A Mercenary’s Rebirth Among Nobles

“What the hell is going on!? What do you mean that brat is already that close!? What have you been doing all this time without reporting anything!?”

Marquis Bernhardt sprang to his feet from his seat, horrified by a completely unexpected report.

Just a few days earlier, he had received news that Lucian was stuck in Viscount Oleg’s territory, unable even to advance normally.

And now, in what seemed like the blink of an eye, he had crossed countless domains and was practically at his doorstep.

The sudden change in the reports was so absurd that it left him speechless.

He had insisted again and again that Lucian be detained at all costs, and yet there was not a single lord who had properly carried out his order.

“I never imagined they would betray the trust accumulated until now like this! Do they have so little respect for the name of the Marquis Roglan house that they would dare do something like this!? You’ll see! This will not end here!”

“M-Marquis. Please, calm yourself. The other lords also had their reasons…”

“Reasons? Very well, let’s hear them! Tell me what reasons they had for completely ignoring my orders!”

Under the marquis’s cutting pressure, the messenger swallowed with difficulty.

Given how things were, a single wrong word would be enough for his head to be separated from his body on the spot.

But fortunately, he had a reasonable explanation to justify his lord’s behavior.

“There is a rumor going around that the duke perpetrated a massacre in Viscount Oleg’s territory.”

“What? What are you talking about?”

“Exactly as I said. It is said that, seeing that Viscount Oleg was deliberately obstructing his advance, the duke, enraged, killed him and completely ravaged his territory.”

“That’s impossible!”

The marquis let out an incredulous laugh at the messenger’s words.

It made no sense.

The west was already practically enemy territory for Lucian. And even so, he would commit a massacre there and advance even farther inward?

Even with an army of five thousand men, it would be nothing but a suicidal act, perfect for being surrounded and annihilated.

“If that brat had really committed a massacre, why didn’t he immediately return to the north? Why keep advancing?”

“It’s only a rumor. We don’t know the facts for certain either.”

“And even so you let him pass just because of a rumor? Out of fear that that brat would go mad with five thousand soldiers?”

The marquis’s face began to twist, and the messenger hurriedly added.

“It wasn’t just the rumor. What was decisive was that the duke’s army arrived completely covered in blood.”

“Covered in blood?”

“Yes! The amount of blood on their armor and weapons was abnormal! It was an amount impossible unless a massacre had been committed! How could we take it lightly just because it was a rumor?”

“Then… did that man really…?”

At the messenger’s desperate explanation, Marquis Bernhardt murmured with a grave expression.

If that was true, he could understand to some extent why the lords had let him pass.

When there is the possibility that an entire house might be exterminated, who would care about the marquis’s orders?

Any head of a family would have made the same decision if Lucian appeared at their gates.

However, as one doubt was resolved, another, even greater one arose.

‘It’s strange. If he had committed a massacre, he should have returned to the north without looking back. What exactly is he doing? Does he think he can attack me with just five thousand men?’

Five thousand soldiers and three hundred knights were, without a doubt, a formidable force.

Enough to crush any ordinary territory in less than a day.

The problem was that the house of Marquis Roglan was not an ordinary territory.

‘Between the north and the west, the road to Roglan passes through a fortress built between gorges. Not ten, but twenty or thirty times the difference in forces could be held back without difficulty. And even if he managed to take it after enormous effort, he would then have to face the troops of the main house.’

The fortress of Roglan was, by definition, impregnable, and the quality of its knights and soldiers was first-rate.

Even a northern army in its best condition could be stopped without issue.

And if they failed to take the fortress, they would not be able to withdraw calmly either.

Every army shows its greatest weakness during retreat.

If Lucian returned to the north after failing the siege and the marquis launched a counterattack, his army would be annihilated.

‘That man was the third son of the great Duke Valdeck. He can’t ignore these rules. Then what exactly is he plotting? I only worried about letting those five thousand enter as “guests,” damn it.’

The marquis’s eyebrows trembled.

A terrible supposition, the worst possible one, crossed his mind.

He turned sharply toward the messenger and shouted.

“Did you confirm the truth of that rumor?”

“Huh?”

“The northern usurper! Did anyone confirm whether he really committed a massacre in Viscount Oleg’s territory?”

“No… no one confirmed it directly. There wasn’t time, and it was already in the past…”

“And no one asked him directly?”

“The atmosphere was so tense that no one dared to address him.”

“Damn it…”

The marquis clutched his forehead, which had begun to throb violently.

Now, at last, he more or less understood what was going on.

‘A farce. He deliberately created an atmosphere of terror so the lords wouldn’t dare block his path. And when he reaches my territory, he’ll act as if nothing happened, like a simple guest.’

The biggest clue was that he never mentioned a massacre in his own words, merely allowing ambiguous rumors to circulate.

If he truly intended to attack the marquis’s house, he would have openly publicized the massacre to completely cow the lords.

But Lucian only allowed confusing rumors to spread, without confirming anything.

‘Even if they later realize they were deceived, they’ll have no grounds to complain. All he has to do is laugh and say it was a misunderstanding. He played us well.’

Marquis Bernhardt’s face flushed red with rage as he ground his teeth.

Not once, but twice, he had been manipulated by that brat’s schemes.

It was no longer just anger; he was beginning to feel a deep humiliation.

Sensing the dangerous atmosphere, the messenger spoke trembling.

“M-Marquis. The report arrived late, but it wasn’t intentional…”

“There’s no need for you to abase yourself with excuses. While the others remained silent, your lord was the only one who reported the enemy’s movements with the greatest speed. I will remember what happened today, so return in peace.”

“T-Thank you!”

Having heard the response he wanted, the messenger left almost running, with the expression of someone who had just saved his life.

Alone in his study, Marquis Bernhardt fell into deep thought.

If he left things as they were, Lucian would enter his territory before he could gather external forces and roam freely.

If an army vastly superior in numbers to the defensive forces broke into his domain, even he would have to measure every gesture in front of Lucian.

He had to buy time, no matter the cost, to gather troops.

‘The problem is that that bastard is already too close. What the hell can I do now to stop him…?’

After turning it over again and again, the marquis’s eyes opened wide.

There was a way.

A somewhat despicable method, but the only one capable of stopping Lucian right before his eyes.

The marquis immediately summoned one of his most trusted knights and gave him an order.

“Deliver this to the captain of the Belfor Castle garrison, Sir Emil. If the northern usurper mentions my invitation and intends to enter as a guest…”

The marquis glanced around for a moment and then leaned in to whisper the rest into his ear.

After hearing the instruction, the knight bowed his head with a rigid expression and withdrew in silence.

When the door to the study closed with a dull thud, Marquis Bernhardt formed a twisted smile.

‘I admit he knows how to use his head well. But this time, he won’t have an escape.’

It wasn’t a problem that could be solved by pressuring someone.

No matter how much innate talent he had for handling people, when faced with a problem that only time could resolve, there was nothing he could do.

***

“We’re almost there.”

Lucian, who had crossed the west at full speed, smiled as he looked at the castle built between the gorges.

Beor Castle.

A fortress blessed by geography, situated on the road to the main house of Marquis Roglan.

If they got past that castle and rode for two more days, he would be able to come face to face with Marquis Bernhardt.

“Everyone has worked hard. There isn’t much left, so hang on a little longer.”

“No, that’s not the hard part, but what the hell is that?”

Although Lucian tried to encourage his vassals, Hugo ignored the speech and muttered with a stunned expression.

And it was no wonder.

Beor Castle was so imposing that it made all the previous suffering fade away.

“Can something like that really be conquered? No matter how I look at it, it doesn’t seem like a siege is even possible.”

If one focused only on its appearance, it could even be described as crude and inelegant.

Compared to the white walls of Tibron or Asagrim, its walls looked rough and graceless.

However, unlike its appearance, its defensive capability was simply monstrous.

Both sides were sealed off by gorges, leaving only a single front of attack.

And that single front was, moreover, extremely narrow.

It didn’t even seem possible to bring a siege tower close, much less place more than a couple of ladders.

“First of all, what kind of misshapen castle is this? Can people really live in there?”

“They can’t. It was built by renouncing civilian habitation and designed solely for defense. Even so, in pure defense it probably surpasses even Tibron or Asagrim.”

“In other words, it’s a castle that has nothing but defense.”

At Lucian’s assessment, Felicia spoke up from the side.

Perhaps because it was the castle of Marquis Roglan, her voice was lower than usual.

“It cannot be self-sufficient; it depends entirely on external supplies, and the terrain is so rugged that it doesn’t even serve as a trade route. It’s effective at stopping external invasions, but that’s all.”

“Undoubtedly, in times of peace its usefulness would be limited. But in a chaotic era like this, that defense alone is quite appealing…”

“Ah!”

Marius, who had praised the castle without thinking, had to shut his mouth immediately when he felt Felicia’s sharp gaze.

Lucian watched the scene and smiled faintly before reminding everyone of the most important point.

“It may be an invincible fortress for stopping enemies, but no matter how invincible a castle is, it can never refuse a guest.”

With that, Lucian led his army of five thousand men toward the gate of Beor Castle.

When they got close enough to attack, a voice rang out from atop the wall.

“Halt! Stop right there and identify yourselves! If you do not, we will attack!”

The guard tried to appear calm, but he could not hide the slight tremor in his voice.

They seemed to be a well-trained elite unit, but the sheer scale of an army he had never seen before was crushing him psychologically.

As ordered, Lucian stopped where he was and shouted in a loud voice so that everyone could hear.

“Lucian Grimaldi Vadelck has come in response to the invitation of Marquis Bernhardt! I wish to meet the marquis as a guest, so order the garrison commander to open the gates immediately!”