Chapter 176 : Chapter 176

Chapter : 176

As ‍​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​‌​​​​‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​​​​​‌​​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​​‌​​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌​‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​​​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​‌​​​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌​​​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​​​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​​​‌​​‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​​​‌​‌​​​​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​​​​​‌​‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​​​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌‌‌​‌‍expected.

A “maybe” really did come back to bite me.

“Baaaa! The lord has spoken! Curse, do not move! If you get fresh with me, you die! And so, by a miracle, the curse has vanished! Meeehrr!! Therefore, we praise him! The Performer of Miracles! Baaaa.”

“Ooooo! I believe!”

“If you believe, misfortune disappears! Baaaa. Pain disappears too! Meeehrrr.”

No, I had told him to comfort the poor, but he was outright inciting them.

“Therefore, prove your faith! Meeehrr. Hurry up, even if it is just a little, and show your devotion! Baaaa!”

“Here it is. Ahh… Bishop.”

“Please… take pity on us….”

“Meeheheheh. Yes. This is it! Meeehrrrrrr!”

On top of that, as always, he let out his distinctive goat bleat and went around drawing circles over the poor who had gathered.

“…….”

Seriously, a dog never stops eating dung.

I was half-tempted to boil this goat beastman into a goat soup. I was just about to snap his legs and drag him down from the platform.

“Um, should we just leave him be?”

Then my vassals said something rather unexpected.

“Bishop Marco is… somewhat unique(?) in the way he carries out relief efforts, but he is still doing a fairly good job in his own way.”

“???”

“He is very popular with the poor, my lord. And he is giving the destitute small tasks to do while distributing food as well. He keeps saying there is no such thing as something for nothing and seems to be squeezing donations out of them, but with grain prices rising these days, in practice it is no different from simply giving it away.”

Had I heard that wrong?

I blinked and even dug at my ears, but my vassals were completely serious.

Huh…?

Our goat beastman had really changed?

“Uh-heh-heh-heh. Even your troublesome goat beastman does good deeds now and then, does he? He is just as greedy as ever, though.”

“That is why I am not sure what to make of it… Magician Agpiel.”

So that money-grubbing goat beastman, Bishop Marco… was helping others while taking losses instead of pursuing his own profit? Had he finally come to his senses?

That curiosity did not last long.

“Baaaa? What are you saying, my lord? Of course this is better! Grain eventually rots and spoils. Meeehrr!”

-THUMP THUMP!

Bishop Marco, the goat beastman, tapped the table as if asking why I was questioning something so obvious. Then he wiggled his fingers through a pile of silver and gold shavings, positively delighted.

“Meehehehheh. Sparkly, sparkly. It shines so brightly. Meeehrr.”

“…….”

Right… it was simply that he liked gold more than food.

This goat beastman…

I had no words. Still, he was not taking extortionate profits, and he was actually giving it cheaply to the poor—so was it not, in its own way, not so bad?

I forced myself to think that way and decided not to meddle with Bishop Marco’s little hobby(?).

Well, the theologians from the Holy See had come rushing at me, yelling that I had to stop it at once.

“Then are you going to give food to the poor?”

“Pardon?”

“Our Bishop Marco, though he appears greedy on the surface, is in fact giving food and work to the poor flocking to him. You, who shout about integrity from the front—what exactly are you doing?”

“Th-that is…”

“That is enough. If you wish to criticize, do it only after you can do better than the one you are condemning.”

Of course, every time it happened, I shut it down at the source with a flat reprimand, but still.

Truly, when you want to block other people’s criticism, nothing beats bringing up money.

That is right.

Exactly.

---

Thanks to the snowball the king had tossed me, I was able to carry out my plans steadily.

The lords of the southern region were all desperate to join my customs union, and I was straining to secure control and de facto dominion over each domain through that customs union.

Under the banner of shared security, I was openly sending my army to patrol each lord’s territory, and I was also summoning their knights and soldiers and placing them under commanders I appointed.

‘Very satisfying.’

It looked like nothing much, but the reality was different.

In truth, command authority and appointment authority were hazy concepts.

Those rights were recognized only when the participants of a group believed they naturally existed.

‘In modern Korea, one reason the chaebol families can control an entire group with a pitifully small stake.’

When everyone believed something was naturally so.

That was power. That was command authority and appointment authority.

Normally, such things were rights and obligations limited to the parties involved—nobles and vassals bound by direct contract—so I could not dare to exercise them.

But if, under the excuse of a special situation like this, I “borrowed” those rights for a while…

‘Then, in time, it will become something I naturally can do.’

Who would dare refuse?

It had been done before.

And who would dare challenge authority?

When everyone was following it?

And it was not just military command authority. Through the Agriculture Office, I was also meddling in the affairs of each domain within the customs union, so this dominion was certain to grow even stronger.

Even if the lords themselves did not think so, the bureaucrats and vassals beneath them—and the ordinary farmers those lords looked down upon—were gradually accepting my rule.

‘Heh-heh-heh. Everything is going smoothly. Smoothly.’

Thanks to that, I was drawing closer and closer to the continental order I had been sketching out since the [The Great Famine] event.

To turn the southern region into my territory in all but name, to expand my power along the sea, and to become the greatest house.

At this rate, Elang Kingdom would be split into pieces in the blink of an eye, and even the emperor of the Holy Empire would lose his might and collapse.

‘Tsk… but whenever things go this well, something always seems to explode.’

That ominous thought suddenly sent a chill down my spine.

Had this world ever let me prosper in peace?

Whenever things seemed to roll along nicely, it always sparked some incident or disaster.

I could only pray that, just this once, it would go well.

But I suppose you should never think thoughts like that. Just as I was spending a peaceful afternoon, a messenger burst into my office from down the corridor, his voice urgent.

“M-my lord!”

“Tsks—?”

“What?”

“No, never mind. What is it? Why are you so startled and rushing in? Do not tell me, with my rotten luck, that a massive peasant rebel army has invaded?”

There was nothing I could not win if I fought, but I loathed the idea of my domain being turned into wasteland.

The peasant rebels had grown so enormous that even if I won, my domain would be shattered in the process of subjugating the remnants.

But the messenger reacted with a jolt.

“What?! How did you know?”

“What? They really invaded?”

“Oh! O God. Has another miracle of foresight descended upon you? Praise my faithful lord! Aaaaah—!”

“…….”

This fool had stopped answering halfway and was calling on God and babbling about miracles.

This was all the result of Bishop Marco the goat beastman constantly hawking me as a miracle act in his sermons.

My head was starting to throb.

‘I really should break that goat beastman’s legs.’

I hardened my resolve, glared at the messenger, and barked,

“Stop spouting nonsense. What miracle? A peasant rebel army has invaded, and you think this is the time for that?”

“I-I am sorry.”

“Fine. Then how many are there? And how much damage have they done to my domain? Do not tell me the outer defenses have fallen. We have a garrison stationed there.”

“Huh?”

The messenger stared at me, eyes wide in confusion.

“What… what do you mean, my lord…?”

“Did you not say the peasant rebels invaded?”

At his maddening response, I furrowed my brow. The situation was urgent, and he was standing there dazed.

“M-my lord. Th-the large peasant rebel army did not come to our domain.”

“??”

“It entered the customs union territory that joined us this time. You told us to contact you at once if they came, since you said you would protect the entire customs union region.”

“Ah…? A-ahem. Right. I did say that.”

Embarrassed, I cleared my throat.

“So it was not my domain, but a treaty domain.”

“Yes. About twenty thousand peasant rebels raided Baron Ryueg’s territory, which is not far from ours. Baron Ryueg sent word, urgently asking for help.”

“That is fortunate.”

“Pardon?”

The messenger looked confused again—this time for a slightly different reason than before.

“Ahem, no—never mind. Thank you for bringing me the news. Go tell Baron Ryueg that I will immediately muster troops and send reinforcements.”

“Understood, my lord.”

When I heard it was not my domain, I grew a little indifferent. For a moment I had thought some god was trying to smash me down again, but it was not that.

‘Well… I expected something like this. I will endure it and move.’

As long as it was not a direct hit to my domain, everything was fine.

A peasant rebel incursion had been within my expectations.

Though I had to admit, a force of twenty thousand was still a surprise.

“So the peasant rebels invaded?”

“Ah. Magician Agpiel, you have already heard the news?”

“With that messenger panting and bursting in, in this situation, is it not obvious what news he brought?”

“Well… that is true.”

At Magician Agpiel’s casual tone, I nodded.

“I am told the peasant rebels raided Baron Ryueg’s territory. Their numbers are roughly twenty thousand.”

“Twenty thousand? That is enormous.”

“Even so, most of them are untrained peasants, are they not? We can handle them easily enough.”

“Hm, but I hear the remnants of the Crusader Knight Order were absorbed there, so we cannot take it lightly.”

Come to think of it, he was right.

If the remnants of the Crusader Knight Order I had released truly were there, that was not a number to dismiss.

“Then we should prepare thoroughly before we go?”

“Yes, that would be best. And this would be a good chance to test the fi— the fi…”

“A field hospital?”

“Yes, a field hospital. It would be good to test that as well.”

In a battle of such scale, casualties were inevitable whether I liked it or not, so it was the perfect time to verify the field hospital’s effectiveness.

“Ah! And what about bringing Magician Azuela along?”

“Pardon? Azuela? She has been shut up in her laboratory lately and has not come out…”

“I heard she awakened some new mystery again. A new mystery is always useful, so it would be good for her to march with us.”

“Hmm…”

That penny-pinching magician learned a new mystery? Then why did it feel so unreliable? I did not know why.

Still, the more magicians, the better. There was no reason not to bring her.

“Understood, Magician Agpiel. I will have Azuela join the campaign.”

“Good. It is time she earned her keep. How long is she going to laze about in her laboratory doing nothing but playing around?”

“……?”

Could it be that our old man…

Was he saying that because he gets dragged out to work every day while Azuela stays in the laboratory training magic?

“Hm? What is it?”

“N-no, it is nothing, Magician Agpiel.”

No, surely not.

It must be because it will help me.