122 — 13 (3)

The territory ruled by Marquis Boarne Gregory was larger than the territory Louis possessed. The House Boarne had never once lost its initiative in the Eron Duchy until now. That had been true in the past and had to remain true in the future. It was a matter of pride. But the current situation was not easy.

Could he have acted that way? Gregory firmly shook his head. Who had the opponent been—Sir Evantes the Adjudicator. Who could stand confidently against his authority? Yet Louis had done so. What was shown there varied greatly, and honestly speaking, every noble except Louis had been frightened.

Sudden incidents usually steal away reason. In that situation, only Louis alone had maintained his original composure. Marquis Gregory instinctively knew Louis possessed the vessel of a monarch. The vessel of a king—no, a conqueror king.

At this point, age no longer influenced judgment. He—Louis—had simply been born that way.

No matter how he thought about it, the Pope’s favor had been excessive.

‘Is there a connection among relatives?’

But if that guess were correct, the Pope would have helped the Pontina family long ago. Then perhaps he had simply liked the first impression. In any case, that was all in the past. Regardless, Louis’s value had risen to the point that Gregory now had to pay attention to every movement of the Pontina family.

The most surprising part was what followed the incident. Louis began increasing his army drastically. However, Gregory, who had personally visited that city, could not help but wonder. Even in such a situation, did he truly have the funds to increase troops in such a short time?

According to spies and informants, it seemed military administration had improved. Handling that many city enterprises simultaneously, demanding an apology from Evantes, and achieving revolutionary administrative reform as well? Hah. Gregory could not understand the current situation. Holding territory of the same scale, he knew how difficult that was.

If it turned out to be true that increasing the army caused no financial damage, then abnormal power would concentrate in a single lord’s hands. In such a situation, what choice would Louis make? The growth of Louis’s territory could not be followed by the eye. One month felt equal to one to three years of another domain. As rumors spread throughout the Eron Duchy that it was good to live there and full of work, Pontina territory kept growing larger. Even Gregory strictly controlled population movement within Boarne lands, but he could not stop illegal escapes.

Their number was increasing, and Gregory had personally confirmed that Louis’s territory was not mere rumor—so he could not even sleep.

Louis opened the letter sent to him. In truth, it was a letter he had expected. The sender was Kaban Ferdinando, Sword Master of the Eron Duchy. Because House Kaban had chosen neutrality, they had naturally grown distant. Ferdinando’s name carried special meaning that could not be ignored. Since it was a letter from him, Louis expected at least some good news.

‘…Lovesickness?’

He recalled Kaban Mary’s face. Black hair, large eyes, and a refined nose. Hmm… He took a moment and remembered dancing with Linsia during the Pope’s arranged gathering. A clever and confident beauty. Compared to her, Mary was a beauty that awakened protective instincts. She had been shy and barely spoke then. Then again, she was not the only one—after Boarne Aust’s disturbance, few nobles approached Louis.

Jodan, seeing Louis silent, was dying to know the letter’s contents. Other houses could at least be guessed, but House Kaban was different due to Ferdinando’s influence.

“Do you know Kaban Mary?”

Impossible not to. Kaban Mary was the representative beauty of the region. One of the most common compliments among citizens was saying someone resembled Mary.

“Of course I know. No man could fail to know her. But Lady Mary has been bedridden due to illness, has she not? Even during the Pope’s visit Lord Kaban refused attendance for that reason. I thought it a political excuse at first, yet I heard Lord Kaban still hasn’t returned to the capital.”

“Ah, right. But…”

Jodan looked at Louis’s face.

“The reason is me.”

“…Pardon?”

“Lovesickness.”

“……………”

“To use this as justification… does he take me for a fool? Duke Ferdinando… disappointing beyond swordsmanship.”

However, Jodan, who always assisted Louis, knew well the expressions women made when looking at him, so he quickly understood. It was not a lie.

“Ahem… hm. Probably… it is true.”

“…It is… what?”

“I said it is likely true.”

“You say what Duke Ferdinando wrote is truth?”

“Yes. In any case, Duke Ferdinando seems to want to marry his granddaughter to you. As your aide, my opinion is… Lady Mary is… a chicken rib… because—”

“No, wait. Can women get lovesickness?”

Jodan scratched his head with his only hand. Among rulers he was popular for his spirit, but with women he had no experience.

“That… though extremely rare, women can experience it.”

“What kind of answer is that? Answer with honest experience as usual.”

Jodan shed tears internally.

“Hm… hm… revising my statement. They do experience it. Yes, even beauties.”

“We only spoke three sentences…”

“It is possible.”

Jodan looked quite serious. Louis accepted it.

“I see…”

It was absurd, but apparently true.

“Anyway, quite a coincidence.”

“Why?”

“Lady Linsia says she will come here on vacation.”

Linsia. The red-haired woman. The dance… was not bad. Her house was even better. Money was not lacking, but union with the wealthiest family in the Eron Duchy would provide support in many ways.

‘Marriage.’

Judging from the personal letters Linsia sent, she was infatuated with him. Of course, marriage was a very significant matter. Louis was a noble, and so was she. Noble blood was not a simple personal union—it was a union of groups. Yet marriage was not mandatory. Late marriage was common among nobles. Louis’s age was only the beginning.

“What shall we reply?”

“It would be difficult to refuse. Duke Kaban is someone I personally respect.”

“Understood.”

Louis looked at the map. After absorbing all the cities Marquis Gangpireu had held, Louis’s territory now touched borders everywhere.

‘House Haidek’s population decreases daily. At this rate, it will become a hollow place. It is still too early to touch House Boarne—I need time to form a firmer alliance… then this place must be dealt with.’

A chaotic and rough region bordering Louis’s lands. A place called Pantalist. A forbidden area filled with monsters and barbarians, with barren land and relentless tribes—lords had only defended and never advanced inside.

But that was merely a long-standing rumor. Because barbarian numbers were significant, lords did not want to lose troops and stayed defensive. Louis personally had revenge to exact upon these barbarians. The scar on his thigh had not yet healed. What was that man’s name… Atila. Yes, Atila. The barbarian leader who completely plundered Proia and drove Louis near death. He… was strong. His tactics and mobility were absurdly fast and efficient for a barbarian.

The terrain was so harsh that informants rarely returned—either missing or dead. Information was heavily cut off. Louis judged Atila had looted supplies to prepare for war. Likely a civil war had occurred, and he had won it.

‘No need to waste the reinforced army. Expand the border. Even if the land itself is useless, one thing will certainly come in.’

Points. And there was justification. Not a single person in Louis’s territory had good memories of barbarians.

‘I would like to create another special unit…’

A more specialized branch than current units could be established. And finally he found useful synergy in the Pantalist region—the Horn Bow Archers. The main weapon was the horn bow, whose base material monsters grew there. That simplified things. Louis already wanted to strengthen regular archers first. The greatest advantage of archers was attacking unilaterally without losing troops. Melee units inevitably suffered losses upon collision.

Louis continued reading the description. The designs were divided into two: Mongol and Goguryeo. They looked similar, but each had subtly different characteristics.