“Coming this way? That count b*stard has no fear. Prepare for battle!”
Leoanos was confident. Hiding behind the castle walls, even cowards could become brave. Not knowing much about Johan, Leoanos had no fear at all.
Defeating and subduing that barbaric foreign count was not a bad choice either. It could completely cover up this blunder and allow him to return. . . The rebellion would just be delayed. . .
“Leoanos-gong!”
“What is it?”
“It’s not the count’s army!”
“Not the count’s army, what nonsense is that? Did the little kingdom fellows come down this far?”
“No. The army of the pagans has come right up to here!”
“. . .??!”
🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸
“No way. How did they get here?”
Johan was dumbfounded when he heard a report that a pagan army had landed not too far from the city and was coming up.
Surely there were several fortified islands to the south, how did they get through that? It should still be intact.
“It seems they took a roundabout path through the open seas.”
Giada was also apparently taken by surprise. He certainly did not expect such a crude method of going north.
Even if they fail, how will they go back? However pitifully Vynashchtym is seen. . .
“Sir! Sir!”
The viceroy came running first. He had a look of fear on his face, worried that Johan might leave.
He tried to make excuses that he had hired the count and his soldiers as mercenaries, but he really hired them as mercenaries!
“You must not leave!”
“I’m not leaving. Calm down and speak.”
“They will come here and burn everything and take it all away. Please do not abandon me and my city!”
The viceroy piled up gold and kowtowed. Johan calmed the viceroy down. Johan had no intention of abandoning this city anyway. There were also republic merchants, and most importantly, it was Johan’s central supply point.
“I will have soldiers deployed on the walls and prepare to defend.”
“Thank you! Thank you! I will never forget this favor!”
. . .However, the viceroy forgot that favor exactly three days later. The pagan army had started heading towards the mountain pass, leaving the city alone.
The viceroy regretted inside.
‘𝘐 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 3 𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴. . .!’
Of course, Johan’s mercenaries could have come to the city and made the enemies flee, but from the position of losing immense gold, it was not a very convincing argument.
“It’s good the city is safe now. Viceroy?”
“I’m really tearfully happy. . . Sir. . .”
The pagan army that landed just south of the port city headed straight for the mountain pass after looting some villages along the way.
Leaving the city behind and advancing, what confidence.
“What guts do they have?”
“They must be confident they can win if we come out, given their numbers. . .”
There were rumors that the enemy forces that landed were close to ten thousand. While not exact, it was a scale that could only be intimidating.
“If they breakthrough the pass, they can rapidly advance east on the highways. Whoever the commander is, they have tremendous guts.”
“Came to get gold but things are getting complicated. . . But why does it seem they did not attack here?”
“I don’t know about that either, but could it be they avoided this place after hearing of you, Your Excellency?”
“Don’t say such nonsense.”