“We have news. The King of Maren has successfully destroyed the monsters on the Bemos territory and has left the Dukedom of Viseche.”

“Destroyed? Is that true? Wasn’t there supposed to be more than a thousand monsters? He eradicated all of them?”

“Yes, that’s correct according to the report of the mercenaries. The number of monsters on the Bemos territory has plummeted, so the merchants are once again resuming normal operations and travel.”

“Ha…!” A noble with a silver crown on his half-bald head exclaimed. The man was quite small, and he wore clothes made out of high-quality material but were rather short-sleeved and tight. His name was Nadalo Feberg Hisain.

As the monarch of the Hisain Countdom, he was also a prestigious count of the Roman Empire. Although the countdom could be considered a subordinate state of the Roman Empire on the surface, it was actually independent in all areas, including politics, economy, laws, and military. The Countdom of Hisain was nicknamed “small powerhouse,” despite having a small territory and a population of only 100,000. The reason for their power lay in the fact that like the Viseche Dukedom, they were located right between the Roman Empire and the neighboring nations to the west, including the Caylor Kingdom. Moreover, although the Countdom of Hisain was similar in size to other great territories, it took the form of a centralized state managed by Count Hisain himself with appointed officials managing internal affairs, instead of having the land divided into subsections for various lords to manage.

For that reason, the Countdom of Hisain possessed a relatively great number of regular troops, and all the power was concentrated on the count. Naturally, there was a risk of imminent collapse with an incompetent monarch in charge, but the current count possessed rather favorable qualities as a leader, though he wasn’t exactly prodigious.

Unfortunately, he had one flaw…

“How much did they give him?” Count Hisain asked.

“…What?”

“The price. How much did they pay the King of Maren for taking care of the monster uprising?” Count Hisain asked once more.

“Oh, I’m not too sure about that, but from the stories of the mercenaries, it seems as though they paid him three or four boxes filled with gold coins…”

“What?!” Count Hisain jumped up from his seat, wide-eyed.

“T-that means they paid him a-at least two thousand coins, right?” Count Hisain asked.

“Yes, yes. Maybe so,” the noble responded. He was the minister of internal affairs for the Countdom of Hisain.

“How preposterous…! He received that many coins for killing some monsters? Besides, all the mana stones and by-products from the monsters must have gone to the King of Maren as well, right?” Count Hisain said.

“P-probably so. The ownership of all things obtained through eliminating monsters outside of evil lands goes to whoever was responsible for killing them,” the noble answered.

“Ridiculous… Isn’t that daylight robbery? He’s getting paid to get rid of the monsters, but the ownership of the mana stones and by-products has to go to him as well. Ha!” Count Hisain scoffed before taking his seat once more. His face was filled with regret and greed.

Count Hisain was a decent monarch, but his greatest flaw was that he was a huge miser. When it came to wealth, although he could not be compared to the emperor of the Roman Empire, he was the richest among the monarchs of the neighboring countries. And most importantly, he was a greedy man. The silver crown on his head had been inherited over five generations, and the clothes he wore also belonged to the previous count. At first, it had fitted him fine, but as he aged and grew fatter, the clothes had become rather tight. Even so, Count Hisain continued to adorn the clothes his father owned.

It was an extremely unbefitting, undignified behavior for a monarch, a great noble. In fact, other nobles had been pointing their fingers and mocking him behind his back, but Count Hisain did not care at all. No matter what anyone said, he had a clear purpose to achieve by collecting wealth through any means possible.

“The loss will be too severe… Sirs, can you think of any solutions?” Count Hisain asked while looking around at the officials gathered in the hall. However, everyone avoided his gaze while staying silent. They couldn’t think of any ‘solutions,’ and they also felt that seeking one in itself was quite problematic.

‘Even so, how could you suggest that we hold our spending back for those who are coming to help our country?’

‘There are thousands of victims in Demeire right now. Shouldn’t we worry about that first?’

Thousands of monsters were currently running rampant in the area of Demerie due to the monster uprising. In addition, the residents of the Demeire region had stopped farming and fled to the nearest cities or large villages due to the contamination of the region’s water source.

The problem was that large villages and cities also drew water from nearby rivers or dug wells. The contamination of the water source was starting to affect the middle and lower streams of the rivers. The wells fared somewhat better, but the river water became so dirty that even animals—let alone humans—couldn’t drink from it anymore. Thousands of people would have already died without the capital’s support.

“My lord.”

“Oh, Sir Popran. Go ahead,” Count Hisain answered. Baron Popran, who was similar in age to Count Hisain, was a prestigious noble of the Countdom and was serving as the count’s secretary as well. Although Count Hisain was stubborn, he always heeded Baron Popran’s words. As such, the other officials watched in anticipation.

“Since Sir Blanc has represented our nation to make an agreement with the King of Maren and the parliament we must keep our promise,” Baron Popran said.

“Hmph. Who doesn’t know that? However, an agreement can always be amended, right?” Count Hisain responded.

“That’s right. It’s possible with a mutual agreement. However, would the King of Maren actually agree to amend an agreement that has already been signed? Moreover, he is one of the highest-ranking nobles of the Dark Clan, right?” Baron Popran said.

“That’s why it’s even more problematic,” Count Hisain said with a fierce gaze. He hated vampires. His grandfather, the previous to the previous count, had fallen into the scheme of one of the empire’s vampire clan masters and committed a grave sin against the Holy Empire, which led to the ex-communication of the Hisain Countdom from the papacy. Later, the bishop of the Hisain Countdom was summoned back to the Holy Empire, and all clergy was banned from holding sacraments for the monarch. Of course, it wasn’t detrimental to the countdom and the monarch in terms of internal affairs, but the scandal came as a huge political and diplomatic shock to the count’s family. The countdom was very powerful, and the monarch was wealthy, but the ex-communication was fatal to the ‘honor’ of any nobles.

It was only natural for Count Hisain to harbor resentment toward vampires—those who had been responsible for running his family’s honor into the ground.

“An insidious vampire received the blessing of a high priest? The world is going mad!” Count Hisain shouted angrily with a red face. While he was working day and night to have the ex-communication withdrawn and the family’s honor restored, a vampire—from the same race that caused his family’s crisis in the first place—had actually received the blessing of a high priest!

“Honor and justice have fallen to the ground. There is no truth to be found. How could they have blessed a member of such an insidious race…”

“But we must entrust the restoration of the Demeire region to that member of the Dark Clan since Sir Blanc has already signed the agreement,” Baron Popran said.

“I mean, isn’t that the problem? Let’s just mobilize our army! It’s not too late!” Count Hisain declared. As the one holding all of the countdom’s power, he could order the soldiers of the countdom out on a mission.

However…

“To get Demeire out of the woods, we would need at least a thousand, two thousand to be sure. Even if it takes only a month to have the situation resolved, do you know how much money we would have to spend?” Baron Popran said.

“Ugh…!”

Money. Money was the problem. It was expensive to maintain troops, and it was also expensive to mobilize them to fight. In addition, the monster uprising wasn’t a problem only for the Hisain Countdom, but for their neighboring nations as well. There were already dozens, or rather, hundreds of refugees at the border. If he sent 2,000 out of the 3,000 soldiers of the countdom to Demeire, it would only be a matter of time before the border collapsed entirely. There was also no guarantee that the other nations would sit still without launching an invasion during the chaos.

“On top of that, how much money would it cost to re-supply the army if we suffer casualties?” Baron Popran asked.

“So, are you suggesting we just put our faith in the King of Maren? And that we should just pay him and hand over all the mana stones and by-products to him? He’s supposed to have less than a hundred troops, right? Even if they are elves and beowulfs, don’t you think it’s impossible to handle so many monsters with only a hundred people?” Count Hisain asked.

“The monsters in the Demeire region have already scattered, so they will be more difficult to handle compared to the Bemos territory,” Baron Popran answered.

“Exactly! So, you should come up with a solution! Tell me how to take care of the monster uprising while paying as little as possible! That’s what I’m asking for!” Count Hisain shouted.

The greatest effect with the smallest cost—it was a ridiculous idea that wicked merchants could think of. However, Baron Popran served Count Hisain all his life. As such, he patiently said, “Why don’t you send Sir Carmier and the Knights of Dawn?”

“Huh? The Knights of Dawn?”

The Knights of the Dawn was the Hisain Countdom’s light cavalry, a strong force representing the countdom. Although they were called knights, the members weren’t truly knighted. Instead, people with talent in horseback riding and spearmanship were selected and trained to become members of the Knights of Dawn. However, Captain Camier and the three squad captains under his command were knights of the count. They were talented and loyal knights.

“Although the Knights of Dawn are the representative units of our countdom, the absence of three hundred will not be that significant,” Baron Popran explained.

“That’s true. But why do you want me to send them to the King of Maren?” Count Hisain asked.

“First, it will have the effect of imprinting the dignity and the strength of our soldiers on the King of Maren. Second, Sir Camier will most likely ask the King of Maren for a duel under the guise of training,” Baron Popran answered.

“Hmm.” Camier was a knight who was as proud as he was loyal. He had been quite upset after hearing that Sir Blanc had signed an agreement with Maren to resolve the issue of the monster uprising. Any danger that the countdom was facing was one that should have been addressed by the army of the countdom. He found it unacceptable to ask others else for help, especially asking a mere port city like Maren. Camier would obviously try to pick a fight with the King of Maren.

“And what good will come out of Sir Camier dueling with the King of Maren? It’ll be fine if he wins, but it would still be a diplomatic discourtesy. And if he loses, it will just be a huge disgrace for us,” Count Hisain said.

“We need to have him put the command on the line. If Sir Camier wins, he will win over the command of the king’s expedition. And if we have one of our knights commanding the expedition, we could negotiate and reduce the cost of what Sir Blanc has agreed to,” Baron Popran explained.

“Hooh!” Count Hisain’s eyes glimmered.

“And if we lose?” Count Hisain asked.

“Then the Knights of Dawn will help out in taking care of the monsters. A whopping three hundred troops. Even if the warriors of the expedition are strong, our warriors should be able to greatly contribute, if not even overshadow the expedition’s efforts,” Baron Popran answered.

“That’s right!” Count Hisain exclaimed.

“We can then suggest a compromise of the agreed payment to the King of Maren,” Baron Popran said.

“Ohh!” Count Hisain exclaimed with delight. This was truly an infallible scheme that would allow him to save money no matter the outcome. It was just what he had expected from Sir Popran!

“Send Sir Camier and the Knights of Dawn at once!”

***

The expedition circled around the foot of the Bellnas Mountains, which ran from the Roman Empire down to several neighboring nations. After a few hours of following a small river that began in the mountain range, they finally saw a bridge. Beyond the bridge was the Countdom of Hisain.

‘Everywhere seems more like a collection of great territories rather than countries.’

Eugene had such thoughts while crossing the old bridge. Similar to the Dukedom of Viseche, the Countdom of Hisain was tiny compared to the Kingdom of Caylor. Even the Carls Baggins Peninsula was slightly bigger and richer than the two nations.

‘The other five are supposed to be similar as well, right?’

Any of them alone would fall short of the Caylor Kingdom, but the monster-infested nations combined would surpass Caylor. If the alliance suggested by Duke Viseche truly came to life, even the Roman Empire could not disregard it.

“Sir Blanc. You said that the army of the countdom was three thousand,” Eugene said.

“That’s correct, Your Highness. They are all well-trained and disciplined,” Sir Blanc answered with pride. The countdom’s army was two to three times larger than that of armies belonging to other great territories similar in size to the countdom. And this was only made possible because the Hisain Countdom was a centralized nation.

“They couldn’t all be infantry, so are there many knights?” Eugene asked.

Blanc responded, “There are less than twenty titled knights in the countdom. All of them are in charge of their respective units. However, there are three or four knights in special units as well.”

“Is that so?” Eugene asked.

“Yes. Among them, the Knights of Dawn…” Baron Blanc started to answer proudly, excited about the chance to brag about his country. However, he was interrupted by a beowulf rushing back from scouting a few kilometers ahead.

“Dark Lord! There’s a huge group of knights up ahead!” the beowulf shouted.

“Knights?” Eugene asked.

“That’s right. A few hundred. All of them were armed with armor made of chains. Some have plate armor, but the knight who looked like their captain…”

The beowulf hesitated before continuing with a shrug, “When we told him that we are serving the dark lord, he asked for a fight right away.”

“…” Eugene frowned. What nonsense was waiting for him?