I Became a Lord in the Game

Chapter 80 : Chapter 80

chapter : 80

I had experienced a surge in infamy due to the Great Fire during the last occupation of Mangtong City.

And now it was rising again.

My head began to throb.

‘A strange coincidence won't intervene and throw me into a crisis, will it?’

Thinking of the bloody battle with the Soul Eater was simply horrifying. If I hadn't prepared in advance and faced it then, wouldn't I have almost lost that greedy Bishop Marco?

"Mehehehe! Money. This sparkling ring. Beautiful. Mer."

'Hmm... Maybe it would have been better to lose him?'

Besides, the mechanism of infamy in [Pangea Universalise] wasn't just about monsters like the Soul Eater appearing.

A sudden fall from a horse.

A sudden illness.

A sudden natural disaster.

Coincidences beyond human control were the punishments handed down for infamy.

'Ugh. I must be careful. I'll have to perform good deeds again for a while...'

As I thought this with a frown, the elf knights seemed to think I was angry.

"F-Forgive us for making excuses!"

"Mercy..."

They bowed their heads, begging for my forgiveness. In truth, killing a noble without permission was a great crime. Especially a commander-level noble.

But I had no intention of punishing the dejected elf knights right now.

Weren't they serving me of their own accord? Of course, I'd have to give them a little money as a reward when they performed meritorious service.

'What's done is done. It's better to coax them and make them act according to my will.'

They were beings who filled a great cavalry role in my infantry-focused army, which lacked diversity.

"What are you talking about? It can happen. How is that your fault? A weak and cowardly commander died while fleeing. I understand completely."

"Y-Your Excellency..."

"Now, now, aren't you elves who know the honor of battle? Stand up. Instead, listen to my words a little better from now on. Understood?"

"Ooh... We understand!"

"You are as honorable as we have heard! Your Excellency."

"If I don't follow your orders from now on, I'm a dwarf. A dwarf."

At my words, the elf knights were moved to tears. A human lord who understood the honor of battle! It was a truly rare and beautiful thing.

Of course, Magician Agpiel, who was watching, was dumbfounded.

"What are those friends doing? They're not even knights under your command, yet they're saying they'll follow your orders? Did you give them a title or something?"

"No. They suddenly said they would follow me, Magician Agpiel."

"Well, I'll be."

Those high and mighty elf knights?

It was a hard thing to believe, but when I looked again with wide eyes, it was true.

Magician Agpiel could only click his tongue. I shrugged and said.

"Well, what's good is good, isn't it? They're voluntarily moved and want to follow."

"Well, that's true, but..."

"Don't worry about it, Agpiel. What's important now is cleaning up the mess and re-establishing the supply lines."

I said this and went to see the prisoners.

Thanks to the battle line collapsing faster than expected and the encirclement being completed, most of the nobles and knights had been captured without being able to escape.

Each of them had a hefty ransom, so I planned to classify them well and send negotiation envoys to each family.

But then...

"Oh, Your Excellency! You've come. We were hoping to see you before the execution."

"???"

This time, the Knightly Order of Saint Mary was the problem.

They had drawn their longswords and were menacingly surrounding the prisoners.

As if they would strike their necks at any moment.

"What... is going on?"

"Yes? Ah, we were preparing so as not to dirty the hands of our pious Excellency! If you just give the word, we will execute all these filthy heretics in the name of the almighty Lord."

"..."

What was this, like some barbarian human sacrifice? To kill them all. My head began to throb again.

'Aigo... my head.'

I understood well that they wanted to punish them in the name of God because they were heretics... but I was the one who had to deal with the aftermath.

If I killed them all, resentment and infamy would spring up like mushrooms.

Besides, the commander who had insulted me was dead, so was there really a need to kill all of them?

"There will be no executions."

"Pardon?"

"You're not going to kill them? Your Excellency. How...?"

"On the contrary, I want to ask. Why are you trying to kill them?"

"Because they are heretics who have abandoned the Lord, are they not, Your Excellency? If they believed in a false faith, they should pay the price! That is the attitude a shepherd should have."

I was momentarily speechless at the Knightly Order of Saint Mary's ridiculous logic. Was this even something to say...?

But I quickly collected myself and opened my mouth. If I didn't, they seemed ready to actually strike the prisoners' necks.

"Did you not hear? I gave the people of Mangtong City a chance."

"W-We heard that, but. Still..."

"Still?"

I cut off the words of the Knightly Order of Saint Mary.

"You call yourselves shepherds, yet how can you leave them to die just because they have fallen for wicked whispers!"

"Pardon?"

"Even if you kill them, will they repent or do penance?"

I shouted, pointing at the captured prisoners. When dealing with such stubborn logic, it was best to go with a sound argument.

"Though it may be a difficult and long road, how can those who follow God not think of turning a lost lamb to the right path?"

Then I approached a captured noble, took his hand, and said softly.

"Now. Pray. Confess your sins and repent. Though you may not be able to wash away your sins all at once, you can take it one step at a time. Is that not so?"

"Y-Yes, Your Excellency. I-I must have been blinded by vain things all this time-!"

Fortunately, that noble was quick-witted. He clung to my hand and wept.

Well, if he hadn't, his head might have been cut off by those ignorant members of the monastic order, so he would have had to at least pretend to repent.

"Ooh..."

Of course, this scene was probably very moving for the members of the Knightly Order of Saint Mary.

"My beautiful Saint Mary... I am witnessing a miracle."

"That's right, Your Excellency. Our thoughts were short. How could we not have sought to save them? Ah-!"

-Tiriring!

[You have inspired the members of the single-minded monastic knightly order. They are often as ferocious as barbarians, but they will become more mellow following your words.]

[Notification: The favorability of each monastic order increases.]

[Notification: Each captured family will be grateful to you.]

* * *

The prisoner issue was roughly settled. The members of the Knightly Order of Saint Mary took a step back, and I ordered Bishop Marco to have them "atone."

In other words, to sell indulgences.

As expected, our goat beastman was excited and diligently sold indulgences. He even bundled them with the holy water he had brought.

'Hmm, they're nobles, so they certainly have a lot of money.'

Thanks to that, I smiled with satisfaction at the growing pile of silver coins.

I had too many places where money needed to go recently.

Purifying the Ariège River polluted by the red tide was a matter of scooping up the surrounding yellow clay, so it didn't matter, but...

'The salaries for the hired mercenaries, the rewards to be given to the newly joined knights... It's no joke.'

Money was draining away just by breathing due to army maintenance costs.

And that wasn't all.

This inefficient supply.

A supply line was needed to provide food to the Prince-elector of Bohemia's army at the front, and food also had to be supplied to the laborers or horses for moving those supplies.

That's right.

Supply items weren't delivered by our ancestors.

'Pre-modern supply is truly the epitome of inefficiency...'

If 20,000 people needed food for 10 days, the supply corps of that size also needed food-!

The supply in the [Pangea Universalise] era always required double the estimated amount.

The funny thing was that even this was partially covered by each merchant guild because of the previous agreement.

'How on earth did they mobilize and fight with large-scale forces in the East when supplying an army of around 20,000 is like this?'

Thinking of the Eastern history books where 100,000 or 200,000 troops often appeared, I could only be amazed and impressed.

Well, in any case, I eventually solved the supply problem.

Supplies began to be delivered to the front lines again, and the southern heretic subjugation army led by the Prince-elector of Bohemia was now left with the last city of the heretic church.

Thanks to that, having roughly settled the situation, I sent a messenger to the Prince-elector of Bohemia. Asking for a reply on how to move forward.

And not long after, a messenger brought a letter.

"Protect the supply line of Toulon City, and if possible, he wants me to subjugate the bandits?"

* * *

Toulon City was a city located at a strategic point connecting the Kingdom of Aragon and the Elang Kingdom.

Furthermore, it was a rear city that supplied the army of the Prince-elector of Bohemia at the front. But there were bandits swarming here?

'Something's a bit strange.'

It was a really important key strategic point, so I thought a considerable number of soldiers would be stationed there, so it was a bit strange.

Sure enough.

"Y-Your Excellency, you've come!"

"Yes. What on earth is going on?"

"We're in big trouble! Please help me. The supply route is about to be cut off."

As soon as I arrived in Toulon City, the city's magistrate shouted and explained as if screaming.

"Hmm..."

This was what the magistrate said.

Defeated soldiers had flowed into this area and had soon formed a large group.

Since they were branded as heretics anyway, it was the same whether they died this way or that, so they immediately holed up in a nearby forest and turned into a large band of bandits.

They were conducting guerilla warfare in the forest and kept raiding the supply corps, so the supply route was on the verge of paralysis.

The enraged Toulon City had sent an army to subjugate them, but they were defeated and lost 500 soldiers.

Except for the army stationed for city defense, there were no more soldiers that could be mobilized.

"How can you be defeated by a group of defeated soldiers?"

And hearing that, I was so dumbfounded that I was at a loss for words.

If it was a group of defeated soldiers, their armament and morale should be poor, but they lost to them?

And it seemed I wasn't the only one with this thought.

"Meheheh. How pathetic. Mer."

"Your Excellency. Aren't all humans like that? They must have moved foolishly like dwarves and got beaten. If it had been entrusted to elf knights like us, we would have wiped them all out!"

"What? Are you done talking, you pointy-eared bastards? Human lord. Leave it to us. The dwarf mercenary company will smash those guys to bits!"

Everyone was giving their opinions and criticizing Toulon City's incompetence.

It was a rather rude behavior, but the magistrate of Toulon City had nothing to say even if he had two mouths. It was true that this matter was that incompetent.

Thanks to that, the magistrate spoke in a pitiful voice, as if pleading.

"Your Excellency. Please help me. My head is about to fly off at this rate."

"Hmmmm."

I thought for a moment.

Should I do it or not?

In fact, it didn't matter if I just attached soldiers to protect the supply corps without subjugating them. Wasn't the subjugation of bandits the role of the lord who ruled the area?

But I soon decided.

On this occasion, I was thinking of including Toulon City in the relay trade network I was planning.

"Fine. I will help with the subjugation."

"Ooh! Thank you, Your Excellency."

"But! You will have to pay a hefty price for it."

So let's really milk this for all it's worth.

Hehehehe.