𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 (1)
Schweibeck’s voice was slightly relaxed as he spoke.
Schweibeck himself was willing to return to his family and take responsibility for his name, but the Count did not feel the meaning of those words at all.
The first thing that came out of his mouth was concern about the price!
“No. Isn’t it a bit unreasonable not to accept gold coins? As far as I know, the castles built by dwarves are quite expensive, aren’t they?”
“It’s not expensive. . . Your Excellency. It’s just a modest refusal, and it doesn’t mean that we really want that much gold!”
Schweibeck was frustrated and raised his voice slightly. Even so, the dwarves would not easily give up their pride, their castle, just because they were offered a lot of gold coins.
What the dwarves themselves thought was honorable, and what they said when they felt they owed a favor that they could never repay, was this castle. It was never intended to be expensive.
“Still, it’s a bit strange not to accept money. It would be rude to the dwarves.”
“It would be more of a blow to our honor to accept it!”
Schweibeck had to work hard to convince Johan. He thought the Count would be impressed if he told him they were building the castle honorably, but he didn’t expect him to get stuck on this.
If they accepted money, they would be ridiculed for generations among other dwarven families. ‘𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘱𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥 𝘢 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘺?’
“I understand. I understand. I won’t give them money.”
“Yes. Thank you! Your Excellency!”
Schweibeck finished the conversation, sweating. And as he was leaving, he felt something strange. This was not how the conversation was supposed to go.
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While Johan was thinking about developing the mine together with the dwarves and where to build the castle, two major things happened in the Empire.
One was that the negotiations with the Emperor’s faction were finally concluded.
The feudal lords who had participated in the Emperor’s faction tried to pay as little as possible, but the Emperor’s accumulated bad karma was too much for them to withstand.
In the end, the Emperor’s family had no choice but to suffer the most. They lost several fiefdoms and a huge amount of reparations, and the Emperor himself was dishonored. Several dishonorable incidents that had occurred during the war were all blamed on the Emperor.
In fact, it was true that the Emperor had committed most of them, but it must have been quite unfair for the Emperor to be blamed for what the feudal lords who had joined him had done.
However, the dead cannot speak. The Emperor’s sudden death had already become a punishment for his arrogance. Rumors were spreading quickly, gaining flesh as they went.
Johan couldn’t help but laugh at the rumor that God had appeared behind Johan, covered the Emperor’s eyes, and stabbed him with the spear.
The second was that the feudal lords in the south eventually failed to suppress the rebellion.
The southern feudal lords, who were shocked by several defeats, gathered carefully and attempted to attack, but the rebels fought back surprisingly well.
They defended the knights’ charge with the walls of the castle, the fences of the fortress, and the wagons and carriages on the plains, gaining confidence.
They picked a few of the fallen nobles from the south (they didn’t know if they were real or fake), declared them openly as feudal lords, collected bribes, and began lobbying the other feudal lords of the Empire as they came across them.
The southern feudal lords, who had lost their fiefdoms due to the sudden uprising of the rebels, had their necks in a bind, but in reality, the lords from the west did not find this rebellion very important.
Of course, it was unacceptable for serfs to dare to ignore the authority of the nobles and break the laws of the Empire, but. . .
The rebels were acting quite cleverly.
They brought the fallen nobles with them and claimed they had the right to be feudal lords, offered bribes to other feudal lords, and did not execute the knights they captured. . .
If they behaved so politely, the other feudal lords did not want to use their own strength to suppress them. It was already a shame that they had supported them with gold coins.
In the end, it is the law that each fiefdom must solve its own problems. From the moment they failed to solve it themselves, it was as good as over.
“Huh. The ousted feudal lords must be crying their eyes out.”
Johan was taken aback when he heard the news.
The feudal lords who had defended their fiefdoms from the fierce attack of the Emperor’s faction had suddenly lost their family’s fiefdoms to a rebellion that had broken out behind them.
“How about we suppress them and take over?”
“Leave it alone. Even without that, we’re being envied for the silver mine, and if we take over those fiefdoms too, assassins will be coming to visit us every week.”
Johan shook his head and rejected Achladda’s suggestion. He may have had a justification, but Johan was not a fool. If he had more than he could handle, it was bound to come to a bad end someday.
“I received a letter from Ulrike, and they sent bribes there too.”
It was full of all sorts of flattery, but in the end, it was all the same. ’𝘗𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘬, 𝘪𝘧 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦.’
There was no reason to attack at all, but the southern nobles had legs and a mouth, so they could somehow figure out a way to move them.
“It’s strange.”
“What do you mean?”
“Actually, at first I thought it was a rebellion caused by serfs or mercenaries. That kind of thing doesn’t last long. Once they cross the line, they get attacked from all sides.”
Rebellions were frequent in the Empire, but most of them failed. The moment a mercenary leader said he wanted to be his own feudal lord, he would be attacked in various ways.
Compared to that, the rebellion in the south was lucky, but it was progressing really well. It was also a clever method to put the fallen nobles of the south in the forefront.
“But seeing how they’re negotiating and bowing their heads. . . I wonder if they’re not a lower noble who worked in the court of a noble for a long time. They’re well-versed in the laws and rules of the Empire.”
“That sounds plausible. But wasn’t it stupid of them to apply to be your vassal before? I wouldn’t have accepted it?”
“Well, if we had accepted, it would have been luck itself, so they might have made an offer. There’s no harm in making an offer.”
“One more thing.”
Caenerna added.
“What is it?”
“I think they might have thought of Your Excellency as someone like Cardirian. . .”
“. . . . . .”
“That’s it!”
Suetlg exclaimed, as if that made sense.
If he had been the Emperor, he would have accepted it right away. He wouldn’t care about other people’s gazes or grudges. If it benefited his family and himself, why would he refuse?
“No. I suddenly feel insulted.”
“Don’t be like that. It’s inevitable to misunderstand when you hear rumors.”
“You mean you thought I would accept such an offer. . .”
As Johan muttered with a shocked expression, Caenerna stroked the back of Johan’s neck as if to calm him down.
“They’ll probably come to offer bribes to the Count soon, so you can question them then.”
“Fine. If I investigate, I’ll just feel like an idiot.”
“Do you intend to accept the bribes?”
“Is there any reason not to?”
If the other feudal lords were all withdrawing, Johan intended to withdraw as well. If the rebels were indiscriminate and rampant, he would have had to prepare for battle, but if they knew their place and were happily playing the role of feudal lords in their own fiefdoms, then Johan had no reason to fight.
“But. . .”
“?”
“I’m a little curious why the bishops of the Order are mediating this time.”
Johan was quite puzzled by Ulrike’s letter.
The Order had no reason to get involved in this rebellion.
They would only lose by getting involved in a pointless political fight, so why would they mediate?
“Didn’t they take the bishop hostage?”
“That’s ridiculous. . . The Order isn’t so easy to blackmail. They’re pretty crazy.”
Caenerna looked incredulous at Johan’s words.
‘𝘠𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘖𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳’𝘴 𝘴𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘳. . .’
If anyone saw him, they would think he was a pagan count.
“Can’t you just ask them?”
“Just ask them? That doesn’t make any sense. . .”
“Why not? I think it will.”
“. . . . . .”
Johan thought deeply about Suetlg’s words.
Would they really tell him if he just asked?
‘. . . 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵?’
It suddenly seemed plausible.
However, Johan did not call the priest to contact the Order. Before he could do that, the envoys came to visit. The envoys sent by those who had become the new feudal lords as a result of this rebellion. . .
And to their surprise, there were several priests of the Order among them.
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“What happened?”
“Honorable Count. Please calm down and listen to us just once.”
The priests spoke as urgently and quickly as they could, understanding that Johan was furious. They had to speak before the sparks flew.
Of course, Johan was not particularly angry because of betrayal. He was just flabbergasted. He had no sense of betrayal towards the noble-born priests who had helped the rebellion in the first place.
“I’m very calm, so just tell me what you want to say.”
“The reason we participated in this is because of the newly appointed feudal lord, Baron Serderdits.”
The leaders of this rebellion were truly varied. From a runaway mercenary captain to an unidentified wizard, a lower noble who had lost all his fortune. . .
The reason why these people were able to survive and thrive was because they had a center.
And Baron Serderdits was that center.
‘𝘏𝘦 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘯.’
Johan was slightly impressed. Leading such a ragtag group of people in a rebellion.
If Johan had been asked to do it, he would have turned his horse around and fled south or east.
It’s hard to lead an allied force with just nobles, let alone with other guys.
“But what does his leadership have to do with you following them?”
“Leadership. . . you say?”
“Isn’t he supposed to be a good leader?”
“He is a leader, but that’s not it. There’s something more important to him.”
“. . .What is it?”
“It’s the same true faith as Your Excellency!”
“. . . . . .”
For a moment, Johan thought the priests were insulting the baron. On second thought, it was a compliment.
“Oh. . . I guess he’s very religious.”
“Yes!”
After listening to the story roughly, he seemed to understand why the priests liked him.
Born to a lower noble family, he entered a monastery and was deeply involved in its activities. He then left the monastery to spread his faith to the people. While traveling around the chaotic south during the war, he received a revelation from God, awakened, showed miracles, and then led the people.
If he had not led the rebellion, it would not have been strange for him to aim for the position of priest or bishop.
“The Saint. . . No, the Baron personally came to see Your Excellency, so please calm your anger and meet him just once!”
Johan’s spine tingled slightly.
The center of the rebellion came to visit him in person?
That alone proved that he was not an ordinary madman. When he looked at Suetlg next to him, Suetlg’s face was also pale.
Johan, Suetlg, and Caenerna all had a strained relationship with fanatics like the bishops of the Order.
“Isn’t he crazy? If I catch him here, it’s over, right?”
Even though Johan did not participate in the subjugation, he could not help but covet something that could be finished with just a flick of his hand.
If he just caught him, the southern rebellion would be over, and the southern feudal lords would come and cry for their land back. . .
‘𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥.’
On second thought, the Order’s position was such that he couldn’t do that.
“I guess he received a revelation from God.”
“Don’t joke around. I’m not in the mood.”
“Seriously! Whether it’s a revelation from a malevolent spirit or from God, he must have gotten it to be like that. If he hadn’t, would a normal person be acting like that?”
Suetlg was right. It was something that could not be done in his right mind.
“Your Excellency! If Your Excellency’s anger does not subside, you may take our lives! Just once, please!”
‘𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘻𝘺 𝘨𝘶𝘺𝘴. . .’
Johan gave them an exasperated look, but in the end, it was Johan’s own choice to join hands with them and receive their help.
What can he do? He had to hang out with them for now.
“Let them in.”
“Your Excellency Count! We believed in you! If Your Excellency is truly faithful!”
‘𝘋𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘻𝘺 𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸. . .’
Johan let out a deep sigh.
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