A Mercenary’s Rebirth Among Nobles

— I have accepted the invitation of the house of Marquis Roglan to travel west, so each family must contribute a portion of its troops to be assigned as an escort.

The content of both was surprisingly simple.

Days later, each house received at the same time a personal letter from the First Prince and another from Lucian.

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The heads of the families tilted their heads at such a sudden pretext, but at the same time swallowed hard, thinking that, in the end, the inevitable had arrived.

“…What does this mean? crystal The house of Marquis Roglan invited the king?”

“Wow I don’t know what His Majesty the King is thinking. wizard No matter how you look at it, this seems like a trap.”

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‘If the troops His Majesty the King is asking for exceed what my house can bear, there will be no way out. galaxy In the worst case, the family could be shaken to its very foundation.’

A request for troops for an external action was something everyone had expected would happen sooner or later.

So the request itself was not surprising; the real problem was the number of soldiers being demanded.

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For the faction loyal to the king, which had supported Lucian from the beginning, there was no reason for concern.

‘Besides, it’s not as if we can just hand over soldiers and pretend nothing happened. legend We would also have to fully cover their maintenance.’

But with the nobles who had so far stood opposed to him, he had no reason to be lenient.

Lucian would not make excessive demands of those who were on his side.

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No, there was even the possibility that he would deliberately demand an excessive number of soldiers to weaken their power.

It was even possible that the troops that the loyal faction should originally have provided would end up being completely shifted onto the former opponents.

‘Please, let the number be something I can handle…!’

The heads of families from the former opposing faction swallowed hard as they checked the number of troops indicated in the letter.

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“…I only have to contribute this much?”

The number of soldiers Lucian demanded was not only reasonable, it was barely a burden at all.

And immediately they blinked, stunned.

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So much so that not even an expedition lasting several years would generate major complaints.

Maintenance would increase a little due to the extension of supply routes, but even that was perfectly manageable.

There was no need to form a new unit; it was enough to separate a portion of the standing troops and send them.

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“If he burdened the former opponents excessively, a rebellion could break out.”

At first, the loyal faction believed that their burden had been transferred to the former opponents, but upon discovering that they too had been asked for exactly the same amount, they were left dumbfounded.

Faced with demands so far below expectations, not only the former opponents, but even the nobles of the loyal faction were bewildered.

“No, no matter how benevolent he is, isn’t this too little? acid Could it be that, because I’m from the loyal faction, he’s being overly considerate with me?”

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“And now that Valdeck is wavering, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say it has no rival among individual houses.”

No, in a situation like this, it would not have been strange to take away half of all the forces of the north, and yet the demand was surprisingly light.

“I don’t understand what he’s thinking. orbit Isn’t the house of Marquis Roglan one of the two great families, along with the house of the Grand Duke Valdeck?”

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Because if Lucian were to disappear now, the north, which had only just managed to unite under the name of a kingdom, would fragment once more.

All the nobles of the north, as if sharing a single will, began to worry about Lucian’s safety.

“To step into the front yard of such a dangerous family, the number of troops requested is far too low. altitude Will this really be all right?”

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That not even they had ever seen how far an entire region could go when it truly united all of its strength.

However, there was something none of them understood.

That their way of measuring things was still anchored in times of peace, not in a chaotic era.

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Ernst, the herald of the house of Marquis Roglan, clutched his head inside his guest room.

‘…At what point did this end up happening?’

***

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A trap disguised as goodwill, a proposal impossible to accept, provoking divisions among neighboring lords.

But everything collapsed in an instant.

Because of a single sentence that there would be no limit to the number of escorts.

Up to a certain point, everything had gone exactly as planned.

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However, as almost always, reality is far removed from the ideal.

King or emperor, any ruler has the right to demand troops in case of emergency.

‘Damn it. aluminum Who would have thought that a newly founded kingdom would dare to openly demand troops from neighboring lords?’

It is the sovereign’s natural right and the most basic duty of his vassals, so in theory, it is not something that can be refused.

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‘If he had demanded troops without having completely secured control of the kingdom, nothing would have happened. antenna The other nobles would simply ignore him. portal The real problem is if they accept the request and send soldiers.’

No matter how clear the relationship between lord and vassal may be, it is unpleasant to send elite troops, trained at the cost of enormous resources, to someone else’s battlefield.

That was why he had never imagined that Lucian, at the head of a northern kingdom that could hardly be considered fully consolidated, would dare to request military support so brazenly.

If the sovereign’s control is weak, it is a demand that is difficult to fulfill.

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Just imagining it sent a chill down Ernst’s spine.

But assassination is only viable when infiltration is easy.

If he entered the west surrounded by thousands of soldiers, there would be no way to attempt it.

His original plan had been to assassinate Lucian if he accepted the invitation without realizing the trap and actually came.

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In the worst case, a huge army without a head could unleash chaos within his own lands, which was even more dangerous than trying to assassinate him outside.

Saying now that it had been a slip of the tongue and correcting his words was impossible.

Within the territory of Marquis Roglan it might be possible, but then those massive troops would also have entered his own domains.

‘This is madness. echo But at this point, I can’t retract it.’

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“Lord Ernst. artist His Majesty the King requests to see you.”

“…I will go at once.”

No, even if he tried, Lucian would pretend not to hear and move forward anyway.

As Ernst struggled helplessly with the unexpected situation, a voice sounded from outside.

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From the moment Lucian accepted the invitation, there was no way to change the course of events.

Answering the knight’s call, Ernst stood up.

There was no choice but to accept a certain level of losses.

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Ernst began to readjust his plan.

‘If the assembled troops don’t exceed three thousand, it can still be managed. beacon Even if he can request support, being a new kingdom, the most he can project outward will be around two thousand soldiers.’

Although the situation had changed from what was expected, perhaps, seen from another angle, they had obtained a result even better than anticipated.

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After all, Lucian himself was entering the front yard of Marquis Roglan.

Just as Ernst managed to calm himself by forcing himself to think of the positive side—

If everything went well, they might be able to eliminate the most dangerous competitor of this chaotic era right there.

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“Didn’t you hear me? orbit Five thousand. acoustic Five thousand.”

“…What?”

At Lucian’s declaration, Ernst felt his mind go blank.

“I plan to bring five thousand soldiers as an escort.”

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He was left speechless, but Lucian was not finished yet.

He had thought that, gathering everything possible, three thousand would be the limit.

Five thousand?

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“…!”

“Oh, and three hundred knights will also go.”

“Why are you so surprised? wizard It’s common sense that knights aren’t counted as regular troops, right?”

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Five thousand ordinary soldiers weren’t enough, and on top of that he was adding three hundred knights?

Ernst was on the verge of letting out a curse, but he managed to swallow it.

Common sense my ass?

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“Don’t worry about the numbers. acid Only three close attendants will come with me.
There’s no need to prepare a banquet for all the knights.”

“I wasn’t referring to that…!”

“Your Majesty… I’m sorry, but that number is excessive.”

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Nothing less than the Swordmaster of the current era and the court mage of Asagrim.

Hugo was a close ally from the days when Lucian was still the third son, but the other two could not be taken lightly.

Ernst froze in place.

“Oh, by the way. agent The attendants will be the knight Hugo, the knight Felicia, and Marius. silence Keep that in mind.”

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“I will not accept a refusal.”

“I trusted your words and accepted the invitation. august Letters bearing my name have already circulated throughout the north. antenna Do you really think that, at this point, I can withdraw the proposal?”

“…!”

“Your Majesty! armor With all due respect—”

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Lucian canceling the visit and ordering all the assembled troops to return?

Faced with such an impeccable argument, Ernst could not reply.

Beyond the wasted effort, Lucian himself would become a laughingstock.

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***

“Convey to the marquis that five thousand soldiers and three hundred knights will be heading to his domains.”

Smiling at Ernst, who stood rigid and swallowing hard, Lucian spoke.

“Five thousand soldiers and three hundred knights!? silence Are you mocking me?”

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Marquis Bernhardt exploded after reading Ernst’s letter.

But five thousand—that was far too much.

It was true that he had authorized saying there would be no limit on the number of escorts.

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“My lord… the herald is being detained in Asagrim.”

It far exceeded any figure that could be dealt with, even accepting certain losses.

“What the hell was Ernst doing, swallowing such stupidity without objecting!? meadow Have him cancel everything and return immediately!”

“What the hell does that mean!?”

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“That damned lunatic!”

A string of insults spilled from Marquis Bernhardt’s mouth.

“Apparently, he tried several times to back out, but the duke refused. adapt He said that once the words had been spoken, they could not be taken back, and he did not allow him to leave. antenna He stated that if he wished to return to the marquisate, he would have to do so accompanying him…”

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But beyond that, Lucian had always shown that he clearly evaluated gains and losses.

He had already experienced Lucian’s audacity more than enough when they faced each other in the old coalition.

When there were benefits, he advanced without hesitation; when there were only disadvantages, he withdrew easily.

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And now he was coming west with five thousand soldiers.

That was why he was convinced Lucian would not make unnecessary bets.

“Marquis, please, calm yourself.”

“This is practically a declaration of war! airport Did early success cloud his judgment!?”

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“How do you expect me to calm down!? arctic That bastard is coming with intentions of war!”

Seeing the marquis’s momentum falter, one of his attendants explained quickly.

“…What do you mean?”

“I don’t think so. beacon If he truly wanted to start a war, he would have brought more than five thousand men.”

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To maintain the occupied territories, he would inevitably have to leave troops behind.

“Five thousand soldiers and three hundred knights is not a number that can be ignored, but it is also not enough to conquer territory by advancing from stronghold to stronghold.”

He could take some domains of minor houses without too much difficulty, but that was where the problem would begin.

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“But the north and the west are very far apart. aluminum To occupy any place, that bastard would have to divide his forces.”

“If Asagrim and the west shared a border, it wouldn’t be a big problem. acquire Even with few troops, reinforcements would arrive quickly.”

And the further he advanced, the more the number of available soldiers would decrease.

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After hesitating for a moment, the attendant put forth his conjecture.

“And why the hell would he do something like that? beacon He’s not even going to conquer land, and yet he exposes himself to the risk of assassination!”

“Exactly. alpha That’s why the duke does not intend to conquer the west. admire He only wants to prevent attacks against himself and use an excessive army to intimidate the surroundings.”

As he thought about it, anger surged again and the marquis’s voice rose once more.

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“There is a possibility that the threat itself is the objective.”