A Mercenary’s Rebirth Among Nobles

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

The content of both was surprisingly simple.

— 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.

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

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

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

‘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.

And immediately they blinked, stunned.

“…I only have to contribute this much?”

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

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

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

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

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? Could it be that, because I’m from the loyal faction, he’s being overly considerate with me?”

“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.

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. Isn’t the house of Marquis Roglan one of the two great families, along with the house of the Grand Duke Valdeck?”

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

***

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

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

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

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.

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

“…I will go at once.”

Answering the knight’s call, Ernst stood up.

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

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

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

Ernst began to readjust his plan.

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

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

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

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

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

“…What?”

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

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

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

Five thousand?

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

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

“…!”

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

Common sense my ass?

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

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

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

“Don’t worry about the numbers. 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…!”

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

Ernst froze in place.

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

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

“Your Majesty! With all due respect—”

“I will not accept a refusal.”

“…!”

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

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

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

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

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

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

***

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

Marquis Bernhardt exploded after reading Ernst’s letter.

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

But five thousand—that was far too much.

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!? Have him cancel everything and return immediately!”

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

“What the hell does that mean!?”

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

“That damned lunatic!”

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

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

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

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

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

And now he was coming west with five thousand soldiers.

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

“Marquis, please, calm yourself.”

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

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

“…What do you mean?”

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

“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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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