Civil War – Damien de Mirbeau (1) As
soon as I returned to the Marquis’ residence, I was being tormented by nagging thoughts.
“Little Marquis! “Do you want to see me die of shock?”
A pot-bellied man who is about the same age as my father is muttering loudly in my office…
“You came back safely without any major problems, Baron Dumont.”
“It’s heavenly luck, heavenly luck! What kind of minor marquis took only knights and cavalry to fight off a marauding army? How am I supposed to report this to His Excellency the Marquis?”
Well, I think that father might be satisfied that I have finally done something knightly.
“By the time we arrived with all the soldiers, the village would have already been devastated. Was it a necessary measure, and didn’t we actually win and take prisoners?”
“Wow, that is a great achievement, Marquis So. However, as a vassal of the Marquis, I am against such reckless actions.”
The Baron paused for a moment, then looked at me and spoke seriously.
“Even though the Marquis So took risks, the village suffered considerable damage. Even though it is temporary, they even gave us tax exemption, so in the end, we only took risks and gained nothing other than the ransom.”
I smiled bitterly at him.
“Do you think the tax exemption measures have gone too far?”
“This is a generous decision. The citizens will also praise the mercy of the Marquis. But most people don’t go that far, Marquis. No matter how great a knight he is, he cannot run around protecting each village, and even if he does, he cannot prevent all the damage, so he would rather plunder the enemy’s territory. “Isn’t the military budget we have to send to His Excellency the Marquis burdensome?”
That’s common.
Even if you try to protect your people anyway, you don’t have the troops to protect the entire territory, so there is a limit to what you can do to stop them.
In the past, I thought the same way, so instead of following my father’s orders and the baron’s advice to protect my people, I plundered the enemy’s territory.
“But if this continues, even the citizens cannot endure. One day, the people will no longer have the ability to pay taxes, and so will the people of the enemies we are plundering.
“But if the civil war doesn’t end, we have to squeeze in military spending, so what else is left besides rebellion?”
In fact, when the revolution broke out, centered on the city’s wealthy commoners and intellectuals, the peasants, who had despaired of the plunder and exploitation that had continued during the five-year civil war, responded enthusiastically and joined the revolutionary army.
The flames of revolution quickly burned down the kingdom, which had already reached its limits due to a long civil war, and a republic filled with hatred for royalty and nobles was born.
Countless nobles had to pay the price by being executed on the guillotine.
…even me.
“I have plans too, Baron. As you said, most nobles are plundering other fiefdoms when they should be protecting their citizens. However, the County of Mirbeau, which attacked our territory this time, suffered unexpectedly great damage. The ransom of two knights plus dozens of troops. “You might think it was unlucky to do it once, but what would it be like if something like this kept happening in the Marquisate?”
The Baron seemed to think for a moment and then answered.
“…I guess they will try to target other territories rather than the Marquis’ territory.”
In any case, the main forces of most lords are engaged in local warfare, confronting each other on the main front surrounding the capital in the north.
It is true that the Marquis Territory is relatively less targeted than other territories since it is the territory of the ‘Blue Knight’, but it will be even more certain if we set a precedent that if you rashly touch it there, you can end up in trouble.
“That’s it. Anyway, there are many territories other than the Marquis’ territory that the Second Prince faction can target. First of all, if we secure the safety of our territory to some extent, we will have more freedom of movement whether we go out to plunder or support other families.”
Of course, I have no intention of going out to plunder.
“Hmm, that makes sense. However, I don’t think there will be any such results as it was only able to prevent one small-scale looting, and I don’t know how long it will have to be prevented, so it’s a bit strange to do such a reckless thing over and over again…”
“That’s a reasonable opinion.”
I readily agreed with the Baron.
Since we clearly know that a revolution will break out, there is a lot of work to be done.
Of course, you have to guard against plunder, but you have to stop it a few times before they stop targeting the marquis, and it’s not profitable to sit around waiting for the plunder that may come at any time.
Above all, my father, the Marquis in the North, is a person who would not be surprised if he takes back his right to rule as the lord’s representative if I do not send him satisfactory military funds.
The ransom of the county’s two catchers is not enough to cover the military expenses to be sent to the marquis.
“So, I want to catch some big fish. Baron Dumont, who is in charge of the County of Mirbeau now?”
“I am the Count’s second son, Marquis So.”
He is the second son of Count Mirbeau.
Maybe his name was… Damien de Mirbeau.
All I know is the name.
I’m sure that guy must have robbed the Marquis even before I came back, but I felt so pathetic that all I knew was this.
Still, at least I know that he didn’t become a count.
“Do you have any other information?”
“I’m sorry, but I don’t have any further information…”
Baron Dumont lowered his head, wiping the sweat from his plump face.
It’s not strange.
Even though it is a neighboring fiefdom, it is difficult to know in detail about the count himself and the second son of a family with whom he may not have much contact with the heir.
“But we can probably make a rough estimate.”
The fact that the count and his eldest son, the heir, are on the main battle line to achieve merit, but the second son, rather than a countess or vassal, is managing the estate means that there is a high possibility that the second son is at least the count’s favorite son.
In addition, although the Lafayette family is an emerging nobility, they are marquesses with a knight background. Right now, my father, the Marquis, is the strongest knight in the Kingdom of Francia, called the ‘Blue Knight.’
Even though it is not common to judge that the military power of such a marquis would be weak, Mirbeau’s second son sent a raiding force to the marquis.
In fact, most of the Marquis’ army was dragged away by the Marquis, so there are so few troops left that the name Marquis is meaningless…
“In any case, the main forces of the lords participating in the civil war are on the main front, so there will be many territories that can be plundered. . However, Mirbeau’s second son dared to attack the Marquis, whom other lords had placed second to none.”
“Hmm, that’s right.”
“In that case, it would be reasonable to say that Mirbo’s second son is active enough to attack places that other lords would not touch instead of places that would have already been plundered, and that he has an informant who can understand the situation of our territory.”
The Baron narrowed his eyes and answered.
“Hmm, it’s either as you said or you’re an idiot. “It’s probably one of the two.”
But I shook my head.
“It seems unlikely that a fool who took a stab without any information would be reckless enough to attack the ‘Blue Knight’s’ territory, and that the vassals of the county would be so incompetent and unmotivated that they could not dissuade the second son, who is not the heir.”
After hearing what I said, the Baron looked at me with quite surprise and lowered his head.
“Hmm. I don’t know if I’ve been thinking wrong about the Marquis. “I apologize.”
No, to be honest, I think the Baron was seeing it correctly.
Normally, I was quite timid at this time and could barely respond to this kind of looting.
Although he went to the looted village and belatedly provided relief, thinking about it now, it may have been nothing more than self-satisfaction.
Oh, let’s not think about it.
“No, Baron Dumont. “I have always appreciated the Baron’s devotion to the Marquess.”
“I’m honored that the Marquis So recognizes my hard work!”
The Baron then wiped away his tears with a handkerchief.
I have nothing to say since I have been leaving half of the blame to the Baron, but he is not even humble…
I cleared my throat to lighten the mood.
“He must have prepared in his own way, and he may have wanted to impress the Count and aim for the position of heir, but as a result, he would have to send ransom money for knights, let alone military money to send to the Count, so he would want to make up for it somehow. So let’s bring it in.”
“But Marquis So, they suffered this once too, so I don’t think they’ll act recklessly easily…”
“That’s something you’ll have to throw at them so appetizing that you won’t be able to resist taking a bite. …
I’ll have to ask my allies for some help.”
To cover the marquis’ military expenses without additional taxes or plunder, it would be best to strip off the nobles.
–
County of Mirbeau.
Count Mirbeau’s second son, Damien de Mirbeau, was frowning arrogantly.
During the civil war, most of the second and third sons who served as acting lords sought security and spent a meager amount of military funds by robbing easy fiefdoms, but he wanted more.
His older brother, who became the natural successor just because he is the eldest son, is given the honor of standing at the forefront, but is unable to make much of a contribution.
In this case, it was obvious that the earl would be greatly pleased if military supplies exceeded expectations, and he spent time and effort planting informants in the marquisate, targeting the still wealthy marquisate, which was relatively free from plunder.
Through him, Damien was able to learn that the Marquis’s defenses were unexpectedly weak and that there were rumors about the minor marquis who was the acting lord.
Every year, the Marquis de Lafayette, who was awarded the title of war hero, would gather promising boys and young men from within or from other territories to compete against each other, and give the top finishers the opportunity to serve as knights of the territory.
Regardless of social status, the opportunity to become a knight if you have the skills is attractive, but it is extremely difficult to establish a confrontation between nobles and commoners who have been systematically educated since childhood.
Naturally, most of the top winners were nobles, but the Marquis de Lafayette is said to have lost to a commoner named Gaston in the contest held by the Marquis.
The Marquis, who was said to be the best knight in the kingdom, naturally considered this a great disgrace, and not only issued a silence order, but also never held the competition again.
Such a pathetic human being is acting as the acting lord of the Marquis’ territory simply because he is the Marquis’ only child. Knowing that fact, Damien naturally did not hesitate to plunder the marquis.
He appeased the concerned vassals with the information he had found, and ordered them to lightly plunder the outskirts of the village using powerful reconnaissance since this was their first time…
“Incompetent bastard!” “You can’t beat the Marquis of Little, who lost to even Cheongeo, so you have to pay him a ransom!”
“I’m sorry, Gong.”
Peter de Casel, the knight standing in front of Damien, felt like he was about to die.
It was true that the subject of the article was mesmerized by the actions of the Marquis d’Or, who used a bow like a coward, but I was even more at ease because of the information that Damien had given me in advance.
If I hadn’t known, I wouldn’t have let my guard down and suffered such a mean trick.
Of course, it was obvious that if he made such an excuse in front of Damien, he would be even more disrespectful, so Kazel had to just keep his mouth shut and listen to his master’s shouts in silence.
“Damn it…”
Damien, who had been angry at Kazel for a while, held his head.
I received a report that the Marquis de Minor suddenly turned his cavalry into a scouting party and began doing things he had never done before, but there was no way that could have predicted that he would show up with only cavalry and surprise a marauding army that had robbed only the outskirts of the village.
It was due to the incompetence of his subordinates, who were treated in vain by a small number of troops, but in the end, De Mien touched a place that did not need to be touched, and only paid a ransom and lost a soldier.
When he received information that the Marquis de Lafayette, who had received the ransom, had ordered a lot of food and supplies from a neighboring fiefdom that ran a merchant merchant, Damien felt like he was about to burst into anger.
If he reported that he had no military supplies to send to the count, he might lose the trust he had worked so hard to gain, but wasn’t the minor marquis making a fortune because of his incompetent subordinates?
I was tempted to attack and intercept it right away, but considering that the Marquis had responded to the looting with unexpected alacrity, it seemed too risky.
At that time, Jeon Seo-gu flew in.
With his familiar hands, Damien took out the paper tied to the pigeon’s foot, unfolded it, and then jumped up.
[It is said that the eastern village of the Marquis was attacked. The Marquis de Lafayette gathered his army this morning and marched east.]
Damien opened his eyes. If it’s east, it’s the opposite direction.
If we hastily gather an army and strike now, we will be able to attack and intercept the supplies before they enter the marquis’ capital, and even if the minor marquis finds out about it, he will not be able to attack in time if he retreats from the east too late.
Isn’t this truly a heaven-sent opportunity?
But at the same time, I was a little reluctant.
Coincidentally, the situation he most wanted happened at the moment he wanted it most.
Damien hesitated for a moment, but the answer was already decided. Anyway, if he doesn’t send the military funds properly this time, he will be out of the count’s eyes.
An opportunity to make up for it has presented itself right in front of you, but it makes no sense to miss it simply because you are anxious.
Moreover, there was no sign that the Marquis’ territory was trying to hunt down spies. It is clear that he is unaware of the existence of the informant!
“Assemble the troops! “We intercept the supplies heading to the Marquis’ Territory!”
“yes? “Haha, Lord.”
Damien wrinkled his face as he watched his knight hesitate.
You’re such a fool that you don’t even understand what a golden opportunity this is!
He cannot trust and leave it to his incompetent subordinates who have already messed up their work once.
Moreover, if you say you will only send those who have already failed, your vassals will be reluctant, so here you have no choice but to step forward yourself.
Finally, Damien stood up.
“No disagreements accepted! Follow me! I will come forward myself!”
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