Chapter 97: Strategic Generosity

Repelling a large-scale invasion through external factors is ultimately just luck.

"Your Highness, were there those among them who whispered in your ear?"

"Those barons separately requested an audience. They appealed their unfair treatment and criticized you."

"Do they think I don’t know how to share? But when they act like that, what idiot would willingly share?"

"That’s true. I’m ashamed my heart was swayed by their words."

The Crown Prince felt very sorry toward me.

Everyone has moments of wavering.

The Crown Prince’s good quality was knowing how to reflect and accept.

That let him grow even more.

But Vermeer and Eisenach weren’t around. When I asked about them, the Crown Prince said they had things to discuss privately and had stepped out. Hmm, seemed there was something I didn’t know about.

My father-in-law, watching the Euz nobles, said to me:

"Son-in-law, making them fight each other to divert attention seems like a good method, but it’s not a fundamental solution. Those greedy bastards aren’t to my liking, but set an appropriate line for your concessions."

"How much is a border lord’s ransom?"

"We can probably get about 20 gold coins for Count Épinay’s ransom."

"...20 gold coins?"

Not silver but gold coins?

My jaw dropped at the ransom, which was bigger than expected.

That’s a whopping 20,000 silver coins when converted.

For knights without territories, ransoms were usually set around 500 silver coins, but with territory it could reach up to 2 gold coins. Custom dictated you paid even if you had to borrow money, so if I were captured as a prisoner, I’d have to pay that kind of fortune as ransom to be released.

Including Count Épinay, I had officially captured 8 knights as prisoners.

As far as I knew, the rest were knights without territories.

Simply calculated, the total ransom for those knights was 4,000 silver coins. The real windfall was here. I felt embarrassed remembering how happy I’d been earning 350 silver coins negotiating and bickering with Adelbert. Seeing my stunned face, my father-in-law said with a laugh:

"Now do you see why those bastards are so unreasonably greedy?"

"Count Épinay’s ransom was their goal all along."

Now I understood why the Euz nobles had been foaming at the mouth. A ransom of 20 gold coins. Could someone at count level even pay that much? I felt dizzy, like I’d glimpsed a whole new world. It was ridiculous how I’d been rejoicing and despairing over a few hundred silver coins.

Now it was clear. The Euz nobles claimed I could capture Count Épinay entirely because they’d ground down the enemy’s main force with their blood. With that justification, not just the Euz nobles but the duchy forces deserved credit too. Naturally, the Euz nobles conveniently left out any mention of the duchy forces’ contribution.

Some nobles belonging to the duchy forces were busy arguing internally, but under my father-in-law’s fierce glare, they didn’t openly side with the Euz nobles. I could see the greed in their eyes too. This was truly a total mess. My father-in-law must have had a headache as well.

No wonder the Holy Roman Empire easily fell to Napoleon.

With this lack of unity and everyone seeking only their own interests, they had no choice but to get steamrolled by the powerful French army. The Medieval Knight world is a worldview mixing European history and fictional history, but it basically flows along similar currents.

The historic event of Burgundy invading the Duchy of Roden (Lorraine-Alsace) and the Duchy of Beren (Swabia-Baden) might happen in the near future. I don’t know European history in detail, but following Burgundy’s greedy expansion, a large-scale invasion would come sooner or later.

Count Euz watched the nobles quarrel, then turned to me.

"This won’t reach a conclusion at this rate, so what would you like as the first achiever?"

"If we collect Count Épinay’s ransom, I’ll divide half the amount among all nobles who participated in this war."

"Oh? You’ll readily concede despite it being a considerable sum?"

"Internal strife arose from monopolizing profits. Distrust will build between us internally, and externally there’s no more dangerous a situation. So in times like this, knowing how to share fairly is the true noble attitude, isn’t it?"

It was a roundabout way of calling out nobles who couldn’t distinguish public from private interests and clamored for a share of the spoils. Some nobles who caught the underlying meaning shifted uncomfortably, but most brightened when I said I’d share Count Épinay’s ransom. They seemed to think I’d caved to their demands.

"Son-in-law, does ’all nobles who participated in war’ include duchy nobles too?"

"Of course. Wasn’t it because they were there that we crushed Burgundy’s main force?"

"Good. This should suppress internal complaints about benefits only going to Euz nobles."

My father-in-law called it a wise decision. The reason his voice hadn’t carried as much weight as expected was that this was Euz, not the capital. If benefits didn’t go to the duchy forces while I was being pressured by Euz nobles, I’d face fierce backlash from our own side. So I drove the nail in firmly.

No need to be unreasonably greedy.

There would be plenty of such opportunities ahead.

What if I captured the Duke of Burgundy someday?

Count Épinay’s ransom would look trivial by comparison.

I chose to look further ahead rather than fixate on the immediate gains.

And by then, would there be anyone who dared demand I concede my share? Right now I was merely a lower noble, so I couldn’t stop the Euz nobles from swarming to pressure me into giving up benefits. To avoid this kind of shabby treatment, advancing in status was ultimately the answer.

The Euz nobles seemed to think I’d caved to pressure and were gleeful. It was true they’d bled, and it was true they’d fulfilled their duty as nobles (war). So naturally they deserved compensation—but their methods were atrocious. The problem had started with them treating me with contempt.

Deep-rooted distrust of the capital must have been the cause.

If they’d been cooperative like Fried, things would’ve been different.

"Paying duchy nobles isn’t a problem with the War Minister present, but for the count’s forces, with these conflicting claims, I’m hesitant to make the decision myself. So I’d like to leave it to the Euznirk heir. Will you permit this, Count?"

"Leave it to my eldest son? May I hear the reason?"

"Sir Fried was the only Euz noble who was truly cooperative with the duchy forces, unlike the others. That’s why I’ve come to trust him—and isn’t it natural to entrust matters to someone you trust? I’m sure the wise Sir Fried will distribute fairly according to merit."

I handed the authority over differential payment to Fried.

Normally I should have deferred to Count Euz by order of rank, but the count couldn’t ignore his vassals’ opinions and would settle on some toothless compromise. He’d had a pro-vassal tendency from the start, opposing my father-in-law’s demands and firmly insisting that command of the count’s forces lay with Euznirk.

That’s why I was entrusting it to Fried.

This both strengthened Fried’s position and put a leash on the Euz nobles so they couldn’t act carelessly. What attitude would they show Fried to get their merit recognized and obtain a larger share? As a central noble, I was someone they could pressure, but the heir occupied a completely different position.

Wouldn’t it be in their interest to curry favor with Fried first?

This was another method of division.

The justification of being the legitimate heir was very powerful.

But Fried himself seemed completely unprepared and was clearly flustered.

The same went for the Euz nobles. They had been exchanging opinions and chattering among themselves, but when I said I’d give Fried the right to decide the distribution, immediate backlash erupted. However, nobles friendly or neutral to Fried seemed to think differently. And their numbers were greater than expected.

Baron Valent sensed the shifting tide and opposed most fiercely.

Because he had the worst relationship with Fried.

"Sir Streit! Your excellent decisiveness resolved the dispute between us, but entrusting the distribution decision to the Euznirk heir is an entirely different matter!"

"An entirely different matter? Unless I’m mistaken, Sir Fried will be Euz’s next ruler. Who could be more suitable than him?"

"The heir is just an heir; the one ruling Euz now is still the count. Isn’t it presumptuous of you to unilaterally hand over decision-making authority without his permission?"

Having Count Euz hold decision-making power would be advantageous for the barons.

So I turned to Count Euz.

"Count, what do you think of my proposal?"

Count Euz, who’d been watching with interest the whole time, spoke.

He was a thoroughly lordly noble with the disposition of a ruler (neutral).

"Sir Streit. I salute your struggle and honorable decision. Your reasoning is sound, but as Baron Valent said, bypassing me to designate the heir is an affront. Standing before you is Euz’s ruler and the master of Euznirk who guards the border. However, since you are the first achiever and son-in-law of the War Minister’s family, I’ll let it slide this once."

Hmm, a gentle warning while trying to seize the initiative?

The one I ultimately needed to persuade was Euz’s ruler.