Chapter 160 - 148: The King’s Decision
Chapter 160: Chapter 148: The King’s Decision
It was late at night when the message reached Barishik. Louis III and the Queen were already asleep, only to be unexpectedly woken by men sent from Marquis George.
Assisted by his servants, Louis III hastily dressed, his face showing a hint of anger. He sent for Earl Daniel, the Chancellor on duty for the night.
A position like Chancellor all but guaranteed that the family behind Earl Daniel would soon be granted the title of Count, elevating them to the ranks of the high nobility. In fact, Earl Daniel’s younger brother was already on the next list of peerages.
Earl Daniel was a Viscount from the south. Louis III had poached him specifically to undermine Marquis Oscillate.
Serving the Royal Family was an indispensable step on the path to joining the high nobility. For generations, kings had used this very opportunity to sow division between the northern and southern nobles and maintain a political balance.
Louis III had intended to demand what in the world Marquis George was thinking, coming to see him in the middle of the night.
However, halfway there, the Minister of Intelligence, Count Friedaman, who was already waiting for him, handed him a letter and a Memory Stone. Louis III was instantly astounded.
"Your Majesty! Kemal has absolutely lost his mind! It seems the blow from the Grand Knight Commander thirty years ago wounded him gravely. Now, that old dog probably doesn’t have much time left!"
By the time Louis III reached the council hall, Marquis George was so excited he immediately grabbed the king’s hand, completely abandoning his usual decorum and shrewd composure.
An uninformed observer might have mistaken them for a wise monarch and his loyal subject.
In truth, Louis III was even more elated than Marquis George. However, having lived for so many years, he was able to just barely suppress his true feelings.
That’s right—elation. Upon learning that the Beastmen on the front lines had actually resorted to using the undead, the emotion both Louis III and Marquis George felt was pure joy.
The undead. Their infamy was known throughout the continent, and they were opposed by virtually every sentient race. For Kemal to dare use them meant he would become a public enemy to all.
Louis III had heard long ago that Kemal was in a desperate situation. The prestige of the Beastman Royal Family was dwindling year after year. Ever since the humans’ last counterattack drove them back to the great plains, many of their tribes now paid only lip service to the throne.
Louis III easily pieced it all together. Kemal had spent so long preparing because he wanted to use this southern campaign to re-establish the Beastman Royal Family’s prestige.
He hadn’t expected to run straight into a brick wall. No matter what he tried, he couldn’t achieve a swift breakthrough of Grantham’s defensive line. As a result, the Beastman Royal Family’s prestige not only failed to increase, but it actually diminished considerably.
Now, with a minor crisis emerging on the Western Front, Kemal couldn’t restrain himself any longer. Wanting a quick victory, he had played the undead card—a move that would make him a public enemy.
Of course, this incident would likely be pinned on some dark cult afterward, but that didn’t matter! What mattered was that the undead had appeared on the front lines—used for military purposes, and on a massive scale.
Five thousand had been turned at the fortress, but Marquis Oscillate’s report claimed ten thousand.
Louis III already knew exactly what to write in his letters. The hundreds of thousands of soldiers on the Western Front were now under the threat of the undead! If not dealt with in a timely manner, an undead scourge would be upon them in an instant!
As for whether it would truly become an undead scourge, Louis III knew better. Ten thousand undead sounded like a lot, but in reality, they couldn’t stir up that much trouble. This was, of course, as long as Marquis Oscillate wasn’t foolish enough to defend Devil City to the last man, conveniently serving as fodder for his enemy’s undead army.
Having fought against Marquis Oscillate his entire life, Louis III was confident the marquis was no fool.
Moreover, the Frank Kingdom had been founded on the slaughter of the undead; they were experts in the field. The sacred relic of the Knight King, currently housed in the Royal Palace, was the Death Holy Sword. It was said to represent the Lord of Dawn’s authority to pacify the souls of the dead.
Of course, this was certainly a fabrication. At the very least, the current Pope did not acknowledge its legitimacy.
Nevertheless, the Frank Kingdom was considered one of the Human Kingdoms most skilled at slaying the undead. The other was the Tilia Kingdom, which was founded upon the ruins of the Elanshiri Empire and was also quite adept at handling them.
Of course, there were also the minor papal states representing the Lord of Dawn, but these Pope Countries had long since fallen into decline, likely possessing only half the strength of the Algeria Kingdom.
However, Louis III was certain that the Tilia Kingdom would not be nearly as pleased by this news about the undead.
Louis III wasn’t worried about the undead because, in his kingdom’s history, the Knight King had hunted them down. The Tilia Kingdom, on the other hand, had been the one hunted *by* them. By the Knight King’s era, the Elanshiri Empire had already descended into civil war among its feudal lords, and the Empire no longer had the strength to purge the undead from its lands.
"We must report this to the Council of the Human Race at once!
The Beastmen’s shameful actions endanger the safety of the entire continent! The lives of hundreds of thousands of soldiers on the Western Front are now under grave threat!
We must put a stop to this!" Marquis George declared passionately.
Unlike the Southern Kingdom, no matter how fierce their internal conflicts, the nobles of the Frank Kingdom always stood united on foreign affairs.
This was why Marquis George had come to Louis III instead of sending a letter to the Council of the Human Race himself.
This was especially true concerning the Beastmen. Among all the nobles of the Human Race, if you asked who hated the Beastmen the most, Marquis George would be second to none.
In the previous generation, both his mother, Lady Maria, and his father, Marquis Wei’an, had died at the hands of the Beastmen. In his own generation, his two older brothers had met the same fate, directly or indirectly.
Once the Beastman problem was solved, the entire body of Northern Nobles would be greeted by vast, boundless lands and riches, not to mention the peace and tranquility the Franks had always craved.
"Yes, we cannot afford any missteps here.
I will write to Gallidus, Lancewell, and Paul tomorrow—no, right away. I trust they will not ignore the greater good," Louis III said, nodding.
Gallidus was the king of Algeria, Lancewell was the king of Tilia, and Paul V was the current Pope of the Dawn Holy See.
"There is also the matter of the Western Front. Send word at once telling them to retreat. What is the position of our forces?" Louis III asked, turning his gaze to Earl Daniel.
Earl Daniel looked somewhat awkward.
"They have reached Wei Man City, Your Majesty," said Earl Daniel.
"Wei Man City? Weren’t they supposed to be departing *from* Wei Man City?" Louis III asked, his eyes wide with disbelief. Earl Daniel looked even more embarrassed.
"Yes. In truth, our army’s advance has not gone quite as planned.
However, those issues have now been resolved. At our current pace, we expect to reach Thermopylae by the end of the month."
The end of the month. Louis III’s face grew even darker.
There was still no sign of a retreat from Grantham. And going by the usual practices of the Council of the Human Race, they would spend a month convening, a month deliberating, and another month organizing.
By then, the Beastmen would have already invaded the Frank Kingdom, and the royal domain would be the first to fall.
Louis III did not share Grantham’s audacity, which was backed by skill. As things stood, the central front was in grave danger of being encircled by the Beastmen. If the Frank Kingdom’s entire legion was wiped out there, what would it matter even if they ultimately won the war against the Beastman Empire?
"Relay the intelligence to Oscillate and Grantham. Ask them for their assessment." After considering all angles, this was the only solution Louis III could devise.
The Kingdom’s Standing Army was currently deployed on the Western and Central Fronts. Although Louis III had withdrawn a portion from the Central Front, the battlefield was so vast that he couldn’t possibly pull them all out.
Other units were currently assigned to guard the Royal Capital and other major cities.
For the moment, Louis III had no better solution.