Chapter 173 : Chapter 173

Chapter : 173

“So that is why you came here?”

“That is right. Your Excellency, the Margrave of Bellua. My father wanted competition, and I am in a position where I must earn merit in this subjugation of the Crusader Knight Order.”

“Hmm….”

At Lord Gertman’s words, I rubbed my chin.

Things were rolling along in a pretty interesting way. For some reason, Gertman, who should have been acting as an advisor according to the original [Pangea Universalise] game system, was now in a position where he had received succession rights.

‘Was this guy the one behind that rank up system alarm back then?’

It seemed the few times I had poked at things to aim for the Duchy of Bourgogne’s division had produced this butterfly effect.

‘And listening to it, that Count of Schwaben attached to him does not seem like an easy man, either….’

Then, at a thought that suddenly occurred to me, I frowned.

The Count of Schwaben whom the Duke of Bourgogne had attached. He was a confidant of the Duke of Bourgogne who had been through everything, but because of that, was he not rather too much for Lord Gertman to handle?

I found myself weighing whether it was worth helping that man.

As if he had read my thoughts from my expression, Lord Gertman hurriedly opened his mouth.

“Your Excellency the Margrave, I know well what you are worrying about. You mean that I am not prepared as a successor, so my foundation is weak, is that not?”

“That is right. I am especially worried about the Count of Schwaben that Your Grace attached to you. It is doubtful whether you, with a weak foundation, can control such a great noble.”

If the rider collapsed before the finish line while the horse was running at full speed, would that not be a loss of that magnitude?

To finish, the rider had to be able to fully control the racehorse.

Controlling an ambitious, powerful vassal was not an easy thing. Then Lord Gertman said something unexpected.

“That is why I came to find Your Excellency the Margrave of Bellua, is it not?”

“What? Me?”

“Yes, Your Excellency. If Your Excellency helps me, then I will be able to control someone like the Count of Schwaben easily.”

“Hahaha.”

At that, laughter burst out of me for a moment.

Since his own power was lacking, he would borrow outside power.

At a glance, it looked like a fairly decent method, but if he misstepped, could he not become a puppet?

In a situation where he could not even seize his own vassals, he was saying he would bring me into it, too?

“Well, now….”

I stopped laughing for a moment and looked at Lord Gertman. He was still looking at me with an unwavering, firm expression.

“Do you not understand what that means better than anyone? You would be driving out a fox by bringing in a wolf, would you not? Do you think I am that easy?”

“No. How could that be? You are the one who turned the crumbling Margrave of Bellua into what it is now.”

“Then?”

“If we stay still like this, we will lose everything anyway. Rather than losing everything and disappearing, it would be a wise decision to live while gaining at least something.”

“Oh…?”

At that answer, I let out an impressed exclamation.

So a person’s will could change like this. If it had been the old Lord Gertman, he would have quickly tucked his tail and lowered his head, but now he seemed different.

‘Interesting.’

At the clearly changed feeling, I took interest in Lord Gertman.

If I helped him well, I might create another partner who would secure my interests in the north, after all.

“With that mindset, you will not collapse easily, at least.”

“I did not come to Your Excellency to choose an easy path in the first place. I came because I want it to benefit both you and me, Your Excellency.”

“Benefit…. It does not seem like you have any benefit you can give me.”

I tilted my head.

At this point, it did not look like there was much I could gain from Lord Gertman.

“I heard that Your Excellency wants to vitalize the relay trade market.”

“That is right. So? Are you saying that if you later take all of the Duchy of Bourgogne, you will remove the tariffs then? Something like that?”

If he was trying to negotiate with something not even in his hands yet, I would be disappointed.

It would mean he did not even know the basics of negotiation yet.

But Lord Gertman was not that stupid.

“How could I possibly do that.”

“Then?”

“I understand that through the southern heretic hunt, Your Excellency obtained the City of Mangtong from the Holy See and the City of Pigeres from the Kingdom of Aragon. Are not both cities coastal port cities, major hubs for overseas trade?”

“Surely what you are trying to say is….”

As I listened, something came to mind, and I asked back, slightly startled.

And sure enough, Lord Gertman was proposing exactly what I had thought.

That was.

“Yes, that is right. I will gift you ships that can sail out into the ocean, Your Excellency. I will provide skilled sailors who have conquered the rough northern seas, and craftsmen who know how to build sturdy ships. If that happens, Your Excellency’s relay trade will be able to escape our small kingdoms and directly exchange even with the Eastern Empire across the sea.”

A way to head out onto the vast sea.

He was saying he would pass down navigation, which trade states hid so tightly.

Even in modern times, going out to sea on a ship was not easy.

Massive storms, massive waves, a vast sea with no signposts where direction was hard to find, and so on.

In that situation, going out to sea in a medieval-level [Pangea Universalise]?

It was dangerous, but it was also know-how built from enormous technique and accumulated experience.

And he was saying he would provide that as the price for my help.

For me, there was no reason to refuse.

Especially, as Lord Gertman said, since I wanted to greatly grow the relay trade market, it was an excellent proposal.

Exactly what I needed.

Well, of course, that did not mean I would directly support him with troops.

“You mean I should receive them through the Prince-elector of Bohemia, Your Excellency?”

“That is right. There is no need to reveal to the outside world that you have a close relationship with me from now. It would only strengthen their wariness. Especially, you have your father, the Duke of Bourgogne, watching you as well, do you not. It is better to reveal your relationship with me slowly.”

“Hmm…. But I have no connection with the Prince-elector of Bohemia….”

“My, my. Have you not heard yet?”

“Yes?”

“My comrade-in-arms and colleague, His Excellency the Prince-elector of Bohemia, is already in my domain.”

“???”

---

There was some bustle, but in the end, Lord Gertman got what he wanted.

Three thousand elite troops borrowed from the Prince-elector of Bohemia. And on top of that, four hundred of my elf knights, temporarily released from their vassal contracts, supported him as free knights.

In total, he returned to the Duchy of Bourgogne proudly, leading a massive force of 3,400.

I heard he would immediately join the Count of Schwaben, who was already mobilizing troops, and sweep away the Crusader Knight Order branches in the Duchy of Bourgogne…. I could only pray he did well and overcame his older brother, Duke Charles.

“Still, you are pretty bad, aren’t you.”

“What? Bad, all of a sudden, Magician Agpiel.”

“Is it not bad? In the end, you shook up a perfectly fine family, did you not. Thanks to you, the Duchy of Bourgogne will become noisy with a power struggle.”

The more the world became chaotic, the more the common people suffered. In that sense, Magician Agpiel was slightly concerned about this stirred-up confusion. I respected Magician Agpiel’s concern, but I did not take it too seriously.

“My, my…. Magician Agpiel. The die has already been cast. What was going to happen happened anyway. Do you truly think Lord Gertman would have purely withdrawn if I had not supported him?”

“Hmm…. That is true, too. The die has been cast….”

“So do not worry too much. I know well that you cannot govern and lead people with only plots and stratagems.”

“Hohoho. If you are thinking that way, then that is a relief.”

Only then, as if he had finally put down a worry, Magician Agpiel’s expression brightened as he let out a sigh of relief.

If I was on guard against falling into a heretical path, Magician Agpiel had no great reason to worry, either.

“Still, it seems the world is truly becoming harsher. The aftereffects of The Great Famine seem enormous.”

“Why, are you hearing bad news, Magician Agpiel?”

“Reports of peasant revolts keep coming in. Unlike before, they are not small-scale; they are growing in size. In some domains, I heard the lord was driven out of his castle. Hoho….”

“Mmm….”

At that story, I swallowed a groan.

It felt like the time had finally come. The time of great chaos that would come with the [The Great Famine] event.

The time of upheaval and confusion where the class system above and below collapsed, the existing feudal system was destroyed, and the world rapidly shifted to centralization.

If not now, the perfect chance to grow my family’s power would not come. After this, it would be the arena of kingdoms that had increased their weight class. I could no longer remain a minor lord and discuss the continent’s political situation.

-GULP.

I swallowed my saliva.

After hearing Magician Agpiel’s words, a taut tension seized my body more than ever.

A chance that would be the first—and in a way, might be the last.

I had to use it to escape this damned world inside the game.

And before long.

“M-my lord! A large-scale peasant revolt has broken out!”

At last, that time arrived.

---

The beginning was truly meager.

And truly trivial.

If the lord who ruled that region had been just a little more benevolent, and a little wiser, it would not have grown into something like this.

He only needed to lower taxes even a little, and allow them to use the well water.

But like most nobles, that lord was neither particularly wise nor benevolent.

He even imposed taxes on the drinking well water, and in a situation already ruined, he began to squeeze out taxes with grim determination.

And as a result.

-WAAAAAAH! Kill the wicked lord!

-We cannot just stay like this. If we stay still, we will die! If we resist, we will gain everything. Take up arms! Let us show that greedy pig his end!

Late at night.

The lord’s castle, where he had been sleeping soundly, was seized by furious peasants. There had been no time to resist.

Even the guards who protected the castle were people who had put down roots in that domain. They could not possibly be ignorant of their relatives’ suffering.

Because of that, the lord inside the castle and his knights were slaughtered and killed miserably.

And this….

It provoked fallen nobles who had been alienated and oppressed in every sector of society, errant knights who had lost their opportunities, and begging monks, and even religious people who had fallen into pseudo-religion.

-I cannot live like this! Let us overturn it!

-Save the pitiful domain people! Let us break free from the filthy oppressors!

-Draw your swords! Knights who are free and know honor! There are the weak here. It is time to uphold our noble duty.

-All of this is the problem of those who chase money and have become corrupted. Religion must return from the bottom again. Let us care for them!

Now, it was no longer a simple local peasant revolt. It had evolved beyond regions into a massive great rebellion that would shake the kingdom—no, even the continent.

The world would now burn.