Kapitel 99: A Masterclass Ability In Shifting Blame

"How do you control someone?"

"This is a question that all lords must answer and understand, and there is no one answer."

"For only through understanding someone, their motives and what controls them."

"Can you truly control a territory and maintain power."

"Some can be controlled through oaths, relationships and family. The honourable man."

"Some through greed, gold and material worldly possessions. The greedy man."

"And others through their own self-interest or vengeance by getting one over on their political enemies. The vengeful pragmatic man."

"Figuring out which method to use on whom and other methods that you have not considered yet is important as each person is different in their wants, needs and temperament."

Reginald Coulan, creator and head of House Aurellion in dynasties online.

….

After Ralston and Sigismond came to an agreement, they were quick to leave the duchy capital and were on their way to the royal capital of Nathia, riding on the paved road that weaved its way through the grasslands.

"Commander, didn't our lord say to keep a low profile? Why are you openly challenging these people? Surely, there are other ways to complete the lord's orders."

Lucian asked 'Sigismond' in a quiet voice that only they could hear, deciding to voice his fear to his commander as, at the end of the day, their loyalty lay with Railius and House Aurellion, not the commander.

"Think about it, Lucian, in the next few months, we will have thousands of mouths to feed! Do we have enough money to feed them until the lord comes of age?"

"Of course not!"

"We barely managed to escape Chavaria with our lives, let alone with enough money for over 5000 people to sustain themselves for 8 years."

Sigismond said, answering his rhetorical question himself and not giving Lucian any time to refute him.

"Shouldn't it be 6 years? Doesn't our lord come of age at 16?"

Lucian asked, confused, as unlike in the modern world, in the medieval world, children come of age much sooner. Even girls at the age of 14 or 15 were married off to someone, and while it varied from culture to culture, the idea that someone comes of age at 18 is a relatively modern phenomenon as there are many examples of young teenage kings leading forces into battle and taking control of state affairs as well as people marrying young and having children as at ages as young as 15 and 16.

This is why Lucian was confused because, by all accounts, by the time Railius was 16, he could take complete control of the noble house, which is his birthright. While the game did boost the age of marriage a bit from traditional medieval times, it did want to simulate them realistically, not that it made it any less uncomfortable for the players who collectively agreed that they would keep to modern norms and slowly raise the age of maturity to 18.

"He does, but at that time, he will still have a lot to learn and would still be growing, so while he does officially come of age, it will take a few years for him to build up the skills, connections and money to be able to make any big moves."

"While this is a risky move, if it fails or the duke kicks us out, our security service will just move elsewhere and leave our lord here in peace, as there is no evidence that we are connected in any way. But if it succeeds, we will have a good reputation that we can use to attract more clients and make more money. Either way, the risks to our lord are low while the rewards are high."

"So why would I not make such a move? Even if it is a bit risky, the only risk is to ourselves, and anyway, such corrupt practices grind my gears, so it's hard to just look away and do nothing."

Sigismond said righteously, retaining his quiet tone. He then looked at the master of the caravan, who looked at him and his men with suspicion, as he did not know what this mysterious mercenary leader had in store for him or if he was scheming behind his back as they would not be the first mercenary company or set of guards to betray their client in favour of another.

The Italian player also suspected that their leader was a player, as he had asked his NPC subordinates, and they had no idea what a 'Security Service' was and had only heard of mercenary companies or adventurers, making him think that a player had decided to pioneer one in the game.

As someone who came from the real world, not this artificial one, he knew exactly what this type of company did in the modern world. They were bodyguards and provided security for people with wealth and power. It appeared that someone not only wanted to replicate that but also add the protection of caravans into its job description.

He suspected that their leader, this Sigismund person, was actually a player as he seemed intelligent and educated, which was rare in these times for one that has no seeming connection to any noble house, but if it were a player, then even if their background in the game was the worst it was likely that they would still be good with their words even if they could not read and write in the in-game languages.

He had heard rumours on the forums that players encountered one another in these dynasty history events, and he almost confirmed this once he found himself in conflict with Morven Ven, who used modern means both above and below the board to deal with him, managing to ingratiate himself to the duke succeeding and leading to his current pitiful situation.

Thinking about it more, Ralston found the idea almost genius as who knew what kind of information these people would find out while carrying out their duties, and this information, if sold to the right people, could be worth a lot of money or provide them with immense power.

Suddenly, a cry sounded from the sky as a bird descended from the blue blanket that covered the heavens and onto Sigismond's shoulder, making the man's face don a severe expression.

It seemed his lord had instructions for him and wondered if he would be scolded.

Taking out the small scroll, he read it, and his expression brightened as he rode up to Ralston and spoke, but his actions alarmed Ralston, the Italian player, who was observing him closely thought that there might be someone else behind their interactions or a hidden hand guiding this security service from the shadows.

"Young master Ralston, there are some things that I want to talk to you about. Do you have some time to spare?"

Sigimond said respectfully, but the young player could see a vicious intelligence flash in the man's eyes as he gave his proposal, making a shiver run down Ralston's spine as a raging killing intent that the captain had been concealing up until now seeped through.

"As it is almost certain that the Duke of Deterner will be sending men to kill us, why don't we use this scheme against him."

"How do you know the duke won't give up and let us be?"

Ralston asked, hoping there would be no altercations on the way, but his instincts and experience told him there was almost no way the duke would let him off after going against the status quo.

"There is no chance of that. Not only will he lose his prestige and reputation amongst the merchants but also his control over them, and this is something he absolutely cannot allow as through them, he can dictate the flow of goods between the north and south of the kingdom, giving him immense influence over the nobility."

"This is why he uses all sorts of means to maintain his power and how even though banditry lowers the tolls he can charge, he still doesn't take any action against them. In fact, he likely even has agreements with them as they never seem to affect his holdings and only those of vassals who seem to resist him and his orders."

Sigismond said matter of factly, when they arrived in the duchy and chose it for their new home, one of Railius' first commands was to investigate the power structure and struggles of the duchy. Through talking with commoners and merchants, they learned of various matters. Leon himself even bribed a few officials to get news of what went on behind the curtains of the Duke's court, who were more than happy to divulge such news for the right price.

It was partly because of this effort that they had so few resources to work with, but it all paid off, as now they had a good understanding of what went on in the duchy and just how rotten it had become.

"What's your plan?"

Ralston asked, interested in what kind of plan this military man could devise.

"You have a good relationship with the Count of Brineyard, right?"

Sigismond asked, even though he already knew the answer.

"Yes, what does that have to do with anything? He wouldn't dare do anything against his liege lord for a merchant like me anyway, as there is no benefit for him."

Ralston said, having already asked his friend to intercede for him with the duke, only for the nobleman to refuse. Even when the merchant offered him a large sum of money and begged, he still got the same cold answer, making the Italian player depressed. The Count only promised that he would be safe in his country and nothing else before he had him unceremoniously dragged out of his audience chamber and thrown out.

"Of course, the count would never try to intercede with the duke! Not only would it incur the suspicion of the cunning bastard, but it would do you no good as they have been estranged for a long time. If he were his friend, this approach may well work, but this was his enemy! If it weren't because the duke's failure to find anything on him and the fact that he had support in the royal court, he would likely have already lost his title due to the many tricks the duke could pull on him."

Sigismond said, surprised that Ralston even tried that route in the first place as it was destined to fail! It is one thing if the count had a good relationship with his liege lord, but he was actually one of the duke's biggest internal enemies as he had a high and respected reputation amongst his subjects and the duchy as a whole, even the crown prince had spoke of the man's integrity infuriating the duke as it allowed this count to build his own faction within the duchy with royal support.

But no matter what the royal family did implicitly or the support they gave secretly, the count still could not go against his liege lord much openly unless he broke the law or rebelled openly against the crown because, as the duke's vassal, he could be punished by his liege lord for any legitimate reason meaning this count had to tread carefully, or he would likely find his head on a spike for he would not be the first to be falsely accused by the cunning corrupt Duke of Deterner.

"Why did you suggest that? Do you want your friend to die? Honestly, it is a miracle he still maintained a good relationship with you after that!"

Sigismond said, surprised.

"What do you mean?"

The merchant player asked, not understanding the full implications such a move would make. Even as a military man, Darius, when he had served Lucius, had seen and experienced all types of political schemes while serving the old lord, and so was familiar with such implications as his lord always made sure to educate his loyal subordinates on all of these political schemes and their impacts just in case they found themselves being attacked by one when he was not around to protect them as the Chavarian nobility can be just as cunning as the others even if more marshally inclined.

There have been a few times while he was securing his lord's territory that because of these teachings, he had avoided being schemed against by some of the more corrupt nobles in his lord's territory, working with Malwin to find ways to deal with them.

"Young master, if the count came out on your behalf and something happened to you, how would it reflect on him?"

"Yes, the duke would publicly allow you to leave just as he did now to help shift suspicion away from him, but now, knowing that you have the complete support of the count, he would try every means to discredit you. In fact, he would likely frame you for something and then use that to deal with the count as he sees fit."

"He would also plan for the count's help in your journey, so of course, the count had to throw you out; otherwise, it would indicate that he wanted to go against the duke directly, and if he lost in this political battle, then the duke would have consolidated his power further!"

"Politics is an art of subtlety. If you try to charge through with a sword without it being sharp enough, it breaks instead of cutting through, and once it breaks, nothing stops your enemies from gutting you like a fish."

Sigismond said like he was a teacher, and seeing that the merchant only turned his head with an expression of 'what's your point' made him continue with his solution to the Italian player's problem.

"Simply ask him to go on a hunting trip somewhere and have him follow you from a distance but seemingly going in a different direction. Make no contact with him except for your initial contact to throw off suspicion, even have him throw you out again, so it seems you two are unrelated."

"The duke will want to ambush you sooner rather than later and likely at a nearby wood, so go through one. And with the count so close, he can render assistance if needed, but there is something we need more than that from him."

Sigismond said confidently.

"Which is?"

The merchant inquired, seeing where this mercenary captain was going with his thoughts and plan.

"His presence and testimony, it won't take long for the duke to find out that I am a commoner, and while I managed to fool his men into thinking that I was a noble initially, it will not be possible to pull off a trick like that twice as he is likely to investigate me and my background as soon as he heard of what I did."

"The testimony of a count that we were indeed attacked will be invaluable as he is a powerful noble lord while we are but commoners and force the Duke of Deterner into a corner and will stop him from claiming that our security company worked with bandits to kill you or any other shameless tricks he may try to convict us falsely."

Sigismond explained, knowing that all he needed was the duke's testimony as he had 100 men hidden near them, ready to ride to their aid at a moment's notice and in addition to his 50 men, made 150 Pelican Guards, which were more than a match for even 500 elite soldiers and so should have little issue with dealing with the bandits and the duke's agents as he will be unable to move his grandmasters who would be watched and put the duke's enemies on guard.

"So what's the difference between that and openly supporting me?"

The merchant asked, making Sigismond sigh. No matter how cunning he was as a businessman, the subtlety of politics was lost on him, as only when something like this is secretly carried out can it be effective.

"Because the duke will be ready for him, and the count happening to help you while on a hunting trip from bandits looks far different from escorting you to the capital as he can claim that it was a happy coincidence that helped to deal with some of the rampant banditry that seems to go on in the duchy."

"It also gives him a way out politically as in politics you need irritable evidence that something happened to convict a noble of anything, which is why even though everyone knows and suspects the duke and his tyrannical acts because there is no evidence the royal court can't do anything to him without frightening the other nobles and potentially starting a civil war."

"Even if the Duke of Deterner does suspect him, he will have nothing to use against him or hold a grudge against him and will even be forced to reward his enemy for dealing with the bandit problem."

"To put it simply, you get to the royal capital, I get paid, and he gets a reward from the duke and an increased reputation. Overall, it would be a win-win for all involved."

Sigismond explained, not mentioning that it is likely that the duke would blame the merchant or the count for coming up with such a scheme as it was not something a mercenary captain is typically able to do.

People would also be correct in their assumptions as this was not a scheme made by either of them but concocted by Railius Aurellion and Baron Malwin, who sent detailed instructions to Sigismond through the messenger bird that seemed to be from a scout.

Once again, the lord of Aurellion's masterclass ability to shift the blame for his plans onto others was unrivalled, making it any wonder why he made Duke Ancel pay for his meal all those months ago.