400

Episode 400: If You Want to Live, Swear Loyalty (2)

Everyone in the castle was hiding inside their houses.

Living under the cruel Marquis Rodrik, they all feared the nobles. They were terrified that the invading army would plunder them.

Even though the West was one of the wealthiest regions in the kingdom, the standard of living of the people there was no different from that of other regions.

Without paying any attention to the reactions of the people of the lords, Jisel went straight to the lord's castle and sat down on Marquis Rodrik's chair.

"The chair is a bit big. Anyway, Walter, I have a new order for you."

"Just do as I say!"

Walter answered loudly. He had been brought here under the pretext of being a temporary commander. Since it had come to this, he had to please Giselle so that his future life would be easy.

Jiselle looked at him and said.

"First, gather 3,000 troops, excluding the wounded. I will leave it to you."

"Me, to me?"

"Okay, eat well and get plenty of rest today, and go to the place I tell you tomorrow."

"Oh, I see. Where should I go?"

"Go to the nearby County of Selberg."

The Count of Selverk is a vassal of Margrave Rodrik. He also received considerable troops and food, but his situation was still better than that of other fiefdoms in the west.

Because of the location of the territory, it was not plundered by Jisel, and it was not attacked by thieves because it had some power.

He didn't even go to war because he hated Marquis Rodrik.

"Go and tell them what I say. Come here immediately and swear allegiance to me in front of everyone. If they refuse, I will lead my army and burn the castle down, leaving no one alive."

"Oh, I understand! But, what if you refuse?"

If you were just going to convey that message, you could have just sent a messenger. But you've entrusted me with an army of three thousand men. That means you have something to do.

"Surround the castle and don't let anyone escape. If you wait, I will go and take the castle myself."

"All right!"

Walter shouted confidently. He had been scared when they were his enemies, but now that he thought of them as his allies, his confidence surged.

Even though I just received orders, I felt at ease and secure. Indeed, it was not without reason that it was known as the strongest in the North.

Linderstein had a huge stockpile of food, which he had exploited from his subjects and collected from his vassals for the war effort.

Jiselle generously distributed it to her soldiers.

"Everyone, eat well and get some rest. I have to move around a lot again."

The soldiers were startled and excited by the sudden influx of food.

"Wow! It's meat!"

"You're giving me this much?"

"Wouldn't it be better to surrender this?"

As soldiers, we were happy just to have survived. However, when things that were difficult for soldiers to eat were poured out, we were so happy that our mouths were about to burst.

They said this while eating their fill, almost to the point of bursting.

"Hey, it looks like Fenris really treats his soldiers well."

"That's why you fight so hard."

"Did you see me running up here? I almost peed my pants!"

They had their weapons back, but they had no intention of rebelling. They had no loyalty to Marquis Rodrik in the first place, so it was only natural for them to serve a better master.

Some people might laugh at me for converting in one day, but originally, people valued their own lives the most.

Walter selected three thousand relatively fit men from among the soldiers who had been well fed and rested during the day.

They marched towards the Earldom of Selverk, carrying the banner of Fenris in high spirits.

After Giselle reorganized the remaining soldiers and rested the wounded, he gave new orders.

"Now, let's unpack the remaining food."

It was a place that was responsible for the supply of a whopping 100,000 people. The amount of food stockpiled was enormous.

Jiselle planned to release all of them, leaving only enough food to sustain the minimum number of troops.

Under Giselle's orders, a huge amount of food began to be released to the people of the territory.

"Wow! You're giving us all this?"

"Not stealing it?"

"I already thought I would die because of the war taxes!"

The people of the territory, who were afraid of the Fenris army, gladly received the food.

Rumors of the people of Fenris living well were heard here and there, but not many people actually believed it. It was difficult to confirm because the distance was too far.

But seeing them try to release food and stabilize public sentiment gave me a little bit of faith.

In reality, Jiselle didn't really care about public sentiment and was just going to use it all up.

"Long live Fenris!"

"We are now Fenrisians too!"

"welcome!"

The people's sentiments have changed drastically just because they've been given some food. This shows how severe the tyranny of Marquis Rodrik has been.

For the people of Yeongji, eating well was the best. It didn't really matter who the owner was.

Marquis Rodrik may reclaim this place, but what will he do with the food he has already eaten?

In this way, public sentiment quickly turned to Fenris. Jiselle was truly making a show of herself at someone else's expense.

"I guess I'll have to release it elsewhere too."

Currently, many territories in the West have been devastated and are swarming with bandits. Because of the war, food is in short supply and even public order is not being properly maintained.

Perhaps the people of the West resent not only Marquis Rodrik, but also Fenris.

The other territories also needed to be stabilized quickly, but he couldn't take care of all of them right away.

Count Selverk, who was chosen by Giselle to replace him, was deeply troubled.

"I asked you to swear allegiance… … ."

The vassals were in an uproar at Count Selverk's words.

"My lord! That is humiliating!"

"Yes! How can you come and kneel down on your own?"

"Isn't the Earl of Fenris going too far? This is an act that disrespects the honor of the nobility to the extreme!"

Count Selverk looked at his vassals with pity. They were all angry, but no one had an alternative.

"So what are you suggesting? Are you suggesting that we fight the strongest army from the North?"

"If we hold out until Marquis Rodrique wins… … ."

"Linderstein was taken in one day! How can we hold out! The castle is already surrounded! We can't even guarantee victory over those 3,000 men now!"

"… … ."

At those words, all the men who went were silent. In fact, they had only spoken out of pride, and they did not think that they could defeat Fenris.

In the silence, one of the servants spoke cautiously.

"To swear fealty publicly would mean to completely separate ourselves from Marquis Rodrik. If we bow down to Fenris and the Marquis wins, we are dead."

Count Selverk closed his eyes.

What if I pledge my allegiance to Earl Fenris and live now?

If Marquis Rodrik wins the war, he will never leave himself alone.

What if I reject this offer now?

Today, lives will be lost and this land will be trampled underfoot. The Earl of Fenris is known for showing no mercy to those who attack him.

Haven't countless estates already shown such results?

Either way, I'm going to die. So, I have to bet on the option that gives me a higher chance of survival.

Count Selverk, who had been pondering for a long time, sighed and said.

"Let us go to Linderstein. I will see my Earl of Fenris in person."

"My Lord, if Earl Fenris is plotting to capture you easily… … ."

Then Count Selverk chuckled.

"Speak sense. If he wanted to, killing me would be easier than eating cold soup."

Most of the troops have been drafted by Marquis Rodrik. Even if his master, Earl Fenris, comes alone, he will not be able to survive.

If they ran far away, they might be able to survive this crisis, but that was impossible with the castle surrounded by three thousand troops.

Earl Fenris didn't give him any room to escape. He was no ordinary man.

Count Selverk went straight to see Giselle. When he met Giselle, she spoke directly to him.

"Surrender and swear allegiance to me, Count Selverk. I will treat you well."

"If I swear allegiance to the Count here, the world will point fingers at me and call me an honorless man."

Then Giselle snickered. His tone of voice changed.

"Was it honorable to interfere with the tyranny of the greedy Marquis Rodrik? Even though you were far away, you were not without responsibility. You even provided troops for this war."

"… … ."

"You will die anyway if you don't choose one of the two. It will be dishonorable whether you die this way or that way. Even if I spare your life here, do you think Marquis Rodrik will leave you alone? You are already dead."

"How do you… … ."

Count Selverk raised his head in surprise.

In fact, he and Marquis Rodrik were not on good terms, as Count Selverk, who was rather upright, often opposed Marquis Rodrik's policies.

The reason he was able to survive until now was because he was from a long-standing family in the West, so he had quite a bit of prestige and he himself had quite a bit of power.

However, he could not abandon his duty as a vassal, so he sent most of his troops to this war. After the war, there was no way Marquis Rodrik would return them easily.

'They'll come up with any excuse to kill me.'

I had expected this situation to come. Maybe now was the opportunity for a new life.

If only you could sacrifice a little bit of your pride and honor.

Jiselle also knew that and chose Count Selverk.

There was no need to use information from his previous life. It was a well-known fact even in the West that Marquis Rodrik disliked Count Selverk.

'Maybe he died after the civil war ended?'

In his previous life, Count Selverk suffered numerous humiliations from Marquis Rodrik after the civil war, and eventually died a miserable death with a false accusation.

In this life, Marquis Rodrik will be destroyed by Giselle, so there will be no harm done to the Marquis.

In Giselle's view, it was mercy enough to have spared her such a miserable death. If she refused his offer, she would be killed.

It might be a bit of a hassle, but you can find the people you need elsewhere.

Jiselle spoke firmly as if it were her last chance.

"If you want to live, swear allegiance. That is the only way you can survive."

Count Selverk swallowed hard as he faced Giselle's fierce momentum. The person before him was someone he could never handle.

He thought about it for a while and then finally bowed his head.

"We will change the flag."

Changing a flag means joining someone else's command, changing the object of your allegiance.

Count Selverk felt a little hurt, but tried to think positively. Although the opponent was younger than him, he was of higher status. He was a high lord of the North and commander of the Northern Army.

Anyway, that bastard Marquis Rodrik was younger than me.

Giselle smiled brightly at the expected answer. Her fierce demeanor disappeared as if it had never existed, and her tone of speech became polite again.

"I thought about it carefully. I don't think you'll regret your choice now."

As the other party's status was that of a nobleman, Giselle also treated Count Selverk with some degree of respect. After all, Izado was also a high-ranking noble of the kingdom with a long history.

The oath of allegiance of Earl Selverk had been taken in front of many, and now he had to hope that Fenris would win the war.

Count Selverk asked after he had finished swearing his loyalty.

"What should I do now?"

"I intend to make all the territories in the West that I have occupied directly under Fenris. I will send officials after the war ends, so please take charge of those places for the time being."

"I don't have many troops left. To take charge of all those places… … ."

"I will entrust you with the 15,000 prisoners we have obtained this time. If we use that force, it won't be difficult. And please give away all the food here in the name of Fenris."

Count Selverk was slightly surprised by those words. If you take over the western region, including Linderstein, with an army of 15,000 men, it would not be an exaggeration to call yourself a great lord.

There is so much food there that it is overflowing.

"Can you really leave everything to me, someone who just joined? I might betray you."

Then Jiselle snickered.

"You can jump in whenever you want."

It was a short statement, but it was filled with boundless confidence. Even Count Selverk couldn't help but laugh at that answer.

He had already defeated the 20,000-strong defenders and the 40,000-strong pursuit force and taken Linderstein. It was obvious that even if he attacked with a mere 15,000 troops, he would not be able to even pick off the bones.

No, even before you rush in, the soldiers who have suffered enough will run away first.

"Understood. I will do my best to stabilize the West."

"Oh, and tell the thieves to surrender in my name. They've all been defeated by me, so they'll surrender if they get the chance."

They are the ones who run away just by seeing the Fenris flag. So, Count Selverk should be able to absorb them without difficulty.

Earl Selverk also had to hope for Fenris' victory in order to survive, but he also had to prepare for the eventual defeat of Fenris.

So, there was no choice but to quickly stabilize the surrounding area and prepare for war.

In this way, Giselle easily solved the most important task after the war, which was to stabilize the occupied territories, by entrusting it to other people and using other people's troops.

"Now let's go back and deal with the rest of them."

Once again, the Fenris Mobile Force moved north.

* * *

As Giselle ravaged the West and occupied Linderstein, the main force of Rodrik's army also arrived in Fenris.

The main force of Rodrik's army consisted of countless knights, magicians, excellent weapons, and elite soldiers.

It was a force of a completely different level from the 2nd Army that was separated simply to help the royalist faction.

The great army encamped to capture the front-line fortress of Fenris.

All of Fenris' remaining troops and generals were gathered in the fortress.

Clank! Clank! Clank!

The sound of knights moving and their armor clashing could be heard here and there.

Gillian, who was leading them, climbed up onto the wall. The other commanders, including Vanessa, also climbed up onto the wall.

But no one stood in the center of the command center. Not Gillian, the officer in charge, Vanessa, the head of the magic laboratory, or Belinda, the head housekeeper.

The same goes for everyone else in the territory who had some notoriety, such as the spies Lowell and Alfoy, the priest Fiote, the dwarf Galvarik, the elves Lumina and Ascon, and the manpower chief Kane.

As they stood aside to one side and waited for someone, someone appeared, yawning.

"Oh my, you're here now? This is really annoying. Why are you picking fights like this? There are some guys who only come to their senses after getting hit!"

A man with a truly annoyed expression appeared and sat down on the highest chair in the command center.

He is currently the Commander-in-Chief of the Fenris Garrison and the Governor of the Territory.

It was Claude, who was called the bribery king of the North.