Chapter 445: I Am a Negotiation Specialist (2)
Whenever someone got involved with Ghislain, for better or worse, they changed however slightly.
Gillian transformed from a rugged mercenary into a loyal knight after his daughter’s illness was cured thanks to Ghislain.
Kaor, once a reckless member of the Mad Dogs, became a hunting hound bound by a leash.
Even the timid Vanessa gained confidence, and the formerly arrogant and meticulous Alfoi and his mages no longer mind looking disheveled.
Arel, who had always been diligent, also changed upon arriving in Fenris.
The same was true for other mercenary knights, elves, and dwarves. All of them, upon coming to Fenris and interacting with Ghislain, changed bit by bit.
Among these transformations, Piote’s was perhaps the most dramatic.
"Me? Swearing?!"
Piote was utterly shocked at the curse words that had escaped his mouth. He’d occasionally thought of Alfoi with phrases like “this bastard” or “that jerk,” but this was the first time he had ever vocalized a curse so blatantly.
"Oh, Goddess, please forgive my sins! I have cursed!"
Piote shut his eyes tightly and repented. Surely, a demon must have possessed him.
As he clasped his hands together and prayed fervently, the soldiers around him erupted into cheers.
“Look! The Holy Maiden is receiving divine power!”
“Is this a prayer ritual before annihilating the enemy?”
“It’s like a ceremony to send someone to the afterlife!”
"That’s not it!"
Their absurd comments made it impossible for him to focus on his prayer. Left with no choice, Piote stopped praying and clenched his jaw tightly.
"Fine, everyone changes a bit when they come to this land. I’ll just adapt."
In fact, there was one person who hadn’t changed.
Claude, the chief overseer of Fenris, was famous for his consistent nature.
Regardless, due to Ghislain’s newly devised strategy, Piote found himself thrust to the forefront of the battle against Equidema.
Screeeech!
The Equidema, frenzied at the mere sensation of divine power, lunged straight for Piote.
When Tennant flinched, ready to jump into the fray, Alfoi remarked smugly.
“Hold on. What does a mere human think they’re doing, attempting to join a divine battle? Maybe someone like me would consider it.”
“...”
Tennant found Alfoi utterly insufferable. However, as an outsider who’d recently joined, he swallowed his resentment.
Thud!
The Equidema’s attack failed to harm Piote. Seizing the opportunity, Piote grabbed its leg and climbed onto it like before.
"Ugh... How did I end up doing stuff like this...?"
Even as he climbed, Piote gritted his teeth.
Since that day, Ghislain had started dragging him off for physical combat training during their marches. Piote had ample divine power, but now his strength and speed had improved significantly due to the relentless training.
Through such grueling drills, even Piote’s gaze had grown sharper. Now, he truly resembled a battle priest befitting of Fenris’ martial traditions.
“Ahhhhhh!”
In an instant, Piote climbed onto Equidema’s neck and struck out with his fist.
Smack! Smack! Smack!
Screeech!
Hisssss!
Equidema shrieked as Piote’s fists, brimming with divine power, seared its flesh mercilessly.
“Ooh! The Holy Punch!” Alfoi exclaimed in awe, realizing he should avoid provoking Piote further.
Screech!
The Equidema desperately clawed at the wretched parasite clinging to its neck. However, unable to land a proper blow, it couldn’t shake Piote off.
When Piote successfully mounted its neck, Ghislain shouted, “Now! Completely distract that vile beast!”
The more Equidema attacked Piote, the less time Piote could hold out. Thus, the others needed to keep distracting and provoking the beast.
Whoosh!
The team circled around Equidema, relentlessly attacking it. As they pressed on, cracks began forming all over its body, releasing plumes of blue smoke.
Screeeech!
The Equidema was losing its mind. It couldn’t understand why the parasite clinging to its neck refuses to die or fall, no matter the impact. Meanwhile, more pests kept attacking it from all sides.
Distracted by Piote, the beast became riddled with injuries.
Roarrrr!
“Now!” Ghislain shouted as Vanessa hoisted the gasping Piote into the air.
Whoosh!
At the same time, Belinda extended a rope to pull Piote to safety.
The hunt ended anticlimactically. Ghislain leaped into action, unleashing all his power and piercing Equidema’s tattered neck.
Rumble...
Thud!
Equidema collapsed, its gaze still fixated on Piote.
For a moment, everyone stood in stunned silence. No one had expected the formidable beast to be brought down so easily.
Of course, exploiting Equidema’s unique weaknesses had played a crucial role. The team’s accumulated experience and the assembly of their top forces also contributed significantly.
Even after accounting for all these factors, it was astonishing how much easier things had become compared to their performance before.
“Woooooah!”
“We won again!”
“These bastards aren’t such a big deal after all!”
Knights and soldiers, who had been battling the Riftspawn, erupted into cheers.
The Northern Army’s casualties were decreasing by the day. On top of that, they were now able to take down Equidema without much difficulty.
The rifts, once objects of terror, no longer evoked fear. As a result, morale soared.
Watching the jubilant troops, Ghislain let out a wry smile.
"If it had been this easy before, I wouldn’t have suffered so much in my past life."
There were still stronger monsters remaining. The priests of the Salvation Church and the nobles who had colluded with them posed further challenges.
To face them, everyone had to become stronger not just the soldiers, but an even greater number of superhumans were necessary.
However, Ghislain kept these thoughts to himself. It was important to maintain the troops’ high morale.
“Alright, let’s move. We need to clear the rifts within the kingdom as quickly as possible.”
With their spirits at an all-time high, the Northern Army swiftly dealt with the remaining rifts in the western region.
Now that they could easily take down an Equidema, the pace of their operations increased dramatically. Before long, the rifts in the western and central regions were completely cleared.
But the Northern Army had only been battling Equidema and Riftspawn. The rifts hadn’t been eradicated entirely, and more were bound to appear.
To delay this, Ghislain employed mages to set up mana-blocking barriers in the surrounding areas.
“Install them meticulously. We need to buy as much time as possible.”
Following Ghislain’s orders, the mages spared no effort, using runestones[a][b] and expending their mana freely.
The Rifts grew by absorbing the energy in their vicinity. But with the mana-blocking measures in place, their growth noticeably slowed.
“Now, let’s move to the east. The eastern region has far fewer rifts, so it should be easier than before.”
The Northern Army moved with renewed vigor at those words. They were no longer afraid.
Ghislain had a fair idea of why there were fewer rifts in the eastern region.
While it was partly due to the influence of the Marquis of Branford, it was also because the ducal families had prioritized advancing eastward. They likely manipulated the rift distribution intentionally.
‘They’ll probably march eastward first again this time.
The ducal families’ strategy was undoubtedly aimed at targeting the capital, but Ghislain couldn’t block every region.
‘I’ll leave that part to Amelia.’
For her ambitions, Amelia would also need to block the ducal families first. She, too, likely understood their plans. Still, she likely believed it was better to expand her influence in the east, as it was impossible for her to establish a foothold in the north under the current circumstances.
When the Northern Army arrived in the eastern region, the soldiers stationed there to contain the rifts cheered loudly.
“Wooooah! The Northern Army is here!”
“Count Fenris has arrived!”
“Finally! We’re saved!”
These were people who had been waiting for the Northern Army more eagerly than anyone else while fighting the rifts. Naturally, they welcomed them with joy.
Of course, Ghislain hadn’t left them entirely to their own devices; he had provided them with some assistance along the way.
“Lord! You’ve arrived!”
Dominic, the deputy commander of the Fenris Mercenary Corps, greeted Ghislain warmly.
The Fenris Mercenary Corps had now grown to a staggering 30,000 members. At this scale, one could say that nearly all mercenaries worth their salt had joined Fenris.
This was the result of consistent recruitment efforts and attracting mercenaries from all over.
“Dominic, you’ve done well. You held out.”
“No, it was manageable. All we had to do was reduce the number of Riftspawn. Besides, didn’t 10,000 mercenaries come here?”
Dominic laughed heartily, brimming with confidence.
After avenging the Marquis Roderick, Dominic had felt a sense of liberation like no other. As such, he had been able to approach the missions Ghislain assigned him with enthusiasm.
Currently, 10,000 members of the Fenris Mercenary Corps were assisting Dominic in containing the rifts. The rest were scattered across the kingdom, helping with reconstruction and other tasks. Fenris’ influence was spreading throughout the entire kingdom.
Having seen Ghislain after a long time, Dominic gave him an overdue report.
“We’re continuing to recruit mercenaries. Mercenaries from other kingdoms are also flocking to our corps.”
“Good. Just as expected.”
Offering immense benefits and spreading the word had served this exact purpose.
The war against the rifts was perilous. Other kingdoms, too, would have no choice, but to hire mercenaries en masse.
But with Fenris’ reputation for safe rift operations and excellent compensation spreading far and wide, it was only natural that mercenaries from other countries would gravitate towards them.
Thanks to this, the Fenris Mercenary Corps continued to grow rapidly.
“Don’t stop recruiting mercenaries. For now, numbers are important. Accept everyone who comes. The more, the better. Request anything you need from Claude.”
“Yes.”
“And select personnel to dispatch to other kingdoms. I have plans in mind. You’ll hear about them soon.”
“Understood!”
“Alright then, let’s get moving.”
The objective of all armies currently battling the rifts wasn’t truly to eradicate the rifts but to eliminate Equidema. Since they couldn’t close the rifts immediately, the best they could do was prevent their expansion.
Among them, the Northern Army had become the Equidemas’ nemesis a relentless and merciless hunter.
Roarrrrr!
In the eastern region, Equidemas began falling one by one. The armies of the lords, relieved, saw their morale soar.
The soldiers from the east, who had only heard of Fenris’ renown, were awestruck witnessing Ghislain’s feats firsthand.
“This is the strongest in the north…”
“They call him a Master, and now I see why.”
“To think he’d deal with the rifts that we barely managed to hold back, they conquered it with such a speed…”
Everyone heaped praise on Ghislain and the Northern Army. The gap in ability between their army and the northern army was unmistakable, and their awe was natural. However, the reactions of the lords and nobles were more complicated.
“This is dangerous. The people’s faith is entirely focused on Fenris.”
“If that man harbors different intentions, the kingdom could be at risk.”
“Should we align with Fenris now, while we can?”
Their emotions were conflicted. Just a few years ago, they wouldn’t have given this upstart a second thought. Now, he had achieved a reputation they couldn’t ignore.
And what about his military power? Judging by his track record, even if all the remaining royal armies banded together, it seemed unlikely they could defeat him.
Their only advantage was the number of their soldiers, but even then, the Northern Army had slain more Riftspawn than any other force.
"The Northern Army is a legion of monsters."
Such rumors spread widely, creating a tremendous sense of intimidation attached to the name.
Adding to this was speculation that the Count of Fenris might ascend to the rank of Duke. The same young upstart they had dismissed in the past had now grown into a figure beyond their reckoning, leaving the lords deeply unsettled.
But Ghislain paid no heed to such rumors. He was too busy clearing rifts in the eastern region and strategizing for the future.
"It’s about time for them to make a move, yet they haven’t. Did something go wrong?"
Reports indicated that the ducal families were also addressing the rifts, but the specifics of their progress were unclear. The southern region had become almost entirely sealed off. Even the neutral Count Mowbray found it difficult to take action.
"Still, I can see things in this life that I didn’t in my past one."
The fact that the ducal families were directly dealing with the southern rifts suggested they couldn’t control them or were encountering significant issues in doing so.
Ghislain had grown suspicious of the ducal families’ motives since discovering the Salvation Church’s involvement. Even when cross-referencing his past knowledge, their true intentions remained elusive.
“Ducal families, rebellion against the kingdom, the Forest of Beasts, the Salvation Church, the rifts…”
It was impossible for such seemingly unrelated elements to intertwine by coincidence. There had to be something connecting all the pieces Ghislain knew. But the links remained vague.
While Ghislain pondered, someone approached him a knight sent from the royal palace.
The knight saluted and immediately spoke.
“The Minister of the Interior, the Marquis of Branford, has requested your presence, Commander of the Northern Army.”
“What is this about?”
“Envoys from various kingdoms have arrived.”
Ghislain nodded. He had tasked Claude with preparations, and it seemed they had progressed faster than expected.
In just a couple of months, they had managed to gather representatives from multiple kingdoms.
Ghislain confirmed with a question.
“Do you know why they’ve come?”
“They’re proposing the formation of a coalition army. It appears they need to coordinate the finer details.”
“That confirms it.”
In his previous life, a coalition army had also been formed, though it had occurred in a different kingdom.
This time, Ghislain had led the effort to bring it about first.
“Alright, I’ll head there immediately.”
Even if Ghislain hadn’t taken the initiative, the Marquis of Branford would have had no choice but to summon him.
Ghislain was not only a specialist in rift management but also the commander of the kingdom’s strongest military force.
Thanks to Ghislain’s unparalleled knowledge and meticulous preparations, the Fenris Estate and the Ritania Kingdom had sustained far less damage than any other region.
Thus, there was no one more suited to take the lead in the coalition army than Ghislain.
Most importantly:
"I am also a specialist in negotiations."
Ghislain had no intention of missing such an opportunity.
[a]was it always called runestone?
[b]Yep, it's like a magic stone for amplifying magic and mana reserves.