Chapter 378: I Brought Some Gifts (2)
“Ah, what is this?”
When Ghislain tried to pull away uncomfortably, Maurice grabbed both of his arms tightly again.
“Hey, you bastard… This black mage… I thought you were just a novice… but when did you grow so much to become a master… and bring gifts like these…?”
“What nonsense are you spouting?”
“Thank you! You bastard!”
Maurice, overcome with emotion, hugged Ghislain tightly once more.
The other nobles merely clicked their tongues with expressions that said,
‘That’s just Maurice for you.’
Maurice was a very straightforward man. He never hid his emotions and always expressed his likes and dislikes openly.
As Maurice, now in high spirits, continued holding onto Ghislain, the Marquis of Branford pushed him aside and asked,
“Are you sure it’s fine to give this much?”
“Give what?”
“…Are you saying this isn’t a lot?”
At a glance, it was enough to cover several years’ worth of expenses for an ordinary estate. Even if all the kingdom’s legions used it, they’d be well-supplied for over a year.
But Ghislain’s next words were even more shocking.
“This is just the first round of support. There are plans for two more rounds. There was just too much to bring all at once.”
At those words, the Royalist nobles felt their heads spin.
What they saw now was already an enormous amount. And yet, Ghislain was promising to bring twice more of the same.
It was tens of times more than what the Royalist faction had ever given him in the past.
“Are you seriously saying you’ll provide this much support two more times?”
“That’s correct.”
For Ghislain, it was just items he no longer needed or things he’d otherwise have to discard due to surplus. He simply framed it as a grand gesture to bolster the Royalist faction.
This way, they would put their full effort into opposing the ducal families and hinder their progress.
“Hah…”
The Marquis of Branford was left speechless. The other nobles were busy staring at the gifts, swallowing nervously.
“Just how rich has he become?”
“If this amount is delivered two more times, we could wage a war with just that.”
“Even skimming a bit off the top could make one ridiculously wealthy.”
The nobles already knew that Fenris had become the wealthiest group in the north. But they had no way of grasping just how wealthy.
Now, seeing him casually distribute this much, they realized he had become the kind of tycoon they couldn’t even dream of.
Ghislain swept his gaze across the nobles and spoke.
“Please ensure, Marquis, that the distribution is done properly. Make sure no one siphons anything off. Everything must be used for war preparations.”
“Understood. You don’t need to worry about that.”
The Marquis of Branford’s assurance made the nobles smack their lips in frustration. His strictness meant pilfering anything would be exceedingly difficult.
If caught, they’d not only face humiliation but also risk losing their existing wealth.
Once the situation had somewhat settled, Ghislain gestured to the soldiers again. They brought out a suit of armor from the wagons.
At first, the nobles paid it little mind, but soon they sensed something unusual.
“What’s this? Are the soldiers unusually strong? How are they carrying that armor so lightly?”
The Marquis of Branford, seeing the armor, asked,
“What is this? It looks like an ordinary suit of armor.”
“This is armor developed using a new material. Distribute it among the Royalist knights. It has the strength of steel but weighs less than half as much.”
“What?!”
Startled, the Marquis of Branford took the armor in his hands. Even though he wasn’t trained in swordsmanship, he could lift it with ease.
While the marquis examined the armor closely, Ghislain spoke.
“Please test it out here.”
The Marquis nodded and gestured to a nearby knight.
“Test it.”
Without hesitation, the knight drew his sword and struck the armor.
Clang!
The knight felt the rebound force from the armor and nodded.
“It indeed has the strength of steel.”
“Hah!”
As the Marquis of Branford marveled, the other nobles crowded around to inspect the armor.
“This is incredible! Armor this light?”
“When on earth was something like this developed?”
“And you’re just handing this out?”
The nobles stared in astonishment, asking questions one after another. Ghislain nodded calmly.
“I brought about a thousand of these this time. It may not be enough for everyone, but it should suffice for the knights of the leading noble houses.”
This time, no one could say a word. Their mouths hung open in stunned silence.
This armor wasn’t just equipment—it was a treasure. The light weight of the armor would allow knights to preserve stamina and mana for longer durations.
It would also significantly improve the speed and endurance of their horses. A single piece of armor could alter the tide of battle.
And now Ghislain was providing a thousand sets of it. Everyone stared at him as though he were a madman.
“Has that miser gone insane?”
“He’s just handing out such treasures?”
“Why in the world?”
Such Equipment Represents the Power of an Estate
It’s not something to be handed out recklessly to others.
While none of them could understand Ghislain’s actions, he himself remained completely unfazed.
‘It’s just surplus gear, after all.’
Even the guards of his estate were equipped with full sets of Galvaniium armor. The Fenris Knights went a step further, wearing magical armor embedded with Runestones.
For Fenris, such items weren’t considered extraordinary treasures.
Still, since he was giving them away, Ghislain decided he might as well take full credit for it.
“We need to unite and fight against the ducal families, don’t we? I’m not someone who holds back in these matters,” he declared, clenching his fist firmly and continuing with determination.
“For the sake of victory, I’m ready to share everything. I absolutely detest hogging resources for myself.”
If Claude had heard this, he might have fainted from disbelief. But the nobles, oblivious to Ghislain’s true intentions, were thoroughly moved.
“Ohhh!”
Cries of admiration erupted from the crowd, and some even had tears welling up in their eyes.
“We misjudged Count Fenris!”
“Who would’ve thought he was so thoughtful!”
“I’m ashamed of myself for even thinking of embezzling the supplies!”
Thinking back, Count Fenris had once been rumored to be a saint in the capital alongside Porisco. They had dismissed it as laughable at the time, but now it seemed there was truth to those rumors.
Even Maurice, moved to tears, hugged Ghislain again with emotion.
“You bastard! You little duckling! You’ve grown up so well!”
“Why do you keep doing this?”
Ghislain squirmed and pushed Maurice away again.
As the Marquis of Branford calmed his surprised heart, he spoke.
“Let’s go inside and continue this discussion there.”
—
The forces of the Marquisate took over the wagons, while Ghislain and the nobles made their way back to the royal castle.
The nobles had originally planned to question and scrutinize Ghislain. But after receiving such gifts and hearing his inspiring words, they didn’t dare voice their complaints.
An awkward silence followed until the Marquis of Branford finally broke it.
“We’ll gladly accept these gifts. They will be of great help.”
“You’re too kind. I really scraped the bottom of my estate’s treasury for this. It’s all for the Royalist cause…”
As Ghislain continued to make a big show of his generosity, the Marquis coughed awkwardly several times.
“Ahem, well… thank you regardless. But what’s on your mind? Why did you go so far as to provoke the Marquis Roderick?”
This was a time to brace against the ducal families’ attacks and wait for the right opportunity. Delaying only worked in their favor, giving them more time to bolster their forces and fortify their defenses.
After a moment of thought, Ghislain replied.
“I didn’t like him.”
“What?”
“I didn’t like how someone from the west came all the way to the north and started bossing us around.”
“So… that’s why you fought him?”
“Let’s be clear about this. I didn’t start the fight. He provoked me first, and I simply retaliated.”
It wasn’t a lie. From the start, it had been Marquis Roderick who initiated the conflict. He attacked Ghislain’s merchant guild, and Ghislain responded accordingly.
However, it was also true that Ghislain’s retaliation had been excessive from the perspective of the Royalist faction. Before the Marquis of Branford could criticize him further for acting recklessly, Ghislain spoke again.
“The war would have broken out sooner or later, regardless of this incident. Waiting passively doesn’t solve anything. It’s better to weaken the enemy’s forces whenever possible.”
“Weaken the enemy’s forces?”
“Yes. Thanks to this, Marquis Roderick lost 20,000 soldiers and saw eight of his vassal estates devastated. Those vassal estates won’t be able to recover quickly, meaning they’ll be unable to participate in the impending civil war.”
Ghislain had taken most of their resources, leaving them in shambles. It would take years for them to rebuild. While the local people would suffer further exploitation, there was no room for such considerations in his strategy.
The Marquis of Branford understood the implications of Ghislain’s actions. But such a tactic was akin to walking a razor’s edge.
“It’s easy to say, but weakening the enemy’s forces is no simple matter. This time, the circumstances worked in your favor. But Marquis Roderick has now declared total war. His army will move soon.”
Ghislain had laid the groundwork for this situation ever since recruiting the Drake Mercenary Corps. But the Royalist faction, unaware of these intricacies, couldn’t have known this.
And if someone other than Ghislain tried to weaken the enemy’s forces recklessly, it could escalate into an even bigger war.
For that reason, Ghislain didn’t bother explaining further. He had no desire to argue about this matter. It wasn’t what truly mattered.
“If we’re going to fight anyway, it’s better to strike first.”
“Strike first?”
“Yes. If Marquis Roderick deploys his army, the ducal families will no longer be able to stand idly by.”
To avoid losing Fenris, the Royalist faction would be forced to act, and the ducal families would not miss the opportunity to exploit that.
Ghislain pulled a few documents from his coat and handed them to the Marquis of Branford.
“What is this?”
“These are the tails of the ducal families spread across the capital and various estates.”
“What?”
The Marquis of Branford examined the documents. They listed everything from prominent merchant guilds to obscure organizations he had never heard of.
“Are you saying all of these… are under the control of the ducal families?”
“Yes. These include armed merchant guilds, assassin groups, intelligence networks, and more. When war breaks out, they will create chaos in the capital and across the estates.”
The Marquis’ hands trembled as he held the papers. Some of the names on the list were organizations that dealt directly with the Branford Marquisate.
If this were true, it was a grave matter—these factions had been operating right under their noses without them noticing.
“How… how did you uncover this?”
“I conducted a covert investigation,” Ghislain replied calmly.
Of course, this was information he had obtained in his previous life.
Ghislain didn’t claim to know every puppet of the ducal families. Surely, some had slipped through his net. But any group he didn’t know about was likely of lower importance and wouldn’t significantly affect the outcome of the war.
The Marquis of Branford narrowed his eyes and asked sharply,
“Are you absolutely certain about this? If you’re wrong, the consequences will be disastrous.”
“I am certain.”
“Evidence?”
“I don’t have anything to show you. Just trust me.”
“…”
Both the Marquis of Branford and the Royalist nobles were too dumbfounded to respond. Without evidence, who would believe a mere list claiming these groups were under the ducal families’ control?
But there was no way Ghislain could present proof from his past life. And he didn’t have the time to thoroughly investigate each name to find concrete evidence.
If they wasted time on such efforts, the ducal families would finish their preparations and begin their march. At this stage, evidence was a luxury they couldn’t afford.
Ghislain spoke with a grave expression.
“Marquis, the war has already begun in all but name. We must act first.”
“Act first…?”
“Yes. I’ll handle Marquis Roderick’s forces marching north. We’ll have to fight them anyway. In the meantime, I need you to do something else.”
“Don’t tell me…”
Ghislain nodded.
“Eliminate those pests hiding in the shadows. Start as soon as possible.”
“Without justification… do you want me to attack these groups?”
“This is no longer a time to worry about justification.”
“No justification…?”
At the Marquis’ words, Ghislain smirked.
“Yes, now is the time to prove ourselves through sheer force.”
Everything had been prepared to the best of his ability. Fenris had reached the limits of rapid expansion, and now even the ducal families were openly mobilizing their troops.
Time was running out. The solution was clear:
Ghislain would start the war at the moment of his choosing and guide it according to his plan.
He had to.
That was the only way to prepare for the calamity that was soon to come.