10

Around Prince-King Gridio Orphendius were seven retainers. They had all grown tense as they watched the prince-king try to send urgent letters to Pontina Louis twice already since early morning. The retainers only knew that a territorial war had broken out; to them, Pontina Louis had merely been a somewhat special figure. But when Prince-King Orphendius got so worked up, they intuitively realized that Pontina Louis would become an extraordinary person.

Although the prince-king held little more than nominal authority and was quietly looked down on by the various factions, the retainers dispatched from each house to assist him knew full well that he was not incompetent. They had come from their respective factions to “help” the prince-king, but in truth they were there to monitor and check him.

Fortunately, even among themselves, they were split between those whose factions were allied and those whose factions were not. One phrase had already driven itself deep into all of their minds.

‘Duke Pontina Louis of House Pontina.’

They all looked into one another’s eyes. Faced with a newly emerging star, they felt both unease and expectation.

“I have decided! I will also send letters to your houses, so take note. We will hold a grand celebration to honor Pontina Louis’s formal succession.”

As Prince-King Orphendius pondered how to keep Louis under control, he decided first to try drawing Louis to his own side and, at the same time, to meet Louis in person and then make his judgment.

“We shall obey your command, Your Highness.”

All seven retainers answered in unison. From now on, they planned to scramble about to obtain whatever information the prince-king held concerning Pontina Louis.

In the meantime, Louis had already seized four cities and now stood before the last. The marquisal city of Ophus, heartland of House Haidek, had been granted to them by the prince-king when the Principality of Aeron was founded, and for nearly six hundred years it had been a solid, ancient city that no one but House Haidek had ever occupied.

That city was now thoroughly encircled by Louis’s army. On both flanks, his troops—whose morale was at its peak—were arrayed in neat wings. Louis felt satisfied as he looked at the soldiers, fewer in number than at the start but still standing proud. He was the ultimate victor of the succession war and the territorial war, and now he was about to bring down the curtain.

That “curtain” meant the subjugation of Ophus, the very heart of House Haidek, which had never once suffered an invasion in six hundred years. He could have ignored the prince-king’s order and turned the place into a sea of fire, but only Fred had ever visited the capital from House Pontina, so Louis was desperately short on connections. Thus he intended to salvage as much substance as possible and finish this affair by branding the marquisal city of Ophus with humiliation.

The soldiers looked at Louis the way innocent children waited to be told when they could attack. Formidable officers commanded each unit, but the supreme commander was Louis alone. So even if all preparations were complete, they could only wait for Louis’s single order to attack.

“All preparations are complete.”

Hearing Gaion’s voice, Louis gazed at the city. So, when will you come out? He did not say it aloud, but Louis was waiting for one of Marquis Haidek’s heirs to open the gates and ride out. That would be the best outcome. There was no need to waste time setting up siege engines and hurling stones, after all. …They’re not coming.

Just as Louis was about to give the order, a flag rose above the city wall. A white flag waved again and again, as if begging Louis to look at it.

Of course, Louis sat back down. Next, the drawbridge dropped, and three mounted soldiers came galloping out at full speed.

Crushed by the pressure of Louis’s forces, they trembled with the fear that they might be killed, but somehow managed to make it to Louis. Judging from their clothes, they were no ordinary soldiers. They were nobles. When they saw Louis seated in his chair, their faces turned deathly pale.

The rumors had been true. This man was drenched in the blessings of the god of war. Surrounded by stalwart soldiers, their deadly weapons raised and eyes fixed on him, one of the nobles nearly bit his own tongue in terror. Somehow he managed to recall the scene he had practiced hundreds of times and walked up to Louis to kneel on one knee.

“I greet Duke Pontina Louis. I am Raud of House Reukeu.”

They were simple words, yet he only barely managed to say them through a cold sweat. If he slipped up here, Louis might take his head on a whim. Louis looked down at him and spoke.

“Speak.”

“On behalf of Marquis Conrad, heir of Marquis Haidek, Raud of House Reukeu conveys his will to Duke Pontina Louis. House Haidek hereby acknowledges its defeat in this territorial war as of this moment. We request total surrender. In exchange for that surrender, we shall offer ample compensation. We humbly beg for your mercy.”

Raud’s voice shook here and there, as if his nerves were fraying. That was how intense the atmosphere was. Since this was the response he had been waiting for, Louis answered without hesitation.

“I accept. As of this moment, I accept House Haidek’s total surrender. Open the way.”

“Understood.”

He was drenched in sweat, but without even wiping it away he hurriedly mounted his horse. Louis rose from his seat and climbed onto his own horse to enter the city of Ophus. The city gates stood wide open, and with Raud of House Reukeu at the head, the soldiers formed a column and marched in.

Once inside, the soldiers took up positions everywhere as if they were occupying the place. Their line extended all the way to the city square. Naturally, the last to enter was Louis. After all, House Haidek had already lost all of its regular troops. This was a silent threat that if anyone tried anything foolish, Louis could turn the entire city into a bloodbath.

Of course, Louis had no intention of giving such an order, but threats were always effective. Ophus’s population was extremely high. At a glance, it even seemed larger than Pontina, the city in Louis’s own domain that boasted the greatest population. Perhaps that was why Marquis Haidek had dared to dream of ambition, even while holding only five cities in a backwater corner. Now, that ambition was not merely dashed; it had been utterly trampled.

In any case, Louis looked around again and again. This was his second visit here. He had once stayed in this city for several days to “negotiate” with Marquis Haidek, forced to wait because of the man’s tedious bargaining tactics. If this was revenge for that time, then he had exacted more than enough. Louis let out a short chuckle.

From now on, Ophus would pay various tributes as a sign of surrender, so in practice it would be little more than a nominal holding of House Haidek and nearly indistinguishable from a vassal city of Louis’s. If he ever took a dislike to them, Louis could simply send assassins and wipe them out with ease.

The streets were lined even more densely with citizens than with soldiers. Naturally, they had all come to see one man. They wanted to witness with their own eyes Pontina Louis, the man who had taken the head of their lord, Haidek Gangpireu. The crowd murmured, but the instant Louis appeared, silence fell as if someone had killed a mouse.

Their whispered conversations went something like this:

“That’s Duke Pontina Louis.”

“He’s so young….”

“To be a duke at that age—how incredible.”

“What’s going to happen to us now?”

“Duke Remitri and Marquis Gangpireu were rivals, but look at the difference between their children’s generation.”

Young girls, too young to grasp the situation, stared wide-eyed at Louis in his fine cloak upon his horse and muttered “He’s so handsome” with their mouths hanging open. In any case, all that commotion died down like a snuffed candle whenever Louis drew nearer.

Some people shot him murderous looks, but whenever Louis’s soldiers, who were uncannily good at sniffing such people out, scowled and glared back at them, they did not even squeak. Afraid of meeting anyone’s eyes, they lowered their heads.

In any case, what filled the minds of the citizens, spread out like an ocean as far as the eye could see, was Louis and Louis alone. All they cared about was what he would do next. Having subdued the city of Ophus—which had never allowed a single invasion in six hundred years—Louis entered at a leisurely pace, as if he were on a pleasure ride. His speed was slow. It was the victor’s luxury.

The plaza was huge. It, too, was packed with people. The difference was that there were even more soldiers there. Standing in the center with nothing but a single garment on his unarmed body was Haidek Conrad, who had murdered his brothers and seized Marquis Gangpireu’s title.

‘He’s even more pathetic than I expected.’

Louis recognized him as Haidek Conrad at a glance. The man looked older than Louis, but having fought a war against Marquis Gangpireu, Louis saw immediately that Conrad was nothing special.

Even in choosing to surrender, Conrad’s mind had been a whirlwind of thoughts. He had finally gotten what he wanted, only to be rewarded with anguish. The moment he saw Louis coming in, he understood why his father had lost. Having once seen Fred and Pierre in the capital, Conrad realized at once that Louis was a well-balanced blend of the two.

Louis dismounted. Seeing him up close, Conrad could feel just how overwhelming his presence was. His reaction differed little from that of Raud of House Reukeu, who had faced Louis first.

“Duke Louis. I surrender.”

The words slipped out before he could stop them. On paper, their titles were equal, since both had inherited. But Conrad was not yet accustomed to his own rank, and having been so thoroughly cowed by Louis, his instincts had made him speak with deference. As humiliation washed through him, Louis spoke flatly.

“Kneel.”

An unprecedented scene was unfolding. To pressure Conrad, Louis infused mana into his Charisma trait. Conrad, who had barely attained the basics with a sword, had no chance of withstanding Louis’s aura, and on top of that, what Louis was asking of him was humiliation of the highest order. If he knelt here, he would never again set foot in the central political arena. Conrad bit his lower lip.

A surge of resentment came over him. Why should he have to endure this shame for something his father had done? Before he could even bring himself to resent Louis, Conrad’s instincts had already shifted the blame onto his father, because Louis terrified him. One way or another, Louis had made his demand, and Conrad had to give some kind of answer.

Naturally, the moment Louis made such an outrageous demand, the houses loyal to House Haidek began to stir uneasily. But not a single noble stepped out into the plaza to say that this was wrong. To walk into that open space now would be to embrace death.

If Marquis Gangpireu were the one being subjected to this humiliation, there might have been nobles willing to show their loyalty. Unfortunately, because his father had been so charismatic, Conrad had long since been branded in their eyes as a man inferior to his sire. And so, their thoughts solidified into silence.

Louis looked coldly at Conrad, who was still hesitating.

“Do you want to die?”

He was not joking. Louis genuinely considered cutting Conrad down. The blood oath and vow of House Pontina had to be upheld. It was a matter of pride and thus of utmost importance. To force the head of House Haidek to submit and burn that house’s crest before his very eyes—this was what Louis had sworn to do.

Louis intended to carry that out here in the plaza, where everyone could see it. Conrad darted his eyes about, searching for someone to help him, but seeing only silent nobles and citizens, his rage made him grind his teeth. The killing intent was real. He could feel it stabbing into his solar plexus so sharply it almost ached. When Conrad’s gaze caught, ominously, on Louis’s right hand reaching for his sword hilt, the words burst from him on instinct.

“I will do it.”