Chapter 83

The process of persuading Cavaldi and bringing him to our side went like this.

“How about we stop fighting and make up?”

“Why should I? What makes you think I can trust you?”

“Because Pescara and Messina betrayed Urdino. They say they burned and pillaged your country.”

“What the hell?”

“Do you still think of them as allies? Don't you want to get revenge on them?”

「Devil's Something-or-other Activated!」

…Of course, this was the most concise version, and in reality, it wasn't that easy.

It took a considerable amount of time to soothe Cavaldi's hurt feelings, intimidate him, beg, and persuade him.

A man with a wounded ego is just that difficult to handle.

Still, I somehow succeeded in turning Cavaldi's anger towards the traitors of the coalition.

Cavaldi willingly swore to fight against the common enemy under the command of the Black Company.

Thanks to Cavaldi's ready cooperation, the Urdino duchy's army was restored in an instant.

It was a matter of course.

All we had to do was release the captured key officers of Urdino.

In fact, the officers themselves were so enraged by the news that Urdino had been raided while undefended that there was no need to win them over.

They willingly promised their cooperation.

It was the moment the Urdino Regiment, under the Black Company, was founded.

“About Cavaldi. Is it a mentality of 'It's okay for me to betray, but I can't stand being betrayed'?”

“Perhaps it's because when a bad guy and a worse guy are side by side, the relatively bad guy looks good?”

“Who's the bad guy? Hey! Aren't you going to answer quickly?”

“Well. Ah, arrows are flying over there. Watch your head.”

As Theo raised his shield, a few arrows struck it.

My head was almost blown off.

“Well done. Theo.”

“I told you not to go to such a dangerous place.”

“It's a crucial moment, what can I do?”

Theo looked at me resentfully, but I pretended not to notice and looked around.

We were in the middle of the siege of Pescara.

The tide of battle was turning in our favor.

As the Pescara defenders who had been on the defense retreated to the castle gate, the Urdino Regiment pursued them like a wave.

On the other side, the Black Company's siege battery relentlessly poured rocks onto the castle walls.

The walls of Pescara crumbled with a deafening roar, and the city's sky burned black with flames.

This was just a week after Duke Cavaldi of Urdino had been released.

“I thought a siege would take quite a long time, but you somehow managed to resolve this quickly too.”

“Duke Cavaldi is from Apennia. He must have his own Apennian ways.”

Cavaldi pushed back the Pescara army as if to prove that the last battle was just bad luck and that his military career was not a fake.

There was no sophistication in Cavaldi's methods, but instead, there was powerful force.

You could say I learned a thing or two.

Looking at it this way, I felt lucky to have dealt with Cavaldi in the early stages.

If Cavaldi hadn't been careless and had come at me with all his might, I would have suffered considerable damage as well.

“Look over there. The surrender flag is going up.”

“They're finally raising the white flag.”

Eventually, the blue dolphin flag was lowered from the top of the Pescara city walls, and a white flag signifying surrender was raised.

It meant they had decided they could no longer hold out.

Soon, a cleanly shaven Urdino Cavaldi came riding on a horse.

He was overflowing with vitality, perhaps because of the war or because he had succeeded in his revenge.

A sense of smugness to show off his victory, pride in himself, and a quiet anger were felt all at once.

“Did you see, Lord Gryph? Pescara has surrendered!”

“So it has.”

“Then, would you please grant me the victor's right to plunder Pescara?”

His tone was a request, but in reality, it was closer to a tantrum, saying, ‘If you don't grant it, I don't know what will happen!’

Of course, I had no reason not to grant his request.

Cavaldi had achieved excellent results and deserved a fitting reward.

I willingly accepted the bill Cavaldi presented.

For Pescara, it was their own doing anyway.

If they hadn't attacked Urdino just to get their money's worth, Cavaldi wouldn't have sided with us.

“So be it. I will permit a day of plundering.”

“I thank you for your generosity. I will surely repay you.”

Cavaldi was very excited at the thought of plundering Pescara and led his army into the city.

After Cavaldi left, I called Eleonor and gave her instructions.

“Dame Eleonor, after the Urdino Regiment's plundering is over, please prepare to conduct relief efforts in Pescara.”

“Relief efforts? Is that necessary?”

“Yes. We can't let all the citizens of Pescara die, can we? They won't have anything to eat after being plundered, so we must show some mercy to the people.”

Eleonor saw through my inner thoughts.

“While also emphasizing Lord Gryph's benevolence in contrast to Duke Cavaldi's notoriety?”

“I like it very much that you can see into my heart.”

Should I call it self-PR, or image-making?

It's something like that.

If I'm going to continue doing business in Apennia, I need people to have a good perception of me.

This relief effort is a part of that.

You could say it's a good cop, bad cop operation.

Naturally, I'm the good one, and Cavaldi is the bad one.

Though I haven't agreed on it with Cavaldi.

“I understand. I will do so.”

Eleonor gave me a resentful glance and left to carry out the order.

My. It's a problem having someone who knows me too well by my side.

Then again, Eleonor was a historian before she was a knight.

Even if such conspiracies and schemes don't appear explicitly on the surface of history, she would already know that they exist in unseen places.

Besides, Eleonor is close with Selvi, so she must have overheard some things from him.

It might be a good thing to have such a person by my side.

After sending Eleonor off, I called Selvi next.

“Selvi, you've worked hard. But there's still something you need to do.”

“I already knew you'd say that.”

Selvi also had a tough time this round.

It was Cavaldi who was at the forefront, but it was Selvi who supported him from behind the scenes.

Selvi shook Pescara's atmosphere by attempting a wide range of schemes against the local influential figures, such as bribery, threats, and collusion.

That's why Cavaldi was able to achieve such excellent results in just a week.

But the war wasn't over yet.

“Selvi, spread a rumor in Messina. Say that the Urdino duchy's army mercilessly plundered the surrendered Pescara and destroyed the city.”

“The plundering has just begun, though? The destruction hasn't even happened yet.”

“That doesn't matter.”

Selvi caught on to my scheme.

“Haha. I understand. You plan to instill fear in the people of Messina.”

“That's right. But the most important thing is to create an atmosphere where the people of Messina believe they can only survive by surrendering to the Black Company. Tell them that Leon Gryph is a reasonable person, so he can prevent the plundering.”

Selvi chuckled and replied.

“I'll give it a try. It sounds like it will be very interesting.”

“Fear comes more easily at times like these. It doesn't matter whether Messina surrenders or not. Duke Cavaldi would rather they didn't surrender, right? That way, he can attack Messina.”

“I'll make sure to emphasize that when I spread the rumor.”

“Good. Very good.”

At the same time, this plan is also intended to add to Urdino's notoriety.

It's hard to talk about peace with someone who burns down another's city without even pretending to listen when they cry for surrender.

With such notoriety, Urdino's room for maneuver will narrow, and they will eventually have no choice but to depend on me.

You could call it a state of semi-subjugation, half-voluntary, half-forced.

But this is something I can't help either.

It's hard to think that Cavaldi, having gained his freedom, will remain on the same side forever.

Right now, he's blinded by revenge and his head isn't working, but when he cools down later, he'll start thinking about whose fault it is that he ended up like this.

And then one day, he might suddenly think he should plant a knife in Leon Gryph's gut.

Thinking about the future, I need to adjust the relationship now.

Selvi grinned.

“Duke Cavaldi must feel wronged too. Suddenly gaining notoriety.”

“He won't feel that wronged. It's what's going to happen. And he won't care about gaining notoriety. For a ruler, fear is also a virtue.”

“Pescara and Messina did a foolish thing too. They've made an enemy of the Captain, of all people, so they're in for all sorts of trouble.”

“They're just paying the price for a wrong choice.”

As nations, they chose practicality.

To the point of invading Urdino, which had already been thoroughly plundered by pirates, just to get their money's worth somehow.

They just never imagined that the quid pro quo for that would be the captured Duke Cavaldi being won over by me.

People in crisis only see what's in front of them and fail to see the future.

The result of that is this situation now.

If you bet your house deed on a gamble, you have to pay the price.

“Then, may I go and carry out the order now?”

“No, there's one more thing.”

I held Selvi back.

Selvi looked at me inquisitively.

“What is it?”

“The pirate fleet is near here, right?”

“Yes. Having eaten Messina, they're probably lying down like a full cat.”

A few days before the capture of Pescara.

While the Messina navy was away, Yoken's pirate fleet finally plundered Messina.

For Messina, it became the worst-case scenario where all their allies were eliminated and even their home base was burned.

“They plundered Urdino and Messina, so their stomachs surely can't digest all that, right?”

“Of course not.”

“But Selvi, don't you think it's too much of a waste to give them gold and treasures?”

“Of course, it's a waste.”

There's a saying, 'tosagupaeng'.

It means that when the rabbit is hunted, the hunting dog is also boiled.

The pirates were useful in this war.

But now that the war is about to end, the pirates have outlived their usefulness.

In that case, is there any need to leave them be?

If they're left alive, they'll just get other ideas.

One might question why I won over Ishmael then, but this is different from Ishmael's case.

Ishmael was just the captain of a small, fast ship, and I happened to be in need of a loyal force.

Besides, Ishmael had a reason to compromise with me.

On the other hand, the five pirates of the Golden Sea, Yoken and Orman, were individuals who had already reached the top and had strong independence.

They never swore complete loyalty, and they were won over by threats in the first place.

Moreover, the navies of several countries have suffered great damage in this war.

There's no way the pirate leaders, with nothing to fear, would easily follow orders.

In that case, I have no choice but to weed them out.

In a way, this is the same as the process of humans taming wolves.

Rebellious and dangerous individuals are killed, and only submissive individuals are bred.

However, within that, the bloodlines of the wild wolf (Ishmael) and the hunting dog (mercenary fleet) will be mixed and passed down.

“Then I will tell Ishmael to take over the pirate fleet.”

“I like that I don't have to explain at length. Selvi, you're the best subordinate.”

“The Captain is also a good master to serve.”

“What did you say? Haha.”

Selvi, having gotten one over on me, disappeared in an instant.

What a jester.

I looked at Pescara, where the flames were slowly starting to rise.

It seemed that people were very surprised by the suddenly prepared fireworks display.

It looked like quite a few people would have trouble sleeping tonight.

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