Capítulo 101: Just because he wanted to make some money!
"I still cannot believe it!"
"How many died?"
"300? More? The full count would never be known."
"A duchy descended into chaos; a power structure overturned…."
"And a political battle began."
"The situation in the entirety of Nathia itself would be affected."
"All because a bloody 10-year-old lordling wanted to make a bit of money and his retainer wanted to fight against corruption."
Count Nidor Parge of Brineyard, a count in the Duchy of Detarnor.
…..
"Of course, I planned this myself! Why is there anyone else who would try something like this against the duke?"
Sigismond said, trying to control his emotions. However, the change in his expression when asked if someone else was behind this plan could not be hidden from the wise goblin, who confirmed his suspicions as cold sweat ran down the mercenary captain's back.
'So there is someone else behind this group.'
Telx, the Count of Brineyard's goblin advisor and confidant thought as he tried to come up with who would have the resources and ability to come up with a plan such as this, for this man was a soldier who was not skilled like Railius and Malwin in the art of concealing their emotions.
'The Crown Prince of Nathia Kodjis Kendari?'
The goblin beleagueredly thought thinking about this righteous young prince.
He certainly has the motivation, ability and resources to do this, but this does not seem to be the Crown Prince's style who would try to do more than humiliate the duke as it would just force him into the camp of one of his brothers even if he is the appointed heir if enough nobles support one of his brothers then a coup or civil war over the succession is almost guaranteed.
'No, it was not him he would seek to remove this treacherous, corrupt swine who did not know the meaning of the words honour or loyalty and replace him with his own man.'
This is doubly true as the Duchy of Deterner was so close to the capital being one of the closest landed nobles to it and the fastest and most direct overland route for the southern nobles to bring their armies to the capital if he supported one of the crown princes' brothers then other ambitious nobles in the south and those afraid of the crown prince's talent and virtue would join him.
Even if the crown prince fought with Duke Ridorfin until now, he had remained neutral in the fight for the throne, and with the grand duke in the south, part of the crown prince's faction, few would dare to support another side openly due to the immense power he holds there.
The current King of Nathia, an older man approaching 50, had three sons, the 1st Prince Kodjis, the 2nd Prince Deavan, and the 3rd Prince Floridus Kodjis was 20, Deavan 18, and Floridus, 14. Each was of a different temperament, but seeing the intelligence and virtue of his first son, the king quickly made him heir apparent in an attempt to prevent any succession crisis and with the support of the two grand dukes and many other people of influence, combined with his position as the eldest son made the new crown prince's insurmountable whose position seemed immovable.
'What about the grand dukes?'
The goblin thought.
No, it could not be them. They were some of the most capable people in the kingdom. They would not be stupid enough to do something to turn Duke Ridorfin against the crown prince, knowing how important it was to keep him on their side because for as long as the 5 landed nobles surrounding the capital stayed loyal to the crown prince and the royal family, it was possible to secure the capital no matter who tried to rebel or from where they would be stopped and could be dealt with helping to prevent a coup from occurring.
The biggest problem with the grand dukes, despite their loyalty, was that their territories were at the edge of the kingdom and that they played a pivotal role in defending the kingdom from external enemies, and so were little help when it came to preventing coups as long as the kingdoms around Nathia looked on their lands with jealously these grand dukes could not move many troops less the others looked to use their internal strife to take part of their ancient kingdom for themselves.
No matter who the goblin thought of, none of them had much to gain in pulling off a scheme like this that would not hurt the Duke too much, only really destroying some of his allies and the cunning man's pride, of course, the Count had something to gain, but others did not, and the count did not come up with this plan of this the goblin was certain.
'So who would gain from creating chaos in Nathia? Who would gain from stoking hatred between the landed nobility and the royal family?'
'His accent is odd. Maybe a clue is in there?'
'Chavarian? Has that cunning emperor who had just purged his most loyal and capable general trying to create chaos amongst his enemies?'
But the Emperor of Chavaria had lost Lucius Aurellion, his loyal general and only grandmaster strategist, so even if for some reason Ranier left with some of his men to help in any internal conflict because of the new grudges between the imperial family in Chavaria and the nobles, the amount of troops he could send is limited not to mention needing someone with immense military talent to lead them.
Of course, this opinion would change if he knew about the skill of the Amulius Lunaris, the Chavarian Minster of War, but his incredible prowess in battle was not known to many in Chavaria itself, let alone its surrounding kingdoms who had long forgotten about him his achievements overshadowed by those of both Drusus Dardinius and Lucius Aurellion who made a name for themselves for conquering two kingdoms and helping to establish an empire.
'Ahhh, this is such a headache. It's as if this chaos that has engulfed the duchy really is just because someone wanted to make some money.'
The goblin complained angrily in his head, shaking it slightly. What the goblin did not know was that he had inadvertently stumbled across the truth in his rage. All of this confusion and chaos within the duchy was nothing more than a scheme by an exiled 10-year-old noble who wanted to make some money for himself and his subjects to survive in exile instead of a grand conspiracy that the goblin imagined.
If others knew this fact, it is unknown how many people would stamp their feet in anger! Just because someone wanted a bit of money, they offended a duke and even turned their efforts into a proxy political war between him and one of his most powerful disgruntled vassals!
Yes, a fight between them was inevitable, and this person was trying to stop corrupt practices and banditry. However, it still did not stop them from stirring up a political shitstorm in the duchy, which had huge implications.
Even if someone said this, people would never believe it, for no one in their right mind had such audacity to try to pull something like this off! Yet, Railius Aurellion, a young 18-year-old player and exiled noble with only 1500 elite soldiers under his command, did just that. Relying on people's common sense, he had somehow managed to cleanly wash his hands of any involvement in this incident.
"Oh, so you came up with this yourself, eh…."
The goblin said in a slightly mocking tone, not believing the mercenary captain if that is what he even is; paused and chuckled slightly to himself as his orange eye bored into Darius' very soul, trying to gain insight into his deepest secrets. His body language and reactions were clear. This man was protecting something, no, protecting someone, protecting the one who gave this scheme to him that threatened to start an early feud, if inevitable, between lord and vassal.
"In that case, tell me some of the political repercussions for your plan as someone who came up with a plan like this would have the insight to see its effect on the bigger picture."
"If you can do this, I will believe you and will not pry into my suspicions of a man behind you. But if not…."
"Then you must give me who created this scheme and why."
"Because this seems far too much effort for a few martially talented mercenaries to put in for a simple payday, even for one as potentially lucrative as this one."
The goblin advisor said, his voice turning cold and ruthless. The wind and rain, as if bending to his will, blast a window open, its wooden shutters crashing into the walls, attracting everyone's attention while the warmth subsided and the tavern dropped several degrees in temperature.
He was prepared as many of the patrons shifted slightly to reveal half-drawn steel swords glinting slightly in the firelight as black clouds covered the sky, obscuring the moon and stars from view as thunder crackled in the distance.
Sigismond panicked for a second, being enraptured by the goblin's words, but quickly calmed down and merely looked at these men who were obviously secret guards of the Count, not afraid in the slightest at their presence.
In his lord's instructions that were sent by bird, there were a few mentions of the implications of his plans, especially in the small segment in which his young ten-year-old lord scolded him.
While not a cunning fox like the goblin sat before him, Sigismond could not be said to be a stupid man for his ability to adapt was staggering and combined with his training as a Pelican Guard that emphasised intelligence, meant that this little test which is supposed to force him to reveal his lord would instead be used to conceal him more deeply.
"Then I shall prove to you that no one is behind me."
Sigsmond lied and began by explaining the flaring up of the conflict between the count and the duke that would occur because of this plan but went on to say that this was inevitable as it was impossible for someone with integrity to see eye to eye with someone who indulged in his greed by using corrupt practices. He then explained that while the count could not remove the duke, he could slowly lower his power by helping to contain his control over the merchants and nobility and removing his allies like The Red Blades, who allowed him to do all sorts of shady things without anyone able to point a finger at him.
Simply put, The Red Blades were merely pawns for the duke and a convenient scapegoat because if things went wrong, he could just blame and destroy the group, a move that Ridorfin would make without any hesitation.
"Would it not be better to make the first move and try to curb these corrupt practices before they become the norm."
Sigismond said righteously, finishing his opinion, which, while not particularly insightful, was enough to answer the goblin's question and stop him from being able to find out the identity of his lord, which was a well-kept secret that few people knew about.
While explaining, he took a few pauses to enjoy the food on the table as the bartender gave him another tankard of ale after he downed his first, filling his plate with carrots, chicken, and potatoes and wolfing them as it had been a while since he had such good food as the Grand Commander knowing their lack of resources tired to be as careful as he could with their finances and
Even the young lord of Aurellion's own maternal relatives in Norhbor didn't know of his location or even if he was alive, and House Aurellion wanted to keep it that way, for it was safer for all involved if they remained anonymous and low-key for next decade or so allowing their lord come of age and gain some experience.
Telx curled his lip in frustration, seeing how it seemed the captain and his mysterious had even prepared for this eventually, but true to his word, did not pry but to help ease the goblin and the Count's fears. He did tell them sincerely about his intentions.
"My intentions are pure the way things are now. It is only a matter of time until the duke turns against the royal family and the crown prince to sit back and do nothing while he tyrannically rules his territory, which is not something I am capable of doing."
"For it should not be at the Duke's whim who gets food in a famine or goods from the south. Even if the river and harbour of the royal capital of Narthonia is bustling, it is still on a river and remains a landlocked country reliant on the river being open for trade for it to be useful."
Sigmond said sincerely, for this was true even if it were not the whole truth, as he did go against his lord's orders when he decided to make a move against the allies of the Duke of Detarnor.
"If you are curious about our background, then all I have to ask you is one question…."
"Do you know Lucias Aurellion, the great general spider of Chavaria?"
Sigismond said as they had already agreed upon cover stories for them suddenly appearing in Nathia when their home naturally should be to the north.
"You're telling me…."
"You were soldiers under his command."
The count blurted out instead of the goblin, which only led to Sigismond smiling and nodding, raising his tankard in a toast to the count. Now, their skill made sense, and they understood how someone like Captain Packard could fall to such people.
The count did not think that they served the House Aurellion directly as he had heard that only the Marquis of Nalora's loyal Pelican Guard led by his old friend stayed loyal, fighting tooth and nail to protect his kin before finally managing to escape from the empire at the cost of over 1000 lives.
Their struggle and fight with the imperial guard had already been turned into songs by the bards who frequented places of pleasure to sell their craft, and he could not see their distinctive armour, though he did consider that if they wanted to act low, their unique armour which bore the heraldry of House Aurellion would be the first thing they would hide.
But despite all of this, the army that Lucius commanded when he was a great general was one of the most powerful in the continent and the best in Chavaria if one discounted the imperial guards under the emperor's direct command who seldom moved outside of the capital and its surrounding regions.
It could win against the best armies of the other nations around Chavaria, even defeating troops far times their number as Lucius trained some of the strongest soldiers on the continent. Hence, it was no surprise that they could wipe the floor of mercenary groups like the Red Blades.
"Yes, we left the army out of protest at the injustice done against our general and decided to become mercenaries to make a living."
"It's only a shame that to protect our families from the emperor's retribution, many of my comrades were unable to fight to protect his son."
Sigsmond said, lying through his teeth convincingly as it was true that many men in Lucius' old army left it out of protest to the injustice done to their general, one of the most loyal subjects of the imperial family, and only stayed quiet out of respect for the minister of war and due to fear of having their family killed if they sided with the now traitorous noble house.
Seeing that at least he had some good intentions and their background was convincing, the goblin relented, but he still felt something was off. However, Sigismond's face fell when the goblin whispered something in his and the merchant's ear.
The count's foot shot out, kicking Sigismond in the abdomen and sending him crashing into the walls of the tavern with a mighty crash, his mail clanging while he vomited up a bit of food onto the floor as he groaned in pain as the count had not held back one bit Ralston was quickly beaten down to the ground by the knights lying battered and bruised on the tavern floor. If Sigismond knew that a master-level fighter would kick him, he would never have eaten so much, only to vomit most of it out later.
"You dare insult me! I should have you killed, but on account of my past friendship with Ralston, I'll spare you!"
The multicoloured count shouted in anger, giving Sigsmond another kick, prompting the fallen captain to groan in pain again as the count bruised one of his ribs while his men grabbed him and threw them outside the tavern and into a puddle of water, soaking his armour and cloak brown as an icy chill returned to his bones.
REFLEXIONES DE LOS CREADORES 
LaziestDragon
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