Pranbow’s swings danced in sync with the wind, and a human head fell with each stroke of his sword. Galfredik used a spear, and he skewered two or three mercenaries with each stab. The enemies squealed as if they were pigs being slaughtered. Edmund and the other knights also rampaged like wolves in a pen, and the real wolves, the beowulfs, carried out a massacre. The head of the Fransil family shouted desperately while watching the bloody scene unfold from the back.

“Retreat! Retreat! Fall back and organize into formations… Huh?!”

His eyes filled with shock when he saw the black knight charging like a storm. The knight, who was clearly the commander of the soldiers, held a spear in one hand and a shortsword in the other.

It was unorthodox for the commander of a group to lead a lone charge into dozens of knights. It either meant that he was absolutely confident in his abilities or…

‘He’s overly excited! That means…’

The head of the Fransil family was an experienced knight. He came to an immediate decision and relayed his orders. “Catch that knight! Whoever brings that man down will be awarded a million cellings and his armor!”

“I, Felong will take care of it!”

“I swear it on the honor of Belle Harten!”

The knights rushed to declare their intentions. Capturing or toppling the enemy commander would allow them to turn the tides of the battle. In addition, it would allow them to receive the spotlight.

“Sir Felong, I will allow you the chance. Do not let me down.”

“Uhahaha! Please trust in me!” A knight wearing a cone helmet laughed boisterously before raising his spear. His colleagues looked at him with envious eyes. The knight came forward before shouting, “My name is Mark of Felong! If you know of honor, sir, face me in a fair…”

Shiiiing! Thuck!

“Kuagh!” A spear pierced through Felong’s spear, and he was thrown off his horse.

Shuuack!

The other knights’ eyes widened when they saw the spear curve through the air and return to where it originated.

“A-A magical spear!?”

Every knight coveted items imbued with the mysteries of magic. However, the knights had completely forgotten their greed as they saw their colleague fall in a single blow. The enemy had completely ignored the customs of a battle between knights. Moreover, Felong was also quite skilled, which meant the opponent possessed monstrous skills.

“W-what?! What a wicked man! Sirs! It doesn’t matter which one of you does it! Get that man right now and bring him to me!”

Uwwooooh!

The knights responded to the shouts of the Fransil family’s head and rode forward with loud shouts. The mercenaries were being subject to slaughter, which meant that their only saving grace would be to capture the enemy commander. Since the black knight was sent as a convoy to declare surrender, it meant that he possessed a great status. If they captured the knight, they could win the war even if they lost the battle…

“I am Jan Eugene! Duke of Batla! You dishonorable men who dare to attack without declaring war! Who are you?!”

“…!?” The knights had been charging toward Eugene like a herd of angry bison. But they halted to a stop at Eugene’s shout.

“D-Duke Batla?”

“Why is he in Brodin?”

“What’s going on here?”

Fransil’s knights shared confused gazes.

At that time, Lanslo rushed out of the gates with a large group of mercenaries.

“What?!” the head of the Fransil family shouted with disbelief. It was confusing enough that the black knight was actually the Duke of Batla, but now, there were more than five hundred troops pouring out of the gates like flowing water. He was simply devastated.

But that wasn’t the end of it…

“Father! Father!”

He felt dizzy when he spotted Reyma desperately shouting at him while being accompanied by several knights.

It was at this moment that he knew—he fucked up.

***

“I, Duke Batla, am greatly disappointed in Fransil,” Eugene said with a sigh.

“…”

“Both the daughter and the father attacked me. Is the Fransil family without honor and law?” Eugene continued in a stiff, acrimonious tone.

“…” The head of the Fransil family remained silent with his head bowed down. He couldn’t think of any excuses, and more than half of his troops had been destroyed in the devastating defeat. Even if he had something to say, he had to remain silent. It was even fortunate that half of his troops had survived once Duke Batla, his knights, and the beowulfs stopped their onslaught.

“I have no words to excuse my behavior, but all of this stemmed from a small misunderstanding…” The Fransil family’s head started to speak.

But Eugene interrupted him. “Attacking an emissary carrying a white flag was a small misunderstanding?” He continued. “So I can make a little misunderstanding of my own and kill you and all of Fransil’s knights?”

“That’s…!” the Fransil family’s head started to shout, then quickly stopped himself. He was about to call it a disgraceful, dishonorable act, but no matter how rude and dishonorable the opponent actually was, no one liked to hear such words to their face.

“I apologize again. However, this only happened because of the ignorant mercenaries breaking formation on their own.”

“The mercenaries acting out on their own. The commander must be lacking in ability, don’t you think so?” Eugene asked.

The head of the Fransil family felt his cheeks turning red at the harsh criticism. “T-that’s because I never imagined that the duke would be in Brodin… Anyway, I apologize from the bottom of my heart. I will compensate you appropriately.”

Eugene responded, “Your ransom, your son’s ransom, your daughter’s ransom, your knights’ ransom, and compensation for invading my territory without declaration.”

“W-what are you talking about?!” The Fransil family’s head could understand the ransom since he had lost the battle. But what did Eugene mean by ‘invading my territory without declaration?’

“Come to think of it, you still don’t know. Marquis Cameron, this way, please,” Eugene suddenly said.

“M-Marquis?” The Fransil family’s head muttered with disbelief as Cameron slowly walked toward the two men.

“As you can see, the royal family of Cameron has already surrendered to me. In other words, you and your army invaded the territory of the Batla Duchy, rather than Brodia.” Eugene declared.

“What nonsense…” Fransil shouted.

“And why is it nonsense?” Eugene asked.

“Urgh…” Fransil was left unable to mutter any more words. On second thought, it wasn’t nonsense, since results were all that mattered in these kinds of situations.

“I am Lanslo of Drak. I am also curious as to why this is nonsense.”

“I would like to hear your reasoning as well, as the knight representing Eland. I’m very curious as to what you, who consolidated the territories of the Brodia family by force, are going to say.”

Lanslo and Pranbow stood on either side of Eugene. The Fransil family’s head felt as if the very sky was falling when he saw that a knight from the Drak family and a swordmaster of Eland was involved.

And most importantly…

“The family’s head, heir, and daughter. I captured everyone. So explain to me how this is nonsense…”

When he saw Eugene’s crimson eyes, the Fransil family’s head had no choice but to give in. Until now, he fought harder than everyone else to take Brantia’s throne into his own hands, however, the tide had completely turned in the favor of the Duke of Batla.

“Do as you please...”

“Good. Let’s talk about reparations, then.” Eugene held back a smile and turned his head with a stern expression. “Provisional financial officer. Come here,” Eugene said.

Odd came up while rubbing his palms with a sly grin. “Hehe! It’s an honor to meet you, Lord Fransil. I’m Odd, the provisional financial officer of the Batla Duchy. Hehehe!”

“…?!”

Lord Fransil felt a chill in his spine when he saw the glittering light of greed in the merchant’s tiny, button-like eyes. He could instantly tell that the fat, financial officer was an extraordinary figure.

“First of all, for the ransom of your two children…” Odd started.

“Kihehehehe. You’re in trouble, old man. As for that merchant, even I have to bow before him when it comes to these matters! Kieh~” Mirian giggled while circling the prisoner, but Lord Fransil maintained a blank expression.

The demanded ransom for himself, his children, and the knights were equivalent to the Fransil family’s budget for an entire year. But the nightmare had just begun…

“Now, the price of reparations for the unauthorized invasion of the Batla Duchy. In proportion to the number of troops in your army, sir…”

Lord Fransil felt his mind drifting farther and farther away as Odd continued. If he were to pay the reparations in full, the Fransil family would have to feed themselves on nothing but grass for at least three to four years. It would be no different from having his family and territory ripped apart to shreds.

“…And that is all,” Odd concluded.

“Y-Your Excellency. This is a little too much… Of course, I will compensate you, but…” Lord Fransil stuttered with a pale expression.

Eugene replied in a quiet, gentle voice, “If you follow my suggestion, I am willing to cut it by half.”

“...!” Lord Fransil became wide-eyed. Even half of the total reparation would be an enormous sum of money, but he couldn’t complain about it now.

“I will hear the duke’s suggestion. Please tell me,” Lord Fransil said.

“It’s simple. Come under Batla and Crawlmarine, just as Marquis Cameron had done,” Eugene casually said.

“…!” Lord Fransil flinched.

Eugene continued with a gentle, compassionate expression. “Sir, you call yourself Duke Fransil, don’t you?”

“…” Lord Fransil’s face reddened once again.

Eugene added. “Even if you continue to shout it, you will remain a laughingstock. However, it would be different if you were bestowed a title by the one who’ll take the throne. A count. What do you think?”

“A count…?” Lord Fransil muttered before gulping.

Eugene was laughing insidiously inside.

‘That heir. I’m quite thankful at times like these.’

Reyma had told Eugene quite a few stories about the Fransil family in his desire to brag and boast about his family. In his stories, Reyma had mentioned the circumstances regarding his father—the family’s head.

In reality, Lord Fransil wasn’t a pure-blooded noble. He started off as a mercenary captain, became a knight of the Brodia family, and eventually went on to become a baron. However, he had been riddled with a clutching sense of inferiority.

That was why he insisted on extremely formal, dignified ways of speaking from times long ago. As such, the Fransil family would naturally be on bad terms with other, pure-blooded nobles. This resulted in the Fransil family fighting numerous territorial battles, and they eventually claimed themselves to be a duchy after greatly expanding their territory.

Of course, Reymad had been trying to brag about how capable and diligent his father was, but Eugene guessed that Lord Fransil was a character marked with bravado and an inferiority complex.

And his assumption turned into conviction when he confronted Lord Fransil. The man’s desire and complex had driven him to chase after ‘true honor.’

“In the new kingdom of Brantia, there will not be more than five counts and marquises. The Fransil family could become one of the five noblest families in the kingdom, a family recognized by the royal family,” Eugene said with a smile.

“A great noble… family… recognized by the royal family…” Eugene wasn’t even using his charm, but Lord Fransil’s eyes had already turned hazy.

“After you pay the compensation, you only need to pay taxes every year. You can become a great nobility. One of the founding contributors of a new dynasty, Count Fransil,” Eugene said, emphasizing the words ‘Count Fransil.’

Lord Fransil’s eyes turned sharp at Eugene’s last words, and he raised his head. “I will do it! Fransil will raise its sword for the kingdom that Your Excellency is planning to build!”

“An excellent choice,” Eugene responded with a nod.

“Kihehehehe! As expected, you are a vampire king of temptation. You’re a king-god-emperor…” The spirit shook her head with disbelief, and Eugene smiled satisfactorily. There had been some unexpected bumps along the road, but he had ultimately achieved a perfect surplus through this journey. Moreover, he had also gained the allegiance of both the Brodia and the Fransil families.

‘But this isn’t enough...’

Eugene took advantage of Fransil’s greed to convince him, but that alone wasn’t enough to fully trust Fransil. Therefore, Eugene decided to carry out his next plan.

“Bring the ones who are in the dungeon,” he ordered.

“Yes!” Partec answered vigorously before exiting with a group of mercenaries. Lord Fransil took on a confused expression, and Cameron’s expression brightened at once.

“Your Excellency. At last… are you doing it?” Cameron the Third asked.

“Yes. I told you, didn’t I?” Eugene said.

A cold, cruel smile appeared on Eugene’s face. Eugene continued in an icy voice while looking at Lord Fransil, rather than Cameron the Third. “I always keep my word. The nobles of Brodia who dared to commit sins against my vassal. All of them will die today.”

“…!” Lord Fransil was awakened from his daydream. He flinched.

‘I-I’ll be fucked if I disobey him.’

He trembled as he recalled the scene of Eugene brutally slaughtering the mercenaries.