Episode 159: Is it better to hit first? (1)
The murderous intent that had been fluttering in the wind had disappeared, and only an awkward silence remained around.
Belinda said, glaring at the newcomers.
“What are you guys? Do you want to get kicked out the moment you get here? Does our territory look funny to you right now?”
“Ah, no… … that’s not it.”
“What do you mean, no! It was just a single publication of Sword Dance! Instead of kicking them out, should I just lock them all up in jail?”
Belinda decided she couldn’t stand it any longer. No matter how you looked at it, there had to be someone to keep order in this mess.
In the first place, the position of the head of the castle was not just a position to take care of household affairs, but also a position to oversee everything from the ceremonies of the nobles to the etiquette of the people.
She decided to wield the power she had not used before.
“What are you doing? Why don’t you go back to your seat quickly? Do you want to get in trouble?”
The reserve forces stepped back with embarrassed expressions at Belinda’s threat.
If you are the head of the castle, you are considered to be the lord’s closest confidant. It would be bad if you fell out of favor before you even got used to it.
Belinda glared at them with the sternness of a teacher scolding her students and gave them a warning.
“If you continue to act rudely in front of your lord, I will not forgive you. Do you understand? Please maintain the minimum level of courtesy towards each other.”
“Yes! I understand!”
Kaor giggled at the loud answer. Her shoulders rose as if Belinda had taken her side.
“Look at this, it’s so nice to see everyone just sitting there quietly without wagging their tails. I hope you’ll continue to do so… … .”
Before he could finish speaking, Belinda turned around and shouted at him.
“Hey! Who are you to always be picking fights here and there? Are you that good at fighting? Do you want to fight me first? I think you’re a total piece of shit.”
“Uh, no, why are you suddenly saying that?”
Kaoru was taken aback for a moment. She and I had always bickered, but this was the first time she had seen him so angry.
So, as usual, I missed the timing to make a big deal.
Besides, if Belinda asserts her position as the head of the household, it will be difficult for him, as a contracted mercenary, to respond.
Looking at Kaor, who was just opening her mouth in embarrassment and resentment, Giselle and Claude also just blinked.
It’s scary when someone who doesn’t usually get angry gets angry…
‘Oh, that would have been fun.’
Jiselle clicked her tongue inwardly, feeling regretful. She had already planned out the matchup in her head, but the atmosphere had died down.
Most of the people who came this time were people with the same temper, so I had to establish discipline at least once.
Gillian would have taken care of it herself if we left it alone, but there was no need to stop her since she wanted to take the initiative.
Belinda looked at Giselle, who was still chewing on her lips, and asked.
“Why does your expression look like that, Your Majesty? It seems like you are feeling regretful.”
“No? I don’t regret it at all? I just thought, is there really a need to stop it? The thing about organizing the hierarchy… .”
“I’m sure Mr. Gillian will take care of organizing the hierarchy during training. Don’t I even know about that?”
“Uh… … . Right. Gillian will take care of everything.”
Belinda narrowed her eyes and glanced at Giselle.
“Surely you didn’t plan on laying out the seats, drawing up the matchup list, and watching it with the director… You didn’t plan on doing that, did you?”
“No way. As I always say, I am a non-violent pacifist.”
“Whew, I wish we could just live normally. I’m busy with work, so I’ll go first. And everyone, be careful. I’ll be watching you.”
Belinda sighed and shook her head a few times before leaving.
As she left, an awkward silence once again fell over them.
“Ahem.”
“Ugh.”
“Big.”
Everyone just coughed in vain and looked at each other.
Gillian, who had her player stolen by Belinda, also folded her arms and pretended not to notice.
Claude whispered quietly in Giselle’s ear.
“It’s a bit of a shame. I was planning on walking for about five years this time.”
“Oh, it’s too bad it wasn’t a chance to extend the slave contract period.”
“You said wrongly that it was fortunate that the period was not shortened? Anyway, it seems like it’s the first time I’ve seen the butler so angry. Was he always that scary?”
“Ah, it’s been scary since the old days when I got angry. But that’s not the end. If I get even angrier, I’ll get a knife. And then there’s poison.”
“Oh, I have to be careful.”
“Just don’t cross the line.”
Claude nodded, then tilted his head in confusion.
“… … If you say that it is okay as long as you don’t cross the line, how do you know that the next step is swords and poison?”
“Yeah, how did you find out?”
Jiselle looked at her with a hazy expression as she recalled old memories, then her expression suddenly changed.
“Anyway, I should probably start working on the next thing soon.”
“Huh? What’s next? We’re already so busy that we’re all on the verge of death. What’s next?”
Claude was terrified and recoiled. If we do anything more here, we’ll all really die.
Still, Giselle smiled kindly and answered.
“Don’t worry. This is a case where you have little control over it.”
“Really? You’re not giving me any more work here?”
“Oh, you really are so suspicious. I told you not to worry. Have I ever made you do something too hard? No, I haven’t.”
‘Wow, look at that shameless thing.’
Claude looked at Giselle, his expression clearly revealing his bewildered feelings.
If this isn’t too much, then what is?
It seemed like he would say, ‘I was too hard, I’m sorry’ only after he died from overwork.
Claude was about to ask further, but he held back for now.
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Because it would be problematic if I irritate them and cause more trouble.
“Yes, well, let’s say that’s true. But what happens next?”
“Get ready to get some iron ore. You said you don’t have enough of that.”
“… … How are you going to save it?”
“I have a plan. I’ll let you know, so just prepare for the meeting.”
Claude became even more anxious when he saw Giselle answering confidently.
* * *
If you prepare anything hastily, problems are bound to arise.
In a territory like Fenris where there was nothing, securing resources was a big problem.
Iron ore, in particular, was a problem because it was a resource that was extremely difficult to obtain in large quantities even if one had money.
But Giselle wasn’t worried, because she had been thinking about solving the iron ore problem for a very long time.
When all the vassals gathered, Giselle immediately started with the conclusion.
“Attack the County of Cavaldi.”
People just blinked blankly at the crazy talk that came out after a long time.
I heard it was clearly a meeting about the supply and demand of insufficient resources, but it made sense that they suddenly started talking about something completely different.
Count Cavaldi was a member of the representative duke faction, and his territory was considered the largest iron ore producing area in the North. And the count was also diligently supplying iron ore to Desmond.
Claude tilted his head from side to side a few times, flicked his ear, and asked again.
“Wasn’t this a meeting about how to procure iron ore?”
“That’s right. So you’re saying you’re going to attack the County of Cavaldi.”
This lord started talking nonsense again.
Claude took a deep breath and calmed down.
While developing the territory, we are also preparing to repel an attack by Count Desmond.
What kind of nonsense is it to start a war first when you have to risk your life just to block and hold out?
To begin with, the County of Cavaldi was not a place that could be attacked recklessly, and even if it were attacked, it would be impossible to win.
“Your Majesty? The conclusion is so abrupt. Could you explain why?”
Jiselle realized that no one understood what she was saying and began to explain.
In any case, we all need to work together toward the same goal. I could have easily taken the trouble to say a few more words.
“The Cavaldi estate is only supplying iron ore to Desmond right now. They barely sell it to us.”
“Right… … Are you saying that you hit him because you didn’t take Desmond’s side?”
“Who goes to war over something they don’t like?”
Giselle looked at Claude with pitiful eyes.
‘I was just talking to you at your level!’
Claude felt wronged, but couldn’t open his mouth.
“What if we take that place? Desmond’s side will lose their iron ore imports, and we will have a huge amount of iron ore. It’s a great strategy to slow down the enemy’s growth and allow us to grow quickly.”
“So… … . In the end, aren’t you saying they’re just attacking us to steal the iron ore we lack?”
“Well, if you look at it broadly, that’s true.”
‘Are you a robber?’
Claude staggered, clutching his dizzy head, before barely standing upright.
It was a simple yet amazing logic that since there was no iron ore, they would attack places with a lot of iron ore.
If you can slow down the growth of your enemies and speed up the growth of your allies, that’s obviously a good thing.
But to do that and hit a third party who isn’t even an enemy is something only a crazy person would think of.
“My lord, can we please be reasonable? Count Cavaldi has no relationship with us right now. We cannot attack someone like that.”
“He is not an immediate threat. But Count Cavaldi is still our enemy.”
“Why? Because he’s part of the Duke’s faction? There’s really no evidence that the Duke attacked us behind Desmond’s back.”
“I trust you, because you’re behind me. Count Cavaldi will attack us along with Count Desmond. So let’s reduce the enemy by one and get some iron ore at the same time.”
To Jiselle, who knew the future, it was a natural thing, but to others, it was just an absurd story.
Claude paced back and forth in one spot a few times, his legs shaking, then said:
“No, let me think about it. There’s someone you’ve never fought with, let alone met, and you’re going to hit him in the future, so you’re going to hit him before he gets hit? Does that make sense?”
“It may sound a bit strange when you say it like that, but what can I do if it’s true?”
“Your Majesty, do you have a personality problem?”
Claude couldn’t stand it anymore and mentioned Giselle’s personality. Then Belinda shouted.
“Why are you killing our master’s spirit! Our master is such a kind and gentleman!”
“No, listen! Do you really not know what’s weird right now?”
“Our master was originally the type of person who would put things aside if he didn’t like something and think about it later!”
“You said earlier that he was a kind and gentle person! No, if he was that kind of person originally, you should have taught him to change him! How on earth did you educate him?”
“Don’t you know that meddling in other people’s educational methods is extremely rude?”
“I don’t know, I don’t want to know.”
As the two raised their voices, Giselle spoke to stop them.
“Honestly, I can’t say that I’m not beating him because I don’t like him… … but it’s not necessarily because of that. Claude, do you really not believe the information you’ve seen? Count Cavaldi is supplying Desmond with a huge amount of iron ore right now. That means at least the two of them are definitely in cahoots.”
Claude also suspected that the Duke was behind Desmond because of that.
If the two weren’t on the same side, there’s no way they would have pushed him that far.
But, it was too dangerous to attempt a war of attrition based on such suspicion alone.
Claude spoke again in a tone that seemed to be soothing the child.
“My Lord, I know what you mean. But… … . Count Cavaldi belongs to the Duke’s faction.”
“so?”
“If we strike Count Cavaldi first, he will definitely become the Duke’s enemy regardless of Count Desmond! The Prince’s faction and the Duke’s faction have not yet openly fought each other!”
“The Duke and I are already enemies. Didn’t we agree on that?”
“It hasn’t shown on the outside yet! Let’s not give them an excuse to attack openly. How are you going to handle it if the Duke steps in directly?”
Jiselle said as if she was frustrated.
“You’re going to have to fight them anyway, so why bother worrying about that? You can worry about that later.”
“… … .”
“Okay, let me explain it very simply. Let’s say Claude, you’re fighting.”
“I am a respectable scholar, so I don’t fight.”
“Let’s say you do it anyway. What’s more advantageous, you getting hit first or you hitting first?”
“Well… … It would be advantageous to strike first… … There’s a saying that goes, “The first strike wins.”
“Right, so wouldn’t it be better for us to hit first than for Cavaldi to hit us first? No matter how I think about it, this is better?”
‘You’ve finally gone completely crazy!’
Claude looked dumbfounded at the outrageous remark that treated war like a neighborhood fight.
Just as he was opening his mouth to swear or not, Giselle continued.
“If we are to continue the war, we must secure a steady supply of iron ore. We must seize the County of Cavaldi at all costs. Earl Desmond will never think that we will strike there first. He will not be prepared.”
Earl Desmond was currently most concerned with Amelia’s rebellion. His next priority was to appease the few remaining northern lords and take control of the North.
Because I judged that I could get rid of Fenris whenever I got the chance.
Of course, they would never have imagined that Jiselle would start a war first.
That is why Giselle intended to actively take advantage of the current situation and the upcoming opportunities.
‘It’s only a brief moment. We must not miss this great opportunity. If we fail to secure iron ore now, it will be difficult to fight a long-term war.’
Thanks to Amelia, there isn’t much time left to waste.
The moment he takes control of the Earldom of Leipold, Earl Desmond will immediately change his target to the Fenris fiefdom.
But since there was no way to explain this even with symptoms, I had no choice but to just let it go.
The lack of persuasive power was just compensated by crying.
Claude said with a tired expression.
“My Lord, it is a very dangerous situation to deal with just one Earl of Desmond. Do you really need to increase the risk here? If we make a mistake, we will all really die.”
“I know. If we make one mistake, we’ll all die. Not just us, but everyone in Father’s domain.”
“But do you really have to play Cavaldi?”
Belinda and Gillian also spoke cautiously as Claude’s voice sounded mournful.
“Your Majesty, the General is usually a bit strange, but I think he’s right now. Can’t you just not say anything?”
“Your Majesty, the General is right. In this situation, it is too dangerous to openly turn the Duke into an enemy.”
The people who went also spoke with one mind and one heart.
“For now, I think it would be best to just focus on stopping Desmond.”
“Even if it’s a little late, how about trying to get iron ore from other regions?”
Despite everyone’s opposition, Giselle spoke firmly.
“But you have to do it. If you don’t prepare now, you’ll miss the opportunity.”
Claude clutched his pounding head.
Just preparing for Mercury and developing the territory was enough to make my head explode.
But that’s not enough, and they’re even going to launch a preemptive strike.
The Fenris Estate was in no position to do that now.
“I understand your will, my lord. But realistically, there are other issues.”
“What is it?”
“Even if I go for it, can I really win? The difference in strength is too big.”
The County of Cavaldi, like other northern fiefdoms, had many shortcomings, but it was wealthy enough to make up for them with money. There was one more thing that was special about it.
“I don’t know about anything else, but the soldiers’ armament is probably the best in the northern part of Cavaldi.”
It is natural that smelting technology develops in areas where iron ore is produced.
Thanks to this, the County of Cavaldi was famous for providing quality equipment to its soldiers.
How can we win against a place like that with our current power?
Giselle responded to Claude’s question as if it was absurd.
“You don’t trust me?”
People didn’t answer and just slightly averted their eyes.
